Politics

Paul Ryan: Corporate Lobbyist Would Be Chief Of Staff

October 26, 2015 David Sirota, www.ibtimes.com Educate! Politics

By David Sirota for International Business Times - As he builds support for his bid for speaker of the House, Republican Rep. Paul Ryan has announced he will name as his top aide a longtime corporate lobbyist whose past clients have significant business before Congress. The Washington Post reported if he wins the speaker's job, Ryan will name as his chief of staff registered lobbyist David Hoppe, a former aide to Sens. Trent Lott and John Kyl. The announcement comes a decade after congressional Republicans' so-called K Street Project, which sought to bring lobbyists closer to the Republican policymaking machine, resulted in federal indictments.

Resurgence Of The World Left?

October 3, 2015 Staff, www.iwallerstein.com Resist! Left, Politics

By Staff for Immanuel Wellerstein - The sweeping triumph on September 24 of Jeremy Corbyn to be the leader of Great Britain’s Labour Party was stunning and totally unexpected. He entered the race with barely enough support to be put on the ballot. He ran on an uncompromisingly left platform. And then, standing against three more conventional candidates, he won 59.5% of the vote in an election that had an unusually high turnout of 76 percent. Immediately, the pundits and the press opined that his leadership and platform guaranteed that the Conservative Party would win the next election. Is this so sure? Or does Corbyn’s performance indicate a resurgence of the left? And if it does, is this true only of Great Britain?

Activists Hold Ground At City Hall For 11th Week

September 26, 2015 ZH, www.indybay.org Resist! California, Homelessness, Law, Politics

By ZH in IndyBay - Another sleepout protest at Santa Cruz city hall occurred this past Tuesday evening. Protesters have now spent 11 nights sleeping out in the open at city hall, in order to protest and draw attention to the Santa Cruz law which makes camping out in public or in one’s vehicle a citable offense. The law - which has been on the books in Santa Cruz since 1978 - has been criticized by protesters as unfairly targeting houseless people in the city who have no choice other than to sleep outdoors. The last Point in Time count - a nationally used method of surveying unhoused people - in the county registered 1964 individuals, far more than the 1172 shelter beds available to them. The sleepouts have regularly been visited by officers of the Santa Cruz police department, who arrived this past Tuesday evening around 11:00 pm. This week the police only wrote one citation, for a houseless protester found asleep beneath the city hall flagpole.

How Human Rights Groups Reinforce Israeli Colonialism

September 24, 2015 Rod Such, www.electronicintifada.net Educate! Israel, Palestine, Politics

By Rod Such in Electronic Intifada - Coauthored by political scientist Neve Gordon and anthropologist Nicola Perugini, this book is a challenging and unorthodox examination of “how both liberal and illiberal forces appropriate and deploy human rights in a way that corroborates, reinforces and rationalizes domination instead of destabilizing it.” The authors use the Palestinian struggle against Israeli settler-colonialism to exemplify how a human rights framework can be misused to help maintain the status quo and allow Israel’s colonial domination over the Palestinians to go unchallenged. In doing so, they criticize the work of Amnesty International, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem andHuman Rights Watch, marshalling convincing arguments concerning the limitations of a strictly legalistic framework for human rights. Many readers may find the opening chapters of this book difficult to comprehend and somewhat ambiguous as the authors construct a point of view that frames the nation-state itself as an intrinsic instrument for the “human right” to dominate and to kill.

Bi-Partisans In DC Risking Nuclear War

September 23, 2015 Jack Balkwill, www.dissidentvoice.org Educate! Politics, Wars and Militarism

By Jack Balkwill in Dissident Voice - Nowhere is it clearer that there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats than on the issue of nuclear weapons. They are leading us toward global, thermonuclear war by their statements and actions. Many of our prominent politicians, including presidents, can’t even pronounce the word “nuclear.” President Jimmy Carter, often identified as a nuclear engineer, pronounced it “Nookyoolar,” as did President George W. Bush. All of our modern presidents pretend to care about the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, which requires nations to dismantle such weapons, and they all produce new nuclear weapons in defiance of it. Al Jazeerarecently reported: President Barack Obama’s plans to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal over the next 30 years could cost taxpayers nearly $1 trillion, according to a new study that suggests the project’s long-term price tag will far outpace available Pentagon estimates.

