#42: Wisconsin Wakes Up: Signs of Spring in a Scorched-Earth State
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Lawmakers Sabotage VA, Then Vote to Privatize It, Help Stop the Destruction of the VA!
https://www.afge.org/article/lawmakers-sabotage-va-then-vote-to-privatize-it/
There are nearly 49,000 vacancies at VA hospitals and facilities nationwide, but the Trump administration and its mouthpieces in Congress are not in a hurry to fill them. In fact, they’re making it a lot harder for the VA to recruit the best and brightest by increasing workloads and continuing to cut pay, retirement, and workplace protections for current and new hires. No wonder they’re not getting any show of interest.
But that’s the point. When the VA is understaffed, the administration and privatizers can cite that as a reason to send even more veterans to the private sector.
That’s what happened May 16 when politicians led by House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe voted to pass another bill that would make permanent the VA privatization program, kicking the door wide open for wholesale privatization of the VA. Make no mistake, these people voted yes to send our wounded warriors to unaccountable, inferior, more expensive, for-profit providers that are not specialized in veterans health care.
The real mission
They call it the VA Mission Act, but their only mission is to enrich private hospital executives and campaign donors like the Koch brothers whose main concern is not providing the best care to veterans but making money every way they can. VA’s private-sector care program has been plagued with problems from the start. Earlier this year, AFGE called on Congress to launch an investigation into the two main contractors running the VA private care Choice program after the VA watchdog found that the companies had defrauded taxpayers by nearly $90 million.
The VA Mission Act would expand the private-sector care program even further, send even more money to private hospital executives, and dismantle the VA. Here’s how:
- Authorizing the outsourcing of up to 36 medical service categories, including mental health care and spinal cord injury care. The bill makes it easier for privatizers to cut up vital functions of the VA and auction them off to the private sector. Once a function is gone, it’s gone.
- Allowing a private corporate-style commission handpicked by the President unfettered power to decide which VA facilities to close, which VA facilities to repair, and which new facilities to build.
- Taking away the power of members of Congress and the constituents who elect them to save the VA hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities in their communities.
- Nowhere in the bill’s over 200 pages is there any mandate to hire more frontline employees to provide care and services to our veterans.
For years, special interest groups have tried to dismantle the VA so they could make a buck off the backs of veterans, and now they’re closer than ever.
After President Trump fired then-Secretary David Shulkin, Dr. Shulkin wrote about warring factions within the administration attempting to privatize the VA. Now we can see pro-privatizers are winning that war with the VA Mission Act one step closer to becoming law.
Protecting veterans’ health care
We already know that 92 percent of veterans want to see the VA invested in, 80 percent don’t want vouchers, and only 13 percent of private providers are even capable of treating veterans. The VA Mission Act blows past those facts to push veterans out in to the unaccountable private, for-profit system.
The bill is being sent to the Senate, which is likely to vote on the bill May 22 or May 23.
AFGE is calling our members and concerned citizens of the community to call their senators and tell them to vote ‘NO’ on S. 2372, and hope those in Congress who support veterans will step up before it’s too late.
PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA: Don’t Collaborate with Apartheid, Cancel Your Tour to Israel!
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/philly-dont-orchestrate-apartheid
Over 100 musicians, artists, scholars, union members and activists, as well as 35 social justice organizations, have called on the Philadelphia Orchestra to cancel its planned June tour in Israel.
Inspired by the global cultural boycott that helped end Apartheid in South Africa, Palestinian civil society has called on international cultural institutions not to perform in Israel as a popular non-violent means to pressure Israel to end its occupation and apartheid policies.
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s claim that their performance in Israel is “cultural diplomacy,” not “a political mission,” is undermined by their own admission that the trip is “in celebration of its [Israel’s] 70th anniversary” and by their close collaboration with Israeli government officials, before the trip and in the planned itinerary. The orchestra has several meetings planned with high level Israeli politicians and military personnel, including a “VIP visit” to a military base!
