People Before Profit blog

Corporate lobbyists drive McCains campaign

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:21:00 +0000

Critics call bus ‘Double Talk Express’

Hustling votes aboard his campaign bus, the “Straight Talk Express,” John McCain spouts clichés at every stop, promising to end “pork barrel” and the “culture of corruption” in Washington if he is elected president.

Sitting at McCain’s elbow on the bus, churning out these platitudes, is Charles Black, head of BKSH & Associates, with 42 corporate clients including Philip Morris, General Motors, JP Morgan, AT&T and United Technologies. Black is so deeply entwined with tobacco companies he is known in Washington as “Mr. Tobacco.”

“Charlie Black is a consummate Republican lobbyist,” said Andrew Wheat, research director of Texans for Public Justice, in a phone interview from his Austin office. Texans for Public Justice is a nonpartisan research group that tracks corporate influence in Texas politics and beyond.

“Given everything John McCain has said about curbing the influence of money,” Wheat said, “for him to make Black one of his closest advisers can mean only one thing: McCain has rechristened the ‘Straight Talk Express,’ the ‘Double Talk Express’.”

In his 2000 presidential election bid, Wheat added, “McCain had his butt kicked by the Republican money machine. So now he has brought that money machine aboard his bus. He is just another politician who will do anything to get elected.”

When The New York Times ran an expose on McCain’s relations with lobbyist Vicki Iseman, it was Charles Black who made the rounds of TV talk shows denouncing the Times for “tabloid journalism.”

Almost lost in the titillation were two letters McCain wrote to the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of Iseman’s client, broadcaster Lowell “Bud” Paxson, urging quick approval of Paxson’s quest to buy a Pittsburgh television station in violation of FCC regulations.

The well-connected Black used BKSH & Associates to cash in on the homeland security consulting bonanza after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was a consultant to Ahmad Chalabi, the CIA-connected Iraqi whose lies about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction promoted Bush’s preemptive war on Iraq. BKSH also coached Eric Prince, CEO of Blackwater USA, before he testified on his mercenary company’s massacre of scores of innocent Iraqis.

Back in the 1980s, Black, then senior partner in the Washington lobbying firm Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, was an adviser to Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. The CIA’s man in Angola, Jonas Savimbi, paid Black $5 million. Black spearheaded the drive that repealed the Clark Amendment barring funds for CIA subversion in Angola. The Reagan administration then gave Savimbi a total of $300 million to sustain UNITA death squads that killed and maimed millions of Angolans.

Black’s partner in the 1980s was Lee Atwater, author of the infamous, racist “Willie Horton” attack ad that doomed Democrat Michael Dukakis’ presidential bid and put the elder George Bush in the White House.

Texans for Public Justice lists Charlie and Judy Black among George W. Bush “Pioneers,” who raised at least $100,000 each in contributions to put Bush in the White House in 2000 and again in 2004.

The Washington Post reported Feb. 22 that during a recent strategy session at McCain’s rustic cabin in Arizona, everyone present “was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried.”

McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm that represents Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon are lobbyists for Dell, Land O’Lakes, UST Public Affairs and Fannie Mae. Black was at the session too.

Many if not all these lobbyists are unpaid McCain “volunteers” who keep in touch with their corporate clients via cell phones as the campaign bus cruises along.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Ohio, charged that corporate lobbyists “have been running their business on the [McCain] campaign bus while they have been helping him.” McCain, he added, “takes their money and has put them in charge of his campaign.”

Arizona Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, a co-chair of McCain’s campaign in Arizona, was indicted on extortion, wire fraud and money laundering charges Feb. 22 for arranging an illegal swap of federal property that netted Renzi’s partner $4.5 million in profits. Renzi raked off $733,000 from the scam.

Back in 1987, McCain was one of five U.S. senators who met with federal regulators to urge them not to intervene to stop banker Charles Keating from using Lincoln Savings and Loan deposits for risky real estate investments. When Lincoln went bankrupt in 1989, it helped trigger the S&L collapse that wiped out billions in savings for millions of depositors. Keating went to jail and the careers of three of the senators were ended.

McCain, son of a U.S. Navy admiral, got off easy, offering pious promises to wage war against corruption. Now the “Keating Five” scandal, like an unwanted ghost, is hovering over McCain’s presidential bid.

greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com

Corporate lobbyists drive McCains campaign

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:06:00 +0000

Critics call bus ‘Double Talk Express’

Hustling votes aboard his campaign bus, the “Straight Talk Express,” John McCain spouts clichés at every stop, promising to end “pork barrel” and the “culture of corruption” in Washington if he is elected president. Sitting at McCain’s elbow on the bus, churning out these platitudes, is Charles Black, head of BKSH & Associates, with 42 corporate clients including Philip Morris, General Motors, JP Morgan, AT&T and United Technologies. Black is so deeply entwined with tobacco companies he is known in Washington as “Mr. Tobacco.”

“Charlie Black is a consummate Republican lobbyist,” said Andrew Wheat, research director of Texans for Public Justice, in a phone interview from his Austin office. Texans for Public Justice is a nonpartisan research group that tracks corporate influence in Texas politics and beyond.

“Given everything John McCain has said about curbing the influence of money,” Wheat said, “for him to make Black one of his closest advisers can mean only one thing: McCain has rechristened the ‘Straight Talk Express,’ the ‘Double Talk Express’.”

In his 2000 presidential election bid, Wheat added, “McCain had his butt kicked by the Republican money machine. So now he has brought that money machine aboard his bus. He is just another politician who will do anything to get elected.”

When The New York Times ran an expose on McCain’s relations with lobbyist Vicki Iseman, it was Charles Black who made the rounds of TV talk shows denouncing the Times for “tabloid journalism.”

Almost lost in the titillation were two letters McCain wrote to the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of Iseman’s client, broadcaster Lowell “Bud” Paxson, urging quick approval of Paxson’s quest to buy a Pittsburgh television station in violation of FCC regulations.

The well-connected Black used BKSH & Associates to cash in on the homeland security consulting bonanza after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was a consultant to Ahmad Chalabi, the CIA-connected Iraqi whose lies about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction promoted Bush’s preemptive war on Iraq. BKSH also coached Eric Prince, CEO of Blackwater USA, before he testified on his mercenary company’s massacre of scores of innocent Iraqis. Back in the 1980s, Black, then senior partner in the Washington lobbying firm Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, was an adviser to Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. The CIA’s man in Angola, Jonas Savimbi, paid Black $5 million. Black spearheaded the drive that repealed the Clark Amendment barring funds for CIA subversion in Angola. The Reagan administration then gave Savimbi a total of $300 million to sustain UNITA death squads that killed and maimed millions of Angolans.

Black’s partner in the 1980s was Lee Atwater, author of the infamous, racist “Willie Horton” attack ad that doomed Democrat Michael Dukakis’ presidential bid and put the elder George Bush in the White House.

