New Ground 120
September - October, 2008
Contents
Progressive Politics
Reverend Don Benedict
Radical Feasts
Concert for Peace
New Ground
120.1 - 09.25.2008
0. DSA News
The Labor Movement and Progressive
Politics in the Post-Bush Era
Debs - Thomas - Harrington Dinner
Democratic Left
For a Sustainable World Society
International Union of Socialist Youth
1. Politics
Congress Hotel
Coalition of Immokalee Workers & Whole Foods
School Funding
Make a Noise
The State of Working America
2. Democratic Socialism
Financial Crisis: Thinking About
the Real Socialist Way Out
3. Upcoming Events of Interest
New Ground
120.2 - 10.17.2008
0. DSA News
Meetings
Fall 2008 "Red Letter"
Socialist International on the Global Financial Crisis
Douglass-Debs Dinner
1. Politics
Obama Socialist
Ayers and Social Justice Education
Understanding the White Vote
Congress Hotel Boycott
October 11 Anti-War Rally
Rating Congress
IVAW Members Arrested
2. Democratic Socialism
The Communist Manifesto Hits 160
October Is National Coop Month
3. Upcoming Events of Interest
New Ground
120.3 - 10.30.2008
0. DSA News
Meetings
The Labor Movement and Progressive Politics in the Post-Bush
Era
Democratic Left
1. Politics
The West Is Red
Paint McCain a Red-Baiter
Terrorizing Dissent
For Labor, Armageddon
Victory at Smithfield
United for Peace and Justice
Tax Increment Financing
2. Democratic Socialism
Who Was Norman Thomas?
3. Upcoming Events of Interest
The
Financial Crisis of 2007 - 200?
by Bill Barclay
On October 9th, 2007, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both closed at new all
time highs. By late January 2008, both had lost more than
10% of their value and investors worried about a developing bear
market. In the intervening three months the outlook the U.S.
economy went positive to negative. In November and December 2007,
the auction rate securities market, used by tax exempt borrowers
such as hospitals, collapsed with no bids; on Dec 12th, the Fed
announced the creation of by the Term Auction Facility which
allowed banks to borrow anonymously for 28 days using a wide
range of collateral to meet their pressing liquidity needs and
stave off possible bank runs; in March, 2008, the Fed orchestrated
the acquisition for Bear Sterns by J.P. Morgan Chase for $10/share,
down more than 90% from the previous year's high (Bear was the
only major investment bank that refused Fed pressure to assist
in the bailout of Long Term Capital Management in the 1990s);
and, in that same month the U.S. Congress agreed to a "stimulus
package" of $150 billion. At the same time the rest of the
world began to realize that the 2007 2008 financial crisis
was not restricted to the U.S. So much for the stock market as
a leading economic indicator, a status it achieved under Alan
Greenspan's tenure at the Federal Reserve.
What happened? And why? And what should
progressives be saying and proposing in response to what is now
widely acknowledged as an economic downturn of potentially major
significance? This article argues (i) that the economic problems
the U.S. now faces are long term and not readily amenable to
the usual policy fixes; (ii) that the crisis is rooted in a convergence
of three trends, two long-term and one more immediate; and (iii)
that there are important policy ideas that progressives should
be proposing, although their adoption will occur only as the
result of political struggle and pressure.
The Crisis: How Serious
Is It? The sense of an economic
threat is relatively new, even among those who might be thought
to be attuned this kind of issue. At the 2007 Take Back
America Conference , the War in Iraq was seen as by far the
most important political issue, chosen by over 30% of the attendees
with the economy listed as the number one issue by only 13% of
the attendees. By the March 2008 Conference, this had changed:
the economy was now listed by 30% of the attendees as the number
one issue facing the country. Still, the presidential campaigns,
both Democratic and Republican, were slow to focus on the economy
and, when they did, the attention was often dismissive as in
the famous claim by Phil Gram, McCain's chief economic advisor,
that the recession was largely a mental one and that to focus
on this issue was catering a nation of whiners.
So, how serious is it? First, when people
talk about a financial crisis in contrast to a crisis in the
real economy, they are referencing the economy we once had, not
the economy we have now. As late as the 1970s, manufacturing
accounted for a larger portion of the GDP than did services but
that is no longer true. By 2005, finance in all its forms (banking,
insurance, mortgage brokers, etc.) represented approximately
25% of total economic production in the U.S. A crisis in an industry
that accounts for one quarter of GDP is a crisis in the
"real economy." Of course, finance is linked in myriad
ways to the rest of the economy. One simple equation: the housing
sector, consisting of mortgage lenders, construction, furnishings
and related industries, accounted for a similar quarter of US
output.
Second, it is clear that the crisis
is not and will not be restricted to the financial sector. One
in ten homeowners is or will be facing the threat of foreclosure
over the next two years a level not seen since 1933. Defaults
on corporate debt are rising with the second quarter of 2008
being the tenth consecutive quarter of increasing business bankruptcies.
U.S. automakers are on the ropes as demand drops for their large,
energy intensive vehicles. The companies (they used to be called
the Big Three) are asking for a federal bailout of $25 billion
and saying they may not survive in the absence of such assistance.
Retail stores are already cutting back on sales staff and nationwide
the unemployment rate rose to 6.1% in August, the eighth consecutive
month with a decline in jobs. Today is not like the Fed's rescue
of CitiBank via Saudi investment in 1981 1982, the assistance
the same entity gave to junk bonds holders and issuers
by lowering interest rates in the early 1990s, or even
the scale of assistance necessary to clean up the Savings and
Loan fiasco of the late 1980s / early 1990s.
Third, today's economic problems come
at the end of a long period of global credit expansion and deregulation,
placing constraints on the available policy alternatives. While
we can learn from the New Deal, the national and global economic
environment and the U.S. relationship and role in the today's
global economic system is quite different. We will not be able
simply to copy New Deal programs.
The Causes There are, I think, three primary causes. These
causes intermesh in a variety of ways but each presents distinct
problems and each needs specific policy responses. These causes
are (i) the long term trend towards economic inequality in the
U.S.; (ii) the credit expansion / contraction and debt cycle,
primarily driven by housing; and (iii) the role and value of
the dollar in the international economy, with particular emphasis
on the trade in oil.
Growth in Economic Inequality The long term trend towards increasing economic
inequality in the U.S. has been documented so many times that
even conservatives have acknowledged its reality. It is hard
to come up with fresh ways to demonstrate the extremes of economic
inequality, but perhaps the following may serve to remind us
both how recent this trend is and the extremes to which we have
gone. First, from 1945 to the mid 1980s, the median family income
for all U.S. families increased faster than that for the top
10%, 5% and 1% by income families. Since the mid 1980s, the exact
opposite has occurred with the median family income declining
for all groups except the top 5% and 1%. Between 2001
2006 the top 15,000 families, .01% of all families, captured
25% of total family income growth in the U.S while the bottom
90% grabbed only 4%. As to the extreme to which we have taken
this trend, consider the following. If workers' salaries had
increased as rapidly as those of the CEOs of the largest corporations,
the average workers' salary would now be over $200,000/year.
What has been less commented upon is
the significance of this growing inequality for the political
economy. First, the growing concentration of income and wealth
constrains the consumption (purchasing power) of the population
as a whole. Savings rates dropped consistently over the past
quarter century, actually turning negative in some recent years,
as families tried to keep up with the American standard of consumption.
