People Before Profit blog

Obama administration pressures banks on housing crisis

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:08:00 +0000

The Obama administration announced today stepped up measures to persuade big banks to help strapped mortgage holders. Currently over 14 percent of all mortgages are at risk - the highest percentage since the Great Depression.

Treasury and housing officials said the measures range from offering financial incentives to publishing lists of banks who fail to provide permanent adjustments on loans.

The program provides for up to three $1,000 incentives to banks who agree to lower mortgage payments. The idea is that a "small cash incentive will induce the banks to cut their losses and accept smaller payments," writes The New York Times.

The Obama administration hopes that publishing the names of uncooperative banks will shame them into better behavior.

The U.S. government will also halt payments to banks slow to cooperate. "The Treasury Department said it will withhold payments from mortgage companies that aren't doing enough to make the changes permanent. Officials will monitor the largest mortgage companies through daily progress reports," writes AP.

Banks, however, are often reluctant to renegotiate terms. Fees collected from outstanding loans prove highly profitable and are milked for all they are worth.

Critics say the administration has opposed allowing judges to force renegotiated loan terms.

Today's report points to a huge turnaround in addressing the crisis by the administration. In September, only 1,700 had been able to turn temporary trail adustments of loan terms into permanent arrangements. By November 650,000 homeowners were in the trial program. The goal is to turn these temporary adjustments into permanent arrangements, some 350,000 by the end of the year.

The housing crisis, initially sparked by subprime loans, is now largely due to increases in unemployment.

Big banks like J P Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, a year ago in dire trouble because of subprime loans - and received bailout funds, boasted $3.6 and $3.2 billion in profits in October.

Some are questioning the banks' real motives. Even after renegotiating terms, they continue to push for eviction. ABC News writes that housing advocates maintain "mortgage servicers generally continue with foreclosure proceedings against homeowners, even after they have qualified for a temporary loan modification under the government's program. This incurs costly fees for the homeowner and further damages their credit."

Over $84 billion was allocated earlier in the year to relieve the mortgage crisis.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/respres/ / CC BY 2.0

Senate begins health reform debate, women plan protest

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:49:00 +0000

The U.S. Senate opened floor debate on health care reform legislation Nov. 30 with Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., reminding his colleagues that generations of the American people have called on lawmakers to "fix this broken system. We're now closer than ever to getting it done."

Even as the debate heated up, the movement for women's equality scheduled a "Day of Action" on Capitol Hill Wednesday Dec. 2 to demand that the Senate reject the Stupak-Pitts amendment that imposes sweeping limits on women's right to an abortion. The poison-pill rider was approved by the House when it passed its version of health care reform 220-215 on Nov. 7.

The National Organization for Women, chief sponsor of the Capitol Hill lobby and rally, warned, "Make no mistake. The Affordable Health Care for America Act as adopted with the Stupak-Pitts Amendment ... is the greatest threat to women's fundamental right to abortion since it was recognized under the Constitution with Roe v. Wade. Abortion is health care. It is not acceptable to achieve health care by pushing women into the back alleys to die."

An analysis posted on the NOW web site points out that the Senate version "does not have the same vicious right-wing vitriol of the Stupak Coathanger Amendment." Coat hangers used in back-alley abortions caused the death of many women and have been long a symbol of the death toll before the Supreme Court legalized abortions in 1973.

The analysis explains that the senators stripped out the Stupak-Pitts amendment and substituted the Capp amendment which "allows both public and private plans to offer abortion coverage." Unlike Stupak-Pitts, "it allows consumers to use government subsidies to purchase insurance that covers abortions but requires that their premiums, and not federal funds, pay for the actual procedure."

The Capp amendment includes a "conscience clause" saying that health care providers cannot be "discriminated against because of a willingness or unwillingness ... to provide, pay for, provide coverage of or refer for abortions."

The author of the analysis comments, "This move is a much better option."

Many see the hidden hand of the insurance lobby in the Stupak-Pitts amendment, a cunning "poison pill" to split the coalition for health care reform and a robust federally-funded public option.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/progressohio/ / CC BY 2.0

For Black males it’s a depression

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:47:00 +0000

While the country struggles with double-digit unemployment Black males face jobless rates that are twice as bad.

One in five Black men over 20 are without a job, according to figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this month.

The exceptionally high rates of Black male joblessness have been above the so- called "recession rate" of 8 percent since 2001 but now, at close to 20 percent, are comparable to what the nation as a whole hasn't suffered since the Great Depression of the early 1930's.

"There has been a consistent pattern of Black male unemployment rates that are twice the unemployment rates for whites, even in good or bad times," said Dr. Rodney Green, chairman of the economics department of Howard University, earlier this month.

Green said this is due not just to continuing discrimination against Black males in the labor market but also to greater job loss in industries that employ high numbers of African Americans including construction, manufacturing and retail jobs.

Experts note that "last hired, first fired" is also very much a factor for Black and Latino workers who typically get hit very hard early in any recession and are much slower to recover when the economiy finally gets going again.
On the issue of why men of all races appear to be getting hit harder than women in this particular recession economists say that part of the explanation is that loss of jobs is very severe in industries that have been male-dominated including finance and manufacturing.
Roderick Harrison, a fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said in a phone interview that education is a key factor in any plan to deal with the problem of Black male unemployment, particularly during what many say will continue to be a "jobless recovery."

"The major disadvantage that Black males, and to a lesser extent, females face can only be addressed by closing the education gap," he said.

Harrison also said it is necessary to organize politically against unemployment and for job creation, in general.

He called for a "sharper struggle against employers who think nothing of pushing people out of jobs while they give themselves bigger bonuses."

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karpov85/ / CC BY 2.0

Three union leaders to be honored at ‘Keep the Ball Rolling’ event

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:51:00 +0000

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Three Connecticut labor leaders, Art Perry, Anna Montalvo and Gwen Mills, will be honored on Sunday, Dec. 6, with the annual Amistad Award presented by the People's World, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party USA. The reception, "Keep the Ball Rolling ... to win jobs with union rights, health care, peace and equality!" will be held at 4 p.m. at the New Haven People's Center, 37 Howe Street, New Haven.

The three are being recognized for their contributions in mobilizing in the workplace and community and building coalitions for social change. Also featured on the program will be music and spoken word, a holiday gift table and homemade buffet.

Art Perry has been an organizer and community and political activist since working at Southbury Training School as a member of New England Health Care Employees Union / District 1199 in the 1970s. His grassroots political organizing with working families has elected many progressives to local, state and federal office. He served with1199 for 17 years, and is now Connecticut political director of SEIU 32BJ Justice for Janitors where he furthers his beliefs in justice, equality and community organization.

Anna Montalvo is the first woman and the first Latina to serve as president of the 1,500-member AFSCME Local 1522 in Bridgeport. As a child she experience discrimination in the schools of New York which gave her the drive to pursue her education, and help ensure that all parents and students are treated with respect and dignity. She is a vice-president of AFSCME Council 4 and active in many community and labor organizations, and is recipient of numerous awards.

Gwen Mills was raised in New Haven. In the 1980s she participated with CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador), and later spent a year in Mozambique working with local groups to re-establish activist organizations at the close of the civil war. In 2000 Gwen returned to New Haven where she has served as a lead organizer with the CT Center for a New Economy (CCNE). In 2007 she became political field director of Unite-Here unions for Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The event will kick off a 90th year cultural project with artists for social change. Performers include labor singer Bill Collins of the Rabble Rousers, Mexican guitarist Beto Castillo, spoken word and jazz by Ras Mo Moses, Baub Bidon, Jeff Fuller and Richard Hill, and others.

