People Before Profit blog

Capitalism gone disgustingly mad

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:34:00 +0000

There is a real estate “boom” reported in New Orleans and other devastated areas as desperate people sell shattered houses and the speculators move in, buying up land to make money. Perhaps a future New Orleans will be gentrified with the aid of snorkels.

Actually, the offers to buy New Orleans real estate are coming from all over the country. An ad has even been posted by a Chicago real estate agent offering to purchase flooded land. Land doesn’t depreciate, the agent figures, and people need money, so why not play “let’s make a deal” in the private sector to which the Bush administration pays homage.

People with money who lost their homes are busily bidding up real estate prices in nearby Baton Rouge. Some people whose for-sale houses withstood the hurricane well have radically increased their asking prices. Meanwhile, the Bush administration encourages all of this “private initiative” and moves ahead with plans to “balance” federal aid for the reconstruction of New Orleans with cuts in education, transportation, health services and other vital social programs.

Since a majority of the victims are African American, a chorus of predictable racist right-wing statements and speculation accompanies the administration’s support for speculators. For this administration, the only questions are what to cut, how to keep tax cuts and how to make private charity the center of national policy.

If housing is a commodity to be bought and sold in a “free market,” then natural disasters are also commercial opportunities for those situated to take advantage of them. After all, isn’t it good social Darwinist doctrine that those with wealth have proved their superiority in the great game of “natural selection,” and those without wealth deserve to be uprooted, displaced, perhaps even made extinct, for the greater social good? (In social Darwinist lingo, society is better off neglecting the “unfit” since they merely take away from the “fit.”)

When these people are gone along with their poor neighborhoods, there will be a better “new” New Orleans for the far right. The “new” New Orleans will have higher property values, better rated bonds and people smart enough to invest in cheap labor in poor countries and live off their investments as they compete with each to buy the best yachts, the finest wines and the best of everything from a world market which caters to, at most, 10 percent of humanity and neglects the remaining 90 percent.

A socialist society, and only a socialist society, can plan seriously for the welfare and well being of the entire population, without speculators and profiteers. But even a capitalist society with a strong labor and left movement can tax and regulate the capitalist class, and institute price controls (as capitalist states do in wartime) to prevent the scavengers’ real estate boom that New Orleans is currently experiencing.

It is also both possible and necessary to establish modern flood control systems (expensive but a lot cheaper than what New Orleans faces) of the kind that have been instituted in The Netherlands and other countries.

The battle for New Orleans is just beginning and it is a battle for both democracy and an America whose national identity and international reputation will be connected to social justice and security, not to the pursuit of private wealth by all means necessary.

Before he died near the end of the 19th century, Friedrich Engels noted that society faced the long-term choice of “socialism or barbarism.” Barbara Bush’s early statement that those in Houston shelters had little to begin with and so were pretty well off in the shelters will be read by people of the future as an example of social callousness like that of the 19th century robber barons and their idle rich relatives.

William Bennett’s recent statement that abortion (which he claims to be against on “moral” rather than economic grounds) could be used against African Americans to reduce the crime rate reminds me of eugenicists calling for “selective breeding” of human beings. Hitler’s rantings against “useless eaters,” the “unfit” who take land and resources (“lebensraum” — living space) away from the German “Master Race,” were the most grotesque expression of these views, culminating in the genocide practiced by the fascists in World War II. (The Nazis, by the way, banned abortions of the “racially fit” since producing soldiers for the nation was woman’s sacred duty.)

Next year will be the 100th anniversary of Upton Sinclair’s classic socialist novel “The Jungle,” about the evils of capitalism in the U.S. Our struggle in the U.S. will determine whether “The Jungle” is a work of the past or a harbinger of the future.

Norman Markowitz is a history professor at Rutgers University.

Voter ID: sharpening race and class disparities

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:32:00 +0000

As thousands celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, the media re-aired black and white images of nonviolent Black Americans being tear gassed and clubbed on “Bloody Sunday” while marching for the right to vote. The images were, for many, faded memories of a bygone era.

That is, until a month later, when television focused the nation’s attention on another tragedy: Hurricane Katrina.

What we saw televised in New Orleans wasn’t just the result of a broken levee. It was the intersection of race and class, laying bare for the world to see how such factors can literally amount to life or death.

The striking nexus between Bloody Sunday and Hurricane Katrina is not simply that both events were televised, but rather what that coverage revealed. Katrina’s vulnerable, the Black and poor and politically disfranchised, who for generations had been pushed to the margins of society, were without the economic or other means to get out of harm’s way.

Today, a growing national trend of exploiting alleged fears of voter fraud threatens to hinder access to the ballot box, by requiring voters to present a photo ID that our nation’s most vulnerable — the poor, elderly and many racial minorities — are not likely to have the means to acquire.

The National Commission on Federal Election Reform, co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and James Baker, recently recommended federal legislation requiring all voters to present a “Real ID” card in order to vote. To obtain this type of photo identification, documentary proof would be required of an individual’s full legal name and date of birth, Social Security number, primary address and citizenship.

Unfortunately, the commission’s “Real ID” recommendation is more draconian than any ID requirement adopted in any state to date, including Georgia’s recently enacted and widely criticized law, which Carter, ironically, has condemned as “discriminatory.”

Georgia’s voter identification bill is one of the strictest measures in the nation. Voters are required to present one of six government-issued photo identifications at the polls, a sharp reduction from the 17 previously allowed forms of identification, including bank statements and utility bills, which contain no photo. Georgia’s discriminatory photo ID law is presently being challenged in federal court.

Proponents of photo ID requirements argue that such measures are necessary to prevent fraud and to enhance confidence in election results. But the type of voter fraud addressed by photo ID requirements is extraordinarily small, and supporters of the photo ID measures have yet to make a convincing case that existing methods of discouraging and addressing fraud are insufficient.

While the antifraud benefits of photo ID measures are suspect, there is strong evidence that such requirements will reduce political participation by otherwise eligible rural, elderly, disabled, poor and racial minority voters, who are less likely to have photo identification or the means to acquire one.

Like the warnings about the capacity of New Orleans’ levees to withstand the force of a major hurricane, a photo ID requirement will predictably increase the ranks of the disfranchised.

Many who were left behind in New Orleans did not have access to a car, and thus are the least likely to possess a driver’s license. The hundreds of thousands of people displaced by Katrina may find it impossible to recover the identity papers they left behind or to obtain new records from government offices and hospitals whose records were destroyed. These citizens, and many like them across the country, will be politically disfranchised by the commission’s ID proposal, if enacted, and by photo ID requirements like Georgia’s.

Four decades after the Voting Rights Act’s passage, the Hurricane Katrina experience reminds us that the VRA is still necessary to protect our nation’s racial minorities and poor from voting laws that fail to recognize the impact of race and class in creating new barriers to the ballot.

Ryan Paul Haygood is assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York.

A Dallas woman considers the Miers nomination

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:13:00 +0000

Commentary

Perhaps no single government appointment has the potential to affect a citizen’s quality of life more than that of a Supreme Court justice. Yet, by nominating his White House counsel, Harriet Miers, a person previously responsible for reviewing possible replacements for outgoing Justice O’Connor, George W. Bush demonstrates a lack of understanding and insensitivity to the needs and concerns of the public.

Missing an opportunity to promote an individual with a brave vision for a fair and just future for all, Bush has stuck to his pattern of appointing friends and big campaign donors to high positions. If the Senate confirms Miers, the consequences of her influence will impact women, minorities and workers for decades.

That Miers will most certainly bring to the high court a pro-business/anti-consumer/anti-labor bias is unquestioned. Her background as a corporate attorney representing such clients as Microsoft and the Texas Automobile Dealers Association against consumers is a matter of public record. Her reputation as a highly successful class action and antitrust litigator helped to propel her to leadership positions with the Dallas Bar Association and Texas State Bar.

