Minefields in the health care endgame
I was ecstatic at the temper and pitch of President Obama's health care address. I accept in principle the president's position that the political instability arising from too dramatic a shock to the existing complex US health care system argues strongly for exerting every effort to avert the spread of panic or fear. The crazy, racist, Christian or theocratic right is playing hard on these fears, and it is important that they be isolated.
Statement from ACORN regarding recent news reports
The relentless attacks on ACORN’s members, its staff and the policies and positions we promote are unprecedented. An international entertainment conglomerate, disguising itself as a “news” agency (Fox), has expended millions, if not tens of millions of dollars, in their attempt to destroy the largest community organization of Black, Latino, poor and working class people in the country. It is not coincidence that the most recent attacks have been launched just when health care reform is gaining traction. It is clear they’ve had these tapes for months.
It's a lie
Like a Samurai sword catching a silk scarf full of dung, President Obama eloquently separated the silk from the shinola in his speech to Congress on health care reform. To the Joseph Goebbels style slanders and phony hysterics fomented by creepy talk show hosts and Republican leaders like Sarah Palin, he “called them out”. And he promised to keep it up until much needed reform is enacted.
The persecution of Van Jones and the struggle for democracy
The circumstances that led to the resignation of Van Jones should be strongly protested. Mr. Jones was a victim of the current racist and red baiting attack aimed at bringing down the Obama administration.
Letters: September 12, 2009
Armed attendees have been allowed at town hall meetings and public rallies where the President and other national officials were speaking. Paradoxically, Cindy Sheehan wore an anti-Bush t-shirt to a Bush rally and was arrested! Other protesters were herded off to remote protest areas.
Stop Thief!
A university survey of 4,387 low-wage workers showed that over two-thirds were cheated on their last week’s pay. They were cheated, on average, $51 out of their pay of $339. Thefts included paying less than minimum wage, “working off the clock” and no extra pay for overtime.
Resetting the health care debate
President Obama’s speech to Congress last night reset the debate and struggle for real health care reform. No one thought that the reform of our nation’s health care system would be easy to begin with, but what transpired recently – the fierce counter attack by the right-wing extremists, the letting loose of the demagogues of hatred, fear, racism, and division, and the digging in of private insurance companies and other sections of corporate America – proved to be a sobering reminder that the political terrain and initiative can shift in the direction of one’s foes, as it did this summer.
Book exposes wage theft and how to stop it
"Is that about the two and half million prison workers?" my nurse asked as she walked to my bed. I was reading Kim Bobo's book,
A report from the health care wars
Doors were scheduled to open at 6:00 and though I arrived by 4:15, 300 people were already in line. A certain tension was in the air, as Rep. Gary Peters, a first-term Democrat in Michigan’s 9th C.D, a district that has not been represented by a Democrat for several decades, has been the target of several right-wing rallies. This time, pro-reform forces vowed not to be out organized.
Take a stand for democracy
At noon next Tuesday, Sept. 8, the president will speak via live video to schoolchildren across our country. He will be welcoming them back to school, and urging them “to take personal responsibility for their own education, to set goals, and to not only stay in school but make the most of it,” according to the White House blog.
