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Recent
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May
23, 2003
Standard
Schaefer
Lifting the Sanctions: Who Benefits?
Ron
Jacobs
Long Live People's Park!
Michael
Greger, MD
Return of Mad Cow: US Beef Supply
at Risk
Elaine
Cassel
Tigar to Ashcroft: "Secrecy is the Enemy of Democratic Govt."
Sam
Hamod
The Shi'a of Iraq
Christopher
Greeder
After the Layoffs
Alexander
Cockburn
Derrida's Double Life (poem)
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Weblog 5/23
May
22, 2003
Mark
Gaffney
Christian in Name Only
Carl
Estabrook
Republic of Fear
Carl
Camacho, Jr.
Reason for Hope
Ben
Granby
What Rates a Headline from the Middle
East?
Vanessa
Jones
Terror Alerts in Australia
Mickey
Z.
Instant Understanding
Don
Monkerud
Snowballs in a Soggy Economy
Barry Lando
The Nether-Nether World of G.W. Bush
Steve
Perry
Total Information
Awareness: Secret Shadow Program?
May
21, 2003
Dave
Lindorff
Ari Fleischer Quits the Scene: The
Liar's Gone, the Enablers Remain
Chris
Floyd
How Blood Money Becomes Business Opportunity
Dr. Gerry
Lower
Graham's God and Bush's Pathology
Patrick
Cockburn
In Post War Iraq, the Signs of Breakdown
are Everywhere
Brian Cloughley
The Fatuous Braintrust: Newt, Rummy and Wolfowitz
Saul
Landau
Shopping, the End of the World and the Politics of Bush
Larry Kearney
Two Morning Poems, May 2003
Steve
Perry
Chaos in Iraq: Just What the US Wanted?
Elaine
Cassel
Ashcroft Justice Comes to Iraq
May
20, 2003
Tariq
Ali
The Empire Advances
Ahmad
Faruqui
Whither American Nationalism?
Ben Tripp
Dialysis with Osama
Linda
Heard
The Cage of Occupation
Cynthia
McKinney
Toward a Just and Peaceful World
Edward
Said
The Arab Condition
Mokhiber
and Weissman
Why Ari Should Have Resigned in Protest Long Ago
Stew
Albert
Yale Men
Steve Perry
The New Face of Al-Qaeda
May
19, 2003
Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
A Letter to Kofi Annan on Powell's Missing
Evidence
CounterPunch
Wire
"Terror" Slut Steve Emerson
Eats Crow
John
Chuckman
Blair's Awkward Lies
Matt
Vidal
Corporate Media and the Myth of the Free Market
Michael
S. Ladah
The Fine Print to Bush's Road Map
Robert
Fisk
Bush's Eternal War Backfires
Elaine
Cassel
Clarence Thomas, Still Whining After All These Years
Jonathan
Freedland
Ann Coulter's Appalling Magic
Steve Perry
Play It Again, O-Sam-a
May
17 / 18, 2003
Uri
Avnery
The Children's Teeth
Peter
Linebaugh
An American Tribute to Christopher
Hill
Gary
Leupp
Nepal Today
Rock and
Rap Confidential
The Republican Plot Against the Dixie Chicks
Walter
Sommerfeld
Plundering Baghdad's Museums
Ron Jacobs
Condy Rice's Yipping Tirades
Thomas
P. Healy
Dubya Does Indy
Tarif Abboushi
Bush, Sharon and the Roadmap
Francis
Boyle
Debating US War Crimes in Iraq
Mark Davis
An Interview with Richard Butler
Richard
Lichtman
American Mourning
Michael
Ortiz Hill
Overcoming Terrorism
Adam
Engel
Uncle Sam is YOU!
