by Bill Onasch / March 2006 issue of Socialist Action newspaper (Note from the author: In the spirit of full disclosure, I must acknowledge that Social Security payments are my sole source of regular income.) The White House budget submitted to Congress includes a major proposal to privatize Social Security. It didn’t make the cut … Continue reading Social Security Privatization Still in Bush’s Budget
Category: Economy
Jobs and Health Care Benefits to Be Slashed in the Auto Industry
by Andrew Pollack / July 2005 issue of Socialist Action newspaper General Motors bosses hit the United Auto Workers with a double-whammy in early June. First they announced they were cutting 25,000 jobs, then they demanded billions in health-care cost savings from both active and retired workers by the end of June—savings which they threatened … Continue reading Jobs and Health Care Benefits to Be Slashed in the Auto Industry
French Voters Reject EU Constitution
by Gerry Foley / June 2005 issue of Socialist Action Although the French rulers pulled out all the stops to get a victory for the draft European constitution in the May 29 referendum, they suffered a stunning rebuff at the polls. With a turnout of over 70 percent, 55 percent of voters voted … Continue reading French Voters Reject EU Constitution
Rebellion Shakes Post-Stalinist Order in Central Asia
by Gerry Foley / June 2005 issue of Socialist Action Throughout the history of the Stalinized Soviet Union, the so-called Central Asian Republics were darkest corners of the bureaucratic dictatorship. It was here that the national oppression imposed on the small nations of the former Russian empire by the Great Russian chauvinist … Continue reading Rebellion Shakes Post-Stalinist Order in Central Asia
Oil Uber Alles!
by Michael G. Livingston/ May 2005 issue of Socialist Action If you understand the importance of oil to modern capitalism, you will understand a great deal indeed. Oil prices briefly hit $57 a barrel in early April, continuing an 18-month rise. Remember that in December 2003 oil prices were around $29 a barrel … Continue reading Oil Uber Alles!
The Bush Agenda: No Aid for Medicaid
by Joe Auciello / March 2005 issue of Socialist Action Critics of President Bush’s scheme to privatize Social Security have pointed out that the president has exaggerated the danger of that program’s future difficulties and has misled the public to pursue his political agenda—reducing a guaranteed benefit for many retirees to finance income tax … Continue reading The Bush Agenda: No Aid for Medicaid
Bush launches assault on Social Security
by Michael Schreiber – February, 2005 Since the inauguration of his second term, President Bush has redoubled his efforts to convince Congress and citizens to support his plans to “fix” Social Security by means of benefit cuts and the privatization of individual accounts. The administration’s impending Social Security reform is part of a … Continue reading Bush launches assault on Social Security
Protests Force Putin to Halt Some Cutbacks to Benefits
by Gerry Foley – February, 2005 Large and militant demonstrations by pensioners and their supporters over the weekend of Jan. 15-16 forced Russia’s authoritarian ruler, Vladimir Putin, to retreat from his attempt to eliminate free services, primarily free transportation, for the country’s elderly and public workers. The protests were the largest since the … Continue reading Protests Force Putin to Halt Some Cutbacks to Benefits
Lockheed, King of Warfare
by Jeff Mackler – February, 2005 Remember the term “military-industrial complex?” It used to conjure up images of an array of U.S. corporations that produced weapons of war for superprofits. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against these military contractors exercising undue influence over government. In the 1970s the Lockheed Corporation was one of … Continue reading Lockheed, King of Warfare
Aceh: Hit by Tsunami & Indonesian Military
by Gerry Foley – February, 2005 The majority of those killed by the Dec. 26 tsunami, at least 160,000 people, were in the small nation of Aceh on the tip of Sumatra. It is a staggering loss out a total population of only about 4 million. Furthermore, this blow to the Acehnese people … Continue reading Aceh: Hit by Tsunami & Indonesian Military
Tsunami disaster magnified by poverty, imperialism
by Gerry Foley Natural disasters like the Southeast Asian tidal wave do serve to highlight the interdependence of the entire human community. The world today cannot remain indifferent to the tragedy of the people living along the coasts of this region. Despite the capitalist offensive under the flag of “neoliberalism” and its extreme … Continue reading Tsunami disaster magnified by poverty, imperialism
The decline of the dollar
by Jeff Mackler The dollar has continued to decline against the euro and most other major world currencies. On Dec. 23, one euro sold for US$1.35, a drop of 7 percent since the Nov. 2 election and a drop of almost 35 percent over the past two years. A few years ago, by … Continue reading The decline of the dollar
OCAP eyes ex-cop shop for squat
by Judy Koch On Nov. 13 the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (a movement based in this city that fights for the rights of unemployed and poor working people) took direct action to occupy an empty building so that it could be used as a squat or shelter for homeless people. As in many other cities … Continue reading OCAP eyes ex-cop shop for squat
BOOK REVIEW: Washington’s Secret Dealings with Islamist Oil Interests
