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Bush Aides Consider Domestic Spy Agency
November 16, 2002 By Dana Priest and Dan Eggen Concerns on
FBI's Performance Spur Debate of Options President Bush's top
national security advisers have begun discussing the creation of a
new, domestic intelligence agency that would take over
responsibility for counterterrorism spying and analysis from the
FBI, according to U.S. government officials and intelligence
experts. washingtonpost.com
Bush wants to
privatize 850,000 federal jobs Nov.
15, 2002 By RON HUTCHESON The
Bush administration announced plans Thursday to turn over as many as
850,000 federal jobs to private companies in an effort to improve
service and cut costs. The
proposal could eliminate about half of the 1.7 million federal
civilian workers by contracting out jobs ranging from lawn mowing to
satellite tracking. Private companies could bid for the work under a
process that may be outlined as early as Friday in the Federal
Register, which gives public notice of all government actions. miami.com
This Time a Bush Embraces 'Voodoo
Economics' Theory November 15,
2002 By Dana Milbank President Bush took a ride on the Laffer
Curve yesterday and espoused a tax-cut theory his father once
derided as "Voodoo Economics."
After
a meeting with his Cabinet, the president was asked about the
federal budget deficit. "Well, we have a deficit because tax
revenues are down," he said. "Make no mistake about it,
the tax relief package that we passed -- that should be permanent...
washingtonpost.com
ACLU Calls on
President Bush to Disavow New Cyber-Spying Scheme That Seeks to Put
Every American Under Scrutiny
November 15,
2002 The American Civil
Liberties Union today called on President Bush to disavow a new
system being developed at the Pentagon that would be able to track
every American’s activities. "Smile, you’re on virtual
candid camera," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU’s
Washington National Office. "If the Pentagon has its way, every
American - from the Nebraskan farmer to the Wall Street banker -
will find themselves under the accusatory cyber-stare of an
all-powerful national security apparatus." aclu.org
US economic outlook: fears of renewed
recession—and worse 15 November
2002 By Patrick Martin The unexpectedly large interest rate
cut announced by the Federal Reserve Board last week demonstrates
that the US central bank shares the fears of renewed recession that
are widespread in corporate America.
The
Fed lowered its key federal funds rate, the rate at which banks loan
money to each other overnight, from 1.75 percent to 1.25 percent,
the lowest level in more than 40 years. A quarter-point cut had been
expected, but the Fed’s Open Market Committee said the US economy
was encountering a “soft spot” that made a half-point cut
appropriate. The Fed also lowered its discount rate, the rate at
which the Fed lends to member banks, to 0.75 percent, the lowest in
its 89-year history. wsws.org
Iraq Agrees To Receive Inspectors
U.N. Team to Arrive Next Week
November 15, 2002 By Karen DeYoung Iraq yesterday said it is
ready to receive United Nations weapons inspectors in accordance
with the Security Council resolution approved last week, bowing to
intense international pressure two days before a U.N. deadline. washingtonpost.com
1 in 3 say Bush is biggest threat
November 14, 2002 Patrick Wintour and Ewen MacAskill
President George Bush is seen by a third of Britons as a bigger
threat to world safety than Saddam Hussein, according to a new poll
conducted by a senior US Republican and due to be broadcast today.
But most of those questioned by the polling organisation, You.Gov say
they remain open minded, and ready to be convinced about the
justification for an attack on Iraq. The weighted poll of 3,200
people throughout the country was conducted for Channel 4 by Robert
Lunz, a senior Republican strategist, based on the You.Gov sample. guardian.co.uk
Mounting signs of early US
invasion of Iraq 14 November 2002
By Chris Marsden In the wake of Iraq’s formal acceptance
Wednesday of the United Nations Security Council resolution imposing
a new weapons inspection regime, the Bush administration is
continuing to prepare a war against the Arab country, which could
begin as early as next month. Reinforcing this bellicose stance, the
Pentagon leaked invasion plans involving a force of a quarter of a
million troops to the New York Times and Washington Post earlier
this week. The war plan outlines a military offensive that would
lead to thousands, if not tens of thousands of casualties. wsws.org
Interest Rate Cut A
Desperation Move Greenspan Knows Won't Work
November 14, 2002
On Nov. 6, the Federal
Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee unanimously decided to
cut the federal funds rate from 1.75% to 1.25%, more than expected.
