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For Immediate Release
January, 15 2010, 02:28pm EDT
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Haiti: * Debt * Aristide * Letting Haitians Stay
WASHINGTON
MELINDA ST. LOUIS
Melinda St. Louis is deputy director of the Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of more than 75 religious denominations, human rights organizations and development agencies. The group just released a statement, "Debt for Disaster? Jubilee USA Dismayed by IMF Proposal for $100 Million Loan to Haiti."
The group is calling for cancellation of Haiti's debt and an infusion of aid, not loans.
KEVIN PINA
Founder of the Haiti Information Project, Pina was in Haiti last week, shortly before the earthquake, and met with scores of groups. He reports that "many people were complaining of the [Rene] Preval government and how it was using aid in a political manner." He also reports witnessing growing malnutrition and accounts of wrong doing by the UN forces. Pina recently wrote the piece "Allow Aristide to return to Haiti now."
Also see ousted Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide's recent statement as well as commentary by Randall Robinson, author of "An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President," at Democracy Now.
See recent interviews with Pina at Flashpoints.
FRITZ GUTWEIN
Gutwein is co-director of the Quixote Center and coordinator of Haiti Reborn. He said today: "With a stroke of a pen, Obama could give Haitians in the U.S. temporary protective status so they could continue to work in the U.S., pay taxes here -- and send remittances back home that are estimated to account for 20 to 30 percent of Haiti's GDP."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
LATEST NEWS
After 100 Days of 100°F, Sanders Says 'Climate Emergency Demands a Massive-Scale Mobilization'
"This is a moral imperative," said the senator as historic heat continued in Phoenix, Arizona.
Sep 05, 2024
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday evening issued yet another call for a major mobilization to take on the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis in response to a new record in Phoenix, Arizona: 100 straight days of the temperature hitting at least 100°F.
"100 straight days of 100-degree heat," Sanders (I-Vt.) said on social media, sharing a report from The Washington Post. "The heatwave has killed at least 150 people this summer in Phoenix alone."
"The climate emergency demands a massive-scale mobilization," stressed the senator, a longtime advocate for a swift, just transition away from oil and gas. "There is no choice. This is a moral imperative."
The death toll comes from the Post, which noted that in 2023, the hottest year on record globally, "heat deaths increased 50% from 2022, reaching a record of 645 people in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. This year, 150 heat deaths have been confirmed by the government and an additional 440 deaths are under investigation."
Increasingly deadly extreme heat is a national issue. Research published last month in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Associationshows that heat-related deaths in the United States rose 117% between 1999 and 2023, with the highest rates recorded in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas.
After the 100-day mark on Tuesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said Wednesday that "with the high temperature exceeding 110°F at Phoenix Sky Harbor this afternoon, the number of days of 110°F+ high temperatures for the year now ties last year's record number of 110°F+ highs at 55 days. Expect a new record to be set tomorrow (forecasted highs of 110-115°F)."
The NWS warned Thursday that "unseasonably hot conditions are expected to persist into next week," projecting temperatures between 108-114°F in the Arizona city through Monday.
As the Arizona Republicreported earlier this week:
Not only was this the hottest summer on record in Phoenix, but in Flagstaff, Winslow, Kingman Douglas, and Tucson too.
"For most of the state, it's looking like the hottest summer on record," said Sean Benedict, the lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Phoenix. "There were several locations around Arizona that set the record for the hottest summer."
Climate Centralpointed out Tuesday that the extreme heat in and around Phoenix was "made at least four to five times MORE likely to occur (yes, even in early September) due to human-caused climate change."
As communities around the world have endured intense heat throughout 2024, scientists have warned it could break the 2023 record and become the new hottest year in human history. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said last month that the most recent July was just barely the second-warmest July globally—ending a streak that lasted from June 2023 to June 2024, during which each month was the hottest on record.
"Globally, July 2024 was almost as warm as July 2023, the hottest month on record," C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess said at the time. "July 2024 saw the two hottest days on record. The overall context hasn't changed, our climate continues to warm. The devastating effects of climate change started well before 2023 and will continue until global greenhouse gas emissions reach net-zero."
Although C3S has not yet released its official findings for last month, Agence France-Pressereported Tuesday that the agency's preliminary data shows that "August 2024 should be on a par with last year's record 16.82°C (62.28°F)."
The C3S findings slightly conflict with those of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which found that the latest July "was Earth's warmest July on record, extending the streak of record-high monthly global temperatures to 14 successive months." NOAA also hasn't yet released its data for August.
What climate experts agree on is that much more must be done to address the crisis created by fossil fuels. As World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in response to this summer's findings: "Climate adaptation alone is not enough. We need to tackle the root cause and get serious about reducing record levels of greenhouse gas emissions."
