Stand Up for Democracy vs MI Secretary of State

Local news stations have shared the correspondence that Michigan Governor Snyder has offered an opinion to the Appeals Judges who are about to render a decision whether or not to certify the signature process aimed at placing Public Act #4 on the November ballot. He asks in his memo that these Judges NOT impede his forward momentum by certifying this effort.

We have a position as well. We would ask that these Judges NOT impede the people's right to democracy. 

So bizarre are these events relative to the petition activity that even the attention of national newscasters (like Rachel Maddow) has been captured each noting that nowhere else in the nation has so little been written about so huge an event. Over turning elections has a history.

Public Act 4, the emergency manager act, is the crux of what we are alarmed about. It allows the Governor, so he thinks, to void state and local elections in places where the finances of that municipality are stressed, and a person of his choosing is seated who answers only to the Governor.  This "dictator law" has no successful outcome anywhere in the State and, in every example, has led to even deeper financial debt as the assets of the people are sold to the highest bidder at pennies on the dollar.

Benton Harbor had a deficit and after the emergency manager was seated, the deficit is three times greater. Pontiac had a deficit and has a greater one today. The Detroit School District had a deficit and it has grown to a much larger number under the forced emergency manager. So one would ask, what the real agenda is with this outrageous act?

Attacking democracy is no small matter. It starts small -- a little less democracy here, a little less there, and before you know it people are convinced that to appoint officials must be the right thing to do because it keeps happening! 

That pesky "democracy" is getting in the way of what corporations want, so efforts to sideline it are underway across the State.  How egregious is it that the once mighty Pontiac Silverdome, that was the "mecca" of sports and other major events costed out at $55 million when it was first built, was sold for $500,000 just months ago? This businessman has now named the same emergency manager in charge of that sale to his team as he prepares to retrofit the Silverdome for the newest casino owned by him!

We are heading into deep, dark waters and should prepare ourselves for street to street battle.

On Thursday, all segments of the State will learn a valuable lesson about what is taught in civics and  government class in local schools: Do the people have a right to redress? Maybe not anymore. Can the size of the print on a petition be enough to disqualify the will of just under 240,000 people?  Apparently yes. Can a representative of the Tea Party, the Republican party or any party be allowed to tamper with this American process in such a way that democracy is sacrificed?  Don't know yet. No lover of freedom and open government can stand by and let such an action take place.

If you are able, come to the State Bldg at Cadillac Place, 3020 W. Grand Blvd, Suite 14-300 (at Second St) in Detroit on Thursday, May 17th, no later than 9am. Stand and watch as we look to see if democracy still stands. "...oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, over the land of the free and the home of the brave?" Democracy has been stolen.  The outcome of this Appeals Court hearing will reveal a great message and will help clarify what stage of this battle we are entering. 
 
MD Taylor
MWRO State Chairperson

“Capitalism vs Democracy”

‘Cipients Speak! December 2008
by Maureen D. Taylor, MWRO State Chair

As we come to the end of the year, MWRO sends out greetings to our members across the state and to the welfare rights members across the country, the front-line fighters. Don’t get weary now! The American worker is looking at this collapse of an economy that we have all grown up under, and many questions abound.

Most of our lives, we have equated capitalism with democracy. People have the right to make money at the expense of someone else. Lights, gas, water – all natural resources have been privatized as corporations make millions at the hands of our suffering, and we are taught that this is the “American way.”

Retirees put their trust in these same corporations, and allowed these snakes to invest their pensions in stock market ventures, and now that their precious dollars are gone, the message is, “too bad!” We have seniors living well below the poverty level, juggling decisions to pay bills or pay for prescriptions, and we are okay with that?

Veterans who served honorably are living in homeless shelters, and we are okay with that? Southern congressional officials are demanding that northern workers accept the no-benefit salaries paid to non-union workers, and we are okay with that?

Capitalism doesn’t mean democracy, it equals terrorism.