In addition, a video celebrating 90 years of struggle and moving forward will be presented. Joelle Fishman, chair of the Connecticut CPUSA, will offer a call to action.

The reception invitation emphasizes that "the historic election of 2008 presents a great challenge and opportunity to organize bigger, broader and wider than ever to achieve basic needs for working people. While right-wing demagogues depend on bigotry and fear, the hope and unity of labor and people's organizations are key to bring our country out of crisis."

Donation is $10 or what you can afford. For tickets and information call 203-624-8664.

Photo: Art Perlo/PW

Minnesota experience may offer solution for ‘jobless recovery’

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:57:00 +0000

MINNEAPOLIS (PAI) - When Democratic President Barack Obama convenes a White House forum Dec. 3 to consider ways to create jobs, he should ponder a program that worked successfully for Minnesota in the 1980s, a noted labor economist says.

The Minnesota Emergency Employment Development program, known by its acronym, MEED, was in place from 1983-1989. About 45,000 people enrolled in the program, which provided a wage subsidy of up to $4 per hour ($10 in 2008 dollars) for employers to hire new workers, many of whom were low-skilled or among the long-term unemployed.

Following their MEED experience, more than 20,000 of those workers succeeded in staying on with their employer or finding other permanent, unsubsidized employment, according to a report by the Corporation for Enterprise Development.

MEED was "one of the most innovative employment programs done anywhere in the U.S. in the last 50 years and it deserves to be revived," said Timothy Bartik, senior economist for the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Bartik spoke recently at a program in Minneapolis on "The Jobless Pandemic: Prescription for a Cure," organized by several organizations including the JOBS NOW Coalition.

Most economists believe that while the recession has ended, employment will remain flat for the next two years. Bartik has been researching various options to address this "jobless recovery." He has championed a job creation tax credit to spur growth, but said that alone would not be enough. "It needs to be complemented by something that targets the group with the severest employment problems" - a program such as MEED, he said.

The situation for many unemployed workers is dire, said Jane Samargia, executive director of HIRED, a Twin Cities-area community organization that helps disadvantaged people and other job seekers prepare for and obtain employment. Her comments could easily be repeated by other community groups nationwide that aid the jobless - including food banks, who see huge increases in hungry jobless families.

"It can now take 18 months or longer to find employment, if at all," Samargia said. "There's a lot of disillusionment out in our community about the American dream." Programs such as HIRED have been so overwhelmed they've been forced to turn away thousands who need their help. And it's difficult to find employers who are offering jobs, she said.

Cierra Adams, a young woman who participated in the "Connections to Work" program sponsored by Project for Pride in Living, is one of the lucky ones. She now works as an office assistant for Northpoint Health and Wellness Center. Her job was created with the help of a wage subsidy. "The position was only supposed to last three months, but I treated it as an audition and got the part," Adams said.

Wage-subsidy programs - such as MEED 20 years ago - provide valuable work experience for participants and contribute to a more-trained workforce, Bartik said. They also provide incentives for businesses to create jobs - sorely needed today because of tight credit markets.

MEED was very cost-effective compared to other job creation strategies, Bartik said. In today's dollars, it would cost $33,541 to create a job through MEED, compared to the $112,000 cost of jobs created under the recently passed federal stimulus program or the $145,000 cost of indirectly spurring employment through tax cuts.

MEED also compares favorably to the $28,000 cost to create one job through a job creation tax credit and the $32,000 cost of a new government public service job.

Unlike other strategies, MEED keeps on giving, Bartik noted. Many employers retain workers after the wage subsidy ends and expand their hiring. And every increase in the training level of the workforce also encourages business growth. These developments are paralleled by a decline in the need for food stamps and other social services.

By the 10th year of the program, MEED actually makes money for the government, Bartik added. "This program keeps on increasing employment year after year," Bartik said. "The bottom line argument for this program is that it works."

Jim Glowacki couldn't agree more. Twenty-five years ago, he was struggling to start his own business on the recession-wracked Iron Range in far northern Minnesota. With the help of MEED, he hired his first employee. Today JPG Communications has several offices and employs 20 fulltime staff. "From an employer's perspective, the program helped share the risk," Glowacki said. "Today I would strongly support the program." Two Minnesota state Democratic legislators want to resurrect MEED.

For a program like MEED to succeed on a national scale, the federal government would need to spend $30 billion to create 1 million job slots with a wage subsidy of $10 per hour, Bartik said. If continued for 10 years, nearly 2.3 million jobs would be created in the final year, with the cost dropping from $33,541 per job to $13,056.

Bartik said he did not know if Obama will consider wage subsidy programs when making job creation proposals to Congress. "Now is the time for people to make the case" for programs like MEED, he said.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/labor2008/ / CC BY 2.0

Capitalists caught misusing immigration law

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:21:00 +0000

DALLAS — A giant construction project for a bridge across the Trinity River is costing a fortune, helping no one and may not go anywhere.

On Nov. 5, the WFAA-TV News Department revealed that the general contractor, Italian firm Cimolai had circumvented U.S. immigration laws to bring in their own low-paid workforce in spite of raging local unemployment. Dallas construction workers are furious, and the president of the Texas AFL-CIO is demanding an investigation.

Foreign construction workers can take temporary jobs in the Unites States with H2-B visas after meeting strict requirements, including the employer must make a general search for available local workers.

But the Texas Department of Transportation apparently allowed Cimolai to use another visa, called the B-1, which allows foreign contractors to use their own employees.

However, the TV news revealed that construction workers are specifically prohibited under B-1 laws. The Italians are in Dallas illegally, and the State of Texas is apparently complicit in breaking the federal laws protecting workers.

The TV news crews alleged that similar crooked schemes may be taking American jobs in construction projects across the nation.

Dallas residents don't know whether to scream or cry every time they hear about bridge construction across the Trinity. Part of the snow-job they received when they voted billions in bond money for the "Trinity River Project" included pretty pictures of sailboats, riverwalks, and beautiful bridges designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The Trinity River Project, during the city's sales pitch, was supposed to provide great revenue and good jobs for local construction workers.

Soon after the elections were over, they learned that the real scheme was to build giant superhighways on both levees. The entire river bottom is barely wide enough for the projected umpteen lanes of noisy, stinky pavement.

Almost as quickly, the Army Corps of Engineers, still touchy after letting New Orleans drown, announced that the levees wouldn't hold all that traffic and still stop floods, so the Trinity River Project is, for the time being, stalled.

By then, the first of the fancy bridges, to be named after oil heiress Margaret Hunt Hill, was already started by the Italians. People drive by the site on the old Continental Bridge, which is plain but functional, and wonder where the wondrous Calatrava Bridge will go, if anywhere.

Photo: Despite its slender lines, this Dublin, Ireland road bridge is a substantial bridge designed to take four lanes of traffic and is scheduled for completion in 2010. It has been designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the same designer for the Dallas Trinity River bridge. Oliver Dixon / CC BY-SA 2.0

In economic crisis, ordinary people create solutions

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:33:00 +0000

McKINLEYVILLE, Calif. - It's widely understood that we are all living in a serious economic depression, and at last people are coming together to battle this monster. In this economic battlefield, communities are setting up local human resource networks around the country.

Humboldt County, in Northern California, has a longstanding reputation as a highly progressive area. Our network includes food banks, community gardens, mobile medical clinics, resource telephone hotlines, and a centrally located community collaborative office. It is basically a one-stop clearinghouse of what human services are available in the area. The community collaborative not only provides information referrals, it also provides free-of-cost clothing, books, small appliances, bags of food, and family holiday meal packages. At the collaborative, Barbara - a most excellent and caring lady - has always stepped up to assist my advocacy work in getting vital necessities to the low-income working people I help.