Texans for Public Justice lists Charlie and Judy Black among George W. Bush “Pioneers,” who raised at least $100,000 each in contributions to put Bush in the White House in 2000 and again in 2004.

The Washington Post reported Feb. 22 that during a recent strategy session at McCain’s rustic cabin in Arizona, everyone present “was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried.”

McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm that represents Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon are lobbyists for Dell, Land O’Lakes, UST Public Affairs and Fannie Mae. Black was at the session too.

Many if not all these lobbyists are unpaid McCain “volunteers” who keep in touch with their corporate clients via cell phones as the campaign bus cruises along.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Ohio, charged that corporate lobbyists “have been running their business on the [McCain] campaign bus while they have been helping him.” McCain, he added, “takes their money and has put them in charge of his campaign.”

Arizona Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, a co-chair of McCain’s campaign in Arizona, was indicted on extortion, wire fraud and money laundering charges Feb. 22 for arranging an illegal swap of federal property that netted Renzi’s partner $4.5 million in profits. Renzi raked off $733,000 from the scam.

Back in 1987, McCain was one of five U.S. senators who met with federal regulators to urge them not to intervene to stop banker Charles Keating from using Lincoln Savings and Loan deposits for risky real estate investments. When Lincoln went bankrupt in 1989, it helped trigger the S&L collapse that wiped out billions in savings for millions of depositors. Keating went to jail and the careers of three of the senators were ended.

McCain, son of a U.S. Navy admiral, got off easy, offering pious promises to wage war against corruption. Now the “Keating Five” scandal, like an unwanted ghost, is hovering over McCain’s presidential bid.

greenerpastures21212@ yahoo.com

Environmental questions

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:07:00 +0000

DiálogoEcológico De los Redactores de E/La Revista Ecológica

Querido DiálogoEcológico: He estado leyendo sobre los varios festivales verdes que se dan alrededor del país y quiero asistir a alguno y ponerme al día en aspectos medioambientales y productos. ¿Cuáles recomendaría Ud. y cómo se puede uno mantener al corriente acerca de esto? -- Alex, Chicago, IL

No importa si eres un consumidor en busca de productos verdes y de alimentos biológicos sanos, un abogado ambiental que busca similares, o un empresario que quiere “ambientalizar” sus operaciones, es probable que haya un acontecimiento ambiental ideal por ahí para ti.

Uno de los mejores es la Serie de Festivales Verdes, que aparece en un número cada vez mayor de ciudades de los E.E.U.U. cada año y está creciendo a pasos agigantados. Copatrocinado por dos grupos sin fines de lucro nacionales prominentes, Global Exchange y Co-Op America, estas “fiestas con propósito ulterior” reúnen negocios, grupos ambientales y organizaciones de la comunidad trabajando hacia la meta colectiva de “forjar una economía justa, sostenible, inclusiva del ambiente—una economía verde”.

Centenares de miles de gente de todas las clases sociales han participado en estos festivales durante la década pasada para examinar quioscos repletos de exhibiciones, oír expertos, hacer conexiones con gente semejante y para gozar de música, arte, cultura y cocina “ecologista”. En 2008, los acontecimientos ocurrirán en Seattle (el 12-13 de abril), Chicago (el 17-18 de mayo), Washington, C.C. (el 8-9 de noviembre) y San Francisco (el 14-16 de noviembre).

Otro acontecimiento generalmente dedicado al público ecologista es EcoFest, realizado cada septiembre por las dos décadas pasadas en la ciudad de Nueva York. Este acontecimiento gratuito ofrece innumerables demostraciones ambientalistas tanto comerciales como sin fines de lucro, a la vez de discursos por actores y otras personas famosas. Los asistentes al acontecimiento EcoFest de 2008 podrán inspeccionar prototipos de vehículos de energía alternativa, echar un vistazo a un desfile de modas con temas ambientalistas, y participar en talleres de educación ambiental, entre otros eventos.

Un acontecimiento muy educativo es el Festival Anual de Película Ambiental de Washington, CC, que ocurre el 11-22 de marzo este año en la capital de EE.UU. El festival ofrece 115 películas documentales, animadas, clásicas, experimentales, y para niños, mostradas en varias partes de Washington, incluyendo museos, bibliotecas, embajadas, universidades y teatros. La mayoría son gratuitos y muchos incluyen discusiones con los cineastas y/o científicos y líderes ambientalistas.

Muchos festivales ambientales son amplios con respecto a los asuntos cubiertos, pero varios eventos de temática más específica o interempresariales ocurren a través del año también. Para informarse mejor acerca de estos acontecimientos, vaya a la página Green Fairs and Festivals [página verde de ferias y festivales] en el Directorio Ambiental de EcoBusinessLinks. Los ejemplos incluyen el Rodeo de Energías Renovables de Tejas, la Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair [feria para vida sostenible de Rocky Mountain, Colo.], la expo de GreenBuild de Georgia; SolarFest de Vermont, y en Nueva York, el Gran Renacimiento del Río Hudson, en Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., que ha estado levantando fondos para proteger el río Hudson de Nueva York desde las postrimerías de los años 70.

Los eventos ambientalistas ocurren todo el año, pero un gran número tiene lugar en la primavera para coincidir con el Día de Tierra (el 22 de abril). Muchos grupos ambientalistas escolares y locales llevan a cabo celebraciones del Día de la Tierra anualmente. Para encontrar un acontecimiento del Día de la Tierra cerca de ti esta primavera, sencillamente consulta la base de datos gratis en línea de la Earth Day Network [Red del Día de la Tierra].

CONTACTOS: Green Festivals, www.greenfestivals.org; EcoFest, www.ecofest.com; EcoBusinessLinks Environmental Directory, www.ecobusinesslinks.com; Earth Day Network, www.earthday.net.

¿TIENE ALGUNA PREGUNTA SOBRE EL MEDIO AMBIENTE? Diríjala a: EarthTalk (DiálogoEcológico), c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; ó sométala por este enlace: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/; ó mándela por correo electrónico a: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Lea nuestro archivo de columnas pasadas en: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. ** ENGLISH **

EARTH TALK From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I've been reading about various green festivals going on around the country and I want to attend some and get up to speed on environmental issues and products. What are some good ones and how do I stay on top of all the wheres and whens? -- Alex, Chicago, IL

Whether you’re a consumer in search of green products and healthy organic foods, an environmental advocate looking to network, or a businessperson who wants to “green up” operations, there is an environmental event out there for you.

One of the best is the Green Festivals series, which appears in an increasing number of U.S. cities every year and is growing in leaps and bounds in attendance. Co-sponsored by two leading national nonprofits, Global Exchange and Co-Op America, these so-called “parties with a purpose” bring together businesses, environmental groups and community organizations working toward the collective goal of “forging a just, sustainable, inclusive economy—a green economy.”

Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life have participated in these festivals over the last decade to peruse aisles packed with exhibits, hear speakers, make connections with like-minded folks and indulge in green-themed music, art, culture and food. In 2008, events will take place in Seattle (April 12-13), Chicago (May 17-18), Washington, DC (November 8-9) and San Francisco (November 14-16).

Another event geared toward the green-leaning general public is EcoFest, held every September for the last two decades in New York City. This free event also features myriad commercial and nonprofit exhibits and celebrity speakers and performers. Attendees at EcoFest’s 2008 event will get to check out prototypes of alternative energy vehicles, watch a green-themed fashion show and participate in environmental education workshops, among other events.

One very educational event is the yearly DC Environmental Film Festival, which takes place March 11 – 22 this year in Washington. The festival features 115 documentary, feature, animated, archival, experimental and children's films, shown at various locations around Washington, including museums, libraries, embassies, universities and theatres. Most are free and many include discussions with the filmmakers and/or scientists and environmental leaders.

Many environmental festivals are broad with regard to topics covered, but several issue-specific and business-to-business events take place throughout the year as well. To key in to these events, go to the Green Fairs and Festivals page at the EcoBusinessLinks Environmental Directory. Examples include Texas’s Renewable Energy Roundup, Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair, Georgia’s GreenBuild Expo, Vermont's SolarFest, and Croton-on-Hudson, New York’s Great Hudson River Revival, which has been raising funds to protect New York’s Hudson River since the late 1970s.

Green events take place all year long, but a large number happen in the spring to coincide with Earth Day (April 22). Many school and community environmental groups hold Earth Day events every year. To find an Earth Day event near you this coming spring, consult Earth Day Network’s free online database.

CONTACTS: Green Festivals, www.greenfestivals.org; EcoFest, www.ecofest.com; EcoBusinessLinks Environmental Directory, www.ecobusinesslinks.com; Earth Day Network, www.earthday.net.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. ** ESPANOL **

DiálogoEcológico De los Redactores de E/La Revista Ecológica

Querido DiálogoEcológico: ¿Es posible ajardinar mi propiedad en forma ecológicamente sana? Quisiera crear un patio trasero más natural y más amistoso a los animales, pero no quiero arruinarme haciéndolo. ¿Hay incentivos fiscales para realizar tales proyectos? -- Michal Avraham, Olive Branch, MS

Una falsa presunción muy común sobre la adopción de prácticas ambientales en el hogar es que tales resultarán muy caras. Pero si lo es, esto puede ser verdad solamente a corto plazo. Hay ciertamente algunos gastos iniciales para convertir un patio trasero convencional en un espacio más respetuoso del medio ambiente (como cualquier trabajo de paisajismo), pero los dueños de una propiedad deberían recobrar tal inversión dentro de algunos años solamente con ahorros subsiguientes en las cuentas de agua y labores de mantención del jardín.

Los paisajes diseñados con los principios de naturaleza y el habitat de la fauna en mente se refieren a menudo como “paisajes naturales” (o “xeriscapes” cuando requieren poca agua para su mantención).

Generalmente, substituyen la mayoría de las hierbas de césped y en su lugar repueblan el espacio con plantas nativas que son atractivas a la fauna en cuanto se da de alimento o abrigo.

Según el grupo no lucrativo PlantNative, mantener un patio trasero ambientalista puede costar hasta 90 por ciento menos que continuando un paisaje a base de césped tradicional. “Puesto que los paisajes naturales se las arreglan por sí mismos, hay poco o nada de mantenimiento y por lo tanto poco o nada de coste de mantenimiento,” indica el grupo. El césped americano medio cuesta cerca de $700 anualmente para mantener, dice PlantNative, que también precisa que el cortacéspedes medio casero se está utilizado hasta 40 horas al año, el equivalente de una semana completa de trabajo.

Melissa Santiago, investigadora con la Ohio State University [Universidad de Estado de Ohio] que es la autora de una hoja informativa sobre las ventajas de manejar la propiedad para bien de la fauna, no podría estar más de acuerdo: “Mantener un habitat para la fauna u otras áreas naturales puede ser una manera económica de manejar la tierra”, dice ella. Melissa recomienda que los dueños de terrenos con espacio de sobra planten una o más filas de árboles y de arbustos nativos como los así llamados “shelterbelts” (“cinturones de refugio”) que proporcionen un habitat a la fauna y también sombra en el verano (reduciendo así costes de aire acondicionado) a la vez que cubierta en el invierno (se ha demostrado que reducen el costo de calefacción casi un 30 por ciento).

Las rebajas de impuestos para “ambientalizar” tu paisaje residencial son pocas, pero existen. El estado de Indiana ofrece rebajas de impuestos a los terratenientes que convierten un mínimo de 15 acres al habitat de la fauna nativa. Muchos otros gobiernos estatales ofrecen también ayuda similar a los propietarios de terrenos para apoyar el habitat indispensable de la fauna en peligro. Y los municipios a través del sudoeste árido de los E.E.U.U. ofrecen diversos incentivos para los dueños de casa que reducen el uso de agua, ya sea con medios y técnicas de jardinería apropiada u otros enfoques.

Para empezar a convertir tu patio, ponte en contacto con un vivero bien versado en la arquitectura de jardines al estilo nativo, obteniendo así una cierta maestría informal o profesional. Para encontrar un vivero indicado en tu area específica, consulta el directorio gratis en línea de PlantNative sobre viveros especializados en plantas nativas. O, si quieres hacer tu propia investigación, echa un vistazo a la guía en línea gratis de plantas nativas [Native Plant Guide] de la National Wildlife Federation [Federación Nacional de la Fauna] (que cubre los 50 estados de los E.E.U.U.) o la guía para habitats de patios traseros de la Canadian Wildlife Federation [Federación Canadiense de la Fauna]. (La versión impresa está disponible por $19.95, más los gastos de envío).

CONTACTOS: PlantNative, www.plantnative.org; National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org; Canadian Wildlife Federation, www.cwf-fcf.org.

¿TIENE ALGUNA PREGUNTA SOBRE EL MEDIO AMBIENTE? Diríjala a: EarthTalk (DiálogoEcológico), c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; ó sométala por este enlace: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/; ó mándela por correo electrónico a: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Lea nuestro archivo de columnas pasadas en: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. ** ENGLISH **

EARTH TALK From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Is it possible to landscape my property in a green-friendly way? I would like to create a more natural and wildlife-friendly backyard, but I don’t want to break the bank doing it. Are there any tax incentives for completing such projects? -- Michal Avraham, Olive Branch, MS

One common misperception about adopting green practices around the home is that doing so will cost more money. But this may be true only in the short run. There are certainly some up-front outlays to converting a conventional backyard into a more environmentally friendly space (like any landscaping job), but homeowners should be able to make their money back within a few years through savings on their water and yard service bills alone.

