85 Percent of the City Can’t Be Wrong: Tax the Rich, Don’t Hurt the Poor

Posted on May 12, 2011 by admin

“There are a lot of people like me in the city who are glad to pay a higher rate of tax, who can well afford it if it will help people who are at the bottom,” said Roger Kuhn, a high-income District resident, in testimony before the D.C. Council on Monday.

Mayor Vincent Gray’s budget proposal calls for a slight (8.5 to 8.9 percent) tax increase on household income in excess of $200,000. “I urge you not only to support the mayor’s tax increase,” Kuhn said to councilmembers, “but to increase that tax increase which I think is really too small.”

Citing a recent poll conducted by Hart Research Associates, Sunday’s Washington Post noted, “An overwhelming majority of District voters think the city’s highest priority should be maintaining public services, not holding the line on taxes.”

The poll, which was commissioned by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, found that 85 percent of District residents support increasing taxes on the District’s highest income earners. Continue reading →

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Transparency, DCTC Style: “NO TELEVISION CAMERAS. NO VIDEO TAPING. NO AUDIO TAPING.”

Posted on May 11, 2011 by admin

Listen to Dena Reed attempt to kick Fox5 photojournalist Jason Smith out of the March DCTC meeting

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The DCTC has a new policy regarding public meetings. “Without the express prior approval of the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission there shall be NO television cameras, No video taping and No audio taping of DC Taxicab Commission proceedings,” according to a sign posted at the DCTC offices at 2401 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE.

In a phone conversation with TheFightBack Tuesday afternoon, interim DCTC chair Dena Reed said cameras would be “disruptive” because there are taxicab “drivers who take a different attitude when a camera is on.” Reed also cited the lack of space in the DCTC hearing room as a reason for barring cameras. Continue reading →

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Is Councilmember David Catania Fit for Office?

Posted on May 10, 2011 by admin

“There’s no justifiable reason to continue the [HPV vaccine] mandate which is expensive and unnecessary and potentially dangerous. No one ever died from a Pap smear,” testified Emily Tarsell, who lost her daughter, Christina, 18 days after she received her third shot of the HPV vaccine Gardasil.

Dr. Sin Hang Lee, a pathologist with more than 50 years experience who studied in the lab created by the inventor of the Pap test, also testified May 5 before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Health. “There is no evidence that Gardasil is effective for reducing the incidence of cervical cancer,” said Dr. Lee, who drove down from Milford, Connecticut for the hearing.

D.C.’s HPV vaccine mandate for sixth grade girls was pushed through by At-large Councilmember David Catania, the powerful chair of the Health Committee. Surprisingly, Mr. Catania was unable to respond to the testimony of either Dr. Lee (“Thank you, doctor. Your time has expired.) or Ms. Tarsell (“Thank you very much.”).

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The Voice of DC Cab Drivers, May 8, 2011

Posted on May 9, 2011 by admin

LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF DC CAB DRIVERS, MAY 8:

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Welcome to The Voice of DC Cab Drivers brought to you by the Dominion of Cab Drivers, here on WUST 1120 AM. I’m Pete Tucker with TheFightBack, TheFightBack.org. To all the moms out there, including mine, happy Mother’s Day.

Tuesday at 4:00 PM in room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building, located at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, former Ward 5 Councilmember Vincent Orange will be sworn in as the newest member of the D.C. Council. In last month’s special election, Vincent Orange defeated incumbent Sekou Biddle, who had been temporarily appointed by the D.C. Democratic State Committee to fill the seat previously held by now-Council Chair Kwame Brown. Continue reading →

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A Chance to (11th Street) Bridge D.C.’s Economic Divide

Posted on May 6, 2011 by admin

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“They come here in our ward so [they should] hire us,” said Gardenia Walker, a native Washingtonian and single mother who lives east of the Anacostia River where unemployment is very high. Standing on the guardrail of the 11th Street Bridge, as traffic poured out of downtown D.C., Walker said, “I want a job. I put in an application and I kept calling [but] they never called me back. They won’t hire me. I don’t know why.”

Walker was among the dozens of District residents at the April 20 protest organized by DC Jobs or Else. The $300 million reconstruction of the 11th Street Bridge – which connects downtown D.C. to east of the Anacostia river – has resulted in too few jobs for District residents, according to demonstrators.

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Activists Call on Mayor and Council to Provide Housing For All

Posted on May 5, 2011 by admin

LISTEN TO VOICES FROM THE HOUSING FOR ALL RALLY

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“The programs that serve the neediest in the District of Columbia are under assault. There is no question about that,” said Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham to the more than 100 protesters who participated in the “Housing For All” demonstration outside the John A. Wilson Building on Tuesday.

