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Poverty Is the Real Scandal
DENVER - Former Sen. John Edwards was supposed to speak in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. His wife, Elizabeth Edwards, was to speak also. Poverty was their focus. But they are not here because John Edwards had an affair. Will the Democrats now forget about poverty?
Chris Chafe is a former senior adviser to the Edwards campaign. He is now the executive director of the Change to Win coalition, the group of unions well known for their early endorsement of Obama. They split from the AFL-CIO in 2005. I asked Chafe about the absence of Edwards and his message at the convention:
"We miss him being here. He is an important voice in our party. ... It is certainly a loss. ... We have to look within ourselves in a moment of crisis when we have somebody of symbolic and strong value and leadership who takes a fall ... we have to continue moving forward with all of the values, strengths, priorities and leadership that he brought to the race, we have to carry that forward ... far beyond this election season."
Change to Win supports the unionization of workers at Wal-Mart. Last month, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Wal-Mart has been warning managers that a Barack Obama victory would lead to unionization. In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings discussing the downside of unionization and told that a vote for Obama is tantamount to inviting unions in. Chafe said: "The company had been holding what we would consider captive-audience meetings where they are on company time, they are paid but they are required to go to meetings. ... This is going beyond the normal routine of intimidation. Now they are trying to deny workers rights at the ballot box, and that is something we felt we could not allow to take place and had to let the world know this is happening in the country's largest employer. ... You are not allowed to tell your employees how they are supposed to vote. It is the most sacred right in our democracy." Change to Win and others have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, challenging Wal-Mart's actions.
During the primaries in the blue-collar battleground states, Obama effectively pointed out that Hillary Clinton served on the Wal-Mart board for six years, implying an anti-worker, anti-union association. Shortly after she dropped out of the race, however, the Obama campaign appointed Jason Furman as a senior economics adviser. Furman has rankled labor activists, writing that the benefits of Wal-Mart's low prices outweigh its low wages. On that appointment, Chafe said, "We've met privately with [Obama] about it, and we've met privately with Jason. The senator brought Jason on to manage the day-to-day war-room operations of their message to illustrate contrast with [John] McCain. ... We made it clear, as did the senator, that there were certainly differences of viewpoint between he and Jason on a series of issues. We believe that Barack Obama has stood firm and clear on our agenda and the [Wal-Mart] workers' agenda."
On low prices trumping low wages, Chafe chafed: "Absolute hogwash ... Wal-Mart gets a pass because they pass along savings, they are passing along poverty. Poverty to workers across the world who are producing their goods. Poverty to the people that are working in their stores representing them who are trying to make a living, many of whom probably have multiple jobs to afford to raise their families. ... You name it, they find every way to cut corners and cut their workers out of their success."
The U.S. Census Bureau released a poverty report on Aug. 26. More than 37 million people are in poverty in the U.S. With Edwards iced out of the discussion, and free-trade economists advising the Obama campaign, the question remains: What of poverty?
Obama's nomination acceptance speech comes on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" address. King related poverty and justice: "We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check-a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. ... Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy."
Denis Moynihan contributed to this column.
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24 Comments so far
Show AllFYI - non judgemental
Interesting link of Amy and the contributing sponsors of 'Democracy Now'.
http://bilderberg-group.blogspot.com/2008/06/amy-goodman-dan-rather-feign-ignorance.html
But I could be wrong !
Even paranoids have enemies
The Bilderberg Group invites journalists to observe and report on its meetings, which hardly seems the act of a nefarious organisation. The link makes several grossly unfair accusations against both Rather and especially Goodman. To suggest that , because the Ford Foundation funds parts of Pacifica Radio, as it does many, many organisations across the political spectrum, we should consider Ms. Goodman an agent or some such is a gross and peculiar stance, in my own opinion.
Mainstream Criticism
Critics claim the Bilderberg Group promotes the careers of politicians whose views are representative of the interests of multinational corporations, at the expense of democracy.[8] Journalists who have been invited to attend the Bilderberg Conference as observers have discounted these claims, calling the conference "not much different from a seminar or a conference organized by an upscale NGO"[9] with "nothing different except for the influence of the participants."[10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
I watched this video which is full of innuendo and confusion and I have to agree with ardee. Every time Amy Goodman posts an article, there are irrelevant personal attacks against her.
The article was about Poverty. Thanks Amy. Poverty has always been the unfashionably dressed, embarrassing relative who is not taken to public events because she makes us uncomfortable. It is just easier to forget about her. Thanks for inviting her to the discussion.
