Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade



President Barack Obama looks on after announcing he is keeping Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009, during a news conference in Oak Bluffs, Mass. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)



Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Question:

Who will pay for this?

Answer:

Wall Street will make the working class pay.



Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Question:

What will this do to the standard of living of working people?

Answer:

Debt equals poverty... think about what this huge debt will mean for you.



Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Question:

Who will profit from this debt?

Answer:

Wall Street bankers



Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Question:

Who created this mess?

Answer:

Wall Street coupon clippers



Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Question:

Why should the working class pay--- with a deterioration in its standard of living--- to clean up a mess workers had no part in creating?

Answer:

Because we lack political and economic power.




Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Comment: Let the Wall Street bankers and coupon clippers pay to clean up the mess they created.

Comment:

$9 trillion over next decade and not one single problem working people are experiencing has been solved... talk about your ass-backward priorities

Comment:

There is no longer any question who Barack Obama is working for: Wall Street.



Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

The solution: We need to build a very broad, united people's front struggling for a real program for change which must include:

1. Real progressive health care reform with a combination of a vastly expanded public health care sector... no fees/no premiums, comprehensive, all-inclusive, cradle to grave universal health care; publicly funded, publicly administered and publicly delivered combined with single-payer universal health care as the first step towards a fully-funded socialized health care system for all based upon the principles embodied in Social Security.

2. A long-term moratorium on all home foreclosures and evictions... pay-off the mortgages of working people to the tune of the amount the Wall Street bankers have been subsidized, and cancel all student debt for working class students--- the middle class, small business and the wealthy can afford to pay their own way.

3. Free public child care for all working class families; the middle class, small business and the wealthy can afford to pay their own way.

4. Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage based upon the scientific calculations using actual cost-of-living factors as determined by the United States Department of Labor and its Bureau of Labor Statistics. Anyone knows that poverty will never be eliminated as long as employers are allowed to pay working people poverty wages. Any employer not wanting to pay workers real living wages for work that needs to be done should do the jobs themselves.

5. Affirmative action must be aggressively enforced to counter the extreme poverty on Indian Reservations and in communities of color as well as for women because otherwise, with a country sinking into the morass of bankruptcy mired in $9 trillion dollars of debt poverty is going to soar--- further--- out of control on Indian Reservations and in communities of color and families headed by single mothers will see child poverty and all the ensuing misery and despair spiral completely beyond control. Barack Obama oversees a massive economic and governmental apparatus that is nothing but a web held together by institutionalized racism and this web must be torn asunder once and for all... strict enforcement of affirmative action programs is the surest way to put an end to racism.

We must wrest social, political and economic power from the hands of the military-financial-industrial complex if we are going to turn our country around.

The time has come to once-and-for-all beat swords into plowshares... Let the generals hold the baked-goods sales and sell candy bars door-to-door to finance their military insanity, boondoggles and imperialist wars.

The time has come to shut down the more than 800 U.S. foreign military bases dotting the globe and use our precious human and natural resources to establish 800 public health care centers across our own country.

Barack Obama and his Wall Street masters have bankrupted our country and there isn't even a single thing of benefit to working people to show for this.

We need a people's lobby to win a people's bailout... the longer we delay action the worse this situation becomes by the day...

When Barack Obama was campaigning for election; did you ever think that his message of "hope" and "change" was going to result in this kind of a nightmare?

We are now staring a situation in the face where Barack Obama is feeding us a line of bull that our taxes will not increase as city, county and state governments intend to slash funding to the bone and make us pay for those services that used to be provided for free for the common good... before long we will be paying to borrow books from our public libraries--- if they have the funds to remain open... this is the direction our country is headed.

Capitalism is on the skids to oblivion and we are well down the short, bumpy road to perdition. No one with an ounce of common sense continues traveling down such a dangerous road knowing what awaits them at the end.


Remember: Debt equals poverty.


Working people will pay and suffer the cost of this $9 trillion dollar debt; Wall Street bankers will profit from this $9 trillion dollar debt.



Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Something is terribly out of whack in our country as anyone with common sense can tell... obviously the Democrats don't know the difference between "fair" and "fare;" give them a dictionary, not your vote... we are sorely in need of a real progressive political party based on the legacy and traditions of the socialist Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party.



Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

What Barack Obama and the Wall Street bankers and coupon clippers have done to our country in plunging us into this huge debt that will completely destroy what remains of our standard of living is nothing short of treason.


For weeks we have been getting economic reports coming out of the White House from Barack Obama prepared by Rosy Scenario and now this economic ticking, time-bomb has been dropped:





Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Aug 25, 2009

By JIM KUHNHENN

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a chilling forecast, the White House is predicting a 10-year federal deficit of $9 trillion - more than the sum of all previous deficits since America's founding. And it says by the next decade's end the national debt will equal three-quarters of the entire U.S. economy.

But before President Barack Obama can do much about it, he'll have to weather recession aftershocks including unemployment that his advisers said Tuesday is still heading for 10 percent.

Overall, White House and congressional budget analysts said in a brace of new estimates that the economy will shrink by 2.5 to 2.8 percent this year even as it begins to climb out of the recession. Those estimates reflect this year's deeper-than-expected economic plunge.

The grim deficit news presents Obama with both immediate and longer-term challenges. The still fragile economy cannot afford deficit-fighting cures such as spending cuts or tax increases. But nervous holders of U.S. debt, particularly foreign bondholders, could demand interest rate increases that would quickly be felt in the pocketbooks of American consumers.

Amid the gloomy numbers on Tuesday, Obama signaled his satisfaction with improvements in the economy by announcing he would nominate Republican Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The announcement, welcomed on Wall Street, diverted attention from the budget news and helped neutralize any disturbance in the financial markets from the high deficit projections.

The White House Office of Management and Budget indicated that the president will have to struggle to meet his vow of cutting the deficit in half in 2013 - a promise that earlier budget projections suggested he could accomplish with ease.

"This recession was simply worse than the information that we and other forecasters had back in last fall and early this winter," said Obama economic adviser Christina Romer.

The deficit numbers also could complicate Obama's drive to persuade Congress to enact a major overhaul of the health care system - one that could cost $1 trillion or more over 10 years. Obama has said he doesn't want the measure to add to the deficit, but lawmakers have been unable to agree on revenues that would cover the cost.

What's more, the high unemployment is expected to last well into the congressional election campaign next year, turning the contests into a referendum on Obama's economic policies.

Republicans were ready to pounce.

"The alarm bells on our nation's fiscal condition have now become a siren," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "If anyone had any doubts that this burden on future generations is unsustainable, they're gone - spending, borrowing and debt are out of control."

Even supporters of Obama's economic policies said the long-term outlook places the federal government on an unsustainable path that will force the president and Congress to consider politically unpopular measures, including tax increases and cuts in government programs.

"The numbers today portend the biggest budget fight we've probably had in decades in the United States," said Stan Collender, a former congressional budget official.

The summer analyses by the White House budget office and by the Congressional Budget Office reached similarly bleak conclusions. The CBO's 10-year deficit figure was smaller - $7 trillion - but that is because it assumes that all tax cuts put into place in the administration of former President George W. Bush will expire on schedule by 2011. Obama's budget baseline, however, hews to his proposal to keep the tax cuts in place for families earning less than $250,000 a year.

Both budget offices see the national debt - the accumulation of annual budget deficits - as more than doubling over the next decade. The public national debt, made up of amounts the government owes to the public, including foreign governments, stood Tuesday at a staggering $7.4 trillion. White House budget officials predicted it would reach $17.5 trillion in 2019, or 76.5 percent of the gross domestic product. That would be the highest proportion in six decades.

Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Elmendorf said if Congress doesn't reduce deficits, interest rates are likely to rise, hurting the economy. But if Congress acts too soon, the economic recovery - once it arrives - could be thwarted.

"We face perils in acting and perils in not acting," Elmendorf told reporters.

David Walker, former head of the Government Accountability Office, said the numbers illustrated the need for a national commission that would review spending and taxing options and present lawmakers with a deficit reduction plan that Congress could approve or reject.

"We're going to have to do a hard course correction once we turn the corner on the economy," Walker, now president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, said.

Both Romer and Obama budget director Peter Orszag said this year's contraction would have been far worse without money from the $787 billion economic stimulus package that the president pushed through Congress as one of his first major acts.

At the same time, the continuing stresses on the economy have, in effect, increased the size of the stimulus package because the government will have to spend more in unemployment insurance and food stamps, Orszag said. He said the cost of the stimulus package - which spends most of its money in fiscal year 2010 - will grow by tens of billions of dollars above the original $787 billion.

The White House also credited the $3 billion cash-for-clunkers auto program for contributing to recent economic growth.