In addition to transitioning from fossil fuels to green energy, some have called for going after fossil fuel giants that continue to rake in record profits from their planet-wrecking products. In June, Public Citizen unveiled a legal memo detailing how local or state prosecutors could bring criminal charges against Big Oil for deaths from extreme heat—using Arizona as an example.
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Macron Names Right-Wing Prime Minister, 'Turning His Back' On French Voters
The president drew criticism for rejecting the candidate put up by the left-of-center coalition that won the most seats in parliamentary elections.
Sep 05, 2024
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday named the right-wing politician Michel Barnier as prime minister, prompting outrage from a coalition of left-of-center parties that won the most seats in recent parliamentary elections and argued that the premier should be chosen from its ranks.
The decision marks the end of an unprecedented period in which France hasn't had an active government following the final round of parliamentary elections on July 7 and the previous prime minister's resignation on July 16.
The election ended with the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP), the left coalition, winning a plurality of seats at 32.6%, Macron's own Ensemble coalition of centrist neoliberals winning 27.9%, and the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) winning 24.6%. NFP and Ensemble coordinated their efforts in the final round, forming a "republican front" to block the RN—a successful effort that drew praise from left and centrist figures across the world.
Barnier's center-right party, Les Républicains (LR), once a powerful force in France, gained only 8.3% of the seats, yet emerged victorious in the prime ministerial sweepstakes following Macron's negotiations with RN leader Marine Le Pen, who's thought to have agreed to Barnier's appointment. Without RN's support, Barnier could be ousted by a no-confidence vote in parliament.
In late August, Macron rejected the NFP's proposed prime minister, Lucie Castets, a little-known civil servant and economist whose nomination was itself a compromise reached by the parties within the NFP, which include the center-left Parti Socialiste (PS), the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI), and Les Écologistes, a green party.
Les Écologistes on Thursday condemned Macron's choice, saying he was "obsessed with the preservation of his neoliberal record" and he'd aligned with the far-right.
"By appointing Mr. Barnier, who did not call for a republican blockade and whose positions on immigration resonate with those of the RN, to [Hôtel Matignon, the prime minister's residence], Emmanuel Macron is turning his back on the millions of citizens who have created a historic republican blockade in France," the party said in a statement.
🔴⚡ Un accord a été trouvé entre le président de la République, LR et le RN sur la nomination de @MichelBarnier | Il ne manquait plus que l'accord de Marine Le Pen, le RN confirme ne pas censurer un gouvernement #Barnier. pic.twitter.com/rKlaeE1n1n
— Nouveau Front Populaire 🟢🔴🟡🟣🔴 (ex NUPES News) (@NupesNews) September 5, 2024
Normally, the French president names a prime minister within days of an election for the National Assembly, as the directly-elected house of Parliament is called. However, with no party gaining a majority, and Macron opposed to the NFP—the coalition had run on a platform of rolling back his anti-worker agenda—the negotiations dragged on, especially once the president announced an interlude for the Olympics.
In the French system, the president chooses the prime minister, who has power over governmental ministries, but a majority of the National Assembly must approve of the choice or the deputies, as members of parliament are known, can issue a vote of no confidence. Not since the Fifth Republic formed with constitutional reform in 1958 has the country gone so long without a prime minister.
Barnier, 73, was first elected to the National Assembly in 1978 and worked his way up, serving various key ministerial posts in the 1990s and 2000s under center-right Presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. From 2016 until 2021, he served as the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator.
Barnier was generally regarded as a centrist conservative but moved to the right in 2021, speaking harshly about immigration as he prepared a 2022 presidential run. The effort failed: He didn't receive his party's nomination.
Le Pen emerged in recent days as the "kingmaker" in the prime minister negotiations, according toLe Monde. With the backing of Ensemble and the RN, Barnier will be able to hold on to the job, as together the two blocs have more than 50% of the seats in the National Assembly.
Le Pen indicated at least a modicum of support for Barnier on Thursday, saying that he is "someone who is respectful of the different political forces and capable of addressing the RN."
Castets, on the other hand, said she was "very worried" about Barnier's appointment and called him "reactionary."
"Michel Barnier is the continuation of Macron's policy, or even worse," Castets toldMediapart.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, standard-bearer of the French left and leader of the LFI, the NFP party holding the most seats, also decried the choice, pointing out that Barnier's party did poorly in the election and hadn't been part of the republican front. He said the "election has been stolen."
Mélenchon has led an effort to impeach Macron for his refusal to name an NFP prime minister but experts say it has little chance of succeeding. Mélenchon's allies are holding a rally on Saturday to call for the ouster of both Macron and Barnier.
Fabien Roussel, the leader of a Communist party that's a smaller member of the NFP, called Macron's move "a middle finger to the French who aspire to change," roughly translated, in a social media post.
