We think people have rights: the right to access services for their children, the right to housing and the right to an education. We encourage New Yorkers to join in resisting this latest round of budget cuts. 

Capitalism means Budget Cuts! If you do not believe this, take a look at Mayor Bloomberg’s 2013 City budget proposal. Bloomberg, a representative of the 1%, insists on slashing education and housing programs for those who need it most while encouraging the development of upscale housing for the rich! He continues, privatizing and passing off the budget deficit to working people. Three of the cuts, in particular, show how the 1% continues to punish the working class and poor for an economic crisis the rich created.
1) Over 47,000 childcare slots will be terminated
2) $7 Million dollars will be slashed from homeless youth programs
3) All funding for Adult Education programs will be eliminated
Bloomberg is proposing to close more than 47,000 after-school and childcare slots because of the “fiscal realities.” The social realities this will create were documented by the Campaign for Children which surveyed parents who most likely will be affected by the cut. 33% said that they would have to quit their jobs in order to care for their displaced children, 21% said they would try to find a relative to care for the child and another 16% said they would have to leave their child home alone.
Runaway and Homeless Youth will also face Bloomberg’s wrath. The City currently only has 10% of the beds needed to house these young people. The Mayor is proposing to slash an additional $7 million dollars from these services – 60% of the current funding line! The cuts will devastate youth shelters at time when homelessness among all youth, and especially LGBT youth, is on the rise.
Cuts are also slated that will gut the City’s Adult Education programs. The Mayor is currently proposing $0 in Adult Education funding for 2013 Р a 100% decrease! Adult Education services include English for Speakers of Other Languages and GED Preparation classes. These programs are utilized by thousands of low-income New Yorkers. The cuts will eliminate 7,000 seats in Adult Ed programs and force community-based organizations to rely entirely on private foundation funding.
It is clear that children in after-school programs, homeless youth and Adult Education students were not responsible for the economic crisis of 2008. Yet, pro-capitalist politicians like Bloomberg will defend the rights of banks and corporations to profit, regardless of the damage they do to our society.
Socialists have a different idea about rights. We think people have rights: the right to access services for their children, the right to housing and the right to an education. We encourage New Yorkers to join in resisting this latest round of budget cuts. This can be done by connecting to one of the groups fighting against each individual cut and by demanding full funding for all public services.

We also encourage you to consider democratic socialism as an alternative to the politics of capitalism. Socialist politics say that human beings are more important than corporations, that working people should have a democratic voice in their workplace and that the great wealth of this society should make all of our lives better. We welcome you to become a socialist and proudly proclaim that wherever there is oppression there will be resistance!