This is the rate at which banks trade overnight surplus funds, but
it is set by the Federal Reserve; it is at its lowest level since
July 1961. The Fed also cut the discount rate, at which banks borrow
directly from the Federal Reserve, to 0.75%, also a half-percent.
Even during World War II, the discount rate did not go
below 1%, and it appears, from available data, it did not go below
1% during the 1930s.
The Fed is desperate, because both the bankrupt financial system and
the physical economy are not responding to its traditional monetary
policy, and things are getting worse. It may also be that a
catastrophe has already occurred in the credit markets, such as a derivatives
blow-out, which required an emergency credit infusion, which the Fed
and the media are blacking out. nex.net
ACLU Asks Court to
Order Government to Immediately Account for its Use of Vast New
Surveillance Powers
November 14, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW YORK-- The
American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to order
the Department of Justice to respond immediately to a Freedom of
Information Act lawsuit seeking information on the government's use
of extraordinary new surveillance powers granted to it by Congress
last year. "As the Justice Department has conceded, there
is widespread public concern about the scope of the new surveillance
powers and the possibility that the government is abusing
them," said Jameel Jaffer, an attorney with the ACLU’s
Technology and Liberty Program. "The records we have
identified would enable the public to judge for itself whether these
new surveillance powers are necessary and whether they are being
used as they should be," he added. The ACLU sought the
court order today after more than two weeks of negotiations with
Justice Department lawyers failed to secure the government’s
cooperation with the legal request. In legal papers filed today
in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the ACLU
asked Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle to order the Justice Department to
disclose within seven days what relevant records its possesses and
to release those records within 20 days. The ACLU also asked the
court to schedule oral arguments as quickly as possible. aclu.org
IraqJournal.org on the Air:
Interviews of Iraqi Parliament Officials
November 14, 2002 Iraq Journal (IJ) is broadcasting daily
updates about the possibility of imminent war and ongoing anti-war
activities on Democracy
Now! radio and TV. Democracy Now's outreach is growing:
syndicating coverage to 130 TV and radio stations nationwide.
Tuesday, IJ journalist Jeremy Scahill interviewed
Iraqi Parliament officials about their rejection of the UN
resolution (See Democracy Now!'s summary
and webstream from November 11). Saddoun Hammadi, Speaker of the
Iraqi parliament, said that by rejecting the resolution Iraq is not
inviting a war. Rather, Hammadi stated, "This is a rejection of
allegations which are not true, of information which is false and of
a bad intention which is behind this resolution... Iraq has
fulfilled all the requirements of the previous resolutions. There
are no mass destruction weapons in Iraq at all." The parliament
qualified its position, noting that the final decision about the UN
resolution lies with the Iraqi leadership, essentially meaning
Hussein. On Wednesday, Iraq accepted with "no conditions"
the U.N. resolution on the return of weapons inspectors. indymedia.org
Earthjustice: Defense Authorization
Bill Passes Senate; Includes Migratory Bird Treaty Waiver
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2002 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The 2003 Defense
Authorization Bill sent to President Bush late Wednesday includes a
provision to exempt the military from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
This provision, requested by the Bush Administration, seeks to allow
the incidental take (killing) of migratory birds on 25 million acres
of land controlled by the military. The Bush administration had
originally requested an exemption for the military from many of our
nations important federal laws including the Endangered Species Act,
the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Clean Air Act and Superfund (CERCLA).
