A program and action for economic health.

By Cindy Sheehan

“Our problems stem from acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.” ~~~ Dorothy Day

Sheehan

Once upon a time, many years ago, when things weren’t quite so f’ed up here in Duh-merica, the Democratic candidate for president from Nowhereville, Arkansas made the expression, “It’s the economy, stupid,” a catch-phrase for his successful bid to unseat the incumbent, George H.W. Bush. Pappy Bush had been wildly popular (we love our “successful wars” here) after his attack on Iraq but had not addressed the recession we were suffering under at the time.

Now, as we all know, Bill Clinton was elected and enacted NAFTA, GATT and other so-called Free trade agreements, which had the affect of sending our decent paying jobs with benefits to other countries that didn’t have such “horrible” restrictions on them such as minimum wage laws, collective bargaining, worker safety, and environmental protection.

Besides the “free” trade agreements, Clinton’s administration all but made it a crime to be poor by publicly chastising and further impoverishing “welfare Queens” so his regime could repeal the Glass-Steagall Act to make the fat banker cats morbidly obese. Clinton was not and is not politically identified (by name) as one of them evil Republicans—but his regime advanced the neoliberalism of our economy further than Bush I could have.

The Glass-Steagall Act was one of the financial reforms enacted during the Great Depression to prevent just what happened in 2008 when the derivative and housing markets crashed on the poor, again. Glass-Steagall prevented financial institutions from going into partnerships that would make them “too big to fail.” When there is a failure of these “too big” cabals, it can be catastrophic—as witnessed in 2008. However, although many people in the working class lost pensions, savings, homes and jobs, the people who created the problem, however, received welfare from the US government in the form of “bailouts.” Barry O. is a big fan of bailing out his largest donor: Goldman Sachs.

I am bringing back these bad old times to remind everyone that the class war waged on us from above just didn’t start in 2009, or 2000, or 1776, even. This war has been being waged for centuries by the wealthy who treat the rest of us like slaves who are allowed to have just enough to be able to minimally nourish ourselves and keep ourselves just healthy enough to work for the peanut shells they toss us.

Here in the US we did enjoy a brief historical moment where it seemed like we got a small respite and we began to grow stronger with the democratization of the work place by unions that fought for labor rights, not for the bosses. Through the GI Bill and the advancement of free, or heavily subsidized state university education our access to education began to equalize. Everyone knows that knowledge is power. The GI Bill also provided vets with the opportunity to participate in the “American Dream” of home ownership that has steadily descended into a nightmare.

The constant wars (both foreign and domestic) began to take a toll on our nation’s soul and the sweet smell of uprising was in the air until we descended into a false “peace dividend” and the somnambulance of the “Me” decade.” The crimes of Reagan/Bush began to pull us kicking and fighting out of our slumber until a plain-talking, intelligent, and charismatic savior for Capitalism took over and dramatically escalated the attacks on labor that began in earnest during Reagan’s years. Yet, Clinton was a Democrat, so those that should have been paying attention cut him an incredible amount of slack like (sometimes the same) people are doing for Obama, now.

So, for the last ten years, our nation has been waging a Global War of Terror against the world and the first person of color to occupy the Oval Office is dropping bombs on an African nation. Another military misadventure is plunging our nation further into economic despair, but Obama and the Congress just collaborated to cut 38 billion from Federal social programs and ZERO from the Pentagon and war budgets while retaining about 44 billion dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy. This is not just a Federal problem it is a state problem, too, as recently highlighted by the battle in Madison—where labor was pitted against a Republican governor and legislature. Are all 50 states ruled by Republicans? Are even the 46/50 states that are in budget crisis and cutting social services ruled by Republicans? No and NO!

I was driving on a treacherous road from Ukiah, Ca to Mendocino one treacherously rainy day and I heard my Democratic governor come on the car’s radio to congratulate the “courageous” California state legislature that had the courage to cut 13 billion from California’s 26 billion dollar deficit—but Jerry Brown’s voice became appropriately grave when he “regretted” the fact that the cuts were going to affect California’s most “vulnerable” citizens the most harshly.

A) It doesn’t take “courage” to attack the already poor. Many “vulnerable” Californians from the disabled to the elderly to the young will suffer under Brown’s savage austerity measures.

B) I highly doubt that Brown is “sorry” about cutting more money from these people who have almost zero political clout in Sacramento, obviously.

C) Why don’t we try “savage austerity” measures for the rich? According to a 2009 report, the state of California “boasts” the most millionaires of any other state, by far—over 662,000 “millionaire households” in the Golden State. Instead of penalizing the already poor, how about an “excess wealth” tax to spread a little of the pain around? The rich won’t be deprived of any necessity and not having to cut back even more will benefit the poor immensely!

