People Before Profit blog

Battle’s not over in Texas: Anti-abortion bill challenged

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 14:59:00 +0000

AUSTIN, Texas - As the saying goes, it ain't over 'til it's over.

Republicans in the Texas state legislature may have thought that their anti-abortion bill passed this summer had nailed the door shut on women's reproductive rights.

Texas Democrats, led by state Senator Wendy Davis with her instant-classic filibuster, fought to the last, but lacked the numbers in that small body of politicians to defend millions of Texas women by defeating the bill.

Last Friday, dozens of pro-choice groups and women's health care providers joined together to file suit in federal court to block two sections of the measure, House Bill 2. Republican State Attorney General Greg Abbott is named in the suit.

Plaintiffs include Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and a dozen-plus women's health care providers.

In a media conference call, representatives of the groups explained the need for a court challenge. "We're in court today to stop a terrible situation for women in Texas from getting even worse," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The law requires abortion practitioners who administer abortion medicine to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where they perform abortions. It also places restrictions on medicated abortions, which are used to end early pregnancies.

Since some hospitals' standards for admitting privileges require a set number of patient admissions from a physician, this places a big burden on abortion practitioners, one that has nothing to do with their competence. In effect, the doctor is penalized for safely performing a procedure that rarely leads to hospital stays.

Texas clinic owners indicated during the conference call that the multiple hospital admissions regulation will effectively shut down 13 of the 36 abortion clinics in Texas.

The burden falls heavily on women living in rural areas of the state, such as in West Texas and the Panhandle, who live far away from clinics that may still be able to operate.

Other clinics around the state will remain open but will be unable to operate at the staffing levels they do now because not all of their physicians have hospital admitting privileges.

"The real purpose of this law is to make it impossible for women in Texas to get an abortion," said Jennifer Dalvin of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.

Another factor is that hospitals, although many of them benefit from federal programs (such as Medicare), can deny admitting privileges to doctors based on the hospital's religious objections to abortion - even though the hospital itself isn't performing the procedure.

Another provision being challenged by the groups is one that requires outdated protocols in administering RU-486, an early-stage abortion pill.

The current protocol calls for a two-drug tandem through the ninth week of pregnancy, but the Texas law requires doses three times the strength of the current protocol, plus an extra visit to the clinic. It recommends usage up to seven weeks of pregnancy.

Filing the suit, defenders of women's health in Texas refused to concede defeat.

"I grew up in Texas and learned pretty early on that women only got what they fought for," said Richards, the daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

Photo: Overpass Light Brigade demonstrates solidarity with Texas women in the fight for reproductive rights. Madison, Wis., June 4, 2012. Light Brigading CC 2.0

Obama to tea party: “Make my day!”

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 14:25:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - The media are covering Washington's latest fiscal crisis basically as a spectacle-the way local news now covers traffic accidents, crime scenes and big storms. But there is a reality underneath the spectacle-the decisions that are made and not made in Washington over the next few weeks will affect what happens in the lives of all of us. Here are some basic facts that can help make sense of all the craziness:

1) Our economy is not growing fast enough to create the jobs necessary to put people back to work.

2) The sequester and other cuts in federal spending slow economic growth and destroy jobs in the short run, and in the long run, hurt our nation's competitiveness because we don't invest enough in infrastructure, education and research to keep up with our global competitors.

3) While it is a good idea to borrow money to invest in public goods like infrastructure and education that create jobs when the economy is weak, in the long run that money has to be paid back through a fair tax system.

4) Because so much of the wealth and income in our society goes to big corporations and the one percent, and they have rigged the tax system in their favor, we don't have enough revenue in the long run to pay for the things we need the government to do-from national defense to keeping the parks open to paving the roads and rebuilding the bridges.

For most of us, this is a bad story. It is a story of lost jobs, falling wages, crumbling communities and fading hope. But for the one percent, things are just fine, thank you. Stock markets are up, real estate prices in wealthy parts of the country are rising again.

And here's where the radical Republican agenda comes in. It is the agenda of the "I've got mine Jack" crowd, the people who don't care what happens to our roads because they fly in private jets, who don't care about what happens to our schools because their children and grandchildren go to private schools, who don't care about whether there are jobs in this country because they live off the earnings of money invested through tax havens. This is the mentality of the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson and the other billionaires who fund the tea party.

The billionaires don't want to be taxed. They are afraid if the government does its job, they will be taxed. So they want to force the government not to do its job. That means first they are happy to close the government entirely if President Obama won't agree to pull back on the his commitment that all of America's working families should have real health insurance. But the billionaires' demands don't stop there. They want to end food stamps, and let the poor starve. They want to cut Social Security and Medicare, stop the government from regulating Wall Street, and, surprise surprise-- lower their own taxes.

Threatening to close the federal government is deeply irresponsible and will hurt a lot of people. But it's not the limit of what Congressional Republicans and their billionaire funders are prepared to do to get their way. Their real high card, they think, is the threat to force the United States into a manufactured default, where we as a country refuse to pay the debts Congress has already incurred, even though we have the money to do so. That's what the debt ceiling is all about. The United States government has borrowed money, and just like anyone else who borrows money, we promised to make payments of interest and principal to our lenders. We are a rich country and we easily can do it-either by raising taxes or borrowing more, but only if Congress votes to do so. If Congress refuses to vote to do either, Congress will provoke a Constitutional and a financial crisis.

It will be a financial crisis because the world financial system is constructed around the assumption that the United States will pay its debts. It will be a Constitutional crisis because the Constitution requires that the United States pay its debts, and it requires that the President spend the money Congress appropriates, and it requires Congress' approval to raise taxes. The president cannot obey all three requirements if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling.

Here is the strange thing, the rich people who fund the Republican party will be hurt most immediately by this type of crisis-because they own lots of stocks and bonds. They are literally pointing a gun at their own heads and demanding the rest of us do what they want. So what explains their behavior? It's really rather simple-they are sure President Obama is a grown-up, and will cave into their destructive demands rather than allow the United States to break its promises. They are sure he is both responsible and weak.

Why are they so sure of this? Because this is what happened in the summer of 2011. Congress threatened not to raise the debt ceiling, and President Obama agreed to job destroying spending cuts that have damaged our economy, including what ultimately became the sequester.

But this time, President Obama seems to have had enough. He is saying - and Senate Democrats are backing him up - that there will be no negotiating over the debt ceiling. And that there will be no concessions on health care to prevent a government shutdown.

There will be great pressure on the president from Wall Street and Washington insider types to cave in yet again. But working people have to stand with the president. The stakes could not be higher. The very idea of a working government, one that does the peoples' business, is at stake. Clearly, there is no end to the destruction the radical elements of the Republican party will do if they get away yet again with holding our nation hostage in this way.

Working people need to bring our own pressure. Our message is clear-repeal the sequester-its killing jobs and growth. No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. Protect food aid for the poor. And create jobs and raise hundreds of billions of dollars to invest in our future by ending all tax subsidies for outsourcing.

And right now we need to stand with President Obama when he says no to hostage taking, because the only appropriate thing to tell someone who is pointing a gun at their own head and making crazy demands is, "go ahead, make my day."

Damon Silvers is in charge of developing economic policy for the AFL-CIO. This article is reprinted from the AFL-CIO Now Blog.

Photo: Obama to tea party: "Make my day."

Nation braces for government shutdown

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 16:04:00 +0000

At least 800,000 of the nation's 2.1 million federal workers will be required to stay home Tuesday if the government shuts down as a result of Republican grandstanding. Entrances to all 410 national parks from the Redwood forests to the shores of Maine will be sealed shut. Hundreds of thousands will have a wrench thrown into their travel plans as offices that issue visas and passports are shuttered and traffic controllers are barred from their airport towers.

Supervisors at government operations from one end of the country to the other huddled with their staff Thursday to decide who is "nonessential" and can be told to stay home Tuesday. Details on the shutdown and who should stay home were being posted on bulletin boards and sent out over the Internet as this story was being posted.

The union that represents federal workers is preparing for the worst. "Half of our members will be locked out of work altogether during this," said J.David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. "Half will be expected to work without a paycheck," he added.

Things that would not stop immediately on Tuesday include operations thought to be critical to national security such as border patrol, law enforcement and emergency and disaster assistance. Social Security and Medicare benefits would not stop next week but there could be delays in getting out payments and there will definitely be delays in processing new applicants.

