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The Great Social Security Robbery
James Petras
Introduction
The leaders of both major parties, Congress, the White House, the editorial writers, journalists of all the principle newspapers and most academic economists claim that Social Security and Medicare need to be ‘reformed’ in order to reduce the “unsustainable” fiscal deficit and avoid the bankruptcy of these social programs. An important aspect of this elite propaganda campaign is the perverse manipulation of the nature of those two programs. They are dubbed “entitlement programs”, implying some sort of government handout or individual privilege. In fact social security is a form of social insurance paid for through payroll tax deductions throughout the working life of the contributors, which usually approximates a half-century.
The “entitlement” rhetoric claims that the lifetime contributions are insufficient and that several regressive ‘reforms’ are necessary to “save the systems” – at the expense of the beneficiaries. The so-called “Grand Compromise” proposed by President Obama and the “Fiscal Reforms” proposed by the Congressional Republicans are all aimed at robbing working class contributors of their pension savings through various specific regressive changes.
Waging War on US Workers
by Stephen Lendman
America's war on workers dates from the 19th century. Labor learned the hard way what it takes to win.
It requires organizing, pressing demands, taking to the streets, going on strike, holding boycotts, battling police and National Guard forces supporting management, as wells paying with blood and lives to get results.
They came. Workers got an eight hour day, a living wage, important benefits, pensions, and passage of the landmark 1935 Wagner Act. For the first time, labor could bargain collectively with management on equal terms.
Grassroots struggles prevailed. Management and government give nothing unless forced to. Today, virtually everything gained was lost. Federal, state and local Republicans and Democrats wage war on worker rights.
America, Israel and Arab Authoritarianism Need Navigational Change
Mahboob A. Khawaja
“….a transition from "the war on terrorism" to the outright demonization of Muslims. While underscoring the freedom of religion, the Obama administration is "beating the drums" of a broader war against Islam….. the objective is to instill fear, rouse and harness citizens' unbending support for the next stage of America's "long war….. A "war of religion" is unfolding, with a view to justifying a global military crusade.” (Professor Michel Chossudovsky, “America's Holy Crusade against the Muslim World”, Global Research, 8/30/2010).
American duplicity and political intransigence have lost the strategic direction and rational sense of glory and triumph in honoring its peacemaking commitments to the Arab Middle East. The new emerging Arab world and its politics is changing fast as the new generation informed people are taking over the responsibilities and slowly organize themselves to demonstrate courage, wisdom and new political imagination for a new value-based and free of foreign influence Arab world. Strangely, in this progressive struggle for change, freedom and co-existence, America and Israeli both have lost the opportunities to be partner in the peacemaking process and in the establishment of an independent State of Palestine to balance the disequilibrium in which Israel presently exists. It is becoming more obvious that by challenging the voices of REASON and implying denial of the rights of the Palestinian people, the embittered America and aggressive Israel could enjoin a terrible sense of helplessness and isolation and nothing could save them from the consequences of their own triviality, ignorance and wickedness.
America and Israel Wage War on Humanity
by Stephen Lendman
America's longstanding policy is permanent war. It's the only nation ever to wage them every year in its history abroad and/or at home. Multiple direct and proxy wars rage now. Obama plans more. He's a war criminal multiple times over.
He violates fundamental human and civil rights. He mocks rule of law principles and democratic values. He should be in prison, not high office.
He serves wealth, power and privilege. He spurns peace, equity, justice, and basic human needs.
He and George Bush made America a police state. It's a hair's breadth from full-blown tyranny. He plans four more years of harsher than ever lawless governance.
A Dinner Conversation: Israel and Armenia, Oppression and Genocides, Reality and Denials
by chycho
Below you will find two perspectives from a recent dinner conversation:
I. Candid and Confrontational
II. Compassionate and Personal
I. Candid and Confrontational
I recently attended a small family gathering, not my immediate family but my partners, so by extension people that I care for. I am Armenian and my partner is Jewish, and at the table were us and the elders, including a holocaust survivor.
During dinner the conversation drifted between various topics and at some point turned to politics, focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Those who have followed my blog know that I am quite outspoken regarding my political views and rarely do I mince words, and this night was not an exception. I believe that dialogue, discussion, honesty, and candidness are needed to come to terms with what is actually taking place in the heart of the Middle-East because what transpires in that region, what the final outcome will be between Israel and Palestine, will decide the fate of humanity.
Is there hope for our Mother Earth?
By Larry Pinkney
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives . . . The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”—Howard Zinn
As the global corporate elite ravages the planet, and the United States slips into a corporate-owned police state, and U.S. imperialistic military adventures rage on in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya (North Africa), Somalia (East Africa), and elsewhere on Mother Earth it is easy to become sad—even downright disillusioned.
Nevertheless, everyday ordinary Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people in this nation and around the world have not yet lost the struggle for the regaining of our collective humanity. As long as ordinary human beings are capable of accomplishing extraordinary acts—there remains hope for Mother Earth and humanity as a whole.
Class Warfare and Victories for the Everyday People
Larry Pinkney
“Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.” - Lucy Parsons
In order to genuinely change this corrupt, rotten, political system, one must fight the system, not accommodate or acquiesce to it.
It is a struggle based upon the needs and human rights of the many versus the insatiable greed and lust for power of the few.
The objective of this U.S. political system and its corporate-stream media is to manipulate, break your spirit, and wear you down. Only this way can those who actually own the system be the successful profiteers that they are.
The plain ordinary everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people of this nation are never genuinely told or truly heralded for their political, economic, and social victories in the daily struggle to survive in this predatory capitalist system.
Syria Boils
by Stephen Lendman
News from Syria is grim. Libya 2.0 looms. Fabricating a chemical weapons threat looks like pretext for full-scale war.
On December 8, the Toronto Sun said Foreign Affairs officials urged Canadian citizens to leave Syria. Maybe they know something they're not explaining.
On December 9, Israel National News said the London Sunday Times said IDF special forces now operate inside Syria. Allegedly they're trying to locate "non-conventional weapons" and "sabotage" them.
Israel considered ground and/or air attacks to destroy them. Perhaps they're still planned. The Sunday Times said if evidence suggests Assad used chemical weapons, Washington and Israel "might coordinate to carry out a ground invasion."
Abbas: Betrayal Pays Well
by Stephen Lendman
In 2003, Forbes magazine estimated Yasser Arafat's wealth at about $300 million. No verifying source was listed. Fatah was notoriously corrupt. It still is today.
Its finances are a black hole. Bribes, foreign aid, secret investments, hidden bank accounts, slush funds, and other ill-gotten gains define them.
Israeli intelligence estimated Arafat's net worth at $1.3 billion. US accountants conducted a PA authorized audit. They estimated about $1 billion.
Current appointed PA prime minister, Salam Fayyad, once served as Arafat's finance minister. He confirmed massive corruption, abuse, and impropriety.
Egypt and Argentina: The Right-Left Alliance
James Petras
Introduction
Once again world public opinion faces a most bizarre political event: an alliance between political forces on the extreme Right and the Left, including collaboration between NATO regimes and Marxist sects. The apparent ‘unity of opposites’ is a response to alleged policy and institutional changes made by center-left and center-right regimes, which adversely affect both economic and political elites as well as the popular sectors.
The circumstances, under which this unholy alliance takes place, vary according to the type of regime, its policies and the class orientation of the opposition. The best way to analyze the left-right alliance is to examine the cases of Egypt and Argentina.
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