Alan Maas
The Best News Show on TV
Poets'
Basement
Reiss, Guthrie, Albert
Elaine
Cassel
Good Enough for an Alien
Website
of the Weekend
The 37 Americans Who Run Iraq
Song of
the Weekend
Talkin' Sounds Just Like Joe McCarthy Blues
May
16, 2003
Leah
Wells
In Iraq Water and Oil Do Mix
Ben Tripp
Fear Itself
Sharon
Smith
The Resegregation of US Schools
Ramzy Baroud
Does Defeat Have to be So Humiliating?
Sam
Hamod
A Nation of Fear
Phil Reeves
Baghdad Pays the Price
Robert
McChesney
The FCC's Big Grab
Mark Engler
Those Who Don't Count
Steve
Perry
We're All
Extras in Bush's Movie
Website
of the Day
Iraq and Our
Energy Future
May
15, 2003
Ayesha
Iman and Sindi Medar-Gould
How
Not to Help Amina Lawal: The Hidden Dangers of Letter
Writing Campaigns
Julie
Hilden
Moussaoui and the Camp X-Ray Detainees:
Can He Get a Fair Trial?
Tanya
Reinhart
Bush's Roadmap: a Ticket to Failure
Laura Carlsen
Here We Go Again: NAFTA Plus or Minus?
Kenneth
Rapoza
The New Fakers: State Dept. Undercuts
New Yorker's Goldberg
Stew Albert
A Story I Will Tell
Steve
Perry
Bush's Little
Nukes
Website
of the Day
Strip-o-Rama
May
14, 2003
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Jason
Leopold
The Pentagon and Hallburton: a Secret
November Deal for Iraq's Oil
David
Lindorff
Fighting the Patriot Act: Now It's
Alaska
John
Chuckman
Giggling into Chaos
Jack
McCarthy
Twin Towers of Journalism: Racism
and Double Standards
Wayne
Madsen
Assassinating JFK Again
M.
Junaid Alam
The Longer View
Paul
de Rooij
The New Hydra's Head:
Propagandists and the Selling of the US/Iraq War
James
Reiss
What? Me Worry?
Steve Perry
More on Saudi Arabia Bombings
Website
of the Day
A Tribute to Ted Joans
May
13, 2003
Saul
Landau
Clear Channel Fogs the Airwaves
Michael
Neumann
Has Islam Failed? Not by Western
Standards
Uri
Avnery
My Meeting with Arafat
Steve Perry
The Saudi Arabia Bombing
Jacob
Levich
Democracy Comes to Iraq: Kick Their Ass and Grab Their Gas
William
Lind
The Hippo and the Mongoose: a Question of Military Theory
The
Black Commentator
Fraud at the Times: Blaming Blacks for White Folks' Mistakes
Stew Albert
Asylum
Hammond
Guthrie
An Illogical Reign
Website
of the Day
Sy Hersh: War and Intelligence
May
12, 2003
Chris
Floyd
Bush, Bin Laden, Bechtel, and Baghdad
Dave
Lindorff
America's Dirty Bombs
Sam
Hamod and Elaine Cassel
Resisting the Bush Administration's War on Liberty
Uzi
Benziman
Sharon and Sons, Inc.
Jason
Leopold
The Decline and Fall of Thomas White
Rich Procter
George Jumps the Shark
Federico
Moscogiuri
Going to Israel? Sign or Else
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 5/12
Book
of the Day
Fooling
Marty Peretz
Website
of the Day
T-Shirts to Protest In
Hot Stories
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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for More Stories.
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May
24, 2003
Bush's War on the Poor
Economic Justice
By DAVID KRIEGER
"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness That to secure these
Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any
Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and
organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
These revolutionary words from the Declaration
of Independence are worth reflecting upon in light of the current
struggle for economic justice in America. The government of the
United States, the richest and most powerful country in the world,
is perpetuating economic injustice within the United States and
throughout the world. While the government seems to have unlimited
funds for missiles and munitions, it is failing to provide health
care, housing or education for large segments of the US population.
