PolicyBusters!

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-112766922011-11-14T00:16:18.541-05:00PolicyBusters!Since policymaking in a democracy should be controlled by citizens--not corporations--POLICYBUSTERS is dedicated to developing a democratic framework of engaged policymaking that breaks down the walls between citizens and their ability to determine the policies that govern them. Citizen control over the policymaking process is the heart of democratic self-government. Let's work together to reforge public policies that will allow us to live up to our democratic ideals.Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.comBlogger921100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-43918839506316509092010-01-31T16:39:00.004-05:002010-01-31T16:54:03.322-05:00A Spending Freeze Could Worsen Jobs/Economic Crisis, and Follows the Path of Herbert Hoover rather than Roosevelt

Will President Obama follow the path of Herbert Hoover or Franklin D. Roosevelt in his attempt to lead the nation to economic recovery? That is the question that still remains to be answered, after his State of the Union Address.Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, had the following to say about the Obama administration’s proposal to ‘freeze’ overall non-defense

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-80876941084254429432010-01-31T14:17:00.006-05:002010-01-31T14:40:44.002-05:00Five-Point Plan to Put U.S. on Path Out of the Economic/Jobs Crisis, from the Economic Policy Institute

Five-Point Plan for U.S. Recovery: American Jobs PlanIn addition to the AFL-CIO, the Economic Policy Institute has a similar Five-Point Plan, backed up by research to support each of its key points for moving the U.S. Economy into a Path to real recovery--The United States is experiencing its worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression. Nearly 16 million Americans—our family, friends, and

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-37298683512970556642010-01-31T13:05:00.005-05:002010-01-31T13:55:57.482-05:00A Clear Path Toward Dealing with the Jobs Crisis, to Show that People Still Matter More than Corporations

In order to keep the U.S. from following the path of Herbert Hoover into another depression, the AFL-CIO offers a clear path to a real jobs and national recovery, rather than just a corporate recovery.We hope President Obama will follow this clear path to recovery, since anything less robust than this will be likely to repeat the mistakes of Hoover during the early 1930s, and of the Japanese

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-12172209945265772092010-01-28T15:06:00.006-05:002010-01-31T13:22:01.292-05:00One BIG Reason Pres. Obama's Approach to State of the Union MAY be TOO LITTLE TOO LATE for the Economy and Jobs (unless more direct approach is taken)

Michigan Indefinitely Delays 200 Road & Bridge Projects Lansing Associated Press writer KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN just posted a report, which NPR picked up, that underlines the reasons we may still be on the path to a second great depression.And unless President Obama and Congress develop a quick and aggressive response to this economic reality in Michigan and many other states, he will be following

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-46706069300413839362010-01-27T21:30:00.001-05:002010-01-27T21:33:13.310-05:00President Obama's State of the Union Address

Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans: Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For two hundred and twenty years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They have done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they have done so in

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-61578584968856765972010-01-27T21:06:00.003-05:002010-01-27T21:12:43.235-05:00Toward a Sustainable State of the Union: What President Obama Needs to Communicate Tonight

"What happened here tonight can happen all over America." So stated the new Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown last week after his election night takeover of Ted Kennedy’s seat. If the somnambulant Democratic Party leadership wants to avoid the fate of having Scott Brown’s prediction come true, President Obama and the Democratic leadership need to engage a fundamental transformation of strategy.

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-55969210351837677202010-01-20T02:03:00.003-05:002010-01-20T02:14:37.368-05:00To Pres. Obama & the Democrats: "Have you the will to reach the far horizon where rest the hopes of men?"

After his victory Tuesday night, Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts summed up the nightmare scenario for Democrats in 2010: “What happened here tonight can happen all over America.”This loss of Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat to a Republican for the first time since the 1950s does more to underline the fundamental consequence of Democrat’s sleepwalking approach through 2009 than any additional words

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-3245109899208675722009-12-17T01:24:00.004-05:002009-12-17T02:20:19.371-05:00President Obama No Longer Seems to Get It, or to Be Listening

From the beginning of his Presidency, unfortunately, President Obama has seemed to lack a clear appreciation for history. And now this lack of historical vision is haunting his bad judgments regarding Health Care Reform legislation. Instead of recognizing that weak middle-of-the-road Democratic politics had already died (twice over) in the elections of 2000 and 2004, he seems to be treating his

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-52698335227540411862009-12-14T21:10:00.007-05:002009-12-14T21:39:48.287-05:00Spineless Democrats & Pres, No Real Health Care Reform, Democrats Lose in 2010, Return of the Republicans--The Future after Collapse of HC Reform

Well, here we go again with a spineless Democratic party and President-- Our election of President Obama to lead a stronger and more assertive progressive Democratic party that would fight on behalf of the real needs of the American people seems to be completely collapsing under the onslaught of big money and big Private Health Insurance, and everything big except a real willingness to fight for

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-28724985971094708722009-10-25T20:50:00.016-04:002009-10-25T22:35:54.378-04:00For Washington's Imperial Elite, the Health of Our People is a Luxury, while War is a Necessity: This is the Way All Empires End

And if our current political leadership, under the Obama administration, does not soon reverse the tragic course of many decades of thinking that culminated in the disastrous imperial escapade of the Bush administration--if our current political leadership does not soon reject the corrupt mentality of imperial overreach that has brought our nation to the brink of internal collapse--we will

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-46336025841336663702009-10-24T23:23:00.006-04:002009-10-25T00:22:36.915-04:00"Killing the Public Option": the AHIP Singers, a Great Example of Policybusting Activism

The large popular movement of support for the public option seems finally to be forcing Democratic Senators to recover from their insurance industry-dictated stupor.In defiance of all the corporate media prognosticators and pundits who had called the public option dead months ago, this people's reform movement has insisted that anything less than a public option would constitute a fundamental

