Tidbits - Jan. 17, 2019 - Reader Comments: Government Shutdown - Case for a General Strike; AOC and Tax Policy; Los Angeles Teachers; 2020 Elections; Resources; Announcements; Protest Music links; and more....
A Cartoon About Government Work -- Teresa Burns Parkhurst (Mad Magazine)
Re: What Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Know About Tax Policy? A Lot. (Jenny Kastner; Meredith Lee Schafer-Garza; Stanley Aronowitz)
Re: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Floating a 70 Percent Top Tax Rate — Here’s the Research That Backs Her Up (Tom Trumper)
Re: The Philosophical Roots of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 70 Percent Tax Plan (Walter (Jerry) Kendall; Marian Feinberg)
Emergency -- cartoon by Rob Rogers
Re: The Case for a National General Strike Protesting Trump's Heartless Shutdown (Jim Duffett; James McGinnis)
Re: As Shutdown Becomes Longest In U.S. History, Federal Employees Sue Over Working For No Pay (Dan Babcock)
Stand with L.A. Teachers - poster (Ernesto Yerena; United Teachers Los Angeles)
Re: L.A. Teachers Prepare to Strike (Leanna Noble)
Re: Martin Luther King Jr. Was More Radical Than We Remember (Suzanne Crowell)
Re: Are We Prepared to Pay the Price for Farmworker Justice? (Anne Keller-Smith; Roberta Histed)
Re: Here’s What a Real Strike Looks Like: 150 Million Say No to Despotism in India (Sonia Collins)
Re: I Was Sexually Harassed on Bernie Sanders’s 2016 Campaign (Kay Clark Rine; Jay Schaffner; Alan Hart; Harry Targ; Mike Glick; Jan Robinson; Mario Giacalone; Judy Gradford)
Re: Why Elizabeth Warren's 'Likability' Won't Matter (Robert Whalen; Ford Cannon; Philip Specht; William Leffingwell)
Re: 'Hatred is Becoming More Visible': Shocked Gdańsk Mourns for Slain Mayor (Laura Friedman)
Re: Bases, Bases, Everywhere... (Larry Smith; Gordon Galland)
Re: “Network” A Stunning Commentary on the Corrupt American System (Karen Zarcone)
Re: Damn It All: A Meditation on Hell (Elinore Krell; Lizzi Azalia Swane)
Resources:
Report: Attacks on Public Sectors Workers Threaten LA’s Black Community (Advancement Project California, the Los Angeles Black Workers Center and the Los Angeles Federation of Labor)
Just Released! Dahr Jamail's "The End of Ice" (Truthout)
World Wide Work -- New Films, Books, Music You May Have Missed (Matt Witt)
Protest songs and the spirit of America [playlist] ( James Sullivan - Oxford University Press)
Announcements:
Socialists in Office: Brazil, Portugal, and New York - New York City - January 24 (Hosted by NYC Democratic Socialists of America)
Film Screening of 'Decade of Fire' - New York - February 5
Tamiment Book Talk: David Parsons on "Dangerous Grounds: Antiwar Coffeehouses and Military Dissent in the Vietnam Era" - New York - February 12
Today in History:
Today Marks the 58th Anniversary of the Assassination of the DRC's Patrice Lumumba
A Cartoon About Government Work -- Teresa Burns Parkhurst (Mad Magazine)
Teresa Burns Parkhurst
January 10, 2019
Mad Magazine
Re: What Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Know About Tax Policy? A Lot.
She's proposing raising taxes on people who earn over TEN MILLION DOLLARS! Makes perfect sense to me.
Jenny Kastner
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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ok, but I take issue with this part:
"Republicans almost universally advocate low taxes on the wealthy..."
because Democrats too, for the last oh, 40 years? have CONSISTENTLY lowered taxes or chosen not to raise them on the wealthy when they could have. This whole attack on AOC isn't actually about whether any people know things about economics.
Meredith Lee Schafer-Garza
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
=====
the tax rate during the Eisenhower years was Max 91%.
Stanley Aronowitz
The tax system was a way to control greed. This was used in many foreign countries as well. It worked out very well for everyone. Corporations, rather than paying the tax man, invested in their employees with higher wages and fringe benefits. There was a time when workers sought out large corporations to get jobs like 3M or Honeywell. Things have changed drastically since Reagan.
Tom Trumper
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: The Philosophical Roots of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 70 Percent Tax Plan
I think the recent piece about graduated income tax lineage requires more accurate historic grounding.