Joe
There are a lot of essays this week about who should say what in this speech, who said that in that speech, why didn't that one say this in that speech - what, have we liberals and progressives been suddenly brainwashed into believing that the words this small group of corporate-approved-and-sponsored reps and candidates speak are louder than their complete lack of action, not to mention their near total support of all things Bush, since taking "control" of the Congress in 06?
Enough with the speech-analyzing already. Here's the rule: politicians lie, and this gang is the best yet.
Income disparity is crucial in politics because there are so many more lower income people than upper income people. Everything the republicans do is aimed at hiding the truth that any low income person who votes republican votes against their own self interest. They use wedge issues and false patriotism to bamboozle the masses. If the democrats could ever break through this smoke screen, the republican party would be unelectible.
In America, "now" never comes, as a writer in CD the other day said. "Now" is another word for the future, and they never show up. If something needs to be done "now," we can rest assured it won't happen. Can you spell impeachment?
If we need to eliminate poverty now, it means we'll forever be needing to eliminate it because we won't do it. We can't, because Wal-Mart's profit margins are sacred and we mustn't violate the law of corporate domination over our servile lives.
Obama won't address poverty any more than McCain will, though the former will shower us with rhetoric and promises. He can't ramp up the military, send more brigades into Afghanistan, keep us in Iraq indefinitely, threaten Pakistan and Iran and Russia, and still do anything remotely effective about poverty. The phony war on terror will keep him far too distracted to pay attention to poverty issues.
I am sorry that Edwards lost the primary and even sorrier that he ruled himself out of any meaningful political role by his own behavior.
None of the major players cares much about poor people. Once again, the ball is in our court.
Joe
I just talked to a Walmart worker who hasn't heard anything anti-Obama at Walmart. The propaganda target must be the snotty admin. folks who would likely be anti-Obama anyway.
has anyone else noticed that there are many less comment in the CD forums since they went to their new system?
Poverty. Whatcha gonna do?
I am feeling bleak, overwhelmed by our culture, which s enthrall to corporate-driven values. What a tragic disconnect when 'we' allowed non-human-beings to have not just the power of a being but more power. Corporations have more power than physical human beings precisely because, as nonbeings, corporations do not need clean oxygen, healthy food, safe shelter. All corporations need is money in bank accounts. We feed this need instead of feeding one another. It's like this old story: imagine hell as a place where everyone has six foot long eating utensils. Nobody can feed themselves because the spoons are too long. Over in heaven, with the same preposterous, six-foot spoons, people feed one another. We are co-creating a living hell, feeding non-humans in our economic maw whilst simultaneously starving humans (starving them of everything, not just food, starving them of clean air, clean water, basic shelter. . .). We collectively allow this to happen.
Poverty has always been around? Maybe? Was there such a thing as poverty two thousand years ago?
I am sorry that Edwards impaled himself and if his absence in Denver means that poverty will not be addressed at the DNC convention, well, I regret that. But I don't think Edwards really did care about poverty. I think he thought it was a lens that he could use to catapult himself into power.
Wal-Mart. We allow Wal-Mart to exist. If anyone reading this ever spends money in Wal-Mart, you are participating in Wal-Mart's rape of the species and the planet. Don't kid yourself.
Man, I'm depressed about the state of things.
Transaction in coin dates to about 5000 years ago but was limited to the industrial elite, vulcanization empowered and their cronies. Farming and excess food date to about 10,000 years ago. Transaction in currency wasn't common until about the last 100 years. Humanity has been in the fossil record for less than 100,000 years. Life on Earth has been here 3.7 billion years and the universe has been here 14 billion years.
rocyahsoul@yahoo.com
www.lamegame.name
Daniel Vincent Kelley
Perhaps a bit off topic but why must we continue to write-off good people because of indiscretions like this. Sen. Edwards has proved that he is human. Personally I think it shouldn't even be considered newsworthy. His indiscretion hurts his family and perhaps his lover but not the rest of us. If he does something which hurts the rest of us, then we should pay attention. Poverty, and the mechanisms of conservative economics which cause and increase it, are too important to allow sexual indiscretions to silence good people.
Larry
freespirit It takes more time to log in and reading the comments isn't easier. What do you suppose the reason for the change? I prefer the other or older way because with this way,I am reluctant to post my comments due to the time factor.
I agree with ardee and jclientelle.
Also, perhaps Amy Goodman could simply be asked to produce a story on the Bilderberg Group; confronting her as they did with the question seemed designed mainly to turn her into the object for a youtube "gotcha!!"
