People Before Profit blog

Philly celebrates African American history with calls for peace action

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:24:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA -- More than 50 people crowded into the Du Bois Center on Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia Feb. 19 to hear Anthony Monteiro, professor of African American Studies at Temple University, deliver a history lecture. He did that and more. His engaging and timely talk on the topic "The African American Tradition in the Fight for Peace: Du Bois, Robeson and King" riveted his diverse audience and stimulated a lively question and answer session.

Dr. Monteiro argued that the movement for African American liberation had always been a key part of the struggle for world peace and had always had, as one of its central aims, an end to violence and war. He traced the process from the Niagara Movement and the role of W.E.B. Du Bois through the 20^th Century to Dr. King's 1967 speech at New York City's Riverside Church opposing the Vietnam War exactly a year before his death. King, he noted, had had to answer his critics inside and outside the Civil Rights Movement who told him he should stick to "safe domestic" matters and avoid criticism of U.S. foreign policy. He emphasized the central role of anti-Communism in the attacks on Civil Rights leaders who had the vision and courage to refuse to follow that advice.

Addressing the most urgent present day issues, Monteiro called for intensified efforts to build the people's movement at the grassroots to confront policies of war and militarism and the economic crisis facing the country. He cited, especially, the need for the labor movement to give attention to organizing the unemployed and to combat the devastating levels of joblessness in the African American community as well as across the country.

The lecture was the latest in the year long series of programs and panel discussions on Marxism, socialism and related topics sponsored by the Communist Party of Eastern PA and Delaware and the People's World. The February African American History program has become an annual event.

Photo: Anthony Monteiro addresses Feb. 19 Black History Month event. James Bradford/PW

For one county, the worst is yet to come

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:22:00 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif. - Flashing past on the auditorium's giant screen, they displayed the same ominous pattern - an upward climb, a peak, a downward turn followed by a sharp, unbroken plunge.

Each graph - median home values, property assessments, sales tax revenues, investment income - represented revenues supporting health and human services provided by Alameda County, across the bay from San Francisco. They provided a visual counterpoint to the presentations at a county Board of Supervisors' Feb. 25 budget forum aptly titled, "The Worst is Yet to Come."

What is rising, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson told the assembled county workers, community organization leaders and members of the public, is the need for food stamps, welfare and health care programs and other supportive services, with counties paying part of the costs.

The supervisors can allocate just 27 percent of the $2.4 billion county budget to meet county needs, said County Administrator Susan Muranishi. Most of this "discretionary spending" funds the county's share of programs receiving federal funds. Based largely based on property taxes, it has taken an enormous hit during the financial crisis.

County budgets must be balanced; Alameda County was forced to cut a number of programs to close its $177.6 million gap, including a much-protested slashing of already tiny General Assistance grants for recipients deemed "employable."

Alameda County's official 10.9 percent unemployment rate "is the best indicator of the need for county services," Carson said, noting that joblessness also sharply affects revenues. The official county figure of 87,000 jobless could rise sharply this spring, he added, unless Toyota rescinds its impending closure of the New United Motor Manufacturing Co., Inc. auto plant. If the plant closes, nearly 5,000 workers there and another 25,000 or more workers in its supply network would lose their jobs, while the county would lose millions in taxes.

Alameda County also faces the prospect of slashed state funding as the Democrat-led legislature and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger struggle to close a $20 billion state budget gap.

Schwarzenegger is threatening to cut or end some of the very programs experiencing soaring demand, Carson said, including the Calworks welfare-to-work program, MediCal (state Medicaid) and In-Home Supportive Services enabling aged and disabled people to live at home.

California has struggled for years to cope with growing budget gaps. It is the only state requiring a two-thirds legislative vote to pass a budget or raise taxes; the Democrats' legislative majority falls short of that and nearly all Republicans have taken a "no new taxes" pledge. Several measures, including a constitutional amendment, have been initiated to end the requirement.

Interviewed after the forum, Carson said he strongly supports undoing the two-thirds requirement. "At this point the legislature has become basically intractable, and the ability of the Republicans to stall anything and even to prevent an honest debate and discussion is leading to a breakdown of the legislative process," he said.

Noting that many other states also face severe fiscal crises, Carson emphasized that as states, and the federal government, shift programs to local governments, they have a responsibility "not just to pass the pain along," but to provide "a long-term, appropriate funding source. On the county level it's direct services that affect the lives of people," he said.

At the National Governors Association's winter meeting in Washington last week, governors also expected the worst is yet to come, The New York Times reported. Vermont's Republican Governor Jim Douglas called the fiscal situation "fairly poor" for most states, and predicted the coming fiscal year "would be the most difficult to date."

Photo: Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson speaks at the county's Feb. 25 budget meeting. Marilyn Bechtel/PW

Black History Month: Working together for justice

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:11:00 +0000

A call to action to defend and expand affirmative action to achieve opportunity for young people, good jobs in communities hardest hit by the economic crisis, and economic security for our country will be highlighted at the 36th Annual African American History Month Celebration hosted by the People's World in Connecticut.

Featuring remarks by Dr. Gerald Horne and recognition of the New Haven Firebirds, the events to be held in Hartford and New Haven are organized around the theme "Working Together for Justice."

The first event, in Hartford, will be held at La Paloma Sabanera, 405 Capitol Avenue on Saturday, February 27 at 6 p.m. The second event, in New Haven, will be held at the Peoples Center, 37 Howe Street, at 4 p.m.

Special guest speaker Gerald Horne holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. His research has addressed issues of racism in a variety of relations involving labor, politics, civil rights, international relations and war. A life long civil rights activist, he is author of more than two dozen books and 100 scholarly articles including the book "Reversing Discrimination - The Case for Affirmative Action." He is a contributing editor to Political Affairs (www.politicalaffairs.net/)

A highlight of the events will be recognition of the New Haven Firebirds, the organization of African American firefighters, for their ongoing efforts to overturn discriminatory hiring and promotion practices. Remarks will be made by Gary Tinney, president, Ron Benson,past president, and George Sweeney, who in 1958 was the first African American firefighter hired in New Haven.

At the New Haven event prizes will be awarded for the High School Arts and Writing Competition. Music, drumming, and poetry for Haiti will be presented by Baub Bidon, Jeff Fuller, Ras Mo Moses and Richard Hill. Children's posters drawn on Martin Luther King's birthday at the Peabody Museum will be on display.

The Firebirds formed in 1973 to challenge hiring and promotion practices in the New Haven Fire Deparment. They filed four successful lawsuits over 25 years to correct various methods of "willful discrimination."