Next door to the collaborative is the local food bank. The exceptional people there donate their time week in and week out to distribute canned goods, fresh vegetables and baked treats to all expressing the need.

Recently, our McKinleyville services district (water, sewer, and our township's governing board) announced in their newsletter that they will set up a designated community garden next spring. They will also provide help with needed water, soils and seeds. They are now holding informational meetings and doing educational outreach.

A number of years ago another friend, Dr. Wendy Ring, started a mobile medical clinic. She and her staff travel great distances in a large, well-equipped van, offering free medical help to all who come.

In the town of Arcata, just south of McKinleyville, is our community recycling center. Not only can we go there to sell or donate our recyclables, we can also shop at the little thrift store attached to it. Some nice, gently used items can be had there.

Throughout Humboldt County a number of public libraries and high schools give access to computers along with continuing adult educational classes. Some locations even offer employment placement help.

Finally, a community switchboard telephone line has been set up to take queries from the public about general problems and provide referrals to available services.

John Lennon once said, "There are no problems, only solutions." We, the common workers, the poor and disenfranchised, and the whole united community, are proving this to be true.

Photo: A San Francisco food bank. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sterlingpr/ / CC BY 2.0)

Clergy deliver prayers to Sen. Joe Lieberman

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:21:00 +0000

HARTFORD, Conn. - An interfaith group of clergy and supporters rallied at Sen. Joe Lieberman's Hartford office Tuesday to present hundreds of personal prayers in support of health care reform with a strong public option. The prayers had been written by participants in a candle light vigil at Lieberman's home in Stamford on Sunday, Nov. 15. The Condo association refused to allow one of those present who lives in the same building as Lieberman to deliver the prayers.

A statement by the Interfaith Clergy for Universal Healthcare decried the fact that in addition to refusing to meet with faith leaders, "Sen. Lieberman has refused to listen to advocates, doctors, and small business leaders about their support for including a public option in any health care reform bill"

Chaplin Bilal Ansari said, "We will not give up on those who are desperate for affordable health care. We will keep praying for Senator Joe Lieberman because we believe that a man of conscience will see that the public option is essential to achieving a health care system that works for those in need."

Those present acknowledged that Lieberman did the right thing by voting to allow debate to go forward instead of conducting the filibuster he had threatened. But now as the debate on the content of the bill is underway, the clergy brought a message for a yes vote for health care reform with a strong public option.

Lieberman has stated on national television that his conscience would not allow him to vote for a public option, leading many to question his ties to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Clergy from a spectrum of faith traditions have come forward to challenge Lieberman's assertion.

On the day before the Senate vote, a delegation from the NAACP visited Lieberman's office at the Capitol to insist on reform that includes a public option and measures to address the needs of those proportionately most left out of health care coverage.

A barrage of television ads and robo phone calls spreading lies that health care reform will hurt seniors and the middle class have failed to shift public opinion, as the majority continue to support the public option.

At the Nov. 15 vigil of over 500, the rabbis, priests, and imams who attempted to deliver prayer cards written by those present to Lieberman's condo were turned away on order of building security that had been directed not to accept any offerings. A neighbor residing in Senator Lieberman's building who attended the vigil tried to deliver the prayer cards, she was turned away as well. So the Interfaith Fellowship went to Sen. Lieberman's office on Nov. 24 to deliver the prayers.

Photo: PW/Tom Connolly

Francisco “Paco” Rodriguez, Chicago boxer dies after brutal fight

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:51:00 +0000

CHICAGO - The boxing community here is mourning the death of Francisco "Paco" Rodriguez, 25, who died over the weekend due to repeated blows to the head after a brutal boxing match in Philadelphia.

Rodriguez, known as "El Niño Azteca," the Aztec Kid, came from a family of accomplished boxers. His father was a professional boxer in Mexico and the U.S.

Rodriguez had already won local acclaim, earning a national Golden Gloves championship at age 17, five local titles and a spot in the 2004 U.S. Olympic trials.

He had a devoted following in the Mexican community here and his entourage often came into the ring in sombreros to the music of Mexican banda.

Friday night, Rodriguez had lost to Teon Kennedy in a brutal battle for the USBA super bantamweight title. It was Rodriguez's first for a championship and his first outside Chicago.

Rodriguez was nearly knocked out in the first round but he came back to hurt Kennedy. The fight remained competitive until the referee stopped it in the 10th.

His brother and father were in his corner.

He staggered in the first round but when he reached the corner he said everything was okay, they said. But after the fight was called Rodriguez said he felt sleepy and sick. His body went limp and he fell into a coma. He showed no brain activity until Sunday when doctors decided to remove him from life support.

Rodriguez is survived by his wife Sonia and his 5-month-old daughter Ginette. His organs were donated to five people, including a cousin of his mother, who will get a kidney.

Boxing is one of mankind's oldest sports where fighters who often come from low-income backgrounds see the industry as a way out and a solution to financially support their families.

In boxing there's a well-known phrase: "Enter At Your Own Risk." It's a violent sport where an athlete's success is almost directly proportional to the damage he/she inflicts on their opponent, and vice versa.

But in truth, behind all the glory of boxing, lies danger and uncertainty. What happened to Rodriguez is an all too common occurrence that families of boxers dread to even think about. It's a dark reality that every boxer faces, a threat that lurks around every ring at every match.

Some feel boxing injuries are just part of the game and comes with the territory.

Yet others note there are numerous cases in which a boxer has died in the ring or shortly after a fight as a result of injuries sustained during the bout.

Well remembered ring deaths include: Leavander Johnson who fought Jesus Chavez in Las Vegas in 2005 and died five days later after he was knocked out; Jimmy Doyle who was fatally knocked out by Sugar Ray Robinson in 1947; Duk-Koo Kim, the Korean lightweight who vowed to "kill or be killed" by Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini in 1982 (both the referee who officiated the match and Kim's mother committed suicide as a result); Benny Paret in 1962; Ultiminio "Sugar" Ramos in 1963; Randie Carver in 1999; and female boxer Becky Zerlentes who in 2005 was knocked out in the third round by Heather Schmitz, fell unconscious and never woke up. There are many others.

As of December 2006, more than 1,300 boxers have died as a result of fighting injuries.

And it's even harder to count how many fighters whose lives have changed as a result of brain damage or deterioration from boxing. Most notably there's Muhammad Ali, one of the sports all-time greats who currently suffers from Parkinson's disease that many say is due to too many repeated blows to the head. Then there is Manny Pacquiao's coach and "master" Freddie Roach who also suffers from the same disease.

Boxing as a sport is considered so dangerous by medical organizations around the world that bodies like the British Medical Association, the American Medical Association and Australian Medical Association have all called for it to be banned.

The dangerous effects caused by boxing were first noted in 1928 in an article in The Journal of the American Medical Association titled "Punch Drunk." Pathologist Harrison Martland said symptoms such as slowed movement, verbal hesitancy and tremors were common among boxers.

Then, as now, the underlying science was simple: The more the skull is shaken like Jell-O in a bowl, the greater the likelihood of a neurodegenerative disorder that would come to be called chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

In boxing the punishment to the brain is so much greater than in any other sport, and none except American football can compare, critics charge.

Boxing is a multibillion operation and the industry continues to profit and promote one the world's most violent sports at the expense of peoples lives, critics say. Over time the industry has failed to recognize the dark truth behind the sports life and death consequences and it should be stopped altogether, they add.

Federal aid urgently needed to avoid state budget catastrophes

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:10:00 +0000

CHICAGO—Looming behind the 17 million jobless tsunami hitting the country is another disaster: over $180 billion in accumulated budget deficits set to devastate state governments, according to a new study by the Pew Center for the States.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) says in addition, city and town governments are expected to have deficits of $100 billion over the next two years.

