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Women's history: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the Rebel Girl

Tony Pecinovsky — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:36:00 -0400

In honor of Women's History Month, the seventh article in our series on the Communist Party's 90th Anniversary will survey a few documents written by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, one of the most prominent women Communists in U.S. history.

Flynn was a labor leader, activists and feminist. At 16, she gave her first speech, "What Socialism Will Do for Women." For her political activities, Flynn was expelled from high school.

By 1907, Flynn had become a full-time organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, the IWW, where she helped organize union campaigns among garment workers, silk weavers, restaurant workers and textile workers. In 1920, Flynn helped to found the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, where she helped organize the defense of Sacco and Vanzetti, among other union and labor activists.

Flynn was also concerned with women's rights. She supported access to birth control and women's suffrage, and criticized some unions for being male-dominated. In 1936, Flynn joined the Communist Party and started to write for the Daily Worker. By 1938, she was elected to the CP's National Committee. (It was due to her Party membership the ACLU kicked her off of their board of directors.)

During WWII, Flynn played an important role in the campaign for equal economic opportunity and pay for women workers. In 1942, Flynn ran for Congress in New York and received 50,000 votes. By 1948, McCarthyism had become the law of the land and top leaders of the CP were thrown in jail. In 1951, Flynn was arrested under the provisions of the Smith Act and thrown in jail for two years.

Flynn was elected as the national chair of the Communist Party in 1961. She visited the Soviet Union many times, where she died on September 5, 1964. Her remains were flown to the United States. She is buried at Waldheim Cemetery near the graves of Eugene Dennis, Bill Haywood and the Haymarket Martyrs. She wrote two autobiographical books, "The Rebel Girl" and "The Alderson Story: My Life As a Political Prisoner."

The first document we will look at is titled "Women in the War," published in 1942. Flynn starts her document by making very clear her stance in the struggle against fascism.

She writes, "We cannot live complacently in a world where homes are destroyed, children starved, women raped, religion violently suppressed, democracy stamped out, minority group's exterminated, human dignity degraded. There can be no peace and happiness for all people until Nazi-Fascism is destroyed.

"Our security, honor, self-respect, humanity, demand that we win this just war. There can be no compromise with savagery and slavery."

Flynn quickly connects the struggle for women's rights and African American equality, and demonstrates how both can lead to greater national unity on the war front. "The Negro people and women must have access to all jobs and professions. This is democracy. To deny it is to disrupt national unity and cripple production in a critical war period. Victory is at stake."

Flynn also makes the point that the fight for equality in war production will have a long-term impact on women and African American rights long-after the war is over. "Women's role in industry, like that of the Negro people, is not of a temporary nature...there were ten million women employed in 1930, two and a half million more than in 1920. Many more will remain in industry after this war..."

Additionally, Flynn writes, "Work is the right of all, regardless of sex, color, creed or language. A lack of clarity on this creates discord in families and shops, indifference in unions, and insecurity among women workers, just as discrimination causes the deepest resentment among Negro workers."

Flynn concludes the pamphlet with, "The voice of women must be heard in the highest councils of the trade union movement and the government. Let us overcome our past shortcomings now in the white heat of a war for human liberation."

The second document is titled "Stool-pigeon," and was written in 1949, just after the top leaders of the Communist Party were thrown in jail. Written in the heat of the moment, the document reflects the emotion and anger of the McCarthyite times.

Flynn starts the document by questioning the right of the government to indict the leaders of the Communist Party based on a warped notion of what they are supposed to think, rather than what they actually think.

"This is a trial of a political party's right to advocate its principles of socialism as it defines them, not as they are set forth falsely in the indictment...It is the first trial of a political party in our country, not for what it does, but for what it thinks.

"Here is an ideological frame-up, built on books, pamphlets, papers, school outlines, speeches, as a motley crew of stool pigeons interprets them."

Flynn them defines what a stool pigeon is. "Stool pigeons," she writes, " are usually private detectives hired by employers or company agents, despised as 'finks,' tools of the bosses, by all honest workers...Throughout human history there has been scorn and contempt for one who betrays what he pretends loyally to support, and by shamming sincerity gains the confidence of his fellows. Judas Iscariot is the best known example."

Flynn also put the trade union movement on notice and warns them that the stool pigeon will be used against them as well. "Some trade unionists, whose experience in the class struggle may be limited, say: 'Let the Communist worry! What does it got to do with me?' Well, brother, better take your head out of the sand...Any worker could be their [stool pigeon] victim...When they were spying against Communists they were doing it against the labor movement..."

Flynn concludes her impassioned plea with the following: "In this three-ringed circus a fair and impartial hearing is impossible. The contempt technique is used to jail men and women who refuse to be informers...Remember in Germany and all fascist countries - the Communists were outlawed, but so were all people's parties, the unions, the women's organizations. All democratic rights and institutions disappeared. Act now - before fascism is upon us."

Eventually Flynn was herself indicted under the infamous Smith Act and served two years in prison. Stool pigeon testimony was used to deny her constitutional rights.

The text of Flynn's opening statement to the court, where she acted as her own defense, was printed in July 1952 under the title "Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Speaks To The Court."

Flynn said, "Our ideas may be new and strange to you. Probably you have never seen or met a Communist before. We don't ask you to agree with us but to listen with an open mind and not to accept as gospel truth the sensational tales of stool-pigeons and planted agents who will be the government's chief, if not sole, witness."

Flynn took on the charge that the Communist Party intended to over-throw the U.S. government by force and violence. "I came to the conclusion that socialism could be achieved, not by one splurge of violence, but by the persistent political activities of the workers and the people. And so in order to participate in political activities in the effort to achieve socialism, I joined the Communist Party."

Flynn also outlines her life's work, her childhood and upbringing, as well as many of the struggles she and other communist led and participated in.

In closing she quotes Abraham Lincoln: "This country with its institutions belongs to the people who inhabit it."

And then she adds, "We are asking you [the court] to decide this case on the evidence, or, more correctly, may I say, on the lack of evidence which we are confident will be glaringly revealed long before this trial is over..."

Ultimately, the Smith Act was declared unconstitutional and Flynn and the other Communist Party leaders were freed.

Photos: CPUSA archives, Tamiment Library, NYU

It's time to tax the wealth in Connecticut

Tom Connolly — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:42:00 -0400

HARTFORD. -- Speaking to an overflow crowd at the Legislative Office Building this week, representatives of Better Choices for Connecticut released a report outlining several options to stop Governor Rell's proposed budget cuts on vital needs and services.

The report indicates ways the Legislature could modernize Connecticut's revenue system while closing the state's massive budget deficit. It builds on a small millionaire's tax enacted last year after the legislature overrode a veto by the Governor. The outcome of the referendum in Oregon was cited as a good example: it raises personal income tax on higher income households in order to maintain the state's quality of life.

Representatives of the Better Choices coalition, which includes non-profit providers, labor unions, community, faith based and advocacy organizations, visited legislators after the press conference and pressed them to adopt measures to protect families. They called on the Legislature to find the way to maintain vital public services when families need them most including education, health, public safety, environmental protection, and transportation systems.

Increasing revenue, according to the Better Choices report, would align Connecticut with 30 other states including Oregon that have acted in the last year to increase state revenues to keep pace with the growing need for public services, and be in a position for future growth and sustainability in better economic conditions.

The revenue options advocated by Better Choices for Connecticut includes proposals to:

• Close corporate tax loopholes that benefit multi-state companies over local companies;

• Evaluate the $5 billion in tax breaks in state tax laws and reduce or eliminate unproductive tax breaks;

• Increase income taxes for those who can best afford it,;

• Delay reductions in the gift and estate tax, a tax that affects only a handful of the state's wealthiest residents;

• Tax excess profits of electricity generators to raise $ 400million a year. Connecticut has one of the highest electric rates in the country. The windfall profits accruing to for-profit electricity generators because of deregulation could be a significant source of state revenue and relief to rate payers. Company filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory commission were used to estimate that imposing an assessment on 50% of profits over 20% of the return on equity would generate over $400 million.

