Unity needed to fight Arizona budget cuts, racism

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a state budget for 2011 that slashes $1.1 billion from needed social programs, eliminates more state workers and cripples public education and health care.

The budget, which takes effect on July 1, cuts approximately three-quarters of a billion dollars from public education. Additionally, university tuition will increase by 20 percent and the university residence hall rate (dormitory rent) will increase by 7 percent.

The attack on health care is just as severe. The budget tosses 310,000 Arizona adults off of the state’s Medicaid program and completely eliminates the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The S-CHIP, known as KidsCare, provides health insurance for some 47,000 Arizona children. When asked where these uninsured people should go for health care, Brewer callously remarked, “We cannot take care of everybody.” (Arizona Daily Star, March 19)

Brewer included in her budget proposal a one-cent sales tax increase. Lawmakers, seeing taxes as very unpopular in an election year, decided to refer this to voters in a special election scheduled for May 18. If this one-cent sales tax is not implemented, then another $687 million will be slashed from the education budget. This special election is just a sleight-of-hand. Voters will decide if they should suffer by taking a pay cut by handing over more of their wages in the form of taxes or if they should suffer by taking cuts in public education. Neither option is acceptable.

Stop immigrant bashing

While preparing this anti-worker and anti-poor budget, legislators whipped up anti-immigrant racism by introducing a series of bills targeting the Latino/a and immigrant communities. These bills range from outlawing the popular Ethnic Studies education program where Latino/a and Indigenous students learn their history and their culture to allowing police to arrest a person for “trespassing” if that person cannot prove his or her residency. A recent law passed at the beginning of 2010 forces all state employees who work for social service agencies to determine an applicant’s immigration status and report the person to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if the person is undocumented. Failure to do so will result in the state employee being fired.

These laws are designed to terrorize the oppressed communities while confusing and disorienting the white workers who are losing their jobs, their savings and their homes in record numbers. By filling the air with the stench of racism, legislators think they can serve the bosses’ interests: pushing the burden of the economic crisis onto the backs of the workers and poor while keeping everyone divided and fighting against each other.

These racist legislators, their anti-people budget and their immigrant-bashing must be opposed. The cops, sheriffs, and the fascistic Minutemen and the Tea Party, which are allowed to operate openly, must also be confronted and opposed. Solidarity and unity are the keys to stopping this onslaught of budget cuts and bigoted laws. Bringing together all workers, employed and unemployed, regardless of national origin, sexuality, language, religion, or so-called immigration status is imperative.

Arizona is preparing for May Day 2010. On May 1st, solidarity and unity can be shown by joining with those who are fighting against the attacks on education and health care, those struggling against layoffs and foreclosures and by opposing the militarization of the border and the community.