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-42007574264254143192009-10-03T16:36:00.011-04:002009-10-03T18:26:11.485-04:00The Defining Challenge for the Obama Administration: Ensuring the Facade of Reform does not Betray the Promise of True Health Care Reform

Since my last post, President Obama has begun to demonstrate how he can play a pivotal leadership role in the defining struggle over health care reform. His inspiring and reinvigorating speech to the nation and the Joint Session of Congress on September 9 emphasized the value and need for a public option to bring health care spending under control. For any Health Care Reform bill that fails to

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-46223076797541824552009-08-18T01:35:00.006-04:002009-08-19T04:02:45.785-04:00Health Care Reform Follies: The Obama Retreat from Change... into the Waiting Hands of the Private Insurance Corporations

Now that the Obama administration has gotten itself lost in the forest of its own naive search for bipartisan agreement on a Health Reform plan that Republicans never had any intention of supporting, the Administration appears to be retreating directly into the open hands of the Private Insurance lobby, which will be delighted to see Obama promoting a private "reform" plan that forces tens of

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-71856509601340353782009-07-22T21:52:00.002-04:002009-07-22T21:57:14.792-04:00We Need Global Warming Leadership Now: "Presidential Greatness isn't given; It's earned"

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-21902906149822888092009-04-25T11:00:00.007-04:002009-04-25T13:01:07.503-04:00Krugman Refutes Idea that Seeking Truth about the Past Will Interfere with Moving Forward

Contrary to the eternal obfuscations of politicians who would like to claim otherwise, Truth-telling about the Past directly serves the present and future needs of democratic government and policymaking for any Nation that wants to move forward after a period when its traditions of laws and democratic accountability have been betrayed and broken. In a brief but eloquent editorial in yesterday's

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-24803603574853276732008-12-12T08:36:00.004-05:002008-12-12T08:57:13.344-05:00Senate Republicans Declare War on Workers and Gift Detroit and Nation with Depression for the Holidays

The vote of the Senate Republicans against the auto bill yesterday can mean only one thing: After being so happy to give the wealthy financial class whatever they wanted in bailouts (hundreds of billions of dollars) for the last several months, they have refused to give workers and manufacturers--who actually make real products for the US economy--even a small $14 billion loan to survive for the

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-57420068979146350692008-11-19T01:43:00.005-05:002008-11-19T03:51:29.256-05:00Hooverian Class War Returns: Cushioning the Banks While Refusing to Save Jobs or Require Loans to the Taxpayers who Saved the Financial System

It's amazing to see how quickly the policies of Hoover that produced the last great Depression have returned in full force to rule the ongoing decisions at Treasury and among most of the Republicans in Congress. For a little bit, we fell into the stupid hope/delusion of thinking that finally Bush, Bernanke, and Paulson had discovered historical wisdom and learned something from the past. We

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-47546346440927928542008-11-16T16:14:00.002-05:002008-11-16T16:21:48.152-05:00The Most Stupid Idea In the World: Allow US Auto Manufacturers to Go Bankrupt

The most stupid ideas in the world continue to be peddled by free market ideologues who are suggesting that the best thing we can do for the American car industry and our economy is allow the Detroit manufacturers to go bankrupt.After the most dramatic evidence since the 1930s of the total failure of free market fundamentalist ideology—the belief that the market should be allowed to do whatever

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-74796185355640031252008-11-15T19:18:00.005-05:002008-11-15T20:03:31.345-05:00Stop Bush's Pillage of the US Treasury and Tax-Payers Now!: Time for Congress to ACT to Defend the Constitution and the Economy

From The Great Crisis of 2008:Bush & Co. can still do great damage to our nation's economy and seriously cripple its potential for recovery under an Obama administration, as Naomi Klein has argued this weekend (at the Miami Book Fair) in her excellent discussion (broadcast on BookTV) of the way the Bush administration is using the "shock" of the current financial crisis and the "bailout" to

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-19351078719288231352008-10-14T02:18:00.005-04:002008-10-14T02:35:49.635-04:00McCain Denies Validity of John Lewis's Prophetic Words: Does McCain Know What He is Doing?

From TURNING POINT--The URGENCY OF NOW:If anything else was needed as evidence that McCain and Palin seem utterly incapable of recognizing the dangers of the passions they are stirring up through the fear-mongering message of their campaign, the last week of terrorist-baiting language from the McCain campaign--even to the point of provoking hate-filled questions and howls from their own audiences

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-49347169303840176862008-10-04T17:21:00.003-04:002008-10-04T17:32:41.140-04:00Who Will Pay the Bills for Iraq War and Financial Bail-Out Under the McCain/Palin Plan?: A TIME FOR QUESTIONS

From Great Crisis of 2008:This past week, as the financial system teetered on the verge of collapse because of the Republicans' anti-government, anti-regulation, anti-tax laissez-faire ideology, we were offered the spectacle of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin underlining the irrationality of this Republican ideology by arguing that raising taxes on the wealthy would be both unpatriotic and

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-86025547764227663992008-09-26T10:32:00.003-04:002008-09-26T11:42:54.031-04:00Are We On Board a Ship of State called the Titanic?

The utter chaos of Congressional leadership in dealing with the current financial crisis (which parallels so much of what happened in 1929), along with the failure of clear Presidential leadership, seems to have placed us all on a ship of state called the Titanic. Under the direction of House Republicans, who appear to have taken control of the ship in Washington (without any knowledge of how to

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-24674238358107212632008-09-26T01:25:00.008-04:002008-09-26T11:45:04.330-04:00Onward to the GREAT CRASH of 2008: Will Free Market Fundamentalism Defeat the Bush-Paulson Plan and Push the Market Into the Abyss?

