Category Archives: economy

May Day: Demand JOBS FOR ALL

Jobs For All - May Day
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Join the Rally and March on May Day for JOBS FOR ALL!

Join a large, visible presence advocating job creation and an end to unemployment:

JOBS FOR ALL
Dignified work at good union wages for everyone who wants a job.

TRABAJOS PARA TODOS
Trabajo digno con sueldos buenos de escala sindical para cualquiera que quiera un trabajo.

TUESDAY MAY 1
Mayday 2012 Rally & March
Union Square, NYC
4:00PM
Join us at the corner of Union Sq. West & 14th St.
(By the dry fountain)

We demand a democratically-controlled public works and public service program, with direct government employment, to create 25 million new jobs at good union wages. The new jobs will be to build the facilities and provide the services needed to meet the needs of the 99%, including in education, healthcare, housing, transportation, and clean energy. The program will be funded by raising taxes on the banks, corporations and the wealthiest 1%, and by ending all U.S. wars. Employment in the program will be open to all, including immigrants and persons formerly incarcerated.

Demandamos obras públicas y un programa de servicios públicos democráticamente controlados, con empleo directo del gobierno, para crear 25 millones de nuevos empleos con sueldos buenos de escala sindical. Los nuevos empleos serán para construir las instalaciones y proveer los servicios necesitados para satisfacer las necesidades del 99%, incluyendo en educación, cuidados de la salud, vivienda, transporte y energía limpia. El programa será financiado aumentando los impuestos a los bancos, las corporaciones y el 1% de los más ricos, y poniendo fin a todas las guerras por los Estados Unidos de América. Empleo en el programa estará disponible para todos, incluyendo a los inmigrantes y a las personas anteriormente encarceladas.

www.jobsforallny.org
Facebook Event

NY JOBS FOR ALL COMMITTEE • www.JobsForAllNY.org • twitter: @JobsForAllNY

For more information, or to endorse the demand, email: info@jobsforallny.org
Para mas información, o para apoyar la demanda, email: info@jobsforallny.org

“The Struggle for Full Employment: Not a New Idea and Not a New Struggle”

Last weekend I attended Left Forum and videoed a fantastic panel, The Struggle for Full Employment: Not a New Idea and Not a New Struggle, sponsored by the National Jobs for All Coalition.

“The Struggle for Full Employment: Not a New Idea and Not a New Struggle”
Left Forum 2012
Saturday, March 17, 5:00-6:40 PM, Room W401

www.njfac.org
www.jobscampaign.org

The presentation explores New Deal job creation efforts and FDR’s Economic Bill of Rights that began with the right to a decent job. It discusses two major attempts to secure full employment, in the immediate post-World War II period and in the 1970s, the first ending in the defeat of full employment legislation and the second, in the failure to implement a watered-down full employment act. Full employment, the presentation shows, will take a fundamental break with neo-liberalism and a reorientation of power from big business and Wall Street to middle- and working-class people and will require the full-scale social movement that both earlier struggles lacked.

Panelists:

Chuck Bell: Vice Chair, National Jobs for All Coalition, co-author of “Shared Prosperity: The Drive For Decent Work” (2006). Twenty years of experience in consumer and health care advocacy, and community movements for jobs and economic justice.

Helen Ginsburg: Professor Emerita of Economics, Brooklyn College, CUNY., and co-founder of the National Jobs for All Coalition. Author of books and articles on employment policy and strategies.

Gertrude S. Goldberg: The New Deal and Social Welfare Professor of Social Policy Emerita, Adelphi University School of Social Work where she directed the Ph.D. program. Chair of the National Jobs for All Coalition. Co-chair of the Columbia Seminar on Full Employment, Social Welfare & Equity. Author/co-author and editor of six books and numerous book chapters and articles on social policy and employment.

Moderator: Sheila D. Collins, Professor of Political Science at William Paterson University and co-founder of the National Jobs for All Coalition.

Video by Rebecca Rojer, http://rrrojer.net

Rocky Anderson Super Tuesday Money Bomb

I just donated $50 to Rocky Anderson’s presidential campaign. I’ve already come public about my support of Rocky and unwillingness to keep voting for Dems but I just wanted to share this email from the Rocky campaign, because it’s so damn refreshing to hear something like this from a politician:

Rebecca —

Thank you for your donation to our campaign. With your help, we will lead the United States forward on a healthy, just, and sustainable path.

