U.S. Senators Amy Kolbuchar (Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party)U.S. Senator Carl Levin (Michigan Democratic Party)U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (Michigan Democratic Party U.S. Rep. Colin Peterson (DFL-Minnesota)U.S. Rep. James Oberstar (DFL-Minnesota)April 6, 2009Senators and Congresspersons,The Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council was not informed of the March hearings on Indian health care even though each and everyone of you has been repeatedly asked to keep us apprised of hearings which relate to these kinds of issues.It is with this in mind that I request my comments here be included in the hearing testimony.You, elected officials, claiming to be public servants with the good of the public at heart in your actions, have gone out of your way to deny us casino workers the right to participate in any hearings relating to labor, health care and environmental issues; and, then, you have the unmitigated gall to preach that we live in the world's greatest bastion of democracy.As you are fully aware, our Organizing Council consists of Organizing Committees in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa assisting casino workers in their attempts to organize unions in an industry--- the Indian Gaming Industry--- which all of you have had a hand in creating through your support of the most anti-labor, most racist vile "Compacts" which have forced over two-million casino workers (and given the huge employee turnover in this industry, millions more) to work under the most disgraceful and Draconian conditions in loud, noisy, smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state, federal or tribal labor laws in this industry now comprising over 350 casino operations many of which include hotels/motel, restaurants, a variety of small shops and boutiques ranging from hair-dressers to artists and even water parks and various theme parks.And here you are sitting and listening to those like the spokespersons for the Red Lake Nation Tribal government--- a supposedly sovereign nation, but a government that has to ask the federal and state governments for approval before doing anything and begging for tax-dollars as casino revenues in the billions and trillions of dollars go completely without any accountability to anyone except for a bunch of mobsters who own the slot machines and table games leaving the Indian Nations stuck with nothing but a pile of debt and poverty--- talking about how the Indian Health Service is underfunded.We agree that the Indian Health Service is underfunded. But, the funds are being stolen in many cases before they ever reach the stage of their intended purpose of keeping Indian people healthy and getting them well when sick.The Indian Health Service is a model program which should be serving as a guide for the kind of socialized health care system we all need in the United States. Instead, you are allowing it to be sabotaged by greedy profit gougers at every level as your colleagues in Congress then point out "socialized health care doesn't work."A program is intentionally underfunded and then greed takes over with "administrative supervision, oversight and approval" and here we are with one big mess of sick people who can't get the health care they are entitled to.And, to make maters worse, the very people who provided this testimony from the Red Lake Nation did not tell you that the primary reason for the very substantial need to increase the funding for the Indian Health Services is the direct result of the Indian Gaming Industry.Common sense tells us that if you put people to work--- force people to work--- in smoke-filled casinos day in and day out seven days a week 365 days of the year, these employees are going to suffer serious health problems because we all know the scientific and health consequences people suffer working under these conditions.The cancers, the heart and lung diseases, the ill affect on pregnant women and the damage to their unborn children; and, in talking about health problems and risks, perhaps among no other population in America, is diabetes such a killer than on the Indian Reservations. And the medical and scientific community has long ago shown the severe adverse impact that second-hand smoke has on those with diabetes.So, while the Red Lake Nation Tribal Council has sent their representative to plead the case for an underfunded Indian Health Service, these representatives have failed to state that it is the very policies of this very Tribal Council who control Red Lake Gaming Enterprises who by allowing smoking in their casinos are contributing to the ill-health of the people of the Red Lake Nation, many, who because of the racist hiring practices of employers in northern Minnesota cannot find employment elsewhere, are forced to work in these smoke-filled casinos making them sick--- or sicker than they already are--- which in turn requires an expanded Indian Health Service, which in turn requires greater funding.Our Organizing Council and our Organizing Committees take the position that Congress should appropriate every single penny required to provide adequate health care to Indian people through the Indian Health Service.We also insist that there be accountability in gaming revenues and these revenues should be confiscated by the federal government to cover the health care problems being created by an unhealthy working environment.To add insult to injury to this racism, the Indian Health Service is not even monitoring the health of those people employed in these smoke-filled casinos.Therefore, it is our contention, that these casino enterprises like Red Lake Gaming Enterprises should be billed for the health care received through Indian Health Services for whatever treatment casino workers require for anything.Quite frankly, we consider the testimony offered on behalf of the Red Lake Nation Tribal Council to be deceitful and dishonest in not bringing forward the role the tribal government plays in making people sick. Needless to say, these representatives did not make any mention of the way present funding is abused and misappropriated by crooks and thieves.We point out that dishonesty has been a hallmark of the Indian Gaming Industry from its very inception which began with all of you taking bribes to create this industry which has now resulted in two-million workers going to work in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages in an industry where the workers have no rights under state, federal or tribal labor laws--- truth is not one of the virtues of such thieves and those like yourselves who pander to these thieving mobsters for campaign contributions. It is rather ironic that the Red Lake Tribal Council which is wholly and fully complicit in stealing from, and abusing, their own people and everyone else in quest of greater profits... would, under these circumstances, have the unmitigated gall to come before any Congressional Committee demanding funding to solve problems they have helped to create. Might we be so bold as to suggest that you and your colleagues in the United States Congress contribute the bribes you take from the National Indian Gaming Association and the various state Indian Gaming Associations like the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association and contribute this money to the Indian Health Service?And then maybe if you would stop wasting our money on wars and maintaining military bases all over the world you could provide an expanded version of the Indian Health Service to include everyone residing in the United States including the thousands of undocumented workers employed in the Indian Gaming Industry.In closing, let me just say that we know you will take issue with the tone of this letter; but, it is your continued lack of response to our concerns over problems you created in the first place in the way you intentionally created these "Compacts" creating the Indian Gaming Industry that any thinking person would know was going to result in these problems; problem you now want to pretend you had nothing to do with their creation--- including the health care problems being experienced by Indian people. Alan L. MakiDirector of Organizing,Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
From: Alan Maki [mailto:amaki000@centurytel.net]Sent:Wednesday,April 22, 20099:47 PMTo: Kimi De Leon; Joan KimCc:'Jim Hart';'John Kolstad';'Kip Sullivan';'Carl Levin';'Sen.Jim Carlson'; rep.bill.hilty@house.mn; rep.tom.anzelc@house.mn; rep.tom.Rukavina@house.mn; rep.tony.sertich@house.mn; ddepass@startribune.com; mmiron@bemidjipioneer.com; bswenson@bemidjipioneer.com;'Chris Spotted Eagle'; jgoldstein@americanrightsatwork.org; teresa_detrempe@klobuchar.senate.gov;peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu; peter.makowski@mail.house.gov; esquincle@verizon.net;'Walter Tillow'; nursenpo@gmail.com; 'Steve Early'; 'Joshua Frank'; 'Ta, Minh'; 'Rhoda Gilman';'David Shove'; 'ken nash'; 'Ken Pentel';WCS-A@yahoogroups.com; MARKOWIT@history.rutgers.edu; tdennis@gfherald.com; 'Myers, John'; loneagle@paulbunyan.net; 'Thomas Kurhajetz'; mhoney@u.washington.edu;moderator@portside.org; debssoc@sbcglobal.net; 'Tom Meersman'; peterb3121@hotmail.com; laurel1@dailyjournal-ifalls.com; jscannel@aflcio.org; rgettel@uaw.net; gdubovich@usw.org; info@jamesmayer.org; mzweig@notes.cc.sunysb.edu; rachleff@macalester.edu; advocate@stpaulunions.org; elizabeth_reed@levin.senate.gov; 'Alan Uhl';'Charles Underwood'Subject: Re: Question on Indian Health Summit To whom it may concern; Could you tell me if there will be a discussion at the Indian HealthSummit---July 7-9, 2009 in Denver,Colorado---concerning the issue of casino workers in the Indian Gaming Industry and the impact to their health of second hand smoke in their workplaces? Could you advise me if there have been any discussions about this with the American Cancer Society and/or the Heart and Lung Foundation? I am very concerned since I find nothing on this important topic among any of the materials you are distributing for the Indian Health Summit. With health care costs become an important topic for discussion it would seem that this issue would at least merit some kind of mention at an Indian Health Summit considering the large number of Native Americans employed in the Indian Gaming Industry. Perhaps you would be interested in having me address one of the plenary sessions since this topic has not been considered previously. I would point out that I have contacted my of the local offices and administrators of the Indian Health Services concerning this issue and no one will speak to me. With the Indian Health Services being part of the Department of Interior and associated with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it would only seem logical that no further casino "Compacts" would be approved unless they contain provisions banning and prohibiting smoking. I would also suggest that the Indian Health Services insist that all existing "Compacts" be re-opened so a ban and prohibition on smoking can be inserted into them. "Compacts" are nothing more than contracts and the Obama Administration has seen fit to insist that previously negotiated contracts with labor unions be re-negotiated so there is definitely a precedent that has been established for doing this and I am sure you will agree with me that there could not be a better argument made for renegotiating these "Compacts" than to protect the health of hundreds of thousands of workers employed in these casinos who, in addition to working in these smoke-filled working environments are not protected under any state or federal labor laws, which makes this problem of being employed in a work environment detrimental to human health even a more serious concern. Perhaps the Indian Health Services could make a recommendation to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Department of Interior that the Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, becomes involved so that the protection of casino worker's rights under all state and federal labor laws protecting all other workers in the United States be included at the time the Compacts are re-opened to protect the health of casino workers. If you have any doubts second-hand smoke contributes to an unhealthy work environment and that second-hand smoke is recognized as a leading contributor to a variety of cancers and heart and lung diseases please do not hesitate to request additional information. I will be more than happy to attend your Indian Health Care Summit with the necessary resource materials. With some two-million workers now employed in the Indian Gaming Industry we want to make sure everything possible is being done to protect the health and well-being of these workers. If I have addressed this letter to the wrong persons, would you please provide me with the name of the proper person/s and department/s this letter should be sent to. If you think this issue concerning the impact of second-hand smoke on the health of casino workers is not significant enough to be discussed at the Indian Health Summit would you be so kind as to advise me of your decision and how it was reached? Thanking you in advance for your timely consideration; Alan L. MakiDirector of Organizing,Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council 58891 County Road13Warroad,Minnesota56763Phone:218-386-2432Cell phone:651-587-5541E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net Check out my blog: Thoughts From Podunk http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/ Cc: Maggie Bird President, Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council Dr. Nathaniel Cobb’s response to me: Dear Mr. Maki: Your email (below) was forwarded to me for response, as the Agency lead for tobacco control. Thank you for your suggestions - I completely agree that environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in Casinos is a serious health issue for both the employees and the patrons. Labor law is outside my expertise and purview, but I will try to address a few of the many questions you raise: 1. Can we have a session on casino workers and ETS exposure at the Indian Health Summit? - reasonable suggestion, but the practical answer is that we did invite the public to submit abstracts, that deadline has passed, and we have already finalized the agenda and cannot add another session. We do have a tobacco session scheduled, but nothing was submitted that focused specifically on casinos. 2. Have we discussed this issue with ACS, AHA, or ALA?- yes. In discussions with ACS, we have agreed that local advocacy may be the most effective way to approach this issue. 3. Can IHS work with BIA to ban smoking in Casinos? - IHS is an agency of Health and Human Services, not Interior. We have no regulatory role with regard to Gaming compacts, so no direct influence. In our advisory role with regard to health issues, we may make recommendations to another agency. Your suggestion has merit, and I will discuss it with senior leadership within IHS. I note that you have cc'd your email to your congressional delegation. The Congress has much more power to dictate terms of Indian Compacts than we do, so you should continue to work closely with them. A formal letter to a Member of Congress or to an Agency Head, with a clearly worded request, will always get a response. 4. What else can we do? - It is true that ETS exposure is a health issue, but the solutions are political. We have great respect for Tribal Sovereignty, and unless and until Tribal Leaders support a smoking ban in casinos, it is not likely to happen. So my suggestion is that you contact the National Indian Health Board and ask for a time slot to present the issue at their next Consumer Conference. That meeting is a great opportunity to influence the thinking of Indian Country leadership. Thank you for your concern, and I look forward to attending your session at the NIHB conference! If you have any educational materials or scientific studies of ETS and casino workers, I would appreciate your sending me copies. --Nathaniel Cobb MDChief, Chronic Disease BranchDivision of EpidemiologyIndian Health Service5300 Homestead Rd NEAlbuquerqueNM87110(505)248-4132 My response back to Dr. Cobb: Dr. Nathaniel Cobb, MDDivision of EpidemiologyIndian Health Service5300 Homestead Rd NEAlbuquerqueNM87110(505)248-4132 Dr. Nathaniel Cobb, Thank you for the quick response. As I am sure you must have been thinking as you wrote this response to me, I would not find it satisfactory. I have contacted all the heads of Indian Health at each of the tribes that operate casinos over the last three years on this issue--- NOT ONE SINGLE ONE has responded to my e-mail or been willing to talk to me on the phone. Quite frankly, I seriously doubt there are circumstances where the impact of second-hand smoke can be dealt with in one fell swoop. Yet, we both know this is more about casino PROFITS and the way casino PROFITS influence POLITICS. What are you suggesting, that it will take some kind of revolution in this country before an agency like yours who has a mandate to educate on this serious issue will act? I find this coming from a medical doctor such as you very strange; that on this one single issue involving human health where so many lives can be saved and health maintained you suggest that it is up to a union to take the action rather than you. What are you suggesting is that tribal leaderships motivated solely by profits are to be given into on a health care issue so adversely affecting human health as the issue of being forced to work in an environment composed of second-hand smoke because you do not want to rock the boat--- using as your excuse: "sovereignty." Is human health not an issue for a “sovereign” nation to be concerned about when it comes to the health of its own people? There seems to be a clear admission here on your part that these tribal governments involved in gaming have been so corrupted by money they don't even care about the health of their own people; let alone the health of anyone else. As you are fully aware, most of these casinos are run by outside management firms only using sovereignty to bolster their profits in escaping protecting the rights of casino workers to be free from second-hand smoke in their employment. You come up with this flimsy excuse that the issue of smoke-free casinos cannot be addressed because the details of the conference are already set and established. However, what is preventing those who will be doing the presentations on the serious consequences of tobacco from raising the issue concerning the need for these casinos to go smoke-free because it is a matter of fundamental human rights for workers not to be forced to work in these conditions that we all know are seriously detrimental to human health. You, as a medical doctor, are requesting that I should send you further information regarding the consequences of working in these smoke-filled casinos? It is almost unbelievable that you, being a medical doctor, have even written these words. That you acknowledge you have known about this problem and not insisted the politicians correct this, is a disgrace. You are the expert witness here. I find it very difficult to understand how the scientific and medical community has managed to turn out the most respected from these professions to testify: - Against the tobacco companies in law suits; - At Congressional and State Legislative hearings; - In support of smoke-free workplaces for everyone else except casino workers. But, for some reason there is complete, total, overwhelming and absolute silence when it comes to the issue coercing these casinos in the Indian Gaming Industry to go smoke-free to protect the health of two-million casino workers. At this point, since you agree this is a very serious problem; I would request that you convey my concerns---AND WHAT YOU CLAIM ARE YOUR SHARED CONCERNS--- to each and everyone of those people who will be participating in the tobacco workshops, forums or making any presentations on tobacco and request that they specifically address the problem of second-hand smoke in casinos and make suggestions and recommendations how this issue will be resolved by coercing these casino managements to go smoke-free. The Manitoba, Canada provincial government has taken the stand that they will not approve any further casino Compacts or upgrades or new licenses for any casino unless it will be smoke-free. Something is very wrong with the scenario you bring forward here. I find it kind of strange that a public official such as yourself, who has a legislated mandate to provide the leadership in protecting human health, would tell a citizen writing to you to go and do your job for you. I expect you to communicate your concerns regarding second-hand smoke (environmental tobacco smoke) to each member of the United States Congress, every single state legislator in each and every state; and, I expect that you will convey your concerns as a medical doctor and in your capacity as a public official with the specific mandate to raise this concern with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Department of Interior; and further, that you instruct all of those employed at the local and state levels working for Indian Health Services to immediately undertake discussions about this with their tribal governments. Sovereignty has nothing to do with this issue. Can you provide me one single instance where the human health and welfare of a nation’s people is compromised under the guise of “sovereignty” as you are blatantly doing here? No; you cannot provide any such example. How could “sovereignty” possibly be compromised by protecting the health and well-being of any people from any nation? Do you realize how utterly stupid this sounds coming from an educated man like yourself and a doctor on top of that? Your department and agency is involved in this conference. As a result, you have a mandate to bring this issue forward. I assume you do not request permission from tribal governments to raise any other issues related to human health; so, why would you conceded your mandate on this vital health issue to tribal governments with no demonstrated concern on this issue or for the human health of their own people? To suggest that this issue can wait until another conference, where both you and I know that I will never receive permission to speak on this issue, is about as insensitive and uncaring a response that anyone could ever expect to receive from a public official who has the scientific and medical background to know and understand that thousands of casino workers will lose their health while others will die from second-hand smoke they are forced to breath as forced and coerced terms and conditions of their employment. I am requesting that you carry out the mandate you have from the United States Congress and act to make sure this issue is addressed at your upcoming conference with the aim of resolving this issue once and for all. I expect to receive written confirmation that you have taken such action. I assume that President Barack Obama would not appreciate you dragging your feet on this issue since he is so concerned about health care costs; I don't think I have to lecture you, a medical doctor, about the costs involved in trying to cure cancers and heart & lung problems associated with second-hand smoke in the workplace. With all the attention now focused on accusations of frivolous government spending, I would think you would be more sensitive to the need to bring this issue forward at your upcoming conference. Respectfully, Alan L. MakiDirector of Organizing,Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council Cc: Maggie Bird President, Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
This “Letter to Editor” (see below) that I wrote on health care reform has taken on an interesting life of its own. I am now getting calls from newspaper editors asking me if they can publish this letter even though I never sent it to them because people are asking them to print it! And several editors have initiate contact with me asking my permission to publish it telling me that the letter is just what they have been looking for to encourage readers to voice their opinions. The most recent newspaper to publish this letter is the International Falls Daily Journal from International Falls, Minnesota (see below). I am getting calls and e-mails from people that they have published this “Letter to the Editor” as a leaflet or as part of a handout at health care forums, union retirees’ groups, union meetings and peace meetings and demonstrations. One woman even wrote and said she printed it out as a “bookmark” for customers to pick up in her bookstore. I strongly encourage you to write similar letters. Feel free to use my “Letter to the Editor” as a guide in writing a letter of your own or do as others are doing, request editors of your local newspapers to publish my letter. If you would like, send me the e-mail address for letters to the editor of your local newspapers and I will submit this letter to them for publication. We cannot allow Obama, his Wall Street backers and the majority of the Democrats who are like Max Baucus to define what the “public option” in health care is without bringing forward the “public health care system” option which has been the one and only health care option without any seat or voice at the health care table… after allowing the American people to hear this option perhaps with single-payer universal health care placed as a first step--- or an incremental step--- towards this “public health care system”--- the only real “public option”--- we will strengthen the movement to win real health care reform. Several labor activists are working on turning my “Letter to the Editor” into a resolution; the Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council has long been on record supporting this approach to health care reform. Below my “Letter to the Editor” I am including the “Call” to a conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in October sponsored by Peace Councils in the United States, Canada and Mexico which I hope to be able to participate in where I will push such an approach as outlined in my “Letter to the Editor” for the peace movement to take… I hope you will consider finding a way to participate in this important conference, too. I will be requesting that the Canadian Minister of Immigration lift the undemocratic ban restricting my entry to Canada which violates my human rights… I hope to see everyone in Toronto in October. Yours in struggle, Alan L. Maki http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com/news/letters-editor/health-care-reform-needed-106
Health care reform needed · .To the editor,
Our country is embroiled in controversy and debate over health care reform.
