Economic meltdown: We need a new, green New Deal!
“Recession” just doesn’t seem to adequately describe the hits workers are taking today. In the old days “recession” meant an economic downturn, unemployment and scrimping and cutting back until better days returned. The current super-recession is putting us through much more hell than most of the “recessions” anyone can remember.
At La Raza meet, Obama preferred over McCain
Barack Obama’s sizeable opinion-poll lead among Hispanics over John McCain was reflected in the reaction to their speeches to the 5,000 participants in the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference here July 11-15. “Obama spoke to all the important issues to our community. It was a very good speech that helped connect him to the Latino community,” said Raul Yzaguirre, who served as NCLR’s president from 1974 to 2005.
Saving our food and farmland
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still struggling to track the Salmonella SaintPaul food poisoning outbreak that has sickened more than 869 people in 36 states and the District of Columbia since the first reported case in New Mexico April 10.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and you
The financial crisis that has been sweeping the United States and much of the capitalist world since last summer reached a new phase when mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moved near insolvency. This unfolding crisis may be the worst threat to the U.S. economy since the Great Depression.
Obama, McCain kick off campaign for Latino vote
John McCain and Barack Obama kicked off their campaigns to reach the Latino community June 28, providing a unique comparative view of their sharply different philosophies and programs.
Lil Feist honored on 100th birthday
SEATTLE — More than 150 family and friends packed the Nordic Heritage Museum hall here June 28 to celebrate Lil Husa Feist’s 100th birthday and to greet her as a warm and caring mother and grandmother and a fighter for working people’s rights.
Homeowners, tenants still waiting for help
With 8,000 homeowners hit by foreclosure each day, legislation to meet the crisis ought to be high on the Capitol Hill agenda. But fighters for decent, affordable housing say the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers are blocking action.
Gun ruling controversy heats up in Chicago
CHICAGO — Every day 82 people die due to gun violence throughout the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control. Chicago Public School officials say 27 students have died by gunfire since September 2007. One weekend here left nine people dead in 36 shootings and the week after that five people were found shot to death inside a pillaged South Side home. Chicago Police Department statistics show that from 2004 to November 2007 there were 43,685 firearms-related crimes in Chicago.
Health care for all on the horizon
Universal health care moved closer to reality when the U.S. Conference of Mayors upped the ante June 23 by backing HR 676, the National Health Insurance Act. The bill, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), would expand Medicare to cover everyone in the United States under a single-payer national health insurance system.
Chicago resolution rejects anti-immigrant rhetoric
CHICAGO – CNN’s Lou Dobbs has made a name and lots of money for himself by railing against immigrants, contributing to an atmosphere of hate and fear. When that happens, sometimes you have to say, “Enough!”