Currently, the Supreme Court has a large number of antitrust, taxation, and employment cases pending for the next session. It isn’t difficult to guess which side of the law Miers will come down on when the issues are fair pay or whistle blowing.

The Dallas Morning News and big business groups lavishly praise Miers for having once voted with racial minority interests here, but they aren’t looking at the facts. In 1989, Miers was elected as an at-large member of the Dallas City Council. She served a single two-year term. At that time, the city was under a court order requiring Dallas to create a multi-district-based (“single-member”) city council, enabling better representation of the city’s minorities.

Former minority leaders who served with her praise her willingness to listen to their constituents; however, Miers continued to fight for at-large representation even after the federal mandate. Given the heated and divisive climate permeating the city and the council during her term, lending an ear to the opposition was politically expedient for big business.

Additionally, it is unlikely that Miers acted in any way contrary to the desires of the powerful Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the Citizen’s Alliance, entities that truly control and determine most decisions. When these business leaders had given up on the idea of retaining an at-large city council, Miers dropped the cause. Had Miers actually “heard” the voices she has been credited with listening to, she might have changed her position years earlier.

Workers, consumers and minorities are not the only people absent from Miers’ record of advocacy. Women and families will not rate in her decision making either. The revelation of her answers on a candidate questionnaire submitted by an anti-choice organization in 1989 is unambiguous and disturbing. Miers responded in the affirmative on 10 out of 10 questions, indicating, among other things, her willingness to use her office to promote the so-called “pro-life cause” and to “refuse the endorsement of any organization” that supports pro-choice work. Clearly, women’s reproductive rights will be threatened. For all of the administration’s talk about not having a litmus test, it certainly appears that Miers does!

While Bush’s nomination of Miers was intended in some ways to placate those calling for more female representation on the high court, the public should not expect Miers to advocate any cause other than big business. Harriet Miers will disappoint all who long for equality and justice.

Phila. peoples champion, David Cohen, dies at 90

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:11:00 +0000

An outpouring of Philadelphians came to pay their last respects to widely beloved City Councilman David Cohen, known as the “people’s champion.” Cohen died Oct. 3 at age 90.

Cohen’s contributions stretched from his work as a government lawyer in the Roosevelt era, a staunch fighter for civil rights and against racism, a defender of Communists, a labor attorney for the United Electrical Workers, and a fighter for labors’ rights and improved working conditions, to his decades of service as the most outspoken, fighting member of Philadelphia’s City Council.

In his memorial service and media reports, he was described as “the conscience of Council.” His honesty and integrity were never questioned, even by his most determined opponents. Just as he opposed the Vietnam War he stood firmly in opposition to the Bush administration’s imperialist junket in Iraq.

Councilman Cohen became the liaison for activists in winning passage of council measures on health care, housing for the poor, affordable transit fares, raising the minimum wage, clean air and ending the war in Iraq.

He stood up forthrightly against mayor after mayor in the interest of the poor and working people. He fought against cuts in city services and was always available to people in the neighborhoods when they need help.

Gov. Ed Rendell, upon hearing of Cohen’s death, called him the most tenacious political leader he ever encountered and noted he had to fight Cohen hundreds of times.

Philadelphians rewarded Cohen with the largest vote citywide that any council member had ever received.

Just weeks before his death, the Bread and Roses Community Fund paid tribute to Cohen and his wife Florence, presenting them with the Paul Robeson Social Justice Award in recognition of their lifetime commitment to equality and justice.

Although his 90 years took their toll on his body, his voice never failed him, even in his very last days. His passing leaves a gaping hole in the City Council for the people of Philadelphia.

Georgie at the bat

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:08:00 +0000

(The author tips his hat to Ernest Thayer’s “Casey at the Bat.”)

The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the White House gang that day; The score stood four to two with just an inning more to play. Then Ken Lay got indicted and DeLay he got the same, A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A savvy few took flight, to avoid a sure arrest. Others clung to hope which springs within the human breast; They thought that if their boy could get a whack at that — They’d put up even money now with Georgie at the bat.

But Dick Cheney preceded George as did also Karl the Rove, The former was a bully and the latter was a toad; So on the stricken ‘Publicans’ a deathlike silence sat, There seemed but little chance of Georgie’s getting to the bat.

But Rove he spun the treason, just to scheme another day, And Cheney dodged the questions and then quickly snuck away, And when the dust had lifted, and we saw what had occurred, There was Cheney safe at second and Rove a-hugging third.

Then from loyal throats there rose a lusty yell; It rumbled through the beltway, as it rattled up the hill. It blasted on the TV and the press corps took the bait. For Georgie, mighty Georgie, was advancing to the plate.

There was no ease in Bush’s manner as he stepped into his place. False pride was in his bearing and that grin was on his face. And when he heard the cheers and jeers, he lightly doffed his hat, No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas G. Dub at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt; Hopeful, hands applauded when he wiped them on his shirt. Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip, Fear flashed in Dubya’s eyes, grin a-fading from his lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air, And the would-be hero, Bush just stood frozen there, Close by the trembling batsman, the ball unheeded sped — “That ain’t my style!” plead Bush, “Strike one,” the umpire said.

And from his staunch supporters, went up a muffled roar, Like the beating of the storm waves on a stern and distant shore. “Kill the umpire!” shouted Rummy, and the press took up the chant. As according to the spinners, the pitch had been errant.

With a smile of “his” Christian charity, his face was seen by all; The umpire stilled the rising tumult, calling out “Play ball.” He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew; But Bush, again, was inert and the umpire said, “Strike two.”

“Fake,” cried Bob Novak, and the media-whores added, “Fraud.” But one cute remark from McClellan and again the crowd was awed. They saw his face grow pale and cold, they saw his muscles strain, And they hoped their leader wouldn’t let that ball go by again.

That grin now gone from Bush’s lip, his teeth are clenched in hate; He pounds with cruel violence, his bat upon the plate. And now the pitcher holds the ball and now he lets it go. And now the air is shattered, by the force of Bush’s blow.

All around this favored land the sun is shining bright; The bands are playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere workers laugh and somewhere children shout; But there is no joy for the GOP — Mighty Bushie has struck out.

Skeletons as political art: A look at Day of the Dead artist Posada

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:04:00 +0000

Compared to the medieval European plague-inspired, scary skeletons of Halloween, the skeletons of Día de los Muertos are a whimsical lot. They drive cars or play in small orchestras; the guys smoke cigars and the ladies wear enormous hats. And through the art of José Guadalupe Posada, they engage in political debate as well.

Posada was born in the central Mexican city of Aguascalientes, capital of the state of the same name, on Feb. 2, 1852. He was always fierce supporter of the downtrodden. At the age of 14, he apprenticed as a printmaker and began producing satirical illustrations. In his 30s he moved to Mexico City where he began work for several publishers including Ireneo Paz, a liberal journalist and grandfather of Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz. He produced thousands of illustrations and editorial cartoons for Mexican popular newspapers of the day.

From the onset of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 until his death in 1913, Posada worked tirelessly at cartoons dedicated to the working-class and revolutionary struggles. His political work landed him in jail on several occasions.

Posada’s ingenious cartoons focused on the injustices of the government of President Porfirio Diaz and his high society supporters. By using skeleton figures to portray political figures and contemporaries, Posada emphasized their mortality and brought them down to size. “In death we are all equal. Blond, brown, rich, poor, we come to the same fate,” he said. One of his best known images is Calavera de la Catrina (“Skeleton of the Female Dandy”), which satirizes the life of the upper classes.

