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Democrats on the Brink: Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair; Innocent Lads, Depraved Killers and Predatory Priests by JoAnn Wypijewski; Torture Air, Inc.: the Road to Rendition: by Jeffrey St. Clair. Remember these stories are available exclusively in the print edition of CounterPunch. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY  Today's Stories March 16, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts March 15, 2005 Gary Leupp Dave Lindorff Greg Moses Hadas Their
/ Katrina Yeaw Alison Weir Matt Koehler Evelyn Pringle Harry Browne
March 14, 2005 Ralph Nader David Miller Stan Cox Mike Roselle David Swanson Simona Sharoni Dave Lindorff Dorreen Yellow Bird Tom Barry Website of the Day
March 12 / 13, 2005 David H. Price Noam Chomsky Laura Carlsen Stan Goff Valentina Nicoli Michael Leonardi Saul Landau
/ Sarah Anderson Joe Bageant Manuel García,
Jr. Greg Moses James J. Brittain Ben Tripp Joshua Frank Fred Gardner Walter Brasch Ramzy Baroud Christopher
Brauchli Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Richard Oxman Poets' Basement
March 11, 2005 Jerry Fresia Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff William James
Martin Muqtedar Khan Kathryn Ledebur Mike Whitney Dave Zirin Website of the Day
March 10, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts John Marc Leas, Colleen McLaughlin
and Ashley Smith Larry Birns Michael Donnelly Luis Gomez Jackie Corr Uri Avnery Website of the Day
March 9, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Ward Churchill Robert Fisk Bernice Powell Jackson Mickey Z. Dave Zirin Michael Donnelly James Reiss Vijay Prashad
March 8, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Robert Fisk Kurt Nimmo Suzan Mazur Evelyn Pringle Giuliana Sgrena Elaine Cassel
March 7, 2005 Dave Zirin Brian Cloughley John Chuckman Mike Whitney Mark Weisbrot Fred Gardner Richard Neville Uri Avnery
March 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Tom Reeves Jenna Orkin Tom Barry Joshua Frank Moshe Adler Jane Stillwater Omar Barghouti / Jacqueline
Sfeir Christopher
Brauchli John Pilger Raúl
Zibechi David Krieger Three Takes on Nepal Surendra R. Devkota Bhishma Karki Joseph Pietri Ben Tripp Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
March 4, 2005 Frederick Hudson
March 3, 2005 Pat Williams Brian Cloughley Dave Lindorff Amira Hass Greg Moses Lynne Landes Nelson P. Valdés John Ross
March 2, 2005 Saul Landau
/ Farrah Hassen Mike Roselle M. Junaid Alam Suzan Mazur Jackson Thoreau Michael Donnelly Jeffrey St.
Clair Website of the Day
March 1, 2005 Scott Richard
Lyons David Lindorff Patrick Cockburn
/ David Enders Ron Jacobs Tanya Garcia Joseph Pietri Kona Lowell Paul Craig
Roberts Website of
the Day
February 28, 2005 Gary Leupp Bill Quigley Paul de Rooij David Swanson Mario Lamo
Jimenez Emma Perez Diana Johnstone Website of the Day
February 26 / 27, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Noam Chomsky Rev. William E. Alberts Fred Gardner Gary Leupp Saul Landau Robin Philpot Yitkhak Laor Ben Tripp Justin Taylor Jack Random Rafael Renteria Jim B. Seth DeLong John Chuckman Alison Weir Richard Oxman Dr. Susan Block Poets' Basement
February 25, 2005 Roger Burbach Behzad Yaghmaian Kurt Nimmo Joshua Frank John Farley Lawrence Reichard Pratyush Chandra David Smith-Ferri Website of
the Day
February 24, 2005 Omar Waraich Brian Cloughley Tom Wright Sharon Smith Dave Lindorff Fred Feldman James Reiss
Diane Christian Website of
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February 23, 2005 Werther W. John Green James Petras Conn Hallinan Joe Pietri Louis Proyect Alexander Cockburn Website of
the Day
February 22, 2005 Naseer Aruri Richard Manning William A.
Cook Paul Craig Roberts Ken Krayeske Dave Zirin Kirkpatrick
Sale
February 21, 2005 Hunter S. Thompson John Ross Ward Churchill Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst David Swanson Dave Lindorff Stew Albert Michael Neumann
February 19 / 20, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Kathleen Christison Ted Honderich Gary Leupp Don Santina Jennifer Roesch Scott Richard
Lyons Chris Clarke George Beres Harry Browne Manuel Garc'a,
Jr. Mark Scaramella Michael Donnelly John Pilger Norman Madarasz Surendra Devkota Deborah Rich Fred Gardner CounterPunch
News Service Richard Oxman Poets' Basement
February 18, 2005 Ben Moxham Dave Lindorff Larry Birns Gregory Elich Samuel Logan / John Meyers Nicole Colson Suzan Mazur Mickey Z.