Yes, Ford and Rockefeller foundations have been notorious alternative conduits for CIA and other funding. The challenging question should be asked of the board of directors of Pacifica, especially if it's not Democracy Now! that's the direct recipient.
And yes, when the rare voices like Amy's expose poverty and other silenced issues, some curmudgeon appears --left or right, it doesn't always seem to matter-- to try to discredit the speaker.
Finally, if Curmudgeon and the free media people can pinpoint specific shows in which Democracy Now! appeared to be furthering the Bilderberg agenda, or any other, they should concentrate on deconstructing that instead of harping on the more tenuous suggestions that DN! has a hidden agenda.
Covering Bilderberg is a thought. I am mildly curious about it. I would not spend too much time answering vague accusations if I were Goodman. It may be a diversion from the mountains of news that one can find on Democracy Now and almost nowhere else in the broadcast media.
Joe
.
Poverty in this country,
Poverty in the world,
Poverty and a lack of social justice, are an unforgiveable sin.
.
The poor will always be with us as long as the greedy are with us. There is an 800 pound gorilla of a solution in the room but no one dares mention it.
-- EKATON --
"the Obama campaign appointed Jason Furman as a senior economics adviser. Furman has rankled labor activists, writing that the benefits of Wal-Mart's low prices outweigh its low wages"
The Demok party stands for business as usual in an era when the USA is not only despised/feared wordwide but also pitied, and all for good reason.
The costs of education, healthcare, transportation, and "national defense" have risen dramatically since Reagan the Divider. Additionally, the costs of food, shelter and utilities have been grossly inflated in over-extended intervals of capitalist speculation/collusion frenzy.
A majority of Americans are over-working. Some working 50, 60 70 hour weeks as single-income earners, other working dual 40 hour weeks to support families. Two weeks of annual vacation if they are lucky. They are not slaving away to pay for clothes and housewares but for the over-bloated core costs of living. Driven not by demand but by speculation, collusion, and manipulation rackets.
So what do Walmart's low prices have to do with anything? They only serve as camouflage for the elites to distract attention from this grand theft of the people's labor/energy. We demand land, water, food, healthcare, education, shelter and transport with the highest value and lowest cost that is socially/environmentally sustainable, and the highest value today is NOT found in the USA, but rather ELSEWHERE.
WalMart does not have low prices! The prices of imported goods are raised to levels the market will pay. Some items have an eighty percent profit margin. So let's end this idea that WalMart has low prices, what they have is market prices, low costs, and extremely high profits.
Poverty is not static, it expands. If people are allowed to live in poverty it will eventually expand to include us. Once Congress is purchased by Corporate interests, it is only a matter of time before it catches up with you and your family. The very essence of all religious belief is, "do unto others as you would have others do unto you." In short, if we allow others to live in poverty, we too one day will live in poverty.
American's have fallen below the quality line. Selfish thinking has led to rigid comatose minds. Fear immobilizes us. Rationalizations sustain us. A selfish do nothing Congress is a result of selfish do nothing Americans.
I simply have to agree with ardee, jclientelle and hoodeet.
I guess none of you commenters watched the Democratic National Convention that Amy is talking about. Nearly all of Barack Obama's acceptance speech was about poverty and the unfair economic system we live under. There is a lot of cynicism out there, and that is to be expected, but I believe in Barack and the true change that will finally come to Washington once he is elected president. Drink his Kool-Aid, it is delicious.
freespirit What about another Great Society. Johnson had a lot of faults as President, but he knew what to do to help the poor. He was the last President and voice for lifting up the poor. Nowadays, you never really hear about the poor who live in hotels, their old cars, under bridges, and on the street. Homeless shelters are the pits and crime is the poor's constant companion. Pelosi had the nerve to give an expensive party for the big guns, while the poor or low incomes supporters were offered $7.00 hotdogs. So as long as the media has hold on tv, the poor just like the anti-war protestors won't be seen on the tube and their plight and struggle won't be seen on the front page.
CEO pay is outrageous and they should be shamed with the paparazzi following them around instead of the celebrities. i bet the very rich love the distraction of celebrities.
I've been to India a couple times recently, the poverty is tough to swallow. China too, and parts of South America. I don't know how this is all related in the global economy, but I'm skeptical the methods used last century can be used to solve the issues in this century. I bet there has to be a bigger shift than just a US govt social program.
did you ever have a relative that didn't work, even when you helped them find an opportunity? At both ends there are issues with the system, greed on one end and not contributing on the other. Neither seems very grounded, both seem distant, not connected to community. At the very least we need laws protecting workers from greedy executives.