But consumption was not, of course, simply financed by drawing
down or foregoing savings. Don't have the cash? Put it on plastic.
Use of credit cards to finance current consumption was not, of
course, a new development. As far back as 1977, Time Magazine
had observed that "insistence on buying only what can be
paid for in cash seems as outmoded as a crew cut." However,
the growth of consumer debt escalated in the past quarter century
and is roughly equal to total U.S. GDP and is larger than the
often cited government debt.
Second, the increased concentration
of income and wealth reshapes the political terrain. The cost
of political campaigns has increased sharply in part because
of the possibility of raising more money from people who literally
have more than they know what to do with. The importance of large
donors has in turn increased because there is an increased need
for money. Thus the impact and influence of larger donors eclipsed
that of competing institutions such as labor, civic and community
groups.
But the political use of concentrated
income and wealth has not been restricted to the financing of
campaigns. In fact its more significant impact has probably been
in the reshaping of the universe of political discourse. Wealthy
individuals and families have turned to founding and funding
"research" institutes and think tanks. And the bias
of these institutions is towards a system that has made their
benefactors well off on a scale never seen before. Even as I
write, there are proposals to found a Milton
Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago with an initial
target level of $200 million. It is very unlikely that the studies
emanating from such an institute will find fundamental flaws
in the functioning of markets or produce arguments for government
intervention in the same.
Debt Financial Deregulation
and Credit Expansion What is
the debt problem facing the U.S? Despite highly publicized, ideologically
driven lamentations about government debt such as those put forth
in the propaganda film I.O.U.S.A., it is not the debt of governments,
whether federal, state or local that threatens the U.S. economy.
Rather, it is private and corporate debt that poses the greatest
risks and that has brought us to the current crisis. Credit card
debt has been of concern for some time. However, credit card
debt is far from the only source of debt financing of consumption
and in fact is now a smaller percentage of total consumer debt
than two decades ago. Its place has been taken by mortgage debt.
It is the housing sector that defines the specific nature of
this economic downturn and is the major reason why the outcome
is likely to be so difficult to control. From the early 1980s
to the mid 1990s housing prices rose more or less in line with
general inflation levels. However, that changed dramatically
in later 1990s and the first 5 6 years of the 2000s. In
the decade 1995 2005, housing prices increased by 30% above
inflation. Homes, our primary residence, also became our savings
vehicle and our bank accounts.
Certainly home ownership is good, at
least for most people, as recognized in the Bush mantra of the
"ownership society." So how did access to home ownership
and rising house prices get us into so much trouble? There are
at least three reasons for the mortgage and foreclosure crisis
we face today. First, the banking model changed from a traditional,
relatively conservative set of practices to an originate and
distribute model. Second, as the housing boom continued while
incomes lagged for the majority of the population, the standards
on which mortgages were based deteriorated. Third, and perhaps
most important for the individual home buyer, rising prices allowed
the buyer to borrow against the appreciating value of the home.
The 1999 repeal of Glass-Steagel allowed
financial institutions such as CitiGroup or J.P. Morgan Chase
to combine banking, insurance and real estate for the first time
since the 1930s removing the walls that the Act created. Repeal
was also the impetus for changing the mortgage lending business
model and allowed almost anyone to enter the mortgage lending
business. Prior to repeal, mortgage banking was largely a business
of making loans and managing the resulting portfolio of loans.
Banks (and other mortgage brokers) made loans to home buyers
based on their income and assets and then earned the interest
on the loan. If the borrower was unable to make timely payments,
it was the lending bank who bore the financial risk and whose
profitability was threatened. This risk meant that banks had
an incentive to inquire into the financial resources of the borrower
and to determine that that the borrower was a good risk for the
life of the loan (since the 1930s, usually 30 year terms but
often paid off in less time). However, the repeal of Glass-Steagel
offered another method of participating in the mortgage business:
banks (and others who entered the business of offering mortgages)
could make the initial loan ("initiate" in the language
of the industry), then "package" the loan into a mortgage
backed security ("securitization"), and sell the new
security to investors ("distribute" the security),
take the money from this sale and make another mortgage loan.
This model of banking turned out to very profitable more
so than the traditional approach. In 2006 mortgage lenders originated
$2.5 trillion in loans (3 times the 1997 amount) and 75% was
securitized.
The "originate and distribute"
model of banking (securitizing and selling off mortgages and
other loans such as auto loans) provided little incentive for
banks and other mortgage lenders to assess the long term financial
viability of their borrowers. Put most bluntly, the mortgage
lender only faced "pipeline" risk, i.e., the risk that
the borrower could not make the payments required before the
loan was securitized and sold off, that is the risk was limited
to the loans still in the lender's pipeline. This inevitably
led to a lowered set of standards for making mortgage loans;
as long as the lender was confident that the borrower could make
the first, or perhaps the first two payments on the loan, there
was little reason to reject the applicant. Further, as it appeared
that housing prices would rise indefinitely, even borrowers who
might have been rejected as near term risks could be offered
"creative" loan packages, perhaps requiring interest
only payments during the initial period of the loan. Alt-A and
NINJA (no income, no job, no asset) loans became increasingly
popular as mortgage lenders flowed into the business, all planning
to make the initial loan and pass the default risk on to someone
else who bought the securitized package.
This scope of this accident waiting
to happen was enhanced by the increasing draws that borrowers
made on the equity in their homes in order to finance other consumption,
whether that is a car, vacation, college, etc. In 2005 net mortgage
borrowing for purchases other than houses totaled $600 billion,
about 7% of total family disposable income. Refinancing commonly
included taking out cash in return for taking on a bigger loan
amount after all, houses were worth more so they could
securitize more debt. These home equity loans (HELs) were securitized
and sold to investors seeking high yield, high rated investments.
The only problem with this is the old
problem of leverage. Housing prices could not rise faster than
income indefinitely. When the music stopped, there would be some,
actually many, people who were too highly leveraged to continue
making payments on their mortgages. With median down payments
averaging 2% in 2005 2006, housing prices did not have
to fall very far before leverage destroyed the buyer's original
investment. The result, beginning in earnest in 2007, has been
a rapid increase in foreclosures with more to come as the number
of borrowers behind on their payments also spiraling. Nor is
the problem restricted to subprime mortgages. The ability to
refinance, take out cash and assume an increased debt burden
that would, it was hoped, be covered by subsequent increases
in housing prices was attractive not just to subprime borrowers
but also to many home buyers who qualified for prime mortgages.
An increasing number of these are now finding themselves with
an asset, their residence, which is worth less than what they
owe. Estimates of the eventual default rate on the almost $1
trillion mortgages securitized are in the 20 25% range
but no one really knows. Leverage works just as efficiently on
the downside as it does on the upside it's just scarier.
Before going on to the last cause of
the current crisis it is worth considering briefly who is at
risk in the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. Subprime
mortgages coincided nicely with the politics of the ownership
society, the idea that minorities and lower income people could
have an economic stake in political stability and that they would
thus be more benefit the Republican Party. Almost all of the
net increase in family wealth reported for the bottom 80% of
wealth holders during 2001 - 2005 came from increased prices
for housing. A large portion of subprime mortgages were made
to African-Americans, Hispanics, and single (usually female)
parent families. These are the groups now suffering most from
the escalating foreclosure levels. Their suffering is not just
a current economic problem but has important long-term implications
for these groups. For most people, particularly in the bottom
half of the income distribution, a house is their primary, often
only wealth asset. Thus the foreclosure boom is draining wealth
away from a large number of families who had only just begun
to acquire it. Estimates of wealth loss from these foreclosures
are in the $170 190 billion range for African-Americans
and $75 100 billion for Hispanics. Although these groups
were three times as likely to have subprime mortgages as whites,
the evidence strongly suggests that half or more of those granted
subprime mortgages actually qualified for prime mortgages but
the profitability of the former was greater than the latter.