Orszag, anticipating backlash over the deficit numbers, conceded that the long-term deficits are "higher than desirable." The annual negative balances amount to about 4 percent of the gross domestic product, a number that many economists say is unsustainable.

But Orszag also argued that overhauling the health system would reduce health care costs and address the biggest contributor to higher deficits.

"I know there are going to be some who say that this report proves that we can't afford health reform," he said. "I think that has it backward."

At the same time, 10-year budget projections can be "wildly inaccurate," said Collender, now a partner at Qorvis Communications. Collender noted that there will be five congressional elections over the next 10 years and any number of foreign and domestic challenges that will make actual deficit figures very different from the estimates.

__

Associated Press writers Christopher S. Rugaber, Tom Raum and Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.


Books for real change.

Suggested reading list for working people:


Super Profits and Crisis by Victor Perlo

Working Class USA by Gus Hall

Writings of Frank Marshall Davis by Frank Marshall Davis

The People's Front by Earl Browder

Marx and Engels Selected Works

Twilight of World Capitalism by William Z. Foster


For a real understanding of what the American revolution was about, read Citizen Tom Paine by Howard Fast.

Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood... and working class political action.

This is YOUR future...




Alan L. Maki

Check out my main blog:

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

2010 United States Social Forum to be held in Detroit; What will it accomplish?

We need to start thinking about presenting a real progressive alternative agenda at the USSF Detroit and it should start with advocating real health care reform and countering the reactionary direction the Obama administration and the Democrats are taking this country.

There is something wrong about the way this United States Social Forum 2010 in Detroit is developing if every participant doesn't go back home into their communities and stimulate movements for real health care reform.

A major problem with this Social Forum movement has been its inability to unite participants to undertake struggles aimed at accomplishing specific tasks, goals and objectives.

To bring so many activists together and not bring forward an agenda for real health care reform we can all unite and fight for just doesn't seem right.

I would urge people to contact the working groups and insist that the struggle for health care reform becomes a primary objective of this Social Forum in 2010.

We need to send Barack Obama and the Democrats a loud, clear message that 25,000 activists will be organizing, as a complement to all their other activities, a national struggle for real health care reform.

I would encourage people to read my blog posting on this topic:

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/health-care-reform.html

If 20,000 activists all assembled in one place at the same time can't launch a real fight for health care reform and forge a massive "people's front" by creating some kind of massive "people's lobby" there is something wrong with how these Social Forums are being organized.

Health care reform, real health care reform and not this phony crap of Barack Obama's, should become the centerpiece in the struggle for a "people's bailout."

Capitalism is on the skids to oblivion and it is time to start talking about the socialist alternative... let the talk begin by bringing forward the advocacy of socialized health care.

Alan L. Maki


Working Groups

Mon, 06/22/2009 - 03:05

One of the many ways that you can get involved in the organizing efforts for USSF Detroit is through the national Working Groups. There are currently 10 Working Groups, and several committees, where you can participate in regular (often biweekly) conference calls. With representatives from the Detroit Local Organizing Committee, each Working Group and committee discuss ideas, strategies, and plans around the work needed to bring the USSF to Detroit.

For more information about joining a Working Group or committee, please contact the following point people (all contacts are interim):

Working Groups

Culture – Oya Amakisi, Detroit Local Organizing Committee, amakisi@gmail.com

Communications – Bill Bryce, Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice, williamabryce@att.net

Resource Mobilization – Genaro Lopez-Rendon, Southwest Workers Union, genaro@swunion.org

International Solidarity – Cindy Wiesner, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, cindy@ggjalliance.org

Language Access – Danielle Mahones, CTWO, dmahones@ctwo.org

Logistics – Maureen Taylor, USSF Staff, chuteh7@hotmail.com

Outreach – Tammy Bang Luu, Labor Community Strategy Center, Tammy@thestrategycenter.org and Ahmina Maxey, EMEAC, ahmina@emeac.org

People's Movement Assembly – Stephanie Guilloud, Project South, stephanie2@projectsouth.org

Program – Walda Katz-Fishman, LRNA, wkatzfishman@igc.org

Religion - Bill Wylie-Kellerman bill@scupe.com and
Rev. Charles E. Williams II Cwilliams@im4justice.com 313.303.8002

Technology – Alfredo Lopez, May First/People Link, alfredo@mayfirst.org

Women's - Ariel Dougherty, Women's Media Equity Collaborative, arielcamera@gmail.com and Jacqui Patterson, Women of Color United, jpatters1@yahoo.com

Committees

Detroit Local Organizing Committee – Will Copeland, USSF Staff, williamwholenote@gmail.com

Union leaders meet with Obama

The most important item that should be at the top of this agenda but isn't even included is the question of peace.

Alan L. Maki


Union leaders meet with Obama

Author: John Wojcik

Union presidents are meeting with President Obama in the White House today where they are discussing the urgent need for health care reform with a public option, according to Gregory King, special assistant to Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

They are also mapping plans, King said, for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it easier to unionize.

The Communications Workers of America said this afternoon that 10 of the union leaders at the White House gathering are members of the National Labor Coordinating Committee, a group committed to reuniting the labor movement which currently consists of unions that belong to two federations, the AFL-CIO and Change to Win, and unions that are independent.

“They are talking to the president about health care and about what the labor movement can do to help in the passage of reform legislation," according to King. "They are stressing the importance of the public option in which a government-run entity would compete with private insurers and they are emphasizing their opposition to a tax on employee-provided health benefits to help finance that reform.”

Such a tax would be particularly painful for union members because many receive health benefits from their employers.

While health care is at the top of the agenda King said he expected that the Employee Free Choice Act would be discussed.

Labor has been waging a strong campaign to convince several senators who are sitting on the fence to come out in full support of the bill. Sixty votes will be needed to stop a planned Republican filibuster against it.

Besides McEntee, the list of labor leaders meeting with the president includes John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union and Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association. Also at the meeting are the presidents of the steelworkers, communications workers, Teamsters and food and commercial workers.

An AFL-CIO source says that many in the group are also anxious to discuss the issue of trade. The labor movement is opposed to so-called free trade agreements that result in exploitation of labor in developing countries while U.S. jobs are exported by companies chasing after cheap labor.

The source said that there is also “concern about the need to develop an entirely new approach to, a planned approach to developing a manufacturing policy in America. We have to create good paying manufacturing jobs if we are really going to restore this economy.”

Unemployment, is of course, also expected to be discussed. Labor leaders are supporting a second stimulus package in the wake of widespread expectations that the official unemployment rate will surge into double digit territory.

Is The Global Recession Over?

This is a very interesting and important question being posed here. The same question is being posed in a variety of publications ranging from conservative to the left.

Here we get an interesting take from one of the largest, most powerful and influential communist parties in the world.

However, noticeably absent is any reference to what these huge debts being incurred in the name of "economic stimulus" are really doing to nations and people.

This accumulation of debt may be having some short-term results as far as alleviating the problems associated with the collapsing capitalist economy which is certain to negatively impact all the countries the United States is trying to use to shore up its own economy.

But, there can only be one consequence of this huge accumulating debt aimed at trying to save the capitalist system, not just from complete collapse, but saving the system itself... we are already well into a full-blown depression.

What is the consequence of all this debt that is not considered in this article? Poverty. Massive poverty will be the result of these huge accumulations of debt. Masses of people who have never experienced poverty will be experiencing poverty and everything that goes with such poverty.

One need only examine what the western imperialist governments and their bankers did to socialist Poland to figure this out.

Debt equals poverty... massive debt equals massive poverty.

Recession, depression or whatever happens with the capitalist economy this massive, massive, massive debt is going to result in the most devastating and massive world-wide poverty the human race has ever experienced.

Something to think about and ponder as you gather around the dinner table... you might also contemplate how much longer you will have food to put on the dinner table for your family...

The leading capitalists, headed by Wall Street, are taking advantage of this depression as capitalists always do--- using this economic depression to drive down that standards of living of working people across the globe.

It is no wonder so many working people are turning to Karl Marx for answers... one only has to read the very short Chapter 26 from Volume One of Marx' "Capital" to understand what is taking place in the world today... if you have never read or studied Karl Marx before, I would urge you to get to your nearest public library and check out Volume One of "Capital" and give it a good, thorough read because what the bankers did to Poland they are now doing to the entire world... the United States included.

Is the "global recession over?" Yes it is; we are in a capitalist economic depression... the result will be massive poverty for years to come because Barack Obama and Wall Street have tried to solve the problems they created on the backs of the working class.

Alan L. Maki




People's Democracy

(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol. XXXIII

No. 25


June 21, 2009



Is The Global Recession Over?