February 17, 2005 Joshua Frank Paul Craig
Roberts Robert Fisk Christopher
Brauchli Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst Alison Weir Ahrar Ahmad Saul Landau Website of the Day
February 16, 2005 Robert Fisk Kevin Zeese Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Jessica Leight Greg Moses Mark Engler Jack McCarthy Bill Christison Website of the Day
February 15, 2005 CounterPunch
News Service Robert Fisk Uri Avnery Stan Cox Mickey Z. Dave Zirin Nadia Martinez Lila Rajiva Paul Craig
Roberts
February 14, 2005 Robert Jensen Brian Cloughley Patrick Cockburn Gary Leupp Michael Donnelly Dave Lindorff Elaine Cassel
February 12 / 13, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Saul Landau Paul Craig
Roberts Patrick Cockburn John Feffer Mickey Z. Kurt Nimmo Fred Gardner Dave Zirin John Chuckman Ben Tripp Carol Norris Robert Fisk Frank / Chowkwanyun Mike Whitney Deborah Frisch Niranjan Ramakrishnan Christine TenBarge Ron Jacobs Dr. Susan Block Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
February 11, 20055 Manuel Garcia,
Jr Kurt Nimmo Dave Lindorff Larry Birns Bill Quigley Tom Barry Jennifer Van
Bergen
February 10, 2005 Dave Lindorff Christopher Brauchli Patrick Cockburn Nicole Colson Suzan Mazur Michael Donnelly Mike Stark Greg Moses Website of
the Day
February 9, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Mickey Z. John Ross Tom Barry Conn Hallinan Patrick Cockburn Steen Sohn Tim Wise Website of
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February 8, 2005 Patrick Cockburn Brian Cloughley Steve Breyman Harry Browne Doug Giebel Nate Collins Dave Lindorff David Smith-Ferri
February 7, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Carolyn Baker Joshua Frank Mickey Z. Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Stacie Jonas Dave Zirin Tariq Ali
February 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Kurt Nimmo Joshua Frank P. Sainath Patrick Cockburn Laura Carlsen Dave Lindorff Pamela Olson Behzad Yaghmaian Saul Landau / Farrah Hassen Roger Burbach Robert Fisk David Swanson Justin E.H. Smith Cacie Hart Ron Jacobs Mickey Z. Ben Tripp Ben Sonnenberg Poets' Basement Website of
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February 4, 2005 Brian Cloughley Bill Christison Elaine Cassel Jacob Levich Kanak Mani Dixit Ron Jacobs
February 3, 2005 Ward Churchill Sharon Smith Mickey Z. Mike Whitney Jenna Orkin Saul Landau Yitzhak Laor Dave Lindorff
February 2, 2005 David Domke
/ Kevin Coe Noam Chomsky M. Shahid Alam Richard Oxman Joshua Frank Dave Lindorff Nina Hartley Website of the Day
February 1, 2005 Joshua L. Dratel Patrick Cockburn Robert Fisk Uri Avnery Col. Dan Smith Alison Weir Alan Farago Ray Hanania Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
December 22, 2004 James Petras Omar Barghouti Patrick Cockburn / Jeremy Redmond Harry Browne Richard Oxman Kathleen Christison Website of the Day
December 21, 2004 Greg Moses Dave Lindorff Chad Nagle Dragon Pierces
Truth* Patrick Cockburn Seth DeLong Ahmad Faruqui Paul Craig
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March 16, 2005 Making the Rich Richer, But Robbing the Rest of UsBush's Class War BudgetBy ALAN MAASS A s A high school student in Pawtucket, R.I., Monica Teixeira de Susa was told not to bother applying to Brown University--because Brown didn't admit students from working-class Shea High School. Thanks to a federal program called Upward Bound, which helps low-income students get into college, Monica went to Brown, and later to law school. But if George W. Bush gets his way, there won't be any other students like Monica. Because there won't be any more Upward Bound. The Bush administration's 2006 budget proposal eliminates the program--which got $312 million in the 2005 budget, not much more than the Pentagon spends on a single F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. Upward Bound is just one of 48 Education Department programs that will be zeroed out under Bush's budget. The administration claims that it's eliminating "redundancies" in the Education Department in order to focus resources on Bush's No Child Left Behind program for school "reform." But the new budget leaves No Child Left Behind funding almost $10 billion short of what Congress authorized in 2001. Overall, federal education spending would decrease by 14 percent over five years. Meanwhile, the Bush budget proposes to make the two huge tax cuts passed during his first term permanent--and even adds on a few other tax breaks for the super-rich. "It's an outrage that anyone in today's world can believe that the proposals being made are morally, socially and educationally right," Community College of Rhode Island President Thomas Sepe told a press conference. "They are not."