This is the same military that has killed or wounded over 3000 unarmed Palestinians in the span just the last two weeks since March 30. At least 773 people, defenseless and demonstrating on their own land, were shot with live ammunition by snipers in ONE DAY.
Such examples of Israel’s contempt and wanton destruction of Palestinian life are precisely the sort of abuses with which The Philadelphia Orchestra will be associating itself in making this trip.
Philly: Don’t Orchestrate Apartheid! Cancel the trip to Israel!
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/philly-dont-orchestrate-apartheid
Waukesha, May 25, 2018: Próximos Pasos en la Lucha contra 287g / Next Steps in the Fight To Stop 287g!
Hosted by Voces de la Frontera
Próximos Pasos en la Lucha contra 287g
ENGLISH BELOW
Próximos pasos en la lucha contra 287g
Patrocinado por el capítulo de Voces de la Frontera de Waukesha
Cuando: viernes • 25 de mayo • 6pm
Ubicación: Casa de Esperanza, 410 Arcadian Ave en Waukesha
Info: 414-828-2692
abierto al público
¡Acompáñanos para celebrar el éxito del histórico Día sin Latinx e Inmigrantes del 1ro de mayo contra 287g y para platicar sobre los próximos pasos en la lucha contra 287g en Waukesha!
———-
Celebration & Next Steps in the Fight to Stop 287g!
Hosted by Voces de la Frontera Waukesha Chapter
When: Friday • May 25th • 6pm
Where: Casa de Esperanza, 410 Arcadian Ave in Waukesha
Info: 414-828-2692
open to the public
Join us to celebrate the success of the historic May 1st Day without Latinx & Immigrants to Stop 287g and to discuss the next steps in the fight against 287g in Waukesha!
Hosted by Voces de la Frontera
5 Answers to 5 Statements Made About Venezuela
http://www.albamovimientos.org/2018/05/5-respuestas-para-5-frases-hechas-sobre-venezuela/
By Alba Movements on May 14, 2018
1. “There is no democracy”: In Venezuela there have been 23 elections since 1998, the year in which Hugo Chavez was elected as President and began a process of democratization of the State’s powers with high level of public participation in the decisions they make in their political, economical, cultural and organizational life. This is known as Participative Democracy with Protagonism from the people. Furthermore in Venezuela, voting is not obligatory, and still the participation levels in the last decades has been more than 70%, higher than what is there in United States, Spain, Colombia, Peru and Chile. For 11 years, Venezuela has used electronic or automatic voting system, which allows accelerating the voting process and protecting the results.2. “The elections are fixed by Maduro”: The National Public Power (Government of Venezuela) is divided into 5 powers: Legislative, Executive, Judicial, Civic and Electoral, in other words, it is different from Argentina (where there are only 3 powers), where the electoral processes are organized by the Ministry of the Interior (a power in the hands of President). Whereas in Venezuela, a power other than Executive exists that takes on the election processes. The Venezuelan electoral system has been recognized as one of the most reliable and modern voting processes in the world by international observers, like the Union of South-American Nations (UNASUR) and the Carter Centre (not-for-profit organization founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter).
3. “There is economic crisis”: Yes there is, but it is important to differentiate the crisis generated by one’s own government (like that of Macri and his neoliberal policy that only benefits the financial system) from the crisis induced by national and international financial sectors managed by United States government against Venezuela through: freezing of accounts, sabotage on exchange rate, extraction of paper currency, monopolization, scarcity and media war. Despite the effects of 5 years of economic war, the Bolivarian government is implementing actions to guarantee stability and peace in the country: increase in minimum salary every 2 months, permanent growth of social investment, construction of 2 million houses and their entrustment to the families belonging to the most vulnerable sectors, direct delivery of foodstuff to more than 6 million families through Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP) and launching of Petro, a crypto-currency system supported by real estate in oil reserves.
