The Obama/Democratic Stimulus Worked
Simple proof…
It’s up to the wingnuts. If they want to keep lying about Obama, then we’ll do our best to set the record straight. If they want to bring up legitimate criticism, and there’s plenty of it, then we’d likely join them, and we could all have an Obama bashing party together. But they’re not that smart…
FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7679
Taking Elections Back From the Corporations and the Constitution Back from the Gang of Five | 02.04.10 |
Taking Elections Back From the Corporations and the Constitution Back from the Gang of Five
By Robert Borosage
Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mi) and chair of the House Judiciary Committee today introduced an amendment to the Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizen’s United that gave corporations the right to spend unlimited funds in election campaigns as a matter of free speech.
Edwards, a brilliant first term legislator with a long commitment to free elections, quoted Justice Lewis Brandeis: ‘We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.’ It is time we remove corporate influence from our policies and our politics. We cannot allow corporations to dominate our elections, to do so would be both undemocratic and unfair to ordinary citizens.”
“The ruling reached by the Roberts’ Court overturned decades of legal precedent by allowing corporations unfettered spending in our political campaigns,” said Congresswoman Edwards. “Another law will not rectify this disastrous decision. A Constitutional Amendment is necessary to undo what this Court has done.”
Judiciary Chair Conyers concurred and co-sponsored the amendment, noting that “”The Supreme Court’s idea that corporate political is no different than an individual citizen’s political speech was not the law when the Constitution was written, was not the law before the Supreme Court’s decision two weeks ago, and should not be the law in the future.”
Senator John Kerry announced a plan to introduce a similar amendment in the Senate
A broad coalition of groups are joining together to push the drive for the amendment, while supporting legislation to limit the Court’s ruling.
This should lead to campaigns in every state to pass the amendment - and force legislators to decide which side they are on: Should corporations be guaranteed the same free speech rights as American citizens?
The Supreme Court’s decision - imposed by the gang of five activist conservative justices - is wrong on the law, wrong on the history, wrong on the principles of a Republic (as opposed to the interests of Republicans). Scorning decades of precedent, and dozens of settled federal and state laws, the right-wing majority imposed a power-grab every bit as egregious as the decision in Bush v Gore that made Bush president by shutting down the vote count in Florida.
If citizens begin to understand the stakes, then this decision may well backfire on the Gang of Five and their conservative allies.
See amendment and Edwards and Conyers’ statement here http://donnaedwards.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=54§iontree=29,54&itemid=121 .
See Edwards’ floor speech on issue here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysUr0fj3aRY .
For more information go to www.freespeechforpeople.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
OFFICE CLEANERS IN WILMINGTON WIN FIRST UNION CONTRACT
– Wage Hikes for 800 Office Cleaners –
Wilmington, DE – Janitors in Wilmington and New Castle County have won a historic area-wide contract with wage increases, health insurance, paid vacation and other benefits. After months of negotiations with area cleaning contractors, nearly 800 office cleaners, some of whom currently make as little as $7.25 with no health benefits will see their wages rise to $9.25 by the end of the 2 year contract, and for the first time full-time workers will receive employer-paid health benefits.
“What’s striking is that the men and women who clean the very banks that prompted this economic crisis have successfully fought for higher wages,” said Mike Fishman, President of 32BJ, the largest property service workers union in the country.
The contract will raise industry standards at more than three quarters of the commercial office buildings in Wilmington, and New Castle County including Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase.
Under the new 2 year contract, which will go into effect on January, 2010 in Wilmington and in 2011 in New Castle County, office cleaners will earn a minimum wage of $8 per hour or receive a raise of at least 40 cents per hour. Average hourly wages will increase as much as $2 over the life of the 2 years contract, with an annual increases of 70 cent an hour effective January 2011 and a raise of 55 cents an hour on December 31, 2011 for Wilmington workers and a year later starting January 2011 for New Castle County workers. In both areas, for the first time, all full-time workers will receive employer paid quality health care.
“This is the beginning to a better life,” said Willie Grant an Arthur Jackson office cleaner who has been working for almost 3 year for the cleaning contractor in Wilmington. “I suffer from a heart condition, thank God we’re finally going to have healthcare.”
For several months, the union has negotiated on behalf of office cleaners who maintain buildings in Wilmington and New Castle County buildings and facilities. These office cleaners now join thousands of other 32BJ SEIU members who have won contracts improving standards for janitors across the country.
“This is an inspiring victory for 32BJ members, their families and the community of Wilmington,” said Kevin Kelley, Wilmington Council member. “These workers have shown that by uniting together in a union they can win the living wages and health care they deserve.”
With more than 110,000 members in eight states and Washington D.C., 32BJ is the largest property service union in the country.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: I had the pleasure of marching in Wilmington last year with this great union local. This is a huge win for hard-hit Delaware workers. I apologize for not getting this up sooner but I did not get the press release when it was first issued. Hats off to all my friends at SEIU 32BJ! GREAT JOB!!!!!
Shareholders Forced Political Spending
When we make an investment by buying shares in a corporation are we endorsing the political goals of corporate CEO’s or other corporate executives? For most American citizens, the answer is clearly “NO!”
The recent Supreme Court ruling stating that corporations have the right to spend the shareholders’ money to influence federal elections seems designed to trample on the property rights of individual shareholders, empower the international corporate executive class and distort the electoral process in favor of the pro-corporate Republican Party. It completely fails to protect the property rights of shareholders against politically-motivated abuse by corporate executives.
While the ruling was both bad law and bad for American democracy, as most commentators have stated publicly, few editorialists or pundits have examined how badly the ruling tramples on the property rights of shareholders. I might want to buy shares to fund my retirement or meet unexpected future financial demands. I want my money used in the core missions and functions of the business. I did not invest my money to have it misused by corporate executives to fund their political goals or agenda instead of mine.
Why did this radically activist Supreme Court empower corporate executives to use my money for politics instead of for the legitimate business purposes that are the reasons shareholders bought shares in the first place?