"We can balance the budget without relying solely on spending cuts that damage the state's economic future and harm families," said Jamey Bell, Executive Director of Connecticut Voices for Children. "There is a wide range of more balanced alternatives, such as evaluating and reducing the state's ‘hidden budget' of tax breaks and corporate tax loopholes."

William Cibes, chancellor emeritus of the Connecticut State University System and former secretary of the Office of Policy and Management under Gov. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. said, "It's not a question of IF revenues will be raised, but which revenues will be raised. Better Choices is performing an important public service by putting forward some very constructive suggestions about how to do that."

Maggie Adair, Deputy Director of Connecticut Association for Human Services noted, "During a recession as deep as this one, demand for public services dramatically escalates. Slashing vital state services would hurt the working poor and middle-income people who have lost their jobs and are running behind. Connecticut is the wealthiest state in the nation, but it is among the most unequal. We have the capacity to protect and invest in our people and our communities."

The report, "Revenue Solutions for FY 2011," is available on the Better Choices for Connecticut website at www.betterchoicesforCT.org.

The Rev. Steve Camp of Faith Congregational Chruch in Hartford announced a special meeting at his church of the faith-based community to address Connecticut's economic crisis. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 14 at 7 pm. He urged everyone to join this effort to move forward.

Photo: by Tom Conolly/Rev. Steve Camp

Senate drug sentencing bill reduces disparities, not far enough

Joe Sims — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:56:00 -0400

The Senate, by voice vote March 17, passed legislation that would reduce the crack/cocaine sentencing disparity. Currently the differential is 100 to one. In other words, a person caught with crack will get a sentence 100 times harsher than a person convicted of cocaine possession. The Senate bill would reduce the ratio to 18 to one. The House of Representatives has passed a companion bill that eliminate the sentencing disparity making it one to one.

Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee chair, said in a statement, "The racial imbalance that has resulted from the cocaine sentencing disparity disparages the Constitution's promise of equal treatment for all Americans."

The Senate vote was the product of a bipartisan deal and has been hailed by the White House and Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder said, "There is no law enforcement or sentencing rational for the current disparity between crack and cocaine powder offenses, and I have strongly supported eliminating it to ensure our sentencing laws are tough, predictable and fair."

Importantly the Senate backed measure eliminates mandatory minimums for crack possession.

Civil rights and drug advocacy groups, however, are critical of the Senate's stance. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights cited momentum, but took note of the bill's inadequacy. Wade Henderson said the vote "represents progress, but not the end of the fight."

The Drug Policy Alliance, a group that promotes policy alternatives to the drug war, pointedly criticized the Senate action. "Today is a bittersweet day," said Jasmine L. Tyler of the Drug Policy Alliance to the Associated Press. By not eliminating the disparity, Tyler said, the Senate "has proven how difficult it is to ensure racial justice, even in 2010."

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund also took aim at the continuing disparity. "Although the Senate passed legislation concerning the crack/powder sentencing disparity, it refused to completely eliminate that unjustified disparity. The Senate's failure is deeply troubling. If left uncorrected, the Senate's action would mean that racial discrimination will persist."

ColorofChange.org voiced similar concerns. "Last week, the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee had a chance to advance a bill to eliminate the disparity. Instead, they chose to reduce it-with no good reason other than to please 'moderate' Democrats and Republicans. And President Obama, who for years has championed ending the disparity, is supporting the bill - apparently because it's bipartisan," the Internet-based organization said in an e-mail.

They are asking President Obama and House Speaker Pelosi to support the House version of the bill. To support this effort click here.

The crack cocaine sentencing laws passed in the 1980s are a big reason why one in 15 African Americans are behind bars today. The crack/cocaine epidemic emerged partly out efforts by the Reagan administration to fund the Central American contra war against Nicaragua's Sandinista government. As reported over 20 years ago by the San Jose Mercury News, money from contra drug sales were used to purchase weapons. The cocaine then made its way to crack labs in Los Angeles and across the country.

The House and Senate bills will now have to be reconciled.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/los-angeles-bail-bonds/ / CC BY 2.0

Community clinics rally for health care reform

Marilyn Bechtel — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:20:00 -0400

OAKLAND, Calif. - As the health care reform debate came down to the wire this week, supporters of community health clinics rallied March 17 in California communities - Bakersfield, Stockton, Merced, Orange County and others - urging passage of legislation now before the U.S. House of Representatives.

In Oakland, demonstrators gathered for a lunch-hour rally in the heart of the Fruitvale, an area with many Mexican American and other Latino residents, many of whom depend on La Clinica de la Raza for their health care.

"By the end of this week we could have health care reform. But it's on us, because we're the ones who have to demand it," Jane Garcia, CEO of Clinica de la Raza, told the crowd. During Congressional "dillydallying" over reform in recent months, she said, 400,000 more California children have lost their health coverage, while the total number of uninsured Californians has risen from 6 million to 8 million.

Of opponents' claims that Americans don't want reform, Garcia added, "Last time I checked, Oakland, Alameda County and California were part of America. And guess what? We want health care reform and we want it now!"

Patrick Romano, California state campaign director for Health Care for America Now, pointed out that community clinics "are going to be instrumental in the transition with the health care reform, whether it's caring for the newly insured, whether it's taking care of those folks who won't get insurance right away" as reform proceeds toward full implementation in 2014. "We can't take anything for granted," he warned. "We've had numerous timelines going back to last August. Call your members of Congress, even if you're absolutely certain they will vote yes."

Under the measure before Congress, not only will 31 million uninsured people gain access to health coverage, but 15,000 new primary care providers will become available around the country, Carmela Castellano-Garcia, who heads the California Primary Care Association of community clinics, told the crowd. "It's time to put people over politics, people over health insurance companies."

In a conversation after the rally, Castellano-Garcia said billions of dollars are expected to become available under the reform, to expand community clinics throughout the country. Many of the over 1 million uninsured Californians now receiving care at community health centers will become insured, she said, with "wonderful" results both for them and for the clinics which will gain added income.

"In the last six months, the number of uninsured patients we see at La Clinica de la Raza has soared by 32 percent," said Jane Garcia. "Many people we see are newly uninsured - teachers, construction workers, a woman in her 36th week of pregnancy." Garcia said the community clinics' emphasis on wellness and prevention will also bring savings to a reformed health care system.

Also addressing the rally were Martin Waukazoo of the Native American Health Center, former state Assembly Majority Leader Wilma Chan, and Jeff Harry of Organizing for America.

Demonstrators held signs in Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Korean and other languages as well as English. Some signs urged covering new documented immigrants under the reform.

The California rallies were organized by Health Care for America Now, Organizing for America and the California Federation of Labor.

Photo: Marilyn Bechtel

March Madness comes with insane price

Pepe Lozano — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:04:00 -0400

Nationwide excitement among college basketball fans builds as the 2010 March Madness tournament is scheduled to begin Thursday, March 18. Sixty-four of the best National Collegiate Athletic Association men's and women's basketball teams will compete to make it to the Final Four next month.

Even President Obama has joined the "madness" predicting Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky and Villanova in the finals. He's predicting Connecticut, Notre Dame, Stanford and Tennessee in the women's tournament.

There's nothing more entertaining than healthy basketball rivalry and cheering for the nation's best collegiate teams.

However Derrick Z. Jackson, writing for the Boston Globe, says it's disturbing when the graduation success rates of players belonging to the best teams are worsening.

For example, top-power Kentucky made the Division 1 tournament with a graduation success rate of only 18 percent for its black athletes and 31 percent overall.

