America in Solidarity blogs

McCain's Fortune

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:57:06 -0400

It seems that only four years ago Republicans were scrutinizing Sen. John Kerry and the finances of his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry. Have they already forgotten?- Or is it only acceptable for a Republican candidate's spouse to be heir to a 100 million dollar fortune?

Here is an article from politico that explains more:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11477.html

Show this to every Clinton supporter

Sat, 24 May 2008 16:49:29 -0400

Keith Olbermann's latest rant on Hillary Clinton should be shown to every remaining Clinton supporter. I've always thought that in her mind, winning the presidency was worth sacrificing everything and anyone. Olbermann calls her out for her remark tying the Robert Kennedy assassination and invoking it as reason for her to stay in the Democratic race.

If you are still wavering about Clinton as president, watch this video.

Korea-US Free Trade Agreement

Tue, 20 May 2008 23:21:59 -0400

Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) asked me to weigh in on the pending Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. Like most FTA's it is agreed to in closed door meetings and finding out the facts about what it would do is oftentimes difficult to find, if not grasp. I'm still working on an official letter regarding America In Solidarity's position (and please help if you are interested), but here is what I emailed his aide regarding it:

I still have not had time to craft a letter to Adam about the Korea FTA. I haven't had time to do a lot of research to back up with facts my working hypothesis. While I think the KORUS would open up lots of opportunities for some parts of our economy (beef, farming, natural resources), we are concerned that this will result in an even larger trade deficit. The difference in wages will result in even more losses in American
manufacturing and at some point we can't continue to "reeducate" by the millions because there are no jobs to replace those we lost. I hate being against every agreement because there is the simple fact that
my livelihood (as does your husband's, father's, etc) benefits from trade, but I think there has to be a better way because I think these trade agreements benefit only the corporations, infringe upon worker's,
environmental and community rights, and gives too much influence to organizations like the WTO, that don't have our interests at stake.
Sometimes, when its hard to decide which side of the fence to be on, I look at who wants these agreements and who doesn't and I am quite weary of the players that are always pushing fta's and the liberalization of the markets. I recently read Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" and it scares me that the next wave of profit for the few is the United States. Anyway, I respect Adam's interest and knowledge on the subject, and I really respect that he wants our opinion and seems open-minded on the subject, so I'll craft a letter soon, but if he needs a quick answer feel free to forward him these thoughts.
-Todd

Todd Iverson
President and co-founder, America In Solidarity
www.americasolidarity.org

Bush and Fascism

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:15:44 -0400

America In Solidarity co-founder Mike Jagielski forwarded me a great article pointed out that the Bush Administration has followed 14 characteristics common to the fascist regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet. Scary stuff...

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

Clinton fails to pay health care bills

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:07:47 -0400

Most that have talked with me about presidential politics know how I feel about Senator Clinton and her bid for the Democratic nomination. But for someone who touts her health care experience and advantage on the subject, I find it funny how she has failed to pay the tab for health care costs of the campaign:

Among the debts reported this month by Hillary Rodham Clinton’s struggling presidential campaign, the $292,000 in unpaid health insurance premiums for her campaign staff stands out.

Read the whole piece.

Obama on race

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:52:24 -0400

The left wing pundits called it "the first great speech of the 21st Century" and the right-wing spinmeisters picked it apart and continued to rail on Senator Obama's former pastor and his remarks.

Truth is, Obama had to say it. Someone had to say exactly what he said. "We can get beyond our racial divisions."

Listen to the speech. Please.

Great Quote

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:38:54 -0500

It's almost 1600 years old but I think it works for what we are facing today.

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.” - St. Augustine.

Iraq, health care, corporate greed, Blackwater, CEO pay, there is a lot to be angry about. I hope thee will be enough with the courage to do what is right.

Help keep Ohio's 10th Congressional District in Progressive Hands!

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:40:25 -0500

As you're probably aware, Ohio's 10th Congressional is in the midst of a fierce primary battle. Motivated to seize the House seat for its preferred corporate candidate, and driven by hatred stretching back to Muny Light, the Cleveland Plain Dealer -- a very conservative newspaper and the town's only daily -- is trying to push Dennis Kucinich out after more than ten years of loyal and able service to his constituency.