By PAUL SIEGEL Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquié, "Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the Failed Hunt for Bin Laden." Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation Books, 2002. 249 pp. $12.95. "Forbidden Truth" is a translation of a book that was published in Paris two months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Washington’s Secret Dealings with Islamist Oil Interests
Uruguay Hit by Economic Crisis
By GERRY FOLEY Uruguay, formerly known as the Switzerland of Latin America, seems to be plunging into a deep social and political crisis parallel to that of its larger neighbor Argentina. On Aug. 25, Uruguayan independence day, according to the Mexico City daily La Jornada, 100,000 marched in Montevideo to protest the government's economic austerity policy … Continue reading Uruguay Hit by Economic Crisis
Where Standing Still and Minding Your Own Business is a Crime
By ADAM RITSCHER I keep imagining a sign. It's big and green, with white lettering. It hangs over the highway, and it looks like this: Or maybe it isn't over the highway-it could be hanging off the side of city hall with bright flashing Las Vegas lights. "Seven hundred dollars," you'd think to yourself, staring … Continue reading Where Standing Still and Minding Your Own Business is a Crime
Unemployment Growing in China
By ZHANG KAI HONG KONG-Since China embarked on the road for capitalism, enterprises with profit-making as their main concern have been laying off workers for cost-effectiveness. With China entering into global competition after accession to WTO, readjustments, bankruptcies and mergings of enterprises will accelerate; the post Sept. 11 impact on China's exports also added to … Continue reading Unemployment Growing in China
‘Corporate Responsibility’ – an Oxymoron?
By JEFF MACKLER The recent wild U.S. stock market gyrations have stunned virtually all observers. "Stocks Tumble and the Fallout is Going Global," headlined The New York Times on July 23. As measured by the Standard and Poor's 500-Index, the market lost more between July 15 and July 25 than in any comparable period in history. The … Continue reading ‘Corporate Responsibility’ – an Oxymoron?
Even Corporate Media Scorned Bush’s Pep Talk
By THE EDITORS OF SOCIALIST ACTION Cascading bankruptcies of multibillion-dollar corporations and catastrophic plunges of the stock market forced the official front-man for American capitalism, President George W. Bush, to try to offer some reassurance about "business morality" in a special speech July 9. After all, people might get the idea that our wonderful "free … Continue reading Even Corporate Media Scorned Bush’s Pep Talk
Peruvian Workers Resist Neoliberal Policies – Will Mexico Follow?
By GERRY FOLEY Throughout Latin America, revolt is growing against so-called free market economic policies, a major article in the July 19 New York Timeslamented. The immediate focus of the article was the mass protests in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa against the planned privatization of two state-owned electricity generators. The newly installed government of … Continue reading Peruvian Workers Resist Neoliberal Policies – Will Mexico Follow?
MCI WorldCom – One More Instance of Corporate Thievery
By JEFF MACKLER American capitalism was stunned by yet another catastrophe on June 26 when MCI WorldCom, the nation's second largest long-distance carrier, admitted that it had doctored its books to hide massive losses The humbled behemoth, whose stock is now virtually worthless, admits that $3.8 billion in funds it did not have were added … Continue reading MCI WorldCom – One More Instance of Corporate Thievery
Economy on the Rebound? Ask the Folks without Jobs
By JEFF MACKLER When the U.S. Commerce Department reported on April 26 that the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose at an annually adjusted rate of 5.8 percent during the first quarter of 2002, the stock market gleefully registered a momentary advance. Analysts initially, and without foundation, concluded that the data signaled a sharp rise … Continue reading Economy on the Rebound? Ask the Folks without Jobs
Youth in Action
The Truth about Shell Oil By MARK OSTAPIAK In September 2001, Northland College in Ashland, Wis., sponsored a forum on "sustainability" featuring a representative from Shell Oil. In response, the Youth for Socialist Action on campus distributed a leaflet describing Shell's atrocious record in Nigeria. This article is adapted from the leaflet. Beneath the ground … Continue reading Youth in Action
National Steel Corporation Declares Bankruptcy
By ADAM RITSCHER DULUTH, Minn.-In early March, National Steel Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. National Steel is the fifth largest steel company in the country, and its bankruptcy comes on the heels of that of Cleveland Cliffs-which is the nation's number one iron ore producer. Both corporations have blamed their financial difficulties on … Continue reading National Steel Corporation Declares Bankruptcy
How Much Will Steel Tariffs Cost Steelworkers
By CHARLES WALKER You can't blame steelworkers for taking to the streets, demanding that their jobs and their security be protected from the dog-eat-dog competition that's driving some steel companies into bankruptcy and steel workers onto unemployment lines. But sometimes when the demands of some steelworkers are met, even partially, other steelworkers are forced out … Continue reading How Much Will Steel Tariffs Cost Steelworkers