Focus on the purpose of health care has been lost. Health care has two purposes:
1. Keep people healthy. 2. Get people well when sick.
Our public officials squander our limited and scarce resources — during a period of a crumbling economy — financing wars in three countries; subsidizing the Israeli military machine; and spending trillions of dollars financing 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil dotting the globe; and then they tell us there is no money for health care.
Instead, we should be building 800 public health care centers stretching out across the United States providing a public health care system which includes:
• No-fees/no premiums. • Comprehensive (cradle to grave). • All-inclusive (general, dental, eyes, physical therapy, prescription drugs). • Universal (everybody in; nobody out). • Publicly funded. • Publicly administered. • Publicly delivered.
The United States is the wealthiest country in the world.
We can afford to provide a first-rate, world-class, free public health care system for our own people — if we get our priorities straight.
We need health care reform based upon: Everybody in; all the profiteers out.
Health care is supposed to be about people, a human right; not about profits.
Representing workers employed in smoke-filled casinos suffering from cancers and heart and lung problems, I know a little something about why we need health care reform now.
Alan L. MakiWarroad, MN
For Unity in Action of the Peoples of Mexico, Canada and the USA, for Peace, Sovereignty, Anti-Imperialist Solidarity and the Rights of the Working People.
Invitation to Participants from Mexico, Canada and the USA to Attend the Second Tri-Lateral Conference of the World Peace Council, October 2-4, 2009 Toronto Ontario, Canada
In 2004, the Peace Movements of Mexico, Canada and the United States met in Puebla-Mexico, for the first Trilateral North American regional meeting. It was agreed then to invite to a peace promoting meeting all interested parties, every four years. This agreement was ratified last April during the World Peace Assembly called by the World Peace Council in Caracas, Venezuela. Acting without the approval of the people, big business governments in Mexico, Canada and the USA promote the interests of a small group of transnational corporate and banking monopolies. Driven solely by profiteering these interests trample the sovereignty of the peoples, exploit their labour, besmirch their achievements in culture, language and art and ignore and violate the rights of indigenous people. Driven by greed, corporate monopolies appropriate and wantonly exploit the energy, water and other natural resources of the continent with devastating affects on the environment. These interests treat the territory of North America from the far Arctic to the Yucatan Peninsula, from the Pacific to the Atlantic as a private domain of imperial power to subjugate the peoples of North America, the Caribbean, Central and South America to project their interests globally. Committed to the global ambitions of US imperialism and without regard for the consequences of the peoples affected, these corporate interests and the governments they control, collaborate to militarize and fully integrate the economies of the USA, Mexico and Canada, destroy the home markets and subvert and exclude the democratic oversight of the people. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Security and Prosperity Partnership, (SPP) are continental and integrationist agreements foisted on the people by big business proclaiming their right to develop the economies of Mexico, Canada and the USA exclusively in the interests of wealthy investor elites. The peace, labour and democratic movements resist and challenge corporate edicts over their lives and condemn governments that fail to uphold their vital economic and social interests. In Mexico, Canada and the USA workers and farmers oppose free trade pacts that destroy domestic industries and agriculture, weaken standards of protection for workers and farmers, promote discriminatory immigration laws, adopt labour mobility agreements, de-regulate food, safety and inspection standards, divert public funding from health, education and pension funds to private hands, and divest state property at fire sale prices to private investors. The struggle of the Mexican people to defend the gas industry, to modify the free trade agreement and to safeguard the country’s integrity are clear examples of the corporatist threats facing people. Of particular danger to the peace and security of the people of Canada, Mexico and the USA are over arching military and security pacts ostensibly protecting the continent that in fact harbor aggressive first strike weapons systems and rapid deployment forces incorporating operational use of nuclear weapons that in the era of Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) includes their deployment to space. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM), the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), the activation of the US 4th Fleet and extra-territorial attempts of US imperialism to impose Homeland Security doctrines on the people of Mexico and Canada, are flagrant violations of sovereignty that threaten peace and security and promote a new international arms race. The Tri-Lateral Conference in Toronto Ontario Canada, October 2-4, 2009 will address these problems, analyze the threats posed to peace, sovereignty, democratic and economic rights and present alternative solutions and programs to strengthen the anti-imperialist movements of the people. We invite your participation. An agenda will be forthcoming. The Canadian Peace Congress website, www.canadianpeacecongress.ca will publish information and documents of the Tri-Lateral Conference and exchange information, inviting contributions to the pre-Conference discussion and where registrations, travel and accommodation information can be accessed. Let Us Meet in Toronto Canada, October 2-4, 2009.
In Peace and Solidarity,
Canadian Peace Congress, MOMPADE, US Peace Council
Alan L. Maki Director of Organizing, Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net
Check out my blog:
Thoughts From Podunk
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
This important vote could come up this week; possibly next week… Act today.
Insist on a response in writing.
Call 800-517-5696 today to protest more war funding!
Do you want the United States government to spend tens of billions of dollars more to fund the war in Iraq and expand the war in Afghanistan?
Next week, your representative will be asked to vote on a war supplemental bill that would do just that.
Call toll-free on May 12800-517-5696
Say no to more spending on two wars. Urge your representative to use our tax dollars to
Oppose more war funding.
The U.S. government already spends $1.9 million every minute on the military — and that doesn't include funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is the position of our Organizing Council:
All of this money could be going towards the creation of a public health care system. Any country that can spend this kind of money on wars and militarism that includes funding over 800 U.S. foreign military bases dotting the globe; subsidizing the Israeli killing machine; and fighting wars in three countries at the same time certainly can afford to provide its own people a first-rate, world-class public health care system that is comprehensive, all-inclusive and universal which is publicly funded, publicly administered and publicly delivered. Everyone in. All the profiteers out. Health care for people not for profit.
As a working class mother I did not raise my children to go fight wars and kill other people so oil companies can profit.
I voted for Barack Obama very reluctantly and this war funding is not the change I voted for.
Please call today.
Maggie Bird
President,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
Two-million casino workers employed in the Indian Gaming Industry go to jobs in smoke-filled casinos getting poverty wages without any rights under state, federal or tribal labor laws.
The same government funding these wars created this injustice in the Indian Gaming Industry and refuses to right this wrong.
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Organizing Council
Dictionary definition of:
obstreperous Main Entry: ob·strep·er·ous Pronunciation: \əb-ˈstre-p(ə-)rəs, äb-\ Function: adjective Etymology: Latin obstreperus, from obstrepere to clamor against, from ob- against + strepere to make a noise Date: circa 1600 1 : marked by unruly or aggressive noisiness : clamorous 2 : stubbornly resistant to control : unruly synonyms see vociferous — ob·strep·er·ous·ly adverb — ob·strep·er·ous·ness noun From a passage in:Obama's Grade at 100? What About Our Grade?By: Robert Borosagehttp://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009041829/obamas-grade-100-what-about-our-grade
But what Obama has been missing has been an independent, obstreperous citizens' movement demanding fundamental reform. Roosevelt had the labor movement... socialists and communists challenging him from the left. Johnson had the civil rights movement forcing his hand.This kind of opposition isn't easy. No president likes to face disruption, particularly from what he would consider his base. There are similar stories told about both Roosevelt and Johnson meeting with leaders of the movements and saying something to the effect of, "I agree with you, now go out there and make me do it." But in reality, Roosevelt wanted to squelch and tame labor. And Johnson repeatedly ordered Hubert Humphrey to bring the civil rights demonstrations to an end, saying that they weren't helping the cause. King got a lot of pressure —to say nothing of wiretaps and FBI investigations—to get back in step.Yet it is precisely these movements—independent, disruptive, passionate, demanding bolder reform, taking on entrenched powerful interests—that enabled Roosevelt and Johnson to achieve far more than they ever thought possible. The New Deal we remember—Social Security, the Wagner Act, Fair Labor Standards, the SEC and Glass Stegall, progressive taxation—came not in the first 100 days, but as Roosevelt, under pressure from his left, geared up for re-election. The Voting Rights Act surely would not have been passed without Selma and many other sacrifices transforming public opinion to enable Johnson to act.The absence of these movements on the left opens dangerous space for ersatz populist movements on the right. We saw that with the tea-bag parties that the Fox News Channel huckstered. We've seen conservatives conflate the trillions going to bolster the banks with vital spending in the recovery plan to get the economy going. They are weaving a corrosive message that ties big spending in Washington with Wall Street wastrels. The country would be far better served with an angry populist movement that indicts Wall Street but demands greater support for working families and Main Street. But anyone building that movement will have to understand that they might earn respect, but they won't be loved in the White House.
An obstreperous citizens' movement demanding fundamental reform starts with education. We educate our friends neighbors and fellow workers by talking about our problems and ideas. A movement for social change requires ideas and ideology. Suggestion: Start a Frank Marshall Davis Roundtable for Change in your neighborhood, workplace or school.
Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood.
Two great books by Frank Marshall Davis to get discussion going:
"Singin' the Blues, Memoir of a Black Journalist and Poet""Writings of Frank Marshall Davis: A Voice of the Black Press" ed. by John Edgar Tidwell; University Press of Mississippi, 2007. ISBN-10: 1578069211
Education must be part of organizing for change.
Unity is required to make us strong enough to win change.
Change requires:
Education
Organization
Unity
Action
An example of an obstreperous citizens' movement demanding fundamental reform could be built like this:
Tell Barack Obama to close down the 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil dotting the globe, stop wasting our precious resources on wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and stop subsidizing the Israeli killing machine; and, instead, open up 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States providing free health care for everyone which will create over four-million decent, good-paying jobs... providing people with jobs creating what they need to live decent lives is the way to stimulate the economy.
Ask Barack Obama:
Where's the change?
Organize for the change we need.
Alan L. MakiFounder,Frank Marshall Davis Roundtable for Change
http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/articles/?id=23155
Alan Johnston of Warroad admitted in Roseau County Court today that he underreported income to the state for the tax years 2002 through 2006. In all, the 61-year-old did not report about $117,000 in income during that period.
District Court Judge Jeff Remick ordered Johnston to pay the state $14,541 in taxes owed, as well as 250 hours of community service and unsupervised probation.
Johnston also received a two-and-a-half year stay of adjutication, meaning if he meets the terms of his sentence he will not have a criminal record after that time.
Troy Area Labor Council
The letter below was sent to the 491 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations of the AFL-CIO
Cover Letter in Adobe
Suggested Resolution
April 2009 SinglePayerNY Newsletter
May 1, 2009
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Beside the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, there is no issue more important to the labor movement than health care reform. We all know the havoc this issue causes at the bargaining table and the suffering millions of our fellow citizens are forced to endure because they lack insurance or are forced to file for bankruptcy because of medical bills.
While the discussion of health care reform goes on in the White House and in the Congress, unfortunately, what we are hearing from the media are mostly the voices of the insurance industry and pharmaceutical lobbies; and misguided politicians who think that the healthcare crisis can be solved by either taxing healthcare benefits or mandating that we purchase health insurance.
The labor movement is critical to rallying progressive forces in our country in order to win health care as a human right not tied to one’s economic status. Over 125 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations, 39 State AFL-CIOs, 20 International Unions and over 500 local unions have all endorsed HR 676, the “United States National Health Care Act”. This single payer healthcare legislation was re-introduced by Congressman Conyers and already has 74 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.
The Troy Area Labor Council adopted the enclosed resolution at our April meeting for submission to the AFL-CIO September Convention in Pittsburgh. Also, enclosed is a SinglePayerNewYork newsletter that includes Congressman John Conyers’ Frequently Asked Questions about HR 676.
We ask that your Labor Council join with us in submitting this or a similar resolution to this year’s AFL-CIO Convention. Please place the issue of single payer healthcare on the agenda of an upcoming meeting for consideration by your delegate body. The enclosed resolution has the requisite information for submission of a resolution by your Central Labor Council to the AFL-CIO.
In Solidarity,
Mike Keenan, President
Resolution for Single Payer Health Care (HR676)
Whereas the cost and coverage of health insurance has become a major stumbling block in union contract negotiations, causing strikes, lock-outs, protracted deliberations and lower monetary offers by management.
Whereas the United States spends approximately twice as much of our gross domestic product as other developed nations on health care, yet remains the only industrialized country without universal coverage.