But the strong efforts of Reps. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), John Dingell
(D-Mich.), Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.),
scaled back the administrations original demands that would have
gutted many of the nation's most important environmental laws. usnewswire.com
How
will stocks handle the Big Chill?
November 14, 2002 By
Michael Brush Through
an ironic quirk of nature, global warming may soon take a back seat
to a dramatic reduction in temperatures. Here’s how to invest with
such a forecast in mind. Investors in
weather-sensitive sectors like insurance and travel are smugly
confident of unusually mild temperatures ahead, thanks to global
warming and another date with El Niño this winter. But they may be
in for a nasty surprise that could dramatically upset their
portfolios -- in the form of a Big Chill the likes of which we
haven’t seen for decades. An unconventional doomsday forecast of
global cooling is making the rounds among oceanographers and
hedge-fund managers. The catalyst behind the forecast: an ominous
mass of fresh water building up in the Northern Atlantic. Simply
put, that mass threatens to block Gulf Stream currents that normally
bring warmth up from the south. If this scenario plays out, it could
lower average temperatures dramatically in Europe and North America
for years, with vast economic and political consequences. moneycentral.msn.com
Alex Jones Radio Show
Posted Nov. 14, 2002 Alex Jones: Partial Transcript-
They are doing precisely, exactly what I said they would do. And I
even predicted they would try to connect it to the Michigan militia,
following the same pattern of Oklahoma City. They are now saying
that there are al Qaeda training camps in South America. Translate
that into CIA training camps in South America and that is connected
to the American right-wing. Now I figured this out over two years
ago. Why would they have Iraqis involved in the Oklahoma City
bombing and then cover it up when good police arrested the Iraqis
with the eye witnesses pointing them out. Clinton ordered the Iraqis
released. They declared national security in two separate Freedom of
Information Act trials. On the surveillance cameras, they would
never release those. So we had FBI in the building. We even know
their names, with CIA, actually planting the bombs. We have the
diversionary blasts outside with McVeigh and Al Hussaini Hussain of
the Iraqi Republican Guard. infowars.com
Iraq
invasion will trigger 'human catastrophe,' November
13, 2002 report
warns Fears Iraqis could be used as shields GEORGE EDMONSON
WASHINGTON—A report to be released today predicts that an invasion
of Iraq could lead to a "human catastrophe" with
casualties as high as 250,000 within the first three months. "Collateral
Damage: The Health and Environmental Costs of War on Iraq" was
prepared largely by Medact, the British affiliate of International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. The U.S. affiliate,
Physicians for Social Responsibility, also was involved. Most of the
estimated casualties would be Iraqi civilians caught in the bombing,
said Bob Schaeffer, a spokesman in Massachusetts for the
International Physicians organization. It was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1985 for what the committee called its
"considerable service to mankind by spreading authoritative
information and by creating an awareness of the catastrophic
consequences of atomic warfare.'' thestar.com
Dem Senate Leaders Screw Labor Movement, Give Up Fed Workers' Collective
Bargaining Rights To Anti-Union Bush. November 13, 2002 By Politex When Tom Daschle, John Breaux, and the other Dem
Senate centrists decided to back Bush's version of the Homaland
Security bill and bring it to the Senate floor for an up or down
vote, they screwed the nearly 200,000 fed workers in two dozen fed
agencies that will make up the new Homeland Security Department out
of a hard-fought cornerstone of the American union movement, the
right of collective bargaining. Under the Bush bill, he or his
representative can hire, fire, promote, or demote any worker in that
department for whatever reason he sees fit without recourse. The Dem
leaders hope to cover their behinds by claiming the bill is a
compromise because it includes a mediation clause. But while the