Every member of Congress should support a new federal law that would require all shareholders agree before any corporate money can be spent to influence elections. This does not violate the premise of the Supreme Court ruling that states (incorrectly in my opinion) that corporations have the right to spend corporate funds on elections. Such a law would not require a Constitutional Amendment.
Shareholders should never be forced to make a political contribution to a candidate or campaign that the individual shareholder does not support. These forced contributions are unjust. In fact, corporate executives who spend corporate funds on influencing elections are frankly stealing from the shareholders.
Even before the new federal law is passed, shareholders should consider suing any corporate executives who misuse corporate funds to influence election outcomes directly or indirectly. The lawsuits should seek both to injunction the corporation from using shareholders money without universal approval from all shareholders and to fire the corporate executive involved “with cause” so that any “golden parachute” provisions (where more shareholder money gets stolen by executives) might get blocked.
Any officeholder who fails to support a new federal law restricting corporate executive power and empowering individual shareholders to veto spending corporate money on elections is helping in the politically-motivated theft of shareholder property! We need to identify these officeholders regardless of political party and vote them out of office. They are corrupt!
While corporations are not people, shareholders and corporate executives are people. The corporate executives should not overrule shareholders when it comes to political spending of corporate funds. The corporate executives work for the shareholders and never should be legally permitted to forget this basic fact.
Written by: Stephen Crockett (Host of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com ). Mail: 698 Old Baltimore Pike, Newark, Delaware 19702. Phone: 443-907-2367. Email: midsouthcm@aol.com.
Feel free to publish at no charge without prior approval.
ACORN Scandal Offers Key Lessons to All Charities
by John Atlas and Peter Dreier
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-atlas/acorn-scandal-offers-key_b_386064.html
Acorn is getting a bum rap — in the news media, among politicians, and even by some foundations.
The attacks are worrisome not just because they have harmed an effective grass-roots organization but also because they show how the nation’s increasingly polarized political environment, exacerbated by the news media, can threaten any group that challenges big business and conservative politicians.
Until recently, Acorn, the nation’s largest community-organizing group, was well known primarily among progressive activists and the low-income people it has organized since it began in Little Rock in 1970. By mobilizing poor people and their middle-class allies, it has won major victories — at the local, state, and national levels — to improve the living and working conditions of everyday people.
With chapters in more than 70 cities, it has successfully fought banks that engaged in predatory lending, employers that paid poverty wages, and developers that gentrified low-income neighborhoods. It has also registered more than a million Americans to vote.
Acorn is now well known, but what most Americans know about it is wrong, based on controversies manufactured by the group’s long-time enemies.
A new national survey revealed shocking public misperceptions about Acorn: More than half of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the organization, and 52 percent of Republicans, 18 percent of Independents, and 9 percent of Democrats think Acorn stole the election for Obama.
If foundations retreat in the face of the current war against Acorn, it will not only embolden right-wing extremists but will also raise questions about grant makers’ commitment to a robust democracy.
How is it that after working in relative obscurity for almost 40 years, Acorn was so falsely framed in news stories that many Americans believed the absurd and alarming notion that it stole a presidential election?
The answer is a tale not only of how the Republican Party and conservative news media framed Acorn but also of how most mainstream journalism organizations were negligent by repeating rather than fact-checking the allegations.
After the 2000 presidential election, Karl Rove (President Bush’s top political adviser) and conservative Republicans orchestrated an attack on Acorn for alleged “voter fraud,” as part of a campaign to suppress the voting of minorities and the poor. As part of this effort, a U.S. Attorney was asked to investigate Acorn.
The investigation came up empty-handed, but the GOP operatives persisted. The allegations of “voter fraud” hit a peak in October 2008, aided by Arizona Sen. John McCain’s charge in a presidential debate with Barack Obama that Acorn “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.”
He demanded that Mr. Obama disclose his ties to Acorn. Senator McCain frequently repeated those accusations on the campaign trail. Soon, according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 82 percent of Americans reported they had heard about Acorn.
Although the voter fraud never materialized, the stories planted during the election season yielded a bountiful crop of misinformation.
In recent months, the organization’s notoriety was compounded after Fox News broadcast controversial clips from videotapes of Acorn staff members talking to two people posing as a prostitute and her pimp. The pair showed up at 10 Acorn offices, tried to entrap low-level staff mem bers into providing tax and housing advice for their illegal prostitution ring, and videotaped the encounters.
The tapes were edited before they were released, failing to reveal that some Acorn offices turned the pair away or refused to provide them any aid. In no Acorn office did employees file any paperwork on the duo’s behalf.
Nonetheless, Fox News broadcast those videos on a virtual round-the-clock basis, causing a controversy far out of proportion to its news value. Almost every major TV station and newspaper reported the controversy, allowing Fox News to set the agenda.
The attack on Acorn is not really about a few bogus names on voter forms or about a few staff members providing advice to a phony prostitute with a video camera. Rather, it is part of a broader conservative effort to attack progressive organizations (including labor unions, environmental groups, activist religious organizations, and community organizers).
The attacks on Acorn began years ago. Its corporate enemies paid a Washington public-relations firm to create the Web site RottenAcorn.com, where many of the attacks on Acorn were first rehearsed. Then the right-wing echo chamber orchestrated its war on Acorn, and the mainstream news media joined the chorus.
Although Acorn has received positive news coverage about its organizing work in many local news outlets, the national media (with some exceptions) have acted more like stenographers than journalists, repeating the lies and half-truths by Acorn’s critics without trying to verify them, put them in context, or provide Acorn with an opportunity to rebut them.
We expect this from the right-wing echo chamber — Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, and their ilk. More troubling is the mainstream news media’s unwitting complicity in the conservative campaign to frame Acorn.
For example, 80.3 percent of the print and broadcast stories about Acorn’s alleged voter fraud failed to mention that Acorn itself was reporting voter-registration irregularities to authorities, as required by law.
Unfortunately, the Repu blican-manufactured contro versies have scared some of Acorn’s longtime supporters. Even many Democrats in Congress voted to condemn Acorn and demand that the federal government pull its financial support.