THE BIG domestic-policy topic in Washington these days is Bush's Social Security privatization plan--which is plummeting in popularity, according to opinion polls, and facing opposition even from fellow Republicans. But beneath the radar, Congress is beginning to debate a White House budget proposal that cuts more from domestic government spending than any since the Reagan years, according to the Oakland Institute's Anuradha Mittal. "It's a budget that sets priorities," Bush said after the details were released. It isn't hard to see what those priorities are. According to the New York Times, programs that help the poor account for close to half of the cuts in the Bush budget. "It may sound shrill to describe President Bush as someone who takes food from the mouths of babes and gives the proceeds to his millionaire friends," wrote New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. "Yet his latest budget proposal is top-down class warfare in action." The budget calls for cutting $214 billion over five years from "domestic discretionary" spending programs--which means everything except for the military, homeland security and entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. That's a 16 percent reduction overall--and, of course, numerous programs have it even worse. For example, the Bush budget proposes to end Community Services Block Grants, started more than 35 years ago as part of the 1960s "War on Poverty." Money from these grants pays for community agencies to help low-income people with housing, nutrition, education and employment services. Now, Bush wants the block grants folded together with 17 others into a single program, overseen not by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but the Commerce Department--and funded at a fraction of the current level. To Geraldine Lehman, that would "feel like the end of the world." The 77-year-old resident of southern Florida has had multiple heart attacks and relies on a home aide paid for by the country government form a Community Service Block Grant. "If they take that away from me," she told the Palm Beach Post, "I don't know what I would do." Cutbacks come in nearly every corner of the budget--entitlement programs like food stamps included. The White House wants stricter eligibility rules for food stamps that would cut off an estimated 300,000 people. The proposal also slashes spending on the environment and natural resource conservation by more than 10 percent next year alone--including cuts in enforcement programs at the Environmental Protection Agency and funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. In his State of the Union address, Bush announced a $150 million program to reduce gang membership--with his wife, Laura, in charge. But his budget released a few days later cut almost three times as much from education, after-school and family-support programs that help youth stay away from gangs, according to the Washington-based group Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Did any government programs escape the budget ax? The Pentagon, for one. Military spending would rise by 4.8 percent ahead of inflation under the Bush budget--a $19.2 billion bump that by itself is more than the federal government spends on the food stamp program. Bush's 2006 Pentagon budget request represents a 41 percent increase in military spending since 2001. And even while they slash away at spending, the Bush team is trying to get away with more tax cuts. According to the administration's own figures, as a percentage of the overall economy, federal revenues from taxes will be the lowest this year in more than half a century. Yet the White House wants to phase out two more little-known tax provisions--originally put in place under George Bush Sr.--that limit deductions and exemptions for high-income households. More than half of the benefits from this backdoor tax break would go to millionaires--and 97 percent would go to households with annual incomes over $200,000. The price tag just for this small-fry giveaway to the already obscenely rich: as much as $500 billion over 10 years.
DESPITE THE scale of the budget cuts, they're the tip of the iceberg--and the Bush administration pulled a fast one to hide just how hard they'll hit in the years to come. Breaking with a longstanding practice, the White House only identified specific cuts for next year. For 2007 to 2010--when more than 90 percent of the five-year budget's back-loaded reductions take place--the administration provided only spending caps for broad categories, which lump together, for example, education, training and social services. "Cuts of this magnitude would be bitterly contested if Congress had to justify them to the people who care about each of these programs," wrote Washington Post columnist David Broder. "But by asking instead for a vote this year on enforceable five-year caps on these broad categories of spending, the administration hopes to accomplish its goals without arousing the same degree of controversy." The White House's justification for cutting spending so drastically is the need to "tame" the deficit--which will again hit a new record this year. But to make the claim that it will cut the deficit in half, the administration left out the cost of the occupation of Iraq--now running at more than $5 billion a month. Nor does the budget proposal include the cost of Bush's plan to privatize Social Security--which would quickly run into the trillions of dollars. This is one of the dirty secrets of the Bush administration: It considers a massive government deficit to be a useful tool. Not only have massive tax cuts lined the pockets of the super-rich, but they've caused a budget "train wreck" that provides the excuse to "starve the beast." As a Wall Street Journal editorial put it, "[E]very editorial writer and politician in America will spend the next week denouncing federal red ink. But that's all the more reason for someone to point out that the much-loathed budget 'deficit' is the main, and perhaps the only, reason we may finally get some federal spending restraint." To the Bush administration and its cheerleaders at the Wall Street Journal, "restraint" means making workers pay. We have to expose the Bush budget for what it really is--another offensive in a one-sided class war.
Millionaire's bankruptcy loophole THE POLITICIANS of both parties are getting ready to pay back the big bankers and credit card companies for all those campaign contributions. After several failed attempts in recent years, Congress was on the verge of approving legislation to "reform" bankruptcy laws. Translation: Make it impossible for working people to escape from crippling debts through Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the bill's chief sponsor, said the legislation would stop people who "use bankruptcy" to "get out of paying their debt scot-free, while honest Americans who play by the rules have to foot the bill." The reality of bankruptcy is very different, as a Harvard University study shows. In the two years before filing, 19 percent of families went without food, 40 percent had their phone service shut off, and 53 percent went without important medical care, according to the study. Meanwhile, Grassley's legislation keeps open what legal experts call the "millionaire's loophole" in the bankruptcy system. By transferring assets into protected trusts, the super-rich will still be able to shield their wealth from creditors--while working people are left to the mercies of the credit card industry. Alan Maass is the editor of Socialist
Worker. He can be reached at: alanmaass@sbcglobal.net
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