The Reagan Years Are Back Again In Detroit

Not since 1984, when President Reagan sold us a pile of mess called Trickle Down Economics have we seen such high unemployment rates in Michigan. The state reported unemployment rates of 12% in February 2009. Worse yet, Michigan's largest city, Detroit, reported an unemployment rate of 22.2%--the highest since 1983!

Apparently, these numbers don't even include the men and women who have simply given up looking, or who can only find part-time work. As more and more Michiganders are laid off from auto industry-related jobs, they're competing with low-income families in need of work and who are barely making ends meet.

We find that these families are also competing for jobs with senior citizens who can't afford their medications or high utility bills. Instead of sitting out on their porches or balconies, our elders are standing for hours at a time selling fast food or greeting customers!

And forget about any of our youth trying to get jobs. They have virtually no chance in these terrible economic conditions and will suffer the consequences later, as adults, when they have little or no job experience to show.

During these days of government handouts and bailouts to banks and businesses, the people of Detroit and Michigan need cash bailouts too! We don't need politicians promising tax credits or asking for our patience. Neither will buy groceries or pay the light bill! As citizens and taxpayers, we want and deserve the same assistance that is being given to the corporate welfare cronies across this country!

(Image courtesy Moronail.net)

Being incarcerated in Michigan

MWRO just learned that Rev. Edward Pinkney of BANCO in Benton Harbor has been moved again, this time to Muskegon Correctional Facility. After nearly a year of incarceration on trumped up charges and the irrational Deuteronomy fears of a presiding judge, Rev. Pinkney has been shuttled around to eight different jails and prisons.

This Thursday, another MWRO friend from Battle Creek, Efrén Paredes, Jr., is seeking commutation, i.e., release from prison in Jackson by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, while his family and friends gather after 18 years of hope and pleas. (BTW, your calls to her will help 517-373-3400.)

Fellow water activist Marie Mason is currently in Clinton County Jail and will be sentenced for an environmentally-motivated crime early next year.

MWRO has many friends with more friends and family who are serving time in Michigan prisons. All of this has us wondering again about the Michigan prison industrial complex. One recent report states:

...Michigan's incarceration rate is about 40 percent higher than the average rates of its Great Lakes neighbors. And the cost of all this has shot through the roof: The number of Corrections employees has more than tripled since 1980, to the point that today over 30 percent of all state Civil Service employees are in the Department of Corrections. With an appropriation of over $2.2 billion in 2008, the Department of Corrections spent over 20 percent of Michigan’s General Fund budget.

Michigan spends more today to hold criminals in jail than we do to educate our kids in public colleges and universities; according to the Pew Center for the States, we’re one of only one of four to share that dubious distinction. And, according to the Citizens Research Council, we spend around 30 percent more per inmate per year than our neighboring states. CRC also estimates that if our spending on prisons just matched our neighboring states, we'd save around $500 million each year.

In addition to this, Michigan incarcerates too many non-violent offenders like our noted friends. These millions in annual savings could help our state and local economies, and stabilize thousands of families--freeing them from excess stress, financial strain, and broken up homes.

Write Gov. Granholm and ask her to grant clemency, commutations, and pardons to the thousands of non-violent incarcerated men, women, and juveniles in Michigan (like our friends above) who we need behind garden picket fences, not prison fences.

Honorable Jennifer Granholm
Michigan Department of Corrections
Office of the Parole Board
Pardons and Commutations Coordinator
P.O. Box 30003
Lansing, Michigan, 48909

(Image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons)

The Death Of Youth?

By Maureen D. Taylor
State Chair, MWRO

Little “Daniel” was eleven years old when he wondered into the thick brush near his home. Among the unkempt shrubs and trees, he found a discarded .22 caliber pistol. To his delight, after several tries, the gun discharged so he shot it several times into the air. One of the bullets found and killed “Mr. Bean” who was an innocent twenty-one year old walking down the street.

The Michigan courts decided after reviewing the background of “Daniel” that he was unsupervised and unaccounted for, especially since his mother was away from home at her job. Uncles and other relatives were asked to attend him, so sometimes they did, and other times, they didn’t.

Since no one cared, he was tried as an adult, found guilty, and sentenced to ten years in “kid” jail. When he was twenty-one, he was released. To the delight of the press, they photographed him as he walked away, wearing a fake-fur coat, a “zoot-suit,” a “pimp hat,” and red shoes someone had purchased for him.

Howls went up when it was suggested that the Governor had arranged for a job. “Why should this jail-bird get work when my kid can’t find a job?” The job vanished along with the apartment that he had been promised, and the educational spot that was arranged also went away.