Federal government workers on whom tens of millions of Americans depend are fearful, frustrated and angry. "We have had to devote time and resources to develop yet another crisis plan, distracting workers from their critically important missions," said Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. The situation has already harmed the public, she said. "And if the government shuts down, the public will be further harmed by the loss of vital services people need and depend upon."

Countless agencies and offices have developed contingency plans.

In addition to the national parks, museums, libraries and educational institutions will be hard hit too. A spokesperson for the Smithsonian, Linda St. Thomas, said most of the 6,400 workers at 19 museums would be furloughed. The Smithsonian will not open at all on Tuesday. Tourists who have gone through the time and expense of planning vacations in the nation's capital including trips to the National Air and Space Museum, for example, will be out of luck.

Courthouses will also have to close on Tuesday but federal courts say they can stay open for at least a week in the event of a shutdown by raiding their petty cash boxes, so to speak. They plan to use court fees and other funds they have not yet turned in to the government. Court staff performing essential work will be told to report to work but they will have to work without pay.

The environment could well suffer some blows in the event of a shutdown with the Environmental Protection Administration shutting down almost completely. The only ones out of its 17,000 workers who will be allowed to report to work are the personnel in charge of implementing the shutdown itself.

NASA too will be shut down, and if the shutdown lasts long enough a launch scheduled for Nov. 6 will have to be postponed. According to NASA spokesperson Bob Jacobs, nearly all of the agency's 18,000 employees will be told to stay home Tuesday.

Concerns have been raised about the safety of astronauts currently living on the International Space Station. If the government shuts down NASA will "continue to support" the space mission, according to the agency. The astronauts themselves could not be reached for comment.

Photo: Government agencies, including NASA, will be forced to shutdown because of Republican intransigence. (NASA)

West Hollywood becomes first U.S. city to ban sale of fur

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 15:22:00 +0000

For the first time in this country's history, the Californian city of West Hollywood has banned the sale of fur, in keeping with its tradition of upholding the values of animals and their wellbeing. Though city council members passed the law by unanimous vote two years ago, it finally went into effect ast week year on Sept. 21.

The development came days after the city passed an ordinance banning all entertainment acts, including circuses, that use wild or exotic animals, making this a twin victory for animal rights supporters and activists.

It follows a history of pro-animal legislation in West Hollywood, including the banning of steel-jaw traps and cosmetic testing on animals in 1989; the banning of cat de-clawing in 2003; and the banning of the retail sale of cats and dogs in 2010, which pushed people to adopt from animal shelters instead. It seems that the city is well on its way toward achieving its purported mission of becoming "the Humane Capitol of the Nation."

Retail stores will have to clear fur products off their shelves by Sept. 28 or face $800 fines. Predictably, many are decrying the ordinance, with Mayfair House, a specialty clothing store on Beverly Blvd., going as far as to claim it is "unconstitutional." Store owner Johanna Judah thought the ordinance was "ill-considered ... and harmful to the city and its consumer citizens and business residents," as well as a supposed attempt by animal rights activists to "impose their will over others."

Mayor pro tempore John D'Amico argued that there is no ethical way to produce fur, and that the ban will ultimately not harm businesses. "This city is not in the business of curtailing businesses," he said. "Someone who is disconnected from the goals of the city and has a rigid point of view on fur" may not understand that.

Some business owners, however, do understand, and support the ban. One of them is David Malvaney, cofounder of Church Boutique, an avant-garde fashion shop. "We are on board with the ban," he said, "as we understand the concerns and have realized there are many other fabrics and fibers that can easily take the place of real fur. We feel that the desire for real fur will lessen over time as more people become aware of the process to which the animals are subjected, and I believe more cities will adopt a similar ordinance."

That "process" is usually the outright murder of innocent animals. In fact, statements like those of the Mayfair House calling the fur ban "wrong" might seem perverse in the eyes of some, given the fact that the fashion industry's fur trade causes over 50 million animal deaths per year. (The Humane Society of the United States has composed a list of fur-free retailers, designers, and brands for conscientious shoppers to peruse.)

For Mayfair's part, they are currently filing a lawsuit to try and overturn the ban.

Lindsay Rajt, associate director of campaigns for PETA, commented, "It's up to individual cities and consumers to end this cruelty. West Hollywood is setting another tremendous example for cities to follow."

City spokeswoman Tamara White added, "We've consistently worked to enact cutting-edge animal welfare legislation. This is in line with our values."

Animal rights activist and West Hollywood resident Ed Buck said the ordinance is a "huge success for the national drive toward fur consciousness-raising. This is monumental." The debate is over, he concluded. We know that fur sales are inhumane. "Compassion is the fashion," he declared. "You do not need to sacrifice an animal to be fashionable."

Photo: An anti-fur demonstration in West Hollywood. Flickr

Reckless Republicans push closer to a government shutdown

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 12:38:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - Democratic lawmakers and others here warned yesterday that as Republicans continue to play their dangerous game of "chicken" with the federal budget and debt ceiling, the chances of avoiding a goverment shutdown in five days are becoming slimmer and slimmer.

"House Republicans are actually determined to shut down the government if they can't defund Obamacare," declared Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., last night on national television. Pallone issued his warning on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show: "They are determined to shut down the government despite widesperead bipartisan disagreement by the American people."

The union that represents millions of federal government workers, AFGE, said yesterday that it is in full mobilization mode against the impending shutdown. The federal government employs 2.15 million workers nationwide, with the Postal Service enmploying another 590,000. The union says the government will declare almost all the federal workers "non-essential," sending them home in event of a government shutdown.

"It's like taking the government employees hostage and saying, 'We won't let them come to work unless we're given what we want," said Charles Teifer, law professor at the University of Balitimore and former deputy general counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. "It's taking a couple of million of government employees hostage."

Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D), whose city budget must be approved by Congress, declared yesterday, in an effort to prevent his city from grinding to a halt next week, that every D.C. worker is "essential." A shutdown would send home the 32,000 people who keep the nation's capital running every day.

One of the many but less-talked about effects of a shutdown will be its toll on the civil rights and the workplace rights of all Americans.

"A government shutdown means no Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to enforce the Civil Rights Act and the orther laws barring workplace discrimination," said Gabrielle Martin, president of AFGE's National Council of Equal Employment Opportunity Commision Locals.

The last time Republicans shut down the government was in 1995. Americans blamed them, not then-President Clinton for the shutdown by huge margins. The following year, Clinton was re-elected despite Republican majorities in both houses of Congress.

With the shutdown now looming, Americans say overwhelmingly that it is unacceptable for either a president or members of Congress to threaten a government shutdown in order to achieve their goals, according to a new CBS/New York Times poll.

Eighty percent of Americans say threatening a government shutdown is not an acceptable way to negotiate; only 16 percent think it is. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents all agreed that shutdown of government is not a way to negotiate.

While shutdowns have been threatened and have actiually happened before, this one is seen as radically different. For the first time ever, the shutdown threat is being used as a tool to achieve repeal of duly-passed legislation (Obamacare).

"This seems quite beyond the pale," said Sarah Binder, a political science professor at George Washington University. "It seems that during most of these previous (shutdown) episodes, an agreement was in theory within reach, because the players were at the table. The previous shutdowns tended to occur in the midst of negotiations. That doesn't seem to be the case this time."

Louis Fisher, who has specialized in separation of powers over more than 30 years at the Congressional Research Service and the Library of Congress said he was "shocked" when he first saw what he now recognizes as a foreshadowing of today's crisis, when Republican senators refused for two years to confirm Richard Cordray - or anyone else, for that matter - to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unless President Obama agreed to change the bureau's structure. "That's really amazing, to say you're not going to confirm unless the underlying statute or law is rewritten. That's breathtaking to me."

Rachel Maddow, on her Sept. 25 show, insisted that the blame lies not just with Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who has made a spectacle of himself in his crusade to defund health care. The entire Republican Party, she said, is responsible for the crisis.

"They are saying they blame the situation on Ted Cruz," she said. "And it's a brilliant idea, because that guy sort of wants to be blamed."

She played clips of other Congressional Republicans who criticized Cruz's efforts to get Obamacare defunded in order to aviod a government shutdown.

"Sure, blame it on Ted Cruz, the fraud, shutdown is a terrible idea," she said. "You know what, Peter King, Tom Cole? If you guys think it is such a bad idea to shut down the government, why did you both vote for it? Why did you vote to shut down the government when you got a chance to vote for it last week? The Republican vote for a shutdown was 228-1 and neither of you guys were the one."