Have the self-destructive tendencies of an unrestrained capitalist financial/political system finally pushed the system into fundamental meltdown? (Or, Is Imperial Over-reach and systemic financial corruption forcing the United States to follow the path of the Soviet Union in the 1980s?) And if so, what will emerge from the ashes?From The Great Crisis of 2008:We seem to be watching a

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-38004759905990465652008-09-21T15:07:00.002-04:002008-09-21T15:34:31.550-04:00Robert Reich's Wise Advice on the Current Crisis

Former Labor Secretary (under Clinton) Robert Reich has posted 3 excellent posts on his blog providing key perspective and suggestions for responding to the current crisis:We tell poor nations they have to make their financial markets transparent before capital will flow to them. Now it's our turn. Lacking adequate regulation or oversight, our financial markets have become a snare and a delusion.

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-51402800460247530452008-09-21T11:11:00.004-04:002008-09-21T12:26:58.714-04:00If Taxation is Unpatriotic (says Palin), How will the Republicans Pay for War in Iraq and Bail-Out of the Financial System?

So this week, as the financial system is on the verge of collapse because of the Republicans' anti-government, anti-regulation, anti-tax laissez-faire ideology, we have the spectacle of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin underlining the irrationality of this Republican ideology by stating that raising taxes on the wealthy would be both unpatriotic and harmful.According to the Republican logic of

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-13569568556599592752008-09-20T20:40:00.006-04:002008-09-20T21:45:54.279-04:00COMMON SENSE--FOR A TIME OF CRISIS:

Addressed to the Citizens of the United States--A People that sacrifices its liberties to achieve security is deserving of neither, and will end up losing both:"Without Vision, the People Perish!"*****ON July 4, 2006, we published a new version of "Common Sense," modeled on Tom Paine's famous appeal to citizens for action during the Revolutionary Crisis of 1776.We previously compared Bush

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-90529534415236239202008-09-20T19:07:00.005-04:002008-09-20T20:31:13.905-04:00Great Discussion of the Current Crisis on This Weekend's Bill Moyers on PBS

For great discussion and perspective on the sources of the current crisis, check out this weekend's Bill Moyers Journal on PBS, featuring an interview with Kevin Phillips, author of Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism--Kevin Phillips: "What we're seeing here with the actions of the Federal Reserve Board is the people who were the arsonists--

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-85963636545896593262008-09-20T17:46:00.004-04:002008-09-20T19:04:19.528-04:00MAJOR NEWS FLASH FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

We have an urgent news flash for the two major candidates who are asking the citizens and voters of this country to entrust them with our individual and national destinies in the most severe global crisis since the Great Depression--NEWS FLASH for the Presidential Candidates: THIS CRISIS IS BIGGER AND MORE IMPORTANT THAN BOTH OF YOU!In spite of your continuing self-centered attacks upon each

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-80760066438326880282008-09-19T03:57:00.010-04:002008-09-19T04:56:53.634-04:00Current Financial Crisis Unmasks the Fiction of the Laissez-faire Market

After a generation of near totalitarian rule, the ideology of the unfettered free market--which was used as a blunt weapon to weaken or destroy almost all forms of market regulation--has brought the capitalist financial system to the brink of a collapse eerily similar to the days before the great crash of October 1929.The current crisis has forced the Fed to rediscover the need for the firm hand

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-44299738337994558192008-09-19T03:57:00.004-04:002008-09-19T04:29:55.035-04:00Fiddling While the Free Market Burns: Onward to the Great Crash of 2008

In another brilliant commentary, titled "Fiddling while Rome Burns" (Sept. 16), NPR's Daniel Schorr dissected the absurdity of so much of the current political campaign:Rome in its decline must have been like this, glorying in its circuses and gladiators even with the Visigoths at the gates, and so now our southern cities are lashed by hurricanes and in the North great temples of capitalism

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-84522648500123209502008-09-15T10:36:00.010-04:002008-09-15T12:27:11.899-04:00U.S. Capitalist Financial/Economic System on the Brink

While the two U.S. Presidential candidates have allowed their campaign to descend into stupidity and triviality, and the Bush administration is trying to restart a Cold War with Russia and foment another major escalation of military conflict on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the nation's financial and economic system teeters on the brink--after a second weekend of Wall Street brinksmanship to

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-73462941628167182732008-08-29T15:30:00.002-04:002008-08-29T15:34:21.904-04:00Why NEW LEADERSHIP is so desperately needed in Washington

While this new report has received media attention around the rest of the world, there has been almost no notice of it by the media in the United States. This is just one of the reasons we need new leadership, new priorities, and new vision in Washington, D.C.!Inequities are killing people on a "grand scale" reports WHO's Commission28 August 2008 | GENEVA -- A child born in a Glasgow, Scotland

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-9069199144463190412008-08-29T15:07:00.005-04:002008-08-29T16:11:35.576-04:00Time to DEMAND NEW LEADERSHIP and NEW POLITICS!

From URGENCY OF NOW:"All across America something is stirring -- Change happens because the American people demand it, because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time." (Barack Obama's Nomination Acceptance Speech, August 28, 2008)While the pundits are for the most part missing this central call to action in Obama's speech, and Juan Williams on

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-86144318161814092202008-08-26T13:29:00.004-04:002008-08-26T16:26:31.597-04:00The REAL Question Facing America: Will the Media and the American Republic be Humanized by the Example of Michelle Obama?