Some foundations also pulled the plug. The Catholic Campaign for Human Devel opment, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ antipoverty charity, praised Acorn for its work “preventing home foreclosures, creating job opportunities, raising wages, addressing crime, and improving education.” But under pressure from conservatives, it, too, cut off Acorn’s money. Other grant makers are sticking by Acorn but want to see the organization improve its day-to-day management.
Like all large organizations, Acorn is not without flaws. Acorn was embarrassed by its errant employees and fired them immediately. But the misjudgment of a few employees is hardly grounds for withdrawing federal or foundation funds.
Acorn admits that in the past it devoted too few resources to management. But since Bertha Lewis took over as chief executive a year ago, she has improved staff accountability, financial safeguards, and internal communications. With foundation support, she brought in management experts, account ants, and lawyers to help Acorn establish new management practices.
Ms. Lewis also set up an advisory council to recommend management changes. In October that group recruited Scott Harshbarger, the former Massachusetts attorney general, and former president of Common Cause to investigate the videotape incident and to recommend and carry out necessary man agement changes. On Monday, Harshbarger released his independent report http://www.proskauer.com/files/uploads/report2.pdf concluding that while ACORN needs to improve its management structure, it did not engage in illegal activities when two videographers, one posing as a prostitute, sought to entrap ACORN employees. The report confirms that the rush to judgment by Congress, as well as by some of ACORN’s political allies, was premature. Harshbarger noted that the videos, made by two conservative videographers under the guidance of right-wing activist Andrew Breitbart, were doctored and distorted, making it difficult to determine what actually occurred. The videographers refused to provide Harshbarger with the original videos or to talk with him for his report.
People concerned about poverty in the United States can ill afford to lose Acorn.
Its organizing — door-knock ing in poor neighborhoods to identify problems and mobilize residents — not only helps the poor but is also one of the best training grounds for new young organizers.
Most of its budget goes into (relatively low) salaries for organizers, researchers, administrators, and counselors. By any measure, Acorn has been remarkably successful. For example:
Assisting the poorest Am ericans. Acorn spearheaded campaigns to adopt living-wage laws in dozens of cities and increase state minimum wages, resulting in millions of Americans getting raises. Its free tax counseling has helped make the federal earned-income tax credit an effective antipoverty program.
Helping low-income people buy houses. Acorn has pressured banks to end racial discrimination in mort gage lending (”redlining”) and provided counseling on buy ing a home to 350,000 low-income people. It has also helped negotiate 110,000 mort gages worth more than $16-billion. Officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, even during George W. Bush’s ad ministration, viewed Acorn’s nonprofit programs — to develop low-cost housing and provide homeownership counseling — as among the best in the country.
Fighting for an overhaul of the financial system. Almost a decade ago, Acorn warned about the dangers of predatory lending by banks, private mortgage companies, and mortgage brokers.
If foundations use the current controversy as an excuse to abandon Acorn now — particularly during a deep recession when poor Americans desperately need a voice in the corridors of power — it will do more than wound Acorn. It will also hurt the poor and weaken the fabric of American democracy.
John Atlas is president of the National Housing Institute and author of Seeds of Change, a history of Acorn that Vanderbilt University Press will publish in 2010. Peter Dreier is a professor of politics and director of the urban and environmental policy program at Occidental College; he is the co-author of the study “Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why Acorn Was the News, and What the News Got Wrong.”
A version of this was originally published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Dear Stephen,
President Obama made it clear last night that he will fight for jobs. He knows that we cannot lose sight of the millions of working families who are still suffering from the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. Too many Americans are out of work and too many jobs are at risk.
The President and Congress must act now or millions of Americans could lose their jobs in the months ahead. To this point, the President reminded the Democrats of their obligation to lead and served notice to Republicans that ‘just say no’ is not an option.
AFSCME agrees with the President that America needs to lay a foundation for long-term economic growth, and we continue to believe that providing affordable, quality health care for millions of additional Americans is not only the right thing to do, but is also a key to economic recovery.
We also agree that federal action is needed to keep our economy from slipping back into the ditch. Too many services in communities across the country are being cut to the bone. AFSCME members understand this first hand. Members like you are on the front lines of this crisis, trying to do more and more with less and less. State and local governments need help and they need it now.
AFSCME will fight for robust investment in vital public services. Indeed, investment in public services must be a part of federal jobs legislation. In the coming weeks and months, we will call you, our 1.6 million members, to lend your voice to our efforts to make this happen.
In solidarity,
Gerald W. McEntee
International President
FEBRUARY 2010, Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton edition of The Union News
Labor community giving funds to help Callahan defeat Charlie Dent
BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSABE@AOL.COM
REGION, January 18th- Democratic Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan is challenging incumbent United States House of Representative (Republican-15th Legislative District) Charlie Dent in 2010 and his recent fundraising success is partly because of labor unions donating to his campaign.
Mr. Dent is currently serving the second half of a third term in Washington, DC and his recent voting record has taken a sharp turn against legislation supported by the labor community. The 15th Congressional District seat has been held by a Republican for six consecutive terms. Pat Toomey represented the Lehigh Valley in Washington for six years and did not seek a fourth two-year term in 2004. Mr. Toomey is seeking the Republican nomination in 2010 for the United States Senator from Pennsylvania. The seat is currently occupied by Democrat Arlen Specter.
Mr. Callahan stated if he is to be successful in defeating Mr. Dent the labor community must support him financially and with their votes.
Mr. Callahan reported that he raised $380,000 for his challenge of Mr. Dent in the last three months of 2009 which was more than Mr. Dent raised. Mr. Callahan’s campaign stated it has more than $600,000 on hand to spend on the campaign.
The affiliated union members of the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Lehigh Valley labor federation has pledged to support Mr. Callahan’s campaign and many have given funds.
Mayor Callahan is just beginning a new four-year term as Bethlehem Mayor and for months has been reaching-out to members of the labor community throughout the Lehigh Valley requesting their financial support and conducting strategy sessions.
According to one labor leader that represents workers employed by Bethlehem, Mr. Callahan is fair to his members.
