Showing posts with label Fiscal Cliff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiscal Cliff. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Has Christine Quinn Lost Touch With Reality ?

''Let Them Eat Cake''

Last night, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) pulled the plug on a vote on the $60 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster relief bill after partisan bickering over the fiscal cliff, and Gerson Borrero complained that New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has lost touch with reality.

House of Representatives delayed a vote on desperately needed Hurricane Sandy disaster aid (The New York Daily News) * ''They told us to basically drop dead !'' Angry New York residents and pols fuming over latest Sandy snub. * Hurricane Sandy Relief Center in NYC Looted on Christmas (NBC)

Some New York Democrats were ''outraged'' by the insensitivity and lack of dignity by Congress towards hurricane survivors. “I have been a member of this body for 24 years and I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx, Westchester) told The New York Daily News. NY1 News editorial contributor Gerson Borrero was shocked to see that Speaker Quinn seemed to be oblivious about the lack of action on a comprehensive federal hurricane relief package.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

AIDS Activists Storm Boehner's Office

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The Naked Truth about AIDS Budget Cuts

AIDS activists entered the office of Speaker of the House John Boehner and demanded no budget cuts to domestic or global AIDS programs. Protesters also called for a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street trades.


Video streaming by Ustream

Activists chanted, "Boehner, Boehner don't be a d-ck, budget cuts will make us sick."

“The naked truth is that if President Obama and Congressional leaders like Speaker Boehner allow these budget cuts to lifesaving programs, global health programs will lose $689 million, while domestic AIDS programs will lose $538 million,” said Eustacia Smith from ACT UP New York, according to the group's press release. (Queerty).

United States of America HIV & AIDS Statistics

From Avert.org :

1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States of America, with a fifth unaware of their status. Since the epidemic began, an estimated 1,129,127 people in the USA have been diagnosed with AIDS.

During 2010 : (i) 47,129 people were diagnosed with HIV infection in the 46 states which report diagnoses ; and (ii) 33,015 people throughout the USA were diagnosed with AIDS.

The activists today took the radical step of stripping naked to draw attention to the negative consequences that healthcare cuts will create for Americans. The "Fiscal Cliff" of automatic budget cuts will reduce billions of dollars from healthcare and other social services and safety net programs, which would severely impact people living with HIV and AIDS, activists say. A Robin Hood Tax would create new sources of revenue for the government to fund health, social services, and safety net programs.

Seven Risk Arrest in a Naked Protest in Speaker Boehner’s Longworth Office

Washington, DC: Tuesday, November 27, a few days before World AIDS Day, seven AIDS activists entered House Speaker Boehner’s Office and stripped naked demanding a meeting with the Congressmember. The activists from Queerocracy, ACT UP NY, and ACT UP Philadelphia painted slogans on their bodies instead of holding signs: “AIDS Cuts Kill” and “Fund PEPFAR, Fund Ryan White, Fund Global Fund, Fund Medicaid, Fund HOPWA.”

“When you strip away the rhetoric of the fiscal cliff and the grand bargain, you see that these terms are a way to thinly veil draconian budget cuts that will leave millions around the world with absolutely nothing,” said Cassidy Gardner from Queerocracy.

Police arrested three activists for indecent exposure : Cassidy Gardner - 23 yrs old, from NYC, Community Organizer for Queerocracy ; Megan Mulholland - 23 yrs old, from NYC, Community Organizer for Queerocracy ; and Jennifer Flynn - 40 yrs old, from Rhode Island, from Health GAP. The ACT UP NY website reported that the three arrested individuals were later released.

Read more : AIDS Activists Expose Themselves And The Naked Truth About AIDS Budget Cuts

ACT UP/NY Will Protest Against Fiscal Cliff Budget Cuts In Washington

Follow today's actions in Washington, DC on Ustream :


Video streaming by Ustream

ACT UP/NY is planning a pre-World AIDS Day action in Washington, DC to prevent AIDS budget cuts. We will march with activists from other ACT UP chapters, V.O.C.A.L. New York, Housing Works, and Queerocracy demanding that Congress not touch AIDS/Healthcare spending.