Their cause came to national attention last year, when the City of New Haven threw out the results of a test for promotions which did not reflect the diversity of the force. A group of 20 white firefighters including one Hispanic sued the City, demanding their promotions. A panel of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals including Judge Sonia Sotomayor, upheld the decision to disregard the test. The New Haven 20 then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court which sided in their favor. The case was used by Republicans to try and block the appointment of Sotomayor.

The significance of the case goes far beyond firefighters, calling into question all the gains of the civil rights period, and relating to the disproportionately high unemployment rate of African American and Latino workers in the economic crisis.

A New Haven Grassroots Unity Statement, issued by the New Haven Peoples Center, will be circulated. The statement reads in part: " The needs of all city workers and residents require the selection of qualified recruits and leaders in our fire, police and all city departments that reflect our diversity. The consequences of unthoughtful tests hurt everyone across race, gender and neighborhood lines. A better promotion process will assist, enable and benefit all those who choose to participate, and our community as a while. We will not let such tests break the hard-fought unity of our diverse city. We call for a through review of all hiring practices to assure they contribut to that mandate."

A light supper buffet will be served at both events. A contribution of $5 (or what you can afford) is requested. A collection will be taken for the People's World fund drive. For information call 203-624-8664.

Photo: Members of New Haven Firebirds. http://www.tomficklin.blogspot.com

Law enforcement leaders call for immigration reform

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:36:00 +0000

Local law enforcement leaders are urging Congress and President Obama to pass comprehensive immigration reform because the consequences of the current system are jeopardizing community safety and public trust.

It's not the job of local police departments to apprehend people based on their immigration status, they said on a conference call February 25. Rather, we should seek their trust, which is the bedrock of effective law enforcement, they say.

"There is a perception that undocumented immigrants are a bunch of criminals," said Sheriff Richard Wiles from El Paso County, Texas. "It's a fallacy because the vast majority are here for economic reasons and seek a better life for their families."

To believe they're all criminals just doesn't play out, he said.

Speakers on the call said too many people fear deportation and are afraid to come out of the shadows when it comes to reporting crimes. The police should concentrate on building relationships with them not enforce immigration laws, they said.

Police Chief Sam Granato with the Yakima Police Department in Washington said the current system is inhuman and immigrants should not be treated like cattle.

"They're human beings," he said, "and dividing families is just wrong."

The solution should not be turning every local police department into an arm of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they said. Instead of guaranteeing the safety of local communities whose trust law enforcement agents must secure in order to protect them, too many departments are diverting time and officers toward immigration laws.

We cannot police a community that will not talk to us and we need to work together as a nation to address reform, they add.

Lisa Womack is the Police Chief in Elgin, Ill., and said the issue polarizes the community. It's wrong for some to think we should enforce immigration, she said. Our focus should be aimed at preventing crime. Immigration is a federal concern, she said.

Arturo Venegas, director of the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative and former Sacramento, Calif. Chief of Police, said the majority of law enforcement agencies across the country support the need for reform.

National attention on the issue has recently focused on Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona who has implemented the 287(g) program, which allows local police to function as immigration agents. The program was enacted in 1996 and has resulted in racial profiling and other abuses, most notably by Arpaio. He is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for civil rights violations.

People like Arpaio are the silent majority, said Venegas, and out of the 18,200 local law enforcement agencies nationwide, only 71 have signed on to the 287(g) agreement.

The fact of the matter is that the immigrant population does not want robbers, rapists or murderers in their community either, said Venegas.

"What we need is sensible reform and law enforcement needs to have a voice," said Venegas.

Granato notes police workers have different views and opinions about immigration reform but the majority are in the middle and want something done.

"Something meaningful, equitable and fair," he said.

The growing support of law enforcement agents in favor of reform could be a persuasive ally, supporters noted.

Those on the call said when immigrants fail to report crimes they become targets by perpetrators because alleged criminals know many immigrants are too afraid to respond.

Immigrants need to have legal status because it's good for public safety and national security, said Granato.

"This problem has gone on for too long and it's time for this Congress and this president to pass reform," he said.

Photo: Arturo Venegas, Director of Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative

Protests blanket nation as health summit opens

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:46:00 +0000

CHICAGO - Hundreds of union members, business owners, sick people denied benefits by their insurance companies, their families and activists braved snow squalls and icy winds blowing in from Lake Michigan last night.

They did it to pull off a rally here on the eve of President Obama's White House Health Care Summit and they reinforced a message that even the coldest Republican hearts in the nation's capital heard when the Congress voted 406-19 to repeal the antitrust exemption enjoyed by the health insurance giants.

Before hundreds of rallies like the one here last night, more than 1,250,000 people from coast to coast sent messages to Congress urging lawmakers to "finish the job and pass real health care reform." The "virtual march" continues today with hundreds of thousands of callers tying up phone lines, fax machines and computers in the nation's capital.

Steve Hart, whose partner Melanie Shouse recently lost her battle with breast cancer after her insurance company denied her care, addressed the crowd here via telephone conference line.

In a voice that betrayed his choked back tears the hushed crowd at the Chicago Temple heard him say, "Melanie would have been alive and well today if we had a health care system that worked. She would have gone to the doctor at the first sign of a lump in her breast."

Hart had just walked 135 miles from Philadelphia to DC with other "survivors of the U.S. health care system," as the group called itself.

The rally here, sponsored by Health Care for America Now, the Illinois Main Street Alliance, Citizen Action Illinois and MoveOn.Org, was addressed by Rep. Jan Schakowski, D-Ill., who praised the president's bill for curbing insurance rate hikes.
"Illinois is one of 26 states that allow insurance companies to charge whatever premiums they want without review. The bill would give us the authority to prevent those rate hikes," she said.

Speakers at the rally recognized that the president's proposal does not include stronger reforms advocated by many progressives.
"I am not here tonight to convince you the bill is good, far from it," said Andy Kurz, a former official at Blue Cross Wisconsin who switched sides to become a health care reform advocate. "I am here to say that this bill is necessary, and in context, as transformational as Medicare was in 1965. The opposition bellyached about Medicare then, and is doing the same now. But would you chuck Medicare? Me neither," he said, as the audience rose to its feet with chants of "no."

The Rev. Larry Greenfield, a Baptist minister who attributed hundreds of thousands of deaths in the last ten years to a "terrorist attack on our people by health insurance profiteers and their partners in Congress," said the fight to improve the bill must continue, even after it is passed.