David Saltzer, President of the the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Union Local 735, which represents 111 members of the Bethlehem fire department told the newspaper Mr. Callahan has been a good employer since becoming Mayor of Bethlehem. Currently, Local 735 has a four-year contract agreement with the city which will expire on December 31st, 2010. “We have negotiated one contract with him but things went well. He was fair to the members,” said Mr. Saltzer.
Mr. Dent had a labor voting record of nearly 35 percent in 2006, but dropped to 27 percent in 2007 and is now below 20 percent. He voted against raising the minimum wage, and the Card Check legislation.
FEBRUARY 2010, Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton edition of The Union News
Teamsters Union Local 773 files labor complaint against Pepsi Bottling Company
BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSABE@AOL.COM
REGION, January 4th- On December 23rd, 2009 the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Union Local 773, Hamilton Street in Allentown, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region Four office in Philadelphia alleging a Lehigh Valley employer violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRAct).
Local 773 filed the Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against Pepsi Bottling Company, Vultee Street in Allentown, alleging the employer violated Section 7 of the NLRAct.
The newspaper discovered the complaint after reviewing ULP’s and petitions filed at the NLRB Region Four office. The newspaper is the only media in the Lehigh Valley that routinely reviews complaints and petitions filed at the regional office of the agency.
“The above named employer, by and through its agents, has repudiated the collective bargaining agreement by refusing to provide insurance coverage to injured employees for twelve months as required under Article IX,” states the ULP.
The complaint does not state how many workers the union represents at the beverage manufacturing facility in Allentown.
January 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News
United States Chamber of Commerce challenges labor law
BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM
REGION, December 27th- The United States Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit on December 22nd alleging that a new State of Oregon law is unconstitutional because it is too pro-union.
The business organization jointly filed the lawsuit with Associated Oregon Industries and is arguing a new Oregon law “unconstitutionally eliminates an employer’s right to conduct mandatory meetings with employees to rebut union rhetoric and provide information about drawbacks of a unionized workplace.”
“Organzized labor hasn’t been able to muster the votes or the public support to pass Card Check, so they’ve moved on to “Plan B” to muzzle employers during union organizing drives. Just like Card Check, this law flies in the face of the country’s democratic values,” said Steven Law, chief legal officer and general counsel for the business organization.
Oregon is the first state in the nation to pass such a law that would prohibit employers from conducting mandatory meetings with their employees during union organizing campaigns. The Oregon legislation is modeled after language in the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCAct) legislation that is currently being held-up in Washington, DC.
The United States Chamber of Commerce told the newspaper the federal law pre-empts the Oregon law, which runs counter to fifty years of federal protection for employers’ right to hold mandatory meetings to rebut labor leaders’ rhetoric about unionizing. The business organization lawsuit also alleges the law violates employers’ speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The legislation became law on January 1st, 2010.
The law, known as SB 519, and the case is Associated Oregon Industries and Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Brad Avakian and Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 296.
“This legislation is organized labor’s first salvo in an apparent state-by state assault on federally protected employer speech,” said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center, the United States Chamber of Commerce public policy labor firm.
Organized labor has urgued for decades that the conducting of mandatory meetings with workers by employers during organizing campaigns were unfair because all employees must attend or face being discipline or termination.
January 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News
Teamsters Union Local 401 members ratify new five-year labor agreement
BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM
REGION, December 23rd- Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Union Local 401, South Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre, ratified a new five year labor agreement with Altadis USA in McAdoo, Luzerne County.
Teamsters Local 401 represents approximately 140 employees of Altadis USA.
According to James Murphy, President and Business Agent for Local 401, the contract was ratified on December 20th with around 67 percent of the participating members voting in favor of the successor agreement.
“This is a fair package for our members and it also allows for the company to remain competetive and continue to provide jobs for our members,” said Mr. Murphy, who negotiated the agreement for the Union.
Mr. Murphy told the newspaper Local 401 members will receive two percent pay increases each year of the pact.
Also, employees health insurance benefits will be paid for by the company. Employees can choose from several health insurance plans of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania. For family coverage there is a deductible for medical attention.
Mr. Murphy stated under the terms and conditions of the agreement there was contract language improvements including:
• layoff language;
• bereavement language; and
• shift differential
January 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News
Study shows lack of jobs increasing poverty rates
BY PAUL LEESON
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM
REGION, December 18th- A newly released report shows that millions of families have experienced hardship during the first year of the Great Recession in 2008.
The report compiles Census Bureau data on poverty in 2008 by congressional district, with additional breakdowns on child poverty, women in poverty, and poverty among racial minorities.
The Census Bureau released its national estimates on September 10th, 2009, showing that the number of people living in poverty in 2008 rose from 37.3 million (12.5 percent) to 39.8 million (13.2 percent).
The number released in 2010 will reflect 2009’s dismal job losses and are expected to be significantly worse. The unemployment rate in 2008 averaged 5.8 percent, but is expected to exceed 9 percent on average for 2009.
“This data offers lawmakers a more detailed look into the growing poverty rates among their own constituents. As we head into the new year, we look forward to working with Congress and the administration to advance the necessary policies to help those most in need during this time of economic turmoil while laying the groundwork for a shared economic recovery,” said Melissa Boteach, an economist for the Center for American Progress Action Fund in Washington, DC.
The 2008 picture was particularly bleak for women, children, and minorities. The breakdown by congressional district reveals that the child poverty rate above thirty percent in thirty-six districts across seventeen states. Economists predict that next year’s data will show that one in four children in America was poor in 2009.
The study shows disparities by race and gender also continue unabated. Women’s poverty rates are above the district average in all but 15 of the 437 congressional districts analyzed, which include the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. More than one in four African Americans live below the poverty level in 188 congressional districts, and Latino poverty rates are higher than twenty-five percent in 145 congressional districts.
The United States House of Representatives passed the Jobs for Main Street Act in December, which includes effective job creation stategies such as aid to states and localities, new public service jobs for hard-hit communities, extensions of emergency unemployment insurance and COBRA provisions, improvements to the child tax credit, and investments in the national housing trust fund.