This threatens a calamity like the one playing out in California. Many states face horrendous cuts to education, health care, mass transit and other human service programs, skyrocketing taxes and fees that will severely slow any economic recovery.

Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future notes, "And even if we avoid another downturn, the job picture will get worse. Crippling state deficits-over $260 billion over two years-will force layoffs that cost an estimated 900,000 jobs next year if nothing is done."

Illinois is listed among the top ten states in "fiscal peril" according to the Pew report. These states are confronted with the worst combination of foreclosure rates, unemployment, state revenue losses, and budget gaps. Illinois is struggling with a staggering $13.8 billion budget gap that seems to grow by the day.

In addition the state pension system is in debt by $35 billion because the state doesn't have the money. This has nothing to do with "lavish" public employee pensions, as Republicans, right wing and big business think tanks assert. Public employee pensions are in line with and in some cases lower than the private sector.

The Illinois state budget crisis is deepening because of growing joblessness, but has been compounded by decades of under funding of education, health care and human services. A regressive, flat, state income tax structure imposed by the state constitution, has forced the state to rely heavily on property taxes.

Earlier this year the legislature and Gov. Pat Quinn cut $2 billion in preschool, after-school and mental health and other human service programs, laid-off 2,500 state workers and left thousands of other positions unfilled. This has wreaked havoc across the state, with scores of programs curtailed and shuttered.

Illinois State Board of Education Chair Jesse Ruiz warned if the state doesn't generate new revenue for schools next year, "we fall off the cliff."

The only way out of this crisis is through public jobs creation, a massive infusion of federal money to fund education and health care and a progressive restructuring of the state tax system.

Governor Pat Quinn proposed a progressive income tax, which died in the Democratic controlled state legislature this past spring. Under intense public pressure, the state senate passed HB 174 that would raise revenues by altering the tax code. Powerful interests and a fear of raising taxes going into an election year blocked the bill from coming up the House.

The Responsible Budget Coalition, made up of some public sector unions and a broad range of human service organizations that represent and serve millions of residents, has sounded the alarm about the urgency of the situation and the need for massive new revenues.

The RBC supports passage of HB 174 that raises income taxes from 3% to 5% and corporate taxes from 4.8% to 5%. The bill increases the earned income tax credit $1,000 to protect lower income families. It provides some property tax relief but imposes a sales tax on previously untaxed services.

Additionally, HB 174 also directs a greater portion of funding into a Common Schools Account, to overcome the historic inequality between school districts across the state.

While the bill does offer some protections, many working families would still have to pay higher taxes at a time their budgets are being strained with increases in taxes and fees on a local level. A family of four at the median income of $56,000 and median property taxes of $3,300 would pay $600 more in taxes.

The bill's supporters argue Illinois taxpayers are among the lowest taxed compared to residents in surrounding states. But in a column run on the Galesburg Register Mail website, Judith Guenseth of Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) notes, "Add to this the regressive nature of consumption and property taxes and the total picture means that compared to six neighboring Midwestern states, Illinois ranks second with the highest tax burden on the bottom 20 percent of Illinoisans."

Polls show voters strongly oppose higher taxes. However broad public support could be garnered if the bill were amended to totally protect families with incomes under $200,000 and increase the taxes on the wealthy and big corporations.

Comptroller Dan Hynes has proposed maintaining a 3% rate on taxpayers below $200,000 and increasing by 3.5% to 7% taxes on incomes for the top 3% of income earners. This change would require a constitutional amendment.

The Institute for Taxation and Policy suggests combining both Quinn's original proposal and Hynes super rich tax surcharge as the path to a progressive tax system. They also argue that taxing working families will remove additional purchasing power from the state economy, slowing the economic recovery.

If HB 174 passes it would raise about $6 billion in revenues, still leaving a gap of nearly $8 billion.

On Nov. 17, the AFL-CIO and major civil rights organizations announced a five-point plan to pull the country out of the economic crisis. In addition to calling for the government to fund the creation of 2 million public sector jobs, the plan calls for extending more federal aid to the states.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act granted $144 billion in aid to the states mainly through payments to cover Medicaid and education. This is widely regarded as one of the most effective uses of the economic stimulus money. Illinois has been able to pay Medicaid reimbursements to health providers only because it received $2.9 billion in short term aid from the Act.

The EPI calls for extending federal relief from the Act for $150 billion to state and local governments over the next 18 months.

A path out of the economic and state budget crises is needed that doesn't place additional burdens on working families and moves in the direction of redistributing social wealth more equitably. It will take the massive might of the labor-led people's movement, small and medium businesses, along with state, city and town governments to win.

Photo:Illinois State Capitol Daniel Schwen

NFL charts new course on concussion policy

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:19:00 +0000

The NFL and its players union recently announced the approval of independent neurologists to evaluate head injuries and treating players due to concussions.

The move comes weeks after lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from former players and others alleging neglect on the part of the league when it comes to active and retired players with brain injuries.

For years scientific studies have found there is a serious link between players who suffer repeated concussions and long-term consequences such as brain damage, dementia and cognitive decline.

Decisions on when players who sustain concussions should return to play have been made by doctors and trainers employed by the team. The result has raised concerns and conflicts of interests especially when coaches and owners expect players to return to the field more quickly than proper medical care would suggest.

The NFL now says it is requiring teams to find outside experts in neurology to aid their medical staffs when players get concussions. The Players Association medical director, Dr. Thom Mayer and the NFL's medical advisor will lead the selection process.

Both groups will work together to identify and approve specialists for each team and ensure a highly qualified neurologist or neurosurgeon works with its medical staff. The new doctors will start working with teams as soon as the specialist is chosen.

Details still need to be figured out such as to who will pay for the independent doctors, whether the doctors will be on the sidelines at games, and, if so, whether there would be one expert present per team or one per game.

According to Mayer the newly appointed doctors would be independent of the teams. They're not part of the club medical staff and they would be an independent voice with regard to whether the player's ready to return or not, he said.

Goodell is making a startling concession to medical ethics, one that has been resisted by all of his predecessors, writes Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation.

In the past the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell have insisted that the NFL's policies are safe and that no third-party involvement is necessary, pointing to research by its committee on concussions as proof. The league and co-chairman of its committee on brain injuries, Dr. Ira Casson, have played down studies and anecdotal evidence linking retired NFL players to brain damage.

Others say improper medical care has occurred in the league for years and the NFL has a reputation of a blanket denial or minimizing the link between concussions and brain injuries.

Former NFL commissioners like Pete Rozelle ignored this issue even when players like the Colts' Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey was diagnosed with front temporal dementia, says Zirin. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue did the same when Hall of Fame center Mike Webster died at age 50, homeless and incoherent who some say was suffering from dementia when he was still an active player in the league.

Even Goodell ignored the problem before last month's congressional hearing, says Zirin. He defended the system even though Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, who suffered from concussions, said that his coach Bill Belichick bullied him back into games (something Belichick denies). Still no action was taken after the 2006 suicide of Eagles pro-bowler Andre Waters, 44, whose brain tissue was that of an 80-year-old with Alzheimer's.

"The absence of medical oversight has been nothing short of breathtaking," says Zirin. "Goodell has been forced to shift his stance because the issue has simply reached a tipping point."

The new move "marks a major change in policy and would be like the tobacco Industry bringing the American Cancer Institute into its boardroom or Exxon Mobil stating that they needed more input from Greenpeace," writes Zirin.

Saying there is no connection between football and brain injuries is like saying there is no connection between smoking and lung cancer, notes Zirin. The main reason this situation has reached crisis proportions, is that every Sunday we see evidence of the problem and now we are much more aware of the tragic consequences, he writes.