Posada was admired for his range and technical skill. His compositions are filled with movement and confident gestures. His lines reflect the message he was expressing: smooth and harmonious in scenes of daily life, or harsh and thick to imply denunciation or violence. His political cartoons provoke laughter and indignation.

Posada produced an enormous body of work estimated at over 20,000 items, including not only his political cartoons but also commercial and advertising work (such as cigar box covers), book illustrations, posters and images of historical and religious figures.

Since Posada never catered to wealthy sponsors, his work never made him rich. When he died he was buried in a sixth-class grave (the lowest category) where, ironically, after seven years, his own bones were removed and discarded. But in 1973, the Posada Museum opened in Aguascalientes, and today in Mexico there are collections of his works at the National Institute of Fine Arts, the Biblioteca de Mexico (the national library) and the National Library of Anthropology and History, as well as in museums in the U.S. and other countries. The political legacy of Posada’s satirical skeletons, which influenced such Mexican artists as Orozco, Siquieros, Rivera and Kahlo, continues to inspire artists and cartoonists to this day.

Photo: "Posada2.Catrina" by José Guadalupe Posada - ArtDaily.org. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons

Editorial: Global warming not just hot air

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:00:00 +0000

The World Meteorological Organization has run out the alphabet in naming hurricanes. With a whole month left to go in the hurricane season, remaining storms will be designated by Greek letters.

The devastating impact of global warming can’t be denied. Millions who live in coastal regions of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico from Cuba to Haiti to Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Mexico have suffered enormous loss of life, livelihood and property.

Warmer oceans fuel hurricanes, and the world’s oceans are being heated by an unceasing flow of “greenhouse gas emissions” into our planet’s atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil produces these gases. The gases trap the sun’s heat in the earth’s atmosphere, like a greenhouse. Deforestation contributes to the effect.

It’s been only four years since the Bush administration scorned the rest of the world and rejected the Kyoto Protocol, refusing to commit the U.S to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. produces one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas pollution.

Bush’s alternative to Kyoto is voluntary programs for polluters to clean up their act. The programs sport cheerful names like “Healthy Forests” and “Clear Skies.” The result? Emissions from the U.S. have grown at the rate of 1.5 percent a year.

Bush stated that the Kyoto agreement’s goals were “unrealistic” and would damage the U.S. economy. Since that time the U.S. economy has been damaged — but by Katrina’s and Rita’s floods and winds, not pollution controls. Meanwhile, Kyoto’s goals have proven to be realistic; 15 European Union nations have succeeded in collectively cutting their emissions to 2.9 percent below 1990 levels.

The Bush administration has consistently treated global warming, which he euphemistically refers to as “climate change,” as an unproven theory, in need of more research. Fringe scientists promoted by right-wing think tanks have replaced real scientists in formulating government policy. They provide cover for the energy industries’ drive for profits. What’s next? Weather forecasts based on intelligent design?

When those with their hands on the levers of power chose profits over science, it’s a dangerous world indeed.

Editorial: Too many people have died

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:58:00 +0000

What does a number mean? When the death toll of U.S. troops killed in Iraq was 1,900, or 500, or even 1, it was a terrible, criminal tragedy. But now that one more needless death has put the toll into the 2,000s, somehow the criminality of this war becomes even more shocking.

Our hearts go out to the families of those killed. They will carry that pain with them forever.

They will be joined in their pain by the families of the tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children killed — some estimate the number as high as 100,000 or more — in this war of imperial aggression, sold to the American people by schemes and lies.

More than 1,000 solemn vigils, in every state of the Union, marked this deadly milestone, posing the question asked a generation ago during Vietnam: “How many deaths will it take till we know, too many people have died?”

When Bob Dylan sang that refrain in the 1960s, he spoke for the soul of our nation. President Lyndon Johnson was forced into retirement and Nixon was forced to the peace table because a mass peace movement finally rose up and said, “Enough!”

That war lasted a decade and cost over 50,000 U.S. lives.

Today, a growing majority of Americans are saying it’s time to get out of Iraq. Congress is starting to get the message. This week, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) introduced legislation to prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to deploy U.S. troops to Iraq. Reps. David Price and Brad Miller, both North Carolina Democrats, have introduced a joint resolution directing the president to submit a detailed plan to Congress for ending the occupation. Sen. John Kerry has called for an immediate, detailed plan for withdrawal.

We urge our readers to put the pressure on their congressional representatives so that not another mother’s son or daughter has to die in this war based on lies.

The best way we can honor the 2,000 whose tragic deaths we mark this week is to say, again, “Enough!”

Crossing the double yellow line: Americas crippling health care system claims another victim

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:56:00 +0000

“Charity begins at home and justice begins next door.” Charles Dickens

It’s a scenario that could happen to any one of us.

No, not Hurricane Katrina, but the aftermath of simply driving down a quiet rural road — minding the speed limit and minding one’s own business. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an oncoming car crosses the double yellow line and veers into your lane. Disaster strikes.

That’s exactly what happened to Suzanne Blake on the morning of Aug. 19, as she slowly drove along a rural, two-lane road in Northern Arizona. It was a warm but clear day, and the road posed no hazards as the former nurse, who is in her early 60s, ran her usual errands around the area.

Rounding a curve in the road, a white four-door sedan traveling in the opposite direction crossed the yellow line into her lane. In order to avoid a head-on collision, Suzanne instinctively turned her car onto the right shoulder. It spun twice, hitting an embankment, and her head crashed into the windshield, shattering it. All she remembered was excruciating pain — and seeing the young male driver of the mid-to-late ’90s car continue on, without stopping, in her rearview mirror — while she lay there bleeding for what seemed like an eternity.

“I was terrified … all I could see was this thing where my leg was supposed to be, but it was all contorted and lobbed over,” Suzanne said. “I was in a state of panic and wanted to scream but couldn’t because I was in complete shock. And I was appalled by the hit-and-run driver’s cavalier attitude and irresponsibility toward human life.”

While there were no witnesses, a motorist who happened to be a paramedic fortunately came along and stopped to help. Suzanne’s forehead was bleeding profusely and she sustained severe cuts and bruises to her face and body. Her right femur was broken in the accident, which required immediate surgery. She screamed in pain as the EMTs rushed her to a nearby hospital, and she still remains in severe pain after a rod was hammered into the broken bone. Still, Suzanne says, she is grateful to have her life.

Picking up the pieces

While the nation expresses its shock in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Suzanne’s friends and neighbors echo similar dismay over the demise of her life as she once knew it. Faced with “shocking” hospital bills and no health insurance — like 45 million other Americans — she doesn’t know how she’s going to survive financially and maintain her well-being.

She had seen it all during her laborious years of nursing — the sick, the dying, the injured and the disabled. Then she joined their ranks when she seriously hurt her back in an industrial accident that put her on disability, a system which she claims keeps people like herself on the brink of poverty, with just enough compensation to keep them above the legal poverty line — and ineligible for social services and financial assistance.

Suzanne doesn’t have Medicare and receives just $60 above the poverty limit each month. Therefore, she remains ineligible for Arizona Heath Care Cost Containment System medical coverage. According to her, disability is intentionally low, like unemployment insurance. “They intimidated me out of filing for an appeal,” she said. And, according to many others on disability, their compensation has remained unchanged for nearly 10 years.

“They toss you just enough so you can barely stay alive in a world where prices like gasoline have gone totally wild,” she said. “There’s no way anyone can survive on such income.”

According to Suzanne, the problem is an insidious one. “It goes from the local level right on up to the federal government,” she said. “Their meaningless platitudes offer no viable solutions or anything of merit. There’s this unbearable indifference to the problems of older individuals, especially women, despite their efforts to maintain a decent standard of living in these times of economic crisis.”