“Job creation strategies should focus on putting more Americans to work in the short term, but they should also focus on long-term solutions that provide the most vulnerable populations with the skills they need to access jobs, provide for their families and contribute to the economy. Without long-term solutions that equip more workers with the skills they need to access employment, the economy won’t truly recover for all Americans,” said Evelyn Ganzglass of the American Progress Action Fund. “Further, workers and their families also need supports to meet their basic needs and stay afloat as they search for employment or acquire the skills needed to access good jobs in growth areas of the economy,” Ms. Ganzglass added.
“We need both short and long-term plans to help families through the worst of the recession while keeping our eye on the bigger picture to ensure that education, training, and economic opportunity are available to those who need it most,” said Wade Henderson President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in Washington, DC.
January 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News
Catholic teachers union president unhappy about comment
BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM
REGION, December 19th- Mike Milz, President of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT), which once represented the teachers of the Scranton Diocese, told the newspaper he is disappointed with comments made by Cardinal Justin Rigali about the success of the Employee Relations Program that was implemented after the union was removed as the bargaining representative of the employees.
SDACT represented the teachers until August 2007 when the previous contracts expired and then Scranton Diocese Bishop Joseph Martino refused to negotiate for a new contract.
The union represented the teachers of seventeen of the fourty-two grade schools and nine of the ten high schools of the Scranton Diocese.
The new system eliminated the small school boards and created four regional boards. SDACT previously had contracts with each Board of Pastors that represented each school. Bishop Martino implemented a “Employee Relations Program,” after he told the union they no longer represented the employees.
Mr. Milz was a 33-year employee of the Scranton Diocese working as a science teacher and later a social studies teacher at Bishop Hoban High School in Wilkes-Barre, which is now called Holy Redemmer. Mr. Milz was laid-off by the Diocese of Scranton in 2008 and is now working for the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) Union in the Lehigh Valley.
Mr. Milz stated the Employee Relations Program is nothing but a “company union” and the SDACT would like to represent the employees again after the new Bishop is named in 2010.
A meeting was held between officials of the Scranton Diocese and SDACT in October about representing the employees again. Mr. Milz stated the meeting held between the parties lasted for a little less than a hour in which the union was told no resolve of the union situation can be obtained until a new Bishop of Scranton is named.
Mr. Milz stated SDACT still has authorization cards signed by the workers indicating they would like to be represented by the union again. The cards were signed by the workers after Bishop Martino agreed to allow the union to represent the workers if a majority of them wanted to be SDACT members. However, Mr. Milz stated Mr. Martino went back on his word and later refused to discuss the union situation.
January 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News
Study suggest ARRAct kept State residents from poverty
BY PAUL LEESON
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM
REGION, December 20th- According to a recently released study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left leaning organization that conducts research and analysis on government policies and programs, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRAct) likely kept 189,000 Pennsylvania residents from falling into poverty.
Pennsylvania was one of eleven states to see a statistically significant increase in the official poverty rate from 2007 to 2008, according to the United States Census Bureau’s American Community Survey in 2008, 1.5 million Pennsylvanians, 12 percent of the population, were living below the official poverty level.
“These are difficult economic times, but the recovery act has kept things from being much worse, as this study shows. Thousands of Pennsylvania families are getting help making ends meet despite the worst recession in decades,” said Sharon Ward, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center.
The study examined the following seven provisions of the ARRAct.
• a new Making Work Pay Tax Credit of up to $400 for workers ($800 for a
couple) earning up to $95,000 (up to $190,000 for a couple);
• an expanded Child Tax Credit for lower income working families with
children;
• an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, including increased tax credit
benefits for a working family with three or more children and for married
families to lessen the marriage penalty the Earned Income Tax Credit can
otherwise impose;
• additional weeks of emergency unemployment compensation benefits (paid
after a worker’s 26 weeks of regular state unemployment benefits expire);
• an additional $25 per week for unemployed workers to supplement their
unemployment benefits;
• a $250 one-time payment to elderly people and people with disabilities
who receive Social Security, SSI, or veterans’ benefits; and
• an increase in food stamps benefit levels.
“Congress agreed to expand the extra unemployment benefits through February. But with unemployment likely to remain high for some time, it will need to extend them futher,” said Ms. Ward.
January 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News
MSA’s civilian labor force falls by 3,600 during past year
BY PAUL LEESON
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM
REGION, December 29th- According to labor data provided by the Pennsylvania, Department of Labor and Industry, the region’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 9.4 percent, decreasing by three-tenths of a percentage point from the previous report, which was released approximately four weeks before. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming Counties. Twelve months ago the unemployment rate for the region was 7.0 percent.
The unemployment rate in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is 8.5 percent, decreasing by four-tenths of a percentage point from the previous report. Pennsylvania has a seasonally adjusted civilian labor force of 6,328,000 with 540,000 not working and 5,788,000 with employment. The national unemployment rate is 10.0 percent, decreasing by two-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month.
The main reason the unemployment rate fell in the region and in Pennsylvania was because of the decrease of the civilian labor force and residents that have exhausted their unemployment benefits and have stopped looking for work.
The civilian labor force in the MSA has fallen by 3,600 during the past twelve months, while the labor force in Pennsylvania has fallen by 167,000. At the same time the region has 253,100 civilians working, decreasing by 10,200 from twelve months before.
There are 15,375,000 civilians in the nation without employment. That number also does not include civilians that have exhausted their unemployment benefits and have stopped looking for work.
There are 26,400 residents in the MSA not working, increasing by 6,600 from twelve months before. That number also does not include civilians who unemployment benefits have expired and stopped looking for work.
The MSA has the fifth largest labor force in Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia MSA has the largest labor force at 2,950,300 with 261,600 not working; the Pittsburgh MSA is second at 1,110,100 with 95,100 without jobs; the Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton MSA has the third largest labor force at 416,400 with 38,700 not working; and the Harrisburg/Carlisle MSA has the fourth largest civilian labor force at 280,300 with 21,000 without employment.