"It's time for a change. A concussion is caused by a blow to the head and can happen to any player, on any play," says Zirin. "Goodell, I believe, sees the handwriting on the wall: Brain damaged players and the perception of indifferent owners hold the potential to permanently damage the sport."

The NFL is a multibillion-dollar operation and football, next to boxing, is one of the most violent modern day sports on the planet. Supporters of the new policy hope it spreads to every level of football including the millions of players at the college, high school and youth levels.

Speaking on live television during Sunday night football Goodell said: "We want to give players the best medical advice. This is a chance for us to expand that and bring more people into the circle to make sure we're making the best decisions for our players in the long term."

At the end of the day critics note consulting doctors beyond the team does not necessarily solve all of the league's conflict-of-interest issues. It's still unclear how guidelines would be defined when deciding who is an independent expert, they say.

Photo: Nam Y. Huh/AP

New mammogram guidelines: What’s a woman to do?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:01:00 +0000

For the past 25 years many women have been wedded to the idea of having a mammogram and a manual breast examination by their doctor every year starting at age 40, and doing monthly self-examinations. Now new guidelines have turned life upside down.

On Nov. 16 the United States Preventive Services Task Force announced new guidelines for breast cancer screening and detection which include the recommendation that women receive their first mammogram at age 50, followed by mammograms every other year until age 75. Further, recommendations for monthly self-breast examinations were discontinued. These guidelines were informed by research that indicate younger women were being over-tested and over-treated as a result of false positive findings. Previously, women were advised, starting at age 40, to have yearly mammograms and yearly breast exams by a physician and to do self-breast examinations monthly.

The task force researchers believe that mammography in women younger than age 50 is often inaccurate, and falsely identifies normal tissue as possible tumors. Also, mammograms can find slow-growing cancers that will never cause a problem. These findings result in further testing, biopsies and even surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, all of which may be unnecessary.

Present technology is not really suited to younger women's breasts. The tissue in younger breasts tends to be denser than that of post-menopausal women. This density makes identification of cancerous lesions by current mammography techniques difficult. Thus, a biopsy, which scars the breast, may be performed. The residual scar tissue from a biopsy can make future mammography even more difficult. Women may unnecessarily receive chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment, the side effects of which can be terribly damaging, possibly leaving a woman sterile and at increased risk for other cancers.

On the flip side, even though it is less common in younger women, breast cancer tends to be more aggressive with a lower survival rate: 81 percent for women younger than 45, compared with 86 percent for women older than 65.

After lung cancer, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women. According to the American Cancer Society, about 1.3 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. One woman under age 20 out of 1,985 will develop breast cancer; by age 30 the risk is 1 out of 229, by age 40 it is 1 out of 68, and so on, with a lifetime risk of 1 out of 8. Those statistics are frightening. Each of those numbers is a living, breathing human being, and there are few of us who have not been touched by the breast cancer diagnosis of a mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, cousin or friend.

There is evidence that the death rate from breast cancer has gone down in the past 25 years due to mammography, which results in early detection and treatment.

Many groups have sounded an alarm over the new guidelines, including the National Medical Association, the professional group which represents over 30,000 African American physicians, which was quick to respond.

The NMA released a statement Nov. 19 saying that African American women, in consultation with their physicians, should continue the previous practice of yearly mammograms starting at age 40. It said, "The NMA strongly recommends clinical breast exams, self-breast examinations, mammography and all other emerging technologies as important tools in prevention. The health care community has spent the last two decades promoting screenings and early detection. We do not want all of the progress that has been made in promoting screenings to be lost. The current screening guidelines while not perfect, do save lives."

The NMA's concern is derived from the fact that African American women tend to develop breast cancer at an earlier age than other demographic groups. Further, their cancers tend to be more aggressive, with a higher death rate.

While advocacy groups like the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Breast Cancer Action and the National Women's Health Network endorsed the new guidelines, officials of the American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology have said that they are recommending that women continue to follow the previous guidelines. Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said that the society's medical experts had reviewed the data, that mammography has risks as well as benefits, but that the benefits of annual mammography outweigh the risks.

In making its recommendations, the task force weighed the benefits of mammography for women under age 50 against the risks. It found that one cancer death is prevented for every 1,904 women age 40 to 49 who are screened for 10 years, versus one death for every 1,339 women age 50 to 59, and one death for every 377 women age 60 to 69.

Since one in every eight American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, the idea of not having every available technology available can be terrifying. When real, live human beings are involved, the one death in 1,904 takes on new meaning. Experts are advising women to consult their doctors when deciding how often to undergo mammography. It is recommended that some women, those with a strong family history of breast cancer, genetic markers for breast cancer, or a history of breast cancer, should without doubt receive yearly screenings, including mammography.

All this rings hollow if a woman does not have health insurance, or if there are no resources for free mammograms in her community. Also, it is not unheard of for a woman to receive a free mammogram, only to be unable to have further testing if the mammogram results indicate a problem.

Photo: commons.wikipedia.org www.cancer.gov

States reap benefits with health reform

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:35:00 +0000

Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., took center stage in the health care debate this past week. Both have threatened to join a Republican filibuster against the Senate health reform bill if their personal disagreements with it aren't addressed.

A new report, however, from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) analyzing the potential impact of the Senate bill suggests that the social cost of this political gamesmanship may be high.

A successful Republican filibuster would keep in place the broken health system. Across the country, it leaves about 50 million without health care coverage and tens of millions more subject to arbitrary insurance company policies that deny coverage.

"Families, seniors and businesses are all suffering under the health care status quo," said Sebelius in announcing the release of the new report. "Our new reports demonstrate how health insurance reform will improve health care for all Americans."

According to a Business Roundtable study released last week, employer-based insurance costs could triple for businesses, if a Republican filibuster succeeds.

Small business owners would be priced out of the market. They would increasingly be forced to choose between paying good wages and providing health benefits.

In the new HHS study, the benefits of reform are laid out state by state. Arkansas, for example, would see some 481,000 of its residents who now lack health care coverage gain affordable access to insurance.

In addition, some 36,000 small businesses would get a new tax credit to help buy coverage for their employees. Currently, only 27,000 Arkansas small businesses can afford health benefits.

Almost 90,000 seniors would see new savings for prescription drugs. Over one-half million Arkansas seniors on Medicare would benefit from new savings from reduced taxpayer overpayments to privatized plans and would gain access to free preventive care.

As a result of health reform, Arkansas taxpayers would see a savings of about $650 million each year, the study showed. With expanded coverage, the state government no longer would have to pay for uncompensated care that is now so much a part of the broken health system.

In Connecticut, more than 350,000 residents without any insurance would have access to affordable coverage if reform passes. Another 150,000 people who rely on the expensive and inadequate private individual insurance market would get access to less expensive group coverage.

More than 97,000 Connecticut seniors would be able to buy their prescription drugs at more affordable prices. More than 540,000 seniors would get access to free preventive care.

At least 37,000 small businesses would be eligible to new tax credits and subsidies to provide health insurance. Currently, only about half of the state's small businesses can afford to provide health benefits to their employees.

Connecticut tax payers would also benefit from a savings of $383 million annually the state government now pays for uncompensated care.

These kinds of statistics are available for every state at HealthReform.gov. That HHS web site also shows that more than 97,000 businesses in Washington and 51,000 in Louisiana would see new subsidies and tax credits to provide health benefits.

About 1.4 million people in Ohio and 1.3 million people in Michigan who currently health insurance would have access to affordable coverage if health reform passes, the HHS said.