Cleveland's movers and shakers have thrown their support by sitting Ward 13 councilman Joe Cimperman, a corporate-owned politician. His argument for running is based in part on the most ludicrous of claims: that a sitting elected official ought not to spend taxpayer time and money running for another elected office. But that is precisely what Cimperman is doing. Furthermore, he is running on a patently false claim that Kucinich has missed more votes than almost any other member of Congress.

The truth, however, is not on Cimperman's side. According to GovTrack.us:

Dennis Kucinich missed 346 of 7054 votes (5%) since Jan 7, 1997.

Compare this to campaigning Republican Ron Paul, who according to GovTrack.us has missed twice as many votes as Kucinich.

Ronald Paul missed 687 of 7054 votes (10%) since Jan 7, 1997.

And what of the sitting U.S. senators running for president?

John McCain has missed sixteen percent of his votes.

John McCain missed 592 of 3720 votes (16%) since Jan 22, 1997.

Barack Obama has missed seventeen percent.

Barack Obama missed 185 of 1098 votes (17%) since Jan 6, 2005.

And Hillary Clinton has missed six percent of votes, just one percent below Kucinich's attendance record.

Hillary Clinton missed 152 of 2406 votes (6%) since Jan 23, 2001.

So what may we conclude from this? That Cimperman is either lying his fool ass off, or else he is too lazy or too stupid to get his facts straight -- or a combination thereof. My money, if I had any, would be on the combo theory. And whatever the case may be, is this really the kind of person Ohio's 10th Congressional District really wants or needs representing it?

Here's another case against Cimperman and his backers at the Plain Dealer.

The Pee Dee used the entire space of the Sunday editorial slot to bless Cimperman. Actually, it was not so much to anoint Cimperman as to throw slaps at his opponent, Dennis Kucinich.

And...

What struck me as really odd was how little space the paper spent on telling us of any accomplishments of Cimperman. His major accomplishment, as I can see, is giving away city money to developers.

While we're on that note, let's ask ourselves, of the two main candidates for Ohio-10, who has accomplished more? Kucinich, hands down.

Kucinich -

Cosponsored HR 676, which is Medicare for all Americans.

H.R. 4060: Universal Prekindergarten Act

H.R. 3400: Rebuilding America's Infrastructure

H.R. 1234: To end the United States occupation of Iraq immediately

H. Con. Res. 23: Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not order an escalation in the total number of members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Iraq.

H.R. 2707: To reauthorize the Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program

H.R. 3875: To permit the Secretary of Labor to make an administrative determination of the amount of unpaid wages owed for certain violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the New Orleans region after Hurricane Katrina.

And then, of course, there are his articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney. Pretty busy for a "part-time" member of the House of Representatives, huh? And what, by the way, has Cimperman done for his constituents? According to ClevelandLeader.com (bear with me, this one's a long quote but it is absolutely necessary):

Just to remind people of what the donation-gobbling Cimperman has become as the downtown councilman, I’ve listed below what the city and others, with Cimperman’s strong backing, gave to the Wolstein project in the Flats. The project is in Cimperman’s ward.

Of course, the city also helped with eminent domain to shift properties to Wolstein from others.

There’s an interesting battle now going on for downtown real estate development with several major corporations and law firms reportedly interested in new office space. Looking for new digs: Baker & Hostetler, Eaton Corp., Ernst & Young, Huntington Bank and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. So there’s demand.

It will be interesting in the climate of demand to observe how city officials – Mayor Frank Jackson and City Council – react to this renewed interest in new office space.

Since there’s high demand should the city avoid offering all kinds of subsidy incentives to developers to do what they must do – meet the demand by building? (It’s also unclear whether the new space will be added space or simply newer space to shift tenants from older buildings, in other words, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic/Cleveland.)

The Pee Dee could do a service to the citizens by researching and telling us which downtown property owners got what part of the $100 million in taxable property that came off the tax rolls in recent years. Likely suspects: Forest City Enterprises, Dick Jacobs and John Carney interests.