Landscapes designed with the principles of nature and wildlife habitat in mind are often referred to as “naturescapes” (or “xeriscapes” when they also require little water to maintain). They usually replace most lawn grass and instead populate space with native plants that are attractive to wildlife for food or shelter.

According to the nonprofit PlantNative, maintaining a green backyard can cost up to 90 percent less than keeping up a traditional lawn-based landscape. “Since naturescapes effectively take care of themselves, there is little or no maintenance and hence little or no maintenance cost,” says the group. The average American lawn costs about $700 yearly to maintain, says PlantNative, which also points out that the average household lawnmower is used upwards of 40 hours a year, the equivalent of a full work week.

Melissa Santiago, a researcher with Ohio State University who authored a fact sheet on the benefits of managing property for wildlife, couldn’t agree more: “Maintaining wildlife habitat or other natural areas can be a cost-effective approach to land management.” She recommends that landowners with room to spare plant one or more rows of native trees and shrubs as so-called “shelterbelts” that provide wildlife habitat and also provide shade in summer (to reduce air conditioning costs) and wind resistance in winter (they have been shown to reduce heating costs by as much as 30 percent).

Tax breaks for greening up your residential landscape are few and far between, but do exist. The state of Indiana offers tax breaks to landowners who convert a minimum of 15 acres over to habitat suitable for native wildlife. Many other state governments offer landowners similar assistance for maintaining habitat for threatened wildlife. And municipalities across the arid southwestern U.S. offer various incentives for homeowners who cut water use, whether through xeriscaping or any other means.

To get started converting your yard over, contact a local nursery well-versed in native landscaping to lend some informal or professional expertise. To find a nursery in your area that fits the bill, consult PlantNative’s free online directory of native plant nurseries. Or, if you want to do your own homework, check out the National Wildlife Federation’s free online Native Plant Guide (which covers the 50 U.S. states) or the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s guidebook Backyard Habitat for Canada’s Wildlife (available in print for $19.95 plus shipping).

CONTACTS: PlantNative, www.plantnative.org; National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org; Canadian Wildlife Federation, www.cwf-fcf.org.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

Letters - Feb. 23, 2008

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:12:00 +0000

Numerology?

It occurred to me that from the end of George Washington’s presidency (1800) to the end of Lincoln’s (l865) is 65 years.

From the end of Lincoln’s to the beginning of FDR’s (1932) is 67 years. From the end of FDR’s presidency (1945) to 2008 is 63 years.

Does it take roughly three generations for our country to make major corrections in its political alignments?

Betty Smith

New York NY

Gay rights

My brother, an electronic engineer, and his life-mate should not have to avoid places in the USA because of homophobia. When will gay people stop being discriminated against? I certainly wonder.

Veronica Ruth Haskin

Via e-mail

Medicaid alert

Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey is considering making all people on Medicaid pay copays and deductibles every time they go to a doctor or hospital. He is also very serious about reducing funding for state programs that help the poor and the disabled. I recently called the governor’s office at 609-292-6000 and voiced my opposition to his plans. What is so incomprehensible is that he refuses to raise taxes on the rich to balance the budget. Instead he would rather take it out of the hides of the poor. This plan to make Medicaid recipients pay out of their limited income (in some cases as small as $40 a week) would bankrupt most. I urge your readers to call the governor’s office and say no to copays and deductibles for Medicaid recipients. His office is keeping a tally of people who are for and against this mean-spirited scheme. If enough people call in and voice their opposition, it will be taken off the table.

Gary De Santis

Via e-mail

Palestine

I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed and appreciated Susan Webb’s article on Palestine (“Collective punishment,” PWW 2/2-8). The level of understanding and empathy has been a long time coming. Thank you for bringing it to our paper.

Carolyn Trowbridge

Tucson AZ

Gas schemes

According to Webster’s dictionary, to conserve means to use less. So one would be reasonable to assume that working people caught in the clutches of this capitalist-induced economic downturn and trying to conserve their resources would be saving money. Right? Wrong! Not if you’re dealing with Peoples Gas.

Citing declining revenues due to lower consumption through conservation by its connected customers, or zero consumption from its 40,000-plus disconnected customers, the utility is calling for an increase in everyone’s bills to fund infrastructure improvement and repair (no mention of its high-paid executives).

A five-member commission ruled in favor of Peoples Gas.

The scheme that Peoples Gas came up with to increase its revenue is a two-tiered fee added to all customers’ bills based on their expected use instead of their actual use! The utilities would have a new baseline fee in months warmer than the average over the previous 12 years. During months chillier than the average, the utility would issue a credit.

Add the reality of global warming and it’s a win-win for Peoples Gas. Use less and you pay more. Since average temperatures are on the increase you would never receive a credit. Of all the schemes hatched by the ruling class to part the working class from its hard-earned money, this is one of the more outrageous. Although the ruling will be appealed, it most likely will not be eliminated, only scaled back. The financial burden for the working class will continue its upward march. Only with real alternatives such as public ownership can working people be freed from these corporate predators. Is it pie in the sky? Just ask the people who got their electricity from Los Angeles County or the Tennessee Valley Authority, outside Enron’s clutches.

Bill Mackovich

Chicago IL

Response on climate change

A reply to Ted Pearson’s letter (PWW 2/16-22):

As I wrote in my article, “advanced nuclear power” was an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change proposal and had some very important caveats, the main one being that it must generate less nuclear waste. Personally, I have my doubts that this is possible with the technology currently available. I also reported some other IPCC proposals that may or may not be feasible under the restrictions capitalism imposes.

While there are things that we can and must do this side of socialism, we need to do all we can to get socialism on the agenda. Will it be easy? No. But we need to ask ourselves, just how much more capitalism and imperialism can our life-support system stand?

Writer Arjun Makhijani sounds utopian. He is certainly free to advocate what he sees as effective measures to take, but market forces and our present capitalist system is what got us into this mess. Can we trust it to get us out? Several European countries have “greened” capitalism to a degree. That has been due to the hard work of communists, socialists and eco-socialists (“Greens”). Capitalists, with their WTO, put up fierce resistance to attempts to control some of the worst features of their system. How does Makhijani propose that we overcome that resistance?

Capitalism is overdue for retirement. It needs to be replaced with something better. We need to start a national dialogue and powerful movement about how we can get there.

Dave Zink

Steilacoom WA

Labor in Virginia

Last week, 250 representatives from the Virginia State AFL-CIO and local affiliates met state legislators to put forth a worker-friendly agenda in one of America’s battleground and most staunchly “right to work” states. The timing was crucial: it occurred just before “crossover,” the point where state Senate and House votes are reconciled. Most of the delegates wore buttons which read “300,000,” the number of union members who voted in the past Virginia election. U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, a staunch “out of Iraq” leader, won his Senate bid by a 5,000-vote margin. That cemented Virginia’s position as a state that is becoming the newest “blue state.” Obama won the Potomac Primary with an overwhelming voter turnout.

