REACTIONARY MOVES
Pre-Emptive Strikes Against Protest at RNC: Marjorie Cohn, in trueout.org, reports that on May 21, the Minneapolis City Pages ran a recruiting story called "Moles Wanted" about how law enforcement was seeking help in preempting lawful protest against the policies of the Bush administration.
At the Convention local police and sheriffs, working with the FBI, conducted pre-emptive searches, seizures, and arrests—including the targeting of protesters by teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Journalists were detained at gunpoint and lawyers representing detainees were handcuffed.
The raids targeted members of Food Not Bombs, an antiwar group that provides free meals in hundreds of cities all over the world. Also targeted were members of I-Witness Video, a media watchdog group that monitors the police.
Further evidence of the political nature of the police action was the boarding up of the Convergence Center, where protesters had gathered, for unspecified code violations. St. Paul City Council member David Thune said, "Normally we only board up buildings that are vacant and ramshackle."
Sekmadienį Nacionalinė teisininkų gildija ir bendruomenės, susivienijusios prieš policijos brutalumą, pateikė skubų pasiūlymą, prašydamos įpareigoti policiją konfiskuoti vaizdo įrangos ir mobiliųjų telefonų, naudojamų jų elgesiui dokumentuoti.
During Monday’s demonstration, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades, and excessive force. At least 284 people were arrested, including Amy Goodman, the host of "Democracy Now!," as well as the show’s producers, Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar.
Anti-Immigrant Crusade: Rhonda Brownstein, Southern Poverty Law Center, reports on Alternet.org that since 1995, U.S. Rep. Bilbray (R-CA) has tried to deny American citizenship to children born in the United States of non-citizen parents. Bilbray is a former lobbyist for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a right-wing, anti-immigrant group that paid him almost $300,000 to lobby on its behalf between 2002 and 2005. The current version of Bilbray’s perennially losing legislation is called the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2007. Brownstein comments on how bizarre it is for Bilbray to sponsor such a bill, since his mother was a non-citizen. But Bilbray carved out an exception that would conveniently apply to him—that a child born in the U.S. is considered a citizen so long as at least one parent is (1) a citizen; (2) a lawful permanent resident; or (3) in active military service. Bilbray’s father was a U.S. citizen.
The crux of his argument was that the Fourteenth Amendment clause "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" denies citizenship to American-born children whose parents "owe allegiance to another country." Bilbray likes to cite the 1884 Supreme Court case of Elk v. Wilkins, which denied citizenship to a Native American.
Unconstitutional Dragnet Wiretapping Law: On July 10 the ACLU (reporting on aclu.org) filed a landmark lawsuit to stop the government from conducting surveillance under a new wiretapping law that gives the Bush administration unchecked power to intercept Americans’ international emails and telephone calls. The FISA Amendments Act of 2008, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, not only legalizes the secret warrantless surveillance program approved in late 2001, but it gives the government new spying powers, including the power to conduct dragnet surveillance of Americans’ international communications.
State Department Refuses To Issue Passports To U.S. Citizens: On September 9, in McAllen, Texas, nine U.S. citizens sued the federal government, challenging the U.S. Department of State’s refusal to issue passports because of their race and ancestry and because their births were attended by midwives. The class action lawsuit was filed by the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, the law firm Hogan and Hartson LLP, and Refugio del Rio Grande, Inc.
The lawsuit charges that the State Department categorically questioned the citizenship of all midwife-delivered Mexican-Americans born in southern border states. According to the lawsuit, the State Department has been forcing these applicants to go to unreasonable lengths to prove their citizenship by providing an excessive number of documents that normally are not required. Then, even after the applicants supply further proof of their citizenship, the department responds by summarily closing their applications.
Karo istorijos
Confronting the Cardinal: In "Catholic Schoolgirls Confront Chicago Cardinal Who Met with Bush" a member of Chicago World Can’t Wait writes of an incident that happened three days after the sixth year of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. At Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, the most prominent Catholic church in the area, Cardinal George started his homily on Easter, when six well-dressed young people in the congregation stood up. One said loudly, "The sixth commandment says, ‘thou shall not kill.’"
The Cardinal stopped speaking as all eyes turned to the protesters. "Yet more than a million Iraqis have been killed since the invasion of Iraq," said a second protester. After calling out Cardinal George for meeting with the "war criminal," George Bush in January, several of the protesters screamed, squirted stage blood on themselves, and lay in the aisle to represent the ongoing bloodbath in Iraq.