The PS, which includes such figures as former President François Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, hasn't joined the impeachment call but was critical of Macron's process. Olivier Faure, the party's leader, called it an affront to democracy.
"Democratic denial at its peak: a Prime Minister from the party that came in 4th place and who did not even participate in the republican front," Faure said. "We're entering a crisis of regime."
The transfer of power to Barnier was set for 6 pm local time at Hôtel Matignon on Thursday.
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JD Vance's Solution to Childcare Crisis? 'Maybe Grandpa or Grandma Wants to Help'
"You're on your own. You ain't getting shit from us. Call grandma," one Democratic congressman translated.
Sep 05, 2024
In his latest comments on parenthood and young families, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance on Wednesday weighed in on how to best help parents who struggle to pay for childcare—but instead of offering a policy solution, the U.S. senator from Ohio punted the obligation to grandparents and other extended family members across the country.
At an event hosted by right-wing activist Charlie Kirk of Turning Point Action in Mesa, Arizona, Vance replied to a question about lowering childcare costs by saying he wants to "make it easier for families to choose whatever model they want."
But Vance appeared to base his answer on the assumption that what families want—and what they haven't already considered on their own—is childcare help from their family members.
"One of the ways that you might be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on people who are paying so much for daycare is make it so that—maybe, like, grandma or grandpa wants to help out a little bit more, or maybe there's an aunt or uncle who wants to help out a little more," said Vance. "If that happens, you relieve some of the pressure on all the resources that we're spending at daycare."
In other words, said U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.): "You're on your own. You ain't getting shit from us. Call grandma."
The comments came weeks after a 2020 podcast interview with Vance resurfaced, in which he agreed that "the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female" is to take care of grandchildren.
Vance didn't address what steps might be taken to allow more grandparents to provide childcare for their families—or how the idea might conflict with other Republican policy proposals, such as raising the retirement age or cutting Social Security benefits.
"Maybe Grandma and Grandma still work," said author Jacie Floyd on the social media platform X. "Maybe Grandma and Grandpa have health issues. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa live 1,000 miles away. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa don't want to. The [Republican Party] shouldn’t be planning Grandma and Grandpa's retirement for them."
A Pew Research poll found last year that 19% of Americans aged 65 or older were still working, almost a twofold increase over the late 1980s, and other surveys have shown that nearly 43% of people between 55 and 64 don't have retirement savings accounts—likely making them unable to spend much time providing childcare for working families.
According to Illumine, an app used by parents and childcare providers, a 2022 survey found that 72% of U.S. parents were paying at least 10% of their income on childcare, and 51% were paying more than 20%. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines "affordable" care as costing no more than 7% of a household's income.
At the event in Mesa, enlisting the help of grandparents wasn't Vance's only proposal for the vast majority of parents who are spending too much for daycare. He also suggested lowering the hiring standards for childcare workers, ostensibly enabling providers to pay them less and charge families less for their early childhood services.
"We've got a lot of people who love kids, who would love to take care of kids, but they can't, either because they don't have access to the education they need," said Vance, "or maybe more importantly, because the state government says you need to have some ridiculous certification that has nothing to do with taking care of kids. So, empower people to get the skills they need, don't force every early childcare specialist to go and get a six-year college degree where they've got a whole lot of debt and Americans are much poorer because they're paying out the wazoo for daycare."
Vance didn't elaborate on the "ridiculous certification" that childcare workers should be able to forgo. Requirements for employees in the industry vary from state to state and can include training in CPR and first aid, food handling, and recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a high school diploma or equivalent is the typical educational requirement for entry-level childcare workers, and the median pay in the industry was just $30,370 per year or $14.60 per hour as of 2023.
"Vance basically spends two minutes saying, 'SUCK IT UP, POORS!" saidUSA Today columnist Rex Huppke. "Daycare costs too much cause you demand 'qualified' providers who aren't 'total randos' with 'no childcare experience.'"
The reality on the ground in states like Michigan shows a very different picture than Vance's suggestion that childcare centers are paying workers too much to make their services affordable for families.
With 85% of childcare funding coming from the federal government instead of the state in Michigan, Kimberly Esper of Little Hawks Childcare and Learning Center toldMid-Michigan Now on Wednesday that many centers struggle to pay staff fairly while keeping their daycare services running.
"It's a balance that I think every childcare center is struggling with right now," said Esper.
Last month, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, unveiled an economic agenda including an expanded child tax credit. Vance has expressed support for such a policy, but missed a vote on a related bill earlier this year, prompting Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to denounce him as a "phony."
Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), who introduced the Child Care for Every Community Act, contrasted Vance's proposals on Wednesday with those of the Democrats.
Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) added that "families deserve leaders who understand the importance of making childcare more accessible and affordable."
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