Whereas the U. S. health system continues to treat health care as a commodity distributed according to the ability to pay, rather than as a human right to be dispersed according to medical need.
Whereas the complex bureaucracy arising from our fragmented, for-profit, multi-payer system of healthcare financing consumes approximately 30 percent of the United States` healthcare spending.
Whereas the myriad of insurance companies and their different forms and coverage criteria force healthcare providers to hire staff solely to deal with the paperwork, further driving up costs.
Whereas more than 47 million people in the U. S. are currently without health insurance, another 40 million have inadequate coverage with high co-pays and deductibles, and many others are at risk of losing coverage.
Whereas even those insured often experience unacceptable medical debt including personal bankruptcies and sometimes life-threatening delays in obtaining health care due to coverage denials.
Whereas proposals for “consumer directed health care” would worsen this situation by penalizing the sick, discouraging prevention, and burdening many working families with huge medical bills.
Whereas managed care and other market based reforms have failed to contain health care costs, which now threaten the international competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers.
Whereas we should oppose the inclusion of private insurance companies in our health care system as their interests are counter to and often destructive of ours.
Whereas a single-payer health care program would provide an effective mechanism for controlling skyrocketing health costs while covering all Americans.
Whereas HR676 meets or exceeds the AFL-CIO Health Care for America Campaign Principles.
Whereas HR676 would end deductibles and co-payments, and provide free choice of healthcare providers to patients as well as comprehensive prescription drug coverage to all.
Whereas HR676 would save billions annually by eliminating the administrative burdens, overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and apply those savings to expanded and improved coverage for all.
Whereas HR676 would cover every person in the U. S. for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health care, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision care, chiropractic and long term care.
Whereas, a January 2009 study by the California Nurses Association, AFL-CIO, showed that passage of HR676 would provide a major stimulus to the economy, create over 2.6 million new permanent good-paying jobs, boost the economy with $317 billion in increased business and public revenues, add $100 billion in employee compensation and infuse public budgets with $44 billion in new tax revenues; and concluded that the broadest economic benefits directly accrue from the actual delivery and provision of health care, not the purchase of insurance.
Whereas, HR676 has been endorsed by over 500 union organizations in 49 states including 125 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 39 State AFL-CIOs (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC, MO, MN, ME, AR, MD-DC, TX, IA, AZ, TN, OR, GA, OK, KS, CO, IN, AL, CA, AK, MI, MT, NE, NY, NV & MA).
Therefore be it resolved that the AFL-CIO endorses HR676, the “United States National Health Care Act”; and
Be it further resolved, that the AFL-CIO join with and support other concerned organizations in educating and mobilizing broad public and political support for single payer health care; and
Be it further resolved, that the AFL-CIO persevere for passage of single payer health care to meet the needs of our members, our families, and all America, and not endorse or support any fallback program of mandated insurance or public option plans which include the wasteful, for-profit insurance industry; and
Be it further resolved, that the AFL-CIO actively lobby the White House and Congress for passage of single payer health care; and
Be it further resolved, that the AFL-CIO help organize and financially support a “Healthcare is a Human Right” Solidarity March and Rally in Washington, DC.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
On ________________________, 2009, the delegates of __________________________________________
___________________________ approved the above resolution for submission to the AFL-CIO Convention
and is respectfully submitted to:
Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumka
AFL-CIO
815 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
Name and Title: _______________________________________________________________
Signature: _______________________________________________________________
Date: _____________________, 2009
“The range of application of the term is broad.”
A theory or system of social organization based on state or collective ownership and regulation of the means of production, distribution, and exchange for the common benefit of all members of society; advocacy or practice of such a system, esp. as a political movement. Now also: any of various systems of liberal social democracy which retain a commitment to social justice and social reform, or feature some degree of state intervention in the running of the economy.
Dear Colleagues,
Attached is an open letter to President Barack Obama.
I don't know whether you agree with my point of view or not; but I am functioning out of the feeling that the negative aspects of capitalism are becoming obvious to people all around the world regardless of class positions, that understanding its avaricious nature brings them closer to Marx's analysis of the system which all of you can read his seminal word on "Capital." Chapter 26 which deals with the law of capitalist accumulation will give you the prototype of which the USA's capitalism is the arch example of its worst (together with the British who started out but are following along with the USA).
Globalization is a mess and everyone knows that the USA has created more poverty with its capital investments than existed before the global expansion. We know that formal colonial countries are seeing through this domination and are moving in directions which reject the control of foreign capital in their own developments. WE ARE LIVING IN A CENTURY OF EPOCHAL CHANGE. Our hope is that the change which is now developing in the form of a bipolar economic structure will continue to redevelop economies technologically and sustainably. We hope too that the ultimate resolution of differences between the double-structured world economic system will not be resolved by warfare. That is the most important struggle we must be involved with. A peaceful acceptance of epochal change and the survival of all in a better world.
Sincerely,
Sidney J. Gluck
Dear President Obama,
The world economic crisis sparked by the financial sector of our country has put the capitalist system on a defensive more openly than any other time in history. I am one of many who strongly supported your candidacy based on your vocalization of much of what we felt had to be changed in our country to make it more livable for those of us who produce the wealth and intellectual atmosphere.
You are facing the sharpest attack from the ranks of the Republican Party. We all admire your diplomatic ability to deal with those who disagree with you; but, the time has come when you must take an ideological position in order to clarify the issues involved in building a new type of economic structure in the country. This means that the dominance of the financial institutions in the political decisions affecting the majority must be defended openly against misrepresentations and manipulations which we all now know come from the unsupported defense of government that gives primacy to capital accumulation whether it be finance capital or industrial capital.
You do not have to embrace socialism. That is not the ideological position that put you in power. You were put in the White House with a promise to govern in the name of the working majority. True, you would like to have support from all sections of political and economic forces, but YOU WILL NOT GET IT.
If you continue to move along supporting the program of the financial circles in our country, your presidency is DOOMED. Listen to the needs of the majority and cater to it.
You can announce openly that you are not for socialism but you are for correcting the ills of the capitalist system and to relinquish domination of other countries allowing them to move independently as their people desire.
The Republican Party is pressing for the continuation of the kind of economic distortions that has dragged the world down. Openly facing this fact will help you reshape our country’s goals.
We are in an epoch of change. We must remove barriers and encourage each nation to resolve their day to day problems created by greed and distorted wealth accumulation. It does not make you a socialist to talk for Main Street but they need a spokesman in high places that will act for them.
You are in an enviable yet complicated position. Exposing the negative effect of unregulated finance capital which dominates humanity today would memorialize you for the next thousand years. The Bush Administration preempted the first move to deal with the economic crisis by bailing out the perpetrators who squandered every cent in bonuses and bashes. You are now faced with additional steps to bail out the industrial capitalists who have the responsibility of reshaping these enterprises into a new technological and green economy whose purpose is to raise the living standards of all.
The fulfillment of your promises requires that you take an ideological position. You will go down in history as having broken the racial barrier but it will end at that if you continue to be consumed by the economic crisis. OUR SYSTEM NEEDS CHANGE. Do what you can within that system. This means openly opposing the Republican Party’s program already on the road to capturing the presidency and congress in 2010 before they bring us further down. Don’t let them bully you with the “socialist” label.
The ball is in your court to change the situation. In your most diplomatic way you must take an ideological position to correct the problems of the system as you promised and restore true democracy which favors the needs of the majority.
The United States has 800 military bases on foreign soil... What we need--- instead--- is 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States where people can universally access, for free, all their health care needs from pre-natal care, to general health care to eye, dental and mental care right through to burial.Instead of moving in this progressive direction, President Barack Obama and the United States Congress are moving in a most reactionary direction towards establishing military bases in outer space as they seek to insure the profits of both the merchants of death and destruction and the profit-driven health care industries... talk about skewed priorities and your wacky ideas which will execerbate the problems surrounding the failing capitalist economy, and ideas devoid of common sense.In addition to these 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil, Barack Obama and the United States Congress continue funding--- with our tax-dollars--- the Israeli killing machine to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Where is the "change?"
This is the change Americans want, and the change we need:A network of 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States would create over four-million good-paying, decent jobs--- talk about your "economic stimulus" package!
We would be redistributing the wealth as we are planting the seeds of socialism while helping to eradicate poverty by keeping people healthy and getting them well when sick.Think about this kind of solution in relation to what Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress and the Wall Street bankers and coupon clippers are offering the American people, and the peoples of the world... just what is the reason for bailing out the banks and AIG and maintaining more than 800 expensive U.S. military bases of foreign soil?The Mt. Carmel Clinic in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada offers us a glimpse at what militarization and wars continue to rob us of.The problems created by Wall Street will not be solved as long as the military-financial-industrial complex is allowed to squander human and natural resources on militarism and wars... we might just as well be dumping these resources out into the ocean... at least no one would die in wars.These merchants of death and destruction must be stopped if humanity is to survive in a livable world.The time has come to talk about working class Marxist politics and the economics of livelihood... capitalism has failed humanity miserably and left us a real mess to clean up.
Capitalism is on the skids to oblivion and unless we take a "left turn" we will continue down this road to perdition.Something for working people to think about and discuss around the dinner table... the capitalist sooth-Sayers certainly are not going to broach such solutions to the problems of working people as they hide behind the skirt of Rosy Scenario as this global capitalist economic depression intensifies while wars rage on.The times and conditions call for "building a new era of justice and peace;" this is one step in that direction; this is the change the American people voted for.Alan L. Maki
Founder,
Frank Marshall Davis Roundtable for Change
Mr. Michael Phillips, Journalist for the Wall Street Journal;
I have some questions about this article (included below in full) you wrote in the Wall Street Journal:
(Note: To see photos and slideshow click on link)
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123454070638883495.html
First, how much, in total, did Mr. Thompson have into this home with principal, interests, fees and costs?
Second, did you attempt to find out if the mortgage holder attempted to offer Mr. Thompson and/or Ms. Rogers the home on the terms that it was sold to the banker, Mr. Jackson, for?
It seems to me you have a perfect example of the problems confronting people in terms of foreclosures here and you didn’t follow through with all the facts and draw the proper conclusions.
Would Mr. Thompson and Ms. Rogers have been able to hold on to their home if they would have been extended the same terms under which Mr. Jackson purchased this home?
I find it rather bizarre, for lack of a more appropriate word, that this mortgage holder would be willing to kick someone out of a home they have quite an investment in and then turn around and sell the same home for $40,000.00 less than what Mr. Thompson/Ms. Jackson paid for it.
How much did Mr. Thompson initially put down on this house?
What are the terms of Mr. Jackson’s mortgage?
How much did Mr. Jackson put up as a down payment on this house?
How much is the interest rate Mr. Jackson is paying?
What are Mr. Jackson’s monthly payments? (I assume his payments are substantially less than Mr. Thompson’s/Ms. Roger’s payments were?)
I am very confused here why you would provide some specifics concerning the history of this house and not follow through to the conclusion. By providing the American people with greater insight as to exactly what is going on people could better understand what kind of solutions are required.
Also, would Barack Obama’s “foreclosure” legislation have saved Mr. Thompson and Ms. Rogers their home, given their circumstances?
Again, we have a perfect example here in how you begin this story but it is like you leave us without a proper conclusion given the economic mess we are in--- of which the housing market is one of the primary problems… not the primary cause of this economic crisis; but, certainly, one of the most important aspects of this economic crisis.
I am curious about another aspect of this problem that might be related in a way to the “bailouts.”
Could you tell me if the mortgage company holding the deed to this house at the time it was foreclosed on was insured by AIG--- or one of its subsidiaries--- or a similar institution to protect itself from losses associated with foreclosures?
Thanking you in advance for your attention to my concerns and questions,
DILLON, S.C. -- Travis Jackson walks through his modest ranch house, admiring the kitchen's built-in spice rack and the red-oak floors. He draws back the curtains, and sunlight illuminates the pride on his face.
The young banker just bought Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's childhood home at a foreclosure sale.
"This is where it all happened," marvels Mr. Jackson, a 27-year-old loan officer at First Citizens Bancorp, which is down the street from the old Bernanke place. "Kind of a surreal feeling, isn't it?"
Mr. Bernanke's family sold the property more than a decade ago. It ended up on the block late last year after its former owners fell behind on their mortgage payments.
The small town that gave the Fed its chairman is suffering more than most from the financial and economic crisis he's struggling to fix. Already hit by the long decline of the local tobacco and textile industries, Dillon County is facing a fresh assault of plant closings and layoffs that have pushed its unemployment rate to 14.2% -- almost double the national average. A foreclosure wave that began in mobile-home parks is spreading to more-established neighborhoods.
Mohawk Industries has shuttered a plant that made yarn for carpeting and employed 137 people. Wix Manufacturing, a unit of Affinia Group Inc., has cut hours and a few jobs at its automotive-filter factory. Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., which makes corrugated-cardboard packaging in nearby Latta, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.
Discuss
· How has the recession impacted your area?
In an interview, Mr. Bernanke declined to speak publicly about the fate of his hometown or boyhood home, which is set amid tall, scraggly pines on East Jefferson St. "We believe that getting the credit markets going, getting banks lending again, increasing the demand for all products -- including those made in Dillon -- are part of economic recovery," he said. "That's what the Fed's trying to do."
Mr. Bernanke's grandfather Jonas, a pharmacist, opened Jay Bee Drug Co. on Main St. in 1941. His father, Philip, and uncle, Mortimer, eventually bought the drug store and became admired figures in the community, famous for their personal touch with customers.
Ben Bernanke, now 55 years old, was known around town as brainy and diligent. He played saxophone in the Dillon High School marching band and graduated at the top of his class in 1971. Before heading off to Harvard University, he worked construction on a new hospital going up in town. He spent summers waiting tables at the Sombrero Room at South of the Border, a Mexican-themed collection of souvenir stores, rides and restaurants just outside of town.
Ben Bernanke's old house in Dillon, S.C., recently sold for $83,000.
Richard Schafer, head of the family that owns the roadside attraction, says revenue at the theme park today is off more than 10% from pre-recession rates, the roughest patch since the 1973 oil crisis. "People are losing their home and jobs, and they're not traveling as much," says Mr. Schafer, 59, who attended synagogue with the Bernankes before converting to Presbyterianism. He wishes he'd kept a photo of young Mr. Bernanke in the yellow, green and red poncho-like serape that waiters wore in the old days. "I'd probably get some economic-bailout money if I did," says Mr. Schafer.
During the presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama twice visited Dillon to highlight the desperate state of its schools. Once he went to Mr. Bernanke's junior high, a century-old building whose auditorium has been condemned as unsafe. Another time Mr. Obama went to Dillon High School, Mr. Bernanke's alma mater, where some 40% of those who start ninth grade drop out before graduating.
Every morning, Lynda Cottingham, Dillon's 60-year-old high-school principal, and her husband, David, pray together for Mr. Bernanke and President Obama. "Lord grant them wisdom to make good decisions," Mrs. Cottingham recalls praying recently.
Mr. Cottingham, 62, runs a business brokerage out of a building that was the final home of Jay Bee pharmacy before the Bernanke brothers sold it. "Ben Bernanke used to walk right in that door," Mr. Cottingham says with satisfaction.
These days Mr. Cottingham gets a regular flow of middle-aged executives who have been laid off and want to purchase a business because they can't find a job. Financing is tight, even when buyers and sellers are willing. "I just can't imagine the kind of pressure he's under," Mr. Cottingham says of Mr. Bernanke. "It's not just the U.S.; he's got the burden of the entire world on his shoulders."
Mr. Bernanke's 80-year-old uncle, Mort, the only Bernanke still living in Dillon, continues to run his small company selling oxygen tanks, hospital beds and other medical equipment. He figures his personal investments have lost 35% of their value. "At my age for that to happen is a terrible thing," he says.
That's not a criticism of his nephew, however. "He can stand on his head, but he can't do any wrong in this town," Mort Bernanke says.