At least 250,000 Maine seniors would have new access to free preventive care services, HHS added. Almost 45,000 seniors in that state would see big savings in prescription drug costs if reform passes.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/labor2008/ / CC BY 2.0

Students occupy university building to protest fee hikes

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:37:00 +0000

BERKELEY - Students occupied Wheeler Hall on the University of California campus in Berkeley, protesting a decision by university regents to raise fees (the equivalent of tuition) by 32%, bringing them to $10,302 per year for undergraduates.

At the beginning of the occupation the students made several demands, including the rehire 38 laid off custodial workers, and amnesty for protesting students.

The hall was surrounded by hundreds of supporting students, faculty, campus workers and community members. The day before the occupation, two university unions - the University Professional and Technical Employees and the Coalition of University Employees - together with students and members of campus faculty mounted a campus-wide strike.

After a day of occupation, students voluntarily left the building, and were cited for misdemeanor trespass. On other campuses, including at Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and Davis, students also occupied buildings and in some cases were arrested.

Puck Lo, a student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and one of those occupying Wheeler Hall, told the LA Times that the protests were taking place during a period in which students also had to study for coming final exams. "This strike is really inconvenient," she said. "But this seems the honorable thing to do for future students."

Photo: David Bacon

House hearing debates Cuba travel

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:05:00 +0000

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing last week on legislation - HR 874, the Freedom to Travel bill - that would drop restrictions on the right of American citizens to travel to Cuba. The feeling among progressive organizations active on that issue is that advances were achieved in the Nov. 19 debate.

Probably by design, no strong supporters of the Cuban Revolution were invited to testify. Rather, panelists invited by the Democrats emphasized that the ban on Cuba travel is irrational, violates the rights of U.S. citizens to travel to another country in peacetime, and throws away an opportunity to influence events on the island.

While the Republicans' ranking member of the committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtenen, R-Fla., tried to use the hearings to demonize the Cuban socialist system, and was supported in this by some panelists, including the former head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba, James Cason, the effort basically backfired when several panelists who have been critical of the Cuban government came out strongly for dropping the travel ban.

Anti-Cuba figures such as Ros-Lehtenen had been harping on recent media stories about the Cuban government supposedly harassing a young Cuban Internet blogger, Yoani Sanchez. Since Sanchez has become somewhat famous outside Cuba for snarky criticisms of the Cuban system, Ros-Lehtenen and her allies were discomfited when a letter from Sanchez was read showing that she clearly supports ending the travel ban. Another Cuban "dissident," Miriam Leiva of the "Ladies in White" protest group, also testified for an end to the ban.

Likewise Philip Peters, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a libertarian conservative think tank funded by ExxonMobil and considered to be close to the armaments industry, denounced current Cuba policy: "By blocking citizen contacts and their concomitant flow of information, ideas and resources, we have erected an embargo on American influence in Cuba."

On the other hand Cason, the former Interests Section head, caused raised eyebrows when he said that the reason Americans want to travel to Cuba is to enjoy "rum, sun, cigars, song and sex." Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a Republican who has been a strong opponent of the travel ban, took Cason to task for this comment.

Army General Barry McCaffrey, the former U.S. drug czar, testified that "this policy has failed to precipitate regime change in Cuba, will not do so in the future, and harms U.S. interests by limiting the ability to develop mutually beneficial relationships that will transcend the inevitable transition that will occur in Cuba".

None of the panelists took a position entirely respectful of the Cuban people's right to develop their own society without foreign influence. Nor was there much talk of how Cuba has contributed to the well being of its own people and that of dozens of poor countries to which it has provided vital assistance.

A small majority of committee members, including chair Howard Berman, D-Calif., appear supportive of HR 874, which has at this point 178 co-sponsors, including Republicans and Democrats. A companion bill in the Senate, S 428, has 33 cosponsors, also both Republican and Democrat.

For at least the past decade, there has been a tendency among some Republicans, mostly from farm states with crops to sell to Cuba, to want to drop the travel ban and the blockade. These include major GOP figures such as Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.

This may outweigh another recent tendency, which is for the Cuban exile ultra-right networks to channel much of their campaign donation money to Democratic legislators, instead of giving it all to Republicans. Some Democrats who had previously supported change in our Cuba policy have backed off after receiving this money.

It is not known what stance President Obama will take if the bill should land on his desk. He has so far said he wants more "gestures" from the Cubans before he will support changes in U.S. policy beyond what he has already done, namely ending restrictions on visits by Cuban-Americans to their relatives on the island, and beginning to explore sale of fiber optic equipment to the Cubans.

The Washington-based Latin American Working Group (www.lawg.org), which has been pushing for changes in U.S. Cuba policy, urges intensive lobbying for the House bill and its Senate equivalent.

Ft. Hood victim remembered with drums and dance

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:26:00 +0000

CHICAGO— About 100 young people, friends and family gathered Nov. 13 to celebrate with bomba drums, dance and songs, the life of Private Francheska "Cheka" Velez one of the 13 victims of the Ft. Hood tragedy. Cheka, the daughter of Juan Velez, a Colombian father and Eileen Velez, a Puerto Rican mother, was a member of Inner City Rhythms. Her friends described her as "full of life and goodness."

Mirelys Rodriguez, program coordinator of the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, thanked the participants who came to the "Baile de Bomba," the Bomba Dance. She told the crowd, "We come here to give life to the memory of Cheka who will live in our hearts forever." She called on the musicians, dancers and singers as well as the audience to celebrate the life of this young woman who had given her love and goodness to her family and friends.

"Let us show our kids that there are options in life. Let us heal through this wonderful music and dance. Bomba has been a form of resistance and resilience," Rodriguez said. " Cheka loved to hear bomba, so let us join and show the world that we are for life and for togetherness."

Eve, who was the dance coordinator of Inner City Rhytms and same age as Cheka, called everyone to begin the festivities in honor of our "baby." Members of various bomba groups began drumming, singing and dancing to the sound and everyone joined in clapping and swaying, including children who played drums, sang and danced.

While the celebration continued, home made cup cakes, prepared by Jessica Albino were offered and water bottles were sold to establish a fund for her friends to create a mural in honor of Cheka.

After two hours of continued celebration, a period of remembrance began when the public was presented with a bomba song whose refrain stated: "Ahi esta mi nena Cheka, bailando la rica bomba, ella flota de nube en nube con su sonrisa bella." (There's my baby Cheka, dancing the rich bomba, she floats from cloud to cloud with her beautiful smile.)

Sasha Ramos, a close friend, presented a video of Cheka's life from babyhood until she joined the armed forces.

While group was remembering and celebrating, her parents were at Fort Hood waiting for the armed forces to release her body so that they could return her to her friends and family in Chicago.

She was laid to rest Nov. 19, but some who attended the burial said they felt she was looking at them from heaven with that special and beautiful smile.

Photo: Francheska "Cheka" Velez

CT NAACP calls on Lieberman to support health bill

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:31:00 +0000

HARTFORD - A Connecticut delegation of civil rights groups met with Senator Joseph Lieberman's staff yesterday to urge the Senator to support comprehensive health care reform and to discuss his intentions for Connecticut residents. Specifically, the delegation asked the Senator to support key provisions in H.R. 3950, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was introduced late yesterday afternoon.

Included in the delegation lead by the Connecticut NAACP State Conference, were Scot X Esdaile, president of the CT NAACP State Conference and NAACP national board member, Valerie Shultz Wilson, president of the Urban League of Southern Connecticut., with Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington Bureau and senior vice president for advocacy and policy.

"Senator Lieberman's staff heard our concerns, but were unable to assure us that the Senator would support the full Senate moving to an ‘up-or-down' vote once the debate on health care reform ended," stated Esdaile.

