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U.S. Rep. Richard Neal speaks to students at Taconic High School.
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Neal addresses the Rotary Club at Mazzeo's Ristorante.
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Teaching a civics class at Taconic.
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Posing with the Berkshire Children and Families Kids for Harmony program.
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As the keynote speaker at Berkshire Children and Families' annual meeting

Congressman Neal Talks Economics At Pittsfield Events

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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U.S. Rep. Richard Neal speaking with the Rotary Club at Mazzeo's Restaurant in Pittsfield on Thursday afternoon.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — When U.S. Rep. Richard Neal campaigned in the Berkshires, he promised voters he would be back again and again.
 
On Thursday he kept to his word with speaking engagements across Central Berkshire, starting with the Rotary Club's weekly meeting at Mazzeo's Restaurant. There he delivered a keynote address before rushing off to teach John Flynn's American Law class at Taconic High School followed by a meeting with Berkshire Housing Development. He concluded the trip by delivering the keynote address at the Berkshire Children and Families annual meeting.
 
"I made a commitment that I was going to visit faithfully and regularly and we're doing both," Neal said after the long day of stops. "It is also gave me a keen perspective. Visiting those kids a Taconic, that was just terrific for me. Visiting with [BCF] who every day swim against the tide with some of the efforts they make, and not to mention any time you get a chance to talk to the Rotary Club, it's wonderful."
 
At each stop, the member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee focused his discussion on the economy, saying Congress needs to focus on lowering the unemployment rate. He said he is disappointed with the growth of jobs and the unemployment rate is too high.
 
"I think the economy continues to grow, not nearly as fast as we would like it to, but the deficit has gone way down," Neal said.
 
He hopes to trigger the economy by tackling student loans to expand opportunity for college education (saying the unemployment rate for a college graduate is 4 percent compared the a high school dropout at 15 percent), expand community colleges, reduce the national debt, seek energy independence and launch a large infrastructure program.
 
He said the economy is stagnant because Congress under former President George W. Bush passed tax cuts while paying for two wars. He did, however, credit Bush's father for seeking a balanced budget during his presidency.
 
At Taconic, when asked about making tough decisions he pointed to the invasion of Iraq, which Neal voted against. He said it wasn't easy to voice opposition to the war because of temperature of the American people but that was the right decision to make.
 
Nonetheless, he said that when President Bill Clinton passed balanced budgets, that led to the economy "taking off." With more people back to work, the higher the tax revenue increased and the lower expenditures on welfare programs, created surpluses.
 
"Clinton's budgets in '93 and '97 put us on a pretty responsible path of economic growth and, boy, did the economy take off," he said.
 
Neal's economic opinion is to cut taxes for the middle class, which creates the demand for products and in an income bracket that will contribute to sales and other tax revenues more. 
 
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate needs to come down to get people off of social services. But, the "safety net" needs to be in place and funded for those who need it.
 
"People don't quit their jobs to get food stamps," Neal said. "If you want to help the poor, get them a job."
 

Neal taught a class at Taconic High School in the afternoon.
Neal believes that the wealth is becoming too concentrated and while he emphasized he believes the richest Americans deserve their wealth, but increasing their fortune doesn't do as much for the country overall.
 
"Income disparity in America has become a big issue," Neal said. 
 
When asked about student loans, Neal said he believes those, too, are becoming a "drag on the economy." He said more and more students are moving back home with their parents because the tuition are too high, which reduces opportunities for career growth and reduces the money they spend.
 
He said Democrats need to take some blame on rising student debts because while the party has also pushed for more student aid, the schools have raised tuition.
 
One idea, he said, is to base the loan payback amount on income, thus increasing or decreasing the period of time the loan is to be paid back. 
 
He is also focusing on tax reform to simplify the code and help reduce the $160 billion a year Americans pay to be compliant with taxes. 
 
"I am in the middle of tax reform, fundamentally. I've been on the Ways and Means Committee for a long time and I think the tax system has no become one that is an obstacle to economic growth," Neal said. "It has not really been altered since 1986 and I think there has been an array of changes the world has witnessed — not the least of which is the Internet with greater efficiencies, greater productivity and greater opportunity for individual entrepreneurs."
 
He hopes to build more tax incentives for new, modern businesses. Because of increased productivity, fewer employees can do more so there needs to be more opportunities for businesses, he said. He also said there are companies who have thousands of pages of tax documents to fill out each year and that needs to be simpler.
 
"Making that code more simple and making it more efficient ought to be priorities for all of us," he said.
 
Meanwhile, he believes Congress can pass a small budget agreement by mid-December and start the debt ceiling discussions again in January. He said immigration reform will be coming down the pipeline and there is still work to be done with sequestration.
 
"We have the ongoing challenge of what to do with sequestration. I don't think we can unlock sequestration but it can be modified on the edges," he said.
 
But there is a problem in Congress with having "adult" conversations and that is extremism. But, he said, that number is small — only 42 members of the House are the most extreme and furthering partisanship. Meanwhile, "mainstream media" is fueling the fire by focusing on conflict instead of explaining issues.
 
"There was a time when I think reasonable people get through this," Neal said.
 
Now, he said, there is no "Southern Democrats" or "Northeast Republicans" to help balance the debate. Neal told Taconic students he considers himself a centrist Democrat.

Tags: Congress,   congressman,   Neal,   Taconic High,   

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Simon's Rock Awarded Freedom to Read Grant

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Bard College at Simon's Rock was awarded a Freedom to Read Grant by the Newburger Schwartz Family Foundation. 
 
The grant was awarded to support the Alumni Library and Bard Queer Leadership Project in building a more robust collection of queer scholarship, starting a Queer Book Club, and hosting Drag Story Time events in partnership with Drag Story Hour of the Berkshires.
 
According to a press release:
 
In response to current educational threats with book bans affecting schools and libraries across the country and further proposed legislation against LGBTQ+ people's access to basic rights and education, Simon's Rock is actively seeking to create inclusive and equitable spaces for queer individuals. 
 
The Bard Queer Leadership Project and Alumni Library will utilize the grant funding to expand the library's current collection of queer books in order to fully enable the longevity of the Queer Book Club and the Bard Queer Leadership Project. The Queer Book Club will be an intergenerational space, open to local middle school students through rainbow seniors and will partner with local community organizations, to discuss queer books and learn about LGBTQ+ issues and experiences. Bard Queer Leadership Project students will eventually help lead this initiative as part of their leadership project training. 
 
The Queer Book Club will host their first meeting on April 6 at 3:00 p.m. at the Alumni Library, with following meetings on April 27 and May 11. This semester, the selected books are "Obie is Man Enough" and "He/She/They," both by Schuyler Bailar, inspirational speaker and first openly transgender NCAA Division swimmer, who was a guest speaker in the inaugural Queer Leaders Vision Forum in fall 2023 at Simon's Rock. Schuyler Bailar will return to campus for a book signing and pool party at the Kilpatrick Athletic Center on April 19 at 7:00 p.m. Participants in the Queer Book Club will receive a free copy of either book of their choice. 
 
The first Drag Story Time will be on Saturday, March 30 at 2:00 p.m. at the Simon's Rock Alumni Library and is open to all LGBTQ+ affirming individuals. The event is in partnership with Drag Story Hour of the Berkshires with local drag queens JV and Poppy DaBubbly. The second Drag Story Time will be Saturday, April 27 with drag queen Poppy DaBubbly and drag king Sativo Green.
 
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