The Value and Role of the
U.S. Dollar One of the reasons
for believing that this economic downturn will be more severe
and longer lasting than those of the past three decades is the
convergence of a domestic credit and housing crisis with some
negative (for the U.S.) international tends. In the 1970s the
U.S. moved from being an international creditor nation to an
international debtor and is now the largest such debtor. This
is one of the important differences between today and the 1930s
when the U.S. was a major creditor nation, giving FDR greater
policy latitude.
In the early years of the shift to debtor
status the primary concern as what an ally, Japan, might someday
do with all that debt. Nothing, as it turned out. However, the
debt is larger now and the primary holders include nations such
as China whose relationship with the U.S. is quite different,
today and over the strategic long term, than the Japanese. Further,
a major reason for the growing debtor status of the U.S is increased,
and increasingly costly, imports of the largest single commodity
in world trade: petroleum. During the Bush administration the
cost of oil imports more than doubled, rising from $130 billion
in 2003 to over $300 billion in 2006.
And what do we have to offer in return?
After all, trade is trade. During the period that the U.S. shifted
from being a creditor to a debtor nation, we also shifted from
making and exporting "things" to the buying and selling
the representation of things, e.g. claims to income streams from
assets. Financialization remade the structure of the U.S. political
economy as policy makers made a long term bet an implicit
industrial policy on the finance sector. As the growing
U.S. trade deficit increased the dollar holdings of foreigners,
these investors looked for ways to put this money to work. In
response we exported securitized debt, primarily asset backed
securities (ABS) including their mortgage back security (MBS)
and collateralized debt obligation (CDO) components. Government
debt was also marketed abroad. As early as mid-2007, the Deutsche
Bank estimated that non-US investors held 40% of all MBS, the
instrument largely responsible for initiating the crisis. These
exports helped spread the negative economic consequences of the
current crisis even to small towns in Norway and beyond where,
relying on the ratings given to the tranches of ABS by S&P,
Fitch and Moody's (the role of the rating agencies in the current
debacle deserves considerably more attention than it has received
to date) and seeking higher yields on pensions and other investments,
portfolio managers around the world purchased these AAA and AA
rated securities.
So now we face a challenge to the dollar
as the ultimate reserve currency, this time on two fronts. First,
as the value of the dollar has declined, central banks have diversified
their reserves, adding Euros and other currencies to their holdings.
This gradual shift will probably continue; whether it will reach
some kind of tipping point is difficult to predict. It required
almost three decades for the dollar to replace the U.K. pound
as the preferred reserve currency. What would more directly impact
the average U.S. citizen's standard of living is the possibility
that petroleum producing nations will shift pricing out of dollars
and into either a basket of currencies or a specific currency.
The only serious current candidate for the latter is the Euro,
but it remains an unlikely event. It is clear that some petroleum
exporters, particularly Venezuela and Iran, have priced some
of their oil in currencies other than the dollar and the Asian
debt market is moving towards pricing in local currencies rather
than the dollar.
All of this is overlaid with the very
real possibility that the age of petroleum is much nearer its
end than its beginning. If the peak oil argument is valid, our
trade deficit will continue to grow and the costs of transporting
people and things in a domestic built environment that is based
on the gasoline powered car will become prohibitive. The beginnings
of doubts about the long-term economic viability of suburban
sprawl are another restraint on the possibility of any rapid
recovery of housing and the U.S. economy as a whole.
What Can Be Done
Thoughts on Policy I have argued
that the 2007 domestic economic crisis is not restricted to the
financial sector, that it is likely to be more severe than anything
we have experienced since WWII and that it coincides with unfavorable
international economic trends. But of course, challenges are
also opportunities and I think there are real opportunities,
as well as risks, for the Left. In this concluding section I
will suggest some ideas for policies to address our current economic
situation. First, however, two points: we need to emphasize,
insist, that the current crisis is systemic, and that piecemeal
responses will be inadequate to remedy the situation and that
market fundamentalist approaches of the current administration
as well as the Republican presidential candidate fall woefully
short of what is needed. This is the task of removing the underbrush
before building the new structure.
So what can we suggest? There are both
near-term policies that may have long-term consequences, and
policies that we can pursue only in the intermediate or longer
term.
· Empowering the
Working Population: The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). We will only reverse the long-term inegalitarian
trend in the U.S. if we make it possible for working people to
build institutions that are powerful enough to push a political
agenda that can effectively mobilize against policies
that will increase inequality, e.g. the privatization of social
security, and for egalitarian policies, e. g., removing
the income cap on FICA (the social security tax). The EFCA is
already endorsed by a majority of congressional Democrats
but we need a president that will sign it or a 2/3 majority to
pass it over a McCain veto.
· Increase and Index
the Minimum Wage. I will not
repeat the economic facts about the lag of the minimum wage behind
inflation here but I do want to note something that is not usually
acknowledged. Opponents of minimum wage increases often claim
that the primary beneficiaries would be teenage workers earning
extra spending money. Besides the reality that most minimum wage
workers are not teenagers, the earnings of teenagers are not
simply spending money. For example, when I attended college in
the 1960s (at a state university) I was able to pay my own way
by working, full time during the summer and part time during
the school year, at jobs that paid the minimum or just above
the minimum wage. That would not be possible today because of
the gap between the growth in college costs and the lag of the
minimum wages behind inflation. What should the index be? I am
tempted to say congressional salaries but use of the CPI is probably
a better political decision.
· Reinstate, Index
and Make Progressive the Estate Tax.
The Estate Tax, which the Left should insist on labeling the
Paris Hilton Tax, will revert back to pre-Bush levels in 2010
if no action is taken by Congress. The complaints against the
tax, driven by the financing of a few very wealthy families who
seek to found their own dynasties, have made this a tougher issue
than it should be. We should tie the proceeds of the tax to the
funding of specific programs so that the "who pays / who
benefits" equation is clear. This requires some additional
thinking and economic modeling of the expected revenue (United
for a Fair Economy has done a lot of the latter) but the
Paris Hilton tax could fund universal health care or a subsidy
to help with college costs. The most important aspect of the
tax is, however, that is a tax on wealth, a taxation concept
that is worth fighting for.
· Tax Surcharge
on Incomes Above $250,000 John
McCain may think that middle income is anyone with incomes below
$5 million but the reality is that an income of $250,000 or more
puts a family in the top 2% of all families. Rather than spend
political capital arguing about how to make the existing tax
code more progressive, let's just do it the simple way: impose
a surcharge on high income recipients. As in the case of the
Paris Hilton tax, the revenue generated should be targeted for
specific social investments, perhaps in this case in alternative
energy technology.
· Develop a Jobs
Program. Unemployment is certainly
not at 1930s levels and probably will not rise that high; it
is, however, a serious and growing problem, particularly when
the uncounted unemployed are included. A jobs program should
have three foci. First, it should focus on social investment
such as schools, roads, bridges, light rail, etc. Second, we
should seek to reaffirm the importance of public employment,
training and employing people in the health care sector, education,
and the recreational environment we have lived off the
wonderful work the CCC did in our parks and trials for a long
time.