The market is supposed to rule. And, to some degree, it does. The best example is the empty space on the west side of Public Square. The city in 1989 awarded Dick Jacobs the same sweet subsidy deal to build on that site as the developer received for the north side of Public Square (Key Center & Marriott Hotel).

Yet, 19 years later, the site remains fallow, a parking lot.

That’s because there has been no market for new office space and thus no development.

Now, since there is said to be demand, why don’t the developers meet the demand – but without seeking to wring out abatements and other subsidies from the depressed City of Cleveland? The answer is simple: greed.

They don’t because our political leaders are too eager (Cimperman) to serve their benefactors at the expense of their constituents.

Below are the incredible “incentives” given to the Wolstein partnership for the Flats East Side project. Here is the list:

Thoughts after my caucus

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:01:45 -0500

In 2004 I was a Kucinich delegate who came within five votes of representing him in Boston. I carried his torch for a while and hoped for a similar run in 2008, but alas it was not meant to be. Here is what I wrote to a Kucinich listserve following the Washington State caucus...

I realize that Kucinich's chance was akin to a blind man shooting in the dark on a stormy night, but for a while we were able to give it our best shot at working on someone who would represent us, restore democracy and the constitution, and shares the values that we do on trade, war and peace, the corporate attack on working Americans and health care.

Despite being discouraged that Kucinich (or uncommitted) failed to generate one delegate from my precinct, I am thrilled that 107 people from a middle/upper class area turned out for a Democratic caucus (probably 4x that in '04). Over half were there for the first time. There were more young people than I have ever seen at anything political outside of a college campus.

I wish I could have spent more time working on the Kucinich campaign (blame getting married during the time). Perhaps all my efforts could have resulted in more delegates across the state, but like I said at the caucus "What can you do when the election is almost decided before we even get a chance to debate?" I think it is a shame that the two candidates with the most money are the ones that escape "Super Tuesday." They did not have the best ideas, merely the most money.

Young Voters

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:09:39 -0500

Newspapers and journalists everywhere agree, young voters are emerging everywhere. The number of college students and graduates alike are higher than ever. However, as Marisa Lagos of the San Francisco Chronicle notes, the "youth" category does not represent all of the interests of voters between the ages of 18 and 30. Those in and entering college are on average face "$20,000 in student loan debt and 25- to 34-year-olds have the second-highest rate of bankruptcy of any age group, according to statistics compiled by Rock the Vote, a nonprofit group that aims to engage youth in the political process" (Lagos). Economic and financial issues that the youth feel directly effect them are of the up-most importance. The exchange rate, taxes, financial support and social security are all on the minds of the educated youth. Youth today, though often inspired by or educated by their parent's voting practices, lack the party affiliations and loyalties of their baby-boomer parents.

According to a journal published by Jared Sagoff in January of 2006 through "The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement" (CIRCLE) the main issues for voters in 2004 were: Taxes, Education, Iraq, Terrorism, Economy/Jobs, Moral Values and Health care. Sagoff calculated and compared the importance of each issue for the entire voting population, voters aged 18-24 and voters 25+. For the youth category of 18-24, in 2004 Moral Values was ranked most important at 23% with Economy/Jobs following closely a 21%. If ranked in order of importance the issues would go from most to least important as follows: Moral values, economy/jobs, terrorism, Iraq, Taxes and Education tied and lastly health care. It is important to keep in mind that these numbers represent Sagoff's calculations based upon the National Exit Poll of 2004.

Back to Basics

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:37:45 -0500

I know that this group focuses a lot of attention on local bills and legislation that affect workers. Though this article posted yesterday by the Associated Press has little to do with legislation, I found it refreshing to find an article about union activity in New York.

By ELLEN SIMON

NEW YORK

Laura Tapia is the union movement's equivalent of a beat cop.

A tiny, fast-talking woman from Puebla, Mexico, she's spent two years walking the 99-cent stores, fruit stands and sneaker shops of Brooklyn's immigrant Knickerbocker Ave. She made her rounds recently, hugging the woman selling tamales from a cart, pointing to the car wash, which she says is usually staffed by underage kids, and clucking that the combination laundromat-Post Office was robbed in the middle of the day.

"When you are on the street all day, you know everything that happens," she said, shivering in her down parka. "Everything."