Some months later after several minor offenses, he was stopped again by local authorities, and they found 232 “ecstasy” pills in his possession. He was charged with another crime of intending to sell drugs. Wonder where he got 232 pills from? Probably from the same person who bought those clothes and those red shoes.

Anyway, rather than go through another court case, this 22 year old shocked the court by telling his attorney that he was pleading guilty. He was sentenced to 4 years in an adult jail, and that was that. He will come back to us again in 2012, and I wonder how old will he be then?

Daniel was eleven when this terrible tragedy happened to him and to the young man who he shot. He was twenty-one when released, going on thirteen, and will be twenty-six when he is released again in 2012, going on fourteen. How could mothers and fathers let this happen? Oh well, just another “Bronx tail” about the death of youth.

(Image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons)

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)

Poverty Summit Party Crashing

Today in Detroit, there are three events of concern to us...and we were invited to two of them. Working backwards, we're attending two evening events with great community organizations: United Community Housing Coalition (UCHC), and Detroit Summer.


UCHC is holding an annual fundraising dinner for their work to help low-income homeowners fight mortgage foreclosures. The youth organization, Detroit Summer, is beginning their Breaking Bread Action Series with speakers, music, videos, and a community action. We'll be there with bells and whistles to help these stalwart groups with the amazing work they do in our communities!

Earlier in the day, we'll be attending the Poverty Summit organized by the State of Michigan...but not because we (or other poor people's advocacy groups) were invited. In fact, at the last minute, MWRO was asked by a participating union leader to join a panel after discovering welfare rights was not included in this social service soirée at Detroit's downtown convention center. The Governor will be there along with hundreds of poverty-concerned bureaucrats, academics, faith-based funding organizations, and welfare-to-work contractors. The only ones who won't be there are the victims of poverty!


Welfare rights is not new to the "we forgot to invite you" game. But when the so-called leaders on poverty solutions are in your backyard, it's an added insult to the people who suffer daily from decisions made by well-dressed people in banquet halls.

So, we'll be there today and we'll report back tomorrow on what transpired. And to our friends at UCHC and Detroit Summer, we can't wait to see you!

UCHC Annual Fundraising Dinner & Silent Auction, 5:30pm
Central United Methodist Church, 23 E. Adams St, Detroit
Suggested donation: $20, or whatever you can afford

Detroit Summer "Breaking Bread Action Series," 6pm
CCNDC, 3535 Cass (No. of MLK Bl), Detroit
Bring a potluck dish.

(Images from State of Michigan Poverty in Michigan webpages)

Election Comments from MWRO State Chair

By Maureen D. Taylor
State Chairperson, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization

When President-elect Obama first went to Iowa and won that primary, I thought it was an anomaly. When he won again in New Hampshire among a similar crowd of predominantly white college students and rural workers, I saw something. By the third victory, I understood that he was on to something, so I looked for the answer among those who were supporting his concept of "change."

Again, the use of technology was the trump card, and he and his campaign found that out. Technology has replaced the need for workers around the world, throwing millions out onto the streets with no income, no health care, and no hope. That paradigm shift has finally hit American workers, and the race to reconstruct society is on!

The misery index is on the rise while General Motors wants taxpayers to help them buy Chrysler, and then they will put another 35,000 workers out and on the unemployment line. Throwing $800B toward these banks has done nothing to help those millions who have already lost their homes, and talks of giving these banks even more money are being held.

What President-elect Obama was able to see was that technology was a tool that would put his campaign in contact with a totally new voting block...18 to 30 year olds who don't have landlines! They use cell phones and communicate through text-messages. Republicans didn't see that leap, and were shutout of that entire market. WOW!! No robo-calls reached that group, and the use of technology was one of the main instruments that ushered in this great international victory.

Imagine, using the tools that have replaced so many of us, to win this election. Workers should never again not see the entire picture relative to the importance that new innovations can be used to hurt, and also help us, when they remain in the hands of those capitalists who don't care if we eat, or live inside, or have healthcare, or anything else we need to merely survive. We must capture all means of production and institute an American system that maintains a level of survival regardless of if we are working or not.

Our's is a moral issue. It is wrong to deprive people of water, of food, of housing based on the whims of the marketplace. Stand up American workers, and get your "fight on." Take the country back and let's make her what she was meant to be. Like Obama says, "...it's not that America is perfect, it is that she can be perfect if we work block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, and institute the concept of taking care of each other. We can fix this if we try!

Image courtesy of Flickr.