Crediting Rawls is to miss just how egalitarian at least some of the US revolutionary founders were. I recommend to the attention of the writer of the piece Thomas Paine's Agrarian Justice. Those who have more wealth (land) should pay more. And there should be an inheritance tax so that each generation starts with some rough semblance of economic equality !
Walter (Jerry) Kendall
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Until 1982, people making $100,000/yr+ were taxed at 70%
Marian Feinberg
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Emergency -- cartoon by Rob Rogers
Rob Rogers
January 10, 2019
robrogers.com
Re: The Case for a National General Strike Protesting Trump's Heartless Shutdown
(posting on Portside Labor)
Protest around the country should be when the fascist speaks at the state of union. PA avenue should be lined with protesters and the rest of us should protest outside our local congresspersons offices, especially the senate.
Jim Duffett
Consultant
Policy and Legislation, Organizing (Coalition-Building), Strategic
Development, Resource Development, and Communication
=====
It’s Time for T.S.A. Workers to Strike
The shutdown is painful, but it is also an opportunity for labor to take a stand.
By Barbara Ehrenreich and Gary Stevenson
January 14, 2019
New York Times
=====
It's time for patriotic Americans to stand up and tell Trump and Scumbag McConnell that we won't tolerate their cruel antics anymore. The French and other nations would not be so passive in the face of a prolonged government shutdown that is actually nothing more than our spoiled manchild of a president throwing a temper tantrum.
James McGinnis
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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The only thing which will work! Economic strike! Even if it is only selective! Quit shopping at Walmart and Exxon! And don’t relent!
David Peterson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: As Shutdown Becomes Longest In U.S. History, Federal Employees Sue Over Working For No Pay
(posting on Portside Labor)
Billionaires don’t give two shits about pay check to pay check workers. You are hostage to a man who doesn’t care.
Dan Babcock
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Stand with L.A. Teachers - poster (Ernesto Yerena; United Teachers Los Angeles)
Stand With LA Teachers!
Ernesto Yerena; United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)
offset, 2018
Los Angeles, CA
(poster 53684)
Center for the Study of Political Graphics
3916 Sepulveda Blvd, Suite 103
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 397-3100
admin@politicalgraphics.org
Re: L.A. Teachers Prepare to Strike
(posting on Portside Labor)
If you live in LA area, find a neighborhood school near you and join a picketline with teachers, students and parents every morning from 7am-9am! Together we can win improve
This union and its leaders and members are a real inspiration of both re-building their power and politics from the membership up AND THEN negotiating for the linked interests of the members, students, parents and community! Onward to victory for public education! If you live in LA County, join the picketlines tomorrow!
Let's keep on fighting for the right of FREE public education and follow this GREAT union and worker leadership in LA!
Leanna Noble
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Martin Luther King Jr. Was More Radical Than We Remember
Lots of us do remember. It galls me to see his day celebrated by "service" efforts instead of picket lines.
Suzanne Crowell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Are We Prepared to Pay the Price for Farmworker Justice?
All workers should have the same protections.
Anne Keller-Smith
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
=====
Yes. Farm working still equated with slavery. And people demanding cheap food.
Roberta Histed
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Here’s What a Real Strike Looks Like: 150 Million Say No to Despotism in India
(posting on Portside Labor)
Happy they are fighting back. One particular thing that is very similar to the US: "First, it had to make sure that public sector enterprises would fail and would then lose legitimacy.". We see that all over the US, from schools and libraries and most recently to the VA. The playbook is by now familiar. Starve public enterprises that serve the people, and then privatize them for your profiteering friends. Respect for the Indian pushback.
Sonia Collins
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: I Was Sexually Harassed on Bernie Sanders’s 2016 Campaign
Don't blame Bernie for this. He's the best hope we have to be a real great nation. People are bad mouthing him for things he had no real part in. He still has many followers that Dems need to win any election.
Kay Clark Rine
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Need to read full article, not just headline. Yes there were problems, many were addressed, and resolved. What is needed is more discussion and putting place mechanisms to insure that this doesn't repeat in Bernie's 2020 - if he decides to run; but for all candidates, for all elections.
Jay Schaffner
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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The headline doesn't help convey the message of the article.
Alan Hart
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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The headline misrepresents the story.
Harry Targ
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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DO NOT just share this mindlessly! READ IT ALL or not at all! This is NOT an attack on Bernie, but rather a call about all such campaigns and the need to combat sexism. The article also cites issues in HRC's and Kamala Harris's campaigns - and of course our President is an example of the WORST of this!"
Mike Glick
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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I saw the way he treated Hillary. That's all I needed to know.