He and other speakers said Congress should immediately add a strong public health insurance option and move up the start dates of important provisions to 2010. Other speakers called for national, rather than state-based health insurance exchanges.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a leading proponent of health care reform, said in Washington yesterday, that he was "not certain we're going to be able to get a public option in this bill but that doesn't mean we stop trying. I keep reminding people that this bill is not written in stone, like the Ten Commandments, for ever and ever."

Popular pressure is having its effect in Washington with Democrats saying openly that they are ready to move on health care reform without Republican support. They say they are ready to use Senate budget rules to pass a bill with a simple majority.

Sixteen of such 22 "reconciliation bills" that have made it through Congress were passed in the Senate when it had Republican majorities. These included the tax cuts for the rich pushed by President Bush, the 1996 overhaul of welfare, the Children's Health Insurance program, Medicare Advantage and the COBRA program.

Another result of the big health care reform campaigns is the shift in public positions taken by some conservative Democrats who are coming out more boldly now in support of the president's bill. Many expressed outrage over a 39 percent rate hike by WellPoint Inc.

WellPoint, in testimony before Congress yesterday, blamed its rate increase on doctors, hospitals, drug companies, suppliers and patients, particularly seniors. House members, citing internal documents from WellPoint, said the company had sought to inflate individual policyholders' premiums to counteract anticipated concessions to state regulators.

GOP wages war vs. local government

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:24:00 +0000

GARY, Ind. -- Booker Blumenberg, the five-term Calumet Township assessor, withdrew from the race today in a move that underscored the bitter struggle between the state and local governments in Northwest Indiana.

Blumenberg was attacked by the Republican controlled State Department of Local Finance, which claimed that Blumenberg was incompetent, in response to his demands that big business in Calumet Township pay their share of taxes. For example, US Steel's assessment in the past meant that they paid $70 million in local taxes. When the state took over that assessment process, US Steel's local taxes fell to $15 million.

As in many areas, Gary here is struggling to keep the community functioning despite draconian cuts to public school funds and a lack of income for all needed services. Many in the community see it as being punished for being a key player in ensuring that Indiana went for President Obama in the last elections. The financial impact of the funding cuts and recent dramatic tax rise for residential homes is forcing many homeowners who can't afford the taxes to move to other areas, further weakening the community and, with the diminishing school age population, the public schools.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, whose name is being put forward as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2012, has been waging a relentless war against local government in order to strengthen Republican control over the Democratic areas of the state. Under the guise of "fiscal responsibility," the governor is creating a state that may look good to Wall St. number crunchers but where working families are feeling tremendous pain and are struggling to fight back.

The people of Gary had begun to rally behind Booker Blumenberg in this struggle and pledge to continue. They say Mr. Blumenberg will be missed as the Township Assessor, but hope he'll continue his principled struggle on behalf of the people of Calumet Township and Northwest Indiana.

Photo: A map of Lake County, Ind., which highlights the location of Calumet Township. Public domain.

Hate group overwhelmed by pro-LGBT counter-protest

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:50:00 +0000

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Pride was out in force in Long Beach for a counter-protest against an antigay hate group on February 19. Seven representatives of the extreme fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church set up a picket in front of Wilson High School to protest President Obama's appointment of Kevin Jennings to the U.S. Department of Education. Jennings was appointed assistant deputy secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools back in May 2009. Jennings is also the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN). According to a rambling, incoherent entry on the WBC's website, godhatesfags.com, Jennings and Obama have "doomed America," and that Jennings was "determined to sodomize" all of the children he could "get his...hands on."

The fanatical group's pitiful picket was quickly overwhelmed by 1,000+ counter protestors who showed up to let the WBCers know that their bigotry is not welcome in Long Beach. The counter-protest was a youth-dominated, multi-racial, multi-class mix of individuals and organizations brought together by the local Gay Straight Alliance.

The students of Wilson High were dismissed from school during the protest. Many joined the counter-protest. At one point, the supporters of LGBT equal rights, carrying signs with slogans like "God Made Gay," "No Place for Hate," and "Love is Not a Sin," surged across the street and quickly surrounded the hapless hate group. Others engaged in absurdist street theater, mocking the demonstration by carrying placards with meaningless slogans like, "Annex the Moon" and "Free Pizza." Police made no effort to interfere with the nonviolent confrontation, instead focusing on keeping the street clear for traffic. The chastened WBCers made their fast getaway under chants of "Go Home!" and "Long Beach!"

The Westboro Baptist Church, centered in Topeka, Kansas, periodically sends protest contingencies to Long Beach because it is a city with a large LGBT population. The group also scheduled pickets the same weekend at other sites in Long Beach, including synagogues, a Jewish center, and the U.S. Naval Weapons Station.

Photo: Youths surround a small group of antigay protestors in front of Wilson High School. Chris Elliott/PW

Black history event inspires activists to fight for equality

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:34:00 +0000

CHICAGO - Dozens came together here last night to celebrate African American history month and renew efforts in the fight for equality, jobs and economic justice.

A delicious soul food dinner was a big hit, which included fried and baked chicken, black-eyed peas, macaroni and cheese, greens, sweet potatoes, corn bread and peach cobbler for desert.

Shelby Richardson, a leader with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 said, "Black, brown and white unity has always been an important component in the struggle for African American equality."

The historic election of Barack Obama as the country's first Black president is a sign of the times, he said. "But we still face tremendous challenges."

As a probation officer Richardson said he sees how people everyday continue to face very tough circumstances. He mentioned a young Black woman, that has struggled with a juvenile past and never graduated high school, recently came to see him. She had finally gotten a job but after a background check she was eventually let go. She was devastated and saw that job as her last hope.

"This is why we have to support union jobs," said Richardson. "This is why we have to fight for equality."

The main event featured a live national broadcast of Jarvis Tyner, executive vice-chair of the Communist Party USA, who said it's time to step up the struggle against racism.

"The reality is that too many people today are suffering nothing short of national catastrophe given the millions unemployed," he said.

Mass unemployment destroys society and the ultra-right and Republican Party continues to blame minorities and immigrants for the crisis, he said. They believe people of color overspent which is why they lost their homes and that immigrants are stealing all the jobs, said Tyner.

"And Wall Street wants the Republicans back in the drivers seat."

We can't win this fight alone, he said. "A broad multi-racial united labor-led people's movement for jobs and economic recovery is needed now more than ever." And the fight for socialism is not a conspiracy it's a necessity, he added.

Elwood Flowers, born and raised in Chicago, is a retired transit worker and veteran labor leader with the Amalgamated Transit Union. Flowers said his calling was in the union movement to help working people fight for jobs.

