These sit-ins are good. We need to find additional ways to initiate struggles to bring people into so we can advance real heal care reform not this phony health insurance reform. Did the American people elect a President or a sick-talking health insurance salesman? The time has come for the American people to enforce accountability at the polls to broaden out this movement for real health care reform. Accountability is enforced by telling Barack Obama and these other Dumb Donkeys who killed single-payer that we want something in return for going to the polls in 2010 and 2012. No single-payer; no …
All 35 comments by...
alanmaki
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The left needs to put forward its own progressive agenda based upon what will unite working people: Peace. Real health care reform. Moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions. A real living minimum wage. If we can't get real peace and real health care reform out of Obama and these Democrats we should dump them by with holding our votes... it is called "accountability" which is central to democracy. It is time to explain to the American people what socialism really is... then the right-wing will have something to really cry and yell about.
Posted to A Party With No Punch
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"One idea that I would propose to President Trumka is for him and the heads of the labor federation to give serious consideration to helping develop a viable third party. A viable third party made up of trade unionists, environmentalists, civil rights activists, community activists, populists, and other progressives. It is quite clear that blind allegiance to the Demoratic Party has resulted in very little return." Well said... but, we can't wait for Trumka to act. We need to begin taking on these Democrats. The time has come to serve notice on the Democrats and Obama: No peace; no votes. No …
Posted to Labor’s New Leader
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No doubt Chomsky will be supporting Barack Obama for re-election just as he supported Obama the first time around. Chomsky has chided socialism as an alternative to Wall Street's capitalism in favor of some kind of ridiculous form of anarchism which can not possibly challenge imperialism unless one thinks that breaking the windows of the Bank of America is sufficient. Anyone can see what Wall Street's U.S. foreign means for other countries but Chomsky remains loathe to accept socialism as an alternative here in the U.S. A. Why doesn't Chomsky and his pals in the "Progressives for Obama" go tell Barack …
Posted to Militarizing Latin America
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A conference on just these topics is coming up: For Unity in Action of the Peoples of Mexico, Canada and the USA, for Peace, Sovereignty, Anti-Imperialist Solidarity and the Rights of the Working People. Invitation to Participants from Mexico, Canada and the USA to Attend the Second Tri-Lateral Conference of the World Peace Council, October 2-4, 2009 Toronto Ontario, Canada In 2004, the Peace Movements of Mexico, Canada and the United States met in Puebla-Mexico, for the first Trilateral North American regional meeting. It was agreed then to invite to a peace promoting meeting all interested parties, every four years. This …
Posted to Can Labor Get Out of This Mess? (Part Two)
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One of the main reasons for lack of militancy is the false assumption that Barack Obama is some kind of "friend of the people" and that he is some kind of liberal or progressive just "waiting to make his move." Many working people are still convinced Barack Obama and the Democrats are going to solve their problems. How did they come to this conclusion? It’s kind of simple to determine how working people got this impression with all the liberals, progressives and much of the left intentionally obscuring the fact that Barack Obama is nothing but a Wall Street charlatan out …
Posted to Not Your Parents’ Labor Movement
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In all the hype about all the jobs being created I don't see any attention being paid to enforcement of affirmative action from the Obama Administration. As for wages; the minimum wage should be raised to a real living wage... anyone knows you can't end poverty by paying workers poverty wages. Every "green" job should pay a real living wage.
Posted to Green Jobs: Hope and Hype
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Our country is embroiled in controversy and debate over health care reform. Focus on the purpose of health care has been lost. Health care has two purposes: 1. Keep people healthy. 2. Get people well when sick. Barack Obama and the Democrats have killed single-payer universal health care which was by far the most popular alternative. Now they are confusing the issue with talk about a "public option" when the only real "public option" is something like VA or the Indian Health Service; both of which could be combined and expanded to include everyone under a Public Health Service. Our public …
Posted to Labor Advocates, Unions Split Over Single Payer
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In fact, the unions have been collaborating with employers to oppress and exploit workers in this country. Many union contracts don't even provide a living wage... about 40% of the present union contracts are nothing but poverty wage contracts. Over two-million people are employed in the Indian Gaming Industry now employing over two-million workers at over 350 casinos spread out across this country working in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state, federal, tribal or international labor laws or standards. These casinos are largely built under terms of sweetheart contracts by union memebers who pay dues even though …
Posted to Can Labor Get Out of This Mess? (Part One)
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I forgot to mention... check out the photograph. Because the UAW has left the education of auto workers to the Big Three, workers don't even know what class they are in... check the photo out... these workers are demanding that the "middle class" be saved when they should be concerned about their own class: the working class. Alan L. Maki
Posted to Can Labor Get Out of This Mess? (Part One)
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There is only one solution to this crisis in the auto and steel industries... nationalize the entire industries and bring them under public ownership and control with workers dominating the decision-making process. Nothing less will save jobs. We need to consider the socialist alternative to capitalism. A question that is being asked all over these days is: How long can capitalism last? The answer is simple: As long as working people are willing to put up with this crap. Obama is Wall Street's president and no friend of the people... when people figure this out the real struggles for social and …