Photo: afge.org

Death of an adjunct

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 13:11:00 +0000

On Sept. 1, Margaret Mary Vojtko, an adjunct professor who had taught French at Duquesne University for 25 years, passed away at the age of 83. She died as the result of a massive heart attack she suffered two weeks before. As it turned out, I may have been the last person she talked to.

On Aug. 16, I received a call from a very upset Margaret Mary. She told me that she was under an incredible amount of stress. She was receiving radiation therapy for the cancer that had just returned to her, she was living nearly homeless because she could not afford the upkeep on her home, which was literally falling in on itself, and now, she explained, she had received another indignity - a letter from Adult Protective Services telling her that someone had referred her case to them saying that she needed assistance in taking care of herself. The letter said that if she did not meet with the caseworker the following Monday, her case would be turned over to Orphans' Court.

For a proud professional like Margaret Mary, this was the last straw; she was mortified. She begged me to call Adult Protective Services and tell them to leave her alone, that she could take care of herself and did not need their help. I agreed to. Sadly, a couple of hours later, she was found on her front lawn, unconscious from a heart attack. She never regained consciousness.

Meanwhile, I called Adult Protective Services right after talking to Margaret Mary, and I explained the situation. I said that she had just been let go from her job as a professor at Duquesne, that she was given no severance or retirement benefits, and that the reason she was having trouble taking care of herself was because she was living in extreme poverty. The caseworker paused and asked with incredulity, "She was a professor?" I said yes. The caseworker was shocked; this was not the usual type of person for whom she was called in to help.

Of course, what the caseworker didn't understand was that Margaret Mary was an adjunct professor, meaning that, unlike a well-paid tenured professor, Margaret Mary worked on a contract basis from semester to semester, with no job security, no benefits and with a salary of between $3,000 and just over $3,500 per three-credit course. Adjuncts now make up well over 50 percent of the faculty at colleges and universities.

While adjuncts at Duquesne overwhelmingly voted to join the United Steelworkers union a year ago, Duquesne has fought unionization, claiming that it should have a religious exemption. Duquesne has claimed that the unionization of adjuncts like Margaret Mary would somehow interfere with its mission to inculcate Catholic values among its students.

This would be news to Georgetown University - one of only two Catholic universities to make U.S. News & World Report's list of top 25 universities - which just recognized its adjunct professors' union, citing the Catholic Church's social justice teachings, which favor labor unions.

As amazing as it sounds, Margaret Mary, a 25-year professor, was not making ends meet. Even during the best of times, when she was teaching three classes a semester and two during the summer, she was not even clearing $25,000 a year, and she received absolutely no health care benefits. Compare this with the salary of Duquesne's president, who makes more than $700,000 with full benefits.

Meanwhile, in the past year, her teaching load had been reduced by the university to one class a semester, which meant she was making well below $10,000 a year. With huge out-of-pocket bills from UPMC Mercy for her cancer treatment, Margaret Mary was left in abject penury. She could no longer keep her electricity on in her home, which became uninhabitable during the winter. She therefore took to working at an Eat'n Park at night and then trying to catch some sleep during the day at her office at Duquesne. When this was discovered by the university, the police were called in to eject her from her office. Still, despite her cancer and her poverty, she never missed a day of class.

Finally, in the spring, she was let go by the university, which told her she was no longer effective as an instructor - despite many glowing evaluations from students. She came to me to seek legal help to try to save her job. She said that all she wanted was money to pay her medical bills because Duquesne, which never paid her much to begin with, gave her nothing on her way out the door.

Duquesne knew all about Margaret Mary's plight, for I apprised them of it in two letters. I never received a reply, and Margaret Mary was forced to die saddened, penniless and on the verge of being turned over to Orphan's Court.

The funeral Mass for Margaret Mary, a devout Catholic, was held at Epiphany Church, only a few blocks from Duquesne. The priest who said Mass was from the University of Dayton, another Catholic university and my alma mater. Margaret Mary was laid out in a simple, cardboard casket devoid of any handles for pallbearers - a sad sight, but an honest symbol of what she had been reduced to by her ostensibly Catholic employer.

Her nephew, who had contacted me about her passing, implored me to make sure that she didn't die in vain. He said that while there was nothing that could be done for Margaret Mary, we had to help the other adjuncts at Duquesne and other universities who were being treated just as she was, and who could end up just like she did. I believe that writing this story is the first step in doing just that.

This article was reposted from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and reprinted with permission from the author.

Photo: Duquesne University athletics logo

House Republicans quit bipartisan immigration group

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 12:36:00 +0000

A blow was dealt against a possible bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill in the House of Representatives when two more Republican members, Congressmen John Carter and Sam Johnson, both of Texas, withdrew from the bipartisan "Gang of Seven", which was drafting a bill, effectively disbanding it. However, immigrant rights activists vow that they will not be deterred. [Today, media reports say Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi may introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill at the beginning of October to coincide with an Oct. 5 National Day of Action.]

The already passed Senate bill trades off a problematic mechanism for legalizing the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants for new repressive enforcement measures and exploitative guest worker programs. Undocumented immigrants would be given an interim status as "Registered Provisional Immigrants" (R.P.I.s) for up to 10 years. Then they could become Permanent Legal Residents and in another three years (13 years in all), they could apply for citizenship. But they would lose their legal resident status and thus risk deportation if they got into trouble with the law, or if their income dropped below the poverty level, or if they were unemployed for any length of time. Running this gauntlet is likely to eliminate thousands, if not millions, of R.P.I.s.

The Senate bill mandates the confiscation of the accumulated Social Security deposits from R.P.I.s. They could live in the country, work and travel, but they could not have access any government benefits, including Obamacare and Medicare. Border security would be greatly increased, with 20,000 new patrol agents, and at the cost of $46 billion to the taxpayer. Internal crackdowns would also be increased, using E-Verify, a system whereby employers check the Social Security numbers of prospective workers with a government database. This would eventually be made mandatory for all employers. There would be new guest worker programs.

There have been strong objections to the Senate bill by, especially, activists and organizations along the U.S.-Mexican border, who say the crackdown will disrupt their communities and lead to an increasingly high death rate for migrants, who will go to greater and greater risks to find a way to cross.

The Obama administration has, under pressure from immigrant rights, labor and Latino organizations, ordered three modifications to the practices by the Department of Homeland Security that have raised the number of deportations to a record number (409,000 in 2012). The DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) Program defers deportation of young undocumented people who were brought to the United States as minors. The "Prosecutorial Discretion" initiative instructs the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to focus their enforcement efforts on people who have committed crimes or present a danger to the American people. The third initiative, begun in March, changes the procedures of legalization of undocumented immigrants who marry U.S. citizens so that they will no longer be forced to return to their home countries and wait from 3 to 10 years before they can come back to their spouses here.

But most of these executive orders are phrased as suspensions of deportation, and the logical argument behind them, offered both by the administration and by immigrant rights group who want more categories to be covered (such as undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children and of young people covered by DACA) is that it makes no sense for the government to be deporting people who soon will be the subject of a congressionally mandated legalization.

If the effort in Congress fails completely, that rationale disappears.

This is the reason for the hope that the "Gang of Seven" in the House would produce legislation, which at least would provide legalization for the majority of the undocumented. Congressmen Vela, D-Texas, and Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., have now introduced new legislation for this purpose. But this also comes up when the Republicans have a majority of 234 to 201 in the House, so those dynamics are not changed.

All through the summer, immigrant rights and labor organizations worked very hard with mobilization, pressure and lobbying efforts directed as House Republicans. Many sources suggest that this was a successful effort, but that the current problem comes from the refusal of the House Republican leadership, especially Speaker Boehner, R-Ohio, to allow legislation to proceed.

The Republican leadership says it is going ahead with five initiatives. From a progressive point of view, they are all bad, and none of them provide for legalization of the 11 million undocumented. The Border Security Results Act, HR 1417, would parallel the security overkill in Senate Bill 744. The SAFE Act, HR 2278, would authorize state legislatures to take control of immigration enforcement and would cancel DACA and Prosecutorial Discretion. The Legal Workforce Act, HR 1772, would make use of E-Verify mandatory for all employers. Other bills would expand temporary worker programs without adding workplace protections.

Some immigrants' rights activists are so frustrated that they are calling for an end to all legislative efforts, and a focus on street action alone. The trouble is that the congressional scene cannot be wished away, and if progressives opt out of the legislative struggle it, Congress will pass extremely repressive legislation anyway.