"This program single-handedly betrays the NCAA as toothless on the exploitation of athletes," Jackson says. Kentucky's graduation rate scorecard for its black players for the last six years is: 18, 17, 9, 17, 17, and zero. Over the last ten years, its black player graduation rate has never risen above 29 percent and its overall graduation rate passed 50 percent only once, in 2001.

"Yet, who do we see hawking March Madness on Direct TV? Why none other than Kentucky's $32 million coach, John Calipari."

Jackson says the NCAA should ban the likes of Maryland, Texas, Nevada Las Vegas, and Kentucky because the concept of "student-athlete" is beyond repair. "At these schools, the athletes are semi-pros who should be paid."

Maryland is in the tournament with a zero graduation rate for its black athletes, and 8 percent overall. Texas and Nevada Las Vegas are also in the tournament with both colleges not reaching over 22 percent when it comes to graduation rates among blacks. The University of California at Berkeley has a campus graduation rate of 85 percent, including 62 percent for black students. But the graduation success rate for both black and white players is zero, notes Jackson.

"Until the NCAA demands studies of another sort and starts banning programs that do not heed the demand, March Madness will remain a national indictment of how we let college sports drive us stark riving mad," writes Jackson.

Meanwhile an annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida finds the disparity between graduation rates for white and black players on NCAA tournament-bound men's basketball teams grew this year. The report shows 45 teams graduated 70 percent or more of their white players, and only 20 teams graduated at least 70 percent of their black players.

Players on teams headed to the NCAA women's tournament however are graduating at a higher rate than the men. The graduation gap between white and black players is smaller for women than it is for men. There were 19 women's teams that had a 100 percent graduation rate compared to six men's teams. And 51 women's teams graduated at least 70 percent of their players compared to 29 men's teams.

The NCAA says 56 percent of black basketball players now graduate from Division 1 teams. White players have an 81 percent graduation rate.

Critics contend the NCAA is a multi-million dollar industry that can care less about the players or their academic success and instead cares more about the industry's increasing monster profits. Others argue the college players need an association similar to the professional leagues so that their rights are protected on and off the courts, especially when it comes to health care and compensation.

Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe (24) scores against Mississippi State in the championship game at the NCAA college basketball Southeastern Conference tournament on March 14. Wade Payne/AP

Obama school plan has pluses but big minuses, teachers and others warn

Susan Webb — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:39:00 -0400

The Obama administration has sent Congress a "blueprint" for a new public education bill to replace the expiring 2002 No Child Left Behind law. It discards some of NCLB's much-criticized features, while retaining or adding others that teachers, their unions and other public school advocates oppose.

It projects federal support for educational equity, improving teaching and learning and making every student "college-ready." The devil, many say, is in the details.

Congressional hearings on the proposals opened yesterday with testimony by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Leaders of the nation's two teachers unions will also testify.

The 41-page blueprint emphasizes eliminating disparities between schools in poorer and wealthier communities, and within schools.

Moving away from the NCLB focus on reading and math to the exclusion of other subjects, it calls for a "more complete" curriculum including science, history, the arts and other subjects. Addressing complaints that NCLB's standardized test focus has led states to "dumb down" their standards, the blueprint requires states to develop "college- and career-ready standards" for English language arts and math, with additional funding possible for groups of states to develop assessments in areas like science, history and foreign languages, and for English learners and students with disabilities.

Testing and other forms of assessment, Duncan insisted in a conference call with reporters on Monday, will focus "not just on absolute test scores but on growth and gain," measuring improvement over a period of time. The blueprint discards NCLB's widely criticized "adequate yearly progress" test-score standard, which led to labeling a third of the nation's 98,000 schools as "failing."

It talks of a new program to "support ambitious efforts to recruit, place, reward, retain, and promote effective teachers and principals and enhance the profession of teaching."

It requires states, "in collaboration with teachers, principals, and other stakeholders," to develop evaluation systems that identify "effective" and "highly effective" teachers and principals "based in significant part on student growth" along with other measures such as classroom observation.

Speaking of "fostering a race to the top," it uses what Duncan called a "carrots and sticks" approach that offers "rewards" for achieving "dramatic gains" in student achievement, and requires controversial "turnaround models" for lowest-performing schools. Three of the four "turnaround" models require closing the schools or mass firing the teachers and principal as happened recently in Central Falls, R.I. One of these involves turning the schools over to charter or other private operators.

Many public school reform advocates are up in arms over the green-lighting of privatization and mass teacher firings. In New York, the parent-community Alliance for Quality Education notes in its March newsletter that "there is little evidence that such practices work" and "charters do not have a track record of turning around low performing schools and have no transparency." The organization describes itself as "one of the lone and loudest voices for a long time advocating that the lowest performing schools need dramatic action to become successful," but says remedies must be based on "proven educational strategies."

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, in a March 13 statement, said an initial review of the blueprint suggested that it "places 100 percent of the responsibility on teachers and gives them zero percent authority. "

Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, said, "We were expecting to see a much broader effort to truly transform public education for kids. Instead, this blueprint's accountability system still relies on standardized tests to identify winners and losers. We were expecting more funding stability to enable states to meet higher expectations. Instead, this blueprint requires states to compete for critical resources, setting up another winners-and-losers scenario. We were expecting school turnaround efforts to be research-based and fully collaborative. Instead, we see too much top-down scapegoating of teachers and not enough collaboration."

Seeking to counter that criticism, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters Monday that unlike past practices, "there will be shared responsibility. Not just with teachers, but principals, school systems, and even states. Everyone's going to be accountable for driving better results."

In a CBS interview Monday, Van Roekel said, "We want to make sure the policy matches the rhetoric."

Although the blueprint speaks of measuring student "growth," he warned, it still appears to rely on high-stakes testing.

Reiterating his criticism of the winners and losers approach, Van Roekel raised concern that the blueprint is "moving more and more funds" away from formulas that provide equitable federal funding across states. "We need to make sure all schools get adequate funds, not just a few winners," he said.

He expressed "total support" for Obama's and Duncan's reform intentions, saying they are "absolutely motivated by the right thing," and the union's access to education officials has been "wonderful." But he emphasized that involving teachers in reform is "absolutely essential."

A longtime activist with New York's United Federation of Teachers said it is urgent for progressive teacher unionists and supporters to come forward with dialogue and solutions to the complex problems facing schools. Otherwise, he said, "blame the parents" or "blame the teachers" frames the debate, and public schools and unions will be the losers.

The administration's education blueprint and transcript of Duncan's Monday conference call can be found here.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/ / CC BY 2.0

With health care street heat, progressives blunt teabaggers

Bruce Bostick — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:57:00 -0400

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Hundreds showed up at what was supposed to be a right-wing attack on Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy's office here yesterday. The event, however, proved to be much different from what the "teabaggers" announced and had planned.

Dueling demonstrations, each with around 200-300 folks, lined Olentangy River Road, the "teabaggers" attacking Kilroy for her strong support of health care reform, and an equal or greater force of people there supporting her stand.

"We just had to come out and stand with Mary Jo," said Tim Ely, a business agent for the Pipefitter's Union. "She's stood up for us in the legislature, and I'm just sick and tired of these right-wing thugs lying about health care and going around intimidating people. That crap's going to stop, now!"

Chants of "Pass it Now," "People's Needs, not Corporate Greed" and "Health Care, not Warfare" echoed against the building that houses Rep. Kilroy's office, and cars honked, responding to signs reading, "Honk to support Health Care Reform!" Many of the signs were hand-printed, many carried by people who have had to fight insurance companies as well as diseases.

On the "teabagger" side, the mood was much different. Chants and signs called on Kilroy to "Kill the Bill," but the undercurrent was extreme levels of anger, paranoia and frustration.