"I am a Black person living in this country in my late 70s and I consider it a miracle especially to know what my forefathers went through," he said.

Josephine Wyatt, founding member of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said it's important to celebrate Black history. She recalled years ago it was a struggle to get the month nationally recognized.

"Without Black history month imagine how many people may never know about the contributions African Americans make to our society and culture," she said. "I'm proud of our history and our African roots and the struggle for liberation against racism and discrimination."

Joyce Lightfoot, a veteran activist with the Communist Party in Chicago helped organize the event. She thought it was wonderful.

She's concerned about the rise of at-risk children that continue to die due to increasing street violence in cities nationwide.

"This is a systemic problem. We should talk about it, come together, build coalitions and lead demonstrations to address it," she said.

Beatrice Lumpkin, a retired steelworker, labor and peace activist said, "In addition to the excellent meal, and food for thought, tonight was an inspiration to go out and fight for equality."

The event was part of national pre-convention discussion series, leading up to the Communist Party's 29th national convention in New York City this spring. For more information go to: http://cpusa.org.

Photo: Pepe Lozano/PW

Republican hypocrisy on Recovery Act runs rampant

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Not on single Republican voted to pass President Obama's economic recovery act in February 2009. They lined up to denounce the plan as socialistic, wasteful and un-American.

For example, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told a Fox New anchor on Feb 6. 2009, "this bill stinks ... it's an orgy of congressional spending unrelated to creating a job."

Apparently after the bill has created or saved more than 2 million jobs in one year, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, Sen. Graham wants a little of that stink to rub off on him.

Media reports detailing Republican hypocrisy on the recovery act revealed this past week that Sen. Graham wrote last fall to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asking for $363 million in recovery act funds for highway construction projects in his state - to save or create a few hundred of those jobs he had once said the bill would not create.

Rep. Kay Ganger, R-Texas, still bashes the recovery act. In a statement earlier this month, she said, "Stimulus-style spending has not created jobs, but it has certainly grown our national debt over the last year." This most recent denunciation of the recovery act was much harsher than her Feb. 2009 rejection of the bill on the same grounds that it wouldn't create many jobs.

These high-pitched condemnations of the recovery act run counter to Granger's written request to Secretary LaHood for recovery act funds for projects in Dallas and Ft. Worth, which, according to her, would create 3,500 jobs.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led the charge in January 2009 when he described the recovery act as socialist. McConnell has since supported the use of recovery act funds for projects in his state.

According to one report, both Republican Texas Senators and 19 Republican members of the House are awash in the hypocrisy. Even Rep. Ron Paul, R. Texas, who according to one recent GOP straw polls may be a front-runner for his party's presidential nomination, voted against the recovery act under the usual denunciations but has since asked for recovery act money for projects in his district.

Other Republicans, like Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., voted against the bill but now boast about getting recovery act funds for projects in their states. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, a vocal opponent of the recovery act and the Republican leader in charge of ensuring everyone in his party voted against the bill, has since asked for recovery act funds for a high-speed rail project in his state.

The newest House Republican, Rep. Parker Griffith, R-Alabama, denounced the bill as wasteful in 2009 but also has requested recovery act funds for railway construction projects in his district.

By one estimate, as many as 110 Republican members of Congress have asked for or taken credit for recovery act spending in their states and districts.

But this Republican hypocrisy isn't confined to Congress. Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who condemned the recovery act as "ludicrous" and "misdirected" announced this month that his state would be able to balance its budget using some $387 million in funds from the recovery act's state stabilization fund. Apparently, the recovery act's plan to help states avoid some job-killing spending cuts doesn't seem so "misdirected" now.

Republican Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Calif., and Bob McDonnell, Va., have expressed thanks for the assistance from recovery act funds and want more. In his campaign for governor in 2009, McDonnell denounced the recovery act and said "it is not going to be good long-term for America."

Photo: Recovery Act money has funded thousands of infrastructure projects.

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

Black farmers settlement is "win for all family farmers"

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:48:00 +0000

Willie Adams, a Black farmer in Greene County, Ga., hailed President Obama's $1.25 billion proposed settlement of a lawsuit by Black farmers demanding compensation for 80 years of racist discrimination in federal farm loan programs.

"It's long overdue," said Adams in a telephone interview with peoplesworld.org, Feb. 22. Adams grows beef cattle, poultry and vegetables on his organic farm where he was born. His grandfather bought the place in 1938 under a New Deal program initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Under the proposed settlement, announced by Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, Feb. 18, each Black farmer could receive $50,000 under an expedited settlement process or more if they fill out a more lengthy application.

"President Obama wants to settle this," Adams said. "The administration has to get approval from the House and Senate. With all the cutbacks, I'm afraid. We have to let the lawmakers know that we want this settlement funded."

Adams, active in the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA), was an initiator of the first lawsuit filed by 16,000 Black farmers in 1997. A federal judge ordered the Agriculture Department to pay $1 billion to Black farmers for decades of discrimination in which Black farmers suffered long delays or outright rejection of their applications for federal loans.

Adams application for that first settlement was denied. "I think the U.S. Department of Agriculture discriminated against us because we started the lawsuit," he said. "I hope they pick up all those farmers who were excluded in the first settlement. I will go with the streamlined process to get the $50,000."

NBFA President John W. Boyd Jr. said the settlement is not enough to restore Black farmers to the land they lost from discrimination "but it will help them have some comfort in their final years."

Rep. Barbara Lee, D- Calif., voiced hope that the settlement will help stop the hemorrhage in which half the nation's Black farmers have lost their farms in the past twenty years.

Adams pointed out that African Americans have tilled the soil, planted and picked the tobacco and cotton since they arrived in chains in this country in 1619. "We have been involved in agriculture since slavery," he said. "We were promised forty-acres and a mule under Reconstruction which we never received. We were the sharecroppers."

Millions of Black farmers have been driven from their farms by discrimination both private sector and government, Adams said. "Here in Greene County there were about 200 Black farmers in the 1930s and 1940s. Now there are two full-time Black farmers in my county."

Adams expressed hope that with the surging popular demand for local, organic, food, more youth, including Black youth, decide to go into agriculture. "I hope we have a chance to visit First Lady Michelle Obama and see the garden she started at the White House, with her ideal of encouraging people to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables."

Adams stressed that a victory for Black farmers is a victory for all family and independent farmers. Encouraged by the success of the National Black Farmers Association, Native American Indians have filed suit against oil and mining companies charging these giants with swindling them of billions of dollars in royalties. Latino and women farmers are also suing the federal government for discrimination.