Photo: SEIU // CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Right wing rebuked in Missouri

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 14:05:00 +0000

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Right-wing Republicans in the Missouri legislature and their main financial supporter, libertarian billionaire Rex Sinquefield, suffered a stinging defeat here recently. They had hoped to over-ride Democratic Governor Jay Nixon's veto of a number of bills dealing with issues as far ranging as taxes, gun control, and workers' rights.

Fortunately, broad-based community, labor and faith coalitions were able to put enough pressure on vulnerable Republicans to sustain the Governor's veto and provide progressive forces with a little breathing room before the 2014 legislative session begins.

The right-wing defeat is even more surprising as the Republicans have the largest legislative majority in Missouri history. In all, Governor Nixon vetoed 29 bills and four line items.

The three most fiercely fought items - HB 253, which would have eliminated the state's income tax; HB 436, which would have effectively nullified federal gun law in Missouri; and SB 29, which would have imposed additional and unnecessary burdens on public employee unions and their members - were also three main pillars of the right-wing's 2013 to-do list here.

HB 253, which was backed by Sinquefield and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, would have cut Missouri's corporate tax rate from 6.25 percent to 3.25 percent, while also cutting the personal income tax rate to 5.5 percent - with absolutely no plan to replace the estimated $800 million in lost revenue.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry was even brought to the Show Me State to support the bill. However, the tactic back-fired as he was seen by many Missourians as trying to steal jobs by emphasizing Texas' lower corporate tax rate and encouraging corporations to move to the Lone Star State.

Additionally, while it is true that Texas has lead the nation in job creation those jobs are mostly low-wage, non-union jobs, whereas Missouri is a highly unionized state with a relatively high standard of living and high wages. Furthermore, one in three Texas children and 16 percent of Texas seniors live in poverty and Texas' high school graduation rate ranks 48th among states, all due to its lower tax rate and lack of investment in primary education.

Nixon rightly argued that HB 253 would lead to massive cuts in education, health care and other vital social services. HB 253 would also impose a regressive tax on prescription drugs hurting seniors and the disabled.

Nixon said the veto was "about protecting our economy, our communities and, especially, our schools from this costly and misguided bill."

HB 436, the 'Second Amendment Protection Act,' which would have attempted to invalidated federal gun law and make it a crime for federal officials to enforce federal gun law in Missouri, was seen as an unconstitutional waste of time by moderate law makers, as federal gun law trumps state law.

A similar law passed in Kansas recently and has been deemed unconstitutional by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who informed Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback that the law "directly conflicts with federal law and is therefore unconstitutional. Federal officers who are responsible for enforcing federal laws and regulations in order to maintain public safety cannot be forced to choose between the risk of a criminal prosecution by a state and the continued performance of their federal duties."

Holder added, we "will take all appropriate action, including litigation if necessary, to prevent the State of Kansas from interfering with the activities of federal officials enforcing federal law."

It is estimated that Kansas tax payers will be forced to spend about $700,000 in litigation due to this misguided, dangerous and unenforceable law passed by republicans.

SB 29, which would eliminate payroll deduction for public sector union members and impose unnecessary and burdensome paperwork on voluntary political contributions, was also shot down.

According to Bradley Harmon, president of the Missouri State Workers' Union (MSWU-CWA 6355), "SB 29 would kill our union. We would have zero members the day this bill becomes law."

Missouri state workers are the lowest paid in the nation. The average annual salary is about $35,000 and due to the work-load and low-pay turn-over in vital social services - like the unemployment offices, the department of social services and family services, probation and parole, etc. - is very high.

CWA 6355, the Service Employees Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are seen as the only voice these workers have advocating for higher pay and lower case loads. SB 29 would have effectively taken away their collective voice.

Through-out the spring and summer right-wing republicans have made HB 253, HB 436 and SB 29 the center-piece of their legislative agenda.

While they failed to impose these anti-democratic laws, their objectives are clear. They want to make the rich richer through lower taxes, while increasing taxes on the poor. They want to feed a culture of violence and fear by stirring-up images of the federal government coming to take away guns. And they want to continuing to blame public employees and their unions for the economic mess they caused.

Hopefully, their recent defeat is a sign of things to come.

Photo: JayNixon.com

Occupy Wall Street stages second anniversary march in New York

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 14:34:00 +0000

NEW YORK - Occupy Wall Street, the movement that coined the term for and dramatized the plight of the the overwhelming majority (the 99 percent) of Americans, was back on the streets here yeserday, marking the second anniversary of its birth.

The demonstration came on the heels of a primary electon in which overwheming majorities of voters cast their ballorts for candidates who rejected the big business poltics of Republican Mayor Bloomberg.

Progressives look forward to a victory in the general election by Bill Di Blassio, the winner of the Democatic primary and a progressive majority on the City Council - putting an end to what they see as having been 20 years of government in the interest of the rich and powerful in New York.

Among the demonstrators were members of the Transit Workers Union, Local 100, the New York State Nurses Adssociation and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 3.

"For the last two years we have tried to negotiate a contact with the MTA," said David Dowling, a train operator and chief of staff of Local 100. "Gov. Cuomo has insisted that they maintain a position of three-year wage freeze and pay $5,000 per member per year for health care; we've said 'no,' we refuse to make those concessions.

"The answer is simple," Dowling added. "Every year the Transit Authority pays $100 million dollars to Wall Street banks in what is known as an interest rate swap. Renegotiate your interest rate swaps, insist that they sit down and renegotiate the swaps that were set before the financial crisis."

As the march followed the planned route, chants and cheers could be heard for blocks: "The banks were bailed out, we were sold out," and "Restore the Robin Hood Tax," the stock transfer tax that was eliminated in 1977 when Democrat Abraham Beame was mayor. A 0.2 percent tax on commodity futures trades and 0.25 percent on stock trades would raise millions of dollars.

Maria Roca, another demonstrator, said, "I'm here because I'm a patient. Brooklyn is the fastest growing borough and we have had the largest number of hospital closures, most of them because of the profit that can be made from off their real estate values. It doesn't make sense economically long term, if you would want a world-class city as we are always touting the world that we are, without world-class health care; world-class transportation; world-class education. It is not in the government's interest. Health care is at the root of a child's ability to learn. If the one percent think they can run things with employees who have to be absent because they are sick, they just don't get it."

Natalie Faublas-Dorner, RN, member of the New York State Nurses Association, said, "I'm here to save New York City hospitals. They are trying to close all the hospitals. There is a lot of health care to be given to a lot of patients in need. They want to change our hospitals into condominiums."

The rally and march ended at Bryant Park here marchers were entertained by, and sang along with, the internationally known Sweet Honey and the Rock.

Photo: Libero Della Piana/PW

A rising tide lifts only yachts?

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 12:48:00 +0000

Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy famously declared that "a rising tide lifts all boats" - and then asked Congress to cut taxes on America's rich. His rationale: More money in rich people's pockets would grow the economy and leave everybody better off.

Lawmakers agreed. They began a tax-cutting spree - for the rich - that would spill into the 21^st century. And how did all those extra dollars in rich people's pockets work out? Some tides, as it turns out, only lift yachts.

Earlier this year, at Knox College in Illinois, President Obama gave a welcome good riddance to JFK's "rising tide." Letting wealth concentrate "at the very top," the president said, has been both "morally wrong" and "bad economics."

The White House, unfortunately, has been coming up "seriously short" on policies that would make for a much more equal economy. But others are stepping up. Last month, for instance, two senators introduced legislation that would deny corporations tax deductions on executive pay over $1 million. Our major media never bother with bills like this.

Greed at a glance

More than 11 million Americans remain officially unemployed. What advice do the nation's rich have for all these jobless? New polling from Spectrem Wealth Research finds that Americans holding over $750,000 in assets, want the jobless to "stay laser-focused on looking full-time for work."

Only 14 percent of the deep pockets, says Spectrem, feel corporate America ought to "do more to relieve the strains of those who are unemployed." And just 15 percent feel that social organizations and churches should do more to help the jobless.

More people are hurting than the one percent suspect - or want to. Some 79 percent of Americans, other new data show, now experience "economic insecurity" - a year or more of joblessness, income near the poverty line, or reliance on food stamps or other assistance - before they hit 60.

TV football talk to omit big owner subsidies

America's most lucrative professional sport - NFL football - returns to the nation's TV screens this month, and 24/7 cable sports networks will cover every aspect of the games, from the toenails of placekickers to the latest in cheerleader fashion, in exhaustive detail. Well, almost every aspect.