There also need to be a set of policies
that address both the deep problems of the housing sector and
the out-of-control financialization of the US economy. For starters
we should consider the following.
· Create a New Home
Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC).
In this case we can draw directly on the New Deal experience.
The HOLC acquired mortgages that were or were about to be in
default at a discount to the original value, renegotiated the
terms of the mortgage, both the duration (effectively creating
the 30-year mortgage we know today) and the interest rate. When
the HOLC closed up operations, it had actually turned a small
profit for the taxpayers. Two things are important here: first,
the HOLC had the power to require that mortgages be placed into
this system and second, it was the mortgage lender who absorbed
the difference between the original mortgage amount and the payment
made by the HOLC to acquire the mortgage. This will not, of course,
be welcomed by banks and other mortgage lenders or by MBS investors
but if the alternative is default and/or becoming a landlord,
this approach is less painful medicine.*
· Empower Bankruptcy
Judges to Adjust the Mortgage Terms.
At first glance this may sound radical but there has already
been congressional legislation drafted to grant this power. It
did not get out of committee. There is a precedent: these very
same judges now have that power for mortgages on second homes.
This policy would bring additional pressure to bear on lenders
to seek accommodation with their borrowers.
· Restrict Leverage
in the Finance Sector. Leverage,
at approximately the 30:1 ratio, is what brought Bear Sterns
down, and, as I have argued above, leverage is at the root of
many of the problems in the mortgage meltdown. Leverage is also
the problem faced by many of the large investment banks such
as CitiGroup and Lehman (the latter may be the next victim of
the deleveraging that is going on today), and leverage has gotten
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into their current troubles. Both
of these entities own and or guarantee over $2 trillion in mortgages
on capital bases of less than $50 billion. The proper maximum
ratio can be left to further analysis buy it is probably in the
12 15:1 range. Will some financial engineers and high flying
hedge funds object and threaten to move offshore? Yes, and they
shouldn't let the door hit them in the ass on the way out. If
you can't turn a reasonable profit at 10 or 15:1 leverage, you
should not be in the business.
· Extend Regulatory
Control Over All Entities That Can Create Credit and That May
Be "Too Big To Fail."
This may be the most important of the long-term policies. It
was necessary to bail out Bear Sterns. But it was not necessary,
in fact it only encourages moral hazard activities among the
financial sector, to do so without acquiring the basis for a
significant return to taxpayers, perhaps in the form of senior
preferred shares issued by J.P. Morgan Chase, the acquiring entity.
While this policy seems so obvious that it is amazing there is
the need even to suggest it, there has been virtually no recognition
of the socialization of economic risk and the privatization of
economic reward that underlies the Fed's and Treasury's actions
to date. It is time to insist that those who want to dine at
the public trough also accept public regulatory control. Further,
this regulatory control should not reside in the Fed, both because
that entity has enough to do already and because the Fed and
its representatives are treated by both Congress and the press
as economic oracles whose word is not to be questioned but simply
appreciated by us lesser mortals. We need a new agency with the
same reforming spirit that drove the early New Deal.
· Implement a Wealth
Tax. Almost all of us pay a
wealth tax already it is the property tax, paid directly
by homeowners and indirectly by renters. The tax targets the
asset that constitutes the bulk of total wealth for most Americans.
Primary residence is half or more of total net worth for almost
all US households up to about the 95th percentile of net
worth. Above that level, however, the story changes dramatically;
primary residence becomes less and less important in total net
worth while financial assets (stocks and bonds) become increasingly
important. Among the top 2% of households by net worth, primary
residence drops to 5% or less of total wealth. If we added a
broad wealth tax, say a 0.5% levy on only the top 1% of wealth
households, we would generate $50 75 billion annually.
Again the revenues should be targeted so that the "who pays
/ who benefits" equation is clear.
Conclusion The reference to the New Deal was deliberate.
To date in the presidential campaign the economic crisis into
which we are entering has received little attention. At the Republican
Convention neither Joe Lieberman nor Sarah Palin mentioned the
economy in their speeches and McCain barely touched on it. I
think, however, that will change over the remainder of the campaign.
Whether it will change enough to insure John McCain's defeat
I am not sure. But, with respect to Obama, it is useful to remember
that FDR did not walk into the White Hose in 1933 with a program
that resembled what we came to know as the New Deal but only
with a commitment to help his fellow citizens. In fact, had he
spelled out something that looked like the New Deal during the
campaign, he might well not have been elected and that
was when the GDP had dropped by more than 10% and the unemployment
rate was over 20%. It was the commitment to bettering the lives
of other that drove what came next and in this campaign that
is probably the best we can expect.
* 09.08.2008 Postscript: As I write, the federal government is implementing
the take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with the stated intention
of reassuring the financial markets, encouraging mortgage lending
to continue access by new home buyers ad taking less risk. Whether
all of this can be accomplished plus the additional goal of shrinking
these two entities beginning in 2010 remains to be seen. This
action is a halfway house, a compromise between those who oppose
any government-sponsored enterprise and those whose primary concern
is stabilizing the economy and the housing market.
A Living
Wage in Oak Park
by Tom Broderick
In Oak Park, Illinois, the Greater Oak
Park branch of Chicago DSA initiated a campaign to have an ordinance
adopted by the Oak Park Village Board. We produced a fairly straightforward
ordinance, we provided documentation on what a living wage would
be in Oak Park and we lobbied Village Board members.
The Oak Park Village Board is composed
of six Trustees and a President. A simple majority is all that
is needed to pass an ordinance. After selective lobbying, we
had five supporters. Yet not one Trustee would introduce the
ordinance. They knew there were five Trustees on board, yet inaction
ruled the day.
In April of this year, Comrade Rhon
Baiman went to the Annual Town Meeting of Oak Park Township and
moved to have an advisory question of public policy placed on
the November township ballot.
It reads: Shall the Village of Oak
Park enact a "Living Wage" ordinance stipulating that:
a) Village employees, b) employees of contractors or subcontractors
performing work for the Village, and c) employees of businesses
that receive a significant financial subsidy from the Village,
receive a living wage indexed to inflation that would include
health benefits and paid time off.
It passed.
Times are financially tough in Oak Park,
as they are everywhere. We suffer from too much emphasis on homeowner
property taxes and from TIF areas. There is a budget deficit
that needs to be addressed. There is talk of layoffs. Hiring
has been frozen. What cannot happen is that the Village Government
replaces living wage jobs with either employees or subcontracted
workers earning less than a living wage.
Many of the Oak Park residents I have
personally contacted support this ordinance, so we will continue
to work for passage of a living wage ordinance. We will use referendum
as outreach, as education, and as a lobbying tool. We will need
to show the same determination as the members of UNITE~HERE!
Local 1 , in their five year struggle for respect and dignity.
Other
News
compiled by Bob Roman
Progressive Politics
Bill Fletcher, Jr., will be the featured speaker in a panel discussion
titled "The Labor Movement and Progressive Politics in the
Post-Bush Era." Co-sponsored by Chicago DSA and In These
Times, the panel will also include David Moberg, Senior
Editor of In These Times and Richard Berg, President
of Teamsters Local 743. Kim Bobo, Executive Director of
Interfaith Workers Justice, will serve as the moderator.