Of the 14 MSA’s within Pennsylvania, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton MSA is tied with the Erie MSA for the highest unemployment rate. The Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton MSA has the second highest unemployment rate in the commonwealth at 9.3 percent, with the Williamsport MSA, the Reading MSA and the Johnstown MSA tied for the third highest unemployment rate.
The State College MSA has the lowest unemployment rate in Pennsylvania at 5.9 percent. The Lebanon MSA has the second lowest unemployment rate in the state at 7.0 percent with the Harrisburg/Carlisle MSA and the Lancaster MSA tied for the third lowest at 7.5 percent.
Lackawanna County has the lowest unemployment rate in the MSA at 9.0 percent, which decreased by three-tenths of a percentage point from the previous report and jumped two and four-tenths percentage points from one year ago.
Lackawanna County has a labor force of 106,200, unchanged from the report before but fell by 1,400 during the past twelve months. There are 9,500 Lackawanna County residents without jobs, decreasing by 300 from the previous report but increasing by 2,400 from one year ago. That number also does not include residents that have exhausted their unemployment benefits and have stopped looking for work.
Luzerne County has the highest unemployment rate in the MSA at 9.7 percent, which decreased by four-tenths of a percentage point from the report before and increased by a whopping two and five-tenths percentage points from twelve months ago. The labor force in Luzerne County decreased by 5,800 during the past year. Of the labor force 15,400 do not have a job, increasing by 3,800 from one year ago.
Wyoming County has a unemployment rate of 9.4 percent, increasing by two and five-tenths percentage points from one year ago. Wyoming County has a labor force of 14,300, increasing by 200 from the previous report and dropping by 200 from one year ago. There are 1,400 Wyoming County residents without jobs, increasing by 200 from the previous report and jumping by 400 from twelve months before.
January 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News
Hearing held to discuss teachers retirement fund shortfalls
BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM
REGION, December 20th- According to the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) Union, which is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s largest school employee union, new legislation touted as a solution to rising costs in the state school employee pension plans will not help and could actually increase costs to taxpayers.
“Instead of dealing responsibly with the pension spike, this legislation would actually add more administrative costs, and shift more of the burden of funding school employee pensions back to the Commonwealth. This legislation would make it even more difficult to balance the state budget over the next several years,” said James Testerman, President of the PSEA.
Legislation sponsored by State Representative Glen Grell (Republican-87th Legislative District) and State Senator Gene Yaw (Republican-23rd Legislative District), would change the current system of funding school employees pensions from local school districts to the state government.
Mr. Testerman testified before the state Senate Finance Committee on December 16th and told legislators that proposals such as House Bill 2315 would have no impact on Pennsylvania State Education Association members future employer contribution spike for the state and school districts in 2012. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association, which supports the legislation, acknowledged at the same hearing that future costs are “unknown” and that any savings would not occure until 2020.
“There are no easy solutions to look past such schemes and pledged PSEA’s assistance in developing a responsible plan to address the funding crisis and protect the solvency of the Public School Employees’ Retirement System.
Under a provision of the legislation, school districts contributions would be capped at their current property tax index and the PSEA stated the proposal would benefit wealthier districts over poorer ones, who would have to come up with a larger percentage of pension costs through local revenues.
Mr. Testermen stated over the last ten years, school employees contributed more than $7.3 million into the pension system while their employers, the state and school districts combined, paid about half as much.
“We now have to deal with the cost of two recessions, plus the impact of employer underfunding, all coming due at one time. This problem is unique to Pennsylvania. It was created by legislation and not by standard pension accounting,” added Mr. Testerman.
“Some of the solutions being discussed make for good sound bites, but won’t do anything to reduce the projected payment increase, and are actually long-term problems that will hurt our ability to attract and retain quality education professionals over the long term.”
The hearings were held to discuss the solvency of the Public School Employees Retirement System and the unfunded accrued liability rate of the pension fund expected to be more than 30 percent by 2012.
Mr. Testerman testified that lawmakers need to look past schemes that will not solve the pension crisis problem and pledged the PSEA assistance in developing a responible plan to address the funding crisis and protect the solvency of the Public School Employees’ Retirement System.
“There are no easy solutions, but one thing is clear, the state and school districts must keep their promise to fully fund school employees’ pensions,” Mr. Testerman stated.
January 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News
Complaint filed against CMC Hospital being investigated
BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM
REGION, December 20th- The complaint filed by the union that represents nurses at the Community Medical Center (CMC) on Mulberry Street in Scranton is under investigation a source confirmed to the newspaper.
In the previous edition of the newspaper it was reported the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) Union, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, filed a Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against the CMC on October 28th, 2009 alleging the employer violated Section 8 (a), subsections (1) and (3) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRAct).
The complaint was filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region Four Office in Philadelphia.
PASNAP is affiliated with the California Nurses Association (CNA) and represents nurses at the CMC and the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital on North River Street in Wilkes-Barre. The union has failed to gain a successor contract agreement with Community Health Systems (CHS) which owns and operates the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. CHS is the largest owner of for-profit hospitals in the country. The previous agreement expired on August 30th and the union represents approximately 450 nurses at the medical center.
Of the three medical centers in Scranton, Moses Taylor Hospital is the only one that does not have any unionized employees. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Healthcare Pennsylvania, formerly called SEIU 1199P, represents workers including nurses at the Mercy Hospital on Jefferson Avenue.
According to a source at the NLRB, the agency will soon determine if there is merit in PASNAP’s claim CMC officials violated the NLRAct.
According to information provided on the ULP, the union alleges the employer, by its officers, agents, and representatives terminated Elizabeth Webber because of her activities on behalf of PASNAP, and because she engaged in concerned activities with other employees of the CMC for the purposes of mutual aid and protection, and in order to discourage membership in the union.
It’s been an awful week in politics. Democrats are running away from national healthcare reform. Many learned the exact wrong thing from the MA election, and are now pushing for even more watered-down, big-business-approved legislation — or no reform bill at all.