The massive taxpayer subsidies that go to deep-pocket NFL team owners won't get much, if any, attention. For instance, fans had to turn to a business magazine to discover that New Orleans Saints billionaire owner Tom Benson, the richest man in Louisiana, will pocket an estimated $392 million in state subsidies through 2025. The windfall is coming from a deal Benson struck with state officials in 2009.

You can find the details of such golden subsidies for the one percent -- Benson is far from the only one - at a new website called Field of Schemes. It "casts a critical eye on the roughly $2 billion a year in public subsidies" that go to billionaires building new pro sports facilities.

Plenty for an oil billionaire, nothing for Detroit

By contrast, forget any federal aid - or state subsidies for that matter -- for the bankrupt city of Detroit. No can do, not in America's current political climate. But federal help for a Russian oil billionaire who wants to buy up luxury jets from the U.S. aircraft boutique Gulfstream Aerospace? Step right up, Gennady Timchenko.

A powerhouse D.C. lobby group is now helping Timchenko - net worth, $14.1 billion - gain loan guarantees from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the federal agency that helps foreign firms buy American. Meanwhile, in the absence of federal help, the GOP-named Detroit financial czar is set to ravage city worker pensions. Notes Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz: "If you took any large country and took the poorest part and said, 'You're on your own,' there would be problems, and that's precisely what we've done in our metropolitan areas."

Fed up with the "givers"

Former hedge fund manager Andy Kessler has had it up to here with "Generation G," those young people today who devote themselves to "more giving, more sacrifice, living within our means, and helping our fellow man." For Kessler, the "G" stands for "guilty." Gen-G'ers, Kessler groused in the Wall Street Journal, would rather "serve" than work "productively" and create wealth "that could be given away (and tax deducted) to help the unfortunate." His son -- who volunteers at a homeless shelter, admits Kessler -- gets bent out of joint when his dad suggests the homeless aren't working "because someone is feeding, clothing and, in effect, bathing them." But Kessler will keep lecturing anyway. Just please, he asks, "don't mistake me for Scrooge."

Workers take a bite out of Apple

Computer giant Apple could afford to drop a pay package worth $378 million on chief exec Tim Cook in 2011, his first year as CEO. But Apple can't seem to afford to compensate the 42,000 employees at the company's fabulously profitable retail stores for the time they spend every day waiting to get searched - for stolen goods - before they can leave the store premises. As Press Associates reported last month, two former Apple employees filed a class-action lawsuit to recoup those unpaid wages, estimated at about $1,500 per year. Apple retail stores, notes Forbes, "take in more money per square foot than any other United States retailer." Yet Apple store employees take home on average of only $25,000 a year.

Inequality by the numbers

Don't cry for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Among the chief execs of America's 30 largest publicly traded corporations, Ballmer did receive the smallest total paycheck last year, only $1.3 million. But Ballmer still holds a larger personal fortune than any other CEO of a top 30 enterprise. His current personal net worth: $17 billion.

So you can't be Ballmer, but how much wealth do you need to be wealthy in the United States today? The American wealth management office of the Swiss investment bank UBS recently put this question to nearly 4,500 Americans with at least $250,000 available to invest.

Half this UBS survey sample had at least $1 million in investable assets. Of these affluent millionaires, the UBS researchers found, only 28 percent consider a net worth of $1 million enough to rate "wealthy" status.

But the UBS research team's new analysis doesn't stop there. The number crunchers at UBS thoughtfully drilled down deeper into the responses millionaires gave them to see how deep pockets with at least $5 million available to invest think about who rates as "wealthy" - and who doesn't.

And what did the UBS researchers discover? A stunning 40 percent of the affluent who were surveyed, all with at least $5 million to invest, informed UBS that they don't consider themselves "wealthy!"

A little perspective: Last fall researchers with the Swiss bank Credit Suisse calculated that the median, or most typical, adult in the United States currently holds a total net worth of $38,786 - which also happens to be the median annual income in the U.S.

Veteran labor journalist Sam Pizzigati edits Too Much, an online journal of wealth and inequality sponsored by the Institute for Policy Studies.

Photo: Apple retail stores, like the one pictured in San Francisco, rake in more dollars per square foot than any other U.S. retailer; yet Apple storeworkers on average earn less than $25,000 per year. Apple.com

Public transit, living wage top 2014 “people’s” agenda

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 11:43:00 +0000

ORLANDO, Fla. - With an eye on the 2014 elections and holding politicians in Orange County - home of Orlando and Walt Disney World - accountable for how their decisions affect low-income voters, a coalition of local labor and other progressive forces last week announced what they call the People's Platform.

The groups' wish list consists of passage of living wage, wage-theft and earned-sick time ordinances in the county, along with investment in public transportation and infrastructure and opposition to privatization of government functions and services.

"This agenda, the People's Platform, should be the agenda of our county commission because it's the will of the people," said Maria McCluskey, of community group Organize Now!

A report card will be released in time for Florida's August 2014 primary that will grade candidates based upon their positions on the coalition's issues, said McCluskey.

"The aim is to broaden participation in the democratic process," said McCluskey, "and increase voter turnout by educating voters on the significant impact that local elections have on our everyday lives."

"It's important that the people have a say in what's going on in local government," said Steve Wisniewski, president of Communications Workers of America Local 3108, which represents AT&T and Verizon workers in Central Florida. "Too often, big businesses are controlling the decision-making in this county, and it's time that we returned that power to the citizens."

Denise Diaz, lead organizer for Central Florida Jobs with Justice, said living wages were a "key issue" for the dozen groups behind the People's Platform, which includes the National Council of La Raza, Service Employees International Union Local 1199 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1596--which represents drivers for Lynx, the public bus service for Metro Orlando.

"No worker should have to live off of poverty wages," Diaz said, noting that local corporations such as Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster) and attractions such as Disney are making record profits. "People should be able, in this county, to work 40 hours a week and take care of their families off of that."

Although the coalition did not say what a "living wage" would be in Orange County, a family of four needs yearly earnings of at least $23,550 to be considered above the threshold of poverty, according to current guidelines from the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

Florida's minimum wage is $7.79 an hour, as of 2013 ($4.77 for tipped workers). The Orlando Sentinel recently reviewed data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics about wages in Central Florida. Among their findings were that Metro Orlando, with an economy dominated by tourism and service industry employment, ranks No. 2 among the top 100 U.S. metro areas for the number of local jobs - 37 percent - that pay less than $25,000 a year.

Diaz, whose group also works on issues of public transportation and wage theft, called upon officials to create a dedicated source of funding for Lynx to avoid cuts in service and overcrowded buses.

Local organizations have begun documenting incidences of wage theft in Central Florida, which Diaz called a "rampant" problem. Currently, only the Sunshine State's Miami-Dade, Broward and Alachua counties have ordinances that allow workers to recover monies due them when bosses have shortchanged them on compensation.

Steve Camacho, public information officer for Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 86, representing 800 corrections officers in Orange County, said that turning government functions over to private companies has proven unsuccessful because the companies' main concern is making profits.

"Privatization leads to paying more for less," said Camacho. "The profits must come from somewhere, and that somewhere generally is the quality of service."

Sept. 11 marked the one-year anniversary of the Orange County Commission's willful violation of its own charter by its refusal to place an earned sick-time ordinance on the ballot, despite more than 70,000 voters having signed petitions requesting that. If the measure had passed, companies with 15 or more workers would have been required to give them up to seven days of sick time annually.

Prior to their vote, the commissioners and county Mayor Teresa Jacobs had been lobbied by the Chamber of Commerce and corporations such as Disney, Darden and Mears Transportation. It later came to light that Jacobs and the commissioners had been texting with big business representatives while discussing whether to place sick time on the ballot.

A three-judge panel ruled in February that the measure had to appear on the August 2014 ballot. That vote has, however, been made moot by passage this year of a law that stops Florida counties and cities from mandating employee benefits.

Additionally, a lawsuit has been filed seeking to knock sick time off the ballot again, citing the benefits law and the cost of printing ballots with the measure included - although the supervisor of elections has said that keeping sick time on the ballot does not increase his printing costs.

The organizers of the sick-time campaign, which includes Organize Now!, are, said McCluskey, exploring their legal options in response to the law and the lawsuit.

Photo: Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida. Flickr (CC)

Court orders gov’t to show info on secret funding of anti-Cuban 5 press

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 16:57:00 +0000

Last week the Federal Court for the District of Colombia ruled that the U.S. State Department must respond to a Freedom of Information Request asking for information on the possibly illegal, under the table payment of Miami area journalists covering the trial of the Cuban 5.