We do not accept more than a total of $100 from any person. We are making the choice to emphasize the need to end the corrupting influence of money over our political system. We will rely on grassroots organizing and democratized means of communication to overthrow the dictatorship of selfish narrow interests, which, with the collusion of the two dominant parties, have been undermining the public interest.

This campaign stands for:

An immediate end to the on-going wars;

Essential health care coverage for all citizens;

Urgent international leadership by the U.S. to prevent the most catastrophic consequences of climate disruption;

Adequate revenues to balance the budget through fair taxation;

Treatment of substance abuse as a public health, rather than criminal justice, issue;

Control of the Federal Reserve by the Treasury Department and Congress;

A balanced budget (or a surplus) except in times of war or major recession;

An end to the legal concept of corporate “personhood;” a constitutional amendment to overrule Citizens United ;

An end to the corrupting impact of money in our electoral system;

Protection of U.S. jobs, through re-negotiation of trade agreements and jobs programs like WPA and CCC to improve our nation’s infrastructure and employ millions of Americans;

An end to the stranglehold on our government by the military-industrial complex.

United we can come together to put the public’s interest first.

With gratitude,

Rocky Anderson

Tell TINA to shove it & donate today!

Rocky Anderson 2012

So I was really looking forward to writing-in “Mike Check” on my ballot next November, but looks like now there’s a chance to vote for a breathing person, albeit perhaps just as symbolically.

Anderson, candidate of the newly formed Justice Party (the website currently leaves much to be desired, but is clearly a work in progress) is genuinely anti-war, upfront about his opposition to the war on drugs, a staunch defender of civil liberties & and the environment, and— perhaps most importantly— committed to getting money out of politics. He will not accept any campaign contributions in excess of $100, stating “We launched the Justice Party because the entire system is so corrupt … It’s so diseased. We know that the public interest is not being served by anyone in the system right now, particularly the two dominant parties who have sustained this corrupt system and who are sustained by it.” Remember: Obama took more money from Wall St. than any other candidate, and despite widespread, systemic fraud, no major banksters have yet been prosecuted, much less sent to prison.

As a progressive former Democrat in Utah, the most reliably conservative state in the country, Rocky Anderson is no stranger to long odds or short shrift. Among other things, Anderson has been a fierce opponent of the Iraq invasion, supports gay marriage and is an ardent environmentalist. (Think former London mayor Ken Livingstone surrounded by conservative Mormons.)

As the former mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah’s capital and largest city, he also has a knack for framing an agenda in search of the broadest possible audience. “We don’t talk about gay liberation in Utah,” he told me in an interview in 2005. “We talk about healthy families and strong communities and say that in the most intimate aspects of our lives the government ought to butt out.” He served two terms before bowing out voluntarily.

In the next year, he’ll have to harness both that experience and savvy for the task he has now set himself: launching a new political party, the Justice party, and running for president in 2012.

His agenda is a familiar one on the left. Broadly speaking, he wants to break the hold of corrupting corporate influence on the two main parties and give a voice to ordinary working people. It also chimes with the general thrust of the Occupy movement, even though the latter has steered clear of engagement with electoral politics.

“The more time has gone on, the more it has become clear that we’re not going see change in this country with these two parties,” he says. “There are lots of good individuals in the Democratic party, [but] without Democrats voting the way they did in Congress, we wouldn’t have invaded Iraq. We wouldn’t have suffered as a nation because of these Bush tax cuts.

“Obama received more money from Wall Street than any presidential candidate ever. And they got a great return on their investment.”

This would represent the first attempt to apply the principles of the Occupy movement within the electoral area. Anderson points out discussions about launching the party preceded the emergence of the Occupy Wall Street. But while there are no organisational links, he says there is plenty of common ground. “There is clearly a convergence of interests regarding the concerns we have and the concerns of Occupy Wall Street. There’s little I’ve heard from the Occupy movement that I would disagree with and I think there’s little we support that they would disagree with.”

Anderson believes progressives have been paralysed by the fear that they’ll be accused of acting as a Trojan horse for the right; and their inaction has resulted in growing cynicism and political and economic deterioration.

“As long as the fear of being a spoiler prevents people from moving in a direction that will change the corrupt system that’s in place, then we’ll never see change in this country,” he says. “At least, we’ll never see changes move in a positive direction. The choice people have now is to either support a very different way that would signal a revolution and vast correction of the systemic problems in our government – or they can carry on going in the same direction they have been going all these years that’s resulted in so much tragedy for people in this country and the world.”

