DeLay lashes out as support plummets
HOUSTON — Support for Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is dwindling in his home district even as the former Speaker of the House threatens to “sue any station” that runs advertisements linking him to corruption. A new poll conducted for the Houston Chronicle indicated that only half those who voted for him in ’04 would do so again today. Sixty percent gave him an overall unfavorable rating while only 28 percent gave him a favorable rating.
Calif. govs new leaf budget
Still trying to reinvent himself as a moderate, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a proposed $125.6 billion state budget Jan. 10 with more funds for transportation and education but with significant cuts for welfare recipients.
Mentally ill lose out
Disabled suffer irreparable harm after losing access to vital medications under new privatized prescription drug plan I work in the field of mental health, and have managed or worked at group homes for people with psychiatric disabilities for several years. Most of my clients are able to live stable lives, outside of mental hospitals and in the community, largely due to the development of many new anti-psychotic medications that manage the symptoms of mental illness (i.e. hearing voices or hallucinations).
The housing bubble
The “Wal-Mart, low-wage, limited-benefit” stage of the U.S. economy is built on a foundation of unsustainable increases in debt: household debt, corporate debt, and government debt.
Wheelchaired activists demand access rights
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Street theater drew the attention of passers-by to a demonstration Jan. 13 by 45 wheelchaired people and their supporters protesting the launching of an initiative that would deny access rights to Californians with disabilities.
Venezuela lends a hand in Maine
“This is not about politics. This is about improving the lives of poor people. This is about people helping people.”
World Notes
Global report: Africa bears brunt of conflicts; Bolivia: Miners and farmers lead the way; Chile: Workers at copper mine on strike; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: New charges of U.S. torture; India: Activists protest toxic waste ship
McCarthyism resurrected in Europe
On Jan. 24-27 the Council of Europe will vote on a resolution demanding international condemnation of communism and statements of renunciation from all communist parties in European Union member states “condemning the crimes committed by totalitarian communist regimes.” Equating communism with Nazism/fascism, the resolution claims that “communist ideology, wherever and whenever implemented … has always resulted in massive terror, crimes and large scale violation of human rights,” and says these are “a direct result of the class struggle theory.”
National Clips
SAN FRANCISCO: California executes man in wheelchair; BOSTON: Lawmakers crush students’ dreams; MIAMI: 5,000 students opt out of military; RICHMOND, Va.: Rally demands clean streams
Hurricane funds aid private schools, deregulation
Before adjourning for the holidays, Congress passed the Hurricane Education Recovery Act, which provides $1.6 billion in assistance to public and private schools and their students affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