The door is open to start rebuilding the country based on a new standard of living. Welfare Rights supports a guaranteed annual income for those unable to secure employment that maintains a level of existence well above poverty. If we can spend $10B per month over eight years for wars, we can keep people fed, clothed, and out of harms way.

The technology exists today to feed folk, to build cars that run on vegetable oil, to build affordable homes, to provide healthcare, and to make America closer to the dream that it was built on. We have to construct a new point of view that emphasizes that the needs of the many are more important than the needs of the few. Thank you, Mr. Spock! Happy Holidays to All!

Detroit's Neighborhood Parcels of Land

A recent study by the University of Detroit Mercy estimates that 30% of vacant parcels across the city amount to nearly 40 square miles--enough to fit the cities of San Francisco, Boston, and Manhattan in Detroit's boundaries. The study's author also believes that it will take another generation (at least) before there will be enough people in Detroit to repopulate these areas.

In the meantime, a variety of proposals are being put forth for how this land can be used: urban gardens, reforestation, playgrounds, new housing, shopping centers, and other plans by the Detroit Planning and Development Dept.

Yes, large and small neighborhoods across Detroit are filled with empty and abandoned parcels of land. Some belong to local residents and governments, and others have been purchased by outside banks and developers who see the severe Michigan economic hardship on families as a profit bonanza. A few more of the vacant lots have turned into dump sites for people who leave behind their bulk trash because of the city's inferior trash and recycling program.

However, a good number of these plots have been adopted by adjacent neighbors. Many have already been turned into unofficial community gardens, extended yards, open BBQ picnic areas, and informal playgrounds. Some homeowners try to purchase these vacant residential lots but who has the extra money and time these days for that lengthy process?

The upcoming Detroit mayoral elections are going to be filled with many candidates claiming to have the best ideas for managing these neighborhood pieces of land. Many of the ideas will also be backed by banks and developers who know nothing about the people and history of the neighborhoods. MWRO believes local residents and neighborhoods should have a significant voice in how these vacant lots are used or maintained, and politicians should be ready to listen.

UAW Exposes GOP Efforts to Punish Organized Labor

By Maureen D. Taylor,
MWRO State Chairperson

Last Friday, Dec. 12th, 2008, two days after the 60th anniversary that the Declaration of Human Rights was signed, the American worker was stabbed by corporate capitalism and their elected official friends. In a stunning betrayal of truth, a small Nazi-fringe of the GOP engineered the collapse of the auto-loan request designed to stop blue-collar workers from being put out on the streets.

This country is alone in its refusal to help shore up manufacturing entities making lack-luster politicians who heretofore stood mute, into outstanding champions for justice. Better late than never! No minor children should read beyond this point, because the language is about to take a low ride.

Today, AIG -- the American Insurance Group -- that was given billions over the last several weeks was caught again giving bonuses to their executive staff. According to our sources, some 78 administrative staff received these dollars ranging from $92K to $4M each! This would be the third such “gift” from our tax dollars provided to executives, while blue-collar workers are being asked to “grovel.”

UAW President Gettelfinger was impressive as he exposed the “secret GOP memo” that suggested methods and rationales for how to punish the UAW for their support of Democratic candidates over the years. Today, we learned the fees taxpayers paid to “right to work” states to bring off-shore auto manufacturers to Tennessee and to Alabama. He revealed the shocking $500M Tennesseans paid to Volkswagen to build a factory there along with years of tax abatements! He revealed the $252M paid to Hundai, the $29M paid to Toyota, the $158M paid to Honda, and the $253M paid to Mercedez by Alabamans so that these competitors could locate manufacturing hubs in America. He revealed the deal penned by our own Peter Karmanos, who purchased 2,500 Benz’s for his executive staff.

American workers should craft new plans for a better future. Suggestions: buy factories and start making our own cars – we know how! File tyranny charges against AIG, Alabama and Tennessee state senators and take them to court for crimes against American workers. Take over the production of all industries and operate them toward the benefit of working people everywhere. Research what elected officials in Indonesia, and China make so that these high and mighty senators can lead by example and start accepting similar salaries as they are demanding American workers to do. Juan Williams from Fox News suggested that blue-collar workers do earn too much, so we need to research what news broadcasters in Indonesia and Mexico make so he too can lead by example and accepts similar wages.

