The austerity-based class war against the American people
Rapidly rising deficits at both the federal and state and local government levels, along with prospective long-term financing problems in the Social Security and Medicare programs, have triggered a one-sided austerity-focused class war in the US and around the globe.
A coalition of the richest and most economically powerful segments of society, conservative politicians who represent their interests, and right-wing populist groups like the Tea Party has demanded that deficits be eliminated by severe cuts at all levels of government in spending that either supports the poor and the middle class or funds crucial public investment. It also demands tax cuts for the rich and for business. These demands constitute a deliberate attempt to destroy the New Deal project, begun in the 1930s, whose goal was to subject capitalism to democratic control.
In this paper I argue that our deficit crisis is the result of a shift from the New-Deal-based economic model of the early post-war period to today’s neoliberal, free-market model. The new model has generated slow growth, rising inequality and rising deficits. Rising deficits in turn created demands for austerity. After tracing the long-term evolution of our current deficit crisis, I show that this crisis should be resolved primarily by raising taxes on upper-income households and large corporations, cutting war spending, and adopting a Canadian or European style health care system. Calls for massive government spending cuts should be seen as what they are – an attack by the rich and powerful against the basic interests of the American people.
http://tinyurl.com/7cxvbfm
Obama’s middle-of-the-road austerity budget “less savage” than Republican proposals
(video)
The Secret Austerity Society: Bipartisan Group Works on Grand Bargain
Intransigence from Republicans basically kept us out of a grand bargain last year. Plenty of Democrats were willing to do it, the White House was more than willing to do it, and even John Boehner was willing to do it, at least on a conceptual level. But House Republicans wouldn’t betray their tax pledge and so it didn’t happen.
There are some different dynamics to the next round of the grand bargain. There are still enough Democrats willing to deal, led by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer. The White House has de-emphasized a deficit deal, but their budget still shows a blueprint for one, and if they get revenue in exchange, they’ve stated openly that they would make cuts to Medicare and other social programs. So is there a new willingness on the Republican side? According to The Hill, Republicans have joined a bipartisan working group that is preparing a document on deficit reduction.
Chomsky: Occupy Movement vs. Atomized, Disintegrated Society
The Occupy Wall Street movement represents the first major public response to more than 30 years of class war-orchestrated by the ruling elite-that has led to social, economic and political arrangements in which the democratic system has been shredded, according to MIT professor Noam Chomsky.
“Concentration of wealth leads almost reflexively to concentration of political power, which in turn translates into legislation naturally in the interests of those implementing it. That accelerates what has been a vicious cycle, leading to … bitterness, anger, frustration-a very atomized society,” Chomsky said in a recent interview with Edward Radzivilovskiy. “That’s why the linkages being created in the Occupy movement are so important. This is really the first sustained response to this.”
http://tinyurl.com/7rcaalb
Gingrich Bets Big Oil Will ‘Crater The Economy’ To Defeat Obama
Appearing on CNN, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich bet that oil companies will ruin the economy, getting President Obama out of office. Asked by Candy Crowley why he is so confident of a Republican landslide in the November elections, Gingrich predicted that gasoline prices – already on a rapid rise to the massive benefit of the oil industry – will continue to skyrocket, leading to an economic collapse by August:
http://tinyurl.com/7w2w2pu
31 arrested in women’s rights demonstration at Virginia state Capitol
Thirty-one women’s-rights demonstrators were arrested this afternoon in a protest at the state Capitol that drew hundreds of protesters and Virginia State Police in riot gear.
Capt. Raymond Goodloe of the Virginia Division of Capitol Police_said 17 women and 14 men were arrested. He did not have a breakdown on charges but said those arrested were likely accused of either trespassing or unalawful assembly.