D) End California’s participation in the US’s global war of terror against the world. According to the CostofWar.com of the National Priorities Project, since 2001, Californian’s have ponied up 150 billion (that’s billion with a “b”) dollars to the Feds for these evil wars of aggression. Fifteen billion a year would go far to helping relieve our deficit.

E) Institute a state banking system. (See: Bank of North Dakota)

F) Retool our advanced weapon’s industry here in Cali for public transportation, environmental clean-up, and alternative forms of energy.

G) A moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions. Admittedly, this is an aggressive pro-humanity agenda, but unless WE propose it and fight for it, the status quo will eat us alive.

Why aren’t labor unions and other social justice activists already camping on Jerry Browns’ state house lawn? Is it because he is a Democrat and unions just financially line the coffers of Democrats without expecting anything in return? Is it because most people don’t realize that an “Injury to one is an injury to all,” and that even though one is not jobless or homeless today, all that could easily change in a heartbeat? Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the people who attack our basic human rights with every move they make, or are you on the side of the people who are being attacked?

The organizers of this march and strike have been warned by some in the “Peace Industrial Complex” that we are not allowed to camp on the lawn of OUR State Capitol—but we are bringing our agenda and demands to the “belly of the beast,” and if Jerry Brown wants to be a jackass and have us arrested, or removed, that’s better for our cause—it will highlight the fraudulence of the “two” party system. There are also many tent cities in or near Sacramento that hide their poverty and forced-vulnerability under bridges or near the river—bring your problems to the lawn of the people who caused them—join us.

One of my favorite protest signs of all time reads, “THEY only call it class warfare when we fight back.”

Well, it’s way past time to fight back. We need to extend the protests in Madison against the repeal of the right to collective bargaining to the cuts against even people who don’t belong to unions—the most “vulnerable” of our society.

http://strikemay2011ca.org/ (WEBSITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
Peace of the Action.

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By Noam Chomsky, TomDispatch [3]
Thursday 21 April 2011

Image: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t

The Invisible Hand of Power

Support for democracy is the province of ideologists and propagandists. In the real world, elite dislike of democracy is the norm. The evidence is overwhelming that democracy is supported insofar as it contributes to social and economic objectives, a conclusion reluctantly conceded by the more serious scholarship.

It is normal for the victors to consign history to the trash can, and for victims to take it seriously. Perhaps a few brief observations on this important matter may be useful. Today is not the first occasion when Egypt and the U.S. are facing similar problems, and moving in opposite directions. That was also true in the early nineteenth century.

The Iranian and Chinese “Threats”

Grand Area doctrines continue to apply to contemporary crises and confrontations. In Western policy-making circles and political commentary the Iranian threat is considered to pose the greatest danger to world order and hence must be the primary focus of U.S. foreign policy, with Europe trailing along politely.

Privatizing the Planet

While wealth and power have narrowly concentrated, for most of the population real incomes have stagnated and people have been getting by with increased work hours, debt, and asset inflation, regularly destroyed by the financial crises that began as the regulatory apparatus was dismantled starting in the 1980s.

Another fine target, always, is immigrants. That has been true throughout U.S. history, even more so at times of economic crisis, exacerbated now by a sense that our country is being taken away from us: the white population will soon become a minority. One can understand the anger of aggrieved individuals, but the cruelty of the policy is shocking.

All of this, and much more, can proceed as long as the Muashar doctrine prevails. As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.

This was adapted from a speech that Chomsky gave in March in Amsterdam.

Copyright 2011 Noam Chomsky

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A mediocre writer and certainly no philosopher but hailed as both and wildly successful by the establishment that made her rich and famous. The system is quick to recognize a great propaganda asset when it comes down the pike. Her imbecilic, antisocial concoctions have polluted the minds of countless youth in America. Alan Greenspan is one of her disciples.

By Brad Reed, AlterNet
Posted on April 19, 2011

Most CEOs still adore her.

The year is 2016. Eight years of Obammunism have transformed the former capitalist paradise known as “America” into a socialistic hellhole where the Dow Jones Industrial average has plummeted to under 4,000 and where oppressed banking CEOs have to walk around with signs reading, “Will trade credit derivatives for food.” America has gotten so desperate that its only hope for salvation lies in the creation of a (shudder) high-speed rail line.

For the uninitiated, Atlas tells the story of a future oppressive liberal government that chokes off the productivity of strong-headed individualists in the name of equality and fairness. The story’s two protagonists, Dagny Taggart and Henry Reardon, are respectively heads of railroad and steel companies who find their grand ambitions thwarted by the paws of Big Gubmint. Eventually the poor rich people decide to go on strike and retreat to a small-government greedtopia headed up by a reclusive billionaire named John Galt. Without these super-productive rich people keeping the world moving, society proceeds to completely collapse.