The incident took less than 30 seconds. Ushers, aided by police, immediately escorted the six members of the street theater group Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War (later referred to as the Holy Name Six) out of the church and placed them under arrest. All were charged with felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery for squirting the stage blood.
Two days later, the Chicago Archdiocese issued a statement condemning the action as "sacrilegious" and an attempt by a small group to use their partisan views to violate "the fundamental right of Catholics to practice their faith freely." (Support petition at icjpe.org/petitions.)
City of Peace: Bob Fitrakis notes (on freepress.org) that on March 17 the Citizens Grassroots Congress presented a Columbus City for Peace resolution to the Columbus City Council. Notably, 283 cities, 10 counties, and 17 states across the nation have passed peace resolutions, from Arrowsic, Maine to South Charleston, West Virginia to Missoula, Montana. Yet, the Kolumbo išsiuntimas, in a March 22 editorial, denounced the peace resolution as an "empty gesture." They cautioned the Council to "focus on city issues," not the war in Iraq. Fitrakis points out that, according to the National Priorities Project, taxpayers in Columbus will pay $135.1 million for additional proposed Iraq War spending for FY 2008
Labor Strike: Joshua Holland writes (alternet.org) that the executive board of the Vermont AFL-CIO, representing thousands of workers in countless sectors across Vermont, unanimously passed an historic resolution expressing their "unequivocal" support for the first U.S. labor strike against the war in Iraq. The strike, organized by the Longshore Caucus of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), sought to shutdown all west coast ports for a period of eight hours on May 1, 2008.
The resolution, among other things, called the war in Iraq "immoral, unwanted, and unnecessary" and stated that the vast majority of working Vermonters oppose the war and that the war will only be brought to an end by "the direct actions of working people."
Blockading the IRS: War Resisters League reports (warresisters.org) that on March 19, 31 people staged a nonviolent blockade at the national headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, DC. The protestors placed yellow police tape saying WAR CRIME SCENE across the entrance to the building. New York City War Resisters League organizer Ed Hedemann, before he was arrested, said, "I’m doing my part to disrupt that relentless flow of money by standing in front of the IRS entrance and by refusing to send my taxes to the IRS."
PINIGAI IR POLITIKA
Millionaires on the Ballot: Lindsay Renick Mayer, in a blog on opensecrets.org (April 24), tells us that the U.S. Supreme Court had its hands full with campaign finance dollars. The justices considered whether it was constitutional to "level the playing field" in congressional elections by increasing the dollar limit on individual contributions for candidates who face wealthy, self-funded opponents. It seems there is a millionaires amendment at issue in Davis v. the Federal Election Commission.
This amendment, which was written into the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (commonly called McCain-Feingold, because of its chief sponsors), kicks in when a self-financing candidate for the House puts at least $350,000 more than his or her opponent into the race. The law permits the opponent who’s not tapping their own wealth to raise up to three times more than the normal contribution limit from individuals.
Also, his or her party can spend unlimited amounts to help the "poor" candidate. The self-funder must report expenditures more frequently than other candidates, publicly declaring any time he or she puts $10,000 more into the campaign. The Federal Election Commission reported that 110 congressional candidates have triggered the measure since it took effect in the 2004 election cycle.
Congress Funds More War: Maya Schenwar, in a trueout.org report on Friday, June 20, writes that the House of Representatives voted to approve $162 billion for the occupation, with no strings attached. The vote followed a series of compromises and revisions, ultimately resulting in major concessions from Democrats.
Only one restriction was included: a ban on permanent bases, which was also attached to the Defense Authorization bill that passed the House last month, and has been attached to several spending and authorization bills over the past couple of years (followed by stepped up use of the term "enduring bases").
Candidates’ Female Employees: Pagal CNSNews.com staff writer Fred Lucas, both John McCain and Hillary Clinton employed a higher percentage of female employees—and paid them more—than Barack Obama. Additionally, McCain is the only one to pay women on his staff more than men.
Also, 55 percent of McCain’s staff are women, while 46 percent of Obama’s staff are females. Clinton had more than twice as many females as males on her staff (69 percent). For employees making at least $23,000/ year, women on McCain’s staff make 104 percent of the average male’s pay, while the average salary for males and females on Clinton’s staff was about the same. Obama pays women only 82 percent of what he pays males. McCain has and Clinton had more women than men earning at least $100,000/year. For Obama, more men than women make six-figures. Ironically, both Clinton and Obama voted for a bill extending women’s’ right to sue for pay discrimination, while McCain opposed the bill.