Posted to Auto Task Force Outsources Jobs
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What power do these Tea Baggers have as compared to Barack Obama and the Democrats? The Tea Baggers are opposed to single-payer universal health care and project "fee for service" as the solution to this health care mess. When it comes to health care reform and most other issues the Tea Baggers will never have the required power or clout to actually legislate their ideas. On the other hand, Barack Obama and the Democrats have real and complete power right now... Obama and the Democrats have used that power to kill single-payer universal health care as well as keeping wars going …
Posted to Teabags vs. Douchebags
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Barack Obama and the Democrats have killed single-payer unless a very powerful movement can be developed to overcome opposition from Obama's Wall Street backers. Too much has been made by single-payer advocates of "private delivery of health care" when single-payer universal health care should be seen as a step towards a real public health care system (socialized health care). Our country is embroiled in controversy and debate over health care reform. Focus on the purpose of health care has been lost. Health care has two purposes: 1. Keep people healthy. 2. Get people well when sick. Our public officials squander our …
Posted to Healthcare’s Enigma-In-Chief
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"This widespread disillusionment with the Cuban Revolution signifies a maturing of the American Left." I'm not so sure there is this "widespread disillusionment" with the Cuban revolution that Brociner refers to in the United States; however, there is widespread misunderstanding on the left as to what Barack Obama stands for and perhaps this pathetic support by so many "leftists" for Barack Obama who is nothing but Wall Street's new mouthpiece for U.S. imperialism has something to do with all of this. It seems there is no end to the number of leftist writers who fail to understand that the Cuban revolution …
Posted to The Cuban Revolution and the American Left
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Great story... but what is with this bit of red-baiting and anti-communism: "But fealty to the Communist Party and the resultant ideological purity had its down side. In 1943, with World War II having revived the economy, laws preventing foreclosure were abandoned and the Coops were again faced with foreclosure." Must you always toss in a bit of anti-communism? It was capitalism with the only "downside." As far as "fealty to the Communist Party?" Here, let me try my hand at this... How about trying out "fealty" to the Democrats and Obama and those pretenders to "progressivism" who slobber all over …
Posted to Building Utopia
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This vital public infrastructure of broadband that will be publicly financed should also be publicly owned. What tax-payers finance; tax-payers should own and control. Why is it that these progressive and leftists supporting Obama refuse to address the question of "ownership." This is the left's opportunity to advance the concept of public ownership... isn't this what socialism is supposed to be about? Alan L. Maki Warroad, Minnesota http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
Posted to Building A Broadband Bridge that Holds Weight
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The Employee Free Choice Act will be completely useless for workers in twenty-eight states having "at-will hiring, at-will firing" legislation on their books. "At-will hiring, at-will firing" is the main and primary impediment to union organizing in this country and we don't hear one peep from the union leaderships on this problem. What will the AFL-CIO and Change To Win propose Democrats do to rescind "at-will hiring, at-will firing" legislation in these twenty-eight states which include Minnesota and Michigan? I have posed this question time, and time again, to state and federal legislators, Mr. Sweeney and Mr. Stern--- and the "progressive …
Posted to Ready to Rumble
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After reading this article I am glad I voted early and I voted for Cynthia McKinney.
Posted to Dreaming Green
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The American left has ignored the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Day of Action Against Poverty as well as international activities promoting the right to decent jobs with decent pay. Organizing activities around the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights coming up on December 10, and the International Day of Action Against Poverty are some specific suggestions for correcting these deficiencies which have isolated the American left--- and the entire working class--- from movements around the world. It would seem to me that the struggles for socialized health care and ending the …
Posted to Internationalism and the Progressive Movement
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McCain is not only a warmonger; he is a war criminal. To evade discussing this only plays into the hands of the neoliberal, conservative agenda. Dropping bombs on the innocent Vietnamese people who never harmed anyone as they scurried for cover hardly is an action one can describe as "heroic;" it certainly needs to be decribed adequately. Refusing to acknowledge that we have a war criminal running for the highest office in this country certainly needs to be stated. "Heroic" is the term for those who shot down McCain and the invaders trying to occupy their country. To try to coerce …
Posted to Earth to Ken Brociner
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What we need to learn from Obama is not to be tricked and dragged into his campaign which lacks any progressive, or even liberal, substance. When will Obama spell out the specifics of what he means by "Unite for Change"? What kind of "change" is Obama seeking? So far, he hasn't said; chances are he won't say because he has so many people mesmerized with his illusionary and delussionary vision of "hope." Alan L. Maki Warroad, Minnesota
Posted to What Progressives Can Learn from Obama
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We have a rotten capitalist system on the skids to oblivion and a combined force of some 5,000 "leftists" in two conferences from across the country can't find a way to deal with the real problems the working class is experiencing. The Take Back America Conference is stuck in the rut of trying to properly "frame issues" without considering real solutions. There is something drastically wrong with the "left" when it can't come up with real solutions to the problems working people are experiencing like losing their jobs to plant closings; coming together to build a powerful movement for single-payer universal …
