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‘Occupy The T’ issues considered
At the meeting, “Attendees stressed the importance of rejecting the state’s claim that there is no alternative to the two proposed regimes of cuts and fare hikes,” writer Doug Greene said. He added, “Instead of deciding between the MBTA’s two proposed plans, ‘Occupy the T’ hopes to expose the role of for-profit financial institutions in creating and perpetuating the MBTA’s budget crisis. Several present argued that the banks should cancel the T’s debt and state fund the T directly by raising taxes on corporations and the richest 1% of state residents.” http://tinyurl.com/84kwr7z Lamar Smith Says SOPA Markup To Resume In February For all the talk from some that SOPA was “dead,” it appears it’s alive and well and getting ready for its big re-entrance. Lamar Smith has just sent out a press release saying that he intends to resume the markup in February There had been some talk that, due to Rep. Eric Cantor telling Rep. Darrell Issa that he would not take it to the floor, the bill was “dead.” But, we knew all along it was only “delayed.” Especially given the Senate’s planned vote next week. This really is zombie legislation. It will not die… because some businesses that don’t want to adapt want to make sure it never dies. Occupy protesters rally against Congress at Capitol In a sign of renewed vigor for the Occupy movement, which staged protests in many U.S. cities last fall, several hundred protesters gathered on the Capitol’s West Front Lawn to greet members of Congress returning from a holiday break with a day of rallies and protests they said would include attempts to occupy lawmakers’ offices. Occupy protesters from around the country who gathered on the rain-soaked lawn carried signs saying, “Face it liberals, the Dems sold us out,” “Congress for sale” and “Congress is not for sale.” http://tinyurl.com/6rh2uw2
Police arrested four protesters after a few hundred people gathered outside the U.S. Capitol building for an “Occupy Congress” demonstration today. http://tinyurl.com/7v5wkg5 Wis Dems Make It Official: One Million Signatures Collected To Recall Walker Wisconsin Democrats announced Tuesday that they have collected over a million signatures to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker – nearly twice the 540,208 signatures, or 25 percent of the total votes in the previous election for governor, needed to trigger a new election. Americans Raid Savings To Get Through Stop-Start Recovery More than four years after the United States fell into recession, many Americans have resorted to raiding their savings to get them through the stop-start economic recovery. In an ominous sign for America’s economic growth prospects, workers are paring back contributions to college funds and growing numbers are borrowing from their retirement accounts. Some policymakers worry that a recent spike in credit card usage could mean that people, many of whom are struggling on incomes that have lagged inflation, are taking out new debt just to meet the costs of day-to-day living. Recession slows growth in public prekindergarten The expansion in public prekindergarten programs has slowed and even been reversed in some states as school districts cope with shrinking budgets. As a result, many 3- and 4-year-olds aren’t going to preschool. Kids from low-income families who start kindergarten without first attending a quality education program enter school an estimated 18 months behind their peers. Many never catch up, and research shows they are more likely to need special education services and to drop out. Kids in families with higher incomes also can benefit from early education, research shows. Yet, roughly a quarter of the nation’s 4-year-olds and more than half of 3-year-olds attend no preschool, either public or private. Families who earn about $40,000 to $50,000 annually face the greatest difficulties because they make too much to quality for many publicly funded programs, but can’t afford private ones, said Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. http://tinyurl.com/7evr2y2 Obama’s new chief of staff is a union-buster In 2004, Jacob Lew was the first hire by newly-appointed New York University President John Sexton. Lew served as NYU’s chief operating officer and executive vice president for the following two years, during which NYU withdrew recognition from its graduate student employees union and punished some participants in the ensuing strike. UAW Local 2110 President Maida Rosenstein, whose local includes GSOC, says Lew was “the point person” in “representing management’s position” against the union. “Every single ruthless tactic from the playbook of union-busting was followed at NYU,” says NYU Professor Andrew Ross. Ross co-edited The University Against Itself, an anthology on the strike. http://tinyurl.com/73myfy3 Venue for Obama’s primary acceptance speech changed to Bank of America stadium The Democratic Party’s decision to move President Obama’s acceptance speech to the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte has surprised some party activists — and stirred criticism — over the use of a venue named for a company that has been at the center of the financial