You may be wondering what it was that Dagny and Henry were doing prior to the strike that was just so goshed-darned awful that Big Gubmint had to stop them. The answer is they were building the world’s fastest high-speed rail line. Yes, rail. The mode of transportation that has been championed by liberal commie Nazis and that has become the bane of good salt-of-the-earth conservatives everywhere. In reality, of course, a liberal government would be tossing bundles of subsidies at any entrepreneurs building high-speed rail lines in the Western United States but in Randality, these noble entrepreneurs were crushed by the rent-seeking big businesses who used their Washington ties to extinguish the flames of competitive markets.

So okay, we’ve already established that the story has a ludicrous premise, but have the film’s creators managed to make this ludicrous premise into a compelling and entertaining narrative?

In three words: “Oh, hell no.”

Indeed, the film’s major problem is that it adheres too tightly to its source material, making it impossible to create compelling characters. This is because all of Rand’s heroes and heroines are soulless greedbots whose only goals in life are to make great innovations and then profit like crazy off them. In and of itself this isn’t a bad thing since a lot of people like creating things and being rewarded for them. But in the case of Rand’s characters, their desire for money and achievement supersedes all empathy, family relationships and basic human decency. Take Lisa Simpson and combine her with Gordon Gekko and the obnoxious child-android from “Small Wonder,” and you get the perfect Rand hero.

Given this, I was initially prepared to be lenient on lead actors Taylor Schilling and Grant Bowler, who respectively portray Dagny Taggart and Henry Reardon. After all, no actor can give a convincing and emotionally compelling portrayal of a Rand character anymore than they can give a convincing and emotionally compelling portrayal of a stop sign or a potted plant. You can imagine all the times director Paul Johansson had to yell “Cut!” at Schilling and Bowler because they had errantly expressed a feeling.

Even so, one of the very first things that competent directors and actors do with any material is to establish the stakes involved. In other words, when a character says a line such as “There is so much at stake, we have to make it,” it should be delivered with more urgency and intensity than the guy in stoner comedies who asks, “Dude, you got any chips?” Needless to say, the actors failed even this simple test, creating unintentionally hilarious scenes like the one where Bowler tells his lonely socialite wife that “I didn’t come here for sex” in the robotic same tone that the Terminator says “I’ll be back” to his enemies.

And speaking of sex, Taggart and Reardon’s sex scene is unusually awful because we’re watching two characters who haven’t shown any emotions for the film’s first 70 minutes suddenly try to be tender with one another. It’s the equivalent of Emperor Palpatine ambling over to Darth Vader after the two of them just finished slaughtering a room full of Jedi and asking meekly for a hug. The scene isn’t at all helped by the schmaltzy piano-and-strings soundtrack that’s meant to conjure up romantic passion but that seems wildly out of place in a Rand story. In fact, the scene could have come across as more believable if the directors had just decided to play some German industrial metal in the background to let us know that Dagny and Reardon were approaching copulation with the same level of unsentimental brutality that’s helped them succeed in the business world.

And this is the most telling aspect of the film’s greatest failure: That I jumped for joy whenever one of its greedheads decided to drop out of society and head to Galt’s Gulch. Because let’s be honest, would any of us really shed a tear if Donald Trump, Lloyd Blankfein or the Koch brothers decided tomorrow to pull up their stakes and head to the Cayman Islands? If my time here on Earth has shown me anything it’s that even when some greedy assholes drop out of the game there will always be other greedy assholes eager to replace them. Any threats they make on leaving us swarthy looters to our own devices should cause us to collectively shrug.

Brad Reed is a writer living in Boston. His work has previously appeared in the American Prospect Online, and he blogs frequently at Sadly, No!.

© 2011 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
You can also view this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/150646/

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By Terry Eagleton

Eagleton

The soothsayer seeks to predict the future in order to control it. He peers into the entrails of a social system so as to decipher the omens, which will assure its rulers that their profits are safe and the system will endure. These days, he is generally an economist or a business executive. The prophet, by contrast, has no interest in foretelling the future, other than to warn that unless people change their ways there’s unlikely to be one. His concern is to rebuke the injustice of the present, not dream of some future perfection; but since you can’t identify injustice without some notion of justice, a kind of future is implicit in the denunciation.

literary critic.^[1][2] Eagleton currently serves as Distinguished Professor of English Literature at theUniversity of Lancaster, and as a former Visiting Professor at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

By David Glenn Cox  |  April 10, 2011

Madison, Wisconsin, Capitol filled with protesters.