Dave Hysell, who described himself as "a proud American," stated that he was there "because the government lies." "They made the swine flu virus," he said, "but didn't make enough vaccine for the seniors. They're trying to kill off the seniors."

Nearby, a woman named Mary volunteered that "they have secret committees in place to decide who they can kill off." Asked how she'd know about them if they're secret, she said, "Oh, we have ways, we can find out."

Chris Grant, with the right-wing group, said that he opposed the proposed reform for two reasons. ""First, he said," it's going raise taxes, and I'm against all taxes, and, second, the bill eliminates choice."

On the pro-reform side, there was more of a festive atmosphere. People seemed happy, and especially encouraged, at the big turnout to support Rep. Kilroy and oppose the "teabaggers."

Faith Van Horne, a local artist, spoke about her concerns. "I'm really happy to see all the people here," she said. "I'm just so sick of the lies they're telling about health care reform."

"I'd had a lump on my breast," she explained, "but I waited six months until my regular checkup to get it checked. The insurance wouldn't cover it and it would've cost me $1,500 that I didn't have, just to get it checked. We need to get rid of these insurance companies and get real health care coverage."

We were glad to hear that the exam had proved negative and she was here in good health.

While a police line separated the demonstrations, "teabaggers" yelled "Whore" and "Bitch" at women demonstrators and seemed anxious to create confrontations. A group of three "teabaggers" came across to the progressive side, standing behind folks, attempting to confront them. When Diane Smith approached the men, stating that she had M.S. and could not get insurance, one of the right-wingers just laughed at her, saying, "You've got health care, just go to the emergency room!"

"They are just disgusting," said Jeff St. Clair, who was there "because my wife has five incurable diseases and cannot get insurance coverage." He explained that his family was able to get some help from the MS Society, "But," he stated strongly, "we have a rich county. We should have health care coverage for everyone, with dignity! If every other nation can do it, we certainly can, as well!"

Norm Wernet, Ohio director for the Alliance of Retired Americans, was struck by how many "teabaggers" held signs about keeping Medicare free of "government control."

"It's such a shame that people aren't getting the facts, that these right-wingers put out so many lies," he said. "This health care reform bill will SAVE Medicare! Bush put private companies into Medicare and we are paying them 17 percent MORE than the norm. This bill will cut those funds and put Medicare on much stronger footing. We need this bill to save Medicare" (which, he noted with a grin, is, of course, a single-payer government-run program that runs pretty darn well!).

Leaving the rally, we heard that Rep. Kilroy said she would proudly continue to support health care reform.

Today, we learned that her fellow Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who'd previously stated his opposition to the present reform bill, announced he'd also vote YES!

"I have doubts about this bill. This is not the bill I wanted to support," the congressman said. "However, after careful discussions with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, my wife Elisabeth and close friends I have decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation. If my
vote is to be counted, let it count now."

To see a video of the Columbus demonstration, including tea party people yelling at a man who said he had Parkinson's disease - one man yelled, "If you're looking for a handout you're in the wrong end of town," one man yelled at him. "Nothing for free over here, you have to work for everything you get," another threw dollar bills at him - check out Raw Story.

Photos: Top, page shot from Raw Story; bottom is courtesy of Norm Wernet/ARA

Rich get richer; Working families feeling the pinch

Joel Wendland — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:34:00 -0400

The rich are getting richer, and they are paying fewer taxes. Despite constant whining from the richest Americans about high taxes and how the best solution to the economic crisis is lower taxes for themselves, the evidence, according to a recent paper by the Economic Policy Institute, shows that the very richest Americans saw their after tax incomes rise astronomically leading up to the Great Recession in 2007.

Analysis of federal tax data showed that the 400 richest Americans took in $344.8 million in 2007, up 31 percent over 2006. Between 1992 and 2007, that income grew by 409 percent. After tax income for this group grew by 476 percent.

Meanwhile, pre-tax median income for all Americans grew by just 13.2 percent in the same period. During the past ten years, however, federal data shows median incomes for working families have actually fallen.

In 2007, the richest Americans earned 6900 times more than the average household, while in 1992 they earned just 1124 times as much. That means the gap between the richest Americans and the average family is 6 times higher today than it was in 1992.

Such growing disparities in wealth have hit the working class hard in recent years. For example, a new study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation revealed this week that 2.4 million middle-income earners were added to the number of Americans who go without health insurance between 2000-2008.

A recent finding by the White House Middle Class Task Force also showed that "while incomes have risen, the prices for three large components of middle class expenses have increased faster than income: the cost of college, the cost of health care and the cost of a house. Thus, we conclude that it is harder to attain a middle class lifestyle now than it was in the recent past."

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ken_mayer/ / CC BY 2.0

Tax the rich and create jobs now!

Tim Wheeler — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:59:00 -0400

SEATTLE-Union members picketed the downtown Chase Bank March 15 to demand that the Wall Street giant pay its share of state taxes and stop lobbying for extension of a $67 million tax giveaway while the people face drastic cutbacks in education and health care to balance the state budget.

Al Link, president of the Washington State Labor Council told the crowd, "The Wall Street banks turned their backs on us after they took $700 billion of our money in taxpayer bailouts. Now, here in Washington State, these big banks want even more of our money."

The protest came on the same day that Washington's state legislature went into a special session to try to come up with extra revenues or more deep cuts to eliminate a $2.7 billion deficit. This after already inflicting $6 billion or more in cutbacks to vital human needs programs. Yet the big out-of-state state banks are spending millions in the state capital, Olympia, lobbying to win extension of the $67 million tax giveaway.

On St. Patricks Day, the labor movement here is staging a "Jobs NOW" rally at Westlake Park in downtown Seattle to protest 35 percent unemployment in the building trades and to demand that the legislature approve a pending jobs bill that includes funds to replace the crumbling Alaskan Way Viaduct and the Highway 520 floating bridge.

Will Parry, a veteran union leader and past president of the Puget Sound Alliance of Retired Americans debunked the argument that there is no money to fund these lifeline programs. "There is literally billions of dollars available in special state tax exemptions granted to banks and corporations if the legislature has the courage to go after them," Parry told the World in a phone interview. "In the last couple of years, the legislature enacted another batch of these tax giveaways costing the state another $2 billion in lost revenues. There are over 300 special tax exemptions and privileges for banks and corporations in the Washington tax code."

Parry added, "The overall economic situation is increasingly desperate for workers. This is the worst possible time to slash the safety net." He greeted a bill introduced by Spokane's state Sen. Lisa Brown, a Democrat and Majority Leader of the Senate, to put on the November ballot a referendum to establish a 4.5 percent income tax on those earning $200,000 or more annual income. Her measure would also reduce by one cent the 6.5 percent sales tax. Washington has no state income tax and relies on a "soak the poor" sales tax and property taxes that have dwindled as the economic crisis worsens. The state legislature enacted a graduated income in 1933 but the State Supreme Court overturned it as unconstitutional.

"For decades, tax fairness advocates have advocated a progressive income tax in Washington State," Parry continued. "Our tax system is the most regressive in the nation. The enactment of a fair, progressive income tax, properly structured, would relieve low-income taxpayers of a tremendous tax burden," Parry continued. "The sales tax hits low income people hardest and does not generate the revenues needed especially during an economic recession like this one."

His views were echoed by veteran community activist, John Borah, who served as a city planner in Port Angeles and other cities across the nation. In a widely circulated email, he urged an outpouring of messages to State Rep. Lynn Kessler, majority leader of the Washington legislature, urging her to drop her opposition to a vote on Sen. Brown's income tax measure. "This progressive change in taxation is desperately needed to help counteract suffering and inadequate funding for education," Borah wrote.

While golfers play, locked out workers picket

Marilyn Bechtel — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:05:00 -0400

PLEASANTON, Calif. - Bright spring grass, gentle breezes, a tree-lined country road. It should have been an idyllic setting for the golfers fanning out across the fairways at Castlewood Country Club on a sunny Sunday morning. But in the foreground of this suburban idyll was a startling sight - a picket line!