C P Chandrasekhar



FINANCE ministers of the G8, meeting at Lecce in Italy during the latter part of week ending June 14, were cautiously optimistic. The final communiqué noted that in the aftermath of efforts at financial stabilisation and fiscal stimulation “there are signs of stabilisation in our economies, including a recovery of stock markets, a decline in interest rate spreads, (and) improved business and consumer confidence”. But, the ministers cautioned “the situation remains uncertain and significant risks remain to economic and financial stability”.



There were two elements of the communiqué that pointed to a compromise between the differing perceptions of the US and UK, on the one hand, and Germany and France, on the other, regarding the principal problems and tasks at hand. The first of these elements was the reference to the persistence of “significant risks” which was not there in the original draft of the communiqué, and was ostensibly inserted by those countries (UK and US) who feel that it is not yet time to decide that the recovery is here and the stimulus provided thus far has been adequate. Moreover, the mention of “encouraging figures in the manufacturing sector” that figured in the draft was dropped, since it went against the evidence that industrial production in the eurozone area had fallen by 21 per cent in April, relative to the corresponding month of the previous year.



LEADING POWERS DIFFER ON EMPHASIS

The second element of the communiqué of interest is that it pushes for going beyond thinking of recovery and formulating national level “exit strategies” “for unwinding the extraordinary policy measures taken to respond to the crisis.” The reference here is to the huge budget deficits and high levels of public debt that many countries, especially the US, have accumulated in the wake of the bail-outs and the stimulus packages they have put in place. Though the US and UK have played down this aspect of the discussions, there is clearly a difference in emphasis among the leading powers on where the world economy stands and what is the immediate priority in terms of action.



The difference hinges, quite clearly, on the extent to which different sections believe that the worst is over. The reason for uncertainty regarding a potential recovery is that the figures are yet to point to a definitive revival. As of May 2009, nearly two years since the financial crisis broke and a year-and-a-half after the onset of the global recession, the economic scenario remains uncertain, if not bleak. The rate of unemployment in the US, which stood at less than 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2008, had risen to 8.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 and is estimated to have touched 9.4 per cent in May 2009—its highest rate for the last 26 years. This possibly explains US pessimism. It is true that the unemployment rate in the European Union had also risen from 6.8 to 8.1 per cent between the first quarters of 2008 and 2009. But the higher base level may be making the problem appear less alarming to ruling governments there than in the US, influencing their perceptions.



Output growth too gives no cause for optimism. Quarter-on-quarter growth rates of US GDP (as measured relative to the corresponding quarter of the previous year) had declined sharply in the last quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 across the G7. This decline was even sharper in the UK and the EU, than the US). The crisis had clearly not gone away by the beginning of April, despite signs of recovery in the stock market. The disconcerting element is that this situation prevails despite huge infusion of funds by G7 governments. According to one estimate, the US Federal Reserve had by April 2009 offered about $12.7 trillion in guarantees and commitments to the US financial sector, and spent a little over $4 trillion in combating the crisis. As a result the federal deficit has risen to more than 12 per cent of GDP, frightening fiscal conservatives who predict the onset of stagflation. The big thrust seems to be over and the recovery is still not in sight. What it has possibly done, and even that is not certain, is prevent the recession from turning into a depression.



OPTIMISM BASED ON STILL TENUOUS EVIDENCE

Despite this evidence relating to the period till the last full quarter for which numbers are available, speculation that the downturn has bottomed out and the developed world is on the verge of recovery proliferates. This optimism is based on still tenuous evidence, including evidence that the rate of decline of economies is slowing. The most important of these is that the monthly decline in employment in the US is down sharply. In May 2009 nonfarm payroll employment fell by 345,000, which is around half the average monthly decline over the previous six months and well below the close to 750,000 fall in January this year. Associated with this fall in monthly employment declines is a fall in new unemployment claims. Economist Robert Gordon of Northwestern University in the US, a respected analyst of growth and productivity trends in the US, has found that past recessions came to an end four to six weeks after new unemployment claims peaked, which they have now done. So he conjectures that the business cycle will find its trough in May or June (Financial Times, June 3, 2009). While these developments are reassuring, we should view them in the light of the fact that the unemployment rate is at record levels and new unemployment claims are still above the figures they touched in the worst months of the last recession.



A second cause for optimism is that US producers may be reaching the phase of their inventory cycle where an increase in production is inevitable. By April, wholesale inventories had fallen for the eighth month running as firms cut back production to clear the excess inventories generated by falling demand. Having made those adjustments, it is argued, firms are now in a position where they would have to step up production, especially if demand begins to stabilise. In other words, the argument is that since things are so bad, they can only get better. But the figures do not support even this position. Thus, after seven months of decline, inventories in April fell 1.4 per cent relative to the year before and 6.4 per cent relative to the corresponding month of the previous year. That was because sales fell by 0.4 per cent in April, led by automobiles and parts. Sales of durable goods too were down 1.9 per cent during the month and 23.4 per cent over the year.



The third potential cause for comfort is the sign that relative to previous months the decline in production is slowing. The available evidence shows that the decline in GDP relative to the immediately preceding quarter, which was rising till the first quarter of 2009, seems to have bottomed out in the US and to a lesser extent in the EU. What is more, this trend seems to be reflected even in the month-on-month annual growth rates of industrial production, with the rate of decline in April 2009 relative to the corresponding month of the previous year showing signs of reversing its hitherto continuous increase in the US, UK and EU.



While this third factor may be adequate reason for optimism for some, there are two reasons why we should not read too much into this data. To start with, even if the downturn is touching bottom in terms of the stabilisation of the rate of decline, the decline could persist and the economy could “bounce along the bottom” as some analysts reportedly speculate. That is, there is no “statistical” reason why a stable rate of decline should automatically lead to lower rates of decline and positive rates of growth in the coming months or quarters.



Further, it is unclear whether there would be adequate alternative stimuli to sustain the recovery when the effects of the already implemented fiscal stimulus wane. Governments could hold back on providing any fresh stimulus because of arguments of the kind espoused by conservative economists, representatives of the financial sector and even some European governments, which emphasise the dangers of inflation. If that happens, recovery would depend on the return of the consumer to the market.



But here too the prognosis is not all too happy. Fears generated by the recession and rising unemployment and the increased desire to save to make up for the decline in the values of accumulated housing and financial assets is encouraging savings even in the US. According to a recent estimated of the Federal Reserve, the net worth of US households had fallen 2.5 per cent or by $1,300 billion in just the first three months of 2009. This comes on top of the 18 per cent fall in the previous year which was the worst since the Fed began estimating household wealth in 1946.The net result is that household savings rates in the US are rising and consumer spending was falling in March and April this year.



In the event many still remain sceptical. The Financial Times quotes Martin Feldstein as saying that “it is possible but unlikely” that the recession is over. “I think it is a more likely scenario that we are seeing the favourable effects of the fiscal stimulus,” he reportedly said. “That, for a while, will offset the general diminished trend we have seen over the past two quarters, but it is a one-shot thing.” Put otherwise, there could be more bad news ahead.

A Worker's Forum of the Americas Fifth Summit of the Americas

Please note: These questions and concerns have not been answered as of the date of this posting.


Questions and concerns about: A Worker's Forum of the Americas Fifth Summit of the Americas

Sisters and Brothers;

Could you tell me if Unions from the United States and Canada participated in drafting this Declaration?

Also, were Cuban unions involved?

A final question, then some comments and suggestions:

Why isn’t there any mention of the socialist solution to the present economic crisis? Was socialism one of the alternative economic models discussed? If not, why not? We need to replace capitalism with something; simply referring to “casino capitalism” is inadequate given the present crises. It would seem to me that capitalism doesn’t offer the working class anything along the lines of justice while socialism does. More attention and emphasis could be placed on saving jobs and industries through public ownership and nationalization--- what tax-payers finance, tax-payers should own and control. Your comments, please.

It would seem to me that your Declaration misses an important point--- possibly because you are unaware--- regarding organizing workers in the United States. I welcome the support you give for the Employee Free Choice Act; however, this Declaration does not take note that over half the states in the United States have very repressive and reactionary anti-labor “at-will hiring; at-will firing” legislation on their books which desperately need to be rescinded if workers are going to have the opportunity to organize because such legislation will remain the main and primary impediment to union organizing even with the Employee Free Choice Act which, at this time, appears to be doomed.

Your positive assessment of Barack Obama’s election seems highly over-rated and optimistic to me given his ties to the Wall Street crowd and his lack of initiative in seeking moratorium legislation preventing hundreds of thousands of working class families from losing their homes and getting those who have already been forced from their homes by parasitical bankers in the mortgage lending industry.