Labor presented four primary legislative objectives. Most important was passage of the Payday Lender Bill. Gov. Tim Kaine addressed the assembly, emphasizing the significance of the 2008 election and recent advances of progressive voices in the state Senate and House. Kaine, an early supporter of Obama, and potential short list candidate for the VP position, thanked organized labor for its overwhelmingly successful get-out-the-vote efforts. Edwards’ withdrawal from the race, Kaine’s support for Obama, and the successes of the labor movement and its grassroots allies were topics of downtime discussions among the union reps.

Barry Weinstein

Washington DC

Letters - Feb. 16, 2008

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:55:00 +0000

Re: Climate change, what’s the problem?

David Zink’s thoughtful article falls short in several respects (PWW 1/26-2/1).

First, the solutions he proposes are modest, indeed, and tragically, the first item in his list is “advanced nuclear power,” something that is almost as dangerous as global warming itself, both for its long-term extremely toxic waste products (for which there is no safe disposal) and for its dangerous potential for nuclear proliferation.

Second, the solutions he projects are only hypothetically in conflict with the capitalist system. He states as a given that, “At some point these strategies will bump up against the capitalist-imperialist system. ... The capitalist-imperialist system ... is something we can no longer afford.” This may be obvious to Zink, but it is not self-evident.

Third, Zink states, “It is possible to deal effectively with these environmental problems. Or we can retain capitalism. But we won’t be able to do both.” Well, I guess then we’re really screwed, because unless Zink thinks socialism is on the horizon in the next ten years, we’re out of time.

A far more serious, non-nuclear approach is that outlined by Arjun Makhijani in “Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy.” This scientist lays out a practical plan for achieving zero CO2 emissions and the ending of nuclear power generation by 2050 in a series of practical, provably doable steps based on our current level of technology. Rather than scrapping the capitalist system, Makhijani relies almost entirely on government regulation and market forces in our present capitalist system to achieve his goal.

My criticism of Makhijani’s book is that it minimizes the level of struggle and the amount of time it will take to achieve the programs he charts. He also does not call for the kind of massive public works and infrastructure investment that ultimately will be required because of the slowness of the bourgeois political system to respond.

Many of these measures arguably move us closer to popular political power and socialism, but they do not make revolutionary political change a prerequisite for saving the human race.

Ted Pearson

Chicago IL

Stimulus? Raise corp. taxes

President Bush’s tax cuts and corporate rebates exacerbates the very recession he is trying to prevent.

Anyone who thinks that a corporate tax cut will stimulate investment has never been in the middle of a corporation making a decision on whether or not to invest.

Corporations invest in order to improve their bottom line. Most people would only invest their life savings if they could improve their financial position. For example, if I suggested that you invest $100 because you would get $125 back, you probably would. But if I suggested you invest $100 so that you could only get $75 back, you would NOT invest.

When corporate taxes are high, then tax write-offs are a second way for corporations to improve their bottom line. For example, most people would invest $100 if they only expected to get $75 back when they could save $50 on their income tax.

The savings on income tax makes the investment worth while.

When taxes are cut — or rebated — then tax write-offs disappear. If you pay no taxes, then you can’t get a write-off.

If you don’t get the write-off, then the less profitable or doubtful investment is not made.

Corporate decisions are made by people. The decimal point changes, but the decision making process is the same. Should corporation XYZ open a new branch? Invest in a new product? Do more research? Or hire new staff? Just like you, they would only do this if they get a return on their investment. Corporate write-offs are part of the return.

That means a high corporate tax rate is the only way to get our economy moving. Bush’s corporate tax policy causes the very recession they are trying to avoid.

Jim Harris

Via e-mail

Don’t be so quick

on Halliburton

It is amazing how quick you are to connect Halliburton with some sort of scandal with the Mexican government and PEMEX (“Mexican farmers protest NAFTA hardships,” PWW 2/9-15). The facts, if you were to check them, are that Halliburton has been doing service work for PEMEX for over 50 years. They have been doing this sort of contract drilling work for over five years.

What you also failed to mention is that Schlumberger and several other companies all do the same sort of contract drilling work for PEMEX. Schlumberger did it first. They probably have made more money than Halliburton.

What you also didn’t research before you jumped on the Halliburton conspiracy theory is what the bidding process is for PEMEX. If you had you would have found that it is a pretty rigorous process that is all about PEMEX finding the lowest cost to get their wells drilled. The main driver for PEMEX is the lack of resources to do this sort of work.

My guess is you really don’t care but just wanted to take a stab at Halliburton since it would probably get you some notoriety. Thanks for proving yet again that most “news” organizations have an agenda (liberal or conservative) and don’t really give a crap about real “news.”

Kevin Smith

South Louisiana

Kevin Smith is an engineer with Halliburton.

Flexible ethics

An ad I saw in a Houston paper in 1980 while I was looking for work there might well fit many, if not most, positions of authority in the private as well as public arenas these days. It read: “Help wanted: People with flexible ethics who are really turned on by money.”

I had intended to check this out just to see who and what was behind it. But the very next day I got an offer, which I took, to work for Aerospace at NASA. Interesting experience there but that’s another story.

I’m especially reminded of this ad during political campaign years like this one. The only exception I’m aware of to this ad message and the usual campaign messages is in the person and campaign of Dennis Kucinich.

Dennis, whether you or I live to see it, you have planted some seeds which may someday, when the time is right, bear fruit neither of us can today imagine.

Be well, take care and keep the faith.

Bill Ramsay

Clifton CO

We want to hear from you!

People’s Weekly World 3339 S. Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60608

e-mail:

Letters should be limited to 200 words. We reserve the right to edit stories and letters. Only signed letters with the return address of the sender will be considered for publication, but the name of the sender will be withheld on request.

Cuba, Brazil trade ideas, goods

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:22:00 +0000

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Cuba in mid-January. He and his ministers signed agreements with their Cuban counterparts relating to credit, technical exchanges, trade and energy. On Jan. 15 Lula spent almost three hours with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Visiting Cuba for the second time since becoming president in 2003, Lula recalled that he used to visit Cuba annually. He and Castro first met 28 years ago in Nicaragua. Lula “came from very humble working-class roots and Christian beliefs,” Castro wrote, “and he worked hard creating surplus value for others.”

Lula dated the origin of Latin America’s progress toward unity among left governments and social movements to a conversation with Castro at the 1990 Sao Paulo Forum. Unity is crucial to contemporary revolutionary struggle, Castro responded. It means “sharing in the struggle, the risks, the sacrifices, the aims, ideas, concepts and strategies.” Unity “revolves around the idea of independence and against the empire.”

Castro took the exchange as an occasion to produce a four-part series of ideas on history, threats to human survival, and Brazil’s role in today’s world. The series, in English and Spanish, may be viewed at the Cuban newspaper Granma’s website:

www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/

Castro’s time with Lula developed into a forum at which a preeminent revolutionary leader reviewed past struggles and examined present contradictions. Since his withdrawal from official duties in July 2006, 86 “Reflections of the Commander in Chief” have appeared. Beginning in March 2007, they demonstrate Castro’s remarkable turn toward study and analysis.