"I support the Native American Indians," Adams said. "They should be made whole for the discrimination they suffered. The same for Hispanic and women farmers, all family farmers. We need to work together more. We gain strength from working together. We are all involved in food production."

Photo: http://lawsuit by Black farmers /

Dying for health care, suburbanites sit in to "get it done!"

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:36:00 +0000

WILLOWBROOK, Ill. - Sixty-eight Americans die prematurely every day because they can't get access to health care coverage. This crisis prompted 35 residents of Rep. Judy Biggert's, R-Ill., district to take action and sit in at her office to demand she support health care reform.

"In the last 15 years 11,000 Illinoisans have died because we don't have health care reform," said Jonathan VanderBrug, Health Care Justice coordinator for the Campaign for Better Health Care. "Enough playing politics. Stop stalling. Get it done. This is a matter of life and death."

Altogether, over 294,000 Americans died prematurely since 1994, when the health insurance corporations blocked the last major effort for health care reform. Residents are determined to make sure reform legislation passes Congress this year.

The sit-in took place as it was announced the top five health insurers set record profits, a combined $12.2 billion for 2009, up 56% from the year before. Meanwhile the industry shed 2.7 million people from health care plans.

Biggert has been voting in lockstep with the Republicans, said VanderBrug, obstructing reform. She had refused to meet with CBHC and her constituents since August despite repeated calls, infuriating many.

"I can't believe Congressman Biggert would play politics while people are dying," said Michael Sacco. "I didn't put her in office for her to play politics. Don't let us down."

Constituents left behind a pile of empty shoes representing people who have died because they didn't have access to health care.

"One shoe is for a friend who passed away. He had cancer and didn't have health insurance. And the other shoe is for my mother. She has a pre-existing condition and I can't get health insurance for her. We should be a country that cares about each other," said one constituent.

"Eight years ago I was diagnosed with AIDS. But my insurance wouldn't cover the costs of my medical treatment causing me to go into bankruptcy," explained another constituent. "I get medical care through the Ryan White Care Act (a federal-state funded program). With the economic crisis I can lose that and there is a strong probability I will be dead in 6 months. Remember me every time you see my shoes."

Mass joblessness is stressing states like Illinois who must spend more money on Medicaid, the only lifeline for those who are jobless without health care coverage. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $87 billion in increased funding for Medicaid to fiscally hard strapped states. Biggert voted against the Act.

However this money is due to run out Dec. 31, 2010. An extension of the Medicaid assistance is contained in health care reform (HR3200) and the Jobs for Main Street Act passed by the House of Representatives. A similar measure has yet to pass the Senate.

Biggert voted no again.

The protesters left peacefully about an hour after they arrived when the building management called the police. "Unless you were invited you will have to leave. This is our building and you are not invited," said the manager.

Before she left Biggert's office, Eva left a pair of shoes. She explained they represented those who still had a voice and would speak up for health care reform. "We're going to be back until this situation is resolved," she said.

Photo: John Bachtell/PW

CPUSA in the 1960s: an interview with Jarvis Tyner

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:41:00 +0000

Jarvis Tyner is the executive vice chair of the Communist Party USA and the chair of the party's African American Equality Commission. He joined the CPUSA in the early sixties, just as the Civil Rights Movement was maturing.

As a young activist in the 60s, Tyner remembers the sit-ins at Woolworths, the desegregating of Little Rock High School and the bus boycotts.

It is within that context Tyner discusses some of the work the party did in Philadelphia, his home town. From the fight to desegregate barbershops, to the organizing of inter-racial community dances, to the challenging of segregation at American Band Stand, the party was there.

During a time when most histories ignore or marginalize the role of the Communist Party it is important to remember, as Tyner said, "The Party did stuff. They appealed to a worker like me, because they did stuff. We were there fighting for basic rights; the right to go to the barber shop, the right to go to inter-racial dances. In the context of the times - the early sixties - those were real struggles centered around democracy and equality for African Americans."

Here is an excerpt of a recent interview with Tyner as part of the party's ongoing celebration of African American History Month and the 90th Anniversary of the founding of the CPUSA.

For more on African American Equality

Watch the Convention Discussion Presentation
with Jarvis Tyner on cpusa.org.

Green - a different kind of Texas tea

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:24:00 +0000

SAN ANTONIO--When far-right Tea Party radicals held their meeting here on Sunday, February 21, Texas progressives were ready for them.

The Tea Party had "Joe the Plumber," but we had "Mike the Plumber," who installs solar water heaters. We also had The Solar and The Geothermal Guys as speakers, too.

A small group of tea partiers had gathered at the restaurant nearby to hear speaker "Joe" at their one year anniversary.

Texas progressives had close to 100 people singing "Happy Birthday" to the Recovery Act.

Later in the day, the tea partiers listened to a global warming denier speak in the restaurant. The progressive rally was in the street by the old railway station. Randy the Geothermal Guy spoke there and explained how Texas has about 500,000 ready-made geothermal drilled wells set up that could be turned into immediate sources of heated energy to produce clean, cheap and renewable electricity.

The most urgent danger to the environment is the use of coal, he said, and if Americans and the rest of the world do not turn to better, cleaner, safer and more renewable energies by 2030, we may be beyond the point of no return as far as the Earth's atmosphere and the livability of the planet are concerned.

The rally focused on green jobs. Plus speakers and sign holders used the word "progressive" repeatedly since rightwing TV personality Glenn Beck has been using it in an evil and denigrating way.

Photos: Vivian Weinstein/PW

GOP wall of resistance shows cracks on jobs bill

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:19:00 +0000

The 62 to 30 vote yesterday that cleared the way for the Senate to approve a jobs tax credit today exposed the first cracks in the virtual wall that the GOP has constructed in the halls of Congress. Five Republicans broke ranks and joined with Democrats to move the bill forward.

The $13 billion plan gives companies who hire the unemployed an exemption from paying payroll taxes on those workers until the end of 2010, and provides a $1,000 tax credit to employers who keep new workers on the job for at least 52 weeks.

The bill is described by many Senate Democrats as a simple way to create tens of thousands of jobs, but it is widely seen as far too small to significantly impact the nation's high jobless rate.

The labor-backed Economic Policy Institute said that more than 400,000 jobs a month need to be created for at least three years just to recoup the jobs lost during the current recession.

Estimates are that the Senate's tax credit will only create about 20,000 jobs per month through the end of this year.

Progressives were encouraged, however, by what they saw as a small step forward and the first signs that Republicans cannot forever operate by killing jobs, health care and other programs the public supports.