fired worker can talk to a mediator about his case, the mediator's
decision will carry absolutely no legal weight with respect to Bush
changing his decision. That's the Dem's idea of
"compromise." That's an insult. That's not collective
bargaining, that's slave labor. bushwatch
New Study To Find Employer
Tax Credits for Child Care Aren't Working
November 13. 2002 Over half the states - 28 - have enacted employer
tax credits for child care, but the credits have failed to encourage
employers to provide child care assistance to their employees,
according to a new study that will be released by the National
Women's Law Center on November 19. The report examines employer tax
credits in 20 states in which data are available. In 16 of the 20
states, five or fewer corporations claimed the tax credit. In five
of the 16 states, no corporations claimed the credit. Even more
troubling, the credits are diverting state resources from proven
solutions to America's child care needs. usnewswire.com
US
Warns War on Iraq May Start Before Christmas
November 12, 2002 [R]esident
Bush issued a tough new warning to Saddam Hussein yesterday as
administration officials said that a war could begin before the end
of the year. In a series of Veterans' Day memorial services, Mr Bush
said he was ready to take his country to war. Unless President
Saddam Hussein fully disarmed, "America will lead a coalition
to fully disarm him. news.independent
White House defends CIA
killing of US citizen in Yemen
November 12, 2002 By Bill Vann Having confirmed reports
that one of the six men killed in a CIA missile strike in Yemen
November 3 was an American citizen, US government officials are
defending the action as a justifiable use of force and making clear
that it will be replicated elsewhere. The Bush administration’s
national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, described the killing
as “well within the bounds of accepted practice,” in a
television interview Sunday. “I can assure you that no
constitutional questions are raised here,” added Rice. Ms. Rice
failed to spell out what section of the US Constitution she believes
endows the president with the power to order the killing of American
citizens overseas. wsws.org
 A
dark week for democracy November
11, 2002 By WILL HUTTON DAN
The stranglehold the
far Right has now taken on America will make it a more divided,
reactionary and illiberal country. The election in Georgia said it
all. The Democrat governor, Roy Barnes, had dared to remove the
Confederate symbol from the state flag last year. His Republican
challenger wanted to bring it back, to honour, he said, 300,000
Confederate 'veterans'. A Republican has not occupied Georgia's
governor's mansion since 1872. After last Tuesday, one does,
courtesy of wanting to celebrate a civil war fought to defend
slavery. Europeans do not understand the
curious civilisation that the current America is becoming, and the
grip that a visceral and idiosyncratic conservatism has on its
national discourse. They especially do not understand the
undercurrents of an increasingly self-confident and subtle racism
that is its own variant of the forces that in Europe gave us Le Pen
and Pim Fortuyn. George Bush Jnr is a chip off the old
multilateralist, transatlantic establishment, runs the European
argument. He may seem hawkishly conservative but, in the end, he
seeks UN resolutions like other American Presidents. Even at home,
his bark is worse than his bite. thepeoplesvoice.org
"CARVILLE" November
11, 2002 - To be honest, but for Paul Wellstone’s funeral, we
would have won in Minnesota and probably Missouri. That would have
given us a tie (in the Senate). It’s not as shocking as it could
have been, though. America is getting ready to learn a lesson, and
that is that very minor shifts in voting can produce policy
earthquakes. And, stand by, because the policy earthquakes are
coming....You can see unbelievably rapid loosening of environmental
regulations and fundamental restructuring or attempted restructuring
of both the tax code and the Social Security system, and you’re
going to see a PAC right-wing federal judiciary, and you’re going
to see an administration and a Congress that is 100 percent
representative of corporate interest. You’re going to see a
diminution of any protection for workers or anything like that.