Jan Robinson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Many women I know who were vocal Hillary supporters had to contend with sexist name calling and attack’s by Bernie supporters in 2016. This is nothing new. Sanders wants to say he was too busy to notice. But his campaign manager was one of the worst offenders. If we are pointing to Trumps campaign manager for prof that he knew about Russian meetings, why are we giving Sanders a pass? I voted for Bernie last go round but have become completely disillusioned by him and many of his followers. I truly believe that if he enters the race, and loses, as I suspect he will. His followers will cry foul and abandon whoever the winner is. He was always great as a propionate of progressive ideas. But as a candidate he had a hard time connection to the African American community, Big Mike excluded, and women. He has helped move the Democratic Party, which by the way he was never a part of and still isn’t, to the left. Great. But a politician with no political allies is not what’s needed. I know I’m in the minority of left leaning g people in this one but I truly believe he will be bad for our chances to beat Trump. He’s always been a gadfly. And as that he was always a welcomed voice. But now he seems more like a cantankerous old man with a chip on his shoulders.
Mario Giacalone
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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The abusers were probably Russian bots.
Judy Gradford
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Why Elizabeth Warren's 'Likability' Won't Matter
I could learn to like someone in politics who is actually working to improve things for the poor and middle class workers.
Robert Whalen
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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This report speaks very highly of Ms. Warren’s ability to get the job done and that the popularity contest is a distant 4th or 5th in importance.
It also speaks well for the voters who confirmed substance of flash.
Ford Cannon
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Electability is not the same as likability.
Philip Specht
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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She’ll have to be tested outside her home state.
William Leffingwell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: 'Hatred is Becoming More Visible': Shocked Gdańsk Mourns for Slain Mayor
Many, many thousands came out to express their grief and opposition.
Laura Friedman
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Bases, Bases, Everywhere...
Why oh why does our country need all these damn bases on foreign soil??
Perhaps this is one reason the bloated Pentagon budget cannot be audited.
Larry Smith
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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The Russians play chess; the Chinese play Go, and the Americans play Monopoly...
Gordon Galland
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: “Network” A Stunning Commentary on the Corrupt American System
(posting on Portside Culture)
The original was a wonderfully powerful movie, I can't wait to see this.
Who remembers the original movie Network of the 70's? It was about a fictional television network, and its struggle with poor ratings. The film starred Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, and Robert Duvall, Wesley Addy and Ned Beatty. This remake is sure to be just as interesting starring Brian Cranston and more relevant today than in the 70's, can't wait to see it!
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"
Karen Zarcone
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Damn It All: A Meditation on Hell
(posting on Portside Culture)
Religion has to be one of most dangerous inventions of human beings!
Elinore Krell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
=====
It's not a Christian idea, it's a Greek and Roman and Catholic idea. Catholicism has nothing to do with Christianity but instead most closely resembles mithraism
Lizzi Azalia Swane
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
For generations, unionized public sector jobs have been a cornerstone of stablility and strength in Los Angeles’s Black community. When Trump’s Supreme Court released its Janus v. AFSCME decision last summer, threatening unions in the public sector, we responded in unity and strength, Black and White, private sector and public sector together.
Now a report co-authored by Advancement Project California, the Los Angeles Black Workers Center and the LA Fed, released this morning, shows just how critical those jobs are—and helps us understand just how racist the campaign against public sector jobs represented by Janus continues to be. Here’s a glimpse at what the union difference means to the Black community in Los Angeles's public sector work:
- Higher wages. Union workers in Los Angeles earn 27% higher wages than their non-union counterparts. Black public sector union workers have higher earnings than non-public sector workers and are more likely to earn incomes in every income bracket over $40,000.
- Community stability. Numerous Black workers told surveyors that union employment helped them purchase or stay in their home.
- Better benefits. Significantly more public sector union workers than non-public sector workers receive health, vision, dental and retirement benefits. Unionized public sector benefits include education, paid family leave, licensing assistance and paid sick days, which are virtually non-existent among non-public sector workers.
- Longer careers. 44% of public-sector union workers have been in their jobs for more than 15 years, while 65% of non-public sector workers have worked at their jobs for less than 5 years.
Read the report for testimonials from union leaders like AFSCME's Collee Fields and SEIU’s Tiffany Hall, who talked to interviewers about the difference stable employment and good wages have meant not only to them and their families but across their communities.
We’re especially grateful to the six locals who made this report possible by connecting us directly to their members: AFSCME 741, AFSCME 2325, AFSCME 3090, AFSCME 3947, SEIU 721, and SEIU 1000.
You can also see the open letter sent to City and County policy-makers asking for their collaboration and support in ensuring that access to high-quality unionized public sector jobs remains open and continues to strengthen communities across Los Angeles.