Actually, the pickets were marching for a 17th day on March 14, as workers at the club, represented by Unite Here! Local 2850, protested club management's decision to lock out 59 cooks, dishwashers, housekeepers and maintenance workers in the midst of a bitter contract struggle. At its heart: health coverage.

As the golfers played on, accompanied by choruses of "Castlewood, Castlewood, you're no good! End the lockout like you should!" and a stirring beat laid down by members of the Brass Liberation Orchestra, Maria Munoz, for seven years a housekeeper at the club, told how a decades-long good union-management relationship turned sour when new owners and management took over last year.

The bottom line, she said, is that the new owners don't seem to want the union. Some workers have been laid off, the club's laundry, where Munoz used to work, has been closed, and more layoffs are possible.

Munoz' own daughters are grown, she said, "but I think of the families with kids. What will they do? And my co-workers - they're like family for the eight hours we're together." She herself faces big problems paying her bills and keeping her home.

Janitor Maria Ramirez said her husband is sick and depends on ongoing medical care. "If I don't have health coverage through my job, there's no way we can get insurance," she said.

The workers and their union have been negotiating for a new contract since September 2009, and have proposed a contract the union says would actually cut labor costs by 8 percent in the first year, an extremely modest wage increase in the second year, and higher workers' monthly insurance premiums for a cheaper plan with fewer benefits. The club is insisting instead that workers must pay $739 a month for family health care - more than three times the national average. Workers, whose pay averages about $12.50 an hour, now contribute nothing for their health care.

Ramirez and others said community support is growing, with Alameda County firefighters and other unionists having joined picket lines, and some country club members saying they want the lockout to end. As we talked, passing cars honked their support.

On March 7, California state Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico joined workers and their children on the picket line. Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, who represents the Pleasanton area, offered to mediate but the club would not agree. And last month, Pleasanton Mayor Jennifer Hosterman told the Pleasanton Weekly that on their current average wages, the workers would find it impossible to pay the company's proposed health care premium.

Local 2850 president Wei Ling Huber said in a statement that the union's proposed agreement would cost no more than the company's latest offer. "But rather than being open to the union's suggestion of redirecting the same amount of money towards family health care instead of wages, the company has chosen to lock the works out in an effort to starve them into submitting to management's own view," she said.

Photo: Marilyn Bechtel/PW

Criminal justice reform takes step forward

Joe Sims — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:24:00 -0400

Blacks, Latinos and immigrants receive longer prisons terms than others committing the same crimes, according to a new report issued last week by the United States Sentencing Commission. The commission is headed by former FBI chief William K Sessions III.

The sentencing differential apparently arose after a recent loosening of federal sentencing guidelines in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling, the United States v. Booker that allows judges greater flexibility in imposing prison terms.

The study indicates that Black and Latino men receive sentences that are 10 and 7 percent longer than whites respectively. Immigrants receive longer sentences than citizens, while college graduates serve less time those with high school diplomas or less.

The new trend apparently reverses progress in eliminating differentials. The report's authors say the "difference in sentence length declined steadily in fiscal years 2000 and 2001. By fiscal year 2002, no statistically significant difference was observed in the sentences imposed on black offenders compared to white offenders. No statistically significant difference between the sentences imposed on these two groups was observed again until after the Booker decision in January 2005."

The cause of the problem remains unclear and the results should be treated with caution. Conservatives have long favored mandatory sentencing. "People who commit similar crimes should receive similar sentences," said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, reports the Kansas City Star.

The study comes as important steps are being made to eliminate differences in crack and powder cocaine sentencing. In a rare bipartisan move, the Senate Judiciary Committee recently voted unanimously for significant reforms.

The Washington Post writes, "The compromise would reduce the sentencing disparity to 18 to 1 for people caught with crack cocaine vs. those who carry the drug in powdered form. The current ratio has rested since 1986 at 100 to 1, disproportionately hurting African Americans, who are convicted of crack possession at far greater numbers."

Most important, the possession of crack cocaine would no longer carry a mandatory minimum, a first for the House and Senate to take such steps.

This represents an important victory for the Obama administration which promised to work to eliminate such disparities in sentencing which have contributed to the U.S. having the world largest prison population.

Today "2.3 million people are in jail or prison, and another 5 million are on parole, probation or other community sanctions. This means that about 1 in every 31 American adults is under some form of correctional supervision--by far the highest rate in the world," Louisiana-based criminal attorneys Damico and Stockstill said in a recent press release applauding the Senate Judiciary Committee and its chair, Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, for passing a bill that would create a "blue-ribbon commission to study the justice system from top to bottom and propose much-needed reforms."

This blue ribbon panel, headed by Webb, is the first time a review and major overhaul of the criminal justice system is being considered since draconian measures imposed by Republicans in the late 1980s and 1990s.

During that period, mandatory sentencing of juveniles as adults became a major legal fad. Currently 1,175 prisoners are servicing life sentences without parole after being sentenced as teenagers. The Supreme Court is currently considering the legality of the GOP legislation.

Leticia Miranda of Colorlines writes, "This June, the Supreme Court will decide whether young people can be sentenced to life without parole for crimes that didn't result in a death. Separately, several states are also considering abolishing life without parole for youth."

Women leaders call for urgent action on Illinois budget crisis

John Bachtell — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:57:00 -0400

CHICAGO - "Illinois is broke. Failure to act will cause obscene and immoral cuts in aid to education and human services. Shame on every elected official who refuses to lead us through this terrible crisis," warned Maria Whelan, director of Illinois Action for Children.

Whelan joined 245 other women leaders representing civic, political, trade union, religious and advocacy organizations March 15 who jointly issued a call for urgent budget and tax reform to avoid catastrophic cuts to human services and massive layoffs across the state.

Illinois faces a $13.8 billion deficit brought on by the economic crisis and one of the most regressive tax systems in the nation.

The leaders were marking Women's History Month by sending a letter to Gov. Quinn and the state legislative demanding action. They were specifically responding to Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal, which includes $2 billion in spending cuts, including $1.2 billion in cuts to primary and secondary education.

Quinn called for an across the board tax rate hike of 1% to cover the education cuts, which he said would result in the layoff of 17,000 teachers. Quinn also proposed nearly $5 billion in borrowing to cover the budget gap, which he termed a crisis of "epic proportions."

"We can no longer wait," said Kathy Ryg of Voices for Illinois Children. "We have come to agree on the size of the problem - the state has a $7.5 billion revenue shortfall and over $6 billion in unpaid bills - and a framework for dealing with it."

The women leaders reiterated the cuts would devastate the most vulnerable populations especially seniors, the disabled, the poor and single parent families. These service cuts and the thousands of workers who labor long hours at often times low pay will disproportionately impact women.

Nancy Shier of the Ounce of Prevention Fund noted the ongoing budget crisis and non-payment of bills is already having a huge impact. Early education programs across the state have received no funding since October and many have shut down mid-year. Layoff notices are already being sent for next year's programs. The budget will cut 40% from mental health programs.

The women and their organizations belong to the Responsible Budget Coalition, a statewide alliance of labor, human service, religious and community organizations who are supporting budget and tax reform and have united around passage of HB 174 that would raise the personal and corporate tax rate while raising the earned income tax credit to protect low income workers.

Since 2010 is an election year, Democratic legislative leaders are fearful of enacting a tax increase without Republican support.

The Republican candidate for governor, Bill Brady, has called for a 10% across the board budget cut and cuts in taxes. This proposal has been widely criticized, including by many in his own party.

Rich Whitney, Green Party candidate for governor, has proposed progressive tax reform he says will bring in $16 billion a year. Whitney's plan would increase tax rates but would also provide greater protections to workers and low-income families through the creation of a Family Tax credit and by tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit. It also includes a "financial transaction tax" on speculative trading.