While the Media Class—with its usual flair for normalizing the most horridly racialized assumptions via blandly innocuous-sounding language—framed the drama of last night’s opening of the Democratic Convention around the question, "Will Michelle Obama be able to 'humanize' Barack Obama for the American public?", Michelle's brilliant speech not only put to shame the racialized assumptions

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-20899325008185879842008-08-25T12:05:00.004-04:002008-11-15T19:33:35.404-05:00Get the Progressive Perspective on the Democratic Convention

Streaming Live, During the Day, from the Democratic Convention [See schedule of events below; If embed is not working, you may access the web broadcast directly by clicking on this link:Event Schedule from Progressive Central, at theCentral Presbyterian Church1660 Sherman St.Denver, CO 80203PROGRAM SCHEDULE (all times listed are Mountain time)SUNDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 24: PDAs "Progressive Welcome

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-14928561572354536492008-05-28T22:26:00.005-04:002008-05-28T22:35:00.125-04:00An Open Appeal to President Bush: Less than Eight Months to Avoid a Legacy of Infamy

From History of the Present:News flash: President Bush is surprised at the tone of Scott McClellan's book! What a surprise this is (not!)--Last August, in my open letter to President Bush on this blog, I appealed to President Bush to come clean with the American people, and to begin to correct the harm he has done. I appealed to him to turn to the truth and dramatically change his policies on

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-88252504919062193762008-05-09T14:06:00.007-04:002008-05-09T14:45:09.781-04:00"There's a Pattern Emerging Here": Or, How the Clinton Campaign Betrayed Bill's Honorific Title of "First Black President"

Who really has "a much broader base to build a winning coalition on"?There is a clear pattern emerging from the Clinton campaign, but it's not the one Hillary Clinton wished to suggest. Hillary's recent words underline a clear pattern in the way both the Clintons have been using race in this campaign. However poorly worded, Hillary's recent words suggest the fundamental reason the Clintons have

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-27462719060508085212008-05-09T13:44:00.003-04:002008-05-09T13:58:32.247-04:00Big Media Becoming More Powerful and Stupid at same time: Stop Big Media's Assault on our Democracy!

Even as Big Media is becoming more stupid in the way it frames the discussion of the most important issues for this country's future, such as Race (see previous blog posts), so that it distracts public attention from the real information and policy issues needed for democracy to function, Big Media (with the help of the Bush administration) has been growing ever more consolidated and powerful.

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-76064006172531352502008-05-05T20:54:00.002-04:002008-05-05T21:01:59.484-04:00The Patriotism of Stupid White Men?: Lapel-Pin Patriotism vs. Responsible Citizenship

As a person of European-Mediterranean heritage, the insistently shameful stupidity of white media pundits over this past week and weekend in response to the Wright controversy has made me so sick of heart that I've been compelled to write out some basic notes (for my own sanity’s sake, if nothing else) about what distinguishes the true patriotism of democratic citizens from the false patriotism

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-33041785711737464712008-04-29T15:49:00.005-04:002008-05-02T12:13:16.715-04:00The White Republic's Bitter Pill

From Urgency of Now: Turning Point Blog--“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.” These words were written, not by Rev. Jeremiah Wright in 2008, but by one of the most eloquent and famous American writers of the mid-twentieth century:

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-62781064560925378412008-04-13T15:00:00.011-04:002008-04-13T21:20:17.106-04:00Attacks on Obama as "Elitist" Replay Old Script that Seeks to Silence the "Uppity Black Man":

Lessons for Response from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (April 16, 1963)“I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-36062707043420021462007-08-16T03:49:00.000-04:002007-08-16T03:53:44.009-04:00Dick Cheney Once Understood that an Iraq Occupation would be a "Quagmire"

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-49755538343874764152007-08-16T03:11:00.000-04:002007-08-16T03:37:37.802-04:00THE WAR AT HOME: WHAT THE IRAQ WAR HAS COST MICHIGAN AND THE COUNTRY

MoveOn.org "Cost of War Report" Released TodayNEARLY A HALF-TRILLION DOLLARS SPENT ON AN UNWINNABLE CIVIL WAR COULD HAVE IMPROVED THE COMMUNITIES OF OUR 15TH DISTRICT IN MANY WAYS. READ THIS REPORT, SPONSORED BY MOVEON.ORG, FOR A SUMMARY OF THE EXPENSES OF THE WAR FOR OUR DISTRICT, THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, AND THE NATION.All of the MoveOn State Congressional District Reports being released today

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-13824357325336681742007-08-15T14:30:00.000-04:002007-08-15T14:55:53.328-04:00Even Cheney Knew the Truth about an Iraq Occupation in 1994: What Happened to the Truth When He Became VP?

What caused Dick Cheney to become such a denier and suppressor of the Truth about an Iraq Occupation and the costs it would inflict on American soldiers and families when he became VP?Does Becoming a VP tranform you into a liar?Watch Cheney declare the Truth about an Iraq Occupation in this clip posted on UTube from 1994, athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENbElb5-xY(If this UTube clip is not

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-19380199935166184822007-08-10T18:26:00.000-04:002007-08-10T18:40:06.177-04:0084% of Voters In Michigan’s 15th Congressional District (of Rep. John Dingell) Demand Higher Fuel Efficiency Standards

TO: Pew Campaign For Fuel EfficiencyFROM: The Mellman Group, Inc. & Public Opinion StrategiesRE: Public Support For Stricter Fuel Efficiency Standards In Michigan’s 15th CDDATE: July 23, 2007Because Michigan’s 15th Congressional District is home to much of the auto industry, and because it is represented by Chairman John Dingell, many regard it as “ground zero” in the debate about fuel efficiency

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-36952690800498452042007-08-10T17:00:00.000-04:002007-08-10T18:03:58.354-04:00Environmental Community Response to Rep. Dingell, presented at Dingell "Town Hall" Meetings, August 7 & 8, 2007