You’re certainly going to see a huge legislation passed and signed
to limit products’ liability, defects in products and medical
malpractice. You name it. All of that is coming." msnbc.com
The Right Wing Republicans Have
Made Compassion and Democratic Values Seem Radical November
11, 2002 By Maureen Farrell The New Radical Left (And
the Old Folks Who Fuel It) They say people become more conservative
with age. Until recently, that seemed so. For the legions of us who
came of age as the left became a cartoon, a rightward shift was
inevitable. We grew to distrust all of it: long overdue advances in
civil rights were accompanied by open season on anything white and
male; the women's movement was hijacked by champions of unwed
childlessness; and valid opposition to the Vietnam War gave way to
factions shamelessly spitting upon soldiers. It was distasteful and
disgraceful and we gravitated towards the center. buzzflash.com
 Half-A-Million
March in Anti-War Rally in Italy
November 10, 2002 By Luke
Baker FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters)
- More than half a million anti-war protesters from across Europe
marched through this Italian Renaissance city on Saturday in a loud
and colorful demonstration denouncing any possible U.S. attack on
Iraq. Brimming with anti-American feelings and riled by a tough new
U.N. resolution to disarm Iraq, young and old activists from as far
afield as Russia and Portugal joined forces for the carnival-like
rally, singing Communist anthems and 1970s peace songs. "Take
your war and go to hell," read one banner, in a forest of
multi-colored and multi-lingual placards. "Drop
Bush, not Bombs" read another. Some placards depicted President
Bush as Hitler and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as
Mussolini. Organizers said the
rally, planned months ago, gained added relevance by Friday's U.N.
Security Council resolution which gave Iraq a last chance to disarm
or face almost certain war. reuters.com
UN resolution on Iraq: a cynical
cover for US aggression 10
November 2002 Editorial Board - With its unanimous vote
Friday on a US-British resolution threatening “serious
consequences” if Iraq does not comply with a new weapons
inspections regime, the United Nations Security Council has given
the Bush administration an international cover for the war it is
planning against the Arab nation. The resolution is a thoroughly
cynical document, which deliberately sets forward requirements that
Iraq cannot possibly meet. It thereby satisfies the aims of
Washington—to fashion the pretext for launching a war that is
already well in preparation, without requiring the US to obtain
prior authorization from the Security Council. While portrayed by
the Bush administration and the media as a compromise reached
through intense negotiations over substantive matters, the
resolution, in fact, represents a bowing by permanent Security
Council members France, Russia and China to intense pressure from
Washington. wsws.org
US lays out plans to invade Iraq with
200,000 troops November 10, 2002 Peter
Beaumont and Ed Vulliamy in New York President George Bush has
accelerated planning for a massive military attack against Iraq amid
White House fears that Saddam Hussein will defy last Friday's UN
resolution commanding him to disarm. According to US sources, quoted
in today's New York Times, Bush and his senior officials have
approved an outline plan for the removal from power of Saddam even
as other members of the Security Council - notably Russia - declared
that Resolution 1441 had averted the threat of a US-led war against
Iraq. The plan - final details of which were approved by Bush well
before the Security Council's vote on Friday to disarm Iraq -
envisages a land attack on Iraq by upwards of 200,000 troops, up to
20,000 of them British. The Britons are likely to get provisional
deployment orders next week. observer.co
Election
shifts Social Security impetus GOP gains may renew privatization
talk 11/10/2002 By Leigh
Strope, Associated Press, WASHINGTON - Emboldened by
Republicans' election triumph, advocates of partial privatization of
Social Security are pressing for an overhaul of the retirement
system as early as next year. ''The odds of that happening were
dramatically improved on Tuesday,'' said Derrick Max, executive
director of the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security. ''The
election results show you can take a position in favor of
modernization and still win by sizable margins.'' But Democrats, who
campaigned against risking Social Security money in the stock
market, say Republicans did not win an election mandate on the
retirement system.''What they have is a mandate to obscure the issue
of Social Security,'' said Representative Robert T. Matsui of
California, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Social
Security subcommittee. boston.com
Rampaging Republicans
November 10, 2002 - The President, let's understand, won a historic