Noting that Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown was among those who broke ranks with his party, Politico's Ben Smith said, "He's choosing a shot at re-election in Massachusetts and a shot at power in the Senate over conservative stardom."

Black lawmakers note that a problem with the Senate tax credit bill, like the bigger Senate jobs bill and the $154 billion jobs bill passed last December in the House, is that it does nothing to funnel help to low-income communities.

They note that unemployment is highest among workers who had little to begin with, and while the jobless rate among those earning $100,000 or more is 4 percent, the rate among workers earning less than $12,500 per year is a catastrophic 34 percent.

Cognizant of this, Jobs for America Now, a coalition of 64 labor, civil rights and community organizations, reiterated its call yesterday for a $40 billion government program to create huge numbers of public service jobs in hard hit communities across the nation.

The coalition's five-point program also calls for extensions and increases in unemployment benefits, COBRA health insurance assistance and food stamps, massive government spending to improve transportation and infrastructure, and a job creation tax credit larger than the one approved in the Senate.

Another major concern with the bigger Senate jobs package is that as state tax revenues are taking a nosedive the bill does not provide aid to state governments.

The New York Times reported today that state tax collections shrank at the end of 2009 for a fifth consecutive quarter, the longest period of continuing state revenue decline since at least the Great Depression.

The president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, Janet Yellin, said yesterday that "even as the economy starts to grow again, employers are likely to continue squeezing more productivity out of workers rather than start hiring new ones, thereby prolonging the crisis for millions of unemployed." That bolsters the arguments of those who say a massive federal role in direct job creation is needed.

Democrats, meanwhile, are stepping up a campaign against GOP stimulus "hypocrites" who condemn jobs programs on the one hand but then take credit in their home states for jobs programs they opposed in Washington.

Democratic leaders announced that they have identified 120 Republican lawmakers and governors who are doing this "double talking." The Democrats said they plan to bring the campaign to the Internet and feature it in television and radio ads.

"I'm tired of rallies. I want to fight!"

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:55:00 +0000

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- "I'm tired of rallies. I want to fight!" So said Tim Burga, operations director of the Ohio AFL-CIO, addressing the hundreds who had braved the cold Feb. 20 to attend a "Pass It Now" rally for health care reform at the SEIU Local 1199 hall here.

There was a sense of real urgency in the hall, as speaker after speaker pounded on the point that, as Brian Rothenberg of Progress Ohio stated, "We now have 6 weeks to win the fight our people have been fighting since the Truman administration: health care for all!"

Becky Williams, president of SEIU, 1199, was interrupted by loud cheers as she led off the rally, telling the crowd, "We have three things to tell the administration and the majority in congress.

"One -- we worked for and voted for change last year. That means actually changing what was there when you got there.

"Two -- we need for you to lead with courage, not be intimidated by Fox News and Teabaggers.

"Three, don't be fooled by lies!" she said. "If you do these things we'll be with you, and the 66% of Americans who, according to polls are demanding that health care reform be passed."

Williams went on to point out that "pundits are talking about bipartisanship, but over 40% of that 66% supporting reform are Republicans. While the national media talks, 44,000 Americans lost health care last week and that many will be dropped next week, and every week until we win this fight," she said.

"Four hundred twenty one of our friends, neighbors died last week for not having access to health care, and that will continue, as well."

Besides SEIU and the Ohio AFL-CIO, a wide list of sponsors were announced for the rally, including the Alliance of Retired Americans, UFCW, Ohio Faith & Justice Collective, Health Care for America Now, Planned Parenthood, UHCAN, Jobs with Justice & Ohio Consumers for Health Care.

Speakers included Ohio House Reps. Mary Harris and Ted Celeste, both Democrats, and, in a show of unity, both Democratic Senatorial candidates, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Lt. Governor Lee Fisher.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown addressed the rally by video from Washington. "We are fighting now at a time of great crisis. Eight hundred thousand Californians are facing massive rate increases this week from the profit-bloated insurance industry. Thousands of Americans are, literally, dying each year due to the continued inhuman rationing of health care in our nation. We can't give up and let others die because the fight is tough," he said. "If we keep up the fight, we'll win!"

AFL-CIO's Burga also slammed the insurance industry, stating that the health care system today is "corporate socialism!"

"Instead of public monies going for the common good, this is socialism for the rich. Our tax money is going to support these wealthy companies, in the form of tax breaks, public aid for research and development, all the while our people are starved. They," he said, to loud cheers, "just have no shame!"

"We've been horribly frustrated," said retired steelworker and SOAR member Ron Wharton, "but we have to push to win some type of health care reform or else it'll just get put off another 15-20 years. We can't let that happen. That's why we attended the rally."

That same point was made by Cathy Levine of UHCAN & Ohio Consumers for Health Care, as she told the crowd, "Don't believe those that tell you that its all OK and we'll just go back to the beginning and get a better bill if this one is defeated, it's just not true! If we don't win now, it may very well be a long time before another congress has the courage to take this on!"

Rev. Tim Ahrens, highly respected pastor of First Congregational Church in Columbus, closed the event with an emotional appeal to "stand together and don't give up the struggle." He spoke of now being the time of Lent, and how that is a time of renewal, for springtime and a better new time coming.

He closed with the following quote; "I can feel the suffering of millions. Yet, if I look to the heavens, I think that it will all come out right, that the cruelty, too, will end and that peace, justice and tranquility will return again. In the meantime, I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I can carry them out."

There were many moist eyes in the hall as he announced the author of the quote to be Anne Frank!

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

A good day for health care reform

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:24:00 +0000

NEW YORK -- It was a beautiful day Feb. 20 for New Yorkers and for health care reform.

The sun was shining while the temperature hovered around 40 degrees and New Yorkers-over 4,000 strong - sent a clear message to lawmakers: pass health care reform with a strong public option.

Coming from all five boroughs, people assembled on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge for the march. The rally was held on the Manhattan side not far from City Hall.

David Braun, a member of MoveOn, spoke at the rally and pointed out that while Dick Cheney was bringing up terror - again and again - 45,000 people die every year in this country simply because they lack access to affordable health insurance. Several other speakers took the stand in front of the offices of the health care giant, Wellpoint to tell their stories of being denied needed care due to insurance companies trying to cut costs to keep profits up.

Frank Stearns, president of Veterans for Peace Chapter 34 NYC said, "The burden of health care nearly crippled the auto industry, if America had a national health care system there would be many more workers in the industry today."

As we marched across the bridge we held our signs high so the cars passing below could see, lots of cars honked for health care, not the traffic! The pedestrians, many of whom were tourists, took pictures and asked questions. One marcher commented in jest to a group of tourists that they should wait to get sick when they return to their respective country.