We have reached the end of an era. What will the next set of pages contain about how the world is to be run? You get what you organize to take. These corporations hate you. They hate your children. They would see you die from starvation, from neighborhood violence, from no health care, and we are walking into the crematoriums without so much as a whimper. Fool us once, shame on you…fool us over and over and over again, shame on us! Wake Up!

(Image from China Daily, includes Republican Senators Richard Shelby (AL), center; John Ensign (NV), and Jim DeMint (SC).

Blue Collar UAW Singled Out in Auto Bailout

We've been watching the Congressional hearings and the bailout developments with the Big 3--General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler--and have been following the new plan to insert a Car Czar into the mix. Having been hoodwinked by bank leaders who took the money and ran to spas and their shareholders before answering questions on how they got into this mess, current planners want answers before they cut checks.

While MWRO doesn't approve of any corporate welfare, it strikes us as unfair that automakers, whose majority of employees are blue collar workers, are being held to more scrutiny and higher standards than white collar Wall Street bankers. Before this latest fiasco, factory employees and workers in related industries already made major concessions in pay and benefits to keep these companies alive. Any trips to the spa were stopped a long time ago as it became harder to hold onto your job and your home. As reported on the UAW website:

The Economic Policy Institute reports that 3.3 million jobs would be lost if U.S. automakers collapse, with Michigan, California, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, Indiana and New York the biggest job losers.

Skilled United Automotive Workers (UAW) have made massive contributions to the labor standards that millions of U.S. (and international) workers have achieved: sit-down strikes forcing companies to bargain with employees, increased paid vacation, paid holidays, calls for postwar equal pay and full employment for women, cost-of-living pay increases, workers pensions, Supplemental Unemployment Benefits, paid hospitalization and sick day benefits, medical benefits for retirees, and more.

Sure, the Big 3 have plenty to answer for when it comes to poor quality vehicles and designs in recent times; and for dragging their feet to build environmentally friendly cars and trucks. But Michigan and the Midwest were built on the hard factory work and hard fought union organizing of people employed in these plants.

Detroit and southeast Michigan have suffered massively in jobs losses and housing foreclosures. Some say it's time for Detroit and Michigan to move beyond a manufacturing economy and embrace new technology and new employment sectors (like life sciences). The technology is already here, as evidenced by the increased roboticization of factory work where workers are replaced by robots that don't need benefits or bathroom breaks. But before Michigan workers can look toward tomorrow, they need some governmental help to maintain life today.

Groceries in Exchange for Guns

This weekend in Los Angeles, Sheriff Deputies concluded two weeks of Gifts for Guns--a community safety program that allows residents to anonymously turn in their guns in exchange for gifts cards. The strong response--965 firearms, including a Soviet-era semiautomatic carbine, plus two hand grenades--surprised even veteran deputies who believed participation was driven by the economic difficulties faced by families. One man who was recently laid off from his job told deputies that he needed to exchange his five guns to be able to get groceries for his family.

The gift cards were from Ralphs (a Kroger-owned grocery chain), Target, and Best Buy. The program is paid for mostly by the County of L.A, along with donations from these retailers and the City of Compton. Similar programs have been run in San Francisco and New York.

Last month, new statistics were released that ranked Detroit with the third highest crime rate in the nation. Residents of Detroit regularly view horrendous news stories of shootings involving innocent children and by-standers.

MWRO believes the Wayne County Sheriffs Dept. and the Detroit Police Dept. should create the Gifts for Guns program in Detroit. Not only would this get many guns off our streets but it would help hungry and needy families get the necessities they need, especially at this time of the year.

(Image from YahooNews/AP)

Poverty Statistics in Michigan

Like everyone else, we're reading the news and trying to keep up with what's happening. But along the way MWRO notices that a lot of statistics in Michigan are increasing.