This problem — Democratic weakness and bowing to corporate interests — is why the Working Families Party exists. And it’s why we’re asking you and everyone you know to pledge to vote on the Working Families ballot line today. Just click here:
http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=603
We’re no spoiler party. We support Democrats a lot of the time — and when we do, it’s because we expect them to put the interests of progressives and working families first. These politicians know that they could lose the WFP’s support — and their elections — if they don’t do the right thing.
The more of us there are, the more they’ll be compelled to listen. So if you’re sick and disgusted with the news from Washington, there’s something you can do about it today: tell the Democrats you’re voting on the Working Families Party line.
There’s never been a better time to jump on board. And if enough people do, it’ll make news, in New York and maybe even nationally. All you need to do is take the pledge:
http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=603
It’s a dark moment. But if it means that tens of thousands of us roll up our sleeves and get to work actually holding Democrats accountable, we’ll come out of this better than we went in.
Thanks,
Bob Master and Sam Williams, WFP Co-Chairs
Dan Cantor, WFP Executive Director
They Still Don’t Get It
By BOB HERBERT
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/opinion/23herbert.html?ref=opinion
How loud do the alarms have to get? There is an economic emergency in the country with millions upon millions of Americans riddled with fear and anxiety as they struggle with long-term joblessness, home foreclosures, personal bankruptcies and dwindling opportunities for themselves and their children.
The door is being slammed on the American dream and the politicians, including the president and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill, seem not just helpless to deal with the crisis, but completely out of touch with the hardships that have fallen on so many.
While the nation was suffering through the worst economy since the Depression, the Democrats wasted a year squabbling like unruly toddlers over health insurance legislation. No one in his or her right mind could have believed that a workable, efficient, cost-effective system could come out of the monstrously ugly plan that finally emerged from the Senate after long months of shady alliances, disgraceful back-room deals, outlandish payoffs and abject capitulation to the insurance companies and giant pharmaceutical outfits.
The public interest? Forget about it.
With the power elite consumed with its incessant, discordant fiddling over health care, the economic plight of ordinary Americans, from the middle class to the very poor, got pathetically short shrift. And there is no evidence, even now, that leaders of either party fully grasp the depth of the crisis, which began long before the official start of the Great Recession in December 2007.
A new study from the Brookings Institution tells us that the largest and fastest-growing population of poor people in the U.S. is in the suburbs. You don’t hear about this from the politicians who are always so anxious to tell you, in between fund-raisers and photo-ops, what a great job they’re doing. From 2000 to 2008, the number of poor people in the U.S. grew by 5.2 million, reaching nearly 40 million. That represented an increase of 15.4 percent in the poor population, which was more than twice the increase in the population as a whole during that period.
The study does not include data from 2009, when so many millions of families were just hammered by the recession. So the reality is worse than the Brookings figures would indicate.
Job losses, stagnant or reduced wages over the past decade, and the loss of home equity when the housing bubble burst have combined to take a horrendous toll on families who thought they had done all the right things and were living the dream. A great deal of that bleeding is in the suburbs. The study, compiled by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, said, “Suburbs gained more than 2.5 million poor individuals, accounting for almost half of the total increase in the nation’s poor population since 2000.”
Democrats in search of clues as to why voters are unhappy may want to take a look at the report. In 2008, a startling 91.6 million people — more than 30 percent of the entire U.S. population — fell below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, which is a meager $21,834 for a family of four.
The question for Democrats is whether there is anything that will wake them up to their obligation to extend a powerful hand to ordinary Americans and help them take the government, including the Supreme Court, back from the big banks, the giant corporations and the myriad other predatory interests that put the value of a dollar high above the value of human beings.
The Democrats still hold the presidency and large majorities in both houses of Congress. The idea that they are not spending every waking hour trying to fix the broken economic system and put suffering Americans back to work is beyond pathetic. Deficit reduction is now the mantra in Washington, which means that new large-scale investments in infrastructure and other measures to ease the employment crisis and jump-start the most promising industries of the 21st century are highly unlikely.
What we’ll get instead is rhetoric. It’s cheap, so we can expect a lot of it.
Those at the bottom of the economic heap seem all but doomed in this environment. The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston put the matter in stark perspective after analyzing the employment challenges facing young people in Chicago: “Labor market conditions for 16-19 and 20-24-year-olds in the city of Chicago in 2009 are the equivalent of a Great Depression-era, especially for young black men.”
The Republican Party has abandoned any serious approach to the nation’s biggest problems, economic or otherwise. It may be resurgent, but it’s not a serious party. That leaves only the Democrats, a party that once championed working people and the poor, but has long since lost its way.
Grayson: Court’s Campaign Finance Decision “Worst Since Dred Scott”
By Nick Baumann
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/01/grayson-courts-campaign-finance-decision-worst-dredd-scott
Alan Grayson, the first-term Democratic congressman from central Florida, really didn’t like Thursday’s Supreme Court decision legalizing unlimited corporate spending in election campaigns. “It’s the worst Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case,” he told me last night. In Dred Scott, Grayson explained, the Supreme Court decided that neither slaves nor the children of slaves could ever be US citizens. In Citizens United v. FEC, decided Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled “that only huge corporations have any constitutional rights,” Grayson said. “They have the right to bribe, the right to buy elections, the right to reward their elected toadies, and the right to punish the elected representatives who take a stab at doing what’s right.”
I wrote a profile of Grayson for the most recent issue of Mother Jones. You can read the whole thing here.
Like independent campaign finance reform groups, Grayson saw this decision coming. Last week, he filed five bills that he hopes will help counteract the effects of the Court’s decision. On Wednesday night, he launched a website, savedemocracy.net, to rally support for these measures. On Thursday morning, he delivered over 10,000 signatures from a web-based petition to the Supreme Court. After the court issued its decision, he introduced a sixth campaign finance reform bill.
The Court’s decision creates serious problems for the Fair Elections Now Act (FENA), a bill that Grayson co-sponsored that would institute publicly financed elections. “The funding from FENA is a drop in the bucket compared to what the oil companies might spend to defeat representatives who don’t want to drill everywhere,” Grayson warned. “It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what Wall Street’s prepared to spend to reward those who vote for bailouts and punish those who won’t.” The Supreme Court has “created a whole new problem…. that really isn’t addressed by that bill,” Grayson said, while emphasizing that he still supported FENA because it is “a step in the right direction, but not sufficient.”