On Sept. 1, 2006, seven months after Mr. Bernanke became chairman of the Fed -- previously he was a member of the Fed Board of Governors -- Dillon celebrated their favorite son on Ben Bernanke Day. Two dozen residents ate breakfast with Mr. Bernanke at the Kintyre House, a pub-restaurant located in the building that housed the original Jay Bee store. (The restaurant still displays a photo of the Fed chairman going through the buffet line, choosing from among the hash, sausage, eggs and canned fruit.)
Later in the day, some 700 people, almost 10% of Dillon's population, gathered in front of the county courthouse. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford presented Mr. Bernanke with the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest honor, and Mr. Bernanke reminisced about the lessons of a Dillon childhood.
"I remember the fellow construction worker who wanted to become foreman someday and a waitress who was saving to go to college," Mr. Bernanke told the crowd. "I was impressed by these experiences. And I think they were an important reason I went into economics, which a great economist once called the study of people in the ordinary business of life."
Among those breakfasting with the guest of honor was Charlie Vance, senior vice president of First Bank on Main St. His Troy, N.C.-based bank, a three-state institution with roughly $3 billion in assets, received $65 million from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program. In Dillon, however, more capital hasn't led to more lending, says Mr. Vance, 61, who says he used to be the senior Bernankes' banker.
"The scary thing is nothing seems to be working," he says.
Hoping for the best, Dillon County has secured rights to 2,400 acres to locate new manufacturers who might appear in the future. "Dillon is still a great place to live," says Mayor Todd Davis, 44, an insurance agent and financial adviser who says he counted Mr. Bernanke's parents among his clients. "It's a great place to raise a family."
In 1945, Mr. Bernanke's grandparents, Jonas and Pauline -- the latter a University of Vienna-trained physician -- bought the land on East Jefferson Street for $750. Four years later, they built a single-story brick house on the property. The couple then sold the place to Mr. Bernanke's father, Philip, in 1960 for $22,000. Ben and his two siblings were raised there.
In 1976, Philip deeded the property for $1 to his wife, Edna, "for and in consideration of the love and affection" he felt for her, according to county records.
Two decades later, the Bernankes sold the house to a couple from Texas for $72,500 and moved to North Carolina. In September, 2006, the Texans put the house on the market. It caught the eye of Spec. Dwayne Thompson, a soldier in the South Carolina Army National Guard, and Sharon Rogers, his former wife with whom he had reconciled, but not remarried.
Spec. Thompson, who grew up in Dillon, remembers as a kid buying peppermints for himself and hair-care products for his mother at the Bernankes' store. Unaware that the house had a Bernanke connection, however, the couple saw it simply as a chance to "upgrade and get something better, the American dream," says Spec. Thompson, 47. The 2,383-square foot home has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, with a large car port. "It was big, spacious, downtown," says Ms. Rogers, 42, now an assistant manager at a Wal-Mart store.
Landmark Mortgage, a Dillon finance company, gave the couple a 10.1%, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, well above the rate for a prime loan. Their payments on the $123,000 mortgage came to $1,088 a month, including principal and interest. Landmark transferred the couple's loan to Option One Mortgage Corp., then a unit of H&R Block Inc., which packaged it with other mortgages into an $818 million security.
Back then, Landmark's owner, Kelly Hayes, had six employees and plenty of work to keep them busy. These days Mr. Hayes, 40, works alone and struggles to find creditworthy borrowers. "I have to go through 10 or 12 applications before I can find one qualified to buy a $70,000 house," says Mr. Hayes, who keeps an autographed copy of the Ben Bernanke Day program behind his desk along with his own family photos.
A few months after the sale closed in early 2007, Ms. Rogers lost her job managing a shoe store. The factory where Spec. Thompson worked when not on National Guard duty cut back his hours. The couple fell behind on their payments, and, under financial strain, broke up again last June. Twenty-one months after they bought the house, the bank that served as trustee for the mortgage-backed security began foreclosure proceedings.
"I kept trying to pay," says Spec. Thompson. "I've never been under that kind of stress, living paycheck to paycheck, and it still wasn't enough." As he was losing his house, he volunteered to go on active duty with the Army because it paid more than his factory job. Last month, Mr. Thompson filed for personal bankruptcy.
He sympathizes with Ben Bernanke. "I know things gotta be pretty rough for him right now," he says.
In December, Mr. Jackson, the young banker, and his girlfriend, Beth Webster, a 25-year-old high school teacher, bought the Bernanke house from the bank for $83,000. Mr. Jackson grew up a block away; he can see his parents' home from his new master-bedroom window. Both he and Ms. Webster are devout Christians. They don't plan to live together in the house until they marry, an as yet unscheduled event.
Mr. Jackson, who started his career at the teller's window, jumped at the chance to own a piece of economic history. Aside from some minor redecorating, he wants to keep the house much as it was when Ben Bernanke lived there. Someday he'd like to put up a plaque noting its significance.
"It's just a great sense of pride to know that one of the greatest leaders we have in our time period walked the same floors I walk," says Mr. Jackson. "It's just sheer excitement."
Write to Michael M. Phillips at michael.phillips@wsj.com
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A1
Honoring Ohio’s unsung heroes of 2008 elections
From: People's Weekly World Newspaper, 02/12/09 17:32; The People's Weekly World isa publication of the Communist Party USA
Speaking to scores of activists in labor, community, farm, retiree and other progressive movements at events in three Ohio cities, Sam Webb, national chairman of the Communist Party USA, called for all out grassroots efforts to realize the potential for progressive change brought about by the November elections. The events in Cleveland, Columbus and Ashtabula were sponsored by the People’s Weekly World newspaper. In Cleveland and Columbus the paper presented Distinguished Service Awards to Unsung Heroes of the November Elections including Joe Rugola, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, Harriet Applegate, executive secretary of the North Shore (Cleveland area) AFL-CIO, Mary Keith, president of Ohio ACORN, and Barbara Clark, president of Columbus ACORN.
The honorees were chosen, Ohio PWW Correspondent Rick Nagin said, because of the critical but generally unrecognized role of organized labor and grassroots voter registration efforts in winning Ohio for Barack Obama. The labor movement, through its massive outreach to members, retirees, their families and affiliated groups, he said, accounted for 40 percent of Obama’s votes in Ohio, while ACORN was responsible for registering 250,000 of the new voters in the election, which Obama won by a margin of 220,000. In his speeches, Webb said Obama “is more than a friend to working people. He is a people’s advocate” and said the election brought “joy and relief” to Americans and people throughout the world who are celebrating “the end of 30 years of right-wing extremism.” He said Obama’s achievements in just the first weeks of office were astounding including orders to close Guantanamo and end policies of torture, the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter bill to allow workers to recover damages for job discrimination, the rescinding of anti-labor rules enacted by the Bush administration, the setting of new car emission standards, the expansion of children’s health coverage and the economic stimulus package. “We must rally around the good decisions,” Webb said, noting that much more was needed for economic recovery and that the crisis actually calls for fundamental restructuring of the capitalist economy. This means serious consideration must be given to such things as nationalization of the energy complex and the financial corporations and national health care. Immediate action, he said, is needed to get the initial stimulus package passed in Congress. Approval of the nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis as labor secretary is “the opening gun in the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act,” which would allow workers to organize unions without fear of employer retaliation. Immediate action is also needed, he said, to stem the epidemic of home foreclosures. Webb hailed the call by Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur that people facing foreclosure should squat in their homes and “get a good lawyer,” since the “slicing and dicing” of mortgages “in outrageous Ponzi schemes” makes it impossible in many cases to determine who the actual mortgage holder is. Webb also urged immediate action to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Continuation of these wars,” he said, “would derail everything Obama is trying to achieve, just as the Vietnam War derailed the War on Poverty and the Great Society social programs of President Lyndon Johnson.” The full text of Sam Webb’s speech below posted to encourage dialogue, discussion and debate
Sam Webb, Chair of the Communist Party USA was a participant in the powerful labor led people's coalition which elected Barack Obama. Webb states his controversial views concerning the struggle ahead.
A New Era Begins
By Sam Webb, National Chair, CPUSA(From a speech delivered at a Peoples Weekly World forum in Cleveland, Ohio, January 31, 2009 [see article above])I was standing on the Washington Mall on Inauguration Day, alongside nearly two million other people, and proudly watched the first African American take the oath of office in our nation’s history. That alone made the day deeply memorable, joyful, and historic. But I couldn’t help but think – and I’m sure that millions of others had the same thought – that the transfer of power from Bush to President Obama not only tore down a barrier that once was thought near impenetrable, but also signified the fading away of one era and the beginning of another.It was hard not to think on that cold day in our nation’s capital that the worst of the past 30 years of right-wing extremist rule is behind us and that an era of progressive change is within reach, no longer an idle dream.Just look at the new lay of the land: a friend of labor and its allies sits in the White House. Larger Democratic majorities control Congress. A feeling of renewal and hope is in the air. Public opinion polls show a high favorability rating for our new President. And the labor and people’s movement that was so instrumental to the election’s outcome, after a short holiday pause, is off and running.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party, notwithstanding its efforts to distance itself from arguably the worst president in our history, is on the defensive. Its grassroots constituency is dispirited. And, its governing philosophy of “free markets”, minimal government, fear, and division, and especially racist division, is discredited.Now no one expects that the going will be easy in the coming months and years. There is, after all, eight years of extreme right-wing misrule to clean up. The multinational corporations and banks haven’t gone into hibernation. Right-wing Republicans, while badly weakened, still retain enough influence in Congress and elsewhere to block or slow down progressive measures. And the challenges facing the Obama administration are immense, and none more than the economic crisis.If there were such a thing as an economic tsunami, I would say we are experiencing it. Not since the Great Depression has the economy been in such bad shape, which leads many economists to predict that the downturn will be L-shaped, that is, deep and prolonged.Furthermore, the economic contraction is worldwide. No country or region will escape its pain and long reach. Nor can any national economy, ours included, hope to make a full recovery without global coordination and cooperation. In an integrated global economy, we either swim together or sink together.Financialization – two-edged sword
While the present economic turbulence was triggered by the collapse of the housing markets over the past two years, its underlying cause goes back to the mid-1970s.At that time U.S. economy was rocked to its core by the interweaving of seemingly stubborn and contradictory economic problems: high inflation and unemployment, declining confidence in the dollar as a means of international payment, new competitive rivals in Europe and Asia, and a falling profit rate, all of which occurred in the context of overproduction in world commodity markets. “Stagflation” was the term coined to describe this contradictory phenomenon.Faced with this unraveling of the economy and a crisis of profitability, then-chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker stepped into the breech and pushed up interest rates to near 20 percent. This spike in interest rates threw the country into a deep recession, sending unemployment rates to the highest level since the Great Depression, forcing the closing of scores of manufacturing plants and a great number of family farms, laying waste to cities and whole regions, and bringing incredible hardship to the working class, and especially African-American, Latino and other racial minorities and women workers.
The rate hike also opened the door for a many-sided attack on labor and its allies, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the pre-Depression era. Wage and benefit concessions were demanded. New labor saving techniques and computerization invaded the workplace. Rules governing seniority, job classifications, line speed, and safety were either eliminated or routinely violated. And, the relocation of production to non-union and offshore sites became standard fare.If we thought this was only done to dramatically increase the corporate share of the value that workers create in the production process relative to what they receive, we would be wrong. It was also motivated by the overarching desire of corporate capital to cripple the social power of the labor movement and disrupt its alliance with its most durable and powerful ally—the African American people.Now we can’t leave it at this, because, in addition to the working class and its allies taking a pounding, there is another side to this intricate story—Volcker’s interest rate spike also wrung inflation out of the economy, restored confidence in the U.S. dollar in international money markets, and, especially important to us, redirected domestic and foreign investment capital (and there was plenty of it), abruptly and massively from the “real” economy—auto, steel, machine tool, construction, and so on—into financial channels and speculative ventures where returns were markedly higher.
Once in financial channels, money/speculative capital stayed there, but it did not sit on its hands. Its financial agents (banks, investment houses, hedge funds, private equity firms, mutual funds, and so on) intent on expanding their profits in an increasingly toothless regulatory environment raced at breakneck speed into a massive buying and selling and borrowing and spending speculative spree for the next three decades. And all this led to an explosion of the financial sector in terms of employment, transactions, and profits. Nearly 40 percent of corporate profits came from this sector in the early years of this decade – not to mention the salaries, bonuses, stock options, and dividends of Wall Street insiders.
Capital that produces little, destroys muchIf this transformation of the U.S. economy into a speculative casino run by the “masters of the universe,” hunkered down on Wall Street, has its roots in the unraveling of the U.S. economy three decades ago, what greased the skids during this period was the production and easy availability, seemingly without end, of staggering amounts of debt—corporate, consumer and government.
Debt is as old as capitalism. But what is different in recent decades is that the production of debt and the accompanying speculative excesses and bubbles were not simply passing moments at the end of the business cycle, but essential to evolution, interrelations, and functioning of the overall economy.Without the massive piling up of debt and speculative bubbles first in Internet technology, then in the stock market, and most recently, in housing, engineered by the Wall Street/Washington complex, the performance of the U.S. and world economy would have been far, far worse.
But, as we are painfully learning, turning our economy into a financial casino built on the pileup of massive amounts of debt and bubbles that eventually burst is a two-edged sword. While it stimulates the economy, restores profitability and enriches the corporate class on a scale never seen, it also introduces enormous instability, economic insecurity, income inequality, and imbalances and distortions into the arteries and structure of the U.S. and world economy.
In other words, the growth of the financial sector and bubble-driven economics were an unstable, bloodsucking, leech-like, and temporary fix for a sluggish, underperforming economy and the vehicle for the financial titans of U.S. capitalism to reassert their power.
But as events have shown, it could not forever mask and compensate for stagnation tendencies, declining income of working people, and the shrinkage of the material goods sector of the economy. In fact, its remedy of rerouting capital into finance and turning the financial sector and speculation into the main dynamo of the U.S. and global economy only served to postpone the crisis to a later day and, in doing so, assured that it would be on a much broader scale as we now see.A Wal-Mart economy of low wages, even when combined with financial speculation and massive debt creation is unsustainable and eventually erupts into crisis. At some point, the chickens do come home to roost.
None of this, however, could have happened without the political ascendancy of the right-wing extremism 30 years ago. If Volcker struck the first blow in 1979, it was the Reagan administration, entering the White House shortly thereafter, and then successive administrations that were the decisive ideological and political/practical agent of this reorientation of the economy, upheaval in class relations, and current economic mess.
Reaganites – main agents of neoliberalismAt the ideological level, the Reaganites said that government is best that governs least, that markets are self-correcting and efficient; that vast income inequality is a good thing, that deregulation and privatization are the best cures for what ails the economy and the “welfare state,” and that tax cuts for the wealthy trickle down to working people and lift all boats.But the Reaganites didn’t stop here. At the political-economic level, they dismantled the model of economic governance at the state and corporate level, a model that had its origins in the New Deal and then was expanded on by successive administrations in the next three decades. The previous model rested on a measure of class compromise, social benefits for the unemployed, the elderly, the young and the sick, a legal environment favorable to union organizing, the removal of discriminatory barriers to equality, the expansion of democratic rights, and expansive fiscal and monetary polices at the federal level that favored broadly shared prosperity.
In its place, the Reaganites built another model of governance popularly called neoliberalism. If Roosevelt’s New Deal favored working people, then Reagan’s Raw Deal stripped working people of income and rights, turned racism and other forms of discrimination into an instrument of practical politics and ideological mystification, and provided a feast of riches to the wealthiest corporations and families.