Good afternoon.My name is Hugh McDiarmid Jr., Communications Director for the Michigan Environmental Council, a coalition of more than 70 Michigan environmental, public health and faith-based organizations.Today I speak on behalf of the co-sponsors of this Town Hall meeting, a coalition of the state’s leading environmental groups including mine, Clean Water Action, the Ecology Center, Environment

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-75920908882437466692007-08-09T16:01:00.001-04:002007-08-09T17:17:28.134-04:00Auto Execs Declare War (Again) on Middle-Class Unionized Auto Jobs

Just after I had noted in writing my suspicion that the Big 3 auto execs would probably like to continue to use the threat of loss of auto jobs in order to gain concessions from the UAW, I heard this afternoon on NPR that this is literally happening NOW.The message of the auto execs to the UAW for their upcoming negotiations is apparently that the UAW either needs to be prepared to give up more

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-77942861991389202452007-08-08T20:53:00.000-04:002007-08-08T21:36:27.280-04:00Climate Change is affecting Michigan and Great Lakes even More than Previously Thought

GLOBAL WARMING IMPACTS MICHIGAN AND ENTIRE GREAT LAKES REGIONIn light of the fire in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, along with raging fires again this summer across the country, and in Europe, as well as today's flooding rains in New York City, and recently in England, Texas, and India, affecting tens of millions of people just within the last month, we need to be

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-60272149149215515552007-08-08T20:24:00.000-04:002007-08-08T21:53:00.234-04:00Enviromental Action and Job Creation are Not Opposed: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions can Boost Michigan's Economy

Michigan can add $380 million a year and 3,400 fulltime jobs to the state's economy by 2025 while reducing emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases linked to global warming, according to a study released in May 2007 by the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems.The study, Michigan at a Climate Crossroads: Strategies for Guiding the State in a

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-67823946562620223042007-08-08T16:49:00.000-04:002007-08-08T16:56:56.779-04:00Japan's Average fleet fuel economy had already reached 46 mpg in 2002

Why are Honda and Toyota taking over an increasing percentage of the US auto market?According to a 2004 Report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Japan's fuel economy average for its new fleet of vehicles in 2002 had already reached 46 mpg. So it should be no big surprise to Americans, that as fuel efficiency becomes a major factor in the choice of new auto purchases, Toyota and Honda

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-59870764373079924912007-08-08T13:22:00.000-04:002007-08-08T14:02:35.423-04:00Report from Yesterday's Ann Arbor Town Hall Meeting with Dingell

I was glad to hear Rep. Dingell clearly indicate yesterday that he does see an increase in CAFE standards as a key part of any strategy to achieve the 60-80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that he agrees we need to achieve by 2050.However, in order to address the loss of US auto manufacturing jobs by the Big 3, the weak increases in CAFE standards that Dingell is proposing will be next to

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-81121501294719288362007-08-06T19:31:00.000-04:002007-08-08T16:47:49.060-04:00In spite of Dingell's opposition, the House passed landmark Energy Legislation on Saturday

Sierra Club Hails Passage of Renewable Electricity Standard in HouseSpeaker Pelosi Delivers Major Victory for Clean Energy!Today the House of Representatives passed a landmark national Renewable Electricity Standard by a vote of 220 to 190. It then went on to pass the energy bill itself on a final vote of 241 to 172.Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director“Last fall Americans voted

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-26580487685301607362007-08-06T11:20:00.000-04:002007-08-08T16:44:08.947-04:00Whose Interests Do You Represent, Rep. Dingell?: Looking for an Answer at Your Town Hall Meetings

It's Time to Encourage Rep. Dingell to more strongly Represent the Interests of Michigan's Citizens, Auto Workers, and the Global Climate--not the narrow Interests of the Auto ExecutivesThis week, on Tuesday and Wednesday in Ann Arbor and Dearborn, MI, Rep. Dingell, who is Chair of the powerful House Energy and Commerce committee, which has key decision-making power on issues related to global

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-34470411046202112352007-08-06T11:02:00.000-04:002007-08-06T11:19:34.702-04:00Higher Fuel Economy Standards would BENEFIT BOTH the US Auto Companies and Jobs in Michigan!

A new University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) study provides clear evidence to support the point I have been arguing on this Blog over the last year: If the US Congress (and especially our local congressional Representative John Dingell) want to support the US auto industry and Michigan auto jobs, they need to require that the US auto industry raise its fuel economy

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-55682730821332645612007-07-30T16:01:00.001-04:002007-07-30T16:07:44.598-04:00Encourage your Representatives to Support HR 969, the Federal Renewable Energy Standards Act

Open Letter to Congressional House Members in support of H.R. 969, the Federal Renewable Energy Standards (RES) Act:This legislation may be the most important legislation you can vote for to safeguard both our national security and humanity's future. I deeply hope you will not only vote for this legislation, but will do all you can to build on and strengthen its principles in future legislation,

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-78761278477787453412007-07-29T18:13:00.001-04:002007-07-29T19:14:51.661-04:00The Need for Immediate & Dramatic Congressional Action on Climate Change: An Open Letter and Appeal to Rep. John Dingell

Dear Rep. Dingell,As you have stated, “The Congress should, must and will regulate CO2. I will continue to create a bill that does not place unfair burdens on one single group, industry or community . . . . Bringing everyone to the table is the best way to secure our future, preserve economic opportunity and protect our natural environment.”But because the increasingly dramatic pace of global

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-71659351560626862412007-07-10T03:15:00.000-04:002007-07-10T03:42:32.024-04:00Will this past weekend's Series of Consciousness-Raising Concerts Have any Impact on Global Policy related to Climate Change?