Castro sought to update Karl Marx: “New necessities have arisen which could destroy the aims of a society [devoid of] exploiters and exploited,” adding, “No one had even heard about climate change in Marx’s day.”

The Cuban President did acknowledge that he talked more than Lula, because, he said, of seniority. The topics covered included control of scientific knowledge by the wealthy, slavery and sugar production in Cuba, his own “coming to the revolution through ideas,” mistakes of Soviet leadership before and during World War II, Che Guevara, foreign debt, exploitative U.S. monetary policies, the prospect of food shortages and biofuel production.

“You are great food exporters,” he told Lula, noting that Brazil possesses “Thirty percent of the world’s water reserves.” Lula pointed out that to meet the world’s requirements for soy, which necessitate production increases of two percent annually until 2015, Brazil must step up its own production by seven percent annually. Brazil’s Mato Grosso region, once unused, has become the country’s major grain-producing area. Almost half of Brazil’s total acreage has agricultural potential. Lula reported on prospects for establishing agricultural research centers in Ghana, Angola, and Venezuela.

The two leaders discussed relations of both countries with Venezuela, and Brazil’s newly available free university education for hundreds of thousands of young people “on the periphery.” Lula reported that Brazil’s trade throughout Latin America exceeded trade with the United States.

The approach of world leaders to climate change came under scrutiny. Castro cited the book “Mobilizing to Save Civilization” by Lester R. Brown to document what he sees as human survival in grave danger.

At the end, Castro wrote, “We walked together to the exit. The meeting was really worthwhile.” Meanwhile colleagues were gathering elsewhere in

Havana.

Four of Lula’s cabinet members and the head of Brazil’s state-owned oil company joined Cuban First Vice President Raul Castro and other Cuban officials to review bilateral relations and expand trade and financial cooperation. Brazil is Cuba’s second largest commercial partner in Latin America behind Venezuela.

Agreements were signed providing Cuba with $1 billion in credit for food purchases, road building, nickel mining and other projects. Brazil’s Petrobras oil company will be undertaking Gulf of Mexico oil exploration. A joint facility for manufacturing lubricants is planned, and also Cuban technical support for Brazilian soy production.

atwhit@roadrunner.com

U.S. backs Bolivian separatists

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:04:00 +0000

“My immediate thought was ‘Oh my God! Somebody from the U.S. Embassy just asked me to basically spy for the U.S. Embassy.’”

John van Schaick, a Fulbright scholar recently arrived in Bolivia, was reacting to diplomat Vincent Cooper’s request passed on during a mandatory orientation session at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz on Nov. 5, 2007. “I was told to provide the names, addresses and activities of any Venezuelan or Cuban doctors or field workers I come across during my time here,” van Schaick told ABCNews.com.

Cooper delivered a similar request to three new Peace Corps volunteers and their supervisor during a briefing on July 29, 2007. “He said it had to do with the fight against terrorism,” one of them said. A State Department spokesperson admitted that guidelines prohibited casual visitors from being enlisted into political schemes.

Van Schaick carries out his research in Santa Cruz, a separatist stronghold. Cuban doctors are providing free medical care there.

The incidents are symptomatic of stepped-up U.S. efforts to immobilize the government of socialist president Evo Morales through dismembering the country. U.S. money feeds the separatist longings of wealthy right-wing politicians in charge of four eastern departments (or states) containing most of Bolivia’s land and hydrocarbon resources.

Last August, Morales, an indigenous president elected by an indigenous majority, advised diplomats of his predicament. “I cannot understand how some ambassadors dedicate themselves to politics, and not diplomacy, in our country,” he said. “That is not called cooperation. That is called conspiracy.” Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera accused the U.S. Embassy of funding “ideological and political resistance.”

Drawing from declassified documents, , writing in the February Progressive, cites a 2002 USAID message to Washington defining U.S. objectives. “Over the long run,” Washington would “help build moderate, pro-democracy political parties that can serve as a counterweight to the radical MAS.” The reference is to President Morales’ political party, the Movement toward Socialism, or MAS.

After Morales’ electoral win over two years ago by a 54 percent majority, the USAID aspired “to provide support to fledgling regional governments.” In 2006 four secessionist states were awarded “116 grants for $4,451,249 to help departmental governments operate more strategically,” according to a declassified document.

A grateful spokesperson for a right-wing opposition party told Dangl, “USAID helps with the process of decentralization,” and helps too “with improving democracy in Bolivia through seminars and courses to discuss issues of autonomy.” MAS activist Raul Prade claimed that “USAID is in Santa Cruz and other departments to help fund and strengthen the infrastructure of the right-wing governors.”

A left-wing journalist explained that USAID largesse is not confined to powerbrokers. Julio Mamani recalled “a lot of rebellious ideology and organizational power in El Alto in 2003.” Having built a presence there, the USAID stressed “funding and programs on developing youth leadership,” pushing recruits “away from the city’s unions and into hierarchical government positions.”

Dangl learned that in 2006 the Millennium Foundation spent part of the $155,738 it received from the National Endowment for Democracy for a conference in Cochabamba. Panelists there warned of diminished foreign investments as long as underground gas remained under partial state control. Their watchwords were “privatization and corporate control.”

For Pablo Villegas, a writer for , recent reports from the Council on Foreign Relations highlight some of the strategic thinking of U.S. foreign policy gurus intent upon keeping an imperialist thumb on Bolivia.

They would take advantage of cultural and ethnic variations within targeted countries in order to divide regions and population groups. The U.S. purpose, he suggests, is to fragment nations into mini-states, thereby thwarting popular movements for national liberation, control of natural resources, and social justice.

Villegas points out that “the empire cannot do it alone, not without regional allies. It looks to the national oligarchs, offering them participation in the sacking and oppression of land and populations. This is the essence of oligarchic integration in Latin America.”

atwhit@road runner.com

Co-ops transform Venezuela

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:43:00 +0000

For over a decade, an abandoned refilling station owned by Venezuelan oil company PDVSA in western Caracas was a place of death. Community residents said it was a place where women were raped, murdered bodies dumped and drugs used and dealt.

This multi-acre space embodied the fear and hopelessness gripping the surrounding communities during the early and mid-1990s — a time when so-called Venezuelan leaders conspired with the “Washington Consensus” to push neoliberal policies to maintain the continued prosperity of the few at the expense of the masses of Venezuela’s poor.

Since 2004, this space has been transformed from a hopeless wasteland to a place of production, art, sustenance and health. It now represents the hope of a community that has been reborn.

In April 2006 and August 2007, I visited this place, now the Fabricio Ojeda cooperative complex, with other U.S. educators, students and activists interested in experiencing Venezuela’s revolution firsthand.