It was no accident that the first actions of the Reagan administration were to bust PATCO (the air-traffic controllers union), endorse the interest rate hikes of Volcker, and cut taxes for the wealthiest families and corporations. This two-bit actor turned the agencies of government that were established to protect labor, civil, and other rights into attack dogs against these very same rights.Neoliberalism, combined with an increased readiness to project military power globally, was designed to strengthen in a qualitative way the position of U.S. capitalism at home and abroad. But, as is said, the best laid plans of mice and men often come to naught, at least in the long run.If I could sum up before moving on, the present economic crisis cannot be simply laid on the doorstep of the sub-prime leading crisis. Instead it was the result of the interweaving of a short-term cyclical crisis of the economy, especially in housing, with a longer term crisis of overproduction (too many commodities and too little purchasing power) and over accumulation (too much surplus value and too few ways to absorb it profitably), and the political ascendancy of the extreme right, dating back three decades.It may go without saying, but the crisis in its short- and long-term form were driven by the system's built-in objective of amassing maximum corporate profits and power through wage exploitation (the process by which a sizeable portion of the values that workers create in the labor process are appropriated by the capitalist class) and the dispossession (usually coerced) of people’s collective possessions (for example, social security) and rights, domestically and internationally.A new New Deal
Given this situation, the Obama administration faces daunting challenges. Nevertheless, the new President, in my view, is off to a quick start. In less than two weeks he has:
In this regard, the President's stimulus bill passed this week in the House should be welcomed and supported. Despite what Republicans say, it is a good bill that will ease the pain of this crisis, create jobs, and begin to re-inflate the economy. Some economists, like Paul Krugman, say that it isn’t enough, that a trillion dollars plus and additional infrastructure spending would be better. I would agree with Krugman, but I also see the current bill as a first installment of the administration’s recovery plan. In fact, Krugman may have the economics right, but the politics wrong.President Obama in my opinion would make a mistake if he proceeded like a bull in a china shop. He’s the president of the country, not an op-ed writer for the New York Times, and thus has a different set of considerations and pressures. On the other hand, if the President agrees to too many concession demands from the Republican side it will water down the bill’s stimulus potential and come back to bite him later on.I would further add that even if Obama had introduced and passed a bigger stimulus package, there is no guarantee that a full-blooded and sustained recovery of the economy will follow. According to conventional wisdom and mainstream economists, high growth rates, near full employment, and healthy profit rates are the normal condition of a capitalist economy. Departures from this norm, it is said, are only passing moments during which capitalism removes barriers to future growth and creates the conditions for a new expansion that surpasses old peaks in production, employment and profits.There is considerable evidence to question this view. Indeed, one has to wonder what the long-run prospects of U.S. and world capitalism are. Was the “golden age” of U.S. capitalism from 1945-1973, during which economic growth rates, investment levels and living standards steadily increased, the norm or the exception to the norm? Will the last thirty years of sluggish and lopsided growth continue, but at a significantly lower level?
If the answer is that U.S. capitalism is entering a period of long-term stagnation then the economic recovery plan must include not only a sizeable and sustained economic stimulus, but also far-reaching political and economic reforms in order to restructure the economy along new lines. One without the other is not enough. Both economic stimulus and political-economic restructuring are necessary if U.S. economy is to have any chance of resuming a developmental growth path that is robust, sustainable (in a double sense: economically and environmentally) and favors the interests of the working class and its allies.If this is the case, the Obama administration and the broad coalition that supports him will almost inevitably have to consider—and they already are—the following measures:
New model of economic governance neededOr to approach the same issue in another way: Will the political-economic reforms be modest, or will they be radical in nature, and when taken together, constitute a new model of political-economic governance at the state and corporate level—a new New Deal? By that I mean a reconfiguring of the role and functions of government and corporations so that they favor working people, the racially and nationally oppressed, women, youth, seniors, small business people and other social groupings.Such a model would draw from the New Deal experience, but in the end it has to be shaped by today’s conditions and requirements for political and economic advance for the broadest sections of the American people as well as people across the globe.The new model of governance wouldn’t be socialist, but it would challenge corporate power, profits and prerogatives.Depression conditions prompted President Franklin Roosevelt and his advisers—albeit with a mighty assist from a powerful all-people’s coalition led by the industrial unions and the multiracial working class—to reconfigure the role and functions of the state to the advantage of the ordinary people. This reconfiguration wasn’t easy or done in a day.Indeed, it was a hard-fought struggle that combined unity of the Roosevelt-led coalition at every turn, mass mobilization, and a good dose of experimentation. The broad people’s movement would do well to study the New Deal experience, not in a mechanical way, but with an eye to gaining insights for today’s struggles and challenges.New casting of political actorsIn the meantime, we have some immediate struggles on our hands. The good news is that the broad movement that elected President Obama and larger majorities in the Congress is up and running.This movement, or if you like, this loose coalition in which labor plays a larger and larger leadership role, can exercise an enormous influence on the political process. Never before has a coalition with such breadth walked on the political stage of our country. It is far larger than the coalition that entered the election process a year ago; it is larger still than the coalition that came out of the Democratic Party convention in August.The task of labor and its allies is to provide energy and leadership to this wide-ranging coalition. Yes, we can bring issues and positions into the political process that go beyond the initiatives of the Obama administration. But we should do this within the framework of the main task of supporting Obama’s program of action.We can disagree with the Obama administration without being disagreeable. Our tone should be respectful. We now have not simply a friend, but a people's advocate in the White House.When the Administration and Congress take positive initiatives, they should be wholeheartedly supported and welcomed. Nor should anyone think that everything will be accomplished in one hundred days. After all, the main elements of the New Deal were codified into law in 1935, 1936 and 1937, years after FDR’s first days in office. Of course, change won’t be easy. Powerful sections of big capital (energy, military, health care, pharmaceutical, financial and others), will resist going over to a new and robust growth path, resting on green industry, jobs and technology, on military conversion to peacetime production, on rising living standards and rights for working people, and on racial and gender equality?
That said, the opportunities for working-class and people's gains are extraordinary. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.Staring us in the face are some immediate challengesFirst, we have to support the passage of the President's stimulus bill in the Senate.Second, we have to block any Republican efforts to derail the nomination of Hilda Solis, the nominee for the Secretary of Labor. This is the first round in the battle to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which will dramatically expand the right to join a union in this country. Some may think this is a struggle of only the labor movement. But nothing could be further from the truth. A bigger labor movement in this country would strengthen the struggle on every front. No one expressed this point better than Martin Luther King toward the end of his life.Third, we have to join others in resisting evictions and foreclosures—not to mention cutbacks and layoffs at the state and city level.Fourth, the wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan have to be brought to a close. As former President Lyndon Johnson realized too late, wars of occupation (in his case, Vietnam) can quickly ruin a presidency that has great promise.
In any case, we have our work cut out for us. But I think we can confidently say that change is coming. And we will build a more perfect union.
Yes, we can.
Sam Webb encourages working people to join the Communist Party USA and build Clubs in their neighborhoods, schools and where they work.
For more information on building a broad peoples coalition, check out "The People's Front" by Earl Browder, available from booksellers on the Internet. Earl Browder is widely regarded as the architect of the "New Deal" and "The People's Lobby."
Also of interest are books by Frank Marshall Davis, William Z. Foster, Paul Robeson, Gus Hall.
Information about "The Minnesota People's Bailout," which Communists support, can be found in my previous blog posting.
The headlines aren't getting any better... unemployment and poverty continue to grow as the depression sets in.There is no end in sight.Capitalism is rotten to the core and on the skids to oblivion; we are headed down the road to perdition... straight to hell with no stops in purgatory.All the while politicians twiddle their thumbs.Minnesota State Senator David Tomassoni has brought forward "The People's Bailout." So far he has gotten about as far with his colleagues as he did with legislation to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant and two-thousand jobs.Senator Tomassoni is going to need some help getting "The People's Bailout" passed.Maybe we should consider organizing some kind of "People's Lobby" based upon the tactics used in building the "People's Front" during the 1930's Depression.The "People's Lobby" was part of the broad based campaign which won the New Deal reforms.
Make the Minnesota People's Bailout the pattern for national legislation.
Educate!
Organize!
Struggle!Fight-back!Any thoughts?Alan L. Maki Iron Range loses 590 jobs at Minntacby Jessica Mador, Minnesota Public RadioFebruary 19, 2009U.S. Steel is laying off almost 600 workers at a plant in Mountain Iron on Minnesota's Iron Range. Despite record sales and profits last year, company officials say the economic downturn has hit the company hard, leaving them no choice but to cut jobs at the Minntac Mine. Mountain Iron, Minn. — The layoffs at Minntac amount to almost half the workforce. 500 union and 90 management workers are being idled as US Steel shuts down two production lines at the mine. A spokeswoman for U.S. Steel declined to speak on tape, but she said the layoffs are temporary. Workers will be brought back if the market improves, but orders for steel are down and she says it's impossible to know when that could happen. The mayor of nearby Mountain Iron says it won't be soon enough. Gary Skalko said news of the layoffs have hit the town hard. "We are a tough breed up here. The people will survive but it is devastating and we will stick together," Skalko said. "The biggest concern that I have is that the economy can or will turn around to get these people back to work for a long term basis." Skalko said the layoffs will have a massive ripple effect because most of the other industry in the area is mining related. In the final three months of last year, when the financial crisis hit, U.S. Steel's profit fell by two-thirds compared to the previous three months. As the economy continued to weaken, U.S. Steel idled several plants and reduced operations at others around the country. The company laid off 3,500 workers late last year after idling production at plants in Michigan, Illinois and Keewatin Minnesota. Officials with the United Steelworkers couldn't be reached for comment, but one told the Associated Press that this round of layoffs blindsided the union. Skalko worries the laid off workers won't be able to find other jobs because the entire economy is suffering. "We have got to get them back to work in a relatively short period of time," he said. "I don't even want to think of the alternative. I don't even want to think about that right now. It would be totally devastating." The layoffs at Minntac are expected to take effect over the next couple of weeks.
“At-will hiring, at-will firing” is the main and primary impediment to union organizing in this country and we don’t hear one peep from the union leaderships on this problem. What will the AFL-CIO and Change To Win propose Democrats do to rescind “at-will hiring, at-will firing” legislation in these twenty-eight states which include Minnesota and Michigan? I have posed this question time, and time again, to state and federal legislators, Mr. Sweeney and Mr. Stern--- and the “progressive media,” including In These Times through comments and e-mails to the editors to no avail, which makes me wonder if there are many people who see politics as more of a game than a struggle to create a better life for working people. Furthermore, given the nearly unanimous silence on the part of U.S. unions--- including the AFL-CIO and CTW--- while labor all over the world condemned Israel’s destructive pogrom and killing spree against the Palestinians in Gaza, one has to wonder if the Democratic Party is not playing working people for suckers and fools in using the Employee Free Choice Act as a club over the heads of organized labor: keep your mouths shut about everything else and “be good little boys and girls” and we might consider giving you a bone: EFCA. That unions in this country have bought into imperialism in this way is contemptible and despicable and most likely has more to do with the failure of AFL-CIO & CTW unions being unable to organize beyond their present 11% of the workers in this country than any anti-labor legislation or lack there of. Although, the failure to protect the jobs of the workers they already collect dues from probably has a great deal to do with the disgraceful state of organized labor in this country, too. “Getting ready to rumble?” More like running away from the class struggle with Barack Obama and the Democrats.
We need the Employee Free Choice Act; but, is the cost too high?Alan L. Maki Director of Organizing, Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
http://canadianlabour.ca/en/canadian-labour-congress-calls-for-support-united-nations-peace-process-middle-east
Canadian Labour Congress Calls For Support of United Nations Peace Process in Middle East
2009-01-06 21:11
As the United Nations Security Council prepares to meet over the military assault by Israel in Gaza, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) calls on Prime Minister Harper to condemn the serious violations of humanitarian and international law and support a negotiated end to the violence in the Middle East.
"We support the United Nation's efforts to end hostilities by both sides", said CLC President Ken Georgetti in a letter addressed to the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, asking him to help strengthen UN efforts to bring about an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Palestine and open the way for a peace process in the region.
The CLC condemns both the actions of Hamas in launching rockets into Israel, ending a fragile six-month cease-fire, and Israel's military offensive into Gaza in response. With the death and injury toll rising daily, Georgetti says the Canadian government can play a leadership role in urging Israel to reopen the border crossings so that essential aid can reach the 1.5 million people suffering under a yearlong blockade of Gaza. The conflict has left Gaza's economy in shambles with an unemployment rate approaching 80%.
The CLC has joined with trade unions in Jordan and Palestine to launch an international appeal for food and medical relief for people affected by the conflict. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has also written to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling for the UN to bring about an immediate cease-fire.
The UN Security Council will be meeting tonight to consider a resolution which could support an end to Israel's military assault, stop Hamas' rocket attacks against Israel, open Gaza's border crossings and involve international monitors in some capacity.
Georgetti said the CLC wants the Canadian government to support these measures and to urge UN Security Council to adopt them.
Minnesota’s politicians have reneged on their repeated pre-election promises for health care reform for the last 60 years.
Quite frankly, we are fed up with this foot-dragging amid all kinds of phony schemes they have concocted in the name of reform which seek to put the burden of health care costs on the backs of the working class instead of where the primary burden belongs--- on those who profit from the labor of working people.
We thought we would help guide Minnesota politicians along in their efforts to achieve health care reform.
Health care is a human right.
Introducing a real solution to the present health care mess created by a profit driven system which places profits before the health care needs of people.
People before profits.
A proposal for real health care reform legislation from the working people of Minnesota.
Introducing the:
Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act
From here on in this Act of the Minnesota Legislature shall be known as the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
The intent of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be to provide Minnesotans with a world-class public health care system.
The sole purpose of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be to keep people healthy and get them well when sick.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall provide no-fee/no-premium universal health care for every single person present in Minnesota.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall provide prenatal to burial health care which shall include, but not be limited to: eyes, dental, mental and general health care including any prescribed medications and shall include any physician directed physical therapy; home health care and nursing home care shall be included along with any hospitalization and the care associated with any hospital stay.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall include public financing of the complete Health Care System.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be publicly administered with the only goals and objectives explicitly limited to providing Minnesotans with health care in accordance with the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
All those employed in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be public employees protected under the terms of one collectively bargained labor-management agreement between the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System and the Union freely chosen by majority vote of the members in accordance with the all labor laws and protections.
All and any discrimination in employment and in receiving health care under the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be prohibited--- including, but not limited to, discrimination based on: race, sex, age, class, religious and political beliefs.
All health care professionals, from administrators and staff to doctors and nurses employed in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall receive free education and training with any required subsidies through university and for any required periodic training associated with their employment and delivery of health care.
No restrictions shall be placed on any private health care providers who shall be free to compete with the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
Anyone is free to avail themselves of private health care for which they shall be liable for all payments except when required health care may not be available through the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
The Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be paid for thusly:
1. A payroll tax on all workers which shall not exceed more than four-percent of income. Any worker making less than what the United States Department of Labor and its Bureau of Labor Statistics determines to be a real living income based upon cost of living factors shall be assessed one-percent of income and during periods of unemployment and/or income below the requirement no tax shall be collected. 2. Employers will be assessed a flat fee, per employee, based upon the number of employees. One to ten employees: $600.00 per month. Eleven to thirty employees $650.00 per month. Thirty-one to eighty employees $750.00 per month. Eighty-one to two-hundred employees $800.00 per month. Over 201 employees, employers shall be required to pay $900.00 per month. These figures shall be base tax-rates subject to yearly adjustments to be determined by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System. 3. If additional revenue is required to finance the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System; this revenue shall be raised by specially designated increases in the taconite tax and stumpage fees from the mining and forestry industries respectively. 4. No funds collected for the purpose of funding the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be used for any other purpose. 5. All funds presently designated for any other health care programs, whether local, state or federal shall herein after be designated for the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System. 6. All present local, state and federal health care programs operating in Minnesota shall be phased-into and merged into the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System. 7. Any and all health care education provided by public institutions shall be administered with the objective and goal of providing the required support for the success of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System with any duplication between colleges and universities to cease when it is possible to combine these educational services with the goal being to cut costs while providing the best possible training to maintain world class standards of health care for all Minnesotans.
1. A payroll tax on all workers which shall not exceed more than four-percent of income. Any worker making less than what the United States Department of Labor and its Bureau of Labor Statistics determines to be a real living income based upon cost of living factors shall be assessed one-percent of income and during periods of unemployment and/or income below the requirement no tax shall be collected.
