ON TAX DAY, WESTERN NEW YORKERS CALL ON CORPORATIONS TO PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE

April 18, 2012

Nearly 200 community activists and outraged taxpayers gathered outside of the US Post Office on William Street in Buffalo, to call on corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. While billions of dollars are wasted in tax subsidies and corporate giveaways, important public services like our post offices—including the one on William Street--are slated to close because of lack of funds.



“Corporations like National Fuel and Verizon that are making record profits, paid Zero dollars in taxes last year,” said Sara Gordon, lead organizer for PUSH Buffalo. “In some cases, corporations are actually receiving a rebate of millions of dollars from the federal government.”



Erika Davis, an 1199 Delegate at Sheehan Health Networks explained what is at jeopardy for Buffaloians by giving away tax breaks for the rich. “I have worked at Sheehan health networks for the past four and a half years. Sheehan health networks will close its doors on May 31, and all of its employees will be unemployed and searching for new jobs . Even worse, our patients, will lose access to health care.



“The closing of Sheehan Health networks is a huge blow to the residents of the east and west side of Buffalo,” said Davis. “The inner city has seen four nursing homes, and numerous health care centers close. Because of the baby boom generation, we have a higher aging population than ever before. We are facing healthcare crisis’s in diabetes, heart disease, cancer, HIV and AIDS, and the list goes on! We don’t need less access to healthcare, we need more, We have seen Medicaid and Medicare funding slashed over and over again. In the healthcare industry alone, Buffalo has lost nearly 1,000 jobs. While they claim, there is no money for healthcare, they give tax breaks to the wealthy. That’s not right.”







Each year, working people pay their taxes, and help to keep vital services available to our community. But New York State isn’t getting enough revenue in and won’t until the wealthy 1% and corporations to pay their fair share in taxes too.



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Thousands of taxpayers participated in similar Tax Day press conferences and events all across New York State.



The Fight for a Fair Economy is a coalition of citizens concerned about the direction our economy. Organizations belonging to the coalition include Citizen Action, Coalition for Economic Justice, 1199SEIU, VOICE Buffalo, NOAH, WNY-ALF, PUSH Buffalo, CBTU, NYSUT, NAACP, CSEA, ASFME and many more.