The Cuban 5 are Cubans who were doing surveillance of extremist right-wing Cuban exiles in the Miami, Florida area. Their motive was to detect and thus prevent terrorist acts that such groups had engaged in for decades, and which had cost many Cuban and other lives, including those of 78 passengers and crew of a Cuban airliner that was bombed in midair in 1976 just after taking off from Barbados. Evidence later emerged that two Cuban exiles, Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles, had planned the bombing.

Bosch is deceased, but Posada Carriles is living in Miami, where he is lionized in right-wing circles. Cuba and Venezuela (where he had got citizenship at one point) are demanding his extradition, but the U.S. government only ever went after him on immigration charges, which they failed to prove.

The Cuban government provided information from the surveillance activities to the FBI, but instead of arresting the terrorists, the FBI used the information to track down and arrest the Five, in September 1998. They were tried in Miami in an atmosphere of anti-Castro hysteria and red-baiting vituperation in the press and media, making a fair trial impossible. The judge in the case refused a request for a change of venue, and all five were found guilty in 2001, and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 years (for René Gonzalez, who is now free and back in Cuba) to two life sentences (for Gerardo Hernandez, who also faced bogus murder charges).

Subsequently, it was found that the U.S. government was making payments to at least 44 Miami area journalists during the time the trial was going on. The Liberation newspaper filed a Freedom of Information request asking for the names, amounts of money and other details. The government has stonewalled the Freedom of Information request, giving various childish pretexts for not responding within the legally required time limit. So in June of this year, The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund went to the Federal District Court in Washington D.C. to ask that the government (specifically, the State Department) be forced to respond to the Freedom of Information request.

The court responded with an injunction favorable to the plaintiffs on Friday, September 13, with the first batch of responses due in October.

It is illegal for the government to carry out propaganda activities aimed at the domestic U.S. population, under the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948. If it is revealed that the government indeed tried to prejudice the outcome of the Cuban 5 trial by essentially paying for manipulated journalistic coverage, there could be cause for action on that basis also.

Meanwhile, an international movement to "Free the 5" continues to grow.

Photo: Activists call for freeing the Cuban Five. AP

Campaign launched to rename Nathan Bedford Forrest H.S.

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 12:55:00 +0000

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Among the Duval County Public Schools is a high school named Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. The school opened its doors in 1959 when racial segregation was law of the land here. United Daughters of the Confederacy had suggested the name. Forrest H.S. is now a modern day public institution where a large number of African American students attend.

Forrest, a Tennessee native, was a founder of and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. He was a Confederate general, a slave owner and trader. Some sources proclaim he later distanced himself from the racist KKK. Regardless, a group of progressives here have launched a campaign to change the name of the school.

The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and activist Lance Stoll have attempted before to get the school district to change the name. In 2007, they lost in a 5-to-2 school board vote.

But that hasn't dissuaded Stoll from trying again. After reading a statement by Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti saying he was willing to change the name of the high school, Stoll wrote a response, which was published. He emailed the superintendent, whose office responded saying Vitti requests petitions from the local community to make it happen.

A petition on change.org started by Omotayo Richmond, entitled "Duval Public Schools: No More KKK Schools," has more than 84,000 signatures. But the superintendent says that's not community-based, according to a report in the Washington Post. So petitions can be signed in person on Saturdays at the Riverside Arts Market.

But changing the name of the high school is only one step in deconstruction of the South's racial oppression. Numerous homages to Confederate generals and the Rebel army still loom large through Florida and all southern states. Streets named after Stonewall (after Confederate General Stonewall Jackson) or the crumbling, neglected park in historic Springfield off Main Street, named "Confederate Park," are just a few examples. Both landmarks are in predominately low-income areas that have racially diverse populations.

The Klan is still a fully functioning organization, as are several "white power" groups in the South and spread through the United States. The Klan may claim it's nonviolent, but that will not change the heritage of racial prejudice and bigotry, which divides society. The Southern Poverty Law Center says three chapters of the KKK are still active in Florida.

Old habits die hard, and it's no surprise there is minor resistance from some white residents that claim their "heritage" is being erased.

Although many are motivated to change this "heritage" for social justice reasons, Vitti advocates a name change in hopes of attracting more business and commerce to Jacksonville. He told WJXT, "One thing I've been talking a lot about is the need to modernize Jacksonville. If we want folks to come here, whether it's business, it's high level employees to Jacksonville, names of schools, names of parks, it all matters. "

Progressives say the true symbolism behind the name change is that of social justice, a solid stepping stone for the South to "rise again," this time united beyond the strangle hold of oppression based on gender, race, and class.

Photo: Jacksonville.com

Co-op banks to invest in worker-owned U.S. businesses

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 11:36:00 +0000

The world's largest industrial, worker-owned and run cooperative, Spanish-based Mondragon and its bank, Laboral Kutxa, agreed to partner with U.S. based National Cooperative Bank to invest in local U.S. cooperative businesses, a growing sector of the U.S. and global economy.

According to a joint Sept. 4 press release, member-owned organizations account for $3 trillion in assets in the United States, $500 billion in revenue, and more than 1 million jobs. In the U.S., there are 29,000 cooperatives with memberships of 350 million, including 900 rural electric co-ops with 42 million clients in 47 states, 2 million farmer-members in 3,000 farmer-owned cooperatives, which provide over 250,000 jobs and annual wages of $8 billion, 250 purchasing co-ops, offering group buying and sharing to more than 50,000 businesses, 7,500 credit unions providing financial services to nearly 90 million members, and some 8,000 housing co-ops providing 1 million people quality and affordable homes.

Mondragon's annual North American sales recently reached $250 million.

The banks announced their collaboration based on shared cooperative business principles - "doing well by doing good." This includes a mission of social responsibility, an understanding that cooperative markets extend beyond borders, and pledging to support each other's customers with regard to charges, payments, financial services, online banking systems, and other commercial banking practices.

NCB's customers are cooperatives such as grocery wholesaler co-ops, food co-ops, purchasing co-ops, credit unions and housing co-ops who share in the spirit of joining and working cooperatively to meet personal, social, and business needs. Headquartered in Washington, DC, NCB has offices in Alaska, California, New York, Ohio and Virginia.

Laboral Kutxa is the financial cooperative arm of the Mondragon Group, and fields 450 branches with over 1,300,000 customers. Mondragon is the world's largest worker-owned industrial cooperative but also the top Basque region industrial group, ranked tenth in Spain with 80,000 personnel, a presence in 70 countries, and expanding operations across the U.S. and North America. Founded in the Basque region of Spain over 55 years ago, Mondragon was the recipient of the 2013 Financial Times "Boldness in Business" award.

This agreement represents Mondragon's first international financial sector agreement, but the second precedent-setting U.S. collaboration. In 2009, the United Steelworkers and Mondragon agreed to develop a hybrid union co-op model that is currently adopted by multiple U.S. unions and underway in over ten cities with projects ranging from an organic sustainable farm to a commercial laundry to energy efficiency.

Photo: Here is one example of a U.S. based farmer co-op in Crowell, Texas (Wikipedia).

“Free the Cuban Five” is heard in Maine

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 16:27:00 +0000

Members of the 23-year old organization Let Cuba Live recently established what they call the Maine Campaign to Free the Cuban Five. Working in concert with the U.S. Cuban Five solidarity network, they want to intensify local efforts aimed at freeing the Cuban men from U.S. federal prisons.

The Cubans were in Florida originally tracking terrorists operating out of the U.S. who had blown up an international flight from Venezuela to Cuba.When they secured information about the terrorists and turned it in to the FBI, the bureau, rather than pursue the terrorists, arrested them instead.

For the "crime" of defending Cuba against terror attacks emanating from the United States, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labinino, and Rene Gonzalez paid the price of a terribly biased trial and cruel sentences.

The Maine activists see their job as informing the public about the case of the Five and recruiting activists on their behalf in Maine. The campaign's introductory brochure announced that, "We are Maine people, and others, who demand that the four men still imprisoned be released. We are part of a worldwide movement calling for their freedom. The campaign joins in putting pressure on the U.S. President to pardon the prisoners." The prisoners' judicial appeals were reviewed in the document also.