The Fabricio Ojeda complex includes construction and agricultural cooperatives, a shoemaking factory, a textile cooperative employing some 150 women, and a cooperative producing tourist items that is operated by people with mental and physical disabilities. It also contains a community health clinic and pharmacy developed through Venezuela’s health care mission, Barrio Adentro (Inside the Neighborhood), and a low-cost subsidized grocery store developed through Mision Mercal.

The complex serves the surrounding community and provides hundreds of jobs where the workers control the means of production and profits. Plans for more services are in the works, including a Bolivarian school, a day care center and expanded health services.

Since Hugo Chavez came to power he has emphasized developing programs and policies that re-integrate the poor into the country’s social, political and economic fabric. Many programs, or missions, have been developed to enhance access to education, health care, food and work for Venezuela’s poor.

In 2004, through Mision Vuelvan Caras (Mission About Face), Venezuela began creating community cooperatives by providing communities with space or land, low-interest or no-interest loans for equipment, tax breaks and technical assistance. Since then, tens of thousands of cooperatives have developed. The goal is to empower communities by creating sustainable economic and political power through collective community ownership of resources and the means of production.

We also visited a women’s co-op in the town of Monte Carmelo run by Gaudi Garcia. This co-op uses sustainable, organic agriculture to produce organic crops, breads, canned preserves, and also artwork, to sell. The co-op receives additional crops from surrounding agricultural co-ops, with local communities controlling every aspect of production. As Garcia said, “Because this is owned and operated by and for the community, the decisions reflect community values and are thus natural.” For instance, she said, “in 1998 we started a long struggle, we fought and we got a high school constructed in our community so our young people wouldn’t have to leave from here.”

The cooperatives also help in the spiritual transformation of individuals and groups. “These co-ops are a universal call to love and a way of cooperating socially,” Garcia said, adding that her cooperative has enabled women to organize for more rights and develop a stronger voice in the community. “We are not here to produce children, but ideas. Women have been discriminated against and marginalized and the time has come to make our voices heard.”

The cooperative movement has also experienced difficulties. It has been hard for the government to monitor all the cooperatives that have come online since the explosion of this form of ownership began. Many are poorly designed and quickly fail, while others claiming to be cooperatives do not meet the government’s standards. Instances of fraud leading to theft of government funds have also been reported. But while the system to ensure quality control needs to be addressed, the potential these cooperatives have to transform individuals and communities cannot be denied.

In the run-up to Venezuela’s Dec. 2 vote on constitutional reforms proposed by President Hugo Chavez and the National Assembly, which were defeated by the narrowest of margins, the corporate media largely ignored the proposed reforms like decentralizing power to communal councils, social missions, and other community organizations; shortening the workday from eight to six hours; enabling local municipalities to establish common land and property for their own use; and promoting a diverse and independent mixed economy.

These and other proposed changes, had they been adopted, would have moved Venezuela more firmly toward what Chavez has called “Socialism for the 21st century,” including elements of both socialism and capitalism.

Regardless of the outcome, this transformation has already begun in the hearts and minds of many of the Venezuelan poor as they have found their voice and developed their power during the last decade of change.

Michael A. Mancini is an assistant professor at St. Louis University’s School of Social Work, and a local leader of Jobs with Justice.

Letters - Feb. 9, 2008

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:30:00 +0000

Disappointed on ‘Juno’

Reading the review of “Juno” (PWW 1/26-2/1) I was disappointed to see a couple major issues not addressed.

This movie seems to prove that “well-received and cute” have little to do with the reality of teen pregnancy. The movie itself did not deal with much of the not-so-cute side of teen sex.

First of all, 29 percent of pregnant teens have abortions, 14 percent miscarry, and of the 57 percent who carry to term, less than 1 percent give up the baby.

While Juno may have the baby and get on with life like nothing happened, few women find it that easy. More than 35 percent of women who plan to give up their babies change their mind after the baby is born. Going through nine months of pregnancy, giving birth and then giving up the baby can be the most traumatic experience of a woman’s life.

Another reality missed is that being a pregnant teen stills holds an incredible stigma. It’s not cool to get pregnant, and while most girls aren’t “sent away” anymore, it might be easier on their self-esteem if they were. Look no further than your grocery store checkout to see the criticisms of Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy and some of the words being used to describe her.

My last disappointment is that Juno got pregnant at all, and that she did so simply because she decided to have sex. She and her boyfriend forgot to bring birth control, but had sex anyway. I guess the movie makes a good point, that pregnancy is what happens when you don’t use a condom, not to mention the risks of a variety of STDs.

This movie is a sign of the times, and to me, a perfect representation of the trends of a country with a Roberts-led Supreme Court.

Melissa O’Rourke

Chicago IL

Dialogue

I’m writing to have my name added to the prisoner mailing list to receive a free subscription to your newspaper. Having read it thoroughly, I agree with the political line of your paper. I recently wrote two essays and would like for you to engage in a dialogue around the issues.

I’m convinced that there has to be an infusion of new blood and a practical vision for what we see as the needed change for us as the misrepresented and oppressed.

Don’t hesitate to initiate the dialogue.

Khalfani Malik Khaldun

(Leonard McQuay)

Carlisle IN

Editor’s note: We invite readers to donate to our prisoners’ subscription fund. For more information, contact subs@pww.org.

Goodbye to Utah as we know it?

Utah is home to some of the most gorgeous, remote and serene rocky landscapes in the country. But, right now, 11 million acres of public land in Utah’s red rock canyon country are at immediate risk. A sharp increase in off-road vehicle use, and sprawling oil and gas development, threaten some of our nation’s most stunning wilderness and wildlife.

The Bush administration is practically tripping over itself to push forward development plans before Congress acts to protect these areas for good.

Unless we act now to protect its legacy, vast areas of our country’s natural treasure will be lost forever. I took a moment to send an important message, and I hope you will, too!

Just go to action.wilderness.org to take action.

Gary De Santis

Via e-mail

More on ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’

In his review of this film (PWW 1/12-18), Paul Hill makes several good points. I saw an additional and predominating factor. We are given a picture of all-pervading sleaze in Washington, but it is all justified by the atrocities allegedly committed by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, specifically, mass bombings of civilians. Elsewhere in the same PWW issue, Norman Markowitz points out that the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto is related to events in Afghanistan, consequences of overall U.S. government Cold War policy.

What I feel needs more emphasis is that for decades our government supported, with our tax money, anything and everything in the world which was anti-Soviet, no matter how degenerate. Who created the Hussein monster, the Bin Laden monster and numerous others? Who overthrew numerous democracies and replaced them with fascist regimes?

Such Frankenstein monsters have a tendency to run amok and turn against their creators. Instances include Sept. 11, as Hill indicates. In an earlier era, it included those in high places in this country who supported the Third Reich, for the same reason — anti-Sovietism — and we know what that led to. (Meanwhile, there’s “no money” for things we desperately need.)