Here are some examples:

• In October, the Michigan's unemployment rate was 9.3%, the highest level since July 1992;
• 1 out of 5 Michigan residents live in or near poverty, including 500,000 children;
• 1 in 3 Detroit residents is poor making it the poorest large city in the nation;
• 47.8% of children live below the poverty line in Detroit;
• Between January-May 2008, DTE reported a 56% increase in shut-offs for non-payment;
• 77,900 jobs were cut in Michigan from September 2007-2008;
• In home foreclosures, Michigan ranked 7th nationally with 1 in every 396 homes receiving a foreclosure filing, in Detroit foreclosure filings were 1 in every 68 homes;
• The Michigan Dept of Corrections is the largest state program and accounts for 20% of the state's budget [PDF];
• Michigan has the 11th highest incarceration rate in the U.S. (more than Canada and Mexico);
  
• 44% of Michigan adults read at a 4th grade level or below;
• 1 in 8 Michigan residents receive Food Stamps; and
• More than 1 in 10 Michigan residents will need emergency food assistance.
  

For some readers, these statistics may be shocking but for poor and low-income workers in Michigan they mean day-to-day life is difficult and miserable!

The $700 billion bailout for Wall Street banks is offering nothing to uplift this economy, nor does it appear that it will help protect any more automotive sector job losses. Moreover, the $47.1 billion from HUD to Detroit for lessening the impact of foreclosures on hard hit communities seems destined for the coffers of more unscrupulous banks and greedy developers.

The recession in Michigan has been going on much longer than in other parts of the country, at least since 2004. In Detroit, the impact has been felt the hardest by the city's most vulnerable groups--children, seniors, single-mothers, ex-offenders, homeless, disabled, welfare recipients, immigrants, and those poorly educated.

It seems around every corner there is a new problem or a new vulture waiting to take what little you have left. Poor people are resilient...finding ways to make something out of nothing, and sharing what little they have with others in need. But low-income and poor families need to do more to make their voices heard! We are the majority--a majority who has a right to the same quality of life that is enjoyed by others across this state and country.

Now is the time to stand up and fight for the things we need to survive...to fight for our human rights!

(Image from Flickr Creative Commons)

"Bail out the People, not the banks!"

In two days, on November 20th, Detroiters will have their last chance to comment on how the City of Detroit will spend $47.1 million from HUD. "What?!" you say, that's right because on November 21 it goes to City Council for a vote, then it's off to HUD for a December 1 Action Plan submission.

So, here's our quick review of this:
In July 2008, Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act to address the impact of foreclosures in communities hardest hit by the crisis. Later that month, new HUD Secretary Preston announced in Detroit, "the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis," that the federal government was launching an aggressive foreclosure prevention assistance program to buy bad loans from lenders. The following month, the Detroit Economic Growth Association hired staff and opened the Office of Foreclosure Prevention to ready itself for these funds. [We can't find its website or location!]

Meanwhile, the Detroit Planning and Development Dept, developed a Neighborhood Stabilization Plan (NSP) partly based upon HUD's guidelines but with an emphasis on demolishing homes. The NSP Executive Summary states:

It is important to note the strong focus on demolition activity in the plan, which accounts for approximately 50% of the total award amount. Due to the number of vacant properties, duration of vacancy and the market conditions, eliminating blighted structures in the target neighborhoods for future development or alternative land uses will have a tremendous stabilizing impact. Priorities for demolition will include structures adjacent to development projects nearing completion, and concentrations of blighted, vacant properties.

We agree that dangerous and abandoned homes in Detroit need to be cleared for neighborhood safety and quality of life matters. But the NSP, along with demolition businesses, banks, and others want to clear huge parcels of land for new development with new residents. Nowhere do they mention the option of creating Detroit jobs that will lead to home stabilization and neighborhood security.