Suzanne already had a limp prior to the wreck. Now crippled due to her broken femur, she doesn’t know if she’ll walk again for at least six months after physical therapy — if she can afford it. She is unable to lift, stoop or twist and has no spouse or family to assist her.

“It was difficult enough with my limp before this happened,” Suzanne said. “But now they don’t know if I’m ever going to be normal again.”

Thanks to the staggering pile of hospital, surgical and medical bills, she worries she’ll lose the home she’s maintained for more than a dozen years. “Between the pain and the worry, I have this overriding fear that I will be rendered bankrupt and destitute and lose everything,” she said. “There’s no one to help me, and the system just leaves you out to dry.”

Currently, Suzanne’s mortgage, water and other utility bills remain unpaid due to the medical industry’s demand for minimum payments. Her basic liability auto insurance doesn’t cover a replacement vehicle, nor any medical benefits. Out of propane and unable to take hot baths or cook wholesome meals, she remains even more crippled — financially — than ever before and is already besieged with what she calls “predatory collection agencies.” Worst of all, she remains in terrible pain and unable to get around on her own.

“I just don’t know how I’m going to get through this,” Suzanne said from her hospital bed at VVMC a week after the accident. “My blood pressure is way up and I’m scared to death I could end up with a stroke from all the financial worry. I’m trying like crazy not to get in that mode. All I want is to be able to take a warm bath. I really don’t know how I can haul pots of hot water from the microwave to the tub while I’m in a walker.”

No rhyme or reason

For some things in life, there’s simply no explanation.

The same week that Suzanne’s ordeal began, a wild, random shooting spree left two young Wal-Mart employees dead in a Phoenix Supercenter parking lot. Lacking any motive, the senseless massacre left shoppers stunned and dismayed. Another week later, the hurricane left some 1,000 dead in the Gulf.

Like Suzanne and these innocent victims, no one is ever completely insulated from unpredictable and inexplicable crisis. Indeed, each and every one of us may be just one paycheck, one job injury, one accident, one shooting, one Social Security check or one stock market crash from disaster.

How are America’s communities prepared in the event of an earthquake, a gas pipeline rupture, nuclear explosion, terrorist attack or even a financial crash? How will we interact with each other when the last drop of gasoline runs out, the last drop of water leaves the tap or the last piece of food leaves the shelf? Will we react like the young Domino’s Pizza delivery driver in Phoenix two years ago, who chased gasoline trucks with a loaded shotgun after the pumps ran dry? Are we a Louisiana or a Suzanne waiting to happen?

Certainly both leave such food for thought in the wake of their havoc. Like the hurricane, Suzanne’s accident sends us an all-too-painful reminder that we, as a society and a nation, loiter in denial, dysfunction and disorder. Like the hurricane, her scenario will evoke all the finger-pointing of blame to a lack of responsibility … she should’ve had this and done that, she should’ve had more coverage on her car and she should’ve gotten health insurance. But like the hurricane survivors who had no resources and therefore nowhere to go, so Suzanne couldn’t squeeze blood from a stone.

Warnings urged residents to flee the hurricane’s onslaught, but only those who could afford to do so avoided the ensuing horror at the New Orleans Convention Center. Likewise, the financial analysts and columnists warn workers to save for retirement while media ads deliver contradictory messages: “Buy more! Spend now!” — mostly to accumulate junk we don’t really need.

“Anyone who thinks they can save money for retirement with the current wages or disability income, in light of the cost of living, is fooling themselves,” said Suzanne. “When you see the blasts that working people have been hit with — the frozen wages, the cost of medical insurance, the loss of pensions, the price of gas — you see that there’s nowhere for them to turn. The experts all say we have to save, but there’s nothing to even make bill payments from, let alone save for the future. It’s total insanity.”

Between rock and hard place

According to Suzanne, “too many Americans have lost their ability to think, let alone comprehend what’s really going on in this country.”

“We’re lost as a society, and denial is a huge problem,” she declared. “We need compassionate people in political leadership to start positive change. There has to be a demonstrative paradigm for compassion — there’s so little of it left.”

Suzanne is not alone. Not far from her hospital bed, an elderly man trudged with difficulty along the highway in Arizona’s searing heat, walking to a bank more than seven miles away, to deposit his first Social Security check.

After a lifetime of hard work, the $400 monthly income just wasn’t enough, he explained. Still he must toil somehow to make up the shortfall by doing odd jobs, washing dishes and the like. He couldn’t afford to repair his ’73 truck and was depending on rides to get to his jobs. Plus his water was shut off because he didn’t have enough to pay the bill and he wondered how he would clean his clothes for work.

Nobody ever said life was easy, but it’s a long, hard, lonely road for him, Suzanne and others like them who have labored hard all their lives for nothing.

“It’s such a travesty when the system slams the door on you,” Suzanne said. “We’re good, decent, hard-working folks who dedicated our lives to our jobs, our employers and the public. We’re not people who milk the system.”

Individual accountability

At a time when our societal systems — political, medical and social — are failing us, we must stand by one another in whatever way we can. We as a community cannot leave our neighbors along the wayside like roadkill, nor let them fall into potholes of a heartless system. Is hot water too much for a retired or disabled individual to ask for? Is that so terrible, to want a warm bath in your golden years?

“I’ve tried so hard, I’ve worked so hard,” said Suzanne, in tears. “But it isn’t working. I busted my tail in health care all my life taking care of other people and then health care put a foot in my face. The degradation of our society has to stop somewhere. It cannot continue forever.”

In every disaster, from 9/11 and the London bombings to the hurricanes, innocent workers have become victims. Like 9/11 and Katrina, working people step up to lend a hand and dig in their pockets to compensate for government and medical system neglect. Again, another victim of the system needs our help. When we dig others out of their troubles — whether in Louisiana or Arizona — we will find a place to bury our own.

Catherine J. Rourke is an award-winning journalist from Arizona who specializes in workplace and social reform issues. This article originally appeared in The Red Rock Review and an excerpted version is reprinted here with permission by the author. For information on how you can help Suzanne, e-mail Catherine Rourke at: Rourkescribe@aol.com

DeLay vows to continue fundraising in prison

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:54:00 +0000

Will tap into network of convicted CEOs, congressman says

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) said today that even if he is convicted of crimes for which he has been indicted in the state of Texas, he will continue fundraising for future political campaigns while serving time in prison.

A defiant DeLay told reporters in Washington that being incarcerated would not slow his fundraising efforts “one iota” because it would enable him to tap into a cash-rich network of convicted CEOs.

“If I’m behind bars, you can bet your fanny I’ll be reaching out to Dennis Kozlowski, Bernie Ebbers, and the rest of my people,” DeLay said. “I might be able to raise more money in prison than I could on the outside.”

The specter of DeLay hitting the fundraising mother lode while serving a prison sentence sent shivers through the Democratic Party establishment, with some party leaders openly wondering if there are any Democratic congressmen who could serve time behind bars to level the fundraising playing field.

But after a top-level meeting of the Democratic National Committee last night, DNC chief Howard Dean was pessimistic that a Democrat could be recruited to break a law or two and follow DeLay through the prison gates.

“If we Democrats are ever going to be competitive with Republicans in terms of fundraising, we simply are going to have to get better at committing crimes,” Dean said.

Andy Borowitz writes a daily humor column at borowitzreport.com.

Confronting rising medical school debt

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:51:00 +0000

On Sept. 21 a daylong conference on Capitol Hill discussed the crisis in skyrocketing medical school tuition, high medical student debt and the implications for our nation’s health care.

High tuition costs and high debt are a problem not only for doctors — who, if they choose to enter primary care or to provide care for the uninsured or underinsured may be paying their loans for up to 30 years — but also for the health care system as a whole. High debt levels and expensive monthly repayments are a primary reason why doctors often cannot afford to provide care to patients who cannot pay. This is why there is such a shortage of surgeons and specialists in rural regions of our country. This is the reason there are almost no psychiatrists who can take Medicaid patients. Even primary care doctors, who can usually draw on a much broader patient population, are having trouble providing affordable care.