The panel will be held at Wednesday
evening, 7:30 PM, October 1st at the UE Hall, 37 S. Ashland,
1st Floor, in Chicago. It is being held in conjunction with the
publication of a new book co-authored by Bill Fletcher and Fernando
Gapasin titled Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized
Labor and a New Path Toward Social Justice.
Reverend Don Benedict
Reverend Don Benedict died on Thursday,
September 4, after having suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that
Saturday. Don Benedict was a long time, sometimes DSA member.
He had been the director of the Community
Renewal Society for nearly a quarter century starting in
1980. And, more recently, he was a founder of Protestants
for the Common Good . He was 91 years old. See http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/politics/2008/09/05/rip-don-benedict/
and http://preaprez.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/don-benedict-chicago-activist-dies-at-90/
for some local reactions.
Radical Feasts
The Eugene
V. Debs Foundation will be honoring Cecil Roberts, President
of the United Mine Workers of America, at their annual banquet.
The event will be held on Saturday, October 4. Tickets are $35
each and may be obtained from the Debs Foundation, PO Box 843,
Terre Haute, IN 47808. For more information, contact Charles
King at 812.237.3443 or cking6@isugw.indstate.edu
.
The 23rd Annual Mother Jones Dinner
will be held on Sunday, October 12, at the University of Illinois
at Springfield's Public Affairs Center. This year's program is
"FDR Meets Anne Feeney," featuring celebrated singer-songwriter
Anne Feeney (as herself) and actor R. J. Lindsey as Franklin
Delano Roosevelt. The evening begins with a 5 PM social hour,
6 PM dinner, and the program begins at 7 PM. Tickets are $25
each and may be obtained from the Mother Jones Foundation, PO
Box 20412, Springfield, IL 62708 - 0412. For more information,
contact Jack Dyer at 217.787.3043 or Terry Reed at 217.789.6495.
Concert for Peace
Unity Temple, 875 Lake Street in Oak
Park, will present "Concert for Peace" on Saturday,
October 11th at 7:30 PM. Featured performers include John Hasbrouck
playing blues and American roots music on guitar; the stories
of folk-rock singer/songwriter Natural Bob Holdsworth; a community
sing-along of folk songs led by Guitars for Peace; and the rock'n'roll
sounds of Jack and the Rippers. Doors open at 7 PM, concert begins
at 7:30 PM. Donations are $10, $5 student, $25 family. Tickets
are available at the door, or in advance from Brown Paper Tickets
at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/41070
or by calling 800.838.3006. Proceeds will be donated to local
peace groups. For more information, call 708.848.3015.
|
New
Ground #120.1
09.25.2008
Contents
0. DSA News
The Labor Movement and Progressive
Politics in the Post-Bush Era
Debs - Thomas - Harrington Dinner
Democratic Left
For a Sustainable World Society
International Union of Socialist Youth
1. Politics
Congress Hotel
Coalition of Immokalee Workers & Whole Foods
School Funding
Make a Noise
The State of Working America
2. Democratic Socialism
Financial Crisis: Thinking About
the Real Socialist Way Out
3. Upcoming Events of Interest
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DSA News
The Labor Movement and Progressive
Politics in the Post-Bush Era
Wednesday, October 1, 7:30 PM
at UE Hall, 37 S. Ashland, Chicago, featuring Bill Fletcher,
Jr.; Richard Berg, David Moberg, and Kim Bobo who will moderate.
See:
http://www.chicagodsa.org/sd.pdf
Debs - Thomas - Harrington Dinner
We're starting to do the planning
for the 2009 Dinner with a meeting on Tuesday evening, October
7, 7 PM at the Chicago DSA office, 1608 N. Milwaukee Room 403
in Chicago. This would be a good place to start if you want to
be involved, even on a limited basis, or if you have some ideas
you want to share. If you can't attend this meeting, email
the office or call 773.384.0327 to let us know you'd like to
be involved.
Democratic Left
The Summer, 2008, issue of Democratic
Left is posted on the web. This issue contains reports on
the YDS summer conference, the Socialist International's recent
Congress in Athens, and DSA's statement on the 2008 Presidential
Election. See:
http://www.dsausa.org/dl/Summer_2008.pdf
For a Sustainable World Society
The Socialist International's
Commission for a Sustainable World Society met in Stockholm on
September 5 and 6 to discuss climate change and the ecological
dimensions of economic development. For a report, see:
http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=1947
International Union of Socialist
Youth
The international organization
of youth affiliates to the Socialist International has a new
web address:
http://www.iusy.info/
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Politics
Congress Hotel
The National Association of
Convenience Stores annual meeting is a big deal because, after
all, there are a lot of them. Like most parts of the economy,
it's top heavy with some large players but it also includes a
sizable (numbers not dollars) constituency of "mom &
pop" operations, plus all those folks eager to sell to them.
The main event is at McCormick Place, but blocks of rooms are
booked all over Chicago, including at the Congress Hotel. Local
1 and friends have been calling the Association, its Board of
Directors, and exhibitors at the show. Some of the exhibitors
booked at the Congress have agreed to relocate, but the Association
is still booking folks at the Congress. Your assistance is
needed. Join the striking Congress Hotel workers, Local 1
members, and friends on the picket line Saturday, October
4, 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM, 520 S. Michigan Av in Chicago.
A reminder for Chicago DSA members and
friends, our turn on the picket line is Saturday, September
27, 9 AM to 11 AM. See you there!
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
& Whole Foods
On September 9, Whole Foods
signed an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)
to support the additional penny per pound program already agreed
to by McDonalds, Burger King, and Yum Brands. Whole Foods is
the first grocery store chain to participate in this program.
The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is still sulking in its corner,
but Senator Sanders is planning additional hearings on the matter.
For more information, see:
http://www.ciw-online.org/WF_CIW_press_release.html
School Funding
The Center for Tax and Budget
Accountability has issued a new report on school funding: Money
Matters. "Complete with almost 30 charts and graphs,
Money Matters focuses not just on the very top versus
the very bottom, but rather the differentials between the wealthiest
school districts in Illinois versus the vast majority of districts
that provide public education to over three-quarters of the children
in our state. The data reveals meaningful differences in school
funding, teacher quality and academic performance that are truly
statewide. the report also analyzes schools in new and
different ways such as comparing quality in schools north and
south of Interstate 80." See:
http://www.ctbaonline.org/
Make a Noise
October 11 is the 6th anniversary
of the date Congress gave President Bush a blank check to invade
Iraq. We're still there. The Chicago Coalition Against War and
Racism has put together an ad hoc coalition to sponsor a demonstration
to mark the occasion with a demonstration. It will demand bringing
ALL the troops home now, legalization of the undocumented and
the end of raids and deportations, and the funding of human needs
not Wall Street bailouts. Chicago DSA has endorsed the demonstration.
It will be Saturday, October 11, 2 PM, at the corner of Devon
Avenue and Leavitt Street (2200 W. Devon).
Make More Noise
If you're upset at how easy
it's been to get Congress to seriously consider handing over
$700,000,000,000 to Wall Street when hypothetical deficits in
Social Security and the prospect of spending a few billion for
health care, education etc gets rejected as impossibly expensive,
the AFL-CIO has an email you can send to your representative
and senators: "no blank check for Bush - Paulson - Bernanke".
