September 2014 - The Staten Island Democratic Association

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September 2014
Staten Island Democratic Association
est. 1961 as Staten Island’s reform Democratic Club
www.sidems.org
At our Next Meeting:
 Lauren George
speaking against the
Constitutional Amendment for Redistricting
 Immigration Reform
Position Paper
Tuesday, September 16, 2014, 8:00 P.M.
40 Bay Street, 718-720-4442
S.I.D.A. Banquet
Thursday, September 18, 2014, 7:00 P.M.
(see page 14)
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S.I.D.A September 2014
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Editorial Policy
Items for publication must be submitted to the newsletter no later than the last Friday of the month
before the meeting. Please send items to: [email protected].
Unless explicitly stated, the views herein are those of the authors and not of S.I.D.A.
Chris Bauer, Editor
(917) 576-9248
Table of Contents
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S.I.D.A.President’s Statement .................................................................. 3
Common Cause NY ................................................................................. 4
Immigration Reform Position Paper ......................................................... 6
Lettters ..................................................................................................... 8
Thank Yous............................................................................................ 10
PASI People’s Climate March ................................................................ 12
Make Food Not War Dinner ................................................................... 13
S.I.D.A. Banquet .................................................................................... 14
People’s Climate March ......................................................................... 16
Recchia Fundraiser ................................................................................. 17
Democratic Gala .................................................................................... 19
Upcoming Meetings ............................................................................... 23
Join/Renewal Form ................................................................................ 23
“I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as
necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical.”
- Thomas Jefferson
1787
S.I.D.A. Executive Committee
President ....................... Tom Shcherbenko
Member at-Large ......................... Roy Moskowitz
Vice President ..................... Joann Olbrich
Ex Officio ........................... Michelle Akyempong
Executive Secretary............. Mark Herman
Ex Officio ...................................... Dennis Brown
Corresponding &
Ex Officio .......................................... Gary Carsel
Recording Secretary ............. Marie Dwyer
Ex Officio .................................. Paul Cinquemani
Treasurer .......................... Bonita Rothman
Ex Officio ...................................... Belinda Dixon
Social Secretary .......................... Liz Price
Ex Officio ............................. Rosemarie Mangano
Member at-Large ..................... Carl Chew
Ex Officio ................................... John Mastellone
Member at-Large ................... Susan Chew
Ex Officio ............................... Richard McMahon
Member at-Large .................... Bobby Digi
Ex Officio ....................................... John Sollazzo
Member at-Large ..................... Mary Kain
S.I.D.A September 2014
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S.I.D.A. President’s Statement
September 2014
J
ustice for all. Can you make a more American statement?
Last month I was privileged to participate in the March for Justice, which focused on the
death of Eric Garner. Scores of SIDA members took part -- including several previous club
presidents -- many with organizations such as NAACP, Peace Action, 49 Strong or with their
unions: 1199SEIU, the UFT, the Transport Workers Union, New York State Nurses Association;
and our newest executive board member, Bobby Digi, served as a marshal.
Marching alongside me under our club banner was our candidate for Assembly (64th district)
Marybeth Melendez, and we were gratified to see attendance by elected officials from all over,
including City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.
Everyone at the rally was enthralled listening to Governor David Paterson and Councilmember
Jumaane Williams recount their own unfortunate experiences with the police, and cheered when
Councilmember Laurie Cumbo sent greetings from Debi Rose, who was in the hospital that day.
And despite this remarkable demonstration in support of justice for all -- our school children
repeat that phrase every morning – we were criticized by the Staten Island Advance. An Advance
editorial made the outrageous assertion that we demanded “that the police officers involved should
be indicted, tried and sentenced immediately.” This is not only untrue, but is a strange contrast to
the reality that the march took place over five weeks after Mr. Garner’s death – and in that time the
only action taken was the modification of one officer’s responsibilities. (Several people have heard
that the officer was suspended or assigned to ‘desk duty,’ but those statements are incorrect.)
The Advance embellished this fabrication by claiming that UFT President Michael
Mulgrew’s appeal for "supporting the community" meant “insisting police officers be arrested,
tried, convicted and punished in rapid fashion, regardless of due process.” Once again, it is hard
to understand how a march five weeks after an incident is a call for anything rapid or ignoring
due process. Considering that a man died needlessly, doesn’t it show a lot of restraint to wait
over a month before making a public request for an investigation?