The inaugural venture of the Campaign will be a presence at Maine's Common Ground Country Fair that runs for three days beginning on September 20. This will be the 37^th annual version of the fair which, attended last year by 60,000 people, has become a major cultural, even political, event in Maine. Fairgoers will find the campaign's Cuban Five informational table in one of the fair's three large "social and political action" tents. The fair is a project of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

The campaign looks forward to "education of elected officials and the public on the history of the case, important issues, and news updates." Members will be making public presentations and providing news reports, analyses, and opinion pieces to the media. They will take part in vigils and demonstrations and join with other groups working to end U.S. hostility against Cuba.

The campaign's introductory statement made these additional points:

The prosecution, trial, and cruel sentencing of the prisoners violated judicial norms, at least according to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, 10 Nobel Prize winners, and hundreds of parliamentarians worldwide.

Three of the Five, charged with conspiracy to commit espionage, each received a life sentence. One of the three, Gerardo Hernandez, received another life sentence for conspiracy to commit murder. By contrast, for foreign defendants who are not Cuban and who were convicted of actual spying, U.S. courts characteristically hand out ten years or less of jail time, or none.

U.S. prosecutors have refused to release evidence that legal experts say would undermine the murder conspiracy charge against Gerardo Hernandez. That allegation relates to the downing by the Cuban Air Force of two private airplanes and deaths of pilots belonging to a Miami anti-Cuban group.

The Cuban Five targeted private paramilitary groups. U.S. defense and intelligence officials testified at their trial that they posed no threat to U.S. national security.

U.S. authorities have inflicted grief upon the Five in prison. They've endured long, unexplained periods of solitary confinement. Two of the prisoners' wives were prevented from visiting their husbands in prison. On his release in 2011, Rene Gonzalez had to serve probation in Florida rather than being allowed to return to Cuba.

Long after their trial it emerged that the U.S. government paid Miami-area journalists to manufacture stories prior to and during the trial aimed at biasing the community against the defendants and influencing the jury.

"We of the Maine Campaign work on behalf of the Cuban Five for the sake of equal justice under the law, here in the United States."

Those behind the table at the Maine Common Ground Fair will offer visitors the opportunity to sign a petition to President Obama insisting that he pardon and free the Five. Also, the new Maine Campaign to Free the Cuban Five wants to promote solidarity and contact with men regarded as heroes in their homeland. Organizer Judy Robbins promised an effort to encourage any and all to correspond with these men forced to endure incarceration in the United States.

Photo: Activists call for freeing the Cuban Five. AP

Covered California rolls out education campaign for October enrollment

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Covered California, the health insurance exchange being established in California as part of the state's pioneering adoption of ACA reforms, which go into effect in January 2014, will be starting to accept applications for enrollment beginning October 1.

Covered California certified educators are holding town-hall style sessions to inform communities of the changes and benefits going into effect. Cathy Schultze of Planned Parenthood Miramonte, one of these certified educators, gave a presentation Sept. 1 at the San Mateo Public Library. The event, co-hosted by the San Mateo league of Women Voters, expanded on the details of what Californians entering the exchange market for health coverage can expect.

Covered California will be available to current residents of California who are legal residents of the U.S.; the service will not be available to undocumented residents (leaving an estimated three million residents without coverage) or to people who are now incarcerated. Under the terms of ACA, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to customers based on pre-existing conditions, gender, or lifestyle, and must offer ten essential benefits, including maternity coverage, which was often considered a separate event and not included in previous health insurance plans.

Health coverage expansion for the uninsured will take three basic forms: expansion of Medi-Cal for the lower income brackets, which will be expanded to more people, based on an income below $15,860, and for the first time assets will not count against qualifying for Medi-Cal.

The second form is premium assistance, which is a federal insurance coverage subsidy for customers of moderate-income levels.

Lastly will be an opportunity to enroll using Covered California for insurance plans if income is determined to be above the threshold for subsidies, but current employment does not offer insurance. It is estimated that 2.9 million Californians are currently eligible for subsidized insurance and 2.8 million will be eligible for expanded Medi-Cal.

Premium rates will be based on age, zip code, income and household size. Individuals making $15,860, or $26,950 and less for families with children (scale depending of number of family members and income), will be able to enroll in the Medi-Cal expansion. Those individuals earning between $15,860 and $45,960 will be given financial help in purchasing either Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum plans sold by mainstream insurance companies who have agreed to participate in Covered California, offering coverage options that are usually available in the private marketplace, not just "bare bones" coverage. Income for premium assistance will be based on MAGI--modified adjusted gross income.

Small businesses will have a chance to opt into Covered California in a program called SHOP, which will be available for businesses with fewer than 50 employees. There would not be a penalty for small businesses who do not opt into the program, but it is expected that employers will be more attractive to potential employees if benefits are offered to new-hires. Under Covered California, small businesses would receive tax credits for participation.

Covered California is offering a special extended enrollment period for this first round of applications-the open period will be from October 1 to March 31, or within 60 days of a life-changing event.

The California health exchange has hired 20,000 Certified Counselors and 8000 Certified Agents to help people with the enrollment process and to provide guidance to people shopping for the best plans for their families.

Once a plan is selected, individuals and families must remain on this plan for the remainder of the year. If circumstances like a move to a different county or a significant change in income occur, Covered California should be notified to adjust plans accordingly for the following year, otherwise tax penalties could accrue for a return of premium subsidy money if there has been an overpayment for the year, based upon final MAGI.

Schultze answered questions from the audience, which was eager to hear more details of the plan, following her presentation. Issues raised by questioners included how San Mateo County will deal with an influx of nearly 47,000 people estimated to be eligible for subsidies and if there will be enough doctors and infrastructure to handle that many new patients. Others raised the issue of doctors currently reluctant to work with Medi-Cal patients and a lack of incentive to accept Medi-Cal even under the new plan, due to the low reimbursement rates offered with Medi-Cal. Some details are still in flux however, Schultze said, as this is new territory for the state and some unforeseen issues and/or benefits may not manifest until the program is in place.

December 15 is the deadline for enrolling in time to be covered when the program starts Jan.1, 2014.

Photo: San Francisco Medical Society.org

Join us Tuesday to discuss “Modern genocide in South Dakota”

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 13:34:00 +0000

American Indian children of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Sioux nations are being removed from their homes by state officials under cover of law.

The forcible removal of children from their families recalls events of the 19th century when thousands of Indian children were legally abducted from their homes by U.S. soldiers and sent to boarding schools in a program justified by a genocidal philosophy of "Kill the Indian, Save the Man."

Join us for a special teleconference presentation Tuesday, September 17, with People's World correspondent Albert Bender, who will report from South Dakota on the ongoing attack on the rights of Native Americans and the fight back.

Modern genocide in South Dakota

Tuesday, Sept 17

8 p.m. Eastern / 7 p.m. Central / 6 p.m. Mountain / 5 p.m. Pacific

Call (605) 475-4850 Dial PIN code: 1053538# when prompted

(long-distance charges may apply)

Peoplesworld.org correspondent Albert Bender is a Cherokee Indian and Native American activist. He is also a political columnist for News from Indian Country as well as an historian and attorney specializing in Native American law. Bender is currently writing a history of the Maya people.

Albert Bender's South Dakota articles include:

South Dakota commits shocking genocide against Native Americans

Is South Dakota being demonized over treatment of Native Americans?

Photo: Native children outside the Wounded Knee Museum on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Ben Piven CC 2.0

More than 100 women arrested protesting inaction on immigration

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 15:17:00 +0000

WASHINGTON-More than 100 women were arrested this week after blockading the intersection outside the House of Representatives to protest the House's inaction on comprehensive immigration reform that treats women and children fairly.

The act of civil disobedience included the largest number of undocumented immigrant women to willingly submit to arrest. The 104 women who were arrested came from 20 states across the country to draw attention to the fact that women and children constitute three-quarters of immigrants to the U.S. and disproportionately bear the burden of the failed immigration system. An additional 200 supporters stood witness for the group and called on the House to match their courage by passing fair and inclusive immigration reform.

"Each one of us here today understands what incredibly high stakes we are talking about-immigration reform is not just a piece of legislation but the ability for us to take care of our families," said Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of We Belong Together: Women for Common-Sense Immigration Campaign. "Women contribute every day to our families, our economy and our country. Immigration reform is about being able to live, breathe free, and remember the values that brought us all here in the first place: democracy, freedom, and justice."

Prior to the act of civil disobedience, more than 300 women and children gathered for a press conference in front of the Capitol Building, where national leaders - including Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, ranking minority member on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security; Pramila Jayapal of We Belong Together; Bertha Lewis of the Black Institute; Terry O'Neill of NOW; Rocio Inclan of National Education Association; and three undocumented women - spoke out about how women disproportionately bear the burden of the failed system, despite their considerable contributions to the wellbeing of their families, communities and the country.