"The human costs will be tremendous if we fail to act," said Anne Ladky, executive director of Women Employed, one of the signers of the call. "We are talking about destroying an infrastructure of human services, early education, and higher education that will put this state at an economic disadvantage for decades to come."

"This gathering is the tip of a mighty iceberg moving toward Springfield. We will not be silent, we will be heard," said Whelan.

Photo: Anne Ladky of Women Employed joins with other women to issue a call for urgent action on the state budget crisis. John Bachtell/PW

Monserrate runs on anti-gay platform

Dan Margolis — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:51:00 -0400

NEW YORK — "If you hate gay people, vote for me."

This disturbing message seems that it could very well be the campaign message of Hiram Monseratte, the former state senator who was booted from his post after he was found guilty of domestic violence charges and who is now running in a March 16 special election to win back his former position.

Monserrate is challenging Jose Peralta, currently a State Assembly member, for the seat in New York's 13th senatorial district, which includes Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Corona, all in Queens.

An unsigned non-union flier, distributed by supporters of Monserrate, referred to the ousted senator's election rival, State Assembly member Jose Peralta, as "the gay caballero." Further, the "community alert" said that Peralta is a "spokesperson for the gay community's [sic] in NYC," who are "dedicated to destroying our way of life."

On March 4, Monseratte held an anti-GLBT rally outside Peralta's office in Jackson Heights, Queens. Monseratte was the main speaker, along with Catholic and other clergy members.

Ricardo Reyes, a pastor of the El Elyon Christian Church in Corona, said, "I have seen a generation sunk down by the gay community ... If we vote for a gay marriage situation, then we are sending our children to practice something against the Bible."

The rally was in part to target Fight Back NY, which Monserrate and his cohorts called a group of outsiders trying to infiltrate the neighborhood. But City Council member Daniel Dromm of Jackson Heights, took issue with the characterization of FBNY as well as Elyon's statements. He noted that "Jackson Heights holds the second largest gay pride parade outside the borough of Manhattan. We are a multicultural and multi-ethnic community and we do not support hate."

Aside from anti-gay bigots, Monserrate isn't getting much support. Peralta, his opponent has received endorsements from a diverse crowd: the AFL-CIO, Rev. Al Sharpton, New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, virtually all of the City Council members in the 13th district, NARAL and Planned Parenthood, the Si Se Puede Democratic Club of Corona and numerous others.

According to Dennis Hughes, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, his organization "will coordinate a comprehensive get-out-the-vote effort, including mailings, phone banks and door-to-door visits to union members. I am confident that with labor's support, José Peralta will be elected." Hughes noted that Peralta has a 100 percent pro-labor voting record.

Hughes represents 2.5 million unionists overall, and more than 13,000 in the 13th district.

Also targeting Monserrate is President Obama's grassroots group, Organizing for America. Monserrate has angered them by using Obama's "Yes we can" campaign slogan and featuring Obama and OFA logos on campaign literature. According to OFA, Monserrate did not seek, and would not get, permission to use the logos.

A list of Monserrate supporters was not available as of this writing.

Photo: Last year protestors rallied against Hiram Monseratte, who promised he would vote "Yes" for the marriage equality bill, then ended up voting "No." http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmeng34/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Obama in Strongsville: It takes courage

Rick Nagin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:58:00 -0400

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- Speaking to a boisterous crowd of 800 in suburban Cleveland here, President Barack Obama made an impassioned appeal for health care reform.

Even before he entered the gym at the Ehrnfelt Recreation Center in Strongsville, the audience was chanting repeatedly "What do we want? - Health Care! When do we want it? - Now!" and "Yes, we can!"

The crowd erupted enthusiastically when Obama was announced and continuously interrupted his 30 minute speech with applause and supportive comments.

The speech had a special significance since Strongsville is in the district of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has threatened to vote against Obama's plan on grounds that it does not go far enough to reduce costs to consumers. Kucinich and Obama sat next to each other on Air Force One from Washington and the two reportedly spent the entire trip discussing health care reform.

The speech also had special meaning because of a letter Obama had received from Natoma Canfield of nearby Medina which he had read to a recent meeting he had with insurance company executives.

Obama had hoped Canfield, a self-employed cleaning woman, would be at his side but two weeks ago she collapsed and had to be hospitalized where she received two blood transfusions and was diagnosed with leukemia.

Canfield lost her insurance in January after paying premiums for 16 years. Her insurance company kept hiking the premiums because she had been diagnosed with a treatable form of cancer. Last year she paid $6,000 in premiums plus $4,000 out of pocket for co-pays and prescriptions. Since she didn't reach her deductible, her policy only paid $900.

Then the company hiked her premium 40% and she would not have been able to make the mortgage payment on her home, so she cancelled her insurance and wrote the President.

"Natoma is in the hospital and that's why I'm here," Obama said.

With anger rising in his voice and the crowd continually cheering, Obama went on:

"I'm here because I remember my own mother, in the last six months of her life, on the phone in her hospital room arguing with insurance companies when she should have been spending time with her family.

"I'm here because of the millions denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions - or dropped from coverage when they get sick.

"I'm here because of the small businesses forced to choose between health care and hiring.

"I'm here because of the seniors unable to afford the prescriptions they need.

"I'm here because of the folks seeing premiums going up by thirty, forty, fifty percent in a year.

"I am here because this is not the America I believe in - and it's not the America you believe in.

"And so when you hear people say 'start over' - I want you to think of Natoma. When you hear people saying that this isn't the 'right time' - think of what she's going through. When you hear people talk about who's up and who's down in the polls - instead of what's right or what's wrong for the country - think of her and the millions of responsible people - working people - being hurt by today's system of health insurance. And I want you to remember: There but for the grace of God go I."

The status quo is unsustainable, Obama said. "We can't have a system that works better for insurance companies than it does for the American people."

As the audience shouted, "No, No, No," Obama blasted "those who believe the answer is to simply unleash the insurance industry, by providing less oversight and fewer rules. I call this the 'putting the foxes in charge of the hen house' approach. It would only give insurance companies more leeway to raise premiums and deny care."

Obama said his plan would "end the worst practices of insurance companies" would guarantee everyone coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions or length of illness. It would provide free preventive care and let young adults stay on the parents plans until they are 26. It would provide tax credits for middle income people and pay for it by cutting the subsidies to insurance companies which are draining Medicare. The plan would also close the "donut hole" in prescription drug coverage for seniors.

Obama blasted his Republican opponents who claim his plan is "a government takeover of health care," that it sets up "death panels" deciding if someone lives or dies and harms Medicare. The plan in fact "adds almost a decade of solvency to Medicare," he said.

"I believe Congress owes the American people a final up or down vote," he said and someone in the crowd shouted, "we need courage."

"Yes," Obama said, "we need courage," as the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Because in the end, this debate is about far more than the politics. It's about what kind of country we want to be. It's about the millions of lives that would be touched and, in some cases, saved by making private health insurance more secure and more affordable. It's about a woman, lying in a hospital bed, who wants nothing more than to be able to pay for the care she needs.

"And the truth is, what is at stake in this debate is not just our ability to solve this problem, but our ability to solve any problem. The American people want to know if it's still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future. They are waiting for us to act. They are waiting for us to lead. And as long as I hold this office, I intend to provide that leadership. I don't know about the politics. But I know what's right. So I am calling on Congress to pass these reforms - and I look forward to signing them into law."

Debate on FCC broadband plan includes closing digital divide

Pepe Lozano — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:04:00 -0400

The Federal Communications Commission is set to unveil a sweeping proposal tomorrow to overhaul the U.S. broadband policy in order to bring affordable, high-speed Internet connections to all Americans.