It would seem to me a major weakness of this Declaration is that it does not adequately address the need to end war and militarism which takes a terrible toll on humanity and the environment, first in the awful killing and destruction, but also the tremendous waste of human and natural resources and the senseless waste entailed in the sphere of production--- certainly humanity is being robbed of resources that could be of great value in solving the problems of humanity from alleviating poverty which entails hunger, homelessness and lack of medical care.

Without addressing the issue of governments squandering our resources on wars and militarism, it seems to me it will be just about impossible to begin any kind of discussion on how governments are wasting funds.

We need to always, and at all times, make people and governments aware that it is labor which creates all wealth with quite a little assistance from Mother Nature; we simply can no longer afford to allow labor to be robbed as Mother Nature is being raped by the multi-national corporations. The exploitative nature of capitalism enables both crimes to take place simultaneously as huge profits are amassed while global warming and the destruction of our living environment results.

On the question of militarism:

For instance, if all 800 U.S. foreign military bases dotting the globe were to be closed; those bases could be turned into health care centers, recreational centers, job training and research centers in these countries; plus, the people of the United States would have the resources to build 800 community public health care centers across the United States providing free access to health care for all--- from cradle to grave. Militarism and wars are taking a terrible toll on humanity; depriving people of health care with such screwed up priorities in this way is an atrocious crime.

In closing, please allow me to point out that this Declaration misses the main and primary cause of the present economic crises while hitting at the exacerbating problems all around the periphery--- as important as these problems are--- this Declaration does not even begin to broach the main and primary cause of this economic crises: workers unable to purchase back the very goods and services their labor has been producing.

There is only one way to resolve this problem, and that is for all countries to enact minimum wage legislation that is legislatively linked to all of the nation’s cost of living factors using the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Millennium Statement referenced here in this Declaration as the guide.

I would call to your attention, once again, what I have called to the attention of General Secretary Guy Ryder and the International Trade Union Confederation on numerous occasions; the fact that in the United States of America, over two-million casino workers are employed in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages with no rights under state or federal labor laws in the Indian Gaming Industry managed by a bunch of mobsters like the Frank Fertitta Family and those who inherited Meyer Lansky’s “family business.” For two-million workers to be employed under these Draconian conditions serves to dampen and thwart the struggles of the working class for justice everywhere.

Overall, I think this Declaration is a very powerful tool in the struggles of the working class to attain justice.

We certainly require some kind of working class bailout from this economic mess.

Your call for redistribution of wealth is right on the mark.

I will bring the Declaration to the attention of our Organizing Council and our Organizing Committees for consideration with suggestions for strengthening these weaknesses before we circulate and distribute such a statement.

I assume each and every state and provincial labor body, local labor councils and all local unions are receiving this important Declaration.

I thank you for asking me to distribute this important document for labor action.

Yours in the struggle,

Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

Cc: Maggie Bird
President,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council


-----Original Message-----
From: Americas Info [mailto:icemamericas@sindicatomercosul.com.br]
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 6:27 AM
To: Antonio Carlos, amaki000@centurytel.net
Subject: A Worker’s Forum of the Americas Fifth Summit of the Americas



A Worker’s Forum of the Americas Fifth Summit of the Americas

Port of Spain, 15-16 April 2009

DECLARATION

We, trade unionists of the Americas, representing over fifty million workers across the entire continent, have met in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on 15 and 16 of April 2009, on the occasion of the Fifth Summit of Heads of State of the Americas, and following the G-20 Summit held recently in London, and hereby declare:

The current crisis deepens the crisis of distributive justice In recent months, our region has sunk into a new recession worse than the great depression of the 1930´s, but it is one that is different in depth and magnitude. Because it coincides with the food, energy, social and environmental crises, this indicates a systemic crisis of global proportions. As usual, those first and most seriously affected are women, youth, informal sector and migrant workers. Another effect has been the deepening of a social crisis which is affecting primarily women, making access to employment difficult, widening the gaps in wages and reducing investments in health, education and universal public policies, replacing formal employment with sub-contracting and labour flexibility, provoking a crisis on social security systems and social protection in general.

In their analysis which predicted this crisis, international trade unions had already highlighted the “crisis of distributive justice” (or crisis of inequality), in other words, a disconnect between wage increases and increased productivity, which seriously affects fundamental human rights such as the right to live in a healthy environment, with access to education, health care, social protection and food security.

Finally, the crisis is now causing a reversal in the flow of migration from destination countries in the North to countries of origin in the South, as well as a significant reduction of remittances, affecting millions of working people and their families.

The environmental, energy and food crises We share the view of the International Trade Union Confederation which affirms that countries of the South cannot be denied the right to development, and that at the same time, the planet’s natural
resources do not allow us to spread the consumption patterns of industrialized countries to the entire world population. Added to this, are the effects of climate change, and the fact that social inequalities remain exposed to the negative impacts of climate change because, clearly, it is the poor who suffer the most.

This is why we believe that especially in the rich North, the failure of the neo liberal model calls for a change in the production/consumption pattern which will permit sustainable development respecting the values of social justice and pluralism. This also involves reformulating the energy matrix towards clean and renewable sources of energy. The current drop in the oil price (clear evidence that there was high speculation on this price before the crisis) should not be a reason to stop looking for alternative sources.

Although the drop in agricultural commodity prices tends to regulate the food crisis, there are three negative aspects which continue to have an effect on it – excessive food consumption in the North, financing of the global food market, and the unacceptable genetic control and manipulation of seeds by transnational companies. These elements, together with the concentrated agribusiness export model, in opposition to agrarian reform policies, threaten the survival of the peasant populations and improved living standards through food consumption in poor countries.

For the trade union movement in the Americas the greatest responsibility for this crisis rests with the governments of the world powers. They are the ones who shaped the world (that fell apart) by means of their political and economic power. These governments used or neutralized international institutions in the interests of multinational companies, leading to high levels of corruption and impunity.

To lay the blame solely on irresponsible bankers is to deny the responsibility of those who were supposed to regulate financial markets. To blame only the industrialists and consumers for the overflow of the planet’s capacity is to deny the responsibility of those who should have curbed this type of production and consumption a long time ago, and should have moved to another development model.
The “London Consensus” of the G-20 is not up to the circumstances Years ago, the international trade union movement sounded the alert with regard to the crisis of the capitalism of financial hegemony which neglects to give credit to productive activities and engages in unproductive speculation. Recently, the trade union world came to agreement responding to the declarations at the G-20 Summits in Washington and London. They also said “No to the casino economy” at the World Social Forum in Belem, a coherent proposal in relation to the crisis.

In spite of our expectations of the possibility of a new multilateralism emerging in response to the crisis, we see that the two G-20 Summits have fallen short in many ways. The financial regulation for which the world is clamoring did not reach the levels that even governments feel necessary, and there was agreement only for a Financial Stabilization Council, with a mainly supervisory role.

Except for measures dealing with high risk funds, tax havens, risk assessment companies and the banks themselves, the other measures are specific and limited. One example is the set of resolutions adopted concerning executive bonuses, since there are no limits set on this type of remuneration.

We have been deeply disappointed with the efforts to bail out financial institutions which are the paradigm of the neo liberal model. This is why it is a mistake to place the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a coordinating, financial and supervisory role as a way of ensuring the salvation of the system, without setting new criteria for changing its conditionalities, or with no serious criticism of its responsibility through the implementation of policies which dismantled States and governments, thus eroding their ability to exercise economic control and allowing markets to destroy their sovereign ability to set economic and fiscal policies.

We believe that it is important to defend the countries of the South in terms of the importance of expansion programs, and the emphasis given to the regulation of the financial system. But, it is a bitter surprise to us that the resources promised are especially aimed at countries of the North, with very little allocated to countries of the South (about 10%). Similarly, we have to wait and see if the promise of a change in the voting system within the IMF and the World Bank will be fulfilled.

With regards to trade, the call by the G-20 to complete the Doha Round based on the agreements reached last year, is of great concern, since it provides a new opportunity for the block of countries which proposed an unbalanced and unsatisfactory focus for the countries of the South and emerging states.

Finally, we call attention to the place assigned to labor in the London Declaration, recognizing the need to create jobs and to have the International Labor Organization (ILO) assume the role of evaluating labor related issues in the policies of the G-20.