Millions of Americans, including working
Americans, live below the poverty line. There are more than 40
million Americans without health insurance with little or no
access to basic medical care. There are tens of millions of Americans
without homes, and home ownership is becoming an impossible dream
for most young Americans. The possibilities of a college education
are also receding for young Americans, as the funds provided
for education diminish. The truth is that we have no economic
justice in this country and the situation is growing rapidly
worse under the Bush administration.
State budgets are running in the red,
and that means that their services to the people are diminishing.
In 2002, states cut $49 billion in health care, welfare benefits,
education and other public services. They plan to cut another
$25.7 billion in 2003. State budget cuts this year and last year
will be nearly equivalent to the initial amounts requested by
Mr. Bush and allocated by Congress for the invasion and occupation
of Iraq. Rather than help the states in meeting their budgets,
and thereby support the American people, Mr. Bush has squandered
our federal funds on an illegal foreign war.
In spite of these shortfalls, Mr. Bush
pressed for tax cuts of over $700 billion over a ten year period,
tax relief that would go largely to the wealthiest Americans.
Congress ended up passing tax cuts of $330 billion, less than
half of the Bush request. While some $20 billion will go back
to the states, the bulk of the relief will benefit the very rich,
including Mr. Bush and many in his cabinet. Most Americans will
receive a few hundred dollars or less, and the poorest Americans
will receive nothing or next to nothing. By contrast, the richest
Americans will receive tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands
of dollars in tax relief.
This means that those at the top of the
economic pyramid will have more money to contribute to the candidates
of their choice, who in turn will help them to get a larger share
of the economic pie. The rest of us predictably will get a smaller
share of the pie, and there are far more of us to compete for
these leftovers.
In America, if you are rich, it is very
likely that the president and the Congress will be working for
your interests, by providing tax cuts and other benefits. If
you are poor, who will be representing you in our democracy?
It is not likely to be the present incumbent of the White House.
Nor is it likely to be your member of Congress, when many in
Congress are indebted to corporate interests.
If you are poor and not well educated
in America, you may be able to work for minimum wage. That will
probably be enough to keep you struggling below the poverty line,
particularly if you have children, and your children will be
forced to join you in poverty. Further, if these children do
not receive a decent education, the cycle will go on and will
likely be perpetuated to their children.
If you are poor in America and you are
young, you may be able to join the military. We couldn't have
a voluntary military without high levels of poverty. And without
a voluntary military, we couldn't have perpetual wars because
then the politicians and their financial supporters would have
to send their own sons and daughters to fight. They wouldn't
be any more likely to do this than they would be to volunteer
to go themselves to fight. They far prefer to send your sons
and daughters to kill and die in foreign lands. In actuality,
only one member of Congress had a child fighting in Iraq.
The war against Iraq is likely to cost
the American taxpayer at least $100 billion and possibly much
more. Those who profit will certainly include the Defense Contractors,
those who provide the munitions and other material expended in
the war. Other profiteers from the war will be those contracted
to rebuild what we have destroyed in Iraq and, of course, the
multinational oil companies.
Corporate names such as Halliburton,
Dick Cheney's old company, and Bechtel will be among the winners
from this war. Lockheed Martin, Ratheon, the Carlyle Group and
other giant defense contractors will undoubtedly also be among
the winners. The poor and middle class in America, as well as
the people of Iraq, will be among the losers.
We are now spending some $400 billion
a year on our military forces, not including the special expenditures
for the war in Iraq. This is approximately one-half of the money
that Congress has discretion to allocate each year. The money
that goes to the military cannot go to social programs that would
lead to economic justice in our country. Money that goes to the
military cannot even defend America as 9/11 demonstrated so dramatically.
Four hundred billion dollars a year on
the military is over $1.1 billion dollars a day. It works out
to $45.5 million per hour, $761,000 per minute. Imagine all of
the important social programs that will go unfunded or underfunded
to pay that $400 billion per year for a military that cannot
defend us.