I BEGAN THIS ARTICLE before the events in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race were announced. When I first heard of this rape of a public franchise my hands began to tremble with rage. You see in a past life I was once an assistant poll manager in Georgia. Every state handles its elections a little differently but the processes are the same. Every box, polling machine or computer terminal is numbered, locked and sealed. Each device is checked and then sealed again when the poll is set up the night before the election.

There comes a time when the Gordian knot must be cut when the systems and processes which might have been used to correct the errors and injustices of the meandering course of human affairs have been broken and have become decrepit. But worse still, it is when these processes have not become broken or decrepit but have been intentionally mutilated and deformed into a monstrosity.

Upon opening the poll each seal is checked and the information is recorded. The number of votes cast on each machine or terminal are recorded every hour and listed on a sheet for each device. When the poll closes the totals are calculated in each box, machine or terminal and recorded on a line of the count sheet corresponding to each reading of vote counts during the day. These numbers are tabulated so if you have 30,000 votes cast the candidates vote totals must match the 30,000 total.

Anyone who has worked at a gas station or convenience store or has ever read gas pump totals understands this system. This concept that a poll manager, assistant poll manger or even poll clerk could make the mistake claimed to have been by a county clerk is a statistical impossibility. The chances that a (so called) bookkeeping error could be discovered at the eleventh hour would leave a sane public incredulous.

The idea that this booking error would not only swing an election but also put the vote total magically beyond recall is instructive. This mythical count sheet now lost or thrown away is yet another absurdity as no document or worksheet is ever under any circumstance not saved or thrown away.

If this was perhaps a one off event then perhaps excuses of incompetence could be accepted and excused but this is just one more event, one more brick in the wall. We are over the Rubicon here, we are veterans of stolen elections, this is no longer our first rodeo and when your elections are on their face fraudulent then you can no longer claim to live in a free democracy. The free people of Wisconsin and those of us watching from outside the state have witnessed a state government administration which is at war with its own citizens. The ends justify the means, rules are subverted and laws are broken or ignored. The power is clearly no longer in the hands of the people of Wisconsin.

But let us pull back from this cancerous cell of Wisconsin and look instead at the sick patient in total. Your country is at perpetual war as new villains are named periodically while threats are hurled at other nations whose only crime is to interfere with our corporate profit potential. In our ten years of uninterrupted war there has been little or no progress on any front other than that of emptying the treasury.

Your government allies itself to support the most brutal despots on the planet. Your government will only help revolutionary movements which offer them financial gain or mineral wealth.

The people of the United States are opposed to these foreign wars and to this adventurous policy but because your government is so corrupt and cancerous that it makes no difference. Just as the American people are opposed to nuclear power and deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, these things are instructive because it illustrates just how unimportant the desires and wishes of the American public really are to the true administrators of this nation.

Tax cuts to buy new cars, tax cuts to buy new homes, tax cuts to hold on to their stocks a little longer. Government grants to huge wealthy corporations for research and development. Billion of dollars in grants to prosperous private corporations to build factories. What solutions has this government offered for those struggling millions of American workers? What has been done for their families? What has been done for their children? A complete abdication and abandonment of the welfare and well being of the citizens of the United States.

In 1960 the minimum wage in the United States of America was one US dollar per hour of labor performed. In 2011 the minimum wage in the United States of America is $7.25 per hour labor performed but if you take the 1960 minimum wage and adjust it for inflation then the minimum wage of the United States should be in the range of $18.00 to $22.00 per hour of labor performed.

Both parties cry out for more spending cuts to social programs which assist their own citizens while sending $7.5 billion to Pakistan to build schools and roads. Billions for Afghanistan to build roads in a country where the American installed President owns the national concrete company. An Afghan president who was elected Wisconsin style, with corrupt elections and vague promises to do better next time. Millions of dollars shipped off each year to build infrastructure in Mexico to speed the delivery of sweatshop goods while our own infrastructure languishes.

This week Quisling in Chief Obama will begin his public relations work to implement yet another free trade act, this one with the nation of Colombia. The Colombian government for their part of the bargain has promised to try and halt the murders of labor leaders. Colombia is considered the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists. More dangerous than Iran and more dangerous than Venezuela and your government wants to open up free trade with these murderers.

A government that does not put the well being of its citizens as its first objective is a tyranny. A government whose policies benefit the few over the many is a sham. A government that does not protect its elections makes itself a fraud. War is the failure of politics and a government whose politics are war is unholy and unclean. So then revolution begins not with a brick, or a shout, or a gun but with a realization. A realization that the responsibility for life falls on our shoulders and we are in the breech.

It begins in the beating of our hearts and in an unwillingness to accept fraud, sham or tyranny as a way of life.