So what are medical students facing? The median debt for public medical school graduates is $105,000. For graduates of private medicals schools the figure is $140,000. (The real figures are actually higher because 20 percent of medical students do not have debt — they are factored into these numbers). Some medical students graduate with $350,000 in debt.

These sky-high and ever rising tuition costs eliminate diversity in medicine. Sixty percent of medical students come from the wealthiest fifth of the population, while only 3 percent come from the lowest fifth. Of equal concern, while African Americans and Latinos make up 25 percent of the U.S. population, they only make up 12 percent of medical students. A survey by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) explains that cost of medical education was the primary reason why qualified students of color chose not to apply to medical school.

Existing aid programs include the federal Perkins and Stafford loan programs that provide affordable loans for students to pay rising tuition costs. Aid-for-service programs such as the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) are excellent programs that help students pay debt if they serve as primary care physicians in federally designated underserved areas. However, these programs are not enough. The cap on federal loan programs is significantly below the full cost of tuition and living expenses — this drives students to borrow from predatory banks or take on substantial credit card debt. The NHSC and a similar aid-for-research program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are great, but only a fraction of qualified applicants are able to benefit from them due to low funding levels.

In response to this growing crisis in medicine, the American Medical Student Association, the largest independent national organization of medical students and young physicians, led the effort to organize a summit bringing together leaders in organized medicine and stakeholders in the financing of medical education. Experts, congresspeople and staffers, medical school administrators, representatives from loan agencies, representatives from the NHSC and the NIH, and medical students convened to propose a series of consensus solutions. The summit was a victory for those interested in expanding access to medical education and health care.

While the summit was only a first step, much energy has been generated around finding short- and long-term solutions. First, national leaders clearly articulated the link between high medical education costs and the crisis in health care access. Both were recognized as issues that require systemic solutions. Second, leaders from all sides of the issue agreed on the need for increased public support for federal loan and aid-for-service programs. More funding for the NHSC is a priority and similar programs that focus on surgery, mental health and international health are needed to provide essential services for people who cannot access them. Perhaps most importantly, improving access to undergraduate education and fostering diversity in the pipeline to medical school must be considered along with medical school tuition and debt.

The mounting cost of college education and the barriers that keep working-class young people and young people of color from finishing secondary education and entering higher education are part of the problem. Much work remains to expand access to higher education and health care, but medical students have taken an important step forward.

A full web cast of the summit is available online at www.amsa.org/meded/studentdebtsummit.cfm.

Pedro Archanjo is a medical student inspired by health care workers who render aid across borders, the “internationalistas.”

Detroit rallies for HR 676

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:46:00 +0000

DEARBORN, Mich. — Several hundred Detroit area residents gathered here Oct. 17 to speak out on the health care crisis in the U.S. and to demand a national solution.

Organized by the Healthcare Now! coalition, sponsored by labor and community groups, and attended by elected officials, the meeting condemned the for-profit health system and called for building support for HR 676, a bill sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) which would establish a national health insurance program patterned after Medicare.

The meeting was part of a nationwide campaign that will see about 90 town hall meetings over the coming months with congressional representatives and other elected officials stressing the need to pass HR 676, a “single-payer” health plan.

According to the U.S. census, about 46 million people don’t have any insurance. One-third of the population has inadequate coverage.

Nathan Head of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists commented that both the post-World War II Japanese constitution and the new Iraqi constitution guarantee a national health care system for their people. The U.S. government heavily influenced the writing of both constitutions. “What’s wrong with us here?” he wondered.

The current system costs lives. Nurse Pam Ortner said she worked with patients who would have survived or had better health if they had had access to health care all their lives. “We need to demand that we have the same single standard of care for everyone,” she said.

Disabled people can’t get health care coverage until their disability claims are approved, said retired Social Security worker Jim Bish. Doctors would often tell these people that they would get care only when they had coverage, Bish said.

Union workers are next on the list of targets for elimination of health insurance benefits, added Detroit welfare rights activist Marian Kramer. Autoworkers and city workers are seeing their employers demand they give back benefits, she said.

David Apsey, a spokesperson for Physicians for a National Health Program, pointed out that 30 percent of the $1.8 trillion dollars spent annually on health care in the U.S. goes to pay for the industry’s corporate bureaucracy and profits.

But there is a solution, Apsey added. The basic principle of HR 676 is that everyone is covered, no one is left out. Its administrative costs would be about one-tenth of the cost of the corporate bureaucracy that administers the private system. It would provide coverage for all medical services, including dental, vision, long-term and mental health care.

HR 676 would be paid for by a payroll tax of 1.45 percent each from employers and employees. Both currently pay much higher amounts for health insurance premiums.

The bargaining power of the government would help control the outrageous prices of prescription drugs.

Lynn Williams, president of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees, pointed out that a comparable system in Canada has Canadians paying only $2,200 per capita for universal health care while in the U.S., spending on health care amounts to almost $5,000 per person annually.

This week in labor

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:44:00 +0000

GM runs over autoworker health care

General Motors workers are now voting on a new concession package that will cost retirees up to $752 a year for their health care. GM says the new agreement will save the company $3 billion a year. Up to now, retirees have enjoyed fully paid health care coverage. As many workers point out, their pensions and retiree health care packages are part of agreements, negotiated in good faith, with GM. With these cuts, GM is breaking its agreement with its retired workers. In effect, it is taking money that already belongs to workers in the form of deferred wages.

The deal also forces a $1 an hour wage cut for active workers. Many union members maintain that these take-backs are the result of GM’s willful failure to fully fund their pension and health care responsibilities during years when it was making record-breaking profits.

Adding even greater injury, GM is planning major plant shutdowns and layoffs to be announced by the end of the year. Union activists fully expect Ford and Chrysler to follow suit with similar take-back demands.

Despite the auto industry’s troubles, most automotive CEOs’ incomes have shot up. Last year, the 31 chief executives of U.S. automakers, suppliers and publicly traded dealership groups had a median income of $4.2 million. That’s up a stunning 72 percent from 2003.

NEA on student loan cuts

National Education Association President Reg Weaver called proposed slashes of the student loan program “the wrong cuts at the wrong time.” The House Republican leadership is calling for more than $5 billion in new cuts to student loan programs over and above the $12.6 billion approved in April. These cuts could cost the average student borrower up to $5,800 in additional interest payments.

“Students across the country are already in an enormous financial hole and this Congress seems to think they can keep digging deeper,” said Eddy Morales, president of the United States Student Association.

The NEA’s Weaver, a former middle-school teacher from Harvey, Ill, pointed out that more than 8 million postsecondary students receive financial aid. Weaver added, “This need will only grow in the next decade when undergraduate enrollment in colleges and universities will increase by 14 percent. Of those new students, 80 percent will come from minority backgrounds and one in five will live in poverty.”

Calif. firefighters burning up

The guy staring out from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign mailers promoting anti-labor Prop. 75 is not a real California firefighter. And that’s got the real ones burning up. The governor has attacked their pensions and referred to them as “special interests,” but now his campaign has bought a stock image of a firefighter in an effort to fool voters into thinking he has their support.

“This just goes along with his whole mantra of ‘I played a firefighter in a movie. I will just buy a firefighter,’” said Lou Paulson, president of the California Professional Firefighters Association.

Wal-Mart week of action

Wal-Mart Watch has designated Nov. 13-19 as Higher Expectations Week: A National Week of Action. Along with 400 partner organizations, the group is taking on the Wal-Mart’s impact on the environment and American labor standards. The groups will participate in 1,000 local events during the week and the new film “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices” will premiere of at over 3,500 house parties.