The demonstration came after the General Assembly approved hotly disputed legislation that requires women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion.
http://tinyurl.com/72htetx
The Consequences of Hate
Here is the note that one of the hatemonger classmates who attends her school gave her:
“Little miss innocent, huh? Whatever slut- you take birth control pills so you can f*&# every guy in school! What a joke- u are nothin but a whore! Pretty bad when some guy on the radio who isn’t afraid to tell the truth has to break it down for everybody- if u on the Pill u are nothing but a skank ass ho! My mom said girls on the pill are tramps who just wanna get laid and don’t care about nothin- is that how u are?”
This is the consequence of the hate being peddled by Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. It’s not just “entertainment” or “humor” as he and his defenders like to claim. The bullying these folks do on the airwaves trickles down to bullying in the workplace and in the schoolyard. It has very real, very negative consequences to people’s lives–including to these “mean girls” bullies themselves, who are at significantly higher risk of teen pregnancy and doomed shotgun weddings due to a learned prejudice against basic birth control.
Seventh company suspends advertising on Limbaugh’s show
The flower delivery website ProFlowers announced on Sunday that it would no longer advertise on Rush Limbaugh’s radio program, making it the seventh advertiser to cut support from the show.
“At ProFlowers, our mission is to delight our customers with fresh and long lasting flowers, and that is our singular focus each and every day,” the company said in a statement. “We do not base our advertising decisions to align with any particular political view or opinion as our employees and customers are as diverse as the USA. Mr. Limbaugh’s recent comments went beyond political discourse to a personal attack and do not reflect our values as a company. As such, ProFlowers has suspended advertising on The Rush Limbaugh radio program.”
http://tinyurl.com/6v7hp84
Traditional US farming communities struck by MF Global crime spree
From the cornfields of the Midwest to the cotton fields down South to the large cattle ranches out West, the MF Global scandal has rocked the tight-knit farming community.
Some farmers lie awake at night, unable to sleep, worried about bill collectors and the system they’d come to trust. As planting season nears, they find themselves still out tens of thousands of dollars. Most don’t want to talk on the record; they don’t want their friends and neighbors to know they’re down big money when they have a crop to put in.
. . .
When word spread that MF Global was going bankrupt, the Mouws were reassured on a Friday that their money was safe: a segregated account had never been lost in the history of the commodity exchange. By Monday, their $450,000 with MF Global was gone.
Thousands To Converge On CA State Capitol In Large Protest Over Education Cuts
Thousands of protesters will converge on the State Capitol on Monday in a mash up of several different groups with similar messages.
The first group will take their place outside the Captiol in the morning. Students from all over California are expected to take part in “Fund our Future!” to rally against education cuts.
The planned march and rally will bring an estimated ten thousand people, mostly students to ask for increased funding for higher education.
http://tinyurl.com/832eure
Opinion: Emergency managers not the answer [MI]
In response to your editorial, “Emergency Manager Law: Think About the Alternative,” we the General Assembly of Occupy the Tri agree. Let’s look at the alternative. Our country bails out financial institutions equipped with teams of lobbyists, lawyers, and tax accountants. Instead, we should be helping communities facing financial difficulties. We let white collar criminals go — unprosecuted — whose greed and callous disregard resulted in thousands of foreclosures. Our government should be enforcing regulations that defend citizens’ freedoms and protect our environment. Once again, we are being told about a new enemy nation that we must invade and free for democracy. Here in Michigan, democracy has been vacated with the stroke of a pen by the work of an Emergency Manager
http://tinyurl.com/7yrfj2r
Novartis India keeps fingers crossed as SC hears Glivec patent case
Novartis India will take a last shot at protecting its patent for anti-cancer drug Glivec in Supreme Court later this month in a ruling that will have a significant impact on all innovators, past and present, even as activists seek affordable drugs in developed countries ‘occupy Novartis’ offices’ in the US.
The Indian subsidiary of Swiss drug maker Novartis is making a final attempt at getting a patent for its anti-cancer drug Imatinib with the name Glivec.
Last week, protestors stormed the annual general meeting of the company, asking it to withdraw the case. Health activists have occupied the Novartis offices across the world, and last week ‘Occupy Novartis’ movement spread to cities like New York, Boston and Washington.