4. “Migrations and political exiles”: As a result of the conditions in which the economic war suppresses the Venezuelan people, many Venezuelans have decided to try luck in finding temporary jobs outside their country, just like millions of Central-American and the Andean region people who for decades have been migrating from their countries. But a discourse has been constructed by the anti-Chavista sectors that Venezuela is a catastrophe because it governs populism, communism, etc. Well, what should we say about Mexico? 41 million Mexicans are living in U.S. What should we say about Colombia? Around 5 million Colombians are living in Venezuela, 900 thousand in U.S. and 135 thousands in Spain. Some 32 thousand Venezuelans live in Argentina, while there are 87,574 temporary and permanent residential applications of Colombian citizens.
5. “Many countries denounce Venezuela”: The Latin American governments [close allies with the U.S. government– Neal] whose international policies are based on denouncing exclusively Venezuela are:
Mexico: With 1,035 journalists murdered in last 15 years, more than 50 in only 2017, Mexico is the country with highest number of intended deaths to silence the investigations. The campaign “War on Drugs” was unsuccessful as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that Mexico leads the market of exportation of methamphetamine and opium in America. Moreover the cultivation of opium poppy in Mexico has increased to 60% in last 6 years. In terms of human lives, we have some 23,000 people dying every year because of reasons associated this “war” and that counts more than 200,000 since it began 12 years ago with the government of Felipe Calderón.
Colombia: Besides those exiled in the exterior, it is important to count the internal displacements caused by paramilitary terror and Colombian army’s repression. There have been some 7 million displaced because of this reason. Colombian government who is so worried about Venezuela is unable to prevent assassinations in its own territory, for example, more than 80 social activists and trade unionists have been murdered in 2018 and the peace agreements signed in 2016 have only been respected by FARC while the state has breached 85% of them.
Brasil: Michel Temer’s government emerged after the coup d’état against President Dilma Roussef that was disguised as a political verdict against a lawsuit with evidences. The alleged corruption that served to throw off Dilma doesn’t seem to be serious enough to address Temer and his allies. He is the president with zero percent votes to become the president but with hundreds of judicial proceedings for corruption (including the recent video with coima). It is Brazil who started the labor reform, which destroys all labor rights; where the city councilperson from the opposition is killed like Marielle Franco and the candidate with the greatest possibility of votes is illegally detained in face of the next presidential elections.
Argentina: Macri’s government took on the flag of anti-Maduro since its electoral campaign in 2015. The fair government of price hike, not of salary increase, the government of dismissals, of adjustment after adjustment, of handing over political sovereignty to the IMF. The same government that doesn’t listen to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the seriousness to hold political prisoners without a due process, the same that suppresses the protests against the economic policies and that is responsible for the deaths of Santiago Maldonado and Rafael Nahuel. A government that justifies the shooting in the back of an 11 years old child brags to tell others how to “respect” international law that itself doesn’t respect.
Spain: With the exception of not being a Latin American country and a republic, Spain uses Venezuela to cover-up its own internal political crisis. Let us not forget that it remains a monarchy and the People’s Party is involved in hundreds of corruption cases the same or more as the royal family itself.
Source: Alba Movements, translation Dawn News
Solidarity With Instructor’s Strike At Toronto University
Welcome to the 2018 Strike Information page!
Teaching Assistants, Contract Faculty, and Graduate Assistants represented by CUPE 3903 have voted to begin a strike on Monday March 5 at 12:01 am.
A forced ratification vote was held between April 6-9, and was rejected by an overwhelming majority by all three units. See the results here.
The report of the government-appointed Industrial Inquiry Commission was released on May 4, 2018. See our response here.
Riverwest Radio: Samir Moukaddam on Palestine
Milwaukee, May 22, 2018: Candlelight Vigil for MPS Substitute Teacher Healthcare
Hosted by Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association
Hunger Strike for Substitute Teacher Healthcare
5130 W Vliet, Milwaukee, MTEA Headquarters, 6-8 P.M.
As MPS Substitute Teacher President Alex Brower’s hunger strike climbs to over 20 days, we will gather in front of MPS Central Office for a candlelight vigil in support of full time MPS subs receiving healthcare. Following the vigil we will attend the Strategic Planning and Budget (SPB) Committee meeting to keep the pressure on MPS administration and the school board to do the right thing. Fund our students and our classrooms!