"The Senator informed us that he is still considering his options, and is unsure of whether he will support or join a filibuster of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. What Senator Lieberman doesn't seem to realize is the longer he delays this debate the more people living in Connecticut, and throughout our nation will find themselves going bankrupt from exorbitant health care costs, or worse, unnecessarily dying from a lack of adequate health care," added Esdaile. The vote on whether or not to enact cloture on the bill or filibuster it is currently scheduled to take place Saturday, November 21.

The Connecticut civil rights leaders urged Senator Lieberman to quickly pass a bill that is at least as comprehensive as the House bill, complete with a public option provision that provides ample health care coverage to as many Americans as possible; ensures that all Americans can afford health insurance and that pre-existing conditions are covered; and takes aggressive steps to end racial and ethnic health care disparities. Specifically, the group asked that Lieberman support provisions which:

• Expand health insurance options, by allowing individuals and families to stay with the insurer they currently have, choose a different private insurer, or to go with a newly created government run public option;
• Offer subsidies to help low- and moderate-income households to purchase health insurance;
• Protect and expand Medicaid to provide free health care to all Americans with incomes below 150% of the federal poverty level;
• Ban the health care insurance industry from implementing bans on lifetime limits, charging people more due to health status or gender, or denying coverage for preexisting conditions;
• Provide for the cost of prevention and wellness services to be covered by health insurance; and
• Include cultural competency and linguistic appropriateness provisions, empowerment zones, workforce diversity, Office of Minority Health, Office on Women's Health, Indian Health Services, data collection and reporting.

"The Connecticut State Conference of the NAACP is calling on Senator Lieberman to support cloture of H.R. 3950, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act before Thanksgiving and to personally meet with communities of color throughout the state during his Thanksgiving home work period. This is among the most important piece of legislation for residents of Connecticut and the country in recent years. Senator Lieberman needs to hear from his constituents living in communities hardest hit by our nation's broken healthcare system. There are many families across Connecticut that won't be giving thanks next week, they'll be worrying about how to pay for medical bills or how to just stay healthy" concluded Esdaile.

10 years after the ‘Battle in Seattle’

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:13:00 +0000

SEATTLE (PAI)—Ten years ago on Nov. 30, 1999, 50,000 people protested a meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. The protests succeeded in delaying the summit's opening day, and contributed to the collapse of plans for a new round of trade negotiations. It was one of those rare moments in history when ordinary people rise up and can no longer be ignored. It was a week of protest, and a coming-out party for a broad-based movement to oppose the "business-first" model of globalization.

This year, in Seattle and elsewhere, union, environmental and community activists will take time in the coming weeks to remember the protests and strategize how to carry forward the "Spirit of Seattle."

Before the Seattle protests, few people ever heard of the WTO, a secretive organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, that promotes and enforces multi-national trade agreements. But the world public was increasingly aware that growth in worldwide trade did not benefit workers or the environment.

WTO didn't create the offshoring of U.S. manufacturing jobs. U.S. trade balances were tilting in China's direction long before that country joined the WTO, for example. And Mexico had begun creating duty-free "maquiladora" export-processing zones in the 1960s. But the WTO served to "grease the skids," by lowering tariff and "non-tariff" barriers to trade. For its corporate clients, workers' rights are among those "barriers."

The WTO is like a slow motion coup d'état," Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, told the Northwest Labor Press. "It's the main delivery mechanism for the model of corporate globalization we've seen implemented in the last couple (of) decades. And it imposes policies that go way beyond trade: Deregulation, privatization, and promotion of offshoring to countries with the lowest wages."

Since 1947, nations had committed, in the multilateral agreement known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), to gradually lower tariffs and quotas for manufactured goods and some commodities. Tariffs - taxes on imports - are a tool countries use to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.

Meeting in Uruguay in 1986, GATT nations began negotiating an agreement that went further. A treaty signed in Morocco in 1994 committed to reducing all "non-tariff" barriers to trade, expanded GATT to agriculture, services, capital investment, and so-called "intellectual property;" and created the WTO to enforce it and resolve disputes.

Signatory nations are supposed to treat all other WTO members the same. That means, for one thing, that a country can't restrict trade with countries, like China, that abuse workers rights or the environment.

But not all interests are equal at the WTO, said AFL-CIO trade policy expert Thea Lee: The bias is toward the interests of multinational corporations.

"The labor movement's view," Lee said, "is that to the extent that we will continue to be in a global economy, we need to make sure the rules of that global economy are taking care of working people and the environment, not just corporate profits."

In 1999, labor leaders and environmental and community activists learned the WTO would hold a summit at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle. They began putting resources into a response.

For months leading up to the meeting, they made extraordinary efforts to educate people about the WTO, and reached out to other groups to coordinate a week of protests. Organized labor focused on a rally and march on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999 - Day One of the meeting. Seven staff organizers assigned by the national AFL-CIO worked for two months to prepare.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union resolved to shut down Washington state ports for the day so members could take part. Other unions paid lost wages so members could get off work to attend. The Machinists committed to turn out 900 members to serve as parade marshals. The Steelworkers scheduled an annual conference for Seattle just before the WTO meeting, reserving 500 hotel rooms.

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions scheduled its annual meeting in Seattle as well, drawing unionists from more than 100 countries. Each local labor council in Washington organized three to 10 busloads, and labor councils in Colorado, Montana, and British Columbia organized bus and car caravans. The Oregon AFL-CIO chartered and filled a 350-seat Amtrak train, while other Oregon labor organizations accounted for 15 more buses.

Meanwhile, environmental activists and anti-sweatshop groups in the Seattle area and on college campuses throughout the Pacific Northwest prepared for early-morning street blockades intended to prevent delegates from getting to the meeting.

On Nov. 30, all that preparation bore fruit. In the early morning, 15,000 mostly-student demonstrators achieved what few had thought possible: Halting the WTO meeting by preventing delegates from getting to the convention center. Using physical barriers and "lock-down" tactics borrowed from anti-logging protests, they held intersections even when police used pepper spray and physical force.

Meanwhile, 20,000 people, mostly unionists, attended a rally in Memorial Stadium, and then were joined by another 15,000 in "feeder marches" in a permitted march to downtown. But as marchers neared the Convention Center, they found the streets full of people. The procession ground to a crawl, and split into at least three streams, with some mingling with the protesters blocking intersections.

Steve Hughes, today a union rep at Oregon AFSCME Council 75, was then part of a group of The Evergreen State College students occupying an intersection near the Convention Center. Police were menacing the group all morning. Fatigue was setting in and spirits were sagging, when all of a sudden, a group of guys in hard hats behind an Iron Workers banner showed up and stayed to reinforce the intersection.

"The WTO was one of those moments where there was a crack in the facade and we got a taste of our power," Hughes says. "It was a vision of how different groups could work together and how our causes are interrelated."

The presence of tens of thousands of unionists and their families meant it would be politically disastrous for police to keep trying to clear intersections with force and chemical agents. By mid-afternoon on Nov. 30, with delegates still unable to get in, WTO leaders cancelled the day's session.

As night fell, the police cracked down. Some in the crowd responded by setting fire to dumpsters. Seattle Mayor Paul Schell declared a curfew and the formation of a "no-protest" zone. Police pursued protesters out of downtown and into the nearby Capitol Hill neighborhood. Most of the day's protesters - union members off work for the day, students who'd skipped classes - returned home.

By morning, two dozen blocks in the core of downtown Seattle were a militarized zone where anyone who protested would be arrested on sight. Police - who'd stood by the day before while anarchists and delinquents broke windows and spray-painted corporate storefronts - now rushed in aggressively at any sign of protest.

Police arrested 630 people in all, bused them to a special Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) detention center at the mothballed Sand Point Naval Station, and held them there and at King County Jail for up to five days. Shoppers, bystanders, reporters and politicians were swept up. Anyone going into the street could find themselves choking on tear gas, as did Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. Over the next few days, police repression of basic rights came to overshadow other issues.

