Sanders Files Permit Request for Huge Rally on Eve of Democratic Convention | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Bernie Sanders’ next signature rally may take place in Philadelphia—the night before the Democratic National Convention.

The Vermont senator’s campaign has applied for a permit to hold an event that will reportedly host between 15,000 to 40,000 people on July 24 at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park. It is one of 10 such pro-Sanders events requesting permission from the Philadelphia mayor’s office, the Burlington Free Press reports.

Sanders spokesperson Michael Briggs said last month that the senator was planning to deliver a “victory statement” in Philadelphia, but said on Wednesday that plans for the rally are still being finalized.

The campaign is gearing up for the convention, where Sanders has promised to bring a floor fight over the Democratic National Committee (DNC) platform after a slew of his proposals—including banning fracking and blocking U.S. Congress from voting on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)—were overruled or watered downduring previous negotiations.

Read more here: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/07/06/sanders-files-permit-request-huge-rally-eve-democratic-convention

Michigan: How to Kill a School District by Reforming It

This alarming article describes the destruction of the Highland Park, Michigan, school district. Once a thriving community, Highland Park suffered as the automobile industry declined. Its schools declined as the community became poorer and blacker. The Highland Park district is more than 90% black. That makes it just right for a state takeover because it does not have political power. So, get ready for the “civil rights movement of our time” to step in, take charge of the schools, and kill off the district.

Diane Ravitch's blog

This alarming article describes the destruction of the Highland Park, Michigan, school district.

Once a thriving community, Highland Park suffered as the automobile industry declined. Its schools declined as the community became poorer and blacker.

The Highland Park district is more than 90% black. That makes it just right for a state takeover because it does not have political power. So, get ready for the “civil rights movement of our time” to step in, take charge of the schools, and kill off the district.

Governor Rick Snyder thought he knew how to fix the ills of Highland Park: He appointed an emergency manager to set its financial house in order in 2012. The emergency manager was an accountant. He also had spent some time working for White Hat, the for-profit charter company in Ohio, which has perfected the extraction of funds from public money for private gain.

The first emergency…

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Once More Unto the Breach — #DemocracyOrBust!

Once More Unto the Breach — #DemocracyOrBust!
by John Laurits
My warmest & heart-felt greetings to you, brothers, sisters, & others — today, I want to write to you about about the beginning of #OurRevolution, which is swiftly approaching. Ah, but before anyone asks me, “Beginning? Hasn’t the political revolution already begun?” I suppose I should explain why I say that the “beginning” is coming. I say “beginning” because, […]

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John Laurits | July 7, 2016 at 12:28 am | Categories: According to Math, Bernie Sanders, news | URL: http://wp.me/p5FXIJ-sP

Required Minimum Distributions and Boomers

(This article originally appeared on Huffington Post 50.)

Boomers will be reaching yet another milestone on July 1: That’s when the oldest ones will begin to turn 70 ½ — the magical age when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says they have to start withdrawing money from their tax-deferred retirement accounts  — their IRA, workplace 401(k) and self-employed retirement plans.

And if this generation of protesters and anti-government activists don’t like ‘dem apples, the IRS is poised to simply swoop down and take half of their annual distribution anyway.

It’s no secret why the IRS is chomping at the bit. For years, boomers’ money has sat in these retirement accounts, tantalizingly out of the IRS’ reach as they accrued tax-deferred earnings.

When retirees reach 70 ½, the IRS sends the bill on those holdings; it’s known as theRequired Minimum Distribution or RMD and it symbolizes the cracking open of the retirement nest egg — sometimes whether you are ready or not.

Here is a short course on what will happen:

http://www.nextavenue.org/huge-milestone-boomers-will-reach-july-1/