The Fifth Summit of the Americas must approve changes

This Fifth Summit has created high expectations in public opinion in general and for the trade movement of the region in particular, not only because of the maturity of a number of progressive Latin American governments and the assumption of a new US leadership, but because it provides an opportunity for dealing with the crisis at a hemispheric level. From a trade union perspective, it is also important, as it is the first Summit since the defeat of the FTAA at the Mar del Plata Summit in 2005. However, the draft of the declaration does not reflect the political sensitivity of this situation. It is just “one more document”, with only a brief generic paragraph in which the governments state that they are determined to strengthen cooperation, work together to restore growth in the world and adopt the necessary reforms to the world financial systems.

There are no concrete policy proposals for regional coordination or actions for the effective improvement of the quality of life and employment of people. The document should start from the decisions of the G-20 and advance much further, namely to completely turn around economic, political and social orientations in the region.

Furthermore, it seems to ignore the fact that many countries are still encouraging and negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs). As we have seen in the experiences of some countries such as Mexico or Chile, these do not lead to the development of the weakest economies nor to the improvement of the quality of life of workers in the strongest economies. These attempts to maintain the system are made primarily at the expense of women’s lives, through massive dismissal of workers, cuts in public spending in social areas and by reaffirming the model of production and development that directly impacts these areas, in that it increases reproductive work and sustainability increases. FTAs arise as a constant threat and undermine the integrity and progress of regional integration processes, which undoubtedly, since they are more equitable, could lead to alternative solutions to the crisis.

We are absolutely certain that one of the ways to move towards this model of development in the Americas is through the strengthening and deepening of the processes of regional integration in a coordinated, complementary way and in solidarity, so that member states can each strengthen their economies and ensure the well-being of their societies. We have no doubt that integration must go beyond trade issues. This is why trade unionism in the Americas has opposed free-trade agreement negotiations and investments for more than 15 years and demands a review of current agreements, which, as we have warned, have brought great sorrow to our peoples.

We, the workers of the Americas, have proposals Almost four years ago, the trade union movement, together with other social movements, mobilized for the Fourth Summit of the Americas (Mar del Plata, November 2005) against the FTAA and in defense of the Labor Platform for the Americas (LPA), presenting a broad agenda on public policy to promote “sustainable development with decent work”.

The LPA proposal is highly relevant today and shows the urgency of establishing a model of sustainable development that integrates social, economic, environmental, political and cultural dimensions in a framework of intra- and inter-generational justice. This is the only suitable response to the multiple crises in the world today: in other words, development with social justice, distribution of wealth, preservation of the environment, gender equity, protection of health, participatory democracy, respect for diversity, and equity among nations and generations.

At present, and in response to the crisis, it is essential to keep in mind the following issues:

Multilateralism and the new global institutionality

The defense of multilateralism is key. Fair standards for international trade must be established and mechanisms for enforcing labor rights must be strengthened in order to contribute to the development of nations and to reduce inequalities etween nations. The new multilateralism must give priority to labour issues.

The United Nations is the natural venue for debating this crisis, and as such, it should be strengthened. We believe that the proposal to create a Global Economic Council, at the same level as the Security Council, is important to define concrete guidelines for resolving the crisis.

It is time to take up again the debate on the “Tobin tax” and mechanisms for controlling monetary and financial flows worldwide, to restrain and avoid speculation and put an end to tax heavens. The establishment of new financial services for the solidarity economy must be given priority.

It is important to correct the fatal deficiency caused by the dislocation of the public services that has lost their capacity to exercise the regulatory and control functions that prevent the financial crisis and carry out duties in accordance with the rule of law, in a fair and professional manner. It is therefore important that Governments invest in public services so that to deliver quality public services, fully equipped with the key and critical resources.

Social protection, decent jobs and sustainability of the planet
In the social arena, it is necessary to have a social bailout, based on public policies and the strengthening of the State’s role in the economy.

We must ensure that the new global architecture for development fully integrates gender equality and women’s human rights on the basis of international commitments and treaties. According to paragraph 20 of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, “The States commit to promoting equality between the sexes and the economic autonomy of women as effective means for fighting poverty, hunger and illnesses, and for stimulating truly sustainable growth”. The way this objective has been formulated implies an acknowledgement of the fact that once the different needs and realities of men and women are contemplated, only then will it be possible to improve the situation of alarming inequalities that are present in the Continent, strengthen democracy and social peace.

The ITUC proposes a plan for recovery and sustainable growth, based on a public investment policy geared towards social development and job creation. As such, the building of productive and social infrastructure, which includes improving public services for everyone, must be prioritized.

It is crucial that the income of the low and middle classes be increased and to have policies focused on the groups that are most affected: youth, women, migrants, the elderly, individuals with special needs, indigenous groups, and temporary, underemployed and part-time workers. Finally, it is necessary to insist on the right of workers to form free trade unions, elect delegates and to negotiate collectively, putting special emphasis on the redistribution of benefits.

We support the initiative of the ILO to, through the Global Employment Pact, debate the creation of a Global Employment Fund that takes into account existing asymmetries between developed and developing countries in terms of their fiscal capacities.

More than ever, it is necessary to insist that the Fundamental Labor Regulations remain in force, especially those ensuring trade union freedom and collective bargaining and to accompany the ILO in its potential actions on the crisis, including the creation of the Forum and its participation in the G-20.

We reaffirm the importance of the ratification and implementation of the “Ibero-American Multilateral Social Security Agreement”, on disability, old age and survival. There is already a similar agreement in effect (since 2005) within Mercosur, which can serve as a reference in order to move forward with its enforcement in the continent.

We also value the agreement of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as we consider that the environmental crisis must take into account the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

The international trade union movement calls for the fulfillment of what was agreed upon at the X Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Quito in 2007. We will not accept that the crisis lead to setbacks in advances made toward achieving gender equality in relation to the participation of women in the labour market. We call the international worker’s movement to apply the concept established by the UN of co-responsibility in the family and labour life, that applies equally to men and women, as well as the recognition of non paid work and its importance to the welfare of families and countries.

We strongly oppose and condemn all forms of violence against women. We also denounce and condemn all forms of discrimination and violence based on racial prejudice.
We demand, especially in this moment of crisis, the urgent cancellation of illegitimate external debt for developing countries.

Finally, we acknowledge the political changes that have taken place in many of our countries, through the election of progressive administrations of different levels and expressions, but, at the same time we reaffirm that governments must restart the Social Dialogue processes, making them more transparent and democratic and guarantee social and civil participation in the debates on solutions to the crisis.

A call to action

The trade union movement demands concrete policies from the governments of the region that make the proposals being debated a reality. We demand spaces for participation at the national and international level in order to present our proposals. In this sense, it is essential that more and better consultative mechanisms be established between governments and social movements.

We have expectations with regards to the political process of the United States, where the new President has made a commitment to consider trade unionism, not as a problem, but as part of the solution to the crisis. We forcefully support the adoption of the Employees Free Choice Act (EFCA), which defends the right of workers in the United States to organize freely and to negotiate collectively, and prevents employers from interfering in the organization of workers. In addition to contributing to the strengthening of the North American economy, this will have positive impacts on the international scene and in the Americas.

We support the recent decision of the Obama administration to allow people from the United States to travel and send money to Cuba, to establish fiber optic and satellite connections with the island, and to broaden the list of humanitarian products that may be exported to the island. The recent mission of US Congressmen to Cuba is also encouraging. These positive steps should result in a definitive end to the blockade against Cuba. Trade unionism in the Americas has demanded an end to the blockade against this country for decades.

As part of the international trade union movement, we demand that in the next G-20 Summit, actions and effective changes in the regulation of the world economy be approved. On the financial level, the creation of regional institutions for regulating and monitoring financial activities should be supported and we must move ahead with the process of strengthening the Bank of the South, the Central American Economic Integration Bank, and others.

We hope and we demand that the priorities of the decisions of the G-20 and other multilateral organizations will be to make changes to the policies that gave rise to the crisis, combat its effects and the consolidation of multilateralism focused on social equity, decent work with decent pay and sustainable development.

We call upon all the workers of the Americas to mobilize: on May 1st, International Day of Workers and of Mobilization to face the Crisis; and on October 7th, World Day for Decent Work in face of the Crisis, and November 25th, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

FOR THE VALIDITY OF TRADE UNION FREEDOM AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING!

FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION!

FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LABOR PLATFORM OF THE AMERICAS!

Port of Spain, April 16th, 2009



Americas Info is the newsletter from TUCA - Trade Union Condederation of the Americas – the ITUC regional organization for the Americas.

TUCA CSA
Rua Formosa, 367 - 4°andar - Centro
CEP 01049-000 São Paulo / SP - Brasil
Phone: (55) (11) 2104 0750

Response to a vicious attack on Naomi Klein by a slobbering Obama supporter

Note: Naomi Klein's article and Al Giordano's article follow my commentary.