On Day Four of the WTO summit, the talks collapsed when delegates from less-developed countries walked out. For protesters, it was a victory beyond what they could have imagined. For advocates of WTO-style "free trade" pacts, it was a debacle. The protests punctured a perception of inevitability and/or omnipotence free-traders enjoyed.

"It was a radicalizing experience," said Stan Sorscher, a trade activist and union rep for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace Local 2001 at Boeing. "People who participated in it talk about it in semi-religious terms."

"This was taking on world powers," recalls Jeff Johnson, Washington State Labor Council legislative director. "It was unprecedented. Here you have all these world leaders and you've exposed what they're doing: Meeting behind closed doors. They're not interested in having honest discussion about the repercussions of trade on people."

Ripples from the event continued for months and years. In Seattle, Police Chief Norm Stamper resigned. Mayor Schell lost re-election. A federal jury agreed the city of Seattle violated protesters' free speech rights, and the city paid $1 million to settle the suit, filed on behalf of protesters arrested for violating the "no-protest zone."

Attempting to recreate Seattle, thousands of protesters united at the 2000 Republican and Democratic conventions, and at international summits in Washington, D.C., Miami, Genoa, Italy, and Cancun, Mexico. None had the impact of Seattle.

Local police and national governments resolved never to allow a repeat of Seattle, and police spied on groups and disrupted them, created barriers, and used preemptive mass arrests and physical intimidation.

A year after the Seattle WTO protests, the U.S. Supreme Court selected George W. Bush as president. Labor's energies were absorbed in defense against a hostile White House, a recession, and the economic and political fallout of the 9/11 attacks. Campus activism shifted to other causes, including opposition to the war in Iraq.

But free-traders never fully recovered from the protests, and have been on the defensive ever since. Attempting to rally, the WTO held its next meeting in 2001 in Doha, Qatar, a state ruled by a monarch who forbade all forms of protest. At Doha, the WTO achieved what eluded it in Seattle - a declaration of commitment to a new round of negotiations. But the negotiations never led to an agreement. A 2003 WTO summit in Cancun collapsed in similar fashion to the Seattle summit.

After Seattle, free-traders adopted the rhetoric of protesters, saying it was important that labor and environmental concerns be considered. But labor and green groups were not fooled and continued to oppose new international trade agreements.

In 2005, the GOP majority in Congress passed CAFTA (a NAFTA-style agreement with Central America). But by then a shift occurred among Democrats. Whereas 102 House Democrats voted for NAFTA in 1993, just 15 voted for CAFTA. When Democrats regained the majority in 2007, they stripped the White House of the "fast track" authority needed to negotiate future trade agreements. It has not been restored.

And Democrats in Congress have signed up in droves to support a labor-backed bill that calls for the renegotiation of NAFTA, the WTO, and other agreements, and sets labor and other standards for new trade agreements. That measure, the TRADE Act of 2009, has 127 co-sponsors in the House.

The next WTO summit kicks off in Geneva, Switzerland on Nov. 30, exactly 10 years after protesters shut it down in Seattle. In Geneva, there will be protests; in Seattle and elsewhere, remembrances.

Don McIntosh is the associate editor of The Northwest Labor Press and a PAI contributor.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/djbones/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Wall Street vote delayed as Black Caucus demands help for poor

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:27:00 +0000

In a dramatic display of growing grass roots pressure, members of the Congressional Black Caucus led by Congresswoman Maxine Waters persuaded House Finance Services Committee chairman, Rep. Barney Frank to delay a vote on the systemic risks bill.

The vote on the finance overhaul legislation was scheduled for late Thursday until Frank told a "shocked committee room that passage of the bill would be delayed until Dec. 1 because the Congressional Black Caucus wanted the administration to do more to help African American communities suffering in the economic decline" writes the Washington Post.

In a statement released after the meeting Rep Waters said, "The recession has created a unique systemic risk that threatens all parts of the African-American community, including the poor and the middle class. I have always been committed to addressing that risk and will continue to do so. This is a critical issue for my constituents."

CBC members had been meeting during the week with White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel and Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner to address concerns of lack of adequate efforts in remedying unemployment, home foreclosures, and distribution of TARP funds.

Official unemployment among African Americans stands at 17 percent but is double that if part-time workers and the long-term jobless are counted.

According to the Wall Street Journal Frank said, "They want to continue to have some bargaining power with the administration."

Public demands for jobs legislation mounted this week as labor and civil rights groups called on Congress to pass new measures prior to the New Year.

Rep Frank also stumbled against right-wing proposals to add new regulatory oversight over the Federal Reserve Bank in the form of audits, when a measure proposed by Ron Paul passed a committee vote.

There are 10 members of the CBC on Frank's committee. The vote will be rescheduled for early December.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanmcintosh/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Companies cashing in on flu epidemic

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:33:00 +0000

CHICAGO - Along with providing flu vaccines to the public, the government may have to step in to ensure companies are not using the swine flu epidemic to rip off those who come down with the flu.

It was reported yesterday, after some experts said as much as 63 percent of the population could become infected with the swine flu virus before Christmas, that many pharmacies appear to be engaging in price gouging on the H1N1 drug Tamiflu. The reports say some drugstores are charging three times more than others for the scarce liquid form of the drug used by children.

A USA TODAY phone survey of 100 pharmacies in six states revealed that the out-of-pocket price to fill the same liquid Tamiflu prescription ranged from $43 to $130. There are indications also that others in the privately controlled health care delivery system may be jumping on the bandwagon.

Addressing price gouging by pharmacies, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said, "We're very concerned because there is a shortage and exploiting a shortage is unconscionable."

In Chicago, too, there is a wide range in the prices pharmacists charge for the same 50 ml. dose.

While pharmacists here say the liquid form for children is not available, Walgreens said it would charge $94.49 for the drug. Leanna Trela, director of retail clinical services for the chain, said she was "surprised" that anyone was charging less.

Maria Lopez purchased Waltussin, a cough medicine at a Walgreens outlet on South Halsted Street, Thursday. "I've been coughing and I don't even know if I have the flu," she said, "but I don't have insurance and the doctor down the street charges $100 a visit. If what you say is true, that they are charging almost $100 for that medicine, I think it's a disgrace. They don't have any morals to do that in a health emergency."

The manager at Voss Pharmacy, a small pharmacy a few blocks away in Chicago's Bridgeport section told the World that his price for the same dose "would not be higher than $75 or $80. I couldn't sell it for any less," he said, adding that the cost of 50ml. of Tamiflu to small pharmacists was $40. Walgreen's would not say what they pay for the same dose.

The local pharmacist at Voss said "the biggest chains always charge uninsured customers the most."

Having prescription drug insurance coverage does not mean that people will have an easier time getting the drug than people without such insurance. Many with coverage are reporting delays in getting approval for the medicine they need for their children as prescription drug benefit programs reject their claims.

According to Maria Palumbo, a spokesperson for Express Scripts, a large benefits company, "Inflated pharmacy charges are one reason claims are being rejected. We are seeing claims for Tamiflu that are over five times the average costs for this product."

Advocates for health care reform say the situation provides yet another example of why the combination of private business, unregulated pharmaceutical companies and for-profit insurance outfits cannot be trusted to meet the urgent health care needs of the population.

To their credit, however, there are some small pharmacists who do appear to have a conscience and are charging as little as $3 - $9 above the cost of the dose to them. "We're dealing with a national epidemic," said Bruce Sneider of Hart Pharmacy in Wichita, Kas., whose price was $49. "If I want to sleep at night, I don't think I should be taking advantage."