#standwithsubs #fightforfunding
Washington D.C., May 21, 2018: US / Big Oil Hands Off Venezuela
Hosted by Workers World Party – D.C.
Workers World Party – Baltimore
U.S. / BIG OIL HANDS OFF VENEZUELA
ConoccoPhillips Release PDVSA Assets!
NO SANCTIONS – NO WAR ON VENEZUELA
Venezuela is right in the middle of its election process with expectations that President Maduro, who has the backing of the working class and poor people of Venezuela, will win.
Right before the elections, ConoccoPhillips a billion dollar U.S. oil and gas company has attached the Caribbean assets of Venezuelan PDVSA. This move is meant to further attempt to strangle the economy of Venezuela and create unrest.
Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have threatened to target Venezuela’s oil industry if Maduro wins and to levy sanctions which would prohibit Venezuela oil to be sold in the United States.
Why is this important?
The attempts by the United States government and big business are an effort to strangle the Venezuelan people first, by making it difficult for the Venezuelan government to have the financial ability to provide needed services for the people i.e. education, food, housing; and secondly by promoting armed counter revolution led by the wealthy classes inside Venezuela and ultimately leading to the potential for outside intervention by the U.S. and other reactionary forces.
This is a battle between rich and poor.
These same big oil companies and the banks have jacked up oil and gas prices here at home and are part of the capitalist business wing that supported the rise of Trumpism. They are virulently racist and anti-union.
It’s important to remember that Venezuelan oil companies like Citgo helped to heat the homes of poor people right here in the United States with their free heating oil programs.
We demand that big oil and the U.S. government respect the rights of the Venezuelan people to govern their own country free of every form of intervention, not only military, but also economic strangulation and interference.
NO SANCTIONS! NO WAR ON VENEZUELA!
Endorsers include: Workers World Party – DC and Baltimore; Peoples Power Assembly; Youth Against War & Racism (list in formation)
CAR CARAVAN FROM THE SOLIDARITY CENTER
Leaving at 3 pm sharp. Call 410-218-4835 to catch a ride.
U.S. Hands Off Venezuela! Solidarity With The Bolivarian revolution!
May 20, 2018: A message from WWP members who are observers invited by the Venezuela people’s government:
We are in the midst of the Venezuelan presidential elections, and working people all over the world are on the edge of their seats waiting for the results. The US ruling class has already declared they will not recognize the results, and the State Department is looking to implement oil sanctions.
The US ruling class wants to paint the election is illegitimate. But to the contrary, the Venezuelan government has invited delegates from all over the world—the US, Canada, several Latin American countries, Syria, Palestine, and many more—to observe the elections and learn all about the electoral process. Among the many organizations invited was Workers World Party. The photos and account below are first-hand observations from our comrades on the ground in Venezuela.
This is (probably) the first you’ll see of this. The National Electoral Council (or, in Spanish, Consejo Nacional Electoral or CNE) took this delegation to see the assembly, programming, quality check, and shipping of the electronic voting machines. The CNE gave presentations on electoral law and how it’s changed since the 1999 constitution. Then the delegation visited several polling centers all over Venezuela.
The electoral process is completely transparent and accountable, far more than what we have in the US. Perhaps just as important, polling centers are more accessible than ever, often located right within everyone’s neighborhoods—there are over 34,000 polling centers for the over 20 million registered Venezuelan voters. Polling centers are overseen and audited by representatives of any and all of the political parties that are participating in the election.
Be prepared for the wave of anti-Venezuela and anti-Maduro propaganda that the US ruling class will push, and be prepared to bring your solidarity for the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela to the streets. US hands off Venezuela!
Updates at: Workers World Party – Baltimore