Sadly, too many well-intentioned people believed the lies and never heard the truth. The
myth that the march was “anti-police” spread despite the fact that the marchers were so cordial to
the police, and vice versa, that there was not one single arrest or altercation. Many of us who
have attended similar marches (and parades) can attest that there are usually at least a handful of
arrests for disorderly conduct (or worse) -- as Jumaane Williams personally experienced in the
2011West Indian Day Parade, when he was handcuffed and detained.
(I also found it curious that the Advance singled out Michael Mulgrew’s participation and
never questioned why George Gresham, 1199SEIU President, was also a prominent speaker and
organizer. I’ll leave that to your imagination.)
Let’s make sure that every time an accusation is made against us that we counter with facts.
We should also remember that when we hear a remark that sounds fabricated our response
should be, “Where did you hear that?” or “What makes you think that’s true?” This will
encourage dialog and possibly persuade people.
Justice for all. One of the goals that our club fights for every day.
Sincerely,
Tom Shcherbenko
President
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S.I.D.A September 2014
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Common Cause NY
Lauren George of Common Cause NY will be a guest speaker at our September 16 General
Membership Meeting laying the case against the redistricting constitutional amendment. She
sent the following for publication in our newsletter, including a request to have the club sign on
against the amendment.
T
here will be a Constitutional Amendment for Redistricting on the ballot this November, and
Common Cause NY is grateful for the opportunity to speak with your club on 9/16 about
why we are urging the public to VOTE NO on this counterfeit reform.
New York’s current redistricting system is fundamentally unfair. But instead of offering
meaningful redistricting reform, this amendment makes cosmetic changes that threaten to lock in
Republican party control for the foreseeable future. This proposal creates a Redistricting
Commission that is not independent and not impartial, subject to partisan gridlock, and whose
lines can be rejected by the
Legislature.
The
plan
defaults to allowing the
Legislature to draw their
own lines and continue to
rig election results. There
are also special voting rules
which change based on
political control of the
legislature. This is a sneaky
power grab cloaked as
reform by the Republican
party afraid of losing its
leadership position due to
demographic trends.
Redistricting
is
a
fundamental issue that will
determine political power
and what we can get passed
in Albany for decades to
come. I look forward to
meeting you.
Thank you,
Lauren George
Associate Director
Common Cause New York
Holding Power Accountable
212-691-6421
[email protected]
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S.I.D.A September 2014
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Common Cause NY Sign-on Form
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S.I.D.A September 2014
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Immigration Reform Position Paper
The following position paper on immigration reform was drafted by the Issues Committee and
will be presented at the September 16 General Membership Meeting.
Immigration Reform
very American who ever lived, with the exception of one group [Native Americans], was
either an immigrant himself or a descendant of immigrants” John F. Kennedy, A Nation
of Immigrants.
“E
A Brief History of U.S. Immigration Law.
For almost a hundred years, our nation had no restrictions on who could immigrate. It wasn’t
until 1875, a year before we celebrated our nation’s first centennial, that the first immigration
law was passed.
With the passage of the Page Act in 1875 and with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act
in 1882, the United States restricted Chinese immigration.
With the passage of the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of
1924, the United States limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from
any country. In 1924 a country’s quota was based on 2% of each foreign-born group living in the
United States in 1890. The law cut the quota for northern and western European countries by
29%, but slashed that for southern and eastern Europe by 87%. Italy's quota was reduced from
42,057 to 3,845 persons. Germany’s quota was set at 51,227, Great Britain’s at 34,007 and
Ireland’s at 28,567. The law did not apply to Mexico because the U.S. relied on Mexican
immigrants as farm workers.
In the 1950s with the passage of legislation such as The Refugee Relief Act and the RefugeeEscapee Act the U.S. opened the country to those immigrants coming from war-torn Europe and
those fleeing Communism.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the national origins quota system
and replaced it with a preference system that focused on immigrants' skills and family
relationships with citizens or U.S. residents. Europe, which had accounted for 50 % of U.S.
immigration during the prior 10 years, fell to 10%, while Asian immigration went from 8% to
41%. The law also ended the Bracero Program, which had provided the U.S. with hundreds of
thousand s of Mexican farm workers each year during the 1950s through 1964.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986), signed into law by President Reagan,and
the Immigration Act of 1990, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush,established the
country’s current immigration law. The 1986 law for the first time made it a crime to knowingly
hire a worker who is not in the country legally. All previous immigration laws restricted who
could legally immigrate to the U.S. although they did not make it a crime to hire a worker who is
not in thecountry legally. However the law did not provide real enforcement mechanisms to hold
employers accountable for the hiring of workers not in the country legally.