Faith leaders led the entire group in taking an Oath for a House United. Following the arrests, children delivered "red hearts of courage" to House leadership and key swing representatives to embolden them to take action for comprehensive immigration reform.

"Women have fought for centuries to be recognized, to have the right to vote, to work and be paid for it, to realize their full potential. We must continue to fight for millions of immigrant women to get that same recognition," said Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women. "I am proud to stand with them and demand that the House pass immigration reform that treats women fairly."

Women who participated in the civil disobedience are demanding that the House of Representatives shows courage in passing fair immigration reform that includes the priorities of women: a roadmap to citizenship for undocumented women, a strong family immigration system which remains the primary way that women obtain legal status, and strong protections for women workers and victims of violence.

Currently, 51 percent of undocumented immigrants are women, but less than one-third of employment visas are issued to immigrant women each year. Seventy percent of immigrant women therefore enter the U.S. through the family visa system, which is so backlogged that women and children can wait decades to be reunited with their families.

"I am 11 years old, and I am a U.S. citizen, but I cannot live my life because my father is in deportation proceedings, said Josie Molina Macaraeg, a leader with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. "To me, courage is all of the children who go to school every day wondering if their parents will still be there when they come home at the end of the day. And courage is also my mom, who is here risking arrest today so she can fight for my future, our family's future, and the rights of all families to be together."

The civil disobedience action highlights the moral urgency of the call for House leadership to move forward a fair immigration reform bill, rather than inaction or piecemeal and inhumane enforcement bills such as those currently in the House.

This would follow on the Senate's overwhelmingly bi-partisan passage of a comprehensive immigration bill in June of this year.

"We cannot build a strong country when children and families do not even know what tomorrow will bring," said Rocio Inclan, director of Human and Civil Rights at the National Education Association, the nation's largest union. "The time is now for fair immigration reform that treats women, children and families fairly."

Photo: Immigration advocates block an intersection outside the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 12, to protest Congress' inaction on immigration reform. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Robin Hood Tax protests coming to NYC on Sept. 17

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 14:25:00 +0000

Robin Hood and his merry men and women are demanding a tax on the 1 percent next week on the second anniversary of Occupy Wall Street.

Organizers are calling on everyone to put on their green cap and head to the world capital of banking and finance to demand a "Robin Hood Tax" that would help address the rampant and growing income inequality in the country. They are calling on masses of people to march and rally in New York in order to "restore and expand vital public services for the 99 percent."

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., introduced in 2012 a federal Robin Hood Tax bill (H.R. 6411) and a number of state and local Robin Hood taxes are being pushed across the country. The federal bill would impose a small 0.5 percent tax on the trading of stocks, 50 cents tax on every $100 of stock trades, and lesser rates on trading in bonds, derivatives and currencies. Estimates are that this tiny tax could generate $350 billion in revenues for essential services and infrastructure and put millions of unemployed people back to work.

Federal sales tax on financial transactions existed in the United States from 1914 to 1966, but only a nominal tax on such transaction exists today.

Prominent supporters of the Robin Hood tax include former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, Bill Gates, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Ralph Nader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

National Nurses United union has been one of the champions of the Robin Hood Tax, even marching in the 50th Anniversary of the March for Jobs & Freedom donning their green Robin Hood caps. A slew of other labor, community, HIV/AIDS, healthcare, religious and civic organizations have endorsed the tax measure and the protests.

One thousand world economists endorsed the idea as well. In an open letter to the G20 meeting in 2011, they wrote, "The financial crisis has shown us the dangers of unregulated finance, and the link between the financial sector and society has been broken. It is time to fix this link and for the financial sector to give something back to society."

Tuesday's march - dubbed #S17 - will begin outside the United Nations building in Manhattan as the General Assembly meets to discuss anti-poverty measures. Then participants will march to the headquarters of JP Morgan/Chase, the largest U.S. bank. They march will then head to the offices of the Metropolitan Transit Authority to demand full funding of mass transit and justice for transit workers and to the office of the Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY) to protest plans to close its community hospitals. Legendary a cappella singing and activist group Sweet Honey in the Rock will perform at Bryant Park at the conclusion of the march.

Event co-sponsor Strong Economy for All stated in a press release, "Austerity is killing our country. We can be the Robin Hoods who save it."

Those interested in attending the Sept. 17 event in New York City, you can RSVP on Facebook.

If you think Robin Hood was right, you can spread the word on social media.

You can also download the flyer for the event here.

Photo: Robin Hood/robinhoodtax.org

Labor Secretary Perez vows to grow middle class, "so help me God"

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 13:31:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (PAI)-New Labor Secretary Tom Perez virtually threw away his script at the AFL-CIO Convention here, with a stem-winder speech, pledging worker protections, promising labor and the administration would do it together and with several blasts at corporate greed thrown in for good measure.

Perez, who's been in the job only for a few months, invoked his working class background in Buffalo and his mother's faith that things happen due to God's will - but then he started to question that in his Sept. 10 address.

"As I grew older, I grew to conclude that it's not God's will that people who work a 40-hour week should live in poverty. That it's not God's will that a coal miner should not live to see his children graduate. That it's not God's will that there are 11 million people in the shadows. And that it's not God's will to accept the fate of Alan White," a steelworker from Buffalo who is afflicted with silicosis.

"All these challenges are man made! And we will fix these challenges and they will be fixed by the people in this room. No matter who you are and no matter where you came from...we can do it together, because I know this president and he and I share your values. Our values are the same, and we'll go it together and grow the middle class, so help me God!"

Perez' speech came the day after a video from his boss, President Barack Obama. The president had to cancel a scheduled convention address to stayed in Washington to address U.S. military intervention in the conflict in Syria.

Unions and workers have high expectations for Perez, a former Maryland state labor commissioner, a son of immigrants and a former elected county commissioner in the D.C. suburbs.

Perez certainly didn't disappoint the crowd. He acknowledged that organized labor "is one of the greatest forces for middle-class economic security in the history of this country." To achieve that, Perez promised to "defend that right" to organize workers so they can bargain collectively and join the middle class.

Perez blasted cuts in state and local governments, which he said have hampered the economic recovery. "We lost our teachers, our police, our firefighters." Had the governments not cut those jobs, he said, "the unemployment rate would be well below 7 percent."

Addressing income inequality, he called the economic agenda of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's. 1963 March on Washington "unfinished business" and pledged that the Labor Department would play a key role in confronting the challenge. In that vein, Perez recognized that an economy based on low wages and no benefits is a dead end, adding the president's call to raise the minimum wage.

"Raising the minimum wage enables people sweeping floors and cleaning rooms to make a living wage. We can have both. Nobody who works a 40-hour week should have to live in poverty," Perez declared. "Don't believe those who claim a higher minimum wage stifles job growth. When you put more money in the pockets of working families, they don't stash it in offshore bank accounts. They spend it at the corner store."

Perez promised a vigorous enforcement of existing rules, including Davis-Bacon prevailing wage, minimum wage and misclassification of workers as "independent contractors." Employers claim workers are "independent contractors" to avoid paying taxes and abiding to wage and hour regulations, paying workers under the table. Perez called this practice "fraud" and "cheating honest businesses."

Perez trumpeted an important newly proposed silicosis rule and that it isn't the only change to health and safety rules to expect. Perez said the silicosis danger has been known since the 1930s and the rule has taken decades to announce. (See 1938 Department of Labor video on stopping silicosis here.) The AFL-CIO has long chafed at the deadly delay.

"It is a false choice to suggest we can have job creation or job safety, but not both. Cutting corners in safety is penny-wise, pound-foolish and can have fatal consequences. There was no economic development in Upper Big Branch," referring to the explosion, due to massive safety violations, that killed 29 West Virginia miners more than two years ago.

Lastly, Perez thanked the labor movement, in another departure from his text, for its strong support of comprehensive immigration reform. "It's an economic imperative and a moral imperative," Perez declared.

A beaming AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka thanked Perez for his commitment, reminding delegates of the battle to get him confirmed as Labor secretary. "We all know the Republicans were attacking Tom for his vigorous enforcement of the law. He's done that all his life. That's why the Republicans went after him: He shares our values and he never backs down from a fight."

Photo: Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez addresses the AFL-CIO convention in Los Angeles, Sept. 10. (U.S. Department of Labor/Flickr)