The New York march was one 40 actions in 32 states that took place over the last week as part of Health Care for America Now's national week of action.

For local coverage click here
and here.

Photos: http://s76.photobucket.com/home/casperr67/index

Students organize March 4 Education

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:16:00 +0000

Gregory Cendana, president of the United States Student Association, says students and community members are mobilizing coast to coast to defend public education in "March 4 Education" rallies next month. He described the campaign in the organization's annual State of the Student Union address on the group's web site last week.

USSA represents over 4.5 million students at over 400 campuses nationwide.

Cendana said state governments view higher education spending as little more than budget items with distant payoffs and students paying tuition as perpetual revenue streams for deficit reduction.

"Essentially, they are balancing their budget on the backs of students," said Cendana. And federal spending has not kept up with these cuts.

The Pell Grant, known as the cornerstone of need-based aid, once covered 72 percent of the cost of college, he said. "Today that number has plummeted to 32 percent."

Student borrowers are graduating with an average of over 23,000 dollars in debt and into one of the worst job markets on record for young people. Plus more than 65,000 undocumented students are being denied access to college because of their citizenship, the USSA president said.

All of these factors are leading to ours being the first generation in decades to be worse off than our parents, said Cendana.

"Students are not taking this lying down," he adds. "Despite racking up mountains of debt while facing enormous tuition hikes and state budget cuts, college students have continued organizing to make education a right."

USSA and supporters have been mobilizing hundreds of thousands of students across the country to demand college access and affordability through weeks of action, lobby visits, and campus rallies.

Door-knocking, phone banking and letter-writing campaigns on campuses nationwide are happening and students are on the move, said Cendana.

The March 4 actions are part of this effort.

The U.S. Senate is considering student aid reform legislation, which has already passed in the House. The bill would, instead of subsidizing private lenders, allow the federal government to allocate over 80 billion dollars to need-based aid, toward access and retention programs and investments in community colleges and minority serving institutions.

The measure faces extreme opposition from big banks and the Republican Party that do not want to see their profits lost to college affordability, Cendana says.

"We must lobby the Senate to stand with America's youth by passing student aid reform," said Cendana.

USSA does however welcome the news that education spending has increased by 7.5 percent in President Barack Obama's proposed budget. This must be maintained and students need to urge lawmakers for further increases, said Cendana.

Cendana also noted that undocumented students continue to face limited college accessibility, and said it is wrong and unfair and must be challenged.

"We grow up with these students. They are our grade school classmates, our neighbors, and our friends," he said. "Yet without the ability to go to college, they are left behind."

Students and supporters must fight to pass the Dream Act, a bill that would open the doors to immigrant students who deserve a right to attend college, said Cendana.

We are on the brink of fundamental change, he said, and never before has the goal to make education a right been so within our grasp. But the moment is brief and our action is required, he added.

"Start a Dream Act coalition, take over your student government, lobby for student aid reform, write your newspaper, join a March 4th Education event in your area, and come to USSA's Legislative Conference," said Cendana.

"Together, we must unite to define this decade of student power and make education a right."

For more information about USSA go to: http://www.usstudents.org/.

Photo: USSA

Obama’s nuclear power plan assailed as costly and misguided

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:03:00 +0000

President Obama's announcement of $8 billion in loan guarantees for construction of two new nuclear reactors - the first in the U.S. in 30 years - has drawn virtually unanimous opposition from environmental groups, and one major labor leader questions whether it will create American jobs as promised.

The loan guarantees will go to Southern Co. to build the reactors in Georgia. The Atlanta-based company is one of the nation's biggest operators of coal-fired power plants.

"Nuclear energy remains our largest source of fuel that produces no carbon emissions," Obama said. "To meet our growing energy needs and prevent the worst consequences of climate change, we'll need to increase our supply of nuclear power. It's that simple."

The administration said the project would generate 3,500 construction jobs and 800 permanent positions once the reactors begin operating - estimated for 2016 or 2017.

Obama's 2011 budget adds $36 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power plant construction to $18.5 billion allocated by President Bush but not spent.

The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Citizen and others called the move a costly and potentially dangerous mistake.

"We need to prioritize the cleanest, cheapest, safest, and fastest ways to reduce emissions and nuclear power is neither clean, cheap, nor fast, nor safe," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope.

The $8 billion for the Georgia reactors is unlikely to cover even half the final cost, Pope said in a statement. "Retrofitting our homes and commercial buildings would result in significantly greater emissions reductions almost immediately - at far less cost - and would also cut energy bills in the long run."

Christopher Paine, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Nuclear Program, said in a statement, "Energy sources should compete for public dollars based on how well they provide the clean, efficient and affordable power we need. On that basis, nuclear power has a long way to go. It remains a high-cost, subsidy-dependent, radioactive-waste generating, water-depleting, non-renewable energy source that still carries with it the low probability of a high-consequence accident."

Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's Energy Project, said the loan program jeopardizes public money on "financially risky and uncertified nuclear technology" and "takes us entirely in the wrong direction."

Republicans are big backers of nuclear power. They are also blocking the president's energy/climate change bill in the Senate. The bill would curb industrial greenhouse gas emissions and promote renewable energy. Obama's move on nuclear power, along with support for coastal oil drilling, is seen as an effort to drum up enough Republican support to prevent a filibuster and pass the energy bill.

Pope took note of those calculations. The nuclear power loan guarantees announced by Obama last week "may ease the politics around comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation," Pope said, "but we do not believe that they are the best policy."

Pope said studies show that investment in "outdated" oil, coal and nuclear power sources creates "far fewer jobs per dollar than investments in energy efficiency and clean energy."

Meanwhile, Steelworkers union President Leo Gerard has sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressing concern about "the potential foreign sourcing of components for these reactors," which he said "limits our nation's ability to address our unacceptably high unemployment rate."

Westinghouse, which designed the reactors' central components, says these parts can be obtained only from steel mills in Japan and South Korea. Westinghouse, based in Pittsburgh but owned by the Japanese company Toshiba, says it is considering design changes that could allow U.S. steel companies to bid for the work.

Paine suggested that the nuclear power industry build a few state-of-the-art reactors in areas that have few wind, solar or other renewable resources, to test whether nuclear power is cost-effective as part of a national strategy to reduce global warming pollution. But now is not the time to "burden taxpayers with additional subsidies" for the nuclear industry, he said. "We can get far more for our money by investing in efficiency gains, conservation and innovative technologies that generate power from wind, solar and other renewable sources; as well as biomass and waste heat from industry."