Low jobless benefits in Gulf

The average unemployment benefit in the states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi equals only about half the poverty line for a family of four, according to the AFL-CIO. Workers who are not eligible for UI qualify for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance — but those benefits are set at half a state’s average weekly UI rate, which comes out to less than $100 a week in each of these states.

EFCA gains support

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) has joined Arkansas Sens. Marek Pryor (D) and Blanche Lincoln (D) in signing up to support the Employee Free Choice Act, for a total of 41 EFCA co-sponsors in the Senate. The House now has 204 co-sponsors, just 14 short of an outright majority. Labor and its allies will be mobilizing at rallies, marches, town hall meetings and candlelight vigils during the week leading up to Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, in support of the legislation which would restore some rights to American workers. U.S. employers routinely intimidate and dismiss workers to keep them from exercising their constitutional freedom to form a union, says a new global survey by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

Philly transit sets strike

Five thousand transit workers in Philadelphia and four nearby counties have set Oct. 31 as a strike deadline, refusing to give in to demand from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) for 90 separate givebacks. SEPTA is demanding a 40 percent cut in health care, reduced vacation pay, elimination of maternity leave, reduced sick pay, deletion of the “no layoff” clause, and the right to contract out maintenance and construction work.

“Over several decades, our members accepted less in wages and other benefits in order to receive decent health care coverage,” said Transport Workers Union Local 234 President Jeff Brooks.

SEPTA ridership is up — up to 20,000 more passengers are riding its buses, subways and trains than last year. This is a result not only of higher gas prices but also improvement in service which has resulted from the efforts of TWU members. “Now it’s time for SEPTA to do the right thing for its employees,” said Brooks.

This week in labor is compiled by Roberta Wood (rwood@pww.org). Rosita Johnson, Scott Marshall, PAI and Libero Della Piana contributed.

World Notes

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:43:00 +0000

Haiti: UN official calls rights ‘catastrophic’

UN official Thierry Fagart, who heads a team of 30 human rights monitors, said Oct. 14 that the human rights situation in Haiti is “catastrophic,” The Associated Press reported. Fagart cited violations by police and private citizens, including many cases of arbitrary arrests, torture and even summary executions by Haitian National Police.

He also said there is a “fundamental problem” with the justice system, which barely functions, while the situation in overcrowded prisons is “appalling.”

“The state of the judiciary is so bad that people have lost all hope in it,” he said.

However, Fagart also noted that a UN investigation into one such killing, when many as 10 people were hacked to death or shot by police and vigilantes last August at a Port-au-Prince soccer stadium, is resulting in prosecution of 15 Haitian police officers.

Pakistan: 1 million jobs lost in quake

The International Labor Office (ILO) said last week that urgent steps are needed to create jobs in Pakistan, where over 1.1 million jobs may have been lost after the Oct. 8 earthquake.

“Reports of widespread destruction show that the livelihoods of millions of people are threatened or have been destroyed,” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia in a report released in Geneva Oct. 18. He called for urgent initiatives to “monitor and create decent and productive employment and rebuild people’s livelihoods.”

Making things worse, the hardest hit areas are among the poorest in Pakistan, the ILO said. Besides destruction of infrastructure and shops in the towns, rural areas suffered huge losses of livestock and farm implements.

Total employment in the devastated areas was around 2.4 million when the quake struck. Over 2 million of these workers and their families were living below the poverty line with less than $2 per person per day.

Britain: Mothers to camp out at Blair’s place

Two British mothers, following the example set by Cindy Sheehan with her encampment at Crawford, Texas, were slated to start camping Oct. 25 outside Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official residence at 10 Downing Street in London.

Rose Gentle’s son Gordon died in a roadside bombing in Basra last year, while Susan Smith’s son Philip was killed in Al Amarah earlier this year.

Their encampment is to protest the political decision to deny the families legal aid in their campaign to bring Blair to justice for the Iraq war. Gentle and Smith believe the war has been fought on the basis of lies and deceit. Just as President Bush refused to meet with Cindy Sheehan, to date Blair has refused to meet with the two women.

China: Retirement rules called unfair to women

Longstanding rules requiring women to retire five years earlier than men are being challenged as gender discrimination, according to People’s Daily Online. Since the Chinese revolution in 1949, women workers have retired at 50 and men at 55, with civil servants and professionals retiring five years later.

A woman civil servant recently sued against forced retirement, saying she is still competent to perform her job, and the discrepancy violates gender equality provisions in China’s constitution and labor laws.

The woman lost her case, but law professors point out that today’s conditions differ markedly from those women faced 50 years ago. Many women no longer perform hard physical labor on the job and at home, women now live longer than men, and with pensions based on years of service and position at retirement, early retirement means a lower benefit.

Others say that with many women working in labor intensive industries, regulations could accommodate both women’s equal rights and their personal choices about retirement age.

Angola: Refugees return home

During 27 years of civil war an estimated half a million Angolans fled to neighboring countries and millions more were displaced internally.

Since a peace accord ended the civil war over three years ago, nearly 60,000 refugees have returned home from refugee camps in Zambia, The Times of Zambia said last week.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said it is making every effort to ensure that some 22,000 refugees still living in Zambia would be able to return home by the end of the year or early in 2006.

Returning to Angola is voluntary, and the UNHCR says over 15,000 refugees who have not said they are ready to go home will be resettled in two remaining Zambia refugee camps.

World Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel (mbechtel@pww.org).

Canada turns blind eye to torture, report charges

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:39:00 +0000

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canada is deporting persons to countries where they risk being cruelly treated and tortured, Amnesty International (AI) said in a report released Oct. 13.

Titled “Protection Gap: Strengthening Canada’s compliance with international human rights obligations,” the report says AI has repeatedly reminded the Canadian government that deporting refugees to countries that employ torture violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Canada signed and is obligated to follow.

Noting that the government has said it has the right to deport persons to such countries in the interests of “security,” the report counters, “The appropriate response is to pursue justice through lawful investigations, charges and trial, not to breach international law and create further injustice by exposing individuals to a serious risk of torture.”

It points out that the UN Committee against Torture has told the Canadian government that international legal protection against torture applies in all cases and that the nation’s laws must reflect this.

The report also expresses concern that Canadian security agencies were involved in the arrest of four Canadian men of Syrian origin who were sent back to Syria, where they were tortured.

The most well-known case is that of Syrian-born Maher Arar. U.S. officials arrested Arar in 2002 in New York’s Kennedy Airport on his way to Canada and then flew him to Syria where he was held for a year without charges. Arar reported that Syrian prison guards tortured him and forced him to live in inhumane conditions. The three other men also say that they were tortured. Syria eventually released Arar and the three other men and allowed them to return to Canada.

“Canadian officials may have provided information that led to their [the four men’s] arrests and may have even done so with the expectation or with willful blindness to the likelihood that it would result in their arrests,” states the report. “It also appears that information provided by Canadian sources likely served as the basis for the interrogation sessions in Syria during which these individuals were subjected to torture. There are concerns that information coming out of these interrogations was then transferred back to Canada and may have been used by Canadian officials in the course of ongoing investigations of these four men and other[s].” AI makes it clear that international law forbids the use of information obtained under torture.

Among other things, the report also accuses the Canadian government of practicing arbitrary detention because it arrests, detains and deports non-citizens, who don’t have the right to a fair trial. Detainees do not have to be fully informed of the charges against them and have no opportunity to legally challenge their detention.

In related news, Michael Byers, research chair in global politics and international law at the University of British Columbia, charged that Canada, by allowing its military forces in Afghanistan to hand over Taliban prisoners to the U.S., is violating the Third Geneva Convention forbidding the mistreatment of prisoners. Given recent revelations of high-level U.S. approval of torture in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, Canada is putting anyone they hand over to U.S. forces at risk, Byers said.