Leap Manifesto Just A Way Out Of Canada’s Head-In-Sand Politics

September 23, 2015 Martin Lukacs, www.theguardian.com Create! Canada, Politics

By Martin Lukacs in The Guardian - Consider the response to the Leap Manifesto, a declaration released this week by an unprecedented coalition of Canadian authors, artists, national leaders and activists in the midst of a federal election. It lays out a vision – bolder than anything on offer from political parties – to transition the country off fossil fuels while simultaneously improving the lives of most Canadians. Climate change ispresented not just as an existential crisis but an opportunity – indeed, imperative – to make the political and economic system more just and fair. The smear-jobs started resounding immediately through the echo-chamber of the corporate press. The manifesto was advocating the “overthrow of capitalism,” a “utopia” that could be brought about only through “immediate social revolution.”

‘No Hope Without Our Vote’ : Jeb Bush Protested On Immigration

September 22, 2015 Elise Foley, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Elections, Immigration, Politics

By Elise Foley in Huffington Post - Protesters for immigration reform interrupted Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush during a speech Monday, prompting him to vow that he will support a path to citizenship for certain undocumented immigrants regardless of the political implications. "No hope without our vote," the protesters chanted as Bush began his speech at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce conference in Houston. The former Florida governor, who has drawn a tough line on immigration during his bid for the White House, paused to listen. Then he attempted to assure the crowd of his support for reform, particularly for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. "Here's what I believe: I believe we need immigration reform. I've been clear about this. I believe that Dream Act kids should have a path to citizenship," he said, referring to the never-passed bill that would have allowed some young undocumented immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship.

Greece: SYRIZA Wins Elections But This Is No Mandate For Austerity

September 22, 2015 Fred Weston and Arturo Rodriguez, www.marxist.com Educate! Elections, Greece, Politics, Syriza

By Fred Weston and Arturo Rodriguez in Marxist - SYRIZA won the elections yesterday, which Tsipras claims gives him a mandate to continue on the road he had already embarked on this summer, i.e. to apply the conditions dictated by the Troika. He, however, conveniently ignores the not unimportant detail that his government coalition (SYRIZA-ANEL) lost a total of 416,000 compared to the vote in January. In percentage terms SYRIZA received 35.46% almost the same as January’s 36.3%, but in absolute terms the party lost 320,000 votes. New Democracy won 28%, almost the same as January’s 27.8%, but it too lost many votes in absolute terms, nearly 200,000. What has distorted the result was the much larger numbers abstaining this time round. In January 37% did not vote, while this time it was 43.5% and of those who went to the polling stations 2.5% cast a blank vote.

Greece Into The Elections – What Stage Are We At?

September 19, 2015 Stamatis Karagiannopoulos and Fred Weston, www.marxist.com Educate! Elections, Greece, Politics

By Stamatis Karagiannopoulos and Fred Weston in Marxist - Greece goes to the elections on Sunday, the outcome of which will be determined by several factors, an important one being the sense of betrayal and disappointment among many of the SYRIZA voters, but there is also a process of radicalisation taking place on the left. The outgoing government started the biggest privatisation plan ever, worth 50 billion euros. They have raised the age of retirement to 67, cut the minimum pension to 350 euros. They are also cutting by 100 euros disability pensions. Ordinary people have lost the equivalent of almost two wages because of the increase in VAT. After the elections, in line with the dictates contained in the third Memorandum that Tsipras signed up to in August, we will see a barrage of austerity measures passed through parliament.

Where Is Our Jeremy Corbyn?

September 15, 2015 Chris Hedges, www.commondreams.org Educate! Labour, Politics, United Kingdom (UK)

By Chris Hedges in Common Dreams - The politics of Jeremy Corbyn, elected by a landslide Saturday to lead Britain’s Labour Party after its defeat at the polls last May, are part of the global revolt against corporate tyranny. He had spent his long career as a pariah within his country’s political establishment. But because he held fast to the socialist ideals that defined the old Labour Party, he has risen untarnished out of the ash heap of neoliberalism. His integrity, as well as his fearlessness, offers a lesson to America’s self-identified left, which is long on rhetoric, preoccupied with accommodating the power elites—especially those in the Democratic Party—and very short on courage. I will not support a politician who sells out the Palestinians and panders to the Israel lobby any more than I will support a politician who refuses to confront the bloated military and arms industry or white supremacy and racial injustice.