victory by committing politics--shrewd, aggressive, old-fashioned,
take-no-prisoners politics--while the opposition party did the
opposite. That is why Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate
and even added to their House majority. They are now in a position
to do real damage with long-term consequences for the Republic, from
gutting the federal tax code to packing the Supreme Court with more
right-wingers, advancing an agenda we continue to believe Americans
at large neither want nor support. Nevertheless, progressives should
take reality's cold shower and acknowledge that this was no fluke or
fraud like 2000. Bush and his party brilliantly, daringly used what
they had to maximum advantage, while the Dems went limp. thenation.com
Enviros fear drilling,
logging in wake of Republican gains
November 10, 2002 LAS VEGAS (AP) - Democrats weren't the only
ones who watched this week's election results with mounting
discomfort. Environmentalists also were alarmed by the GOP's
tightened grip on Congress. Many conservationists fear Republican
gains in the Senate and House mean that President Bush's agenda on
natural resource issues could receive a friendlier reception, from
proposals to log in national forests to drill in Alaska. "I
think it's very, very bad news for the environment of the
West," said Debbie Sease, Sierra Club national legislative
director. "I think it's going to result in more timber being
cut in our national forests. There'll be attempts to weaken the
Endangered Species Act." billingsgazette.com
Drug
Industry Poised to Reap Political Dividends
November 9, 2002 By Vicki Kemper Pharmaceutical Firms and
Other Major Donors to Winning GOP Candidates are Ready to Push Their
Legislative Agendas in Washington. WASHINGTON -- Few industries
campaigned harder than pharmaceutical manufacturers to elect
Republicans to the new Congress, and few industries are better
positioned to reap the rewards of the election returns, analysts
said Thursday. "The pharmaceutical industry may be at the front
of the line of groups looking at the next two years as an
opportunity to make a lot of progress on their issues," said
Larry Makinson, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Center for
Responsive Politics in Washington. It is a long line, with some
related industries -- insurance companies, HMOs and physicians --
crowded near the front, along with energy companies, financial
services and much of the rest of corporate America's elite. Their
wish lists have many items in common, notably less regulation and
more tax incentives. For drug manufacturers, that translates to no
price controls, no patent reform and laws that keep drugs that are
sold at cut rates abroad from being resold in the U.S. at the lower
prices. truthout.com
USA: AFTER THE
VICTORY, THE REPUBLICANS WON'T HAVE ANYBODY ELSE TO SHARE THE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR FUTURE FAILURES, November
9, 2002 Vladimir Simonov / - President George W. Bush and his
Republican Party took a great risk when they tried to transform the
mid-term congressional elections into a referendum on confidence in
the President and his gambling-like anti-terrorist policy. The risk
was successfully justified. The Republicans scored a dramatic
victory, capturing a majority in the Senate, where they own now at
least 51 seats. They also strengthened their majority in the House
of Representatives. The White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer
definitely had all the reasons to call this victory
"historic." Indeed, it is only the third time in a century
that the President-led party has improved its standing in the
Congress. Previously, only Franklin Roosevelt in 1934 and Bill
Clinton in 1998 managed to break the pattern of the inevitable
ceasing of the dominant positions in the Congress. Bush Jr. has
become the first Republican to join this cohort of lucky leaders.
And he obviously earned this luck. cdi.org/russia
New Yorkers Watch Ashcroft
Watch New Yorkers
November 9, 2002 This past Tuesday, pedestrians in downtown New York
City saw the demonic specter of a 20-by-50-foot (6-by-15-meter)
image of Attorney General John Ashcroft staring at them from what is
usually a giant advertisement for a clothing store. The sign bore
the message "Ashcroft Is Watching You." A member of the Complacent
Organization responsible for the culture jam said, "We
wanted to remind people that while everyone especially activists has
been distracted by the war on Iraq, Ashcroft has hidden himself away
and pushed further and further with his agenda… We wanted to remind
people of our lost civil liberties." Meanwhile, the New
York Civil Liberties Union handed out copies of the Bill of
Rights as Ashcroft visited Buffalo
on Thursday. indymedia.org
Emboldened,
President Bush Will Push To 'Enronize' Nation's Electricity System;
Republicans Plan More Deregulation Nov. 8, 2002 /U.S.