Israels continuing occupation of Gaza

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:37:00 +0000

News Analysis

The Israeli occupation of Gaza Strip didn’t end — it merely changed its form.

With the completion of the Israeli army withdrawal from Gaza Strip and the eviction of the settlers, the occupation has seemingly ended. And indeed, if by “occupation” we mean a direct military presence, then sure enough, Gaza Strip is no longer occupied by Israel. But is this truly the situation?

Ariel Sharon’s government tries to instill, both in Israel and abroad, the impression that the occupation of Gaza has ended, and now the Palestinians must “prove themselves worthy.” This serves the purpose of allowing the occupation to continue behind the smokescreen of “ending the occupation.”

The occupation is a far more intricate project than mere direct military presence. The occupation is a project on which the fingerprints of class interests can be clearly seen. It can be carried out in numerous ways, colonial as well as neocolonial.

Peace activists in Israel identified for many years the fight against the occupation with the fight for human rights and self-determination for the Palestinian people. This is an important and central struggle that remains to be completed.

Yet it seems that those in Israel who benefited the most from the occupation feel that, even with the withdrawals and evictions, they can still maintain a state of economic occupation by keeping the Palestinian territories as colonies bounded by and integrated with Israeli capitalism.

In the 40 years that have passed since Israel occupied Gaza Strip (as well as the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights), a pattern of socioeconomic relations between the Palestinians and Israel has evolved — a colonial pattern. The Gaza Strip, just like the rest of the occupied territories, became a captive market for Israeli goods.

The Israeli occupier, relying on its military might, prevented the Palestinians from developing their economy. The Palestinians were prevented from developing industries like cement, which might have competed with Israeli firms. At the same time, Gaza was being kept as a huge pool of cheap labor force for the Israeli economy. The winning colonial formula was established: Costly Israeli goods for cheap Palestinian labor.

The two intifadas (Palestinian uprisings) badly damaged this colonial project and severely weakened the Israeli occupation. As a result of this weakening, the Oslo accords were signed after the first intifada in 1993 with the PLO (previously regarded a dreaded foe), and this year the Israeli army and settlers withdrew from the Gaza Strip, and several West Bank settlements were dismantled.

Following in the footsteps of earlier advocates of a colonial scheme, Shimon Peres, veteran Labor Party leader and Sharon’s right-hand man, often displays his eagerness to put neocolonialism into practice. This is evident in the ways he talks about “turning Gaza into the Hong Kong of the Middle East,” “setting up joint industrial zones,” “a market-oriented peace agreement,” etc.

The actions taken by the Sharon-Peres government after the Gaza withdrawal suit Peres’s vision: closing the Gaza strip to Egyptian import/export of goods, and leaving it open only for Israeli import/export; continuing to prohibit the Palestinians from rebuilding their airport (destroyed by Israeli air force) or their maritime port (whose infrastructure was bombed by Israeli air force as an “act of retaliation”); and allowing low-paid Palestinian workers into Israel, where they’ll compete with migrant workers.

As of now, the Palestinian Authority is not taking any significant steps towards ending its economic dependency on Israel. The PA’s economic policies have been, for many years, monitored closely by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the tentacles of capitalist globalization. The representatives of these international (i.e. American) bodies, together with their Palestinian colleagues whose worldview is based on neoliberal economic theory, contribute their part to implementing the Israeli neocolonial formula. As it turns out, there are also Palestinians who make a profit from, and therefore have interest in, this arrangement.

The Israeli neocolonial dream can quickly turn into a Palestinian nightmare, including a weak and dependent Palestinian economy, very low wages (for the workers employed in the international trade zones), and high unemployment rate to keep those wages low. In fact, Israel’s plans for the Palestinian economy are exactly what the U.S. is already implementing in Israel: An economy run by representatives of the World Bank and IMF, with a thin layer which profits greatly from its services to corporate globalization, and alongside it — mass unemployment and wage erosion.

Efraim Davidi is member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) and member of the Histadrut (Israeli trade union federation) leadership. This article has been excerpted from Zo Haderech, the CPI’s Hebrew-language weekly.

Texans oppose anti-gay amendment

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:35:00 +0000

HOUSTON — In a dramatic protest here against the discriminatory Texas Marriage Amendment on the ballot Nov. 8, 100 activists donned “tragedy masks” and black clothing, and carried signs spotlighting some of the many federal protections afforded to married couples that are denied to same-sex and common-law couples and their families.

The Oct. 23 event at Spotts Park was titled “No Tragedy in November: An Equality Vigil.” It was organized by the Foundation for Family and Marriage Equality (FFME).

The foundation says the proposed amendment “will write discrimination into the Texas Constitution’s Bill of Rights and weaken protection for Texas families.”

The No-Nonsense in November organization, which also opposes the measure, says the poorly worded amendment, known as Proposition 2, appears to ban all marriages in Texas. The ballot wording reads, “The constitutional amendment providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage.” One pundit calls it “a marvel of incoherent and obfuscatory language.”

A spokesperson for the Texas AFL-CIO, which opposes the amendment, expressed concerns that if it is enacted it could make it difficult for couples who live together but are not married to receive health insurance from their significant other’s employer. This would affect their children as well.

At the equality vigil, FFME President Jerry Simoneaux told the World, “The reason why we’re here is we’re very afraid of a poorly written amendment that could do more than what it says. It purports to define marriage as between one man and one woman, but in fact what it does is create a situation where same-sex couples’ domestic partner documents could be considered unconstitutional” because those documents might include similar rights and responsibilities to those of marriage.

“If that’s true, the very few remaining protections we have left will be gone,” he said. “What we’re doing here today is we’re showing by numbers that there are 1,138 federal U.S. laws that are automatically enacted for a married couple that same-sex couples don’t receive at all. They are very simple protections such as veterans’ benefits, Social Security benefits, the Family Medical Leave Act, the right to take time off for bereavement for a lost spouse. Those kinds of things we cannot do. We’re living in houses with legal strangers and now this amendment is going to affect our ability to protect our homes.”

Jeffry Downs, a member of Houston’s First Unitarian Church, told the World, “I don’t want to see bigotry and discrimination written into the [Texas] Constitution.”

Downs continued, “I’m a native Texan, I’m proud to be a Texan, I want equal rights as a citizen of this country and to see something like that happen to our great state would be a tragedy.”

DeLay booked in Houston

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:33:00 +0000

HOUSTON — Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) turned himself in to the Harris County sheriff’s department here Oct. 20 to face money laundering and conspiracy charges. The charges stem from allegations that he illegally used corporate funds in the 2002 state elections.

DeLay’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, did not want his client “perp-walked” in front of cameras. This was avoided by having DeLay surrender to the sheriff. He was photographed, fingerprinted and released. His mug shot shows him grinning like he just won the state lottery.

DeLay now enjoys the distinction of being the only House leader to be indicted in at least 50 years.

DeLay’s lawyer unleashed a volley of legal attacks on the prosecuting district attorney, Ronnie Earle. Earle, a Democrat, is well known for having prosecuted more Democrats than Republicans in his long career. Nevertheless, DeLay continues to claim the charges are politically motivated. He asked that Earle be investigated for prosecutorial misconduct.

When he appeared in court on Oct. 21, DeLay moved that District Judge Bob Perkins, also a Democrat, be removed from the case because he has made contributions to political organizations opposed to DeLay.

Attorney DeGuerin filed motions to dismiss the indictments against DeLay on various technicalities. He is also pushing for a quick trial for DeLay and co-defendants Jim Ellis, director of DeLay’s Americans for a Republican Majority, and John Colyandro, former executive director of DeLay’s Texans for a Republican Majority. If upheld, the charges against DeLay are punishable by a maximum life sentence and a $10,000 fine.