We have paid, are paying and will continue to pay, in lives and resources, a heavy price for anti-Sovietism. A basic policy change is needed.

John Vago

Philadelphia PA

What’s happened to nursing?

I am an LPN [licensed practical nurse] of 22 years and am truly discouraged about the heavy assignments and shortage of help. I have mainly worked in nursing homes. When our staff is cut in half we can’t complain or we will lose our jobs. We have no one to represent us. State would come in and cite us, then we get yelled at. If we go past the end of our shift to finish a task, we are reprimanded for unauthorized overtime.

Several times over my career the nurses in our facility have tried to get a union to represent us. The company would find out and we would lose our jobs. We do without raises or get our pay cut, then the company would say, we are losing money. We get our staff cut and they build a new wing.

We are not taking care of potted plants, we are taking care of people. I have no time to have a short conversation with a resident — I give them a pill and move on. Nursing is a calling for me. Now I feel very guilty for what little I do for my patients.

I wrote all this to say, What has happened to nursing?

Sheila McClung

Via e-mail

We want to hear from you!

By mail:

People’s Weekly World

3339 S. Halsted St.

Chicago IL 60608

e-mail:

Letters should be limited to 200 words. We reserve the right to edit stories and letters. Only signed letters with the return address of the sender will be considered for publication, but the name of the sender will be withheld on request.

Video: CPUSA Organizer Discusses Super Tuesday

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:40:00 +0000

Letters - Feb. 2, 2008

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:52:00 +0000

Big business apples

As a 41-year retired member of organized labor, I remember labor’s fight against the NAFTA bill. Capitalist’s servant William “Bill” Clinton did Wall Street’s bidding by signing the NAFTA legislation into law. At the St. Louis Labor Council we had guest trade unionists from Canada and Mexico showing labor’s united front against the NAFTA bill. Organized labor warned the Clinton administration about the negative consequences that law would have on the working classes throughout the Americas, North, Central and South. All of labor’s warnings have come true and then some. Two terms of George W. Bush have sharpened NAFTA’s attack on America’s working class. Why doesn’t the Obama campaign expose this ruling class traitor to workers of the U.S. whose votes they’re campaigning for? Hillary, another Clinton? Big business’ apples don’t fall too far from the big business trees.

Jim Wilkerson

St. Louis MO

Remember Stalingrad

On Feb. 2, the International Federation of Resistance Fighters (FIR) – Association of Anti-Fascists celebrates the 65th anniversary of the Red Army’s victory in the battle of Stalingrad.

Our federation of former resistance fighters, partisans, members of the anti-Hitler coalition and victims of the Nazi regime from over 20 countries of Europe and Israel recalls the sacrifice of the Red Army and the Soviet peoples in the great antifascist peoples’ struggle during the Second World War. The war plotted by German fascism aimed at murder, exploitation, suppression and destruction. Coventry, Rotterdam, Warsaw and Belgrade are the symbols of their air terror. Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Majdanek and Sobibor have entrenched themselves in the mind of mankind as ‘monuments’ of the Holocaust — a holocaust produced by Nazi “superior race” theories against all peoples, regardless of color and race. Babi Yar, Oradour and Lidice were places of National Socialist terror. Stalingrad stands for hope for liberation.

This hope was paid with countless human lives. The Soviet side registered approximately 1 million victims.

The Red Army victory in Stalingrad was a historic turning point. It signaled Great Britain and the USA to speed up the opening of a second front. For the resistance movement in all occupied countries and in Germany the battle of Stalingrad was the symbol for the coming defeat of fascism. The women and men in the resistance drew from it strength, motivation and optimism.

We connect our thanks to the fighters with the promise to pass this memory on to today’s generations.

Dr. Ulrich Schneider

Germany

Dr. Schneider is general secretary of the FIR.

Social Security shame

This letter was printed in the Oakland (Mich.) Press, and was also sent to AARP, of which I am a long-time member:

“I have not detected any protest by AARP of the recent Bush administration swindle of only giving a 2.3 percent cost of living raise for people on Social Security. The new cost of living formula was first cooked up under the Clinton administration, which was responding, or rather surrendering, to the Republicans’ privatization blitz. Most experts estimate the rise in the cost of living in 2007 at between 10 and 14 percent, but the Bush people, who are determined to eventually destroy Social Security, have grossly and flagrantly exploited and abused Clinton’s initial surrender.

“If anybody should start screaming about this injustice, it should be AARP. Who in God’s name does AARP represent? Is it the insurance conglomerates and their servants, the politicians, or is it the membership ?”

The letter never saw the light of day in any AARP literature.

I am very disappointed in AARP for not taking a stand on this issue.

Saib Shunia

White Lake MI

Vets issues on the ballot

I am a member of Veterans for Unification and the Coalition of Veterans Organizations, not-for-profit grassroots groups made up of vets and concerned Americans who care about health care and benefits for veterans.

On our primary ballot in Cook County and about 24 other counties in Illinois on Feb. 5, there will be a a bipartisan, nonbinding referendum supporting full mandatory funding of the VA health care system. It says that “all eligible honorably discharged U.S. veterans should receive quality and accessible health care and related services.” We want to show our congressmen in D.C. that we care about our veterans.

I am asking everyone to be sure to read until the end of the ballot and vote YES for Full Mandatory Funding for the VA. We have many new vets coming back now from Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. We need to show them that we really care about sending them into harm’s way and that we will also take care of them when they return home. We won’t forget them.

For more information go to www.coalitionofvets.org.

Francis O’Connor

Chicago IL

William Z. Foster still inspires

Trying to be inspired to write a letter to the editor because I’ve been urged to write, write, write! That’s why I attended English courses at UCLA — to be a good writer. The PWW has high standards I can’t always make as I’m 79 now.

So for inspiration I turn to my worn copies of books by William Z. Foster. He seems to say capitalism is bound to decay and fall and then socialism will come into power. Could mean a wave of the future, better society and enlightenment instead of ignorance.

Let’s work toward that. It would be something great.

George Gaylord

Anaheim CA

Emma Tenayuca

Writers Sharyll Teneyuca and Carmen Tafolla wrote a very nice bilingual children’s book on Emma Tenayuca, titled “That’s Not Fair! ¡No Es Justo!” Emma was a Texas union activist and led the historic 1938 pecan shellers strike in San Antonio. In 1939 Emma assumed the position of chair of the Texas Communist Party. She married Homer Brooks. Sharyll Teneyuca is Emma’s niece, although they spell their last names differently. The price of the book is $17.95 and you can order it online from Wings Press, www.wingspress.com/Titles/Teneyuca.html.

Richard Hernandez

San Antonio TX

We want to hear from you!By mail: People’s Weekly World 3339 S. Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60608 n e-mail: Letters should be limited to 200 words. We reserve the right to edit stories and letters. Only signed letters with the return address of the sender will be considered for publication, but the name of the sender will be withheld on request.