Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and you
The financial crisis that has been sweeping the United States and much of the capitalist world since last summer reached a new phase when mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moved near insolvency. This unfolding crisis may be the worst threat to the U.S. economy since the Great Depression.
Obama, McCain kick off campaign for Latino vote
John McCain and Barack Obama kicked off their campaigns to reach the Latino community June 28, providing a unique comparative view of their sharply different philosophies and programs.
Lil Feist honored on 100th birthday
SEATTLE — More than 150 family and friends packed the Nordic Heritage Museum hall here June 28 to celebrate Lil Husa Feist’s 100th birthday and to greet her as a warm and caring mother and grandmother and a fighter for working people’s rights.
Homeowners, tenants still waiting for help
With 8,000 homeowners hit by foreclosure each day, legislation to meet the crisis ought to be high on the Capitol Hill agenda. But fighters for decent, affordable housing say the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers are blocking action.
Gun ruling controversy heats up in Chicago
CHICAGO — Every day 82 people die due to gun violence throughout the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control. Chicago Public School officials say 27 students have died by gunfire since September 2007. One weekend here left nine people dead in 36 shootings and the week after that five people were found shot to death inside a pillaged South Side home. Chicago Police Department statistics show that from 2004 to November 2007 there were 43,685 firearms-related crimes in Chicago.
Health care for all on the horizon
Universal health care moved closer to reality when the U.S. Conference of Mayors upped the ante June 23 by backing HR 676, the National Health Insurance Act. The bill, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), would expand Medicare to cover everyone in the United States under a single-payer national health insurance system.
Chicago resolution rejects anti-immigrant rhetoric
CHICAGO – CNN’s Lou Dobbs has made a name and lots of money for himself by railing against immigrants, contributing to an atmosphere of hate and fear. When that happens, sometimes you have to say, “Enough!”
Restructuring puts people on the streets
The deepening crisis in the airline industry claimed its latest victims recently with the announcement from DHL Express that it would close the Wilmington, Ohio, hub and that it would partner with United Parcel Service to contract out its North American airlift operations.
Too many children left behind, groups say
Two new national groups, the Task Force for A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education and the Education Equality Project, have denounced the No Child Left Behind Law as a failure and called for a new course for education that will bring about equal opportunity and educational excellence for the neediest students.
In Miami, stirrings of change
Relations with Cuba are regularly a major issue in U.S. election campaigns – local and national – in the important state of Florida, especially South Florida. And usually the most anti-Cuban-government voice wins.