Many of the homes they propose to tear down are good homes in need of repair. The residents who moved out were hard working men and women who lost their jobs, lost their pensions, died in debt from medical and utility bills. In the effort to save their home, they often took out loans from unscrupulous predatory lenders, got involved in foreclosure rescue scams, and lost their homes in reverse mortgages. Rather than tear down these homes, hire Detroiters to fix them, paint them, landscape them, furnish them, thereby providing every manner of work and community pride!

Councilmember Joann Watson's Housing Task Force met on November 6 with Moratorium Now members who condemned the NSP and demanded that these federal funds be used as designed--to assist families in foreclosure, fix up vacated homes, and resettle families in them! The Michigan Citizen reports this in a November 15 story, "Demolition or Repair?"

MWRO also calls for these federal foreclosure assistance funds to be used as intended: to protect against more Detroit families losing their home, to safeguard and rehabilitate existing low-income housing; and not to be used at the pleasure of banks, developers, and officials looking for more easy money at taxpayer expense!

Read the City's Neighborhood Stabilization Plan Executive Report (and full report), along with a map of the Detroit Target Communities that are selected for assistance. Submit your comments by November 20...call 313-224-6380 or email NSP@detroitmi.gov

(Image from Flickr Creative Commons)

The Real Stimulus Strategy!!

by Maureen D Taylor, MWRO State Chairperson

Has it not yet occurred to regular, blue-collar, working or in-between job folks that the real way to stimulate the economy is to make resources directly available to us!

Every family who was deemed eligible for the $600 or $300 check is already listed and on paper with current addresses or current bank account numbers, right? Send us all a check for $60,000, or $30,000 each and exempt us from paying taxes on just that amount since whatever we purchase, will be taxed. Make it clear that this is a one time event, and then make it mandatory that all receivers MUST open a bank or Credit Union account.

How long will it take to stimulate the economy? About as long as it takes to get dressed and get out the door! We will buy cars, and refrigerators, and stoves, and clothing, and shoes. We will pay off arrearage utility bills, catch-up on mortgages and rents, and re-invest in car insurance. We will buy food, birthday gifts, get married, fly South to visit grandma, rent a car to take the kids to the Grand Canyon, buy books, go to the movies and take a stronger interest in charity events because we want to share our collective good fortune. This is a win-win scenario.

The regressive government that allowed this nightmare to happen slithers out of blame, the corporations rise or fall on their own greed, and the American people save the country from both of these scavengers. Working people put dollars into circulation. We start small businesses. We make things work, and when we are not in the mix, well you see what happens.

President-elect Obama...get those check printing machines oiled and ready if you want to quickly fix this "rich-man's" mess! With so many more Americans becoming homeless, unemployed, poorer and poorer, wonder why we didn't lose any millionaires or billionaires? Working people will purchase our way back to a level of stability. Knowing that we may not have jobs, we will make wise decisions that protect our families and keep us alive for the long run. You must know the feeling of being "without" before you can make plans to avoid that feeling again.

The fate of the nation and the world lies with us. Trickle down never works only plans to "lift all ships" from the bottom up has the blessing of God stamped on it!

(Image from Flickr Creative Commons)

Calling an End to Corporate Welfare Queens!

Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool announced today that it's cutting 5,000 jobs. These job losses are on top of the 28,300 lost in Michigan during September 2008, and the 77,900 jobs cut over the past year, according to CNN Money.

Meanwhile, Comerica (notorious with Detroit local customers) announced it's taking a $2.25 billion share of the $700 billion bailout from the feds. Not ones to miss out on their share of "corporate welfare," GM and Chrysler are trying to negotiate a Bush-aided bailout (upwards of $10 billion) that will pay for their merger scheme resulting in more job cuts!

But get this: The politicians who voted for this bailout, along with the companies who lobbied for the bailout, who have job-worried employees praying for a bailout...are the same ones who insisted upon welfare reform for low-income people! They argued and ranted that social welfare programs created government dependency and cost tax payers billions of dollars.

