Congressional hypocrisy on medical care
As an emergency physician and former governor, I am struck by the towering contradictions — and indeed the hypocrisy — in the controversy over the tragic plight of Terri Schiavo. On the same day that the U.S. House of Representatives voted to involve the federal courts in her case, it also approved a 10-year $92-billion cut in Medicaid funding — $30 billion deeper than the cut recommended by President Bush.
L.A. labor challenges county board
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles area labor movement, spearheaded by the 800,000-member Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, is turning its attention to reversing the anti-worker trend of the powerful Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Happy birthday, Paul Robeson
April 9 is the 107th birthday of one of the foremost African Americans of the 20th century — Paul Robeson.
Rallies around the nation
SAN FRANCISCO: Some 2,000 demonstrators made a human chain surrounding San-Francisco-based Charles Schwab home office March 31. Demonstrators also demanded that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger drop his proposal to privatize pensions for all new public workers.
Calif. govs ballot measures rev up opposition
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s road trip last week to gather signatures on three pet ballot measures has raised the likelihood of a special election later this year featuring a series of anti-people initiatives. Labor and community organizations are springing into action in response.
Honor voting rights martyrs with deeds
Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. The names of the three civil rights martyrs still ring like a bell four decades after they disappeared in Neshoba County, Mississippi, June 21, 1964. Their deaths, together with the violence inflicted on civil rights marchers in Selma, Ala., played a huge role in galvanizing the fight to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
GOP slime machine targets AARP
WASHINGTON — Defenders of Social Security angrily demanded that President George W. Bush disavow a right-wing attack ad that targets the AARP, the nation’s largest organization for people 50 and older, for its opposition to Bush’s plans to privatize Social Security.
Unjust, unfair and un-American
Fight erupts to defend kids from Bush budget cuts WASHINGTON — “Unjust, unfair and un-American.” That’s how the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) describes President George W. Bush’s $2.57 trillion budget. “It provides the wealthiest Americans with more money, while cutting programs that provide critical services for our most vulnerable children.” click here for Spanish text
Red states feeling blue over attack on Social Security
When President Bush took his scheme to privatize Social Security on the road last week he came face to face with “red state” reality. “The president is trying to destroy the social safety net of our society and the people will not allow that to happen,” said Mark Froemke, a Minnesota AFL-CIO vice president, as he marched in Fargo, N.D., with hundreds of workers, active and retired, clergy and students Feb. 3.