This past weekend with many others I participated in a local house party organized by members of MoveOn.org to view the town hall discussion of Democratic candidate positions on climate change, and to listen to highlights from the Live Earth concerts.As could have been expected, however, the series of concert highlights put together by NBC for broadcast on Saturday evening was a politically

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1164842660408776912006-11-29T17:26:00.000-05:002007-07-30T16:28:06.220-04:00Opposition to Auto Emission Regulation Enables Addiction of US Car Manufacturers!

The worst thing that policymakers can do for the US car industry and US auto jobs is to continue to "support" [read "enable"] US auto manufacturers by enabling their addiction to gas-guzzling and fuel inefficient manufacturing standards! Out of complete disgust with the absurd logic of debates over auto fuel efficiency standards in this country, I have written my Congressperson John Dingell. You

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1155336013300262922006-08-11T18:31:00.000-04:002006-08-11T18:40:13.316-04:00It's Time for a Major Transformation of US Policy toward Iraq and Terrorism

From History of the Present:Tom Hayden's recent web-post for The Nation (August 9), titled "Iraq is Dying," suggests all the reasons why US intervention in Iraq may now be doing so much more harm than good to the people of Iraq, and to the credibility of the United States around the world, and especially in the Islamic world.And in case US political leaders of both parties have not yet recognized

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1155236852026323022006-08-10T15:01:00.000-04:002006-08-10T15:07:32.030-04:00"Staying the Course" of a Failed Policy Vision and Strategy is Staying the Course to Disaster

From New Democratic Agenda:Republicans (and Republican fellow travelers, such as Lieberman has become) immediately sought to salve their fears about the rising tide of progressive democratic politics symbolized by the Lamont victory in Connecticut by resorting to Orwellian doublespeak that sought to turn new democratic signs of strength into weakness.Instead of recognizing what the Lamont victory

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1154453090248049862006-08-01T12:37:00.000-04:002006-08-01T13:27:20.723-04:00"Not Since the Vietnam Era ... Has the Army's Readiness Been So Degraded," according to Defense Experts

The National Security Advisory Group, an advisory group of defense and national security experts chaired by former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, has released a disturbing letter and call for attention to a crisis in the ability of this country to meet its most basic self-defense obligations, as a result of the protracted war in Iraq, poor planning, and inadequate attention to support of

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1153956016327288192006-07-26T19:18:00.000-04:002006-07-26T19:21:25.100-04:00Will Iraq be for the US what Afghanistan was for the Soviet Union: The Beginning of the End of US Empire?

From History of the Present:A US Army report has compared US involvement in Iraq to the disastrous involvement of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the early 1980s--an intervention that sapped the strength of the Soviet Union's military and economy, and helped to bring about that country's dissolution within a decade. Will the imperial overreach of the US intervention in Iraq sap the strength

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1153842601877352562006-07-25T11:39:00.000-04:002006-07-26T16:35:45.076-04:00"How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America"

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has a new book out that demystifies the rhetoric of so-called "free trade" and challenges the brain-dead economic policy that prevails in Washington DC--Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out AmericaListen to Diane Rehm's interview with Dorgan from this morning here.

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1153500460589744922006-07-21T12:25:00.000-04:002006-07-26T07:55:51.986-04:00Ford Says it is Environmentally Conscious because it may Produce 70 mpg Cars in TEN YEARS: Is This a Cruel Joke?

In case you haven't noticed it yet, here is the "Writing on the Wall" for the American Car Industry:"Unless you NOW begin to manufacture cars with dramatic improvements in fuel efficiency standards, there will be little left of GM and Ford in ten years."While Honda and Toyota already have cars on the market that are getting over 60 mpg, Ford is trying to promote itself as environmentally

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1153437720293323122006-07-20T19:16:00.000-04:002006-07-20T19:22:00.306-04:00Common Sense for a Time of Constitutional Crisis

"[Our economic and political rulers] have failed through their own stubborness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and have abdicated [their responsibility] ... They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish. ... They have shown no realization that what they call free enterprise means anything but greed." (Franklin D. Roosevelt)From New Democratic Agenda

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1152810885132370762006-07-13T13:13:00.000-04:002006-07-13T13:14:45.153-04:00Demand Leadership to End Global Warming Now!

Remember when people argued that global warming doesn't exist? (Exxon/Mobil, of course, still does, but we know why they want to obfuscate the truth.)As we move into another summer of chronic wildfires and drought in western states, and melting icecaps and glaciers, it's hard to ignore evidence of global warming's devastating consequences. And all the while, energy prices continue to rise, along

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1152306246246062142006-07-07T15:06:00.000-04:002006-07-07T18:30:54.886-04:00Larry King Fiddles in Lovefest with the President While the Country Burns: Some REAL QUESTIONS Journalists Should Be Asking

As many commentators have noted, this country is facing a perfect storm of mounting crises of national and global significance. Yet members of the Press, like Larry King, who have rare opportunities to seriously interview or question the President, continue to fiddle with the President and members of Congress, and to offer us lovefests rather than serious interviews, while the country burns (

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1152123955933534942006-07-05T14:24:00.000-04:002006-07-05T18:10:12.963-04:00Why We Need to Mobilize Against Exxon

From New Democratic Agenda:Eric Larsen and Lonnie Dupre, of Greenpeace, who began their trek to the North Pole on May 1, reached their destination over the holiday weekend, and they report their own shock at the degree to which the ice is breaking up due to the effects of global warming: Over the last 60 days, we have seen many signs of global warming, and the ice conditions have been much worse

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1151686145644156592006-06-30T12:47:00.000-04:002006-06-30T12:54:27.956-04:00Join the "Troops Home" Fast on July 4th

A Message and Invitation from Troops Home Fast organizers:President Bush makes a stealth visit to the Green Zone in Baghdad for a quick photo op with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, while Iraqis are plagued by ongoing violence PROVOKED by the very presence of the US troops. Hillary Clinton, the most likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, supports the war and believes we shouldn't set a