They were wrong but their rhetoric and venomous political climate allowed for attacks on poor people. Today, the government is doling out billions in "corporate welfare" for the very same people who called for welfare reform. But you'll hear no cries for "corporate welfare reform" or inflammatory complaints about "corporate welfare queens." Apparently, socialism for corporations is different than socialism for people.

The Corporate Welfare Information Center keeps a large database of U.S. government "corporate welfare" and other tax payer subsidies. They list eight "corporate welfare recipients" who between 1990-1994 received corporate welfare while laying off workers:

"The more corporate welfare received, the more layoffs...

______Welfare received__Employment
GM..........$110,600,000..........-104,000
IBM............58,000,000..........-100,000
AT&T...........35,000,000............-1,077 * #
GE...............25,400,000...........-80,000
Amoco.........23,600,000............-8,300 *
DuPont........15,200,000...........-29,961
Motorola......15,100,000............+9,600 *
Citicorp.........9,600,000...........-15,700
* exceptions to the trend
# AT&T layed off 40,000 people shortly after this accounting

Ralph Nader has long-called for stopping corporate welfare, and he's been working to call attention to the latest national scandal. No one wants a lifetime of welfare! It's a terrible way to live but we do need to find ways for everyone to have a guaranteed annual income. Government welfare is a safety-net for all people in times of need--especially when "corporate welfare queens" are squelching basic human needs and rights.

Tragic Poverty Fires in Highland Park...and the MWRO Utility Summit

The nights have started getting colder in southeast Michigan and low income families are struggling to keep warm. With the socioeconomic crises in Detroit and surrounding areas--no jobs, layoffs, home foreclosures, wide-scale poverty, very low food security, illness--many poor and fixed income households often have to decide between which bills to pay.

Low income families living in large, old, poorly insulated homes in Detroit and Highland Park more often than not are unable to pay altogether for electricity, natural gas, and water. So they make small payments hoping that it will suffice but it doesn't.

Early this morning, another family in Highland Park became victim to poverty fires--dying in one's home because you can't afford to pay for the utility(ies) you need to properly heat it. A beloved grandmother and her three young grandchildren (5, 8, and 10) burned in their home while the children's mother and other relatives luckily managed to escape. According to the Detroit Free Press, the fire department confirmed what neighbors already knew: the fire started from a small space heater used to keep the children warm while they slept.

Yesterday, a neighbor shared information with the grandmother about getting help with her heat bill through THAW, an agency that assists low income families with high bills and getting utilities turned back on. THAW is largely funded through redirected funds from DTE--the Detroit-based utility company that shut-off the family's natural gas in the first place!

Corporations should not be making profits off of the utilities needed for supporting life. We all have the right to shelter, heat, food, water, clothing, and other human rights...and no corporate bottom line should determine who stays warm or who dies. This tragedy, along with neighboring burned homes, never had to happen if low-income families had better assistance, better resources, better information about how to protect their families!

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization is organizing its annual Utility Summit to help families and individuals learn how to avoid utility shut-offs and get assistance. Please encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to attend as we try to put an end to the horror of poverty fires!

MWRO UTILITY CRISIS SUMMIT
Wayne County Community College, Downtown Campus
1001 W. Fort St, Detroit, MI 48226
5:00-7:30pm
Thursday, Oct. 23 for surnames beginning A-L
Friday, Oct. 24 for surnames beginning M-Z

Learn how to avoid utility shut-offs and home foreclosures!
Bring your bills...Show your voter registration card and get a free meal!
Register at (313) 258-6826

Fight Home Foreclosures In Detroit...and Queens, NY

Everyday there are more tragic stories about home mortgage foreclosures. Democracy Now! reports that today at noon a woman with three children in Queens Village, NY, was scheduled to have her home auctioned after falling victim to predatory lending. This second blow to her family comes after the death of her Navy soldier son in Iraq just a few months ago.

Codepink called a press conference on the steps of the local county courthouse earlier today, and has started taking online donations to help this family keep their home. This house, in fact, is just a few blocks away from where Obama and McCain held their last debate on Wednesday night.