The plan could be stalled if the FCC can't find the funding, corporate support or legal clearance to move forward. Part of the goal is to increase current Internet speeds as well as provide web access to 100 million Americans.

A coalition of consumer groups and public interest advocates is specifically urging the FCC to include increased access to undeserved communities.

The coalition includes: the Consumer Federation of America, Media Access Project, Public Knowledge, Consumers Union, New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative, and the Free Press. They are proposing the following recommendations:

Increasing U.S. broadband adoption of networks at "world class speeds" to 90 percent by 2020;
Substantially improving the level of competition between providers of broadband Internet access by the end of 2012;
Establishing real consumer protections for broadband customers within 12-18 months;
Implementing new broadband data collection standards and rules for utilizing that data in market analyses by the end of 2010; and
Quickly, establishing rules protecting open markets for speech and commerce on broadband networks.

According to a recent report by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration the overall use of high-speed Internet has increased, yet there's still a dramatic digital divide in America. While Black and Latino access has risen significantly over the last few years, access to high-speed Internet remains uneven particularly in low-income, rural and minority communities.

Asian non-Hispanic (67.3 percent) and white non-Hispanic users (65.7 percent) are more likely to have broadband in their home than Black non-Hispanic (45.9 percent), Hispanic (39.7 percent), and Native American/Alaska Native users (42.6 percent).

Civil rights groups argue the federal government must address the problem given the serious consequences the result could have for disadvantage minority groups especially as computer skills become increasingly important in all aspects of American life.

The wide disparity in Internet access is quickly becoming a matter of grave social and political importance where more than 40 percent of all homes are not connected, critics charge.

Many households use antiquated 'dial-up' technology, analysts note, and as high-speed Internet becomes increasingly expensive, middle- and low-income families are less able to afford it.

"The digital divide extends beyond connectivity," explains Megan Tady in a Color Lines article last year. "Many people don't have the training, skills or equipment to get online, or they live in an area that has been redlined by Internet service providers who find little incentive to build out to their communities," she writes. "No matter how many companies enter the market, the fight for customers in high income communities will always be more rewarding for the industry than providing access to low-income communities."

However many note the FCC's plan could mark the biggest opportunity to restructure and regulate the way American's access the Internet.

The FCC will make a series of recommendations to Congress aimed at spurring the ever-changing communications industry to bring more and faster online services to Americans as more turn to the Internet to communicate, pay bills, make travel plans or for news and entertainment. The FCC also wants to make sure that anchor institutions - government buildings, schools, libraries and health care facilities - get speeds of about 1 gigabit per second by 2020. FCC officials say some of the goals are "aspirational" and should be viewed as a "living, breathing" document for the next decade in hopes of helping 93 million Americans without broadband get connected.

Meanwhile the Obama administration has touted the plan as a way to create jobs and make energy use more efficient.

Photo: Hercules Jones, customer of a "Digital Inclusion" program designed for low-income residents in Philadelphia, surfs the Internet, Aug. 10, 2007. Matt Rourke/AP

Health care reform poised to pass, 41 senators support public option

John Wojcik — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:53:00 -0400

The White House predicted today that the president's health care reform plan will pass the House this week and, in a related development, even the public option is looking like a very real possibility.

Robert Gibbs, the president's press secretary, warned Republicans that if they make health care an issue in the November elections, "they do so at their own peril."

"Make my day," senior White House political advisor David Axelrod said. "Let's have that fight. I'm ready to have that - and every member of Congress ought to be willing to have that debate as well."

As of today, meanwhile, 41 Senators had either signed or issued statements of support for a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid urging passage of the Public Option through reconciliation.

The senators are supporting a letter initiated by a freshman liberal, Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., who has introduced a bill into the House (H.R. 4789) which would give the option to buy into Medicare to every citizen of the United States. The Public Option Act, as it is officially named, is being called the Medicare You Can Buy Into Act by lawmakers.

"If giving people the opportunity to choose Medicare as their insurance provider causes millions to ditch their current policy for a far better deal, what's wrong with that?" Grayson asked recently after a public jobs forum in Orlando. "Obviously, the people want and need more competition in health coverage, and a public option offers that. But its just as important that we offer people not just another choice, but another kind of choice."

Grayson said open enrollment in Medicare would force private insurance companies to lower premiums in order to remain competitive.

Despite the improved prospects for meaningful health care reform, labor and its allies say public pressure must continue. They note that recent polls showing higher approval ratings for the president, the Democrats and health care reform have helped push some legislators off the fence.

The GOP, meanwhile, today lost several rounds in its bid to stall passage of the president's bill. The first setback for them came when Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., endorsed reconciliation as a means to pass the measure. Republicans had hoped Byrd would back their claim that the president and Senate Democrats are breaking the rules to pass health care legislation.

In another setback for the obstructionists was the Catholic Hospitals Association came out in favor of the president's health care proposal. The move destroys the Republican argument that abortion language in the bill weakens conscience protections for Catholic health providers.

Opponents of reform remain determined, however, to block passage of the bill.

Swing Democrats are being hammered with a multi-million dollar anti-health care campaign. The United States Chamber of Commerce is singling out 27 Democrats who supported the health care bill last year and 13 who opposed it in an effort that will cost $30 million by the end of this week. The campaign is directed at the same lawmakers President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lobbied last week.

Supporters of health care reform note, however, that the growing public demand for health care reform explains the shift in favor of it among some lawmakers this week. Only three Democratic senators, for example, have come out opposed to the public option. The measure could pass even with six defections.

Photo: Demonstrators march in front Blue Cross offices in San Francisco, Sept. 22, 2009, protesting Blue Cross' oppostion to a public health insurance option as part of a health care reform package. Paul Sakuma/AP

Immigration moves higher on White House agenda

Pepe Lozano — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:53:00 -0500

Immigrant rights activists, labor and faith-based leaders met with President Obama and White House advisers March 11 to discuss moving forward on immigration reform legislation.

The day before Chicago youth "came out" as undocumented during the Immigrant Youth Justice League "Come Out of the Shadows" march and rally in downtown Chicago. Immigrant rights groups are pushing forward and demanding Congress and the White House do something about the U.S. "broken immigration system."

According to media reports, the president re-stated his commitment to passing comprehensive immigration reform at the March 11 meeting, but expressed exasperation that there was not enough Republican support.

He agreed to work actively to get bi-partisan support and to announce an outline for a Senate immigration bill prior to the march. He also agreed to focus deportations on criminals and to examine those deportations that are affecting people who are not criminals at a follow-up meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The president asked for grassroots help to deliver Republican support for immigration reform.

The "March for America" demonstration on March 21, which organizers expect over 150,000 participants, is helping to push forward immigration reform, activists said.

Critics say a bill Obama is likely to announce before the march will probably include unpopular measures among grassroots and labor activists, like a national biometric identification card for all workers, including American citizens and legal immigrants, plus substantial new guest worker programs.

The House reform bill, sponsored by Rep Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., also has its critics, but is seen as more favorable to immigrants and all workers than what is expected to come out of the Senate.

Photo: Pepe Lozano/PW

Oakland residents demand action vs. banks

Juan Lopez — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:59:00 -0500

OAKLAND, Calif. - Fighting back tears, anger in his voice, Al Marshall recounted how his "kids were crying when the judgment came down" to abandon the home in which they were growing up.

"I'm sick and tired of (these banks) holding the city of Oakland hostage," Marshall, a city worker and member of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021, told a crowd in front of city hall steps March 9.

Marshall said city workers are taking pay cuts, furloughs and layoffs while critical public services are being slashed. It's high time, he added, for Wall Street banks "to step up and help fix the mess they created."

SEIU organizer Ariana Casanova told the World the protest is the first of several actions demanding from the big banks financial relief for homeowners and for Bay Area cities. The action was part of a national campaign by SEIU and community allies.