Read the full report here:
A Bright Future for Los Angeles Requires Organizing More Black Public Sector Union Workers
Just Released! Dahr Jamail's "The End of Ice" (Truthout)
In his brand new book, The End of Ice, follow Jamail as he scales Denali, the highest peak in North America, dives in the warm crystal waters of the Pacific only to find ghostly coral reefs, and explores the tundra of St. Paul Island where he meets the last subsistence seal hunters of the Bering Sea and witnesses its melting glaciers. Accompanied by climate scientists and people whose families have fished, farmed, and lived in the areas he visits for centuries, Jamail begins to come to terms with the irreversible damage humans have wrought on planet Earth.
Jamail’s passion for nature led him to ask the question, "What's next?" How can humans respond to -- and cope with -- the situation we've brought upon ourselves? All hope is not lost: As he journeys around the world to communities affected by climate disruption, his book takes a surprising turn, and we discover an even deeper appreciation for the Earth through Jamail’s eyes.
"Matching awe for the majestic intricacy and beauty of nature with exacting and alarming dispatches, Jamail calls on us to respect facts, honor life, and recognize that we are facing increasingly tragic disruptions and loss. Enlightening, heartbreaking, and necessary.” (Donna Seaman in Booklist)
Don't miss this incredible book: Order your copy of The End of Ice from Truthout today.
World Wide Work -- New Films, Books, Music You May Have Missed by Matt Witt
Photo by Matt Witt.
More photos may be seen at MattWittPhotography.com, where all proceeds from sales go directly to the Rogue Action Center, an independent nonprofit hub for Rogue Valley community organizing for economic, social, racial, and climate justice.
Excerpts from current issue:
Books
No Place for Wolverines by Dave Butler (Dundurn). An unusual mystery novel centers on a woman in her 30s who works as a law enforcement ranger for the national park service in Canada. Investigating a proposal by outside financial interests to build a huge new ski resort in a protected wilderness area, she begins to uncover deep layers of corruption and even violence as controversy rips the local community apart.
Films
Blindspotting. Easily one of the best films of 2018, Blindspotting is the story of two lifelong friends in Oakland, CA, one black, one white, who are trying to survive against the odds in their rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.
Resistance at Tule Lake. Japanese Americans whose constitutional rights were violated when they were imprisoned at remote camps during World War II organized to protest the government’s actions, including unsafe working conditions and lack of adequate medical care. Their courageous resistance within the camps was met with military force.
Music
Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound. Many classic rock, soul, or blues songs were recorded at a studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The studio invited different artists to come and reinterpret those hits made famous by someone else. So, for example, Steven Tyler reinterprets the Stones’ Brown Sugar. Lee Ann Womack, Willie Nelson, and two others sing Dylan’s Serve Somebody. Other artists include Alison Krauss, Alan Jackson, Keb Mo, Kid Rock, and many more.
Church of the Blues by Watermelon Slim. An old-school blues guitarist sings “Post-Modern Blues,” “Charlottesville,” and more.
Monthly update on films, books, and music you may have missed compiled by Matt Witt.
Protest songs and the spirit of America [playlist] (Oxford University Press)
By James Sullivan
January 14th 2019
Oxford University Press blog
n a rare television interview, Jimi Hendrix appeared on a network talk show shortly after his historic performance at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair. When host Dick Cavett asked the guitarist about the “controversy” surrounding his wild, feedback-saturated version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Hendrix gently demurred.
His performance wasn’t “unorthodox,” he protested. “I thought it was beautiful.”
But Hendrix’s ominous, bombs-bursting version of our national anthem, in fact, would be interpreted as a protest against the war in Vietnam. In a nation born in the spirit of protest, even the national anthem can be heard as a protest song.
With each new social movement of recent years–from Occupy Wall Street and the civil rights demonstrations in Ferguson to #MeToo and the Women’s March–some cultural observers inevitably wonder aloud where all the classic protest songs have gone. They’re thinking, no doubt, about the Civil Rights-era ubiquity of “We Shall Overcome,” or the inspirational, radio-friendly pledge that “A Change Is Gonna Come.”
In truth, for as long as people have been making music, we’ve been inspired by protest songs: songs that take a stand against war and violence, songs that call out the suppression of women, minorities, immigrants, and the working class, songs that lament our treatment of the environment and the self-destructive nature of humankind. Before the United States entered World War I, songwriters published a slew of popular anti-war songs. Kitty Wells became the “Queen of Country Music” after she challenged the sexual double standard with her classic “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels.” Whole genres have arisen out of the urge to push back, from the blues and hip-hop to punk and disco. (Yes, disco.)