Tapia is an organizer for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Only two of the roughly 170 stores on Knickerbocker are unionized, but organizing workers is her secondary goal. Her immediate task is investigating working conditions, injuries and wage and hour violations involving the stores' shelf stockers, cashiers and salespeople.

Bush renominates worst NLRB Boss ever

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:38:08 -0500

This is an excellent post from unbossed. Enjoy...

January 25, Bush announced that he was re-nominating Robert Battista to Chair the NLRB. Battista has to be the worst NLRB chair ever - the worst member ever. Here are a few reasons why.

1. There is the fact that he has presided over a Board that has bulldozed over NLRB precedents that have stood for decades. Believe it or not, that is NOT the way judges and members of Boards and Commissions are supposed to behave. This past year has seen longstanding precedent after precedent shattered and for no valid reason.

Precedent can be changed when there is a valid reason to do so, such as fundamental changes in the workplace. But that change must come only when a record has been created to demonstrates the need for the change and the basis for the type of change. That has not been the case with the Battista gang.

An example several years ago, pre-Battista, was the M.B. Sturgis case. It explored the situation created by the increasing use of contingent workers, such as perma-temps. Old precedent failed to take account of this change. The M.B. Sturgis decision brought Board law into the present by providing a reasoned way to permit them to seek union representation.

State of the union for working families

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:05:21 -0500

In response to Bush's annual State of the disillusion/union address. Here are a few thoughts of what I think also should be said...

State of the Union for Working Families

America’s working families don’t need hope. They need our country to take a new direction.

For too long the interests of corporate America have been placed ahead of workers. Trade agreements, beginning in the mid 1990’s have resulted in millions of jobs being outsourced and offshored. The North American Free Trade Agreement was a boon for food giants like Cargill with their subsidized corn, but then forced millions of family farms in Mexico to close up. This has resulted in a flood if illegal immigrants looking for work in our country.

The tragedy of 9/11 allowed the Bush Administration to usher in an era of fear, loss of civil liberties and a baseless war. Our adventures in Iraq have alienated much of the world, cost the lives of thousands of American troops and been a constant drain on our economy. Every billion wasted in Iraq is a dollar less that could be spent on health care, schools or our crumbling infrastructure. Just like with the trade agreements, Iraq has been a boon to a few corporate interests and a disaster for the many working families who have to pay the bill.

Iraq, health care and trade

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:50:12 -0500

I finally sat down to watch one of the meaningless debates last week. I wish I had not.

Wolf Blitzer totally ignored Dennis Kucinich, who despite his limitations, is offering more than any of the frontrunners. Pundits demanded that Edwards and Obama attack Clinton, and they did. Only in Vegas could something be so staged. My anger hit its peak when the final question of CNN's virtual Hillary Lovefest was directed at her if she preferred diamonds or pearls.

What a shame. Character, leadership abilities and experience are all important. Diamonds and pearls are not. Neither were half the questions being asked during the debate or are some of the intangibles being talked about as we select the next president of the United States.

For me, the election and debate is still about three issues: Iraq, health care, and trade. These are the paramount issues. I wish there was a debate that would spend all two hours talking about these issues.

There is a clear difference between the candidates on these issues. Not all of them will lead us out of Iraq or build the necessary coalitions to rebuild the Middle East. Not all of them care about giving middle America affordable health care as they are aligned with the insurance companies. Several of them clearly don't get how the current system of trade agreements is gutting the American middle class.

Thanks for the passion Congressman Stark

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 02:27:48 -0400

Congressman Pete Stark of California is getting hammered by the right for calling out President Bush for his veto of SCHIP. His anger is shared by all of us, and I wish a few more Congressmen would share that passion. Right on Pete!

Watch Stark's remarks here.

Excerpts from his remarks:

First of all, I'm just amazed they can't figure out, the Republicans are worried we can't pay for insuring an additional 10 million children. They sure don't care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where ya gonna get that money? You going to tell us lies like you're telling us today? Is that how you're going to fund the war? You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement. This bill would provide healthcare for 10 million children and unlike the President's own kids, these children can't see a doctor or receive necessary care. [...]