The law granted lawful residence status to nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants who
were in the country prior to January 1, 1982. The 1990 law increased the legal immigration limit
from 500,000 to 700,000.
S.I.D.A September 2014
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Staten Island Democratic Association’s Position on Immigration Reform
This paper uses “undocumented” to refer to immigrants who are unlawfully in the U.S. and
“unauthorized” to refer to immigrants not authorized to work in the U.S.
It is estimated that there are over 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. They
account for less than 4% of our country’s population. A quarter of the undocumented immigrant
population lives to California, Texas is second at a 15% and New York is fourth at 5%. Arizona
is ninth at 3%. Mexicans account for almost 58% of the undocumented immigrant population.
Undocumented immigrants from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and
Honduras account for another 14%.
It is estimated that 1.8 million of the undocumented immigrants, about 16%, were under the
age of 16 when they came to the U.S. There are an estimated 4 million children with U.S.
citizenship who have a least one parent who is undocumented.
It is estimated that in 2010, unauthorized immigrants paid $10.6 billion in state taxes
(income, property, sales and excise). In New York State, unauthorized immigrants paid over
$744 million in state taxes. Some unauthorized immigrants pay FICA and Medicare taxes by
using an invalid social security number or a Tax Identification number.The Social Security
Trustee’s report estimates that as of 2010 unauthorized immigrants contributed about $12 billion
to the trust fund.Unauthorized immigrants contribute billions to the Medicare Trust Fund
although Illegal immigrants are not eligible to collect social security or Medicare. Some
unauthorized immigrants alsopay federal income tax.
Studies have come to different conclusions regarding whether or not undocumented
immigrants contribute more in taxes than they receive in benefits. A July 2013 study by the
Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy found that authorizingundocumentedimmigrants to
work legally in the U.S. “…would increase their state and local tax contributions by an estimated
$2 billion a year.”
The current immigration system is structured so as to provide businesses with ways to avoid
complying with the prohibition of hiring unauthorized immigrants. An employer does not have to
keep copies of documents presented by a job applicant to establish authorization to work in the
U.S. Although the government has a computerized system (E-Verify) that allows businesses to
verify the social security number of job applicants, its use is voluntary.
While the media focuses on the Mexican border, undocumented immigrants have used and
continue to use other means to enter the country. On June, 6, 1993 the Golden Venture with 286
undocumented immigrants from China ran aground off Rockaway Beach. Undocumented
immigrants have been found at the nation’s ports in shipping containers. In 2006 it was estimated
that 40% of the undocumented immigrants had come into the country legally and then overstayed
their visa.
With almost 58,000 miles of coastline in the continental U.S., with over 300 ports, with a
border of almost 4,000 miles between Canada and the U.S.(Not including Alaska) and a border
of over 1,900 mile between the U.S. and Mexico,as long as we have an immigration system that
allows businesses to avoid compliance, there will be jobs to attract undocumented immigrants.
S.I.D.A September 2014
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S.I.D.A. supports comprehensive immigration reform that includes the following:
1) To close the loopholes that allow businesses to avoid complying with our immigration law,
the Staten Island Democratic Association (S.I.D.A.) supports requiring businesses to keep copies
of documents submitted by employees to establish authorization to work in the U.S. and supports
mandating businesses use the E-Verify system.
While our immigration law should prevent the hiring of unauthorized immigrants, it should
not restrict businesses from filling positions that can’t be filled with
American citizens. It is estimated that today 79% of our farm workers are foreign born and that
53% of them are unauthorized. Nor should it prevent the country from attracting those with
advanced degrees and specialized skills.
2) S.I.D.A. supports a Visa system that meets the needs of businesses while protecting American
workers.
3) S.I.D.A. supports a path to citizenship. Those who have entered the country under an
immigration system that benefited businesses should be allowed to remain in the country while
they go through the citizenship process and if they meet all the criteria, be awarded citizenship.
4) We Americans place a high value on family. S.I.D.A. therefore supports immigration reform
that keeps families together. We oppose deportations that split up families and we support
allowing those granted a path to citizenship to bring their families to the U.S.