In Detroit, Michigan's Moratorium Now is holding a rally to call a halt to home foreclosures in Detroit:

Demand that Mayor Cockrel Declare a 'State of Economic Emergency' in Detroit

Monday, Oct. 27, Noon
Gather at 'Spirit of Detroit'
Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (Woodward & Jefferson, Detroit)

* Interim Mayor Cockrel Must Appeal to the Governor to Impose a Halt to
Foreclosures.
* Demand Billions in Federal Funds Required to Address This Crisis.

For more information contact 313-319-0870.

SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION demanding the federal government implement an "Immediate Moratorium on Foreclosures and Evictions, NOW!"

Blog Action Day and Poverty

Today is Blog Action Day. Since MWRO has a fairly new weblog, we had no idea what that was until today. Apparently, it's a day when everyone who has a blog writes about the same topic to increase the international awareness and (hopefully) action around the issue. And today's theme is poverty, quite appropriate.

On the matter of blogs, we have found that in this election season our Google Alerts have jumped tremendously on searches for "National Welfare Rights Organization," "NWRO," and "welfare rights." It seems that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of conservative bloggers in the U.S. who are writing about Senator Obama's community organizing work with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Alongside that, they are also writing about ACORN's early relationship with the NWRO and George Wiley, a scientist turned poor people's community organizer.

But these weblogs aren't informative or even accurate. They're mostly inflammatory, ignorant, and built upon discrediting Presidential Candidate Obama and ACORN, and assailing welfare recipients. Here are a couple of examples:
Obama the ACORN nut: From little things, Left Liberal Marxist Socialism Grows;

Obama, ACORN, and Connections to Terrorist William Ayers

Now leading in the polls, Senator Obama surely has a lot to worry about and contend with. And once again, some people in this country--this world--in times of economic crisis have chosen to assess it by launching racist and venomous assaults on poor people instead of critiquing the true villain--a failed capitalist system.

The mission of the NWRO then and the National Welfare Rights Union now is to fight for the rights of poor and low-income people, especially those on public assistance. It's well understood that capitalism relies upon a cadre of low-skilled, low-wage workers to move in and out of the workforce, thereby, creating a permanent pool of the unemployed. Welfare recipients are at the bottom of this abyss and know better than anyone that it's not a place you choose to be in!

We invite critics and naysayers to learn more about welfare rights, economic human rights, and the efforts of many other good organizations and people who are trying to fight poverty and build a better world. Check out the links on the MWRO weblog page.

(Image: Courtesy of Kensington Welfare Rights Union)

A National Moratorium on Housing Foreclosures and an End to Mortgage-Based Evictions

Rightly so, a Chicago area sheriff has refused to carry out any more evictions against renters suffering the consequences of mortgage-foreclosed landlords. According to CNN, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart blames mortgage companies and banks for not doing the investigative work to determine who actually resides in these homes before proceeding with forced eviction. "These mortgage companies ... don't care who's in the building," Dart said Wednesday. "They simply want their money and don't care who gets hurt along the way."

Eviction practices are consistently abusive (anyone remember Michael Moore's, "Roger & Me"?). In Michigan, a grassroots group, Moratorium Now! is helping residents fight foreclosure and stay in their homes. For instance, Ms. Rubi Curl-Pinkins who lives near the famous Motown Museum in Detroit owned a paid off home but became a victim of predatory lending with Countrywide Mortgage. Unable to keep up with her new mortgage payments and medical expenses, Countrywide (which is owned by Bank of America) began eviction proceedings. At the last minute she was able to obtain a reverse mortgage so that she, a disabled senior, and her bedridden daughter could remain in their house. But Countrywide refused to stop the eviction. Through Moratorium Now! pickets and media reports, the eviction was halted and the family was able to stay.