Which Side Are You On? may be named for a folk protest song from the Depression era, but the question persists, through each generation and across every style of music. When the line gets drawn in the sand, which side are you on?
Full Playlist here (on Spotify).
Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7 PM – 9 PM
Verso Books
20 Jay Street
Suite 1010
Brooklyn, New York 11201
There's no single way nor obvious steps to building a socialist society. Socialists around the world have used elections, strikes, and social mobilizations to build their movements and fight capitalism. One key debate over socialist strategy revolves around the question of how socialists should make use of elections and elected offices. Can socialists participate in elections and use elected offices in a way that builds our movements and doesn't lead to co-optation?
The NYC-DSA International Committee is excited to host an international discussion on this question, finding lessons from experiences by socialists in Brazil, Portugal, and New York.
Speakers:
- Fernanda Melchionna is a newly elected congresswoman in Brazil and a leader of Brazil's Party for Socialism and Freedom (PSOL).
- Gonçalo Pessa is a member of Portugal's Left Bloc and DSA and a former member of Left Bloc's National Committee.
- Julia Salazar is a State Senator representing North Brooklyn and a member of DSA.
- Moderating: Ella Mahony, DSA National Political Committee member.
The NYC-DSA International Committee will also be having its first organizing meeting in February so if you would like to help us organize more international discussions like this please join us this month and let us know that you're interested in joining the committee.
Film Screening of 'Decade of Fire' - New York - February 5
In the 1970s, the Bronx was on fire. Left unprotected by the city government, nearly a half-million people were displaced as their close-knit, multiethnic neighborhood burned, reducing the community to rubble. While insidious government policies caused the devastation, Black and Latino residents bore the blame. In this story of hope and resistance, Bronx native Vivian Vazquez exposes the truth about the borough’s sordid history and reveals how her embattled and maligned community chose to resist, remain and rebuild.
QA with the Film Producers will follow the movie screening:
- Vivian Vazquez
- Gretchen Hildebran
- Neyda Martinez
*Light refreshments will be offered
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST
FREE - Register here
The New School, Starr Foundation Hall
63 5th Avenue
UL102
New York, NY 10003
David Parsons will discuss his book Dangerous Grounds: Antiwar Coffeehouses and Military Dissent in the Vietnam Era (University of North Carolina Press, 2017) on Tuesday, February 12 (4:30 PM) at the Tamiment Library. A reception with wine and cheese will follow the lecture. This event is sponsored by the Frederic Ewen Center.
David Parsons received a Ph.D. in history from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) in 2013. He is a professor and writer whose work focuses on the political, social, and cultural history of 20th century America. He has taught courses in U.S. history at CUNY and New York University, served as an adviser for a major museum exhibition on the Vietnam War at the New-York Historical Society, and hosts a long-running weekly podcast on history and politics called The Nostalgia Trap. His book, “Dangerous Grounds: Antiwar Coffeehouses and Military Dissent in the Vietnam Era,” explores links between the civilian peace movement and the American military.
The Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
Room 10-03
New York, NY 10012
RSVP: Please RSVP via the NYU events calendar.
Today Marks the 58th Anniversary of the Assassination of the DRC's Patrice Lumumba
By Rufaro Samanga
January 17, 2019
OkayAfrica
Patrice Lumumba was the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo following its independence.
Today the DRC celebrates Heroes Day and honors its first democratically elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba came into power after what was then the Republic of the Congoreceived its independence from its colonizer, Belgium. Whilst speculation and conspiracy still surrounds his assassination in 1961 till this day, it has long been alleged that he was murdered by the US working together with Belgium.
Lumumba was significant in the Republic of Congo securing its independence and eventually becoming what we now know as the DRC. Due to his considerable and understandable dislike for his Belgium colonizers, he joined the Liberal Party of Belgium in 1955. Following his arrest by the colonial government, he went on to co-found the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) in 1958 and proceeded to win the elections in 1960 at the age of 34. Read more on his life here.
Lumumba's anniversary comes exactly a week after the DRC's elections which saw the end of Joseph Kabila's 17-year rule and ushered in what will hopefully be a brighter era under the leadership of Felix Tshisekedi. The victory by Tshisekedi and his political party Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDSP) came after international pressure succeeded in putting an end to the delay tactics in the announcing of the election results. His victory, however, has been disputed of late.
Many Congolose Twitter users and Africans alike, have taken to social media to commemorate the revolutionary's anniversary as well as the DRC's journey since colonial rule.