Demonstrators called on big banks to renegotiate or cancel "interest rate swap" agreements they now hold with Oakland and other Bay Area cities. This action followed "a historic vote" by the Los Angeles City Council last week to no longer do business with banks that refuse to renegotiate or cancel swap deals to help the city recover, SEIU said in a press advisory. In Pennsylvania and Tennessee, lawmakers are also pursuing action on the swap deals.

"We are not going to patronize banks anymore that loot and steal our money," said Andy Stern, SEIU International president, "We rescued these banks and now we expect a fair treatment." Stern was one of several speakers, including city council members, representatives of unions and community organizations, and Oakland residents recently victimized by the banks.

Wall Street banks sell swap deals to cities and states at a fixed interest rate during periods of economic upswing. In return these government entities pay banks back what they owe at the fixed rate and the banks take the liability if rates go up. That seems like sound business practices for the banks and protection for cities and states against unexpected interest hikes.

However, during the periods of capitalist economic slump when interest rates tend to bottom out as in the current devastating crisis, big banks get off like bandits and cities and states are left holding the bag.

This year Oakland will pay $5.2 million on its swap deal with Goldman Sachs, exceeding the city's $4 million budget gap. Goldman insists that Oakland pay the interest on the swap deal through 2021 even though the city five years ago paid off the underlying bonds that were part of the swap, SEIU's press advisory said. If Oakland were to exit the deal, it would have to fork up $19 million in termination penalties.

Bay Area cities will dole out more than $150 million to big banks on these swap agreements while, in many cases, what they are paying back in interest on these deals is equal to or larger than their current budget gap.

Casanova said the labor-community coalition will come back to the Oakland City Council to request a base ordinance similar to that of Los Angeles and "more." The group will also hold the banks accountable to homeowners threatened by foreclosure and to communities blighted by empty and often damaged structures when residents are forced to abandon their homes.

Moments after the rally, the crowd marched to a nearby branch of Citibank and entered the premises chanting "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!"

While the dazed security guard strained his voice over the din, threatening to call police, the demonstrators handed over a poster-size letter making the case for their demands to bank management, promising "We will be back!"

Photo: Marilyn Bechtel/PW

New report cites “explosion” of radical right groups

Marilyn Bechtel — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:54:00 -0500

Last year saw an "explosion" of extremist groups and activism across the U.S., the Southern Poverty Law Center says in a new report, "Rage on the Right: The Year in Hate and Extremism."

The report, prepared by Mark Potok, director of SPLC's Intelligence Project, charts the meteoric rise of anti-immigrant vigilante groups, which grew by 80 percent last year, and the resurgence of "patriot" militias and related organizations after years of a lower profile. Available on the center's web site, www.splcenter.org, the document features links to data on different types of groups.

"The number of hate groups in America has been going up for years," the report says, "rising 54 percent between 2000 and 2008 and driven largely by an angry backlash against non-white immigration and, starting in the last year of that period, the economic meltdown and the climb to power of an African American president."

The report highlights the reemergence of the Patriot movement and its associated militias - most dramatically associated with the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that left 168 people dead. The Patriots, who see the federal government as the main enemy and emphasize anti-government conspiracy theories, had largely sunk from view by the early 2000s. But in 2009 the number of groups surged nearly two and a half times, to a total of 512, including 127 militias.

Signs of renewed violence emerging from the radical right include the murder of six law enforcement officers by right wing extremists since President Obama was inaugurated, the report says, while "racist skinheads and others have been arrested in alleged plots to assassinate the nation's first Black president."

In an accompanying video, Potok cites a growing overlap between the tea party movement and militias and other Patriot groups. While this frequently involves individuals active in both types of groups, he says, ideas from the Patriot movement, such as conspiracy theories and the need to resist the government by force, are increasingly transmitting to tea party groups.

Potok expresses particular concern about a group founded last year, the Oath Keepers - military and law enforcement officers who, under the guise of pledging to uphold the U.S. Constitution, base their program on conspiracy theories that martial law will be imposed and Americans herded into concentration camps.

"What is really worrying about a group like the Oath Keepers is this is a group of people who are armed by the rest of society," Potok says. "If these are men and women animated by ideas that are completely false, paranoid and groundless, you've got to worry about who they are going to see as the real enemy and what kinds of decisions they make in stressful situations."

Asked in a telephone interview about the relation between the far right upsurge and recent racist incidents on college campuses, Potok pointed out that these are "really just a reflection of what is happening in the larger society." FBI hate crime statistics show that high school and college campuses are the third largest venue for hate crimes, he said, after inside people's homes and on the street, and account for about 10 percent of hate crimes.

"One of the nastiest aspects of what's going on right now is the role mainstream aiders and abetters play in this," Potok said. A campaign by civil rights organizations including the Southern Poverty Law Center, as well as many individuals, forced Lou Dobbs' resignation from CNN, he said. While SPLC's report doesn't affect Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann at all, he added, hundreds of people from her district calling her out on her false allegations "has the real potential to make her stop."

Photo: From a September rally of tea partiers in Chicago. Chicago Man/http://www.flickr.com/photos/usachicago/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Tired of margarine, janitors demand health care as their “butter”

John Rummel — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:34:00 -0500

DETROIT - From the Detroit Metro Airport, to Ford's world headquarters, General Motors Renaissance Center and the Buhl Building in downtown Detroit here, the work they do makes it possible for others to keep doing theirs.

They clean those buildings and many more and their agreement with seven different contractors expires this June.

"They" are the hard-working janitors and members of Service Employees International Union.

Preserving health care coverage will be a key bargaining issue. "We don't want to see drastic cuts coming to very low paid workers. Any more cuts would send these folks into poverty," said Erica Kimble, Detroit City Director for SEIU Local 1. "Health care is something we will preserve and we will march to keep it," she stated as several hundred workers marched through downtown Detroit this week to kick off SEIU's 2010 contract campaign.

Rod Bashir is vice-president of the multi-state local and hails from Chicago. He also happens to serve as an elected official in a small town, and understands the kinds of pressure put on employers in today's economic climate.

However, he cautions the pressures are "three fold on employees trying to balance their books as well." He says the increasing cost of health care is problematic and the union is asking our employers to "get on board with the effort to provide national health insurance."

Pamela Owens works at the Renaissance Center and said the strength of the contract will affect "the way I run my house, the way my kids go to school, the way I put food on my table." She has four children between the ages of 10 to 18 and health care is a very important issue. "One of my kids plays basketball; it's so easy to get hurt. Top of the line issue for me is health care."

Owens has worked at the Renaissance Center for 24 years. "In 24 years I've only gotten $6.00 in raises. They talk about economic hard times. What about when the times were good? They gave us a dime here and dime there for 24 years. I'm tired of Parkay, I want butter too," she declared.

Brenda Bevels is a steward at the Detroit Metro Airport and on the bargaining committee. She also worries about the hardships health cuts would bring. "I have to take medication. I have high blood pressure. My mom is diabetic. Health care needs to be affordable."

She said it's getting more difficult to get by. The money she and the others spend on prescriptions, rent, insurance and other bills means they are "just fighting to survive."

Her attitude on contract negotiations is "we are going to be fighting very hard. We don't want to cut. Our livelihood is going down. We want to add."

Once they reached the end of their walk, the marchers gathered in Hart Plaza for a short rally.

Bashir told the crowd' "I understand Detroit is having a tough time economically. The whole country is."

He called on the union's membership to be active in helping turn things around. "It won't get better when good people step back. If you believe is some scripture, your contract should be just under that scripture because it will determine your economic life going forward."

On the walk back to the union's headquarters Kimble told this reporter Detroit's future is bleak if people can't make enough to live comfortably. "These folks are barely living from paycheck to paycheck. One piece of paper [the contract] will determine whether or not their future is going to have a happy ending."

Photo: John Rummel/PW