Some 500 billionaires on this planet,
mostly Americans, have the equivalent assets of half of the world's
population. Three billion people on our planet live on less that
$2 per day. More than one billion people live on less than $1
dollar per day. Over a billion people lack access to clean water,
and over 2.5 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation.
Millions of people die annually throughout the developing world
due to water-borne diseases and inadequate sanitation.
On our planet over one billion people
are illiterate, and some 100 million children are denied access
to primary education. For a small portion of what the US government
spends on its military, it could be saving lives and building
friendships by humanitarian assistance in food, health care,
education and sanitation.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has called
for battling against poverty in the war against terrorism. "We
have to go after poverty," he said. "We have to go
after despair. We have to go after hopelessness."
Of course, Secretary Powell is right
about this, but it isn't what our country has done historically,
and Powell's clarion call will not likely be heard in the White
House. The US remains last among industrialized countries in
the amount of its gross domestic product that it allocates for
international development at 0.11 percent. The US is spending
more on its plans to research, develop and deploy missile defenses
($7.8 billion) than it for its international humanitarian and
development assistance ($7.6 billion). We are not seriously "going
after poverty," as Mr. Powell advised, but rather going
after bombs, wars and missile shields.
Our failure to make a serious effort
to stem poverty and injustice in the world is leading to resentment,
anger and aggression toward America and innocent Americans. Pumping
large amounts of money into the military is not an answer to
these problems and makes the situation even less secure for the
average American. We need to change our policies both at home
and abroad to bolster economic and social justice. We need to
fund bread rather than bombs.
If we want economic justice in America,
we are going to have to change our direction. We are going to
have to share the resources of the country with its people, not
only the wealthy few, and also be more generous abroad. The United
States is not meant to be a country "of the rich, by the
rich and for the rich." It is a country, we are taught,
"of the people, by the people, and for the people."
We are the People and, for the good of ourselves and the world,
we had better reclaim our country and reallocate our resources.
This means a far greater involvement
of the people in our democratic processes. It means throwing
out the politicians of both political parties who serve the interests
of the corporations over the interests of the People. It means
reallocating resources away from the militarization of America
toward meeting the social needs of the poorest among us and allowing
all Americans to live a better life.
The American dream is being squandered
by a small group of extremist ideologues who are both greedy
and myopic. Let us reclaim our land from these extremists. Let
us strive to be a great country because we care for each other,
particularly the least among us, and for the world in which we
live. The implications of restoring economic justice are profound.
They lie at the heart of environmental devastation of our planet
and the suffering of large portions of humanity. Economic justice
may prove to be a far more important factor in quelling terrorism
than military force.
We can begin by empowering ourselves
to bring about the changes necessary to achieve economic justice
in our country and in the world. We can start by speaking out
and urging our members of Congress to oppose tax cuts and instead
allocate this money to support health care, housing and education.
Let us also urge our members of Congress to vote to cut back
on obscene military expenditures and transfer these funds instead
to meeting human needs, in the United States and throughout the
world. The next step should be to work through the electoral
process to replace those political leaders who remain indebted
to corporate interests and committed to the militarization of
America. By taking these steps, by our engagement, we can move
toward restoring dignity and economic justice at home and abroad.
David Krieger
is president of the Nuclear
Age Peace Foundation. He is the editor of Hope in a Dark
Time (Capra Press, 2003), and author of Choose
Hope, Your Role in Waging Peace in the Nuclear Age (Middleway
Press, 2002). He can be contacted at dkrieger@napf.org.
Today's
Features
Standard
Schaefer
Lifting the Sanctions: Who Benefits?
Ron
Jacobs
Long Live People's Park!
Michael
Greger, MD
Return of Mad Cow: US Beef Supply
at Risk
Elaine
Cassel
Tigar to Ashcroft: "Secrecy is the Enemy of Democratic Govt."
Sam
Hamod
The Shi'a of Iraq
Christopher
Greeder
After the Layoffs
Alexander
Cockburn
Derrida's Double Life (poem)
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Weblog 5/23
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