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s (Heavy) Hand in Government Affairs: The Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org) writes (September 11) that the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac marks the shutdown of one of Washington’s most robust influence machines. Together, the two mortgage buyers have pent nearly $200 million on lobbying and campaign contributions over the last two decades. So how much did Fannie and Freddie’s contributions and lobbying contribute to Congress’s hands-off approach? That’s hard to determine, but there is hard data to measure the companies’ investment in politicians—more than 350 current members of Congress collected a total of $4.8 million in campaign contributions associated with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 1989, but 28 lawmakers had up to $1.7 million of their own money invested in the companies last year.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
U.S. Launches Missile Strike in Somalia: Sahra Abdi Ahmed, writing for "Reuters", gives us the news that two U.S. missiles hit a house in southern Somalia on March 3, according to local officials, in an attack Washington said was directed at "known terrorists." It was the fourth U.S. strike in 14 months on Somalia.
Pinochet Suspects Arrests Ordered: Portside moderator (portside.org) makes note of the fact that, finally, a Chilean judge has ordered the arrest of nearly 100 former secret police and soldiers over rights abuses committed under General Augusto Pinochet. The round-up is one of the biggest since the military leader’s rule ended 18 years ago. The 98 detentions are part of a probe into Operation Colombo, a 1975 plot to murder left-wing opponents of Pinochet. More than 3,000 people were killed or "disappeared" during military rule in Chile between 1973 and 1990. According to court documents, during Operation Colombo, Pinochet’s feared secret police force, the Dina, seized 119 dissidents in July 1975 and killed them. It is then said to have published news accounts claiming they had died in battles between leftist factions outside Chile. The bodies of 42 of the dead were never found.
ECONOMIC CRISIS
States’ Budget Crises Will Hurt Millions: An Associated Press review of the budgets in all 50 states revealed that coverage would soon begin to be eliminated for hundreds of thousands of poor children, disabled, and the elderly. More than 10 million people would lose dental care, access to specialists, name-brand prescription drugs, or other benefits. About 20 million could see further cuts to doctors’ reimbursements. Legislators are also considering cuts in aid to schools and universities, shrinking state workforces, and releasing prisoners before their sentences are completed.
Arizona must cut about $1.2 billion, or 11 percent of state spending. Florida already has cut $1 billion and is looking to shave another $2 billion from its $70-billion budget. In Arizona, primary care funding for community clinics would be cut by roughly 41,000 patient visits a year. In Hawaii care for Alzheimer’s patients would be cut. In South Carolina 70,000 poor children could be denied regular checkups and more than 5,000 would lose meal deliveries as the state considers cutting nearly 5 percent from its current budget. In Ohio job and family services agencies face cuts. State colleges and universities in at least six states may have to boost fees for more than four million students. College-bound graduates in Florida and Idaho would lose scholarships. K-12 students in Alabama, Arizona, and Florida could face more crowded classrooms. Some lawmakers are looking to freeze teachers’ pay or halt school construction.
LABOR MOVES
Labor Healthcare Backing: The Marine Firemen, Carpenters and Theatrical Local has recently endorsed HR 676 and has been joined by Local 22 of the Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners (see pnhp.org). HR 676 is single payer healthcare legislation introduced by Congressperson John Conyers (D-MI). In San Diego, Local 297 of International Alliance of Theatre and Stage Employees (IATSE) also endorsed the Conyers legislation. HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system in the U.S. by expanding a greatly improved Medicare system to every resident. It would cover every person in the U. S. for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation, vision care, chiropractic and long term care. It would end deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 currently has 90 co-sponsors in addition to Conyers.
DISTURBING ON MANY LEVELS
Internet Ads Hit Rock Bottom: A Z reader drew our attention to the following: On Wednesday, May 27, 2008, the Vankuverio saulė had an article about a grandmother who was shocked when she saw an Internet ad on craigslist.com offering a 7-day-old baby for sale for $10,000. "A new baby girl, seven days old, healthy and very cute," read the ad. "Can’t afford and unexpected. Looking for a good home. Please call ASAP." She called her husband, who looked at the ad over the Internet and said it was probably a hoax. "I said, ‘Even if it is, I’m calling police’," the grandmother recalled.
Vancouver police arrested the couple at an apartment in Vancouver’s West End, but released them after they claimed the ad was a hoax. However, their baby was taken by a social worker and placed in government care. Vancouver police Tim Fanning said he had never heard of such a thing in his 27 years of policing. The father, who placed the ad using a computer found in the apartment, was taken to jail.
Asked if it was possible the baby mentioned on craigslist was being used to try to defraud someone seeking a baby, the officer said: "Anything is possible…. It’s very disturbing on many levels."