Dear Brothers and Sisters, Adjusting for inflation, working- and middleclass Americans made more in the 40s,

50s and 60s than they have since. They were secured retirements after years of service to their employers. They sent their kids to college, and they proudly parked shiny new American cars in their driveways. Companies believed that when they did well, their workers should do well. Average Americans held government accountable for things they valued, and they organized against war, for equality regardless of race or gender, for consumer protection and for the environment. Unions and collective bargaining extended that collective and democratic voice into the workplace. It was a different America than the one we see today. Then came the Powell Memo, economics and deregulation. the Carter Congress, trickle-down

Beginning with Powells memo in 1971, corporate America realized that with a few million dollars thrown into the political arena, they could increase profits by the billions. But they stopped sharing those profits with workers. In the name of efficiency, those laying off the most workers were often also holding onto the most money. They attacked our unions, replaced safe retirement pensions with 401(k)s, hoarded corporate holdings, outsourced our work, ballooned executive pay, and made fortunes off gambling with the common mans money. With a few bucks spent on the right ads, bills and candidates, theyve convinced us time and again to vote against our own interests, turning against each other while they slowly crush our democracy, the final outcome of which may be a one-party system ruled by the wealthy. In fact, Citigroup recently issued a memo to their wealthiest constituents, describing America as a plutonomy, powered by the wealthy few. They predict even more income inequality, and that the wealthy will benefit disproportionately from globalization at the expense of labor. Once in, unions will be crushed, safety nets dismantled, public services gut, and education diluted all in the name of trickle down economics and the myth of a benevolent 1%. The negative trajectory of our nation is not four years old, but forty. Before you vote tomorrow, I hope each of you thinks about what REALLY got us here- to an America short of the potential it showed decades ago, now divided by class, distracted by sensationalism in the media, and exploited by the very people who offer you salvation if you let them do it just one more time. The candidates on the back of this letter have been endorsed by NYSUT because of what their work means for education and the working and middle classes. I hope that youll support them with your vote.

If I dont see you after Tuesday, its because Ive moved to Canada. (Yes, it may just come to that.) In solidarity, Richard

Endorsements Election 2012 United States Senate Kirsten Gillebrand House of Representatives Congressional Districts 1. Tim Bishop 2. Steve Israel 3. Carolyn McCarthy NY State Senate Senate Districts 1. Kenneth P. LaValle 2. No Endorsement 3. No Endorsement 4. Ricardo Montano 5. No Endorsement 6. No Endorsement at this time 7. No Endorsement 8. No Endorsement 9. No Endorsement NY State Assembly Assembly Districts 1. No Endorsement 2. No Endorsement 3. Dean Murray 4. No Endorsement 5. Al Graf 6. Philip Ramos 7. Christopher Bodkin 8. No Endorsement 9. Joseph Saladino 10. Joseph Dujmic 11. No Endorsement 12. Andrew Raia 13. Charles Lavine 14. David McDonough 15. No Endorsement 16. Michelle Schimel 17. No Endorsement 18. No Endorsement 19. No Endorsement 20. Harvey Weisenberg 21. Jeffry Friedman 22. Michaelle Solages