And you can customize it, too. See:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/noblankcheck
The State of Working America
The Economic Policy Institute
has released its 11th biennial "State of Working America"
report. This 11th edition shows that the business cycle that
started in 2001 will be one for the record books. In fact, for
the first time on record, middle-class families are at the end
of a recovery without ever having regained the ground they lost
during the previous recession. Gross domestic product and historically
high productivity growth should have raised paychecks up and
down the income ladder, but instead the benefits of that growth
have bypassed most of the people who made it possible. See:
http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Democratic Socialism
Financial Crisis: Thinking About
the Real Socialist Way Out
DSA member David Schweickart
looks at how the current economic crisis offers opportunities
for economic democracy:
http://progressivesforobama.net/2008/09/25/thinking-about-the-real-socialist-way-out/
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Upcoming Events of Interest
Events listed here are not necessarily
endorsed by Chicago DSA but should be of interest to DSA members,
friends and other lefties. For other events, go to http://www.chicagodsa.org/page9.html.
Saturday, September 27, 9 AM to 11 AM
Congress Hotel Strike Picket
Congress Hotel, 520 S. Michigan, Chicago
Join Chicago DSA members for a turn on the picket line.
Saturday, September 27, 3 PM
"The 11th Hour"
Riverside Public Library, 1 Burling Rd, Riverside
Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice screen the ecological
documentary by Leonardo DiCaprio.
Saturday, September 27, 8 PM
10th Annual Matthew Shepard
March for LGBT Rights
3402 N. Halstead, Chicago
A brief rally at the address above followed by a march through
the community. See http://www.GayLiberation.net/home.html
Sunday, September 28, 2 PM
"At the Death House
Door"
Oak Park Public Library Veteran's Room, 834 Lake St, Oak Park
Screening of the death penalty documentary followed by a panel
discussion featuring filmmaker Steven James, reporter Maurice
Posseley, and abolitionist Tom Broderick. See http://www.opctj.org/
Wednesday, October 1, 7:30 PM
The Labor Movement and Progressive
Politics in the Post-Bush Era
UE Hall, 37 S. Ashland, Chicago
A panel discussion featuring Bill Fletcher, Jr., Richard Berg,
David Moberg, and Kim Bobo, who will moderate. Co-sponsored by
In These Times and Chicago DSA. See http://www.chicagodsa.org/sd.pdf
Saturday, October 4, 8:30 AM to 10:30
AM
Congress Hotel Strike Picket
Congress Hotel, 520 S. Michigan, Chicago
Protest the National Association of Convenience Stores' use of
the Congress Hotel despite repeated requests that they not book
rooms at this on strike venue.
Monday, October 6, 6:45 PM
"Maxed Out"
Lincoln Park Public Library, 1150 W. Fullerton, Chicago
A showing of James Scurlock's documentary on the credit card
industry. An Open University of the Left event.
Tuesday, October 7, 2:15 PM to 3:30
PM
Now is the Time: Activism
for Social Change
Dominican University Lund Auditorium, 7900 W. Division St, River
Forest
A talk by Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm
Workers and DSA Honorary Chair. For more information, contact
Christina Perez, 708.524.6693.
Tuesday, October 7, 7 PM
Debs Dinner Committee
Chicago DSA Office, 1608 N. Milwaukee, Room 403, Chicago
First meeting to plan the 2009 Dinner. For information, call
773.384.0327.
Saturday, October 11, 2 PM
Bring ALL the Troops Home
Now
2200 W. Devon, Chicago
Protest the 6th anniversary of Congress' war authorization.
Saturday, October 11, 7:PM
Concert for Peace
Unity Temple, 875 Lake St, Oak Park
Featuring John Hasbrouck, Bob Holdsworth, Guitars for Peace,
and Jack and the Rippers. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, $25
for families, available at the door or by calling 800.838.3006.
Proceeds will be donated to local peace groups. For information,
call 708.l848.3015.
Tuesday, October 14, 7 PM
Chicago DSA Executive Committee
Meeting
CDSA Office, 1608 N. Milwaukee Room 403, Chicago
All DSA members are welcome!
|
Politics
Obama
Socialist
by Bob Roman
Some months ago, Chicago's In These Times
predicted the "red-boating"
of Obama. DSA, along with ACORN, the New Party, and Bill Ayers
are now being held up as hate or fear objects for those who might
need an excuse, at least, to not vote for Obama. The DSA side
of this campaign has been conducted largely on the web, and the
authors of these sometimes scrupulous but often scurrilous postings
have usually provided links to the Chicago DSA web site. It's
been great for traffic.
Thus this article is for those visitors
curious enough to actually visit our site in search of confirmation
of various assertions, also for those visiting via a web search
using Obama and Socialist. It is good that you're here because
some of what is being written is downright wrong.
Here's the skivvy: The New Party
was not established by DSA, nor was it established to be
a vehicle for socialism in America. In Chicago, the New Party
was largely started by ACORN. While the New Party welcomed support
from groups like DSA, the New Party's concern was politics, the
political economy of working people and the poor, not ideology
and for this, bringing home the bacon is what counts. Not talk.
Not ideas. This makes the accounts posted (for example) at
http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2008/05/30/obamas-radical-political-alliances/
or
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/2008/10/confirmed-obama-won-state-senate-seat.html
or
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/10/08/will-msm-report-obama-membership-socialist-new-party
or
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/10/07/obama-is-hiding-a-radical-past/
either garbled or deliberately deceptive.
Chicago DSA did indeed endorse Obama
for the State Senate, but he most certainly did not seek our
endorsement. As for Obama using
the New Party and the Chicago DSA endorsements, possibly, but
note that he had no opposition in either the primary election
or in the general election. He basically did not have a campaign
in 1996. One might fairly ask which party was the real
beneficiary?
Did Obama attend a half dozen or more
DSA meetings? The only Chicago DSA meeting Obama
attended was the 1996 Townhall Meeting documented at
http://www.chicagodsa.org/ng45.html,
and that meeting was co-sponsored by the University of Chicago
University Democrats. The only way one can count more than one
meeting is by counting every Obama meeting, no matter the sponsor
no matter the venue, mentioned in New Ground. The only
way these could be credible as "DSA" meetings is if
you believe that anyone labeled "socialist" is an amoral,
unpatriotic, conniving animal; therefore descriptions of the
meetings as anything but covert DSA meetings is a lie. If you
believe that, why are you reading this?
So is Obama a socialist? First you'd better tell me what you mean by
"socialist". I'm not being cute. There are people who
would hysterically laugh at DSA being legitimately considered
a "socialist" organization, never mind Obama. So what
is socialism to you? Judging by the comments posted on some of
these blogs, socialism is anything involving the government that
the commentator doesn't like. By this standard, I suppose he
is.
Another way to consider it would be
if Obama self-identifies as a "socialist" or "social
democrat", just as DSA members do. Well, go ahead. Ask him.
And if he says, "Yes," please let me know. Because
in that case, he owes us for dues.
And of course, if you think that democracy,
civil rights and civil liberties trump property rights; if you
think that fair trade is a better deal for most of us than free
trade; if you think that in a country as rich as ours education
and medical care should be available regardless of one's ability
to pay; if you think that workers should have the right to organize
and bargain collectively well, then, it doesn't matter what you
call yourself. You'll be called a socialist, too.
Isn't
it time you joined us?