Newswire/ -- Consumer advocates fear that President Bush will push
for further energy deregulation in the wake of Tuesday's Republican
take-over of Congress, according to consumer advocates with the
non-profit, non-partisan Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
(FTCR). Post-election news reports (Wall Street Journal 11/7, e.g.)
indicate that energy will be among the President's top priorities
with the new congress and consumer advocates expect that the stalled
Energy Policy Act of 2002 will be revived to further deregulate the
nation's electricity generation and transmission systems while
ignoring the lessons of Enron and the California energy crisis. usnewswire.com
Bush Makes Security Department -
(Police State) and Tax Cut - (For the Rich) Top Priorities
November 8, 2002 By ELISABETH BUMILLER WASHINGTON—
President Bush said today that his top priority after the Republican
victories in the midterm elections was creating a new Department of
Homeland Security-(police state), long stalled in
(Democratic)-Congress, and that he wanted it done before the end of
the year. Mr. Bush also said it was essential for Congress to make
his $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax cut (for the rich) permanent
after its planned expiration in 2010, a centerpiece of his domestic
agenda that the Democratic-controlled Senate had blocked. nytimes.com
US longshore officials cave in to
West Coast shippers’ anti-union demands
8 November 2002 By Andrea Cappannari and Rafael Azul The
leadership of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
last week agreed to the main concessionary demands put forward by
West Coast shipping companies in the protracted negotiations for a
new contract. While other contract issues remain to be settled, an
agreement was reached between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime
Association (PMA) on the introduction of labor-saving technology.
The deal, announced by the director of the Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service on November 1, will mean the destruction of
some 1,000 jobs and further attacks on dockworkers’ working
conditions and living standards. wsws.org
Is Democracy too much
trouble? November 8, 2002 By
James Higdon Online Journal Contributing Editor—What is the
lesson of November 5, 2002? It is simple really. It all comes down
to one major overriding factor. A free press that encourages fierce
investigative journalism of government and institutions, and
promotes free and open debate with an array of divergent views and
opinions is the single most brilliant vision of our founding
fathers. For more than 200 years, as a nation, we found ways to
preserve and encourage that vision, until greedy, right wing,
corporate robber barons realized that was the one central roadblock
that stood in their way. Purchasing a political party was not
enough, but purchasing America's broadcast airwaves was just the
prescription needed to insure success. onlinejournal.com
US
midterm election: the meaning of the Democratic debacle 7
November 2002 The Republican sweep in the November 5 midterm
election sets the stage for an enormous intensification of the
social and political crisis in the United States. The attempt by the
media to present the election result as a vindication of George W.
Bush and an expression of popular support for his policies is an
exercise in cynical propaganda. Even to speak of the Republicans
“winning” the campaign is misleading. The November 5 election
was not seriously contested by the nominal opposition party. It was
a political debacle for the Democrats. The rout was across the
board, with the Democrats ceding control of the Senate, losing seats
in the House of Representatives, and going down to defeat in a
majority of gubernatorial races. The Republican Party now has the
presidency and a majority in both houses of Congress for the first
time since the election of Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. Adding the
Supreme Court as another right-wing stronghold, the Republicans are
in control of all three branches of the US government for the first
time since the Hoover administration in 1930. The Bush
administration is under no illusions as to the breadth of popular
support for its policies, but it will exploit the collapse of any
opposition within the political establishment to carry out an
unprecedented attack on the working class. Already given the green
light by the House and Senate, the White House is expected to launch
war against Iraq in the next few months, with incalculable
consequences for the peoples of the Middle East, America and the
world. wsws.org
health insurance. CAHI's 2002 Voters' Guide is free
and available online at http://www.cahi.org
or by request. usnewswire.com
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