Santorum opponents disrupt speech
GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum was drowned out Sunday by yelling between his supporters and Occupy Oklahoma activists in Oklahoma City during a return visit to the state two days before the Super Tuesday primary.
About 200 supporters gathered Sunday afternoon as Santorum spoke on the steps of the state Capitol. But about 25 activists from Occupy Oklahoma were also there, and shouting between the two groups erupted soon after he began to speak.
When Santorum asked supporters for a “big win” at the polls Tuesday in Oklahoma, Occupy Oklahoma activists screamed “Get your hate out of my state” and “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, zealot, fascist, go away.”
http://tinyurl.com/7bez89v
Occupy activists fear that America’s pro-Israeli lobbyists want a war
“Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran!” sings the AIPAC delegate, striding cheerfully through illegal Israeli settlements in his sharp tan suit.
Granted, the settlements are three feet high and made of cardboard, part of a pop-up anti-war occupation outside the conference of Israel’s top lobbying group, where President Obama is due to speak. As another war in the Middle East begins to look feasible, Occupy has begun to focus its energies on foreign policy.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a powerful tax exempt lobby that provides campaign finance in return for promotion of what it deems Israel’s interests, pushed for a war in the Middle East in 2003. Activists with the Occupy movement, along with many others, are convinced that it now means to push for another. In the central Washington DC square leading to the conference, they have constructed mock- checkpoints and wear pink IDF uniforms with plastic guns, obliging the sharply-dressed AIPAC delegates to walk through.
Anonymous Appears To Take Down AIPAC Website
The annual policy conference of the pro-Israel Group AIPAC is, as always, a massive show of bipartisan pro-Israel solidarity, and the target of protests from Israel’s critics.
This year’s protesters include newcomers: A group called “Occupy AIPAC,” whose leaders seem to be drawn from the longtime anti-war group Code Pink, and the hacktivist collective Anonymous.
This morning, as President Obama speaks to the group, its website has crashed. An AIPAC spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment, but claims of responsibility could be found on Twitter.
Occupy Santa Cruz Shows Chilling Effects of NDAA with Street Theatre
Occupy Santa Cruz protested the NDAA this Saturday in order to raise awareness on this issue that has not received a lot of press. Protesters gathered at the Court House steps and took the streets in a march to the Clock Tower.
As the protest continued a number of protesters peeled off to prepare for a guerilla street theatre action to drive home the chilling effects of the NDAA. A mock snatch&grab team of driver, a sinister FBI/NSA/3-letter-agency official and police support, dressed appropriately threatening and intimidating, prepared themselves in a black sedan with tinted windows. They timed their action well. Waiting till the traffic light turned green, they pulled up unexpectedly to the protest, identified their intended target, threw open the passenger doors, placed a dark hood over the protester’s head and forced her head first into the vehicle, as protesters and bystanders were shocked and even tried to fight back. The “arrest” took just seconds, and the dark vehicle sped off around the corner, out of sight of the protest. Beautifully executed.
After parking just around the corner and laughing it up over a successful guerilla theatre and on our way back to the protest, two SCPD cruisers pulled up to the 4 protesters involved in the action. Seeing that we were all four together, including the “victim”, quickly resolved any possible tension, and the officers who were courteous and professional explained that they had received a 911 call reporting a kidnapping.
Police Federation vice-chairman says privatisation could destroy service
A radical plan to give private companies responsibility for investigating crimes, patrolling neighbourhoods and even detaining suspects will have “catastrophic consequences”, the leader of rank and file officers has warned.
West Midlands and Surrey have invited bids from G4S and other large security companies on behalf of all forces across England and Wales to take over the delivery of a wide range of services previously carried out by the police.
The list of policing activities up for grabs includes investigating crimes, detaining suspects, developing cases, responding to and investigating incidents, supporting victims and witnesses, managing high-risk individuals, patrolling neighbourhoods, managing intelligence, managing engagement with the public, as well as more traditional back-office functions, such as managing forensics, providing legal services, managing the vehicle fleet, finance and human resources.
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