2. Employers will be assessed a flat fee, per employee, based upon the number of employees. One to ten employees: $600.00 per month. Eleven to thirty employees $650.00 per month. Thirty-one to eighty employees $750.00 per month. Eighty-one to two-hundred employees $800.00 per month. Over 201 employees, employers shall be required to pay $900.00 per month. These figures shall be base tax-rates subject to yearly adjustments to be determined by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
3. If additional revenue is required to finance the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System; this revenue shall be raised by specially designated increases in the taconite tax and stumpage fees from the mining and forestry industries respectively.
4. No funds collected for the purpose of funding the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be used for any other purpose.
5. All funds presently designated for any other health care programs, whether local, state or federal shall herein after be designated for the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
6. All present local, state and federal health care programs operating in Minnesota shall be phased-into and merged into the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System.
7. Any and all health care education provided by public institutions shall be administered with the objective and goal of providing the required support for the success of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System with any duplication between colleges and universities to cease when it is possible to combine these educational services with the goal being to cut costs while providing the best possible training to maintain world class standards of health care for all Minnesotans.
Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be appointed by a specially created Committee of Minnesota Legislators with the inclusion of one representative of the public, one representative from organized labor, one representative from the union representing employees of the Health Care System and one representative from business.
In order to initially secure the required staff for the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System all public university and college administrators together with all Administrators of any and all government programs in Minnesota shall have their pay and/or salaries cut by thirty percent to subsidize the training and education of the professional staff from doctors to nurses as required. This pay-cut shall remain in effect until the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is fully staffed and therein after the responsibility of free education in the health care field shall be the responsibility of the State of Minnesota.
ALL children and their families in Minnesota shall be informed that a free education through university/college will be provide to any student meeting minimum required grade standards established by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System provided they agree to work in the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System for salaries not to exceed base pay of $65,000.00 a year for no less than 12 years; this salary shall include, but not be limited to, doctors and all Administrators. A special effort shall be made to recruit students from Indian Reservations and working class communities in rural and urban areas based upon the assumption that these students will be the most caring for those in the communities they come from. The pay schedule shall be modified on a yearly basis in consideration of cost-of-living factors as scientifically calculated by the United States Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The responsibility for placing the required number of employees and personnel in local communities shall be determined by the Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System based solely upon the health care requirements of the Community with providing Minnesotans with a world class health care System always in mind.
Public education centering on keeping people healthy shall be a primary responsibility of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System for two reasons:
A. Healthy people are a far less burden on the health care system; B. To be healthy is a human right.
A. Healthy people are a far less burden on the health care system;
B. To be healthy is a human right.
The Administrators of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System shall be empowered to order employers (public and private) to remedy any and all problems related to human health. The cost and expense of correcting any and all problems shall be the responsibility of the Employer. All workers, without fear of recrimination, shall be educated and encouraged to report all health related concerns in their place of employment and in the communities where they reside.
Whenever possible, people will be allowed to have their choice of doctors; however, the primary goal of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide everyone with quality health care through fully trained and caring health care professionals.
The intent of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide all Minnesotans a universal health care system where health care is once and for all placed over and above the profit system. The sole objective of the Jourdain-Perpich-Olson-Benson Public Health Care System is to provide people with health care; not the health care industry with profits.
Roger Jourdain was the long-time serving Chairman of the Red Lake Nation who pioneered bringing health care to a community of Native American people who previous to his advocacy of health care as a human right had no access to heath care.
Rudy Perpich was the Governor of Minnesota who proposed increasing the taconite tax to provide better government for people, which included adequate health care.
Floyd B. Olson and Elmer A. Benson were the socialist governors of Minnesota who were among the first to advocate for a comprehensive, all-inclusive public health care system.
The Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act provides the only practical and pragmatic health care alternative to private, for-profit health care.
The time has come for Minnesotans to boldly move forward in the area of health care reform based upon progressive Minnesota traditions.
Minnesotans have soundly rejected the for profit health care system, and at every opportunity Minnesotans have articulated their desire for what is embodied in the Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act.
The time has come for the democratic will of the majority of Minnesotans to prevail when it comes to health care reform.
Consideration for similar national health care reform should be brought forward as part of the country-wide discussions now underway.
We propose that a national health care act be brought forward based upon the Roger Jourdain – Rudy Perpich – Floyd B. Olson – Elmer A. Benson Memorial Public Health Care System Act.
We further propose that this national health care act become known as the Franklin D. Roosevelt – Frances Perkins National Health Care Act; so named in the memory of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, who courageously stood up to the American Medical Association and the wealthy few in defense of a public health care program serving the health care needs of the American people to be included as part of the “New Deal.”
Any country spending trillions of dollars on wars and death and destruction can meet the health care needs of its citizens--- it really is as simple as this.
Initiated and Proposed by:
Minnesotans for Peace and Social Justice Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council Red Lake Casino, Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ Union Organizing Committee Grand Casino Workers for Justice Mystic Lake Casino Workers Organizing Committee 100 Concerned Members of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party Thief River Falls Political Action Committee Iron Range Club of the Communist Party USA
Minnesotans for Peace and Social Justice
Red Lake Casino, Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ Union Organizing Committee
Grand Casino Workers for Justice
Mystic Lake Casino Workers Organizing Committee
100 Concerned Members of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party
Thief River Falls Political Action Committee
Iron Range Club of the Communist Party USA
Dear Single Payer Supporters -There's an unusual opportunity to promote single payer to the Obama administration coming up this weekend.This Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 13-14, the Obama Transition Team is sponsoring "Change is Coming" house parties across the country. To find one near you, go to:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/changeiscoming/
These meetings are an opportunity to meet neighbors and to educate them about single payer national health insurance, and to let the Obama Transition Team know there is broad support for the single-payer solution.What better bailout for the big automakers and for the rest of us, than affordable, single payer health care?If you need more information than the talking points below, go to www.pnhp.org/changeKay TillowAll Unions Committee for Single Payer Healthcare--HR 676c/o Nurses Professional Organization1169 Eastern Parkway #2218Louisville, KY 40217(502) 636-1551Nursenpo@aol.com12/11/08 TALKING POINTS:
WHY THE MANDATE PLANS WON'T WORK, AND WHY SINGLE PAYER "MEDICARE FOR ALL" IS WHAT WE NEED1. Americans are afraid that they can't afford to get sick. Those of us with insurance are paying more and more of the premium and more out-of-pocket as well. Studies show further that we face bankruptcy if we get sick(1). Many among us have to choose between paying for medicine and paying for food and housing. And with the recent economic downturn, the ranks of those without insurance are growing.2. A majority of physicians (59 percent) and an even higher proportion of Americans (62 percent or more) support single-payer national health insurance or "Medicare for All."(2) In spite of this, all we are hearing about today are mandate plans that would require everyone to buy the same private insurance that is already failing us. These proposals don't regulate insurance premiums, they don't keep the insurance companies from refusing to pay many of our bills, and they don't improve the insurance we now have. Some offer a "public option," but this will quickly become too expensive as the sick flee to the public sector as private insurers avoid them, abandon them, or make it too difficult for them to get their bills paid.3. These proposals won't work, either to expand coverage or to contain costs. Plans like these have been tried in many states over the past two decades (Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington State, Oregon, Minnesota, Vermont, Maine).(3) They have all failed to reduce the number of uninsured or to contain costs.4. These mandate plans will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the nation's health care costs. In this economic downturn, we need assure health care for all without adding to the nation's cost and the government's deficit. The bottom line is: these proposals don't reform our fragmented, inefficient system, they just add to its complexity and costs.5. As long as we continue to rely on private for-profit insurers, universal coverage will be unaffordable. Their administrative costs consume nearly one-third of our health care dollar.(4) We will never have enough money to provide everyone with decent care until we eliminate private insurance with its enormous waste and inadequate coverage. And we will never be able to keep costs down and get the care we need as long as the wasteful and unnecessary insurance companies stand between us and our doctors.6. Every other industrialized country has some form of universal health care. None uses profitmaking, investor-owned insurance companies like ours to provide health care for all their people.(5)7. We have an American system that works. It's Medicare. It's not perfect, but Americans with Medicare are far happier than those with private insurance. Doctors face fewer hassles in getting paid, and Medicare has been a leader in keeping costs down. And keep in mind that Medicare insures people with the greatest health care needs: people over 65 and the disabled. We should improve and expand Medicare to cover everyone.8. A single-payer "Medicare for All" system is embodied in H.R. 676, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers and 92 other members of Congress. It wouldhave:· Automatic enrollment for everyone· Comprehensive services covering all medically necessary care anddrugs· Free choice of doctor and hospital, who remain independent andnegotiate their fees and budgets with a public or nonprofit agency· Public or nonprofit agency processes and pays the bills· Entire system financed through progressive taxes· Help job growth and the entire U.S. economy by removing the burdenof health costs from business· Cover everyone without spending any more than we are now.(6)9. The growth in health care costs must be addressed if any proposal is to succeed.· Single payer offers real tools to contain costs: budgeting,especially for hospitals, planning of capital investments, and an emphasis on primary care and coordination of care.· Mandate plans offer only hopes: competition among insurancecompanies, computerization, chronic disease management. Competition among the shrinking number of insurance companies has already failed to contain costs and, in the absence of single payer and reformed primary care, computerization and chronic disease management will raise costs, not lower them.10. Single-payer Medicare for All is the right answer:· It is right on choice. It provides free choice of doctor andhospital, the choice Americans want and value. In mandate plans, we lose those choices.· It is right on efficiency. Single payer would slash administrativecosts and promote efficient primary care. It would also enhance evidence-based quality assurance.· It is right on accountability. It will be a public, nonprofitsystem that will respond to what doctors and their patients need, not what corporate executives and their stockholders want.1. "Illness and Injury as Contributors to Bankruptcy," D. Himmelstein et al., Health Affairs Web Exclusive, February 2, 2005. 2. Carroll, A., Ackerman, R., "Support for National Health Insurance Among U.S. Physicians: 5 Years Later," Annals of Internal Medicine, 148(7), April 1, 2008; ABC News/Washington Post, Oct. 9-13, 2003, Associated Press/Yahoo News Poll, Dec. 14-20, 2007. 3. S. Woolhandler, et al., "State Health Reform Flatlines," International Journal of Health Services, 2008; Marcia Angell, "Health Reform You Shouldn't Believe In," The American Prospect, April 21, 2008. 4. S. Woolhandler, et al., "Costs of Health Care Administration in the U.S. and Canada," New England Journal of Medicine, Sept. 21, 2003; J.G. Kahn et al., "The Cost of Health Insurance Administration in California: Estimates for Insurers, Physicians, and Hospitals," Health Affairs, 2005. 5. Reid, T.R., "Sick Around the World," PBS, April 15, 2008; Thompson, S., Mossialos, E., "Private Health Insurance and Access to Health Care in the European Union," Euro Observer, Spring 2004. 6. United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act), H.R.676, www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.676; "Health Care for All Californians Act: Cost and Economic Impacts Analysis," The Lewin Group, January 2005By Len Rodberg, PhD, Co-chair, PNHP NYMetro Chapter
This "Main Street Recovery Program" lacks many specifics and intentionally omits support for H.R. 676 and socialized health care; with the biggest drawback being that no resources have been made available by these organizations aimed at empowering working people in their communities and where they work... but, the general thrust here is something we all need to support.
Also lacking is any clear program relating to legislation for a real living wage which is the real, fundamental and basic way to redistribute wealth in this country in order to solve the problems of the working class as we seek a more just socialist alternative to capitalism.
In fact, the capitalist system which is now obviously on the skids to oblivion is not even challenged in this statement.
It is not that I disregard the fundamental weaknesses in this statement as I endorse the "Main Street Recovery Program," but, rather, on the basis of its many strengths in bringing forward a new direction for our country.
It would be naive to assume that even such a modest liberal program as that being floated here will take shape under the Obama Administration unless all those who supported and than voted for Obama along with the millions of liberals and progressives who supported other candidates or did not vote at all are brought into the decision-making process to correct the glaring weaknesses relating to specific solutions to specific problems with the full and complete empowerment of the people forcing action out from the government through mass pressure tactics as employed during the depression years under the leadership of the left--- most natably the Communist Party and the emerging network of trade union activists.
The Campaign for America's Future who put this together is known for its outstanding statements which remail on paper to only be filed away without any action. We can change this through education, organization, unity and action... learning from the struggles of the Thirties and the present struggles like those heroic workers in Chicago at Republic Windows and Doors who have demonstrated the importance of working people taking bold, militant action in defense of their own livelihoods and for the rights of all working people.
In fact, we are facing are living in a depression growing worse by the day; not in a recession. Over a year ago the recession was well underway and in this time has come a full-blown depression from which "economic recovery" is not possible--- not for the working class. We are now well into a severe capitalist crisis caused by "over production" in a world where people are starving and require the basics of life.
It will be interesting to see just how much the Campaign for America's Future and the endorsers of this program are willing to bend to the real needs of the working class for real solutions to their problems; and, then, how much Obama will listen.
There is far too much emphasis here on middle class and middle income when the primary emphasis should be on creating a society with a living minimum wage and incomes for the entire working class.
There is something very wrong with a distinguished group of middle class intellectuals not taking to task the need to eliminate poverty in this country... the wealthiest country in the world.
We need to keep in mind as we live in the midst of this economic depression that wealth may be disappearing from sight and from our view, but this wealth exists all the same as it is only in the process of changing hands as the wealthiest come to control and dominate even more. This is very important for us to remember because it is this wealth that we need to be concerned about; along with the ownership and control of the mines, mills and factories where this wealth has been created.
The time has come to bring the failing auto, steel and power generating industries as well as banking under public ownership through nationalization so wealth becomes the property of society rather than of the few... another problem the "Main Street Recovery Program" fails to address... common sense dictates that tax-payers should own what the finance through bailouts... including owning and controlling the wealth created.
Also overlooked in importance is the question of peace and the need to end these dirty imperialist wars for oil and regional domination so we can transfer funds from war-making which subsidizes the profits of a thoroughly corrupt military-financial-industrial complex to financing human needs--- from health care to education and a massive jobs program... we simply can't tolerate plunging our Nation into debt even further than it already is to finance an even modest program as suggested below.
But, when all is said and done, the "Main Street Recovery Program" is an excellent new beginning towards a real new New Deal... with some tweaking here and there we should be able to turn it into something a real new People's Front can mobilize support for built on the foundation left to us by the old Left which served the working class so well.
Perhaps the single most important omission in the "Main Street Recovery Program" is a real sense of urgency which is so typical of this liberal intellectual community.
Understandably, people losing their jobs, homes and having their utilities turned off in the middle of the winter have a greater sense of urgency and a greater desire to see problems resolved than middle class intellectuals... this sense of urgency is what adds the kind of militancy to struggles built around these kinds of ideas which brings such ideas to reality in the form of, not only government policy, but in pushing the government to establish programs... and this, after all, is the kind of change we all seek.
This is why it is so important that people be empowered at the grassroots and rank and file level... the only sure way we will win the real change we are seeking as the Wall Street crowd, which at this point has the primary influence over Obama and is prepared to fight tooth and nail to defend their profit system.
It would have brought credibility and stregnth to the "Main Steet Recovery Program" to have had the endorsements of the Republic Door and Window workers who seized control of the plant in Chicago in defense of their rights as endorsers of this progressive agenda.
In fact, these middle class intellectuals should have had the common sense, in the interest of forging a broad and powerful People's Front, to insist on obtaining initial endorsements from grassroots community activists and rank and file working class activists.
A MAIN STREET RECOVERY PROGRAM from the Campaign for America's Future; provided here for your consideration and for further dialogue, discussion and debate.
Executive Summary
Our economy now faces the most serious crisis since the Great Depression. The financialcrisis that was triggered by the bursting of the housing bubble has now spread to the realeconomy, and we face a sharp downturn that is spreading across the globe. A seriousrecession now seems unavoidable in the United States, as well as Europe and Japan. Thedeveloping world is already struggling with financial turmoil and economic decline. For thefirst time since the 1930s, we face a real risk of deep worldwide economic contraction.