Al Giordano, a slobbering Obama supporter, has sown disruptive seeds in the progressive movement in a desperate attempt to fend off the growing opposition from the working class and the left to Barack Obama's Wall Street agenda with his piece entitled: You and What Movement? A Response to Naomi Klein.


Al Giordano said of Klein's writings they are, "Revealing a bizarre contempt and college-educated condescension toward a vast multi-racial swathe of progressive supporters and sympathizers of Obama and his movement, Klein seeks to explain us away as dupes."

In fact, Giordano's essay is one more from a line of pathetic, slobbering Obama supporters who are trying to twist, turn and shape Barack Obama's election into something it was not while shielding and protecting him from criticism from the grassroots and the rank-and-file in the working class movements for peace, social & economic justice.

Barack Obama's election was not a mandate for a Wall Street agenda.

Quite the opposite, working people who voted, voted for "change."

Had Barack Obama run for election on the program he is now pushing for Wall Street he never would have been elected.

Giordano and his ilk are not "dupes;" they are consciously doing Wall Street's dirty work in the progressive movement... with many being handsomely paid for their dirty deeds.

There has been an endless stream of foundation whores, poverty pimps, class collaborationist labor "leaders," phony progressives and envelope stuffing environmentalists begging for money coming before Giordano. They claim Barack Obama was a "community organizer" just like them... the problem is, they are all a bunch of foundation whores, not community organizers.

Obama's entire campaign was built on lies and deceit. This is my response to Giordano and the slobbering Obama supporters who are attempting to disorient and confuse working people.

Barack Obama is nothing but a voice for Wall Street.

The proof is in everything he says and does.

Barack Obama is no friend of working people.

This guy citing "popularity polls" means absolutely nothing.

I have no doubt the polls cited are accurate; I have read the same polls and agree they are accurate based upon my many talks with working people and others.

But, something Obama's slobbering supporters might want to keep in mind:

Polls don't die in wars; real people do.

Polls don't get foreclosed on and evicted from their homes; real people do.

Polls don't go to school hungry; children do.

Polls don't have to work in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights like two-million American workers employed in the Indian Gaming Industry are forced to do because Barack Obama and the Democrats enable this disgraceful situation.

Polls don't have to work for a miserly minimum wage that is far from providing workers with a standard-of-living in line with the real cost-of-living; people do.

I would take Naomi Klein's analysis any day over this kind of fact-less slobbering over Obama; and, for those using these polls to justify supporting Barack Obama under the guise that he is some kind of "friend of the people," once it sinks in what Obama has done to the working class and the body bags start rolling in from all over the world, those polls are going to change as rapidly as capitalism is collapsing.

By the way, many casino workers are people of color, many are young women of child-bearing age and many others are retired workers unable to make ends meet on the miserly Social Security checks they receive.

I have yet to hear one single Obama supporter step forward asking Barack Obama to reopen the "Compacts"--- many of which he voted for--- creating the more than 350 casinos/hotels/motels/restaurants/theme park/resorts comprising the Indian Gaming Industry even though he has shredded the contracts of auto workers and will most likely do the same with steelworkers when the steel industry comes begging for a bailout as it surely will.

Bankers and industrialists get bailout from Obama; where is the people's bailout?

Where's the change?

Barack Obama is no liberal, he certainly is no progressive or socialist... Barack Obama is nothing but a self-serving, self-promoting, flim-flam man and con-artist opportunist that Wall $treet latched on to to do its dirty work desperately trying to save capitalism.

Capitalism is on the skids to oblivion and Barack Obama is dragging the American people down the dark, bumpy, curvy and treacherous road to perdition... and working class liberals, progressives, socialists and communists should join together and formulate an alternative progressive program to shove under Obama's nose forcing a sharp left turn towards socialism.

The United States has over 800 military bases on foreign soil costing trillions of dollars and Barack Obama doesn't have the plain old common human decency to break with imperialism by insisting these bases be closed; and, instead, 800 public health care centers be built and opened across the United States to provide free health care for all.

No, instead of providing people with health care, Barack Obama talks about giving every family "affordable" access to broadband Internet!

"Affordable" in Barack Obama's Wall Street language means profitable to the Wall Street coupon clippers.

If Barack Obama's priorities aren't as screwed up as Wall Street's priorities get in putting profits before people; what is?

Barack Obama is every bit as bad as George Bush, even worse, and no poll result can change this basic truth.

One only has to ask:

Where's the change?

Perhaps in talking about "change" Barack Obama meant we will all be out on the streets selling apples asking, "Brother, can you spare a dime?"

You know, it is one thing for people to have voted for Barack Obama because we couldn't tolerate another Republican... but, the sad truth is, the Democrats--- Barack Obama included--- are every bit as racist, uncaring, incompetent, corrupt, warmongering and Wall Street centered as the Republicans. No polls, no matter how accurate, can change the facts.

Like i said, I never saw a "poll" die in a war or sit in a school classroom going hungry.

Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council



This is the article Naomi Klein wrote:





















In Obamafanland:
A Lexicon of Disappointment

by Naomi Klein / April 17, 2009

All is not well in Obamafanland. It's not clear exactly what accounts for the change of mood. Maybe it was the rancid smell emanating from Treasury's latest bank bailout. Or the news that the president's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, earned millions from the very Wall Street banks and hedge funds he is protecting from reregulation now. Or perhaps it began earlier, with Obama's silence during Israel's Gaza attack.

Whatever the last straw, a growing number of Obama enthusiasts are starting to entertain the possibility that their man is not, in fact, going to save the world if we all just hope really hard.

This is a good thing. If the superfan culture that brought Obama to power is going to transform itself into an independent political movement, one fierce enough to produce programs capable of meeting the current crises, we are all going to have to stop hoping and start demanding.

The first stage, however, is to understand fully the awkward in-between space in which many US progressive movements find themselves. To do that, we need a new language, one specific to the Obama moment. Here is a start.

Hopeover. Like a hangover, a hopeover comes from having overindulged in something that felt good at the time but wasn't really all that healthy, leading to feelings of remorse, even shame. It's the political equivalent of the crash after a sugar high. Sample sentence: "When I listened to Obama's economic speech my heart soared. But then, when I tried to tell a friend about his plans for the millions of layoffs and foreclosures, I found myself saying nothing at all. I've got a serious hopeover."

Hoper coaster. Like a roller coaster, the hoper coaster describes the intense emotional peaks and valleys of the Obama era, the veering between joy at having a president who supports safe-sex education and despondency that single-payer healthcare is off the table at the very moment when it could actually become a reality. Sample sentence: "I was so psyched when Obama said he is closing Guantánamo. But now they are fighting like mad to make sure the prisoners in Bagram have no legal rights at all. Stop this hoper coaster-I want to get off!"

Hopesick. Like the homesick, hopesick individuals are intensely nostalgic. They miss the rush of optimism from the campaign trail and are forever trying to recapture that warm, hopey feeling-usually by exaggerating the significance of relatively minor acts of Obama decency. Sample sentences: "I was feeling really hopesick about the escalation in Afghanistan, but then I watched a YouTube video of Michelle in her organic garden and it felt like inauguration day all over again. A few hours later, when I heard that the Obama administration was boycotting a major UN racism conference, the hopesickness came back hard. So I watched slideshows of Michelle wearing clothes made by ethnically diverse independent fashion designers, and that sort of helped."

Hope fiend. With hope receding, the hope fiend, like the dope fiend, goes into serious withdrawal, willing to do anything to chase the buzz. (Closely related to hopesickness but more severe, usually affecting middle-aged males.) Sample sentence: "Joe told me he actually believes Obama deliberately brought in Summers so that he would blow the bailout, and then Obama would have the excuse he needs to do what he really wants: nationalize the banks and turn them into credit unions. What a hope fiend!"

Hopebreak. Like the heartbroken lover, the hopebroken Obama-ite is not mad but terribly sad. She projected messianic powers on to Obama and is now inconsolable in her disappointment. Sample sentence: "I really believed Obama would finally force us to confront the legacy of slavery in this country and start a serious national conversation about race. But now whenever he seems to mention race, he's using twisted legal arguments to keep us from even confronting the crimes of the Bush years. Every time I hear him say ‘move forward,' I'm hopebroken all over again."

Hopelash. Like a backlash, hopelash is a 180-degree reversal of everything Obama-related. Sufferers were once Obama's most passionate evangelists. Now they are his angriest critics. Sample sentence: "At least with Bush everyone knew he was an asshole. Now we've got the same wars, the same lawless prisons, the same Washington corruption, but everyone is cheering like Stepford wives. It's time for a full-on hopelash."

