January 2012

Toward a People's Budget Based on Human Rights - Vermont's Campaign to Put People First
January 31, 2012
The Vermont Worker's Center, in partnership with NESRI, proposes a fundamental shift in the way the state is spending and raising public money. We present a proposal for a new approach to budget and revenue policies, a People's Budget framework, which prioritizes people's needs and is... Keep reading »
Vermont Workers' Center Statement on Health Care Financing and Benefits Debate
January 30, 2012
The Vermont Workers' Center, a long-time NESRI partner, is calling on the Administration in Vermont to implement the universal health care law passed last year in a way that ensures equity in financing as well as provision of comprehensive care. While the law does not prescribe a specific financing... Keep reading »
Picture the Homeless Releases Report: More Vacant Homes in NYC than Homeless
January 27, 2012
Picture for the Homeless (PTH), a partner with NESRI in the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights, released a comprehensive count of New York City vacant buildings and lots that shows there is more than enough permanent housing resources to handle the homelessness challenge.  The... Keep reading »
Putting Our House in Order: Dr. King’s Call for Economic and Social Rights in the United States
January 16, 2012
We have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights, an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society. We have been in a reform movement… But after Selma and the voting rights bill, we moved into a new era, which must be the era of... Keep reading »
Congress & National Housing Advocates Betray Residents with Support & Passage of Inequitable HUD Spending Bill
January 13, 2012
 It is extremely disappointing that Congress has chosen to pass deep cuts to crucial federal low-income housing programs (-3.8 billion).  Yet, perhaps the biggest letdown is, at the same time, the increase in funding for problematic programs that demolish and ultimately lead to the... Keep reading »
Thousands Sign Petition for Human Rights-Based People's Budget, Presented at Opening of Vermont Legislature
January 5, 2012
At the opening day of the Vermont 2012 legislative session, the Vermont Workers' Center delivered a petition for a human rights-based People's Budget signed by over 3000 Vermonters. Members of the Put People First Campaign and representatives from allied organizations assembled in the... Keep reading »
Insurance Companies Profit from Increasing Privatization of Medicaid and Medicare
January 5, 2012
As more people in the United States lose their health insurance or pay higher fees for lesser benefits, insurance companies rake in greater profits than other publicly traded corporations. At the same time, health industry executives have received higher pay increases than executives in other... Keep reading »