Posted to A Tale of Two Conferences
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The casino industry in Minnesota now employees some 30,000 workers in these smoke-filled casinos. Doesn't the American Cancer Society and the Heart and Lung Association see anything wrong with sending som many people to work in these smoke-filled casinos? Many casino workers are young women of child-bearing age, who these health organizations have identified as being at greatest risk. The racism and anti-labor agenda of politicians, many of whom are backed big-time by "organized labor," is sickening. That these casinos would find so many patrons, including many union members, to continue sticking their pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters into the one-armed …
Posted to Labor Hits Jackpot
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Our rank and file initiated Organizing Committee, the Red Lake Casino Hotel and Restaurant Employees' Union Organizing Committee made the first attempts to organize workers in the Indian Gaming Industry. Over 80% of the workers signed cards and the NLRB refused to do anything as did politicians here ion Minnesota. The UAW has bungled several attempts to organize casinos in the Indian Gaming Industry and they are on their way to bungling this one. We, the Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council, at present have ongoing union organizing campaigns at all casinos in Minnesota, two casinos in Wisconsin, two in Iowa and …
Posted to Labor Hits Jackpot
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Read the bottom of these two posts below first... sorry about the inconvenience
Posted to Labor Hits Jackpot
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"Working together" on the local level in politics might have created some victories for individual Democratic Candidates; however, even if the U.S. House and Senate was filled completely with such worthless candidates working people wouldn't win anything. Here in Minnesota, a State Senate Legislative Committee, comprised by a majority of Democrats, all elected with the full support of both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win couldn't even muster enough votes to get a piece of legislation out of committee that would have helped save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant along with two-thousand jobs. The Republicans took one of …
Posted to Has the Change Led to Wins?
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We should all do everything possible to make sure that the CIA doesn't intervene in Venezuela like was done in Chile with Salvador Allende. Check out my blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
Posted to Chávez Consolidates Power
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This is an excellent article as many others have pointed out. However, I think there is much more to discuss than Lamont losing this election and why, lest we lose a very important opportunity to continue to push our country in a progressive direction. Grasroots action is required now. Now is the time for real non-sectarian unity of liberals, progressives, socialists, and communists to put together a real vibrant coalition for ending this dirty war for occupation in Iraq and to win real single-payer, universal health care. We cannot rely on the Democratic Party to automatically carry forward this agenda because …
Posted to Learning From Lamont
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Up here in northern Minnesota, the Roseau County Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party county convention passed a resolution supporting single-payer, universal healthcare that is publicly funded, and publicly administered. The Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition has been pushing hard for single-payer, universal healthcare. Recently, the most progressive candidate in the race for governor, Becky Lourey, came up with a hare-brained scheme for healthcare that she can't even explain to the people, after which her campaign is now floundering because Minnesotans want real single-payer, universal healthcare. Having lived in Manitoba, Canada for ten years, I found out first hand just how fantastic the …
Posted to Careless Industry
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American universities, colleges, and schools are afraid to broach the subject of socialism... and we are paying a terrible price for this. All this crap about "markets," "market socialism," and what not, is sidetracking people from real issues. People are even afraid to talk about socialized healthcare... and by the way, very few activists are even involved in the healthcare debate, which would move us back onto a very progressive track in this country, just as it has done in Canada... just let any two-bit, half-assed reactionary politician try to take universal healthcare away from Canadians and they get booted right …
Posted to The Liberal Communists of Porto Davos
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Isn't it great that Bill Gates gets to choose who he will help and who he won't; such a great philanthropist--- kind of like a rich little god who makes the decisions of who will live and who will die.... a better alternative would be to bring Microsoft under public ownership, and use the profits to fund a publicly owned, publicly financed, and publicly administered socialized health care system... ditto for the rest of the capitalist enterprises... it is time to place human needs, and the protection of nature, before corporate profits. By the way, Native people in northern Manitoba, Canada …
Posted to The Liberal Communists of Porto Davos
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Marxism is what we need more of. That's why the capitalists hate it so much.
Posted to The Liberal Communists of Porto Davos
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Up here in northern Minnesota these multi-national corporations are also destyroying everything in sight that they can get their greedy hands on... the paper companies like the Finnish multi-national Sappi, mining companies like United States Steel, and the huge Canadian multi-national Berger out of Quebec Canada are all a part of the scheme. The Minnesota Commissioner of Natural Resources, Gene Merriam--- a long-time Democrat turned Republican who was always a servant for these big corporations--- has granted a permit to mine peat in the Big Bog, which is the last and largest of the bogs in the lower forty-eight ; bogs …
Posted to Pulp Non-Fiction
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