In trying to name these various hope-related ailments, I found myself wondering what the late Studs Terkel would have said about our collective hopeover. He surely would have urged us not to give in to despair. I reached for one of his last books, Hope Dies Last. I didn't have to read long. The book opens with the words: "Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up."

And that pretty much says it all. Hope was a fine slogan when rooting for a long-shot presidential candidate. But as a posture toward the president of the most powerful nation on earth, it is dangerously deferential. The task as we move forward (as Obama likes to say) is not to abandon hope but to find more appropriate homes for it-in the factories, neighborhoods and schools where tactics like sit-ins, squats and occupations are seeing a resurgence.

Political scientist Sam Gindin wrote recently that the labor movement can do more than protect the status quo. It can demand, for instance, that shuttered auto plants be converted into green-future factories, capable of producing mass-transit vehicles and technology for a renewable energy system. "Being realistic means taking hope out of speeches," he wrote, "and putting it in the hands of workers."

Which brings me to the final entry in the lexicon.

Hoperoots. Sample sentence: "It's time to stop waiting for hope to be handed down, and start pushing it up, from the hoperoots."

© 2009 The Nation

[Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist and syndicated columnist and the author of the international and New York Times bestseller The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, now out in paperback. Her earlier books include the international best-seller, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies; and the collection Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate (2002). To read all her latest writing visit www.naomiklein.org.]




This is Al Giordano's response:




Barack Obama, community organizer.

You and What Movement?

A Response to Naomi Klein



Revealing a bizarre contempt and college-educated condescension toward a vast multi-racial swathe of progressive supporters and sympathizers of Obama and his movement, Klein seeks to explain us away as dupes.
By Al Giordano

[The following opinion piece by Al Giordano, who is a community organizer now living in Mexico, was written in response to an article by Naomi Klein, originally published in The Nation and posted on April 17, 2009, by The Rag Blog under the title of "Naomi Klein : Hopebroken and Hopesick. Giordano published his response on April 18 in the Narco News Bulletin. We think he makes some very good points and suggest that progressives disillusioned with Barack Obama's presidency so far might benefit from Giordano's perspective.]

Naomi Klein is suffering, along with some other sectors of the academic North American left, an existential crisis.

In a recent column she published in The Nation and in The Huffington Post, she complained about “the awkward in-between space in which many US progressive movements find themselves” now that Barack Obama is president of the United States.

Revealing a bizarre contempt and college-educated condescension toward a vast multi-racial swathe of progressive supporters and sympathizers of Obama and his movement, Klein seeks to explain us away as dupes. We (I use the first person plural proudly and without hesitation) are, according to Klein, part of a “superfan culture,” that, she says, believes we can “save the world if we all just hope really hard,” and that suffers from the following psychological ailments: “Hopeover… hoper coaster… hope fiend… hopebreak… and hopelash.”

Her theory, that progressive Obama supporters are now inflicted by buyer’s remorse, flies contrary to all objective measurement. The pollster.com aggregate of all recent public opinion surveys finds that 61.8 percent of Americans view Obama (less than 100 days into his presidency) favorably, compared to 32.9 percent that view him unfavorably. As Gallup notes, President Obama’s first-quarter average favorability of 63 percent exceeds that of the first three months of his eight immediate predecessors: Presidents Bush II, Clinton, Bush 1, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon or Johnson.

Ah, but Klein is talking about “progressives,” so let’s take a look at the hard data that is available. Separate out the crosstabs, and those numbers are even sky higher among progressive demographic groups. Among Democrats, according to an early April Pew survey, 88 percent view the young president favorably, so it’s not really clear who Klein is talking about, imagining or inventing out of thin air when she devotes an entire column to claim a non-existent demographic trend.

Among African-Americans (without which there can be no successful “progressive movement” in the United States), a towering 94 percent approve of how the president is doing his job, according to the Quinnipiac survey. Among Hispanic Americans (just as important to any progressive future in the US), 73 percent feel the same way. Among Americans that earn less than $50,000 a year (the working class and the poor), a solid 60 percent approve. The question must be asked: What “movement” does Klein thus imagine? An exclusively white and college educated one? I fear that the truth may not be far from it if she is so quick to insult and dismiss such a large bloc of people who skew non-white, poor and working class.

There is currently no quicker way for white progressives to further divide themselves from African-American, Hispanic-American, working class and poor Americans – all sectors without which serious and successful progressive movements in the US would be impossible – than to invent derogatory psychobabble terms for us because we do not share Klein’s tendencies to feel somehow demoralized by the country’s first African-American head of state, and demonstrably its most progressive since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

That such complaint comes after less than 100 days, when the President has just eased the Cuba embargo that was foolishly embraced by Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II, is nothing less than pathetic. In the same week, Obama made the classified torture memos public (and as any working journalist or investigator knows, every department of his administration now responds quickly – usually overnight – to our Freedom of Information Act requests for information; a sea change from all previous administrations) . The passage of Obama’s economic Stimulus bill marked the single largest expenditure ever on jobs and social programs like unemployment insurance, Medicaid and public education in the history of any country. He has already made the orderly withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq official policy with a timeline that has most of it done before the 2010 midterm elections. And in three short months, Obama has restored the principle of progressive taxation to the United States.

Yesterday, at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, the US president extended a long overdue hand of friendship to his Venezuelan counterpart, a democratically elected leader that suffered an attempted military coup d’etat that was cheered, if not planned, by Washington. The President, in short time, has already defused an entire string of similar policy time bombs left by previous administrations (Republican and Democratic alike). Will there be more tensions between Chávez and the US? Very likely the answer is yes, but the gravity and context of them has shifted positively. This hemisphere is already a safer place for dissident journalists, community organizers, governments of the left and other grassroots change agents. That, alone, makes it more possible for us to organize and make bigger and better changes – of the kind for which we do not need any government’s permission – in the days and years ahead.

I quite agree with Klein’s belief that “demanding” is better than “hoping” when it comes to changing public policy. But where I get off her bus is upon her inference that we who are supportive of – and more happy than not about – Obama’s presidency somehow believe differently. Her claim only demonstrates her gross ignorance toward the important sector of the left (including parts of the Obama movement) that are community organizers. “Demanding” is necessary but without “organizing” to back it up it is merely an act of intellectual masturbation. It accomplishes nothing. It never has won a single battle. And that’s why, until 2008, the US left in particular – so busy demanding without doing the hard work of organizing – went through at least three “lost decades.”

The problem with too much of the “activist left” in North America is that so many of its adherents don’t really want to do the hard work of community organizing. I wonder: when was the last time that Klein went door-to-door, or staffed a phone bank, or otherwise reached out directly to real people demographically different from her? Any journalist or writer that hasn’t, at minimum, accompanied organizers doing that real work of change should shut the fuck up when it comes to opining about “the people.” They don’t have a clue as to who “the people” are. Activism that doesn’t involve one or more of those tasks does not rise to the level or effectiveness of organizing. And those that don’t do it really have no idea where the public is at: the masses (or “the multitude” in current jargon) are imaginary cartoon characters to these people. Their view of us is as elitist as it is condescending.

They can complain about, for example, US policy toward Israel and Palestine, seemingly oblivious to how US public opinion on the matter keeps those very bad policies in place. If they got off their duffs and knocked on doors to ask real people about it, they’d get a lesson in civics, and perhaps learn better ways to move public opinion in a better direction. They can bemoan the “bailouts” (essentially government loans to financial services industries) ignorant of the fact that when big corporations fall they land hardest on the workers and the poor, as would a 1929-level crash of the kind that nearly occurred last October. They can demand “nationalization” of the banks, without offering any detail as to what that would look like. I live in Mexico where the 1982 bank nationalization proved disastrous for the country’s workers, and helped destroy its middle class. The devil is always in the details.

I am not a member of the Democratic Party, and I did not vote for twelve years prior to 2008 until Obama’s candidacy gave me a reason to do so. While the academic North American left went jet-hopping from summit protest to social forum across the globe, I went to Latin America, lived, worked and reported alongside the authentic social movements that many of them came to visit for a weekend or maybe a month. I’m more comfortable with an anarcho-syndicalist view of the kind of society that I daily work toward than I am with electoral politics. Socialist, although it’s a moniker that seems a bit statist and conservative for me, is still a term that I’m more comfortable with than “Democrat.” And yet every day I see the President moving the United States closer to my own version of utopia, after a lifetime of watching each of his predecessors pull it farther away. More importantly, for me, as a journalist and an organizer, the Obama presidency has created much more space for people like us to get out there and do this hard work without the repression and marginalization that we have struggled under for decades.