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1151594415013937222006-06-29T11:03:00.002-04:002006-06-30T12:55:53.760-04:00Soldiers Refusing to Participate in "Illegal and Immoral War"

From TomPaine.comTo Refuse To ServeRet. Col. Ann WrightJune 27, 2006Col. Ann Wright served in the U.S. Army for 13 years and in the U.S. Army Reserves for 16 years. She also served for 16 years in the U.S. diplomatic corps, and in that capacity helped reopen the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan in December 2001. She received the State Department’s Award for Heroism as the acting U.S. ambassador

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1151514561898226552006-06-28T12:59:00.000-04:002006-06-30T12:56:52.456-04:00How "Real ID" Legislation Is Depriving people of citizenship rights across the Nation

From "Democracy Dispatches," a DEMOS EJournal:Impending "Realness:" Transgender Communities Dealt a Blow By REAL IDby Cole Krawitz06/27/2006Recently election reformers have focused a great deal of attention on the real potential for a rollback in voting rights with the flurry of highly restrictive photo ID laws moving across state legislatures. Adding to an already layered system, there have been

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1151083124426065992006-06-23T13:06:00.000-04:002006-06-23T13:18:44.443-04:00The "Final Offer" at GM: The "Biggest Employer Buyout in American History"

Tonight's NOW, on PBS, is giving attention to recent events at GM, and the stakes for GM workers. (Check local listings here.)"The Final Offer"Today, over 100,000 General Motors auto workers must make a pivotal deal or no deal decision: stick to careers with uncertain futures, or allow GM to buy them out and walk away from jobs that many have held their entire lives. On NOW, a former GM employee

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1151081239147365122006-06-23T12:42:00.000-04:002006-06-23T12:47:19.166-04:00Our Democracy Is Being Undermined Step By Step

When one voter anywhere is deprived of the equal right to vote, without correction, democracy for all Americans is threatened-- What is going on right now in Ohio is threatening the democratic rights of all US citizens.According to ColorOfChange.org, Kenneth Blackwell--Ohio's Secretary of State--is once again trying to manipulate the election in favor of the Republican party by creating

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1151010830710075872006-06-22T17:04:00.000-04:002006-06-22T17:16:38.980-04:00Beyond the Policy Laundry List: What Does It Mean to Create a New Democratic Direction for the Country?

From New Democratic Agenda:A New Beginning?:Democratic Leader Pelosi RecognizesWhat the Foundation Must Be toEstablish Effective Democratic PoliticsFor the 21st Century“Ours must be a government 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.' That means all of the American people. Republicans have made it a government of, by, and for a few of the people. America can do better. We can and

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1150923950308925262006-06-21T16:38:00.000-04:002006-06-22T18:31:35.780-04:00Gettelfinger's Legacy--the Epitaph of the UAW?

For recent perspective on responses from UAW workers after last week's UAW conference, see Gregg Shotwell's (UAW Local 2151) essay, "Gettelfinger's Legacy--the Epitaph of the UAW?" on the FutureoftheUnion Blogsite--The most striking thing about a Gettelfinger speech is how sincerely insincere he can be. You can almost hear the McGuire Sisters harmonizing in the background and wiping schmaltz on

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1150742721099308922006-06-19T14:29:00.000-04:002006-06-19T14:56:30.243-04:00David Sirota on How Big Money Is the Corruption Destroying Our Government and Our Democracy

Trivializing CorruptionBy David SirotaDavid Sirota is the author of the new book "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government -- And How We Take It Back" (Crown Publishers, May 2006)As Sirota wrote in a recent essay related to his appearance this weekend on PBS's NOW show "Crude Awakening" on the corrupting influence of the oil industry lobby:Today, the lifeblood of

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1150492669520151682006-06-16T15:24:00.000-04:002006-06-22T18:30:10.746-04:00To Save American Auto Jobs, Workers Need to Take Leadership of the Future of the US Auto Industry

It is ironic that the UAW has this week decided more or less meekly to cooperate with the US car industry's plans to put hundreds of thousands of auto workers out of jobs, without demanding anything substantial in return for this downward spiral of continual sacrifice from auto workers. The UAW seems unwilling to challenge the fundamental logic governing the decline of the American auto industry

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1149264681859327122006-06-02T11:33:00.000-04:002006-06-02T12:23:12.560-04:00INCONVENIENT TRUTHS: While Real Problems Burn to Be Addressed, Congress Fiddles with Discriminatory Legislation

While the U.S. and the World Burn for Dramatic Policy Change in Washington on crisis issues such as Global Warming, the Conduct of the War in Iraq, increased Fuel Economy Standards, Human Rights, and Equality in Health, our Congress is playing around with the idea of writing discrimination into the US Constitution, which would incoporate discriminatory principles--destructive of human rights and

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1149186229238600922006-06-01T14:16:00.000-04:002006-06-01T14:23:49.266-04:00Call for Legislators to Require Greater Fuel Efficiency Standards for the US

The single best way to immediately begin to save the U.S. millions of barrels of oil each day is to significantly increase national fuel economy (CAFE) standards in automobiles. Yet most of the media and political hype over "kicking the oil habit" and Congressional policy change to achieve energy security seems to be constructed to divert attention from this single most important point. An

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1148583831919526432006-05-25T14:58:00.000-04:002006-05-25T15:03:51.956-04:00Corn Ethanol without Dramatically Increased Auto Fuel Efficiency Standards is a Deceptive Alternative!