Restoring economic growth will require a bold, multifaceted plan. This must begin with arecovery program for Main Street – substantial fiscal expansion to revive the real economy.With a deep and long global downturn now likely, any plan for reviving the economyshould be substantial, strategic, and sustained. It should also be coordinated withsimultaneous efforts across the world.
Reviving our nearly $15 trillion economy will require substantial fiscal expansion. Withinterest rates already low, monetary policy can provide little help. The decline inconsumption brought by the collapse of housing and stock prices has already been dramatic.Now states and localities must cut spending or raise taxes to balance budgets. Exports aredeclining as the world economy slows.
Three percent of GDP – about $450 billion each year for two years, a total of $900 billion –should define the floor, not the ceiling, of what needs to be done.
The plan must be strategic, focused on public investment in areas vital to strengtheningAmerica’s long-term competitiveness. Public investments are far more efficient at stimulatingthe economy than tax cuts for individuals or businesses. The money allocated will be spentand will produce jobs here. And public investment provides a long-term return in the higherproductivity of transport on modern roads and rail, the higher productivity of better-trainedworkers, and the new technologies spawned from higher research and development funds.
Central to the plan should be investment in green technology, reducing our dependence onforeign oil, and addressing the rising threat of global warming. It must also target the states,funding vital health care and public programs so the recession is not worsened by localbudget-cutting. This will also help to maintain the income of the people most likely to spendin the economy.
Finally, the recovery plan must be sustained. Two years of deficit-funded stimulus shouldhelp the economy recover. But it will take many years of fiscal expansion to move us from aneconomy driven by booms and busts of asset bubbles to one of sustained and balancedgrowth.
□ □ □
A MAIN STREET RECOVERY PROGRAM
We now face the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The collapseof the housing bubble, followed by a credit freeze and stock market collapse, has erasedover $10 trillion in paper value in the U.S. alone. The debacle in housing exposed, in thewords of Noriel Roubini, a subprime global financial system that was recklessly overleveraged,laden with exotic securities of unknown value, and now facing staggeringlosses. Massive, and at times desperate, efforts by central banks across the world haveserved only to stave off collapse.
This financial contagion has now infected the real economy. A serious recessionnow seems unavoidable in the United States as well as in Europe and Japan. And thedeveloping world, which we were told was “de-coupled” from the U.S. and Europe, isfacing enormous strains of its own. For the first time since the 1930s, we face a real riskof worldwide deflation and substantial economic contraction.
Restoring economic growth will require a strong and multifaceted plan. Revivingthe financial system itself will require far more than the hastily assembled and badlydesigned $700 billion bailout passed in September. We must
(1) remedy the costly defects in the current plans;
(2) put in place a systematic program of real mortgage relieffor homeowners, and
(3) enact comprehensive reform of financial markets.
It is not possible, however, to simply clean up this mess and return to business asusual. Stabilizing the housing and financial markets and staving off a deep downturnmust be part of a broader, systemic effort to address the roots of this crisis.
For too long, our economy has been based on consumption sustained throughasset bubbles and easy credit, with the vast majority of new wealth accumulated onlyby those at the very top. We must chart a strategy to move towards sustainable, longtermgrowth, with blessings that are widely shared. This will require increasedgovernment investment in public education, in research and development of newtechnology, and in the modern infrastructure that is vital to building a competitiveeconomy. It must also include raising the minimum wage and reviving the right ofemployees to organize and bargain collectively, so that workers may once again capturea fair share of the productivity and wealth they help generate.
The new strategy must include access to comprehensive and affordable healthcare for all Americans. It must include a system of taxation that produces the revenuenecessary for supporting a vital public sector in a fairer and more progressive manner.We will also need a new global initiative to reform currency and financial regulations,to place the financial system in its proper role as servant to the real economy. And thisstrategy must be accompanied by a global trade regime that reduces unsustainabletrade imbalances and ensures that trade benefits workers in all participating countries.
In the coming weeks, we will address each of these issues. We begin below withan analysis of the steps needed to counter the deepening recession and get the realeconomy going again.
The Immediate Need: Reviving Main Street
The need for substantial fiscal expansion to revive the real economy is clear andpresent, as a long and deep downturn now seems inescapable. The economy has beenlosing private-sector jobs for 12 months. Unemployment is already at a five-year highand continues to rise, and many employees are working fewer hours than they wish,facing pay and benefit cuts, or dropping out of the workforce in discouragement. Aftertaking into consideration workers who take part-time jobs out of necessity and thosewho are otherwise marginally attached to the labor force, the effective unemploymentrate at the end of November was an extraordinary 12.5 percent.
Consumers are cutting back, as their confidence has been shaken by staggeringlosses in housing and stock-market values. Manufacturing has been relentlesslyshedding jobs over the last seven years and is now in a near-free fall. Construction hasbeen decimated by the bursting of the housing bubble and the freezing of credit. Retailstores are girding for a grim holiday season. Exports, which had risen with the fallingdollar, will now be slowed by the global economic downturn. States and localities thathad increased public employment over the past year now face declining revenues andrising deficits which will force layoffs and cutbacks in needed services. Our economy isin trouble and needs action now.
While more monetary loosening is likely, its effects will be limited, as interestrates are already at low levels. A major fiscal stimulus is essential. Though the $700billion Wall Street bailout may have been necessary, it was not simulative. In the end,banks will only lend at needed levels when there is a growing economy in which tolend. And while budget deficits have already risen, they pose no immediate danger asthe global crisis has witnessed a flight of investment back to the dollar, allowing forrelatively low-cost financing.
With a deep and long global downturn now likely, any plan for reviving theeconomy should be substantial, strategic and sustained. It is also imperative that it becoordinated with similar efforts across the world. The U.S. cannot be expected to lift theglobal economy alone.
Reviving our nearly $15 trillion economy will require substantial fiscalexpansion. The consumption effects of the collapse of housing and stock prices havealready been dramatic, as reflected in the bottoming of consumer confidence. Whengross domestic product growth fell to negative levels at the end of 2000 and Americawas hit by the shock of 9-11, the U.S. general government budget (federal, state andlocal combined) went from reporting a surplus of approximately 1.3 percent of GDP torunning a deficit of about 4.9 percent GDP by the end of 2004 – the equivalent of over$900 billion in fiscal stimulus. Even that stimulus – which was bolstered by extremelylow interest rates, a thriving financial system, a housing asset bubble, and a growingglobal economy – produced only a slow recovery and stagnant incomes. Today’s crisisis worse, and fiscal expansion must do much more of the heavy lifting. Although notdirectly comparable, China recently announced a stimulus plan focused entirely on theinternal investment of 7 percent of their GDP each year for two years.
Three percent of GDP -- about $450 billion each year for two years, for a totalof $900 billion -- should define the floor, not the ceiling, of what needs to be done.The plan for reviving the economy must be strategic, focused on publicinvestment in areas vital to strengthening America’s long-term competitiveness, notsimply on giving consumers or businesses a temporary boost through tax rebates. Aswe detail below, central elements of the plan should include investment in greentechnology, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and addressing the rising threat ofglobal warming. We should also move to repair and modernize our intellectual andphysical infrastructure and to provide temporary financial assistance to workers mostin need. This approach will generate jobs immediately and contribute to greaterproductivity and international competitiveness.
Public investments are far more efficient at stimulating the economy than taxcuts for either individuals or businesses are. First, all investment spending will in factbe spent, whereas data suggests that only 20 percent of the recent tax rebates went intoconsumption; the remainder was saved or used to reduce consumer debt.
Second, more of the jobs generated through public investment will be createdhere. In contrast, a good portion of the tax rebates were spent on goods manufacturedabroad, creating jobs in China and elsewhere. Infrastructure funding targetsconstruction workers, who have been hit hardest by the housing market’s collapse.Infrastructure projects are tangible and visible, helping to generate needed confidencein recovery. Economic models, such as the one used by Mark Zandi of Moody’sEconomy.com, show that in the first year, stimulus investments in the form ofinfrastructure spending, aid to state governments, and extended unemploymentbenefits or food stamps generate more GDP growth per dollar than do tax cuts orrebates.
1 And public investment is just that: an investment. Money spent earns a return inthe form of higher productivity from workers who take advantage of broader andcleaner transportation choices and faster broadband connections, and from studentswhose ability to learn is improved by modernized schools or attendance at otherwiseunaffordable colleges.
Critics argue that public investment takes too long to begin, claiming thatrecessions end before infrastructure money has been spent. This argument has littlerelevance now, as we face a recession that is likely to be deep and long if we do notprovide a sustained response. Moreover, in recent recessions, labor markets recoveredfar more slowly than other elements of the economy. In the recession of 2001, forexample, it took more than two years for employment rates to bottom out and fouryears before they rose above pre-recession levels. In addition, there is a significantbacklog of infrastructure projects that are ready to go and lack only the resources tomove forward. Governor John Corzine of New Jersey testified that his state alone has$1.5 billion of projects ready to start in 90 days. A survey by the American Associationof State Highway and Transportation Officials found over 3,000 projects totaling $17.9billion that are ready to launch within 90 days of receiving funding. A compilation bythe Economic Policy Institute found $20 billion worth of school projects that are readyto begin.
Any recovery plan must also be sustained. Ending the recession, however difficult, isnot sufficient. It will take many years of fiscal expansion through public investment tomove us from an economy driven by the booms and busts of asset bubbles to onedriven by sustained and balanced growth. During the initial two-year period ofincreased deficit spending, we should be formulating a multiyear plan to change oureconomic priorities. After the first two years, this program should be permanent,productive and paid for. Long-term investments in public education and training, inhealth care, in modernizing our infrastructure, in urban reconstruction, and in researchand development should be sustained not by deficit spending but by changes in howwe use our resources.
Returning to a more progressive tax code – by closing corporate loopholes such as theegregious carried-interest tax break and by collecting the $300 billion a year that the IRSis owed but does not collect – could easily raise over $600 billion a year.
Core Elements of the Recovery Plan
At $450 billion a year for two years, a recovery plan should focus on thefollowing core elements:
Green Investment.
A first priority should be a green investment agenda designed toreduce our dependence on foreign oil and address the rising threat of global warming.Green Recovery, a report by Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts’ PoliticalEconomy Research Institute, and the Center for American Progress, documentsopportunities for creating two million green jobs over two years by investing nearly$100 billion in six green infrastructure areas: retrofitting buildings to improve energyefficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail networks, constructing “smart”electric-grid systems, increasing capacity for generating power from wind and solarenergy, and developing carbon capture technologies and next-generation biofuels.
2 This amount should be considered a minimum and could be expanded if appropriate planscan be rapidly developed. We designate $50 billion of this package for investment ingreen projects that will generate jobs and growth in the near term.
3 Infrastructure Modernization and Repair. A second priority is major investment in stateof-the-art national infrastructure, including everything from roads and bridges toschools, airports, and sewers. These investments generate jobs while providing thefoundation for greater productivity for our factories and offices, better health for allcitizens and a better education for our children.
In an America that is literally falling apart, the need for this investment isapparent. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, over two-thirds ofAmerica’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition, resulting in billions wasted onautomobile repairs and traffic delays.
4 More than one in four bridges are rated structurally deficient or obsolete and half of waterway locks are functionally obsolete.
5 The Department of Education found that 43 percent of schools are in a state of disrepairso severe that it “interferes with the delivery of instruction.”
6 The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that getting the nation’s infrastructure in good working condition would require $1.6 trillion spent over five years, or more than $300 billion peryear.
7 The Economic Policy Institute has compiled a range of infrastructure projects –including building high-quality drinking water and wastewater systems, andmodernizing and repairing schools and roads – that total about $40 billion and are“ready to go.” There is an estimated $32 billion backlog of repairs and rebuildingneeded to bring public housing into good condition. A $75 billion investment programin the first year could easily be expanded to $150 billion, still less than the amountdeemed justifiable by the Congressional Budget Office in the second.
8 Aid to States. The economic downturn has left state and municipal finances in direstraits. Tax revenues are plummeting as demand for services is rising. The Center forBudget and Policy Priorities reports that at least 41 states face shortfalls in their budgetsthis year or will face shortfalls next year. Twenty-nine states closed shortfalls totaling$48 billion in their fiscal year 2009 operating budgets largely by drawing on “rainy dayfunds.” In fiscal year 2010, CBPP estimates that a total deficit of $100 billion will haveimpact on virtually every state. In previous recessions, the financial pressures on statescontinued building at least two years after the onset of the recession.
9 In past recessions, states have responded to budget gaps by reducing children’shealth care services, cutting spending on child care and education, restricting Medicaideligibility, cutting back or deferring construction projects, increasing taxes and publicuniversitytuition, and by slashing aid to localities, a move which often results in layoffsof police officers and firefighters. All of these actions add to the severity of thedownturn, bringing lay offs of even more workers and further burdens to citizens.
We suggest spending $50 billion on state aid in the first year and increasingspending to $75 billion in the second. The most effective measures would split fundsbetween flexible block grants for general revenue sharing (in order to prevent cuts infunding for education and other vital state programs), and a temporary increase infederal matching funds for Medicaid (in order to address the increase in demand forMedicaid and avoid cuts in health care that would lead to a sharp rise in the number ofuninsured).
As the Zandi modeling shows, aid to states has a relatively high stimulus impactper dollar spent, since the money is put to use immediately, and forestalls cutbacks andtax increases that would reinforce the downturn.
10 The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured also studied the role Medicaid plays in state and local economies and found that Medicaid spending generates economic activity, including jobs, income and state tax revenues, while reductions in state and federal Medicaid will lead todeclines in economic activity at the state level.
11 Investment in Public Education. Across the country, states are limiting or cutting backaid to universities. America’s great public universities, which allowed millions to jointhe middle class, no longer get most of their funding from state appropriations. This hasled to sharp increases in the costs borne by students and their families. Federal aidprograms have not kept up with these rising costs.
In 1979, the highest level of Pell Grants, which provide aid to the students mostin need, covered up to three quarters of the average cost of attending a four-year publiccollege. To return to that level of support, and to make college affordable for thousandsmore students by expanding eligibility for Pell Grants, would cost $35 billionannually.
12 This aid could be dispensed quickly through existing mechanisms andwould help to reduce downward pressure on labor markets by bringing potentialstudents into school. The importance of a college education will only grow in the yearsahead.
Many middle-class and low-income families rely on federally-subsidized studentloans to help pay for college education, and more are expected to seek federal loans astheir investments and income suffer during the economic downturn. Despite passageand extension of the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act, federal studentaid programs—which include Stafford, Perkins, and PLUS loans—currently face abudget shortfall of approximately $5 billion.
13 We recommend fully funding federal student aid programs, while expanding direct lending to secure the student loan market. Not only will this investment provide needed support to students and schools, it will generate a positive return as the loans are repaid.
14 Research and Development. Public investment in research and development – bothmilitary and non-military – now represents less than one-half the share of GDP that itdid at its height in the 1960s.
15 Increased productivity and national income growth is inherently linked to R&D investment that stimulates innovation and facilitates transmission of new technologies. For this country to compete and thrive in a global economy, staying on the cutting edge of research and development is vital.
This expansion should be continued even after the economy recovers, and will be paid for byrising revenues. There is no better investment in our future.
The Association of American Universities is currently gathering figures from thenational research centers to estimate the level of funding these agencies could easilyabsorb in one to two years. We conservatively estimate an increase of $5 billion in thefirst year and $10 billion in the second.
Health Care. In addition to meeting a very real need, this crisis provides anopportunity to increase access to and lower the cost of health care. Providing federalsupport to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and increasing accessto Medicaid would help reduce state-budget shortfalls and strengthen the health-caresafety net at a time when more families will be forced to rely on it. There is alsopotential to use stimulus investments to promote systemic changes that will spureconomic growth in the short-term and improve quality and cost-effectiveness of care inthe long-term. For instance, providing incentives for hospitals and physicians to adoptelectronic medical record systems could yield more than $80 billion in annual savings.