The Union of Concerned Scientists says nuclear power "could play a role in reducing global warming emissions because reactors emit almost no carbon while they operate." But, it says, the nuclear power industry "must resolve major economic, safety, security, and waste disposal challenges before new nuclear reactors could make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions."

A study by the group last year found that the U.S. can make "dramatic cuts in power plant carbon emissions" in the coming decades without significantly expanding nuclear power.

Photo: The Fermi nuclear power plant, near Detroit. http://www.flickr.com/photos/42232541@N04/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Obama rolls out health care plan, moves to block rate hikes

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:30:00 +0000

As insurers fearful of health care reform announce massive pre-emptive rate hikes the Obama administration proposed today to give the government the power to block the increases. The plan was unveiled as the administration used the Internet to roll out comprehensive legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system.

The president's plan attempts to bridge the difference between House and Senate bills. Like the Senate and House bills, it ends insurers'ability to deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, it sets up more regulations on the private insurance market, it establishes insurance exchanges where consumers can compare prices and benefit packages, it defers the tax on so-called "Cadillac" plans for all workers until 2018, and provides federal subsidies to help people afford insurance. It does not include a public option.

By adding the proposal to give the government power to block rate hikes to the plans adopted in Congress Obama is riding national outrage over recent increases of up to 40 percent by profiteering health insurance companies.

The White House announcement today came just three days before a bi-partisan health care summit called by the president for Thursday.

The Obama plan would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, working with state regulators, to conduct an annual review of rate increases. If the increases are deemed unjustified, the secretary or the state could block the increase, order the company to adjust it or even issue a rebate to customers for rate increases they have already paid.

The latest moves by the administration left GOP leaders in the politically uncomfortable position of having to defend the right of insurance companies to jack up their rates at will.

The first Republican to take the bait was Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio. "At first glance, this seems to be an admission from the Obama administration that their massive government takeover of health care will, despite their promises, increase health care premiums for millions of Americans," he said.

Not one Republican lawmaker has challenged increases now being put through by insurers. The president, in his most recent radio address, slammed Blue Cross in California for its 39 percent rate hike.

Republicans across the board are fearful that Thursday's health care summit will succeed in moving legislation forward and that it will expose their obstructionist role.

Michael Steele, the GOP chairman, has already attempted to portray the roll-out of the president's plan as a deal breaker for the bi-partisan summit. "It is baldfaced hypocrisy to continue hammering out the latest partisan backroom deal while preparing for a 'bipartisan' summit," he said.

The White House's plan amounts to a basic outline of the final bill which almost all reliable sources now say Democrats will try to pass using reconciliation, a procedural tactic that only requires Democratic votes in the Senate to pass it.

Labor and its allies note that Republicans want Democrats to give up on health care because it will "prove" the majority party is unable to govern. They say Republicans want Thursday's health care summit to fail because if it works the GOP, left without a talking point, will be standing out in the open exposed as the party of "no."

The White House has cleverly urged Republicans to post their bills online. Republican health care proposals, of course, are either non-existent or where there are proposals they fall far short of the Democrats' aim to insure 31 million additional people. The House Republican proposal, for example, would only add 3 million people to the rolls.

Republicans have attacked the White House for having included a "carve out for labor" in its plan. Union leaders won agreement from the president that provisions in the Senate bill that would tax so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans some workers get from employers would be put off and that workers in some high risk jobs would not have these plans taxed at all.

A report issued by the California Endowment and the Institute for America's Future last week shows that claims of favoritism toward union workers are false. The report says that the revisions negotiated by the labor movement would reduce the tax's revenue by $41 billion, of which 71 percent would accrue to nonunion workers.

Photo: AP

Desperate times in America: selling food stamps to pay bills

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:44:00 +0000

With high unemployment appearing to be a permanent part of the economic picture, the long-term poor are turning to increasingly desperate measures to survive. Many are selling food stamps for cash. Over 6 million people today report food stamps as their only source of income.

In a recent study by Colorlines magazine "Selling Food Stamps for Kids Shoes," author Seth Wessler says selling food stamps is a growing survival mechanism, and one in which the already poor are being short changed. In a follow-up article for the Huffington Post on the same topic focusing on Hartford, Wessler writes, "they sell their food stamps at the corner bodega for 70 cents on the dollar just to cover basics like utility bills and winter shoes for their kids."

Hartford has for several years had among the highest poverty and jobless rates in the country.

Across the country, the problem of long-term poverty and unemployment is growing. The New York Times reports, "6.3 million Americans who have been unemployed for six months or longer, the largest number since the government began keeping track in 1948. That is more than double the toll in the next-worst period, in the early 1980s."

Large numbers of the unemployed are not receiving any benefits, a growing source of public anger. "On average, only two-thirds of unemployed people received state-provided unemployment checks last year, according to the Labor Department. The rest exhausted their benefits, fell short of requirements or did not apply." Due to welfare reform earlier in the decade, many do not qualify for already restrictive support. "As of 2006, 44 states cut off anyone with a household income totaling 75 percent of the poverty level - then limited to $1,383 a month for a family of three," writes the Times.

Over 10 million jobs were lost in the last recession. Hopes are dim they will be replaced.

Even establishment economists points to investment goes to the highest rate of profit, not job creation, as the cause. Says the Times, "American business is about maximizing shareholder value," said Allen Sinai, chief global economist at the research firm Decision Economics. "You basically don't want workers. You hire less, and you try to find capital equipment to replace them."

Over 6 million manufacturing jobs have lost since 2000, with 2.3 million disappearing since 2007.

These circumstances have prompted calls for stepped up government job creation measures, beyond the modest measures so far proposed by the House and Senate.

Current legislation, while important, are only a first step and will yield scanty results. An online business website, seekingalpha.com writes, "Moody's Economy.com estimates that an aggressive jobs program could help create a maximum of 727,000 jobs, while a more modest effort could create up to 250,000 jobs." In the best circumstances this would amount for 10 percent of the total needed.

Little is expected from tax breaks for small business either. "Think of it this way: If the average worker costs about $50,000 per year in pay and those ever costlier benefits, the tax credit would (temporarily) lower the payroll cost of a new employee by 10 percent. When was the last time a 10 percent discount persuaded you to buy something you wouldn't have purchased otherwise?"

The AFL-CIO and the Jobs4America now coalition have called for government action to create new jobs funded in part by a revenue stream, such as a financial transactions tax on corporate profits.

Emphasis now is on extending unemployment compensation and COBRA subsidies.

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