Via Grayson’s website, here are the six bills “and what they aim to accomplish,”:
The Business Should Mind Its Own Business Act (H.R. 4431): Implements a 500% excise tax on corporate contributions to political committees, and on corporate expenditures on political advocacy campaigns.
The Public Company Responsibility Act (H.R. 4435): Prevents companies making political contributions and expenditures from trading their stock on national exchanges.
The End Political Kickbacks Act (H.R. 4434): Prevents for-profit corporations that receive money from the government from making political contributions, and limits the amount that employees of those companies can contribute.
The Corporate Propaganda Sunshine Act (H.R. 4432): Requires publicly-traded companies to disclose in SEC filings money used for the purpose of influencing public opinion, rather than to promoting their products and services.
The Ending Corporate Collusion Act (H.R. 4433): Applies antitrust law to industry PACs.
The End the Hijacking of Shareholder Funds Act (H.R. 4487): This bill requires the approval of a majority of a public company’s shareholders for any expenditure by that company to influence public opinion on matters not related to the company’s products or services.
The fifth measure has already gained the support of Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the chair of the House Judiciary committee, Grayson said. Grayson hopes the committee might hold a hearing on that bill sometime in the next 30 days. Grayson circulated his proposals among his colleagues on Thursday. He has a decent record with winning support for populist ideas— last year he signed up over 100 cosponsors for Texas Republican Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve.
Still, what Grayson could really use is the support of President Barack Obama, who has slammed the Supreme Court decision and promised a “forceful” legislative response. Grayson’s bills would certainly qualify. The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder has reported that the White House and other Hill Democrats are seriously considering three options for responding to the decision, including one that bears a resemblance to Grayson’s sixth bill—requiring shareholders to approve of independent political expenditures. When we spoke, Grayson also voiced support to another idea Ambinder says is under consideration—a “Stand by Your Ad” requirement. As Ambinder describes it, “The head of an insurance company would be forced to say, ‘I’m Honus Wagner, the CEO of Acme, and I stand by this ad.’” Grayson emphasized that such a move would be consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision today, which explicitly allowed Congress to pass tough disclosure requirements.
New York Times Editorial
The Court’s Blow to Democracy
Published: January 21, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/opinion/22fri1.html
With a single, disastrous 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has thrust politics back to the robber-baron era of the 19th century. Disingenuously waving the flag of the First Amendment, the court’s conservative majority has paved the way for corporations to use their vast treasuries to overwhelm elections and intimidate elected officials into doing their bidding.
Congress must act immediately to limit the damage of this radical decision, which strikes at the heart of democracy.
As a result of Thursday’s ruling, corporations have been unleashed from the longstanding ban against their spending directly on political campaigns and will be free to spend as much money as they want to elect and defeat candidates. If a member of Congress tries to stand up to a wealthy special interest, its lobbyists can credibly threaten: We’ll spend whatever it takes to defeat you.
The ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission radically reverses well-established law and erodes a wall that has stood for a century between corporations and electoral politics. (The ruling also frees up labor unions to spend, though they have far less money at their disposal.)
The founders of this nation warned about the dangers of corporate influence. The Constitution they wrote mentions many things and assigns them rights and protections — the people, militias, the press, religions. But it does not mention corporations.
In 1907, as corporations reached new heights of wealth and power, Congress made its views of the relationship between corporations and campaigning clear: It banned them from contributing to candidates. At midcentury, it enacted the broader ban on spending that was repeatedly reaffirmed over the decades until it was struck down on Thursday.
This issue should never have been before the court. The justices overreached and seized on a case involving a narrower, technical question involving the broadcast of a movie that attacked Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 2008 campaign. The court elevated that case to a forum for striking down the entire ban on corporate spending and then rushed the process of hearing the case at breakneck speed. It gave lawyers a month to prepare briefs on an issue of enormous complexity, and it scheduled arguments during its vacation.
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., no doubt aware of how sharply these actions clash with his confirmation-time vow to be judicially modest and simply “call balls and strikes,” wrote a separate opinion trying to excuse the shameless judicial overreaching.
The majority is deeply wrong on the law. Most wrongheaded of all is its insistence that corporations are just like people and entitled to the same First Amendment rights. It is an odd claim since companies are creations of the state that exist to make money. They are given special privileges, including different tax rates, to do just that. It was a fundamental misreading of the Constitution to say that these artificial legal constructs have the same right to spend money on politics as ordinary Americans have to speak out in support of a candidate.
The majority also makes the nonsensical claim that, unlike campaign contributions, which are still prohibited, independent expenditures by corporations “do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” If Wall Street bankers told members of Congress that they would spend millions of dollars to defeat anyone who opposed their bailout, and then did so, it would certainly look corrupt.
After the court heard the case, Senator John McCain told reporters that he was troubled by the “extreme naïveté” some of the justices showed about the role of special-interest money in Congressional lawmaking.
In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens warned that the ruling not only threatens democracy but “will, I fear, do damage to this institution.” History is, indeed, likely to look harshly not only on the decision but the court that delivered it. The Citizens United ruling is likely to be viewed as a shameful bookend to Bush v. Gore. With one 5-to-4 decision, the court’s conservative majority stopped valid votes from being counted to ensure the election of a conservative president. Now a similar conservative majority has distorted the political system to ensure that Republican candidates will be at an enormous advantage in future elections.
Congress and members of the public who care about fair elections and clean government need to mobilize right away, a cause President Obama has said he would join. Congress should repair the presidential public finance system and create another one for Congressional elections to help ordinary Americans contribute to campaigns. It should also enact a law requiring publicly traded corporations to get the approval of their shareholders before spending on political campaigns.
These would be important steps, but they would not be enough. The real solution lies in getting the court’s ruling overturned. The four dissenters made an eloquent case for why the decision was wrong on the law and dangerous. With one more vote, they could rescue democracy.