16 We recommend investing a total of approximately $15 billion in targeted health careprojects in the first year and $55 billion in the second, as a down-payment oncomprehensive health care reform.
Aid to Those in Need. Economic downturns hit the weakest and poorest familieshardest. The poorest families have the fewest resources on which to draw in the eventof a job loss or drop in income. Assistance given to them will be spent immediately onfood and medicine, and on rent and car loans.
17 Providing aid to those most in need is not only the morally right thing to do, it makes the most economic sense. Estimates by Moody’s Economy.com indicate that each dollar in tax cuts that include low-income households increases real GDP by $1.29, whereas tax reductions for capital gains and dividends yield less than 40 cents of real GDP growth on the dollar.
18 Providing jobless workers with assistance affording COBRA health insurancepremiums would help families avoid drawing down their savings to remain healthy.Based on Congressional Budget Office modeling, offering a 75 percent subsidy to alleligible workers is estimated to cost $11.75 billion over two years.
19 Modernizing the unemployment insurance system to meet the needs of thecontemporary workforce would cost approximately $7.5 billion.
20 Funds for this investment will be provided by an extension of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act(FUTA) surtax. A temporary 20 percent increase in the food stamp benefit would costapproximately $15 billion and would enable millions of low-income families to copewith rapid increases in food costs.
21 The Center for American Progress’ Task Force onPoverty estimates that the number of Americans living in poverty could be reduced bymore than a quarter through an annual investment of $38 billion to increase the EarnedIncome and Child Tax Credits, raise the minimum wage, and expand access to childcare.
22 Pre-K Now recommends the federal government invest about $1 billion a year inincentive grants to states to extend their pre-kindergarten programs. The Center onBudget and Policy Priorities believes states could spend an additional $1 billion in thefirst year and $1.5 billion in the 2nd year, in child care and an equivalent amount inHead Start for a total of $5 billion over 2 years for these two programs. In all, $80 billionwould be devoted to the purpose of reducing poverty.
Tax Cuts. A total of $450 billion of spending in the first year is the minimumnecessary to provide a real stimulus. Public investment provides the most stimuluseffect, but a decade of starvation has left many public entities without the capacity toabsorb all of the needed spending in the first year. Moreover, although the tax cutearlier this year did not adequately translate into consumer buying, the rapidlydeteriorating job market since then suggests that millions of low- and middle-incomeAmericans are struggling to meet their daily obligations, and therefore are more likelyto spend the proceeds of any tax relief they get.
The Economists’ Policy Group on Women’s Issues calls for the expansion ofpublic support for paid home-care workers; tax credits for family members providingfor their own disabled, elderly, and infirm; and a significant increase in the child credit,making it fully refundable, to provide tax relief to those who need it most. We thereforepropose $145 billion of tax relief in a refundable rebate targeted to low- and middleincometaxpayers in the first year, replaced by increased public investment in thesecond.Conclusion
Properly designed, the recovery program can not only help the economy getback on its feet, but also provide a down payment for a more productive and justsociety. The deficits involved in the first two years – along with those incurred by thefinancial bailout – will be significant, but they will be far less costly than allowing thisrecession to descend into a depression—a direction in which we could very well beheaded.
Total Proposed Stimulus Spending for Two Years(in billions of dollars)YearOneYearTwoGreen Investment23 $50 $50Infrastructure24 $75 $150Aid to States25 $50 $75Education26 $40 $40Research and Development27 $5 $10Health Care28 $15 $55Unemployment Insuranceand COBRA Subsidy29 $15 $15Food Stamps30 $15 $15Poverty Reduction31 $40 $40Middle-Class Tax Cut32 $145 -Total Over Two Years $900 billion
Endorsers
The undersigned have endorsed the Main Street Recovery Program.
Robert Borosage, Co‐Director, Institute for Americaʹs Future
Leo Gerard, International President, United Steelworkers (USW)
Dean Baker, Economist, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
Anna Burger, Chair, Change to Win
Jane DʹArista, Financial Markets Center
Jeff Faux, Economist & Founder, Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
James Galbraith, Economist
Heidi Hartmann, President, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Robert Johnson, Economist
Robert Kuttner, Co‐Editor, The American Prospect, Senior Fellow, Demos
Julie A. Matthaei, Professor of Economics, Wellesley College
Gerald W. McEntee, International President, American Federation of State, County andMunicipal Employees (AFSCME)
Lawrence Mishel, President, Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
Susan Ozawa, Economic Studies Fellow, Institute for Americaʹs Future
Robert Pollin, Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute(PERI), University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club
Andrew Stern, President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
John J. Sweeney, President, AFL‐CIO
Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association (NEA)
Mike Wessell, Senior Advisor, Alliance for American Manufacturing
Clayola Brown, National President, A. Philip Randolph Institute
Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Maria Somma, National President, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APLA)
Frank Hurt, International President, Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, andGrain Millers International Union (BCTGM)
Christopher Chafe, Executive Director, Change to Win
William Lucy, President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Marsha Zakowski, National President, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Matthew D. Loeb, International President, International Alliance of Theatrical StageEmployees (IATSE)
Gregory Junemann, President, International Federation of Professional & TechnicalEngineers (IFPTE)
Milton Rosado, National President, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement(LCLAA)
Gabriella D. Lemus, Executive Director, Labor Council for Latin AmericanAdvancement (LCLAA)
Terence M. O’Sullivan, General President, Laborers’ International Union of NorthAmerica (LIUNA)
Michael Sacco, President, Seafarers International Union (SIU)
Michael Sullivan, General President, Sheet Metal Workers InternationalAssociation (SMW)
James C. Little, International President, Transport Worker Union of America (TWU)
Robert A. Scardelletti, International President, Transportation CommunicationsInternational Union (TCU)
Bruce Raynor, General President, UNITE HERE
Ron Gettelfinger, President, United Auto Workers (UAW)
Steve Kest, Executive Director, ACORN
Rebecca Haag, Executive Director, AIDS Action
Nan Aron, President, Alliance for Justice
Mary Beth Maxwell, Executive Director, American Rights at Work
Amy Isaacs, National Director, Americans for Democratic Action
Jim Campen, Executive Director, Americans for Fairness in Lending
Linda Brown, Executive Director, Arizona Advocacy Network
Bill Moyer, Executive Director, Backbone Campaign
Kevin B. Zeese, Executive Director, Campaign for Fresh Air & Clean Politics
Karen Dolan, Director, Cities for Progress
Lynda Delaforgue, Executive Director, Citizen Action of Illinois
Karen Scharff, Executive Director, Citizen Action of New York
Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs
Don Mathis, President & CEO, Community Action Partnership
Tom Swan, Executive Director, CT Citizen Action Group
Miles Rapoport, President, Demos
Heidi Shierholz, Economist, Economic Policy Institute
Bill Newton, Executive Director, Florida Consumer Action Network
Larry Pellegrini, Executive Director, Georgia Rural Urban Summit
John Cavanaugh, Director, Institute for Policy Studies
Betty Ahrens, Executive Director, Iowa Citizen Action Network
Sarita Gupta, Executive Director, Jobs with Justice
Ben Manski, Executive Director, Liberty Tree Foundation for the DemocraticRevolution
Linda Teeter, Executive Director, Michigan Citizen Action
Jackie Kendall, Executive Director, Midwest Academy
Christine L. Owens, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project
Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Foundation
Ali Noorani, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum
Kim A. Gandy, President, National Organization for Women (NOW)
George Goehl, Executive Director, National Peopleʹs Action
Jo Cromerford, Executive Director, National Priorities Project
Don Morrison, Executive Director, NDPeople.org
Phyllis Salowe‐Kaye, Executive Director, New Jersey Citizen Action
Sarah L. Johnson, Organizer, NH Citizens Alliance
Sarah Chaisson Warner, Civic Engagement Director, NH Citizens Alliance
Karen Malcolm, Executive Director, Ocean State Action
Gary D. Bass, PhD, Executive Director, OMB Watch
Andrew Gillum, Director, People For Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network
Rev. Rolen Womack, Chair, People For Foundation’s African American MinistersLeadership Council
Kathryn Kolbert, President, People for the American Way Foundation (PFAW)
Brad Martin, Political Director, Progressive Future
Sean Dobson, Executive Director, Progressive Maryland
Brian Rothenberg, Executive Director, ProgressOhio
Nate Lowentheil, Executive Director, Roosevelt Institution
Tom Peters, Executive Director, Tennessee Action Network
Steve Gutow, President & CEO, The Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Charlie Clements, President & CEO, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
Lee Farris, Federal Tax Policy Coordinator, United for a Fair Economy
Carmen Berkley, President, United States Student Association
Jeff Blum, Executive Director, USAction
Will Pittz, Executive Director, Washington Community Action Network
Page Gardner, President, Women’s Voices. Women Vote Action Fund
Paula Brantner, Executive Director, Workplace Fairness
Gary Zuckett, Executive Director, WV Citizen Action Group
Tanweer Akram, Ph.D.
Randy Albelda, Professor of Economics and Senior Fellow, The Center for Social Policy
at University of Massachusetts ‐ Boston
Marcus Alexis, Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University
Sylvia A. Allegretto, Ph.D., Economist, Institute for Research on Labor & Employment,University of California, Berkeley
Gar Alperovitz, University of Maryland
Marcellus Andrews, Barnard College, Columbia University
Patricia A. Atkinson, Professor of Economics, Portland State University
M. V. Lee Badgett, Director, Center for Public Policy & Administration, University ofMassachusetts
Ron Baiman, DePaul University
Nina Banks, Bucknell University
Dr. Michael H. Belzer, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Wayne StateUniversity
Gunseli Berik, University of Utah
Carole Biewener, Professor of Economics and of Womenʹs and Gender Studies,Simmons College
Cihan Bilginsoy, University of Utah
Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D., University of Bahrain, Sakhir Campus
Oliver Cooke, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics, Richard Stockton College ofNew Jersey
David R. Cormier, Ph.D., Institute for Labor Studies and Research Extension Service,West Virginia University
Brendan Cushing‐Daniels, Assistant Professor of Economics, Gettysburg College
James M. Cypher, Professor of Economics, California State University, Fresno
Anita Dancs, Assistant Professor of Economics, Western New England College
William Darity, Jr., Duke University
Gregory DeFreitas, Professor of Economics, Hofstra University
Ranjit S. Dighe, Associate Professor of Economics, SUNY College at Oswego
Robert Drago, Professor of Labor Studies and Women’s Studies, Penn State University
Niev Duffy, Ph.D., President, Eastern Economic Research
Gerald Epstein, Professor of Economics and Co‐Director, Political Economy Research
Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Susan F. Feiner, Professor of Economics, University of Southern Maine
Deborah M. Figart, Ph.D., Dean, School of Graduate and Continuing Studies andProfessor of Economics, The Richard Stockton College of NJ
Gerald Friedman, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
William Ganley, Ph.D., Professor of Economics & Finance, Buffalo State College(SUNY)
Angel Garcia Banchs, Professor, New School University/Universidad Central deVenezuela
Carole A. Green, University of South Florida
Karl D. Gregory, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Economics, Oakland University
Robert Guttmann, Professor and Chair of Economics, Hofstra University
Martin Hart‐Landsberg, Professor of Economics, Lewis and Clark College
Susan Helper, Professor of Economics, Case Western Reserve University
Conrad M. Herold, Associate Professor of Economics, Hofstra University
Adam S. Hersh, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Economics, University ofMassachusetts, Amherst
Barbara E. Hopkins, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Wright State University
Michael D. Intriligator, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Political Science, and PublicPolicy, University of California, Los Angeles
Sanford M. Jacoby, Professor of Economics, UCLA
Mark A. Johnson, Associate Professor of Economics, Chicago State University
A.J. Julius, Assistant Professor, UCLA
Andrew I. Kohen, Professor of Economics, James Madison University
Benjamin Kohl, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Chair, Temple University
Douglas Koritz, Ph.D., Department of Economics & Finance and Assistant Dean forIntellectual Foundations, Buffalo State College
Rachel Kreier, Assistant Professor of Economics, Hofstra University
Peter Karl Kresl, Professor of Economics – Emeritus, Bucknell University
Supriya Lahiri, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Economics, University ofMassachusetts, Lowell
Margaret Levenstein, University of Michigan
Chuck Levenstein, Professor Emeritus of Work Environment, University ofMassachusetts Lowell
Victor D. Lippit, Professor of Economics, University of California, Riverside
Robert G. Lynch, Professor of Economics, Washington College
Catherine Lynde, Professor, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Arthur MacEwan, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts,Boston
Mark H. Maier, Glendale Community College
John Mannah, Ph.D., Candidate, New School for Social Research
Patrick L. Mason, Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute(PERI), Florida State University
Thomas Masterson, Research Scholar, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
Thomas F. Mayer, Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado at Boulder
Elaine McCrate, Professor of Economics & Womenʹs Studies, University of Vermont
Patrick A. McGuire, Professor of Economics, Hobart & William Smith Colleges
Hannah McKinney, Professor of Economics and Business, Kalamazoo College
Martin Melkonian, Department of Economics, Hofstra University
William Milberg, Associate Professor Dept. of Economics, New School for SocialResearch
Tracy Mott, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Denver
Jamee K. Moudud, Ph.D., Economics Faculty and Chair, Social Science Group, SarahLawrence College
Eric Nilsson, Professor, Economics Department, California State University, SanBernardino
Laurie Nisonoff, Professor of Economics School of Social Science, Hampshire College
Aaron Pacitti, American University
Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
M. Stephen Pendleton, Associate Professor of Economics, Buffalo State College (SUNY)
Michael Perelman, California State University
Joseph Persky, Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Chicago
Karl Petrick, Assistant Professor of Economics, Western New England College
Mark A. Price, Ph.D., Labor Economist, Keystone Research Center
Paddy Quick, St. Francis College, Brooklyn
Miguel D. Ramirez, Professor of Economics, Trinity College
Cordelia Reimers, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Hunter College & The GraduateCenter, CUNY
Joseph Ricciardi, Professor of Economics, Babson College
Malcom Robinson, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Thomas More College
Charlie Rock, Professor of Economics, Rollins College
James M. Rock, Professor Emeritus, University of Utah
Sergio Romero, Ph.D., Boise State University
Michael Rosen, Milwaukee Area Technical College
Hector Saez, Ph.D., Economist, Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources,Northwest Research and Extension Center
Helen Scharber, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dr. Ted P. Schmidt, Chair & Associate Professor, Department of Economics & Finance,Buffalo State College
Juliet B. Schor, Boston College
Sanford F. Schram, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn MawrCollege
Joel Scott
Stephanie Seguino, Associate Dean, Professor of Economics, College of Arts andSciences, University of Vermont
Barry Shelley, Economist, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Vince Snowberger, Economist (retired)
Mary Huff Stevenson, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Boston
James B. Stewart, Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations andManagement and Organization, Penn State University
Jeffrey Stewart, Doctor, University of Cincinnati
David Terkla, Professor, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Frank Thompson, Lecturer in Economics, University of Michigan
Chris Tilly, Director, Institute for Research Labor and Employment and Professor ofUrban Planning (IRLE)
John E. Tower, Professor Emeritus, School of Business Administration, OaklandUniversity
Leanne Ussher, Assistant Professor of Economics, Queens College, CUNY
Marjolein van der Veen, Economics Instructor, Bellevue Community College
Matias Vernengo, Professor of Economics, University of Utah
Paula B. Voos, Rutgers University
Norman J. Waitzman, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Economics, University of Utah
David F. Weiman, Alena Wels Hirschorn ʹ58 Professor of Economics, Barnard College,Columbia University
Thomas Weisskopf, Professor of Economics, University of Michigan
Christian Weller, Professor of Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Boston
Linda Wilcox Young, Southern Oregon University
Max Fraad Wolff, Graduate Program in International Affairs, New School University
Martin H. Wolfson, University of Notre Dame
June M. Zaccone, Professor of Economics, Hofstra University
Ajit Zacharias, The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
John J. Zink, Franklin and Marshall College
Ben Zipperer, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