crisis. “God almighty, I can’t believe it.” said one top Democratic fundraiser when he learned of the decision to move the speech to Bank of America stadium, where the NFL Carolina Panthers play their football games. “This is an amateur’s mistake.” http://tinyurl.com/7rqx897 Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel defeated in effort to ratchet up fines before G-8/NATO summit Mayor Rahm Emanuel wanted to increase fines for resisting arrest ahead of the G8 and NATO summits this Spring. Emanuel didn’t get what he wanted. His plan called for raising fines from a minimum of $25 and a maximum of $500 to a minimum of $200 and a maximum of $1000. The idea, officials said, was to create a financial deterrent for folks bent on violently protesting the international gatherings. But aldermen from Chicago worried that the increased fines would smack of First Amendment infringement. Money in politics: Billionaire Wyoming investor backs Santorum ‘super’ PAC A billionaire Wyoming investor has pledged to give up to a half-million dollars in matching money to an outside spending group that supports Rick Santorum for the GOP presidential nomination. Freely allowing that he and Santorum talk regularly, Friess said the candidate had called him a few days ago to “bring me up to date” on the campaign’s progress in South Carolina, which holds its primary Saturday. Asked whether he talks to Santorum about his financial support for the Red White and Blue Fund, which is legally barred from coordinating its activities with the campaign, Friess said, “I think Santorum is OK with it.” Big banks have picked their candidate, and it’s Romney The country’s biggest banks are overwhelmingly supporting Mitt Romney’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination, an analysis of federal campaign contributions shows. Employees at the five largest U.S. banks by assets, including Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., had given Romney about $600,000 through the first three quarters of 2011, according to the most recent filings available from the Federal Election Commission. The second-largest recipient of bank employee contributions, President Barack Obama, had far less, about $200,000, the analysis showed. A Children’s Treasury of Newt Gingrich Ratcheting Up Tensions With Poor Kids Last night’s Republican debate in the former U.S. territory of South Carolina brought the declaration of not one but two wars! Which, thank goodness, we were just about to run out of wars! Rick Perry predictably bumbled South Carolinians into Civil War 2. And useless talking marshmallow Newt Gingrich finally and officially declared war on America’s poor children, after a long series of cross-border raids and minor skirmishes. Join your favorite warblog as we trace the run-up to Newt Gingrich’s War on Destitute Kids! Gingrich first floated a trial balloon for his inchoate jihad several news cycles ago when he came out weirdly strong against child labor laws, which you probably (and quite wrongly!) assumed have been “off the table” since 1938. This was quickly followed by Gingrich stage-whispering that, if you ask him, what’s wrong with the future poors of America is they’re a bunch of shiftless criminals, that’s what: Gingrich: Third grader = adult working class person Newt Gingrich told us all last night that nine year olds can replace the grown men and women who currently do these jobs. Newt Gingrich believes janitors and cafeteria workers and people who work in school libraries and offices can and should be replaced by children. http://tinyurl.com/88ez3mb GOP Senator: We Need ‘Child Labor’ To Fight Obesity Epidemic “It’s interesting that this child labor bill goes against Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity initiative,” said Grassley. “How can kids be active if they are limited by this law?” http://tinyurl.com/77gb3eq Apple’s Anti-employee Control Fraud Apple has released a report on working conditions in its suppliers’ factories. It highlights a form of control fraud that criminology has identified but rarely discussed. I write overwhelmingly about accounting control fraud because it drives our recurrent, intensifying financial crises. The primary intended victims of accounting control frauds are the shareholders and the creditors. Other private sector control frauds target customers (e.g., George Akerlof’s 1970 article on “lemons”), and the public (e.g., the unlawful disposal of toxic waste, illegal logging, and tax fraud). Anti-employee control frauds most commonly fall in four broad, but not mutually exclusive, categories – illegal work conditions due to violation of safety rules, violation of child labor laws, failure to pay employees’ wages and benefits, and frauds based on goods and loans provided by the employer to the employee that lock the employee into quasi-slavery. Apple has just released a report on its suppliers that shows that anti-employee control fraud is the norm. http://tinyurl.com/7ymsfoj Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner Personally Appears at Occupy Syracuse to Announce their Eviction Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner showed up to Occupy Syracuse at 8:00 AM today to announce they had 24 hours to vacate the park