But why must the halting of these forced evictions be handled one-by-one? Politicians and banks alike know that millions of families are facing similar situations. Michigan Welfare Rights Organization calls for a NATIONAL MORATORIUM ON HOUSING FORECLOSURES AND AN END TO MORTGAGE-BASED EVICTIONS! No community is served by having more of its residents evicted and homeless. We must work to keep people in homes and not allow banks to continue making profits off of the misery of low-income families.

'Cipients Speak: The Margin of Victory!

The strongest and clearest candidate in the Presidential race is by far, the under-dog, Cynthia McKinney, Green Party. That campaign cannot compete with the millions of dollars being spent by the Elephants and Donkeys, so we are calling on the next elected President to do the right thing. Hire Cynthia McKinney as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services, and appoint Dennis Kucinich as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. This would make a good start.

The survey polls are all over the place, so the question is what do you believe? At Welfare Rights, we know that the margin of victory is found in the ranks of those already marginalized and who, if included, can secure the victory. If the Obama camp wants to win this election, it must engage the low income voter, the homeless voter, the ex-felon voter, and the high school, new voter. We are already spreading out across the city to find, to secure, locate and to sign-up every one of those voters just listed. What would help would be to get these no-good, trifling Democrats on the same page that we are on. A simple thing like securing lawn signs and bumper stickers for those unable to spend the requisite $5 per sign should be a task even they can manage. Not so…

There is great angst in the Detroit Obama camp. Volunteers are rightfully upset about what they perceive as unfair treatment. Many have worked tireless hours to support their candidate and thought they would receive compensation for that labor. They are angry because that didn’t happen, and are even more upset to learn that an out-of-town volunteer committee is being slightly paid for working in the Detroit, Wayne County area.

This is a new day and new strategies are being tried, so we all have to get used to new stuff. What’s not new is that we are still being tricked, bamboozled, and hood-winked by corporate powers. To think that both parties in both houses are even considering making a gift of $1 trillion dollars to banks so that they can make loans to the common people that would generate interest is a sick trick. We don’t need credit, we need jobs that pay livable wages and a guaranteed annual income for those who find themselves in-between jobs. Obama said, “Not that America is perfect, but that America can be perfect.” That can happen if we move to restructure this nation on the basis of what is good for the many, and not on what is good for the few. Make tax-free checks available to low income & middle class families, and watch the economy become highly stimulated! Just like the government found trillions of dollars for these low-down banks, find stimulus checks for the people and we will turn this economy around quick, fast and in a hurry. Post an “800 #” for us to call and tell you NOT to give banks our money so you will know how we feel. Local Democrats, get those lawn signs and bumper stickers delivered to the people so we won’t have to talk anymore about this issue!

Maureen D. Taylor
State Chair, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization

McKinney-Clemente's 10 Points to Congress on Addressing Financial Crisis

Despite overwhelming odds, the Green Party's Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, have been criss crossing the country meeting with voters and discussing their platform. But you'd never know it given the lack of mainstream media coverage on their "Power to the People" campaign. Regardless, they have put forth 10 points that should be considered by Congress concerning the current Wall Street financial crisis. We believe they are on target and should be fully considered:

1. Enactment of a foreclosure moratorium now before the next phase of ARM interest rate increases take effect;
2. Elimination of all ARM mortgages and their renegotiation into 30- or 40-year loans;
3. Establishment of new mortgage lending practices to end predatory and discriminatory practices;
4. Establishment of criteria and construction goals for affordable housing;
5. Redefinition of credit and regulation of the credit industry so that discriminatory practices are completely eliminated;
6. Full funding for initiatives that eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in home ownership;
7. Recognition of shelter as a right according to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights to which the U.S. is a signatory so that no one sleeps on U.S. streets;
8. Full funding of a fund designed to cushion the job loss and provide for retraining of those at the bottom of the income scale as the economy transitions;
9. Close all tax loopholes and repeal of the Bush tax cuts for the top 1% of income earners; and
10. Fairly tax corporations, denying federal subsidies to those who relocate jobs overseas repeal NAFTA.
    

Learn more about the Mckinney-Clemente 2008 Campaign.