Ruth Hunter: "The Raging Grannies seek peace through song and humor; their message is love and compassion."
http://santacruzraginggrannies.com/ruth-hunter-on-the-raging-grannies/
(This Event was sponsored by Moveon.org. The photo was taken by Greg McKenzie)
The first time I heard about the Raging Grannies was about 5 or 6 years ago when they went to the Capitola Army Recruitment Center and were arrested for trying to enlist (in place of our youth) for the war in Iraq. On Wednesday, August 10th, 2011, I had an opportunity to not only meet these bold ladies, but sing with them at the "Jobs Not Cuts Rockin' Rally" on the pavilion of the Santa Cruz City Hall near Congressman Sam Farr's Office on Center Street. The rally was a direct response to, as David Swanson put it, this "devil's sandwich" of a deal concerning Obama and the new "super congress" that now dictates mandatory cuts to programs to balance budget deficits, most of which accumulated from decades of trickle down economics(beginning with Reagan) and the disastrous Bush tax cuts to the rich(extended twice by Obama), Also the endless warfare requiring increased defense spending that costs tax payers 51 cents of every dollar in taxes we pay to the general fund. Meanwhile, American jobs are lost overseas to corporations that are rewarded in subsidies and tax breaks for doing it! As the infrastructure continues to crumble, billions of your dollars are given to those who have no intent of rebuilding it. They are the very people who created and even encouraged this current economic crisis. They own most of our politicians and they give not a damn about the average American citizen.
The rally, sponsored by Moveon.org and other progressive organizations(WILPF and UNA) , supports the Contract For The American Dream, which is a far cry better than what either the Tea Party and their GOP allies or Obama(who is eyeing corporate campaign finance) could come up with. In fact, under this new contract, deficits would be balanced by simply making the rich pay their fair share in taxes and by enacting a single payer health care system(Medicare for all) that would lower overall costs by eliminating the greedy insurance and pharmaceutical middlemen who presently suck up most of that money. It would also create competition among the insurance providers, forcing them to lower costs to remain competitive. It would open the doors for bulk purchasing with the pharmaceutical corporations, which would result in cheaper prescription drugs for everyone. The contract title(its heart and soul) had been manifested in part upon Dr. Martin Luther King's famous 1963 speech-"I have a dream, it is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."
The Contract's provisions are as follows:
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