5) Finally S.I.D.A supports making those brought into the country before the age of 16 eligible
for student-aid. We believe that this is an investment in the future because those who obtain a
college degree earn more and are therefore in a better position to contribute to our economy.
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Letters
We in S.I.D.A. like to make our views known. The following are some of the letters written by
S.I.D.A. members that have appeared in print. Unless otherwise indicated, all letters were in the
Staten Island Advance and/or posted on the Advance’s website www.silive.com. Unless explicitly
stated, the views herein are those of the authors and are not the views of S.I.D.A.
On-line August 27, 2014
Printed August 31, 2014
Recchia Will Defend the Rights of Women
support Domenic Recchia for Congress, because the women of the United States and their
families deserve to have a congressman who respects the rights of women, and protects them
from discrimination and injustice. Domenic Recchia has demonstrated that we can depend on
him to do just that.
His opponent, Congressman Michael Grimm, has an abysmal record on women's issues. A
half century after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women still make only
I
S.I.D.A September 2014
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around 77 cents for every dollar that men make – and Grimm voted against
consideration of the Paycheck Fairness Act, that would redress this
injustice.
Grimm repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood, in many parts
of the country the only source of affordable family planning and cancer
screenings. He also voted to deny affordable health care to seniors and
low-income women, voting to replace Medicaid with a block grant, and to
slash funding for WIC, a program that provides nutrition for pregnant
women, infants and children.
Grimm voted against protections for victims of domestic violence,
even voting against reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
The women of the 11th Congressional District cannot afford Grimm in
Congress, voting against our interests.
- Joann Olbrich
On-line August 19, 2014
Printed August 31, 2014
Rep. Grimm Does Not Deserve to be Re-elected
It is a sad thing to be embarrassed and humiliated by one's congressional representative.
Staten Island has distinguished itself in many ways, most recently by the number of brave
men and women lost on 9/11. Our present congressman is not among the honorables.
He is a member of a political party whose record today is that it has produced the two least
productive congressional sessions in history. His party takes pride in tearing down honorable
people, in blocking citizens from voting, in cutting funding that feeds poor children, in working
half time while taking full salary, in threatening the credit of the nation, in providing the nation
with a long list of misogynistic statements and actions, in wasting
taxpayer money and time.
We voters do not expect perfection but we do expect that our
representatives
not
threaten
members of the press with
physical harm. We expect a
reasonable level of truthfulness, a
willingness to compromise on
legislation for the benefit of the
nation, honorable behavior, not
whining
or
bad
mouthing
opponents.
Mr. Grimm's words and actions in the public arena do not merit his re-election. He is a major
embarrassment to the district, his protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.
- Bonita Rothman
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S.I.D.A September 2014
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Thank Yous
Thank you S.I.D.A. for an unexpected and most
appreciated surprise birthday celebration [at
our August Meeting]. Thank you to Jay, Chris and
Joann for all the nice things you said and read
about me. Thank you also to all the un-named
members who provided the cake and the enormous
card with its beautiful sentiment. It was an
event I will long remember and cherish. Thank
you
- Oran Brown
S.I.D.A September 2014
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Deluxe Butterfly Garden from Moravian Florist
Tom,
Thank you and all of the wonderful members of S.I.D.A.
for the beautiful flowers. They brighten up my hospital
room and my spirits. They are truly lovely.
- Council Member Debi Rose
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S.I.D.A September 2014
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Peace Action of Staten Island People’s Climate March
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Peace Action of Staten Island Make Food Not War Dinner
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S.I.D.A. Banquet
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People’s Climate March
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Recchia September 30 Fundraiser
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S.I.D.A September 2014
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October 23 Democratic Gala
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September 16, 2014
, 2014
General Meeting
8:00p.m.
Karl’s Klipper, 40 Bay Street
 Lauren George, Common Cause NY,
speaking against redistricting reform
constitutional amendment
 Immigration Reform Position Paper
General Meeting
8:00p.m.
Karl’s Klipper, 40 Bay Street
 Speaker TBD
 Nominating Committee Election
It’s Time to Join or Renew Your S.I.D.A. Membership!
To become a member, renew membership, or make a donation, call Bonita Rothman at (917)
596-3724, or complete and return the coupon. Voting privileges begin 45 days after joining.
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