City Hall Sleepout #8

September 12, 2015 Alex Darocy, www.indybay.org Resist! California, Homelessness, Politics

By Alex Darocy in IndyBay - Community members protesting local laws that criminalize homelessness returned to Santa Cruz City Hall on September 1 for their eighth all-night sleepout. In response, the Santa Cruz Police Department rented large lighting units in an attempt to illuminate the entire City Hall courtyard, and security guards were hired to patrol the premises all night. By the end of the evening, fifteen demonstrators were issued citations for being at City Hall after 10pm, and two individuals were arrested. A large group remained and slept until morning, however, and were served breakfast by volunteers. They have planned the next sleepout for September 8. Santa Cruz City Hall is closed to the public from 10pm to 6am. The group of protesters, some homeless and some not, faced increased pressure from police, who have been raiding all of the protests and ticketing individuals for trespassing. The SCPD conducted their first raid on the campers on September 1 in the courtyard at about 11:30pm. They were led by Lt. Christian LeMoss, who wore a long billy-club all evening as he supervised the citation process.

Is The Failed War On Drugs Finally Coming To An End?

September 8, 2015 Keri Blakinger and Jeff Stein, www.salon.com Resist! Law, Politics, War On Drugs, Wars and Militarism

By Keri Blakinger and Jeff Stein in Salon - Every so often, a fringe political movement wins mainstream acceptance so quickly that its codification in law — once at hand — feels both obviously correct and long overdue. The most recent example, of course, is gay marriage. In just one decade, American support for same-sex unions jumped from 36 percent in 2005 to 57 percent in 2015. By the time of the landmark Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, gay marriage had moved from a pipe dream to common sense. Another idea now stands poised to follow a similar trajectory: The War on Drugs has created suffering on an unimaginable scale, with no discernible benefit. “If this were a war fought for four decades by any other generals with this outcome, we’d have run up the white flag years ago,” David Simon, creator of The Wire, told Salon in a phone interview.

The UK Labour Frontrunner’s Controversial Proposal

September 5, 2015 Ellen Brown, www.ellenbrown.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Politics, United Kingdom (UK)

By Ellen Brown - Dark horse candidate Jeremy Corbyn, who is currently leading in the polls for UK Labour Party leadership, has included in his platform “quantitative easing for people.” He said in a July 22nd presentation: The ‘rebalancing’ I have talked about here today means rebalancing away from finance towards the high-growth, sustainable sectors of the future. How do we do this? One option would be for the Bank of England to be given a new mandate to upgrade our economy to invest in new large scale housing, energy, transport and digital projects: Quantitative easing for people instead of banks. When the European Central Bank announced in January 2015 that it, too, would be engaging in QE – along with the US, the UK and Japan – alarmed commentators warned of currency wars, competitive beggar-thy-neighbor devaluations and hyperinflation. But QE has been going on since the late 1990s, and it hasn’t happened yet.

Labour Regained: Revolution In UK Politics, Jeremy Corbyn

September 4, 2015 Steve Rushton, www.occupy.com Create! Politics, United Kingdom (UK), Worker Rights and Jobs

By Steve Rushton in Occupy - Margaret Thatcher was asked in 2002 to name her most significant achievement. “Tony Blair and New Labour," she replied. “We forced our opponents to change their minds.” Although deeply unpopular, Conservatives still beat New Labour in this year’s election, with policies Thatcher probably would have been proud of. The defeat triggered a leadership election for the U.K.’s main opposition, and the surprise outright front-runner became the left-wing Jeremy Corbyn. If he wins he may bury Thatcher’s biggest achievement. Polls suggest Corbyn will win, and win conclusively, on September 12. Initially an outside candidate, the veteran MP’s popularity has risen rapidly this summer.

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

Daily movement news and resources