Ayers and Social Justice Education
"If you want to peer into
the world of right-wing school reformers, Sol Stern would be
a good guide. For almost a decade, this Manhattan Institute senior
fellow has contributed articles about education reform to City
Journal, the neoconservative urban policy magazine funded
by the same free-market think tank. And for the past three years,
Stern has made it his intellectual crusade to discredit a teaching
pedagogy about which he seemingly understands very little."
More:
http://progressillinois.com/2008/10/16/ayers-social-justice-ed
Understanding the White Vote
by Jack Metzgar
In the nine presidential elections since 1972, white folks have
voted for Republicans over Democrats 59 to 39 percent on average.
Democrats have done better among white voters in the last three
elections, but have still been losing by an average of 53 to
42 percent. Constituting nearly four-fifths of all voters, white
Americans, hard working and not, are the base of the Republican
Party. Worse, given historical expectations, the white working
class votes slightly more Republican than middle-class whites.
Even if Democrats can dramatically increase the minority vote
(black, Latino, and Asian), where Dems get large majorities,
they still probably need to get upwards of 45 percent of the
white vote to win a presidential election.
More: http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/understanding-the-white-vote/#more-1178
Congress Hotel Boycott Video
UNITE HERE Local 1 has been
producing videos about the 5 year strike against the Congress
Hotel. The latest (and you can browse earlier ones as well, including
Obama and Edwards on the picket line) can be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD5e0e-9kMM
October 11 Anti-War Rally
by Bob Roman
This was a small affair. It drew somewhere between 200 to 500
people, an interesting collection of a few varieties of Stalinists
and Maoists, several flavors of Trotskyists, Greens (including
candidates working the crowd), a few socialists and social democrats,
even a few liberals, not to mention some neighborhood folks from
the Pakistani community. I make it sound marginal, don't I? It
was. But for those of us who felt the need to make a noise on
the shameful anniversary of Congress' authorization of the war,
it was a necessary event. The good news is that there was plenty
of coverage by news media given the size of the event. And while
not too many people from the neighborhood joined in, they were
almost universally very happy to see someone (if not themselves)
protesting the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
It was also an absolutely lovely afternoon for a march. See a
9 minute Labor Beat production here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM3VwdZquos&fmt=6
Rating Congress
The Drum Major Institute (an
absurd name for a policy shop but a story goes with it) has put
together a menu of legislation of importance to the "middle
class" that Congress considered this session, and of course
they ranked each Representative and Senator according to their
votes. For Illinois, see:
http://www.themiddleclass.org/state/IL
For more information about the Drum Major Institute, see:
http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/
IVAW Members Arrested
One hour before the final presidential
debate of the 2008 campaign, fourteen members of Iraq Veterans
Against the War marched in formation to Hofstra University to
present questions for the candidates concerning the occupation
of Iraq and the treatment of returning veterans. IVAW had requested
permission from debate moderator Bob Schieffer to ask their questions
during the debate but got no response.
The contingent of veterans in dress
uniforms and combat uniforms attempted to enter the building
where the debate was to be held in order to ask their questions
but were turned back by police. The ten IVAW members at the front
of the formation were immediately arrested, and others were pushed
back into the crowd by police on horseback. Several members were
injured, including former Army Sergeant Nick Morgan who suffered
a broken cheekbone when he was trampled by police horses before
being arrested.
"Neither of the candidates has
shown real support for service members and veterans. We came
here to try and have serious questions answered, questions that
we as veterans of the Iraq war have a right to ask, but instead
we were arrested. We will continue to ask these questions no
matter who is elected. We believe that the time has come to end
this war and bring our troops home" said Jason Lemieux,
a former Sergeant in the US Marine Corps who served three tours
in Iraq, and member of IVAW.
The ten IVAW members who were arrested
will be arraigned on November 10, and we will be building support
for them in the coming weeks. Former Army sergeant Nick Morgan
is currently seeking additional medical help and recovering from
his head injury. Please consider making a donation today to IVAW's
legal defense fund, or specifically for Nick Morgan's medical
bills. Please make a donation to IVAW today.
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=11951
For more information, see http://www,ivaw.org/
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Democratic Socialism
The Communist Manifesto Hits
160
by Barbara Ehrenreich
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto
and capitalism, aka "free enterprise," seems willing
to observe the occasion by dropping dead. On Monday night, some
pundits were warning that the ATMs might run dry and hinting
that the only safe investment left is canned beans. Apocalypse
or extortion? No one seems to know, though the populist part
of the populace has been leaning toward the latter. An email
whipping around the web this morning has the subject line "Sign
on Wall St. yesterday," and shows a hand-lettered cardboard
sign saying, "JUMP! You Fuckers!" More:
http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbaras_blog/2008/10/the-communist-manifesto-hits-160.html
October Is National Co-Op Month
See http://www.go.coop/
also see
http://www.geo.coop/
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Upcoming Events of Interest
Events listed here are not necessarily
endorsed by Chicago DSA but should be of interest to DSA members,
friends and other lefties. For other events, go to http://www.chicagodsa.org/page9.html.
Friday and Saturday, October 18 and
19, 2 PM to Midnight
Progressive Film Festival
College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd in SRC 2800, Glen Ellyn
For a complete schedule, go to: http://www.d-a-w-n.org/images/ProgressiveFilm.pdf
Wednesday, October 22, 5 PM
National Day of Protest to
Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of
a Generation
Federal Plaza, Adams & Dearborn, Chicago
Call 773.932.3562 or go to http://www.october22.org
Thursday, October 23, 9:30 AM
James Connolly
Union Park, Warren Blvd & Ashland Av, Chicago
The Irish-American Labor Council dedicates a statue to the Irish
revolutionary and socialist James Connolly.
Thursday, October 23, 5:30 PM
2008 Cunningham-Carey Award
The Wine Cellar at Maggiano's, 516 N. Clark St, Chicago
The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty honors Judge
Sheila Murphy (retired). For more information, see http://www.icadp.org/
Thursday, October 23, 7 PM
Intergenerational Dialog
on Black Arts Movement
South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S. Michigan, Chicago
Featuring Bob Crawford, photographer, and Margo Crawford, Professor
at UofMA. For more information, see http://areachicago.org/
and http://www.looks-like-freedom.com
Friday, October 24, 7 PM to 9 PM
Welcome Reception for the
Alternative Press Center
In These Times, 2040 N. Milwaukee, 2nd Floor, Chicago
On the occasion of the APC's move to Chicago. See http://www.altpress.org
and http://areachicago.org
Saturday, October 25, 2 PM to 4:30 PM
Stand-Up to AIPAC Public
Forum
UIC Student Center - Room 605, 750 S. Halsted, Chicago
Featuring former Senator James Abourezk and Allison Weir. See:
http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/84202/index.php
Monday, October 27, 11 AM - Noon
Stand-Up to AIPAC Rally and
March
Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph, Chicago
March to the Sheraton Hotel following the rally. See:
http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/84218/index.php
|
New
Ground #120.3
10.30.2008
Contents
0. DSA News
Meetings
The Labor Movement and Progressive Politics in the Post-Bush
Era
Democratic Left
1. Politics
The West Is Red
Paint McCain a Red-Baiter
Terrorizing Dissent
For Labor, Armageddon
Victory at Smithfield
United for Peace and Justice
Tax Increment Financing
2. Democratic Socialism
Who Was Norman Thomas?