In this morning's Diane Rehm show, Daniel Sperling--the Director of the Institute for Transportation Studies at UC-Davis--provided great insight into all that is wrong with any corn ethanol-based alternative fuel campaign that does not also emphasize dramatic increases in automobile fuel efficiency standards.As Sperling clarified, current corn ethanol production in the US does not help the

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1148582864157878642006-05-25T14:41:00.000-04:002006-05-25T14:55:20.446-04:00Another False Choice Hyped as a "Progressive" Alternative for Ending Our Oil Addiction

As desperately as we need real policy alternatives, policy campaigns like the unfortunately shallow new KicktheOilHabit campaign just launched by the Center for American Progress are a sad distraction rather than a real benefit to the progressive political community struggling to advocate and build public demand for progressive policy alternatives that will benefit ALL Americans, rather than only

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1148500065929892562006-05-24T15:46:00.000-04:002006-05-24T15:56:15.926-04:00Democratic Hamiltonians?! Will Both Our Political Parties Continue to Play Working Americans for Fools?

Does Alexander Hamilton really offer the kind of policy solutions the Democratic party needs to address the terrible situation working Americans have been placed in by several decades of unfettered globalization?According to the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project, Alexander Hamilton is the icon of all good things....As Satyagraha has previously written, however, Democrats concerned about

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1132650745666227652005-11-22T03:14:00.000-05:002005-11-22T04:12:25.680-05:00To Be or Not to Be in Iraq?: “A Flawed Policy Wrapped in Illusion”

To withdraw or not to withdraw from Iraq? That is the terribly inadequate question that is once again haunting Democratic and Republican legislators in Washington. This question was brought to the forefront of congressional debate last week by Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, who called the Bush strategy in Iraq “a flawed policy wrapped in an illusion.” But this question is important only as a

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1128106329164876382005-09-30T14:02:00.000-04:002005-09-30T15:02:18.246-04:00Bush Administration's Response to Katrina Failures: Further Undermine Civilian Preparedness By Greater Reliance on the Military

What is Wrong with this Picture?The Bush administration, in the years after 9/11, undermined FEMA's response capabilities by placing it under the Dept. of Homeland Security, and by appointing to key FEMA leadership positions people like Brown who had little experience in emergency management.Now, after the terrible error of their ways was revealed by Katrina, the Bush administration proposes that

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1126921445640606642005-09-16T19:53:00.000-04:002005-09-16T21:44:05.650-04:00Mr. President, Why Won't You Support an INDEPENDENT Commission to Study the Federal Response to Katrina?

After last night's partial mea culpa from the President, the Public needs to hold him to his word and ask one simple question repeatedly and insistently, until it receives an adequate answer:"Why, Mr. President, if you are truly serious about taking responsibility for the failures in the Federal response to the Katrina disaster, and if you are truly serious about doing what is necessary to make

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1124839236430269542005-08-23T19:08:00.000-04:002005-08-23T19:20:36.443-04:002005 UN World Summit, Meeting Sept. 14-16

"The 2005 World Summit, to be held from 14 to 16 September at United Nations Headquarters in New York, is expected to bring together more than 170 Heads of State and Government: the largest gathering of world leaders in history. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations. The agenda is based

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1124835566916352272005-08-23T18:15:00.000-04:002005-08-23T18:41:27.600-04:0058th UN DPI/NGO Conference Begins Sept. 7

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1110254562171862592005-03-07T21:46:00.000-05:002005-03-07T23:04:21.666-05:00Open Democracy is About More than "Allowing Citizens to Have Their Say" on the Sidelines of Policymaking

The Club of Madrid's own U.S. News Briefings about the opening of the Madrid Summit emphasize the role of the experts and state powerbrokers at the Summit, while mentioning almost as a footnote the following:During the three days of the Summit, participants will discuss and debate ways to develop a comprehensive democratic response to the threat of terrorism. Alongside the meeting, an on-line

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1110249150544140202005-03-07T21:08:00.000-05:002005-03-07T21:32:30.553-05:00Toward More Democratic Institution Building

Nancy Skougor's kindly encouraging words in response to my critique of the Madrid Summit process raise interesting points of their own about what it means to create democratic institutional space within the internet or any other institution, including that of the Club de Madrid. And especially so in relation to institutions of democratic policymaking like that which the Madrid Summit is

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1110154172671696182005-03-06T19:09:00.000-05:002005-03-06T19:18:38.716-05:00NOW--Democracy in Danger in the U.S.?

PBS's Weekly newsmagazine NOW feature of the week is "Democracy in Danger? Civil Liberties after 9/11." Their on-line coverage includes a fine review of the reasons restrictions were placed on domestic powers to spy on American citizens conducting peaceful political activities after 1971. Unfortunately, these restrictions have now been largely wiped away. See NOW's discussion of "COINTELPRO

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1110152087804801392005-03-06T18:14:00.000-05:002005-03-06T18:34:47.816-05:00This Week: International "Madrid Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security" Prepares Its Agenda

Toward Opening Up the Madrid Summit ProcessAs one of the participants in the on-line Summit debate Forum, which OpenDemocracy's Bill Thompson created to try to open up the process of the Madrid Summit (see his posting on NMK), I wanted to indicate how much I have appreciated his work and that of safedemocracy.org. I also greatly appreciate the way Thompson underlined in his comments the rather

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11276692.post-1110146579398778902005-03-06T16:57:00.000-05:002005-03-06T17:10:50.630-05:00Policybusters Unite! We Have Nothing to Lose but Our Chains!

In the spirit of Adbusters publisher Kalle Lasn's observation that far too few intellectuals move beyond "theories and explanations" to directly engage injustices, we issue this challenge: If we are to move beyond critique to tangible material change, we need to transform the way we discuss, write about, and make policy.After the recent U.S. election, Lasn's critique is painfully apt as it

Satyagrahahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958313088460728755noreply@blogger.com0