Here’s what the academic left – hopping mad, frustrated and now, like Klein, lashing out at those of us in the working left – doesn’t get: It was Obama – not Klein’s post-Seattle ’99 milieu of “anti-globalization activists” – who opened the doors of the American left for the first time since the Civil Rights movement of the ‘50s and ‘60s to the building of an authentically multi-racial movement. It was Obama – not Klein and her colleagues – that got working class whites struggling alongside working class blacks and Hispanics in the United States, and who turned a new generation onto the art of community organizing that the activist left had abandoned.

When colleagues like Klein so summarily insult Obama supporters and sympathizers, they are driving yet another stake between their white college-educated ghetto and the 94 percent of African-Americans, and the 73 percent of Hispanic Americans, and the 60 percent of the entire American working class, that is pleased, as I am, that this unique historic figure is, for the next four years at least, the President of the United States.

I’m reminded of the scene from the Martin Scorcese motion picture, The Aviator, in which Kathryn Hepburn (Cate Blanchette) brings Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) home to meet her family. “We’re socialists,” the mother tells Hughes. And then, when she thinks Hughes is speaking ill of President Franklin Roosevelt, she nearly runs him out of the house. FDR, like Obama, wasn’t a socialist (and unlike Obama, he was born into privilege). But a great many socialists, communists and even anarchists of the era understood that their work was made so much more possible by his presidency. And that cultivated an intense synergy, not to mention a renaissance of labor and community organizing during that epoch. In retrospect, that synergy between the working left and the FDR presidency brought with it many of the 20th century’s most progressive advances.

The same is happening now – although Klein and others haven’t done the investigative or organizing spadework to recognize it – and that (even without the many progressive policies enacted by the Obama administration already, and those important ones like immigration reform yet to come) makes me an unabashed, eyes wide open, Obama sympathizer, guilt-free, without any of the feelings of remorse Klein seeks to assign to me and millions like me. That enthusiasm hasn’t turned us into blind followers: these pages are already filled with hard-hitting critiques when the Obama administration has been wrong; on Plan Mexico, on the drug war, and other deadly serious matters. And yet even on those fronts, our ability to push back and serve as a check and a break on the extremities of those bad policies vastly outweighs what we were able to do for many previous decades.

But I’m not going to sit back silently while some white progressives – dripping with the nastiest forms of envy because, truth be told, the Obama movement succeeded at resurrecting community organizing and multi-racial struggle whereas their tired tactics and strategies had failed again and again to do so – try to claim to me or anyone else that they’re the ones doing the demanding while we’re somehow sitting back and thinking we can “save the world if we just hope really hard.”

Memo to Ms. Klein: Go back to the only school that ever got the left – in which I take no back seat to you in either mileage or scar tissue – anywhere: that of community organizing. We’re doing it. You’re not. And when you go to give your next speech at some university or activist hall, look around at the white, privileged faces that occupy more than half those seats. Study how many of them choose to self-marginalize from workers or racial minorities with their freak-show narcissistic – and yet humorless! – antics. You know what I’m talkin’ about. And you probably wince regularly as they ask you to sign your book for them.

Ask yourself, “are these the so-called masses that are going to make a progressive movement succeed?” You know damn well, in your heart, that they’re not. They do buy hardcover books though, a lot more than the workers and the poor ever will. With all due respect I must ask: Have you become an intellectual prisoner of what you think it takes to pander to your own college-educated consumers?

No thank you, Ms. Klein: When it comes to the United States, I’ll take my chances with the multi-racial community organizers of the Obama movement, and the tens of thousands of young organizers they’ve inspired and trained, at least until the non-electoral North American left gets its shit together, which, after reading a column like yours, seems still a long and far away struggle.

Source / The Narco News Bulletin

Indian Health Summit

-----Original Message-----

From: Alan Maki [mailto:amaki000@centurytel.net]

Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 8:47 PM


To:

Joan Kim
Phone: 301-897-2789 x117
Fax: 301-897-9587
Email: jkim@thehillgroup.com or

Kimi De León
Phone: 301-897-2789 x132
Fax: 301-897-9587
Email: kdeleon@thehillgroup.com



Cc: 'Jim Hart'; 'John Kolstad'; 'Kip Sullivan'; 'Carl Levin'; 'Sen.Jim Carlson'; 'rep.bill.hilty@house.mn'; 'rep.tom.anzelc@house.mn'; 'rep.tom.Rukavina@house.mn'; 'rep.tony.sertich@house.mn'; 'ddepass@startribune.com'; 'mmiron@bemidjipioneer.com'; 'bswenson@bemidjipioneer.com'; 'Chris Spotted Eagle'; 'jgoldstein@americanrightsatwork.org'; 'teresa_detrempe@klobuchar.senate.gov'; 'peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu'; 'peter.makowski@mail.house.gov'; 'esquincle@verizon.net'; 'Walter Tillow'; 'nursenpo@gmail.com'; 'Steve Early'; 'Joshua Frank'; 'Ta, Minh'; 'Rhoda Gilman'; 'David Shove'; 'ken nash'; 'Ken Pentel'; 'WCS-A@yahoogroups.com'; 'MARKOWIT@history.rutgers.edu'; 'tdennis@gfherald.com'; 'Myers, John'; 'loneagle@paulbunyan.net'; 'Thomas Kurhajetz'; 'mhoney@u.washington.edu'; 'moderator@portside.org'; 'debssoc@sbcglobal.net'; 'Tom Meersman'; 'peterb3121@hotmail.com'; 'laurel1@dailyjournal-ifalls.com'; 'jscannel@aflcio.org'; 'rgettel@uaw.net'; 'gdubovich@usw.org'; 'info@jamesmayer.org'; 'mzweig@notes.cc.sunysb.edu'; 'rachleff@macalester.edu'; 'advocate@stpaulunions.org'; 'elizabeth_reed@levin.senate.gov'; 'Alan Uhl'; 'Charles Underwood'

Subject...

Re: Question on Indian Health Summit

To whom it may concern;

Could you tell me if there will be a discussion at the Indian Health Summit--- July 7-9, 2009 in Denver, Colorado--- concerning the issue of casino workers in the Indian Gaming Industry and the impact to their health of second hand smoke in their workplaces?

Link: http://conferences.thehillgroup.com/healthsummit/contact.html

Could you advise me if there have been any discussions about this with the American Cancer Society and/or the Heart and Lung Foundation?

I am very concerned since I find nothing on this important topic among any of the materials you are distributing for the Indian Health Summit.

With health care costs become an important topic for discussion it would seem that this issue would at least merit some kind of mention at an Indian Health Summit considering the large number of Native Americans employed in the Indian Gaming Industry.

Perhaps you would be interested in having me address one of the plenary sessions since this topic has not been considered previously.

I would point out that I have contacted my of the local offices and administrators of the Indian Health Services concerning this issue and no one will speak to me.

With the Indian Health Services being part of the Department of Interior and associated with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it would only seem logical that no further casino “Compacts” would be approved unless they contain provisions banning and prohibiting smoking.

I would also suggest that the Indian Health Services insist that all existing “Compacts” be re-opened so a ban and prohibition on smoking can be inserted into them.

“Compacts” are nothing more than contracts and the Obama Administration has seen fit to insist that previously negotiated contracts with labor unions be re-negotiated so there is definitely a precedent that has been established for doing this and I am sure you will agree with me that there could not be a better argument made for renegotiating these “Compacts” than to protect the health of hundreds of thousands of workers employed in these casinos who, in addition to working in these smoke-filled working environments are not protected under any state or federal labor laws, which makes this problem of being employed in a work environment detrimental to human health even a more serious concern.

Perhaps the Indian Health Services could make a recommendation to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Department of Interior that the Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, becomes involved so that the protection of casino workers’ rights under all state and federal labor laws protecting all other workers in the United States be included at the time the Compacts are re-opened to protect the health of casino workers.

If you have any doubts second-hand smoke contributes to an unhealthy work environment and that second-hand smoke is recognized as a leading contributor to a variety of cancers and heart and lung diseases please do not hesitate to request additional information. I will be more than happy to attend your Indian Health Care Summit with the necessary resource materials.

With some two-million workers now employed in the Indian Gaming Industry we want to make sure everything possible is being done to protect the health and well-being of these workers.

If I have addressed this letter to the wrong persons, would you please provide me with the name of the proper person/s and department/s this letter should be sent to.

If you think this issue concerning the impact of second-hand smoke on the health of casino workers is not significant enough to be discussed at the Indian Health Summit would you be so kind as to advise me of your decision and how it was reached?

Thanking you in advance for your timely consideration;

Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

Check out my blog:

Thoughts From Podunk

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

Cc: Maggie Bird
President,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council