Tag: Organization

CARLISLE, Pa. (WHTM) - As the country mourns the death of President George H.W. Bush - a man many consider one of the most civil and understanding presidents of late - a group of Dickinson College students is trying to restore civility in politics through a new organization they formed as part of a class. They call it "A House United: Rebuilding Respect". The name was inspired by the 1858 "A House Divided" speech delivered by President Abraham Lincoln. The group is led by senior Rowan Humphries and freshmen Cammie Charron and Carmen Canino. They hold periodic "Let's Talk" sessions on campus, with all sides represented to discuss hot issues in a safe, respectful and fact-based environment. They say in a time where everyone disagrees and everyone argues feelings and not facts, this type of movement is needed. "We want to bring back discourse that is focused on policy and issues instead of just separating yourselves on two sides of a political spectrum," said Humphries. "We've been really outraged how lately, politics have become so hostile and people just sort themselves into these groups and define themselves by one political identity and they're not talking about issues anymore." Their sessions are open to anyone, not just students.

Disparate bands of truckers turned to the messaging app to organize thousands of drivers in the largest and most effective truckers strike in the nation’s history. “We tried to do this many times before WhatsApp, but it has never been so successful,” said Rutino, who has been driving trucks for 40 years. The truckers strike began in mid-May. They quickly struck a deal to temporarily clear the highways in return for temporary cuts to fuel prices. Eight days into the strike, 87 percent of Brazilians supported the truckers, according to one poll. We had to identify the leadership at the base of the movement, which had been started through WhatsApp,” Da Costa said. Da Costa called these leaders in for a meeting and transmitted their requests to the state governor. The governor struck a deal with the representatives for lower state vehicle taxes and tolls, and mediated an accord with Temer to slash the cost of diesel. WhatsApp has become a depository for outrage against the political elite in a country with 35 political parties, where the line between corruption and compromise can be especially thin. Social networks increase the pressure and allow it to be organized pragmatically,” said Francisco Bosco, a philosopher who wrote a book about social media and political culture in Brazil.

Whether they are police officers, firefighters, teachers, or the public servants of our states, counties, and cities, they depend on the 6,276 public pensions across the U.S. to safeguard their hard-earned money. Together, these funds are tasked with managing trillions of public workers’ retirement savings. Public pension funds are incredibly underfunded. Today, less than one third of public pensions are adequately funded using optimistic actuarial assumptions; no state would be considered adequately funded under market-based measures. States alone are facing at least $6 trillion in unfunded pension liabilities, leaving millions of American public servants in jeopardy. Connecticut, one of the worst states, has an unfunded state pension fund liability of between $30 billion (using optimistic assumptions) and over $100 billion (using more market-based assumptions). Pension beneficiaries deserve to know that their money will be there when they need it. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed to divest nearly $5 billion in fossil fuel stocks from the city’s pension portfolio, which is estimated to cost the city $1.515 billion over the next 50 years.Pension boards in San Francisco and Seattle said no in recent months to similar proposals, understanding that political agendas in pension management ultimately result in decreased returns and hurts workers and retirees. While I was the Connecticut State Treasurer, the state was attacked for holding tobacco stocks, even though those stocks were only included as part of the S&P 500 index fund held in the State pension portfolio. -- Christopher Burnham is the President and Founder of the Institute for Pension Fund Integrity, a non-profit focused on educating beneficiaries and the public on the politicization of public pension funds.