3. Upcoming Events of Interest
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DSA News
Meetings
Dinner Committee Meeting
- Saturday, November 8, 1 PM
at the Chicago DSA office, 1608 N. Milwaukee Rm 403, Chicago
Executive Committee Meeting - Tuesday, November 11, 7 PM
at the Chicago DSA office, 1608 N. Milwaukee, Room 403, Chicago
The Labor Movement and Progressive
Politics in the Post-Bush Era
For those of you living in Chicago
with cable TV, the Chicago DSA / In These Times forum
last October 1st featuring Bill Fletcher, Jr., Richard Berg,
and Kim Bobo will be broadcast on CANTV, Chicago's public access
network. Showtimes are:
- Sunday, November 9, 1 PM, Channel
21
- Thursday, November 13, 8:30 AM,
Channel 19
- Sunday, November 30, 5 PM, Channel
19
- Monday, December 1, Noon, Channel
19
We're hoping to have the program posted
to the web. When that happens, we'll pass along the address.
For more information, see http://www.cantv.org/
Democratic Left
The Fall, 2008, issue of Democratic
Left is on the web. Featuring articles by Bill Barclay, Frances
Fox Piven, Bogden Denitch, Elaine Bernard, and Paul Garver, you
can view or download this issue at:
http://www.dsausa.org/dl/Fall_2008.pdf
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Politics
The West Is Red
Ian Williams in The Guardian
points out that while rebuking 'European style socialism' John
McCain neglects to mention that Europeans enjoy a higher quality
of life:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/27/tax-obama-mccain-socialism
Paint McCain a Red-Baiter
by Leo Gerard
In a perverse way, the media painted Republicans perfectly when
it selected red for their states.
Reporters would never have guessed when
they did it that the red party's candidate would engage in red-baiting.
But there was John McCain repeatedly doing it in the debate Wednesday
night, trying to convert Barack Obama into a terrifying "spread-the-wealth-around"
commie. And earlier this month, the Republican's brother, Joe
"McCarthy" McCain, called two Democratic-leaning Virginia
counties "Communist Country." More:
http://blog.usw.org/2008/10/17/paint-mccain-a-red-baiter/
Terrorizing Dissent
Glass Bead Collective, Twin
Cities Indymedia, and other independent media activists have
released a new film, 'Terrorizing Dissent', an exposé
of events at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul,
Minnesota. Featuring first-person accounts and footage from more
than forty cameras on the streets, 'Terrorizing Dissent' focuses
on the story of dissent suppressed. People charged with "conspiracy
to riot in furtherance of terrorism" speak out against the
government's campaign to manipulate media coverage and label
civil disobedience and community organizing as terrorism. The
full movie, available for viewing on line, and other information
is available at:
http://www.terrorizingdissent.org/
For Labor, Armageddon
In the latest issue of Dissent,
Harold Meyerson examines just what is at stake in the November
elections for the Labor Movement. See:
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=1298
Victory at Smithfield
The United Food and Commercial
Workers International Union and Smithfield have reached an armistice
of sorts. In return for the union dropping its publicity campaign,
Smithfield is allowing a representation election, will drop its
racketeering law suit against the union (Smithfield's reply to
the publicity campaign), and will be participating in a "Feed
the Hungry" campaign. The settlement, being part of the
lawsuit, places both parites under a gag order. There is speculation
that the prospect of an Obama victory and a more union sympathetic
NLRB played a role in encouraging this agreement. See:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SLAUGHTERHOUSE_UNION?SITE=KTVB&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
and
http://unionreview.com/workers-win-smithfield%21
and
http://www.ufcw.org/press_room/index.cfm?pressReleaseID=406
United for Peace and Justice
United for Peace and Justice
will be holding its 4th National Assembly in Chicago on December
12 through 14. For more information, go to:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3952
Tax Increment Financing
The City of Chicago will be
running a deficit of over $460,000,000. To fill this hole, the
City is contemplating over a thousand layoffs, unpaid days off,
reduced services, and increased taxes. Guess how much revenue
is diverted into the City's Tax Increment Financing Districts?
In 2007, it was $555,310,568. To be fair, not all of this would
have gone to the City. Some would have gone to Chicago schools.
Some would have gone to the Park District. Some would have gone
to all the other taxing bodies that get a share of property tax
revenues. This and other information about TIF districts is available
from the Cook County Clerk's office in the annual "Taxpayers'
TIF Revenue Summary". See:
http://www.cookctyclerk.com/sub/TIF.asp
and
http://www.cookctyclerk.com/pdf/2007%20Executive%20Summary.pdf
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Democratic Socialism
Who Was Norman Thomas?
"A student at Norman Thomas
High School discovers that few of his classmates can identify
the namesake of their school. The one teacher who has some idea
who Thomas was gets a good many of his facts wrong." See:
http://theredspecial.blogspot.com/2008/02/who-was-norman-thomas.html
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Upcoming Events of Interest
Events listed here are not necessarily
endorsed by Chicago DSA but should be of interest to DSA members,
friends and other lefties. For other events, go to http://www.chicagodsa.org/page9.html.
Saturday, November 1, 2 PM to 4 PM
The State of Race
AFC World Outreach Center, 7859 S. Ashland, Chicago
Tim Wise speaks to The United Congress of Community and Religious
Organizations.
Monday, November 3, 6 PM to 7:30 PM
26 Years of Justice Denied
Loyola University Kasbeer Hall, 25 E. Pearson 15th Floor, Chicago
Panel discussion on the ethics of attorney - client privilege
in the wrongful conviction of Alton Logan. Sponsored by the Loyola
Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and Loyola BLSA.
Tuesday, November 4
Election Day!
Tuesday, November 4, 4 PM to 8 PM
Special Congress Hotel Picket
Congress Hotel, 520 S. Michigan, Chicago
Join the striking workers at the Congress Hotel for a special
picket line directed at attendees at the Obama election rally.
Thursday, November 6, 6:45 PM
Good Work, Lousy Jobs
Lincoln Park Public Library, 1150 W. Fullerton, Chicago
Labor scholar and activist Joe Berry examines the growth of part-time,
contingent and contract labor systems in academia and other service
sectors. An Open University of the Left event.
Friday, November 7, 6:30 PM
"An Anthology of Respect"
Teamsters Local 705 Hall, Van Buren just west of Ashland, Chicago
Lyn Hughes will speak about her new book, Anthology of Respect:
the Pullman Porters. Refreshments, beer, wine and food: $12
admission, students free.
Saturday and Sunday, November 8 and
9
Wob Fest
UE Hall, 37 S. Ashland, Chicago
Conference and party by the Industrial Workers of the World.
Registration is $10. See http://chicago.indymedia.org/usermedia/application/1/iww3.pdf
Saturday and Sunday, November 8 and
9
Campaign to End the Death
Penalty Annual Convention
University of Chicago Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St, Chicago
For more information, see http://nodeathpenalty.org/content/page.php?cat_id=3&content_id=44
Saturday, November 8, 5:30 PM
Protest James Dobson
Renaissance Chicago Hotel, State & Wacker, Chicago
Gay Liberation Network invites you to protest Focus on the Family's
James Dobson's induction into the Museum of Broadcast Communications
into its Hall of Fame. For more information: http://www.gayliberation.net/home.html
Tuesday, November 25, 9 AM to 3:30 PM
Campaign for Better Health
Care Annual Meeting
Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, 350 N. Orleans, Chicago
$60 includes lunch. For more information, go to http://www.cbhconline.org
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