April 1, Mayor Vincent Gray submitted his budget to the D.C. Council. The D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute noted, “Mayor Gray’s budget proposal contains close to $190 million in cuts, most of which would fall on human services and other low-income programs. Two out of every three dollars in cuts comes from human services even though that part of the budget makes up only one out of every four dollars overall.”

Linda Leaks of Empower DC addressing protesters outside the John A. Wilson Buidling

Linda Leaks, lead housing organizer for Empower DC, told the crowd that it is unacceptable for the mayor “to balance the budget on the backs of low-income people.” Leaks delivered a message to councilmembers: “Don’t go along with Mayor Gray’s cuts. These cuts are another way of forcing low-income people out of the city. It’s immoral. It is disgusting. It is shameful.”

In calling for “a tax increase on folks making more than $200,000-$250,000,” At-large Councilmember Michael Brown echoed the earlier comments of his colleagues Jim Graham and Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry. Continue reading →

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D.C.’s HPV Vaccine Mandate Is “A Great Big Public Health Experiment”

Posted on May 4, 2011 by admin

“The benefit of mass HPV vaccination for cervical cancer does not outweigh its risk,” according to testimony Dr. Sing Hang Lee will deliver to the D.C. Council’s Committee on Health Thursday, May 5 at 9:00 a.m. at the John A. Wilson Building, located at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

Dr. Lee, a pathologist with more than 50 years experience, studied in the lab created by Dr. George Papanicolaou in the 1960s. Unlike the HPV vaccine, the Pap test – which Dr. Papanicolaou created – has proven to reduce deaths from cervical cancer.

Dr. Lee provided TheFightBack with an advance copy of his testimony. “My residency included training in the 1960s in the laboratory created by Dr. George Papanicolaou in New York Hospital. Using Pap smear to detect precancerous changes for early treatment in the U.S. has reduced the incidence of cervical cancer from 44 in 100,000 women in 1947 to about 5 in 100,000.”

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Candi Peterson: From Teacher to Blogger to WTU General Vice President

Posted on May 3, 2011 by admin

LISTEN TO CANDI PETERSON

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“Here I am today, as the general vice president. Who could have thought this would have happened? But I’m glad it did,” said Candi Peterson, the recently elected general vice president of the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU).

It was just last year that Peterson demonstrated outside the WTU office building at 1825 K St, NW in an effort to bring attention to then-WTU President George Parker’s questionable actions. Last week, sitting in the office she heads up with her running mate, WTU President Nathan Saunders, Peterson traced her journey from teacher to blogger to vice president. Continue reading →

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The Voice of DC Cab Drivers, Sunday, May 1, 2011

Posted on May 2, 2011 by admin

Idris Yusuf outside Jerry Schaeffer's offices after being kicked out of a meeting on the medallion legislation.

LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF DC CAB DRIVERS

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Welcome to “The Voice of DC Cab Drivers,” brought to you by the Dominion of Cab Drivers, here on WUST 1120 AM. I’m Pete Tucker with TheFightBack, TheFightBack.org. Happy May Day.

Leon Swain is no longer chair of the D.C. Taxicab Commission. Tuesday afternoon, Swain was fired by Mayor Vincent Gray. Wednesday Gray’s office sent out a press release which said, “City Administrator Allen Y. Lew informed Mr. Swain at close of business April 26 that he would not be reappointed and thanked him for his years of service to the Taxicab Commission and District government.”

Nathan Price, chair of the DC Professional Taxicab Drivers Association, responded to the firing: “Leon Swain was chosen to be the chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission in 2007, but like many other campaign workers before him, he was unqualified to be the head of a regulatory agency. Hopefully Mayor Gray will nominate a person with regulatory experience.”
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Mayor Gray Fires D.C. Taxicab Commission Chair Leon Swain

Posted on April 29, 2011 by admin

Leon Swain is no longer chair of the D.C. Taxicab Commission. A press release from Mayor Gray’s office stated, “City Administrator Allen Y. Lew informed Mr. Swain at close of business April 26 that he would not be reappointed and thanked him for his years of service to the Taxicab Commission and District government.”

Drivers responded favorably to news of Swain’s firing, which they had been calling for. Nathan Price, chair of DC Professional Taxicab Drivers Association, said, “Leon Swain was chosen to be the chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission in 2007, but like many other campaign workers before him, he was unqualified to be the head of a regulatory agency. Hopefully Mayor Gray will nominate a person with regulatory experience.”

Continue reading →

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