Wednesday, December 12, 2012


by Marta Evry 

In a sign that progressive push-back against Los Angeles Mayor Villariagosa's membership in the right-wing "Fix The Debt" lobbying group isn't abating, activists from MoveOn.org and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee delivered over 21,000 signatures to LA City Hall this afternoon demanding Villariagosa resign from the group's steering committee.
"They call themselves bipartisan because they're able to buy members of both parties," said Richard Eskow, a blogger for the Campaign for America's Future.
"The primary agenda for these folks is to lower taxes for millionaires, billionaires and corporations," he said.
In a scathing Huffington Post article about the Campaign To Fix the Debt's agenda, Eskow was even more blunt, "Let's be clear: This crowd doesn't really care about deficits. It never has. It's an anti-tax group which pursues its goals by fighting to downsize government programs and "reform" the Internal Revenue code. Its natural allies are the Republican Party, the nation's mega-corporations, and billionaires."
Besides MoveOn.org and the PCCC, the Calfornia-based Courage Campaign has also called on Villaraigosa to resign from the group.
"The so-called 'Campaign to Fix the Debt' is nothing more than a front group to protect tax cuts for the wealthy while balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and elderly," said founder Rick Jacobs.  "The fact that Mayor Villaragosa, or any other Democrat that claims to want to protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid, would join this effort is nothing short of shameful....Mayor Villaragosa should resign immediately."
From Calitics. 

Villaraigosa also defended himself in a Facebook posting, saying he supports continuation of the medical and social service programs and wants tax rates on the wealthy to rise. The mayor has been widely mentioned as a potential cabinet member once his mayoral term ends in mid-2013.
Editors note.  Villaraigosa is also an active supporter of the neo-liberal  Democrats for Educational Reform, along with Gloria Romero.  See www.educationdemocracyinstitute.org

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/12/la-mayor-villaraigosa-taking-heat-from-democratic-left.html#storylink=cpy

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