“It’s a perfect storm for an alternative party that would be a major force in American politics,” says Anderson. “The system’s completely broken. Everyone in this country knows that’s why we’re not seeing policies coming from the White House or Congress that really serve the interests of the American people. They keep selling out. Not because they’re bad people, but because they’re part of the system.

“We don’t only have a two-tier economic system in this country. We have a two-tier judicial system, where the rich and powerful don’t have to worry about violating the law. Not one person from Wall Street has been arrested, charged or convicted for what has happened during this financial crisis.”

“Rocky Anderson’s Radical Third Way” – The Guardian

From wikipedia:

As Mayor, Anderson rose to nationwide prominence as a champion of several national and international causes, including climate protection, immigration reform, restorative criminal justice, GLBT rights, and an end to the “war on drugs”. Before and after the invasion by the U.S. of Iraq in 2003, Anderson was a leading opponent of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and related human rights abuses. Anderson was the only mayor of a major U.S. city who advocated for the impeachment of President George W. Bush, which he did in many venues throughout the United States.

Formerly a member of the Democratic Party, Anderson expressed his disappointment with that Party in 2011,[16] stating “(t)he Constitution has been eviscerated while Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper. It is a gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the Republican Party.

For those of you who still believe voting for a third party is akin to voting for the republicans, I kindly point you to Michael J. Smith’s unfinished Stop Me Before I Vote Again— in particular What’s the matter with… liberals? and What is to be done?— and remind you that, in fact, voting for a democrat is nearly akin to voting for the republicans.

I respect those who continue to vote for Democrats for fear of what the Republicans would do to reproductive & LGBT rights, not to mention the legacy of republican judicial appointees. But, it’s quite clear that the Democratic party has been shifting steadily rightward since the 80s. Without a genuine liberal/progressive (both measly words with dubious histories – I am happy that Anderson selected the word “Justice” for his party) threat to the dems, they have no incentive to stop that drift. Which means the few rights you think you’re protecting by sticking with the dems could easily be discarded a few years from now– take the Obama administration’s recent decision to override the FDA on Plan B– just as any non-sham commitment to civil liberties, peace, education, healthcare, and economic justice has been completely rejected by the Dems. So even those who still believe there’s something to be salvaged in the Democratic party ought to consider the role third parties can play in shifting the center back to somewhere left of Reagan.

Personally, there’s no way I can support a president or a party who refuses to prosecute financial criminals despite the destruction they’ve perpetrated; who believes education and prisons ought to be privatized; who quietly ignores the consequences of our “war on drugs” and our obscenely high incarceration rate; who “ends the war” while exponentially increasing the number of drone strikes on countries we’re not even at war with; who is bought and owned by corporate interests including wall st., pharma, big agriculture, and the military-industrial complex; who authorizes the murder of Americans citizens without due process and then refuses to veto a bill stating that all of America is a battleground, thus authorizing the indefinite detention of anyone, including citizens, without a charge or trial … these, to me, are all deal breakers. I will not compromise on these issues out of fear that the other guy is worse.

And so I look forward to having a real candidate to vote for (that is, presuming he can make it on the ballot, unlikely), rather than a symbolic write-in or abstain. Its worth noting that around half of America’s eligible-to-vote population stays home (or more likely, is stuck at work) each election. Not voting could be construed as apathy. Or it could be construed as disapproval of both candidates – of voting “no” on the system itself. So when one considers that half of the population is effectively rejecting the system, it leaves a lot of potential for mobilization around a new paradigm. I’m not at all optimistic, but I’m certainly not delusional enough to vote for any more Democrats.

Economics as a moral question

So, “Does the system behave the way we want it to behave?” is ultimately a moral question, one that we are banned from asking. In economics, this is exactly the sort of a question we’re not allowed to ask, because economics is supposed to be a positive science, not a normative science. The difference is clear: positive statements should describe things as they are (“facts only, baby”), whereas a normative statement describes things the way we want them to be.

Let’s take Milton Friedman, who was, of course, the biggest proponent of positive economics. He wrote the famous essay “Economics as a Positive Science.” In that essay, on the first page, you will find the following sentence: “Economics should be a positive science.” Now, please tell me if that is a positive or a normative statement.

Interview with Tomas Sedlacek, author of The Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street

HT NakedCapitalism

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

http://nycga.cc/2011/09/30/declaration-of-the-occupation-of-new-york-city/

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.