or face eviction. http://tinyurl.com/77b6pl7 Michigan Democrats Unveil Plan To Finance Free College Tuition By Eliminating Corporate Tax Credits Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) spent his first year in office trading in the welfare of thousands of vulnerable Michiganders in order to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy. Hoping to refocus priorities in 2012, the state’s Senate Democrats have released a new plan that puts Michigan students ahead of wealthy corporations. Under the Michigan 2020 Plan, Michigan’s high school graduates will be eligible for free tuition at one of Michigan’s community colleges or universities, where the median tuition level is currently around $9,575 per year. The program will be funded entirely by eliminating $3.5 billion in tax credits and loopholes and putting that money towards students: http://tinyurl.com/7b5ar9f Benedict students urged to vote, join Occupy protest movement The Rev. Jesse Jackson urged Benedict College students to vote and consider joining the “Occupy” protest movement in an impassioned, wide-ranging address Tuesday that commemorated what would have been the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 83rd birthday. A civil rights activist and Greenville native who knew King – Jackson was with King in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968 when he was assassinated – Jackson told students that too many had suffered too much for them not to register and vote. Bronx Residents Make ‘Occupy’ Movement Their Own While Occupy Wall Street has been raging in downtown Manhattan since September, New York City’s outer boroughs have commenced their own protests that focus more on problems in that particular community. Each Saturday, a group of residents and local activists have held Occupy the Bronx events at various locations: Fordham Plaza, “The Hub” at 149th Street and 3rd Avenue, the No. 6 train station at Hunts Point, and along Gun Hill Road. While it started out small, the movement has grown. Well-known local advocacy group the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition joined the protests in October, and an average group of 75 people have been attending the weekly events. http://tinyurl.com/8yfcs5f Pennsylvania Bars Man From Elected Office Because He Served Time In Jail Gary Mitchell of New Castle, Pennsylvania is a rare example of a public servant. In 2002, Mitchell was found guilty of two drug-related felonies. But after serving a reduced sentence and turning his life around, Mitchell decided to run for city council. After being open with New Castle voters about his record, Mitchell and two others were elected to serve. But because the Pennsylvania Constitution bars any person convicted of an “infamous crime” from holding office, the state wants to prevent Mitchell from taking his seat: Voters who elected Mitchell are incensed by the decision. “They took his money and then when he wins, which I don’t think they expected him to, they won’t let him serve. That’s not right,” said the Rev. Linda Martinez. Indeed, such an denial of office flies in the face of rehabilitation and pushes an overly targeted group of people further away from participation in the democratic process. After all, 13 percent of adult African-American men like Mitchell are currently prevented from voting – let alone from holding office – because of a previous conviction. http://tinyurl.com/7k76eak Darrell Issa plans hearing on Occupy D.C.’s risk to public safety A panel of the House committee chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) plans to hold a hearing next week to probe public health and public safety concerns at the McPherson Square encampment of the Occupy D.C. movement. San Diego Mayoral Candidates Asked to Comment on Felony Charges Against Protesting Occupiers The debate’s moderator stated that four Occupy protesters who interrupted Mayor Sanders’s state of the city address earlier last week were removed, arrested, and allegedly charged with a felony conspiracy. “Is it appropriate for the SDPD to arrest peaceful protesters on felony charges?” the moderator asked. Below are each of the candidates’ responses. Occupying the Americas, From Buenos Aires to NYC As the Occupy movement moves into its fifth month, continuing to generate a critical mass in the United States, reactions to the movement throughout the Americas have been comparatively restrained. Last fall, Occupy protests in Mexico and Argentina drew crowds of no more than a few hundred, and local press coverage of the happenings to the north has run the gamut from curious to skeptical. The great exception is Chile, where for almost a year a robust student movement challenged entrenched neoliberal educational policies and the de-fanging of public education. The student uprisings constituted a virtual referendum on the government of Sebastián Piñera, and forged important links to Occupy student movements in the United States. Chile aside, one reason for the relatively muted interest is that, throughout Latin America, the concerns sustaining the momentum of Occupy in the United States have been at the center of Latin American repertoires of protest and social change for decades now. http://tinyurl.com/7rruzlz |