Local residents say DeLay and his attorneys are trying to create a political circus. A letter to the editor in the Houston Chronicle says, “I think it is revealing that U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay is not claiming that he is ‘not guilty.’” DeLay’s “lowest trick,” the writer notes, “has been the attempt to get a judge to allow DeLay’s lawyer Dick DeGuerin to question members of the grand jury and Earle.” The writer continues, “Grand jury business should always be done in secret so that attempted intimidation of this very sort cannot be brought to bear on individual members of the grand jury panel.”

DeLay’s attacks on the court are “just dirty politics,” said Houston Communist Party USA activist Sterling Dafydd.

Mike McCollum, a member of the Progressive Action Alliance, said DeLay shows “what the Republican Party is really all about — control of our country by the well-to-do and the corporations while the little guy gets left behind.” He called DeLay’s efforts to throw mud at the prosecutor “a clear act of desperation.” McCollum said, “The facts of the case will clearly show that Earle is acting responsibly and only doing his job.”

Campaign launched to honor Benjamin Davis

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:31:00 +0000

NEW YORK — Benjamin Davis, the Communist city councilor from Harlem who was removed from the council and imprisoned during the McCarthy period, was finally honored nearly 60 years later at an overflow meeting in Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Oct. 16. It was the kickoff of a campaign to rehabilitate his name.

While on the City Council, Davis worked to legalize rent strikes and prevent evictions. He was a leader in struggles for integration of sports, equal housing, labor rights, civil rights and peace.

City Council Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan) told the crowd of over 100 that Davis’ message is particularly important today, in light of the “social injustices that are taking place, not only in our city, but throughout this country.”

Perkins presented a City Council proclamation honoring Davis to Davis’ daughter Emily Davis, his niece Jean Carey Bond and contemporaries James and Esther Jackson.

Frank Barbaro, a former State Assembly member and N.Y. Supreme Court judge, said Davis was “the voice of peace, of ending exploitation, against the apartheid system in South Africa, against nuclear armament, against red-baiting, for working people.”

“He was a role model for those of us who felt that something was wrong with a system where certain people were making all the money, and other people were starving, dying of not getting health care, dying of not getting nutrition.”

Jarvis Tyner, Communist Party USA executive vice chair, who helped organize the event, noted that Davis defended Angelo Herndon, a young African American Communist Party organizer charged with insurrection in the 1930s. “The trial was a turning point for Davis. In the heat of the battle against racism and anticommunism,” Tyner said, Davis joined the Communist Party “just like tens of thousands of others did during the Great Depression. As Ben put it, ‘It required only a moment to join, but my whole lifetime as an American Negro prepared me for that moment.’”

Perkins said future plans include pressing for a City Council resolution rehabilitating Davis, and efforts to rename a Harlem street after him.

“There will be a day when there will be a statue outside here for Ben Davis,” Barbaro said. “And to Paul Robeson and Malcolm X — three giants. When the evil nightmare of Bush, Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Wolfowitz are nothing but a faint, distasteful nightmare memory, those statues will shine in the sunlight.”

The event was sponsored by the Committee to Honor Benjamin J. Davis. It can be reached at (646) 437-3555.

National Clips

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:29:00 +0000

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.: Conyers calls for universal health care

Over 50 health care professionals and community leaders jammed Carver Theater Oct. 22 to launch a grassroots movement to enact universal health care legislation.

Keynote speaker Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who has introduced HR 676 in the House of Representatives to create a single-payer health care plan, told the meeting that, despite having the best doctors and technology in the world, the U.S. health care system is in a shambles. Recalling that organized demands from the people resulted in making Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday, Conyers said, “We want health care as a matter of right, not a privilege.”

Rep. Artur Davis (D), who represents Alabama’s 7th Congressional District, said, “We have a very serious problem,” noting that in the state’s rural Black Belt, Perry County has no hospital at all and Lowndes County has no doctor.

Davis called on Democrats to be prepared for regaining power in next fall’s congressional elections. When the 42 percent of African American Alabamans who are not registered to vote sign up, Davis predicted, the state will swing from red to blue.

HAMILTON, Ohio: GOP legislator slimes undocumented workers

Racism raised its ugly head Oct. 21 when Republican state Rep. Courtney Combs of Fairfield teamed up with Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox to announce the introduction of a bill in the state Legislature that would subject undocumented workers to deportation if they are arrested or pulled over for a traffic violation. Similar legislation is pending in South Carolina.

Earlier this year, Combs introduced “English Only” legislation.

“This is not about an ethnic group,” Fox told reporters. “This is about national security. This is about the federal government’s failure to act.”

But Fox’s true racist agenda emerged when he told the gathered media, “My theory is that if you’re too stupid to learn how to say ‘I want a beer’ in English, you’re too stupid to drink to begin with.” He was referring to a suit against a bar that posted a sign, “For service, speak English.”

Hispanic leaders reacted with anger. Lourdes Ward, who runs the Reach Out Lakota food pantry in Butler County, said the idea that Hispanics bleed the local social services is a lie. The most common complaint she hears at the food pantry is workers forced to use the pantry’s resources because they can’t find a second or third job to feed their families.

The Hispanic population of Butler County has grown by 500 percent since 1990, to about 4,000.

MIDDLETOWN, Pa.: Stop federal budget cuts, protesters demand

When freshman Republican Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick’s staff looked out their windows, Oct. 19, they saw dozens of hometown voters carrying signs. “Don’t Sacrifice America’s Priorities to Give Tax Breaks to Millionaires,” one banner said.

Voters are upset that Congress is considering slashing $15 billion in food stamps, Medicaid and student loans from the federal budget. Meanwhile Congress plans to give millionaires $70 billion in additional tax breaks.

“It’s taking from the have nots and giving to the haves,” said Fred Viskovich, a retired businessman. “It’s buying Lynne Cheney [Vice President Dick Cheney’s wife] a bigger diamond ring.” Viskovich pointed out that he received tens of thousands of dollars in tax breaks as a businessman, while vital social services for families and children were being slashed and burned.

DALLAS: Miers cashed in on highway land deal

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers thinks the sale of a half-acre of her family’s land to the state government for $106,915 for a highway off-ramp is a “straightforward condemnation matter.”

The windfall dropped into Miers’ pocket in 2000 when a judge, who received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Miers’ law firm, appointed a three-member panel to determine compensation to landowners for highway construction. One of the appointees was a close professional friend of Miers. After rejecting offers of $5,900 and $27,000 for the land, Miers accepted the six-figure deal. State tax records indicated that the entire 18.7-acre vacant lot, of which Miers’ half-acre was part, was worth $244,890.

The panel reduced the compensation to $80,915 in 2003, and asked Miers to refund the $26,000 difference. Miers has yet to cut a check.

Meanwhile, Miers’ nomination is in more than a little trouble. Senate Judiciary Committee member Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told “Meet the Press” Oct. 23, “If you held the vote today, she would not get a majority either in the Judiciary Committee or the floor.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va.: Homecoming queen wore cleats

Darby Lentz, the only young woman on the Lincoln High School football team, was floored to learn that the students had elected her homecoming queen. She took her place at the head of her court in her football uniform, Oct. 14. “It was awesome,” she said.

Lentz, 17, carries a 3.8 grade point average and is on the student council.

“She came out in the summer and immediately earned respect,” said coach Jim Lopez. “She has done all the running drills the rest of the kids have done. She has been very pleasant to coach.”

Darby’s sister Valerie, 21, works construction to pay for college.

“Both do non-typical things for girls,” said Darby’s mother Jolyn. “I have always encouraged them not to limit themselves to what girls typically do and follow their hearts.”

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com).