State of the Community and Beyond
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State of the Community and Beyond
Jobs- Jobs continue to disappear as more companies close their doors for good or decide to do business offshore. A variety of reasons are given including high state tax rates, labor unions, lack of a skilled workforce and high health care costs.
Meanwhile, giant corporations like Walmart continue to damage local economies by paying such low wages that their workers need government aid such as food stamps, subsidized housing, and Medicaid. This places a great burden on already overtaxed communities because Walmart’s profits do not benefit local economies. They go directly to shareholders and to headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.
In times past, profits generated by well paid workers at Delco, Rochester Products, Xerox, Kodak and many other companies in the supply chain. Small, local companies that supplied parts, chemicals and other materials and the profits did stay in the area. Our region flourished when union membership was high because all employers, union or not, competed for our area’s highly skilled workers by paying good wages and benefits. Middle class workers, some unionized and some not, enjoyed the fruits of their labors as did the communities they lived in. They patronized local businesses, stores and restaurants which created an upward economic spiral for our entire region. They bought reasonably priced homes, furnished them comfortably, bought cars, took vacations, sent their children to college, and had secure retirements. Their employers paid local property taxes. Many women were able to choose to stay at home while their children were growing up, because their family did not need any additional income.
But now, this prosperous middle class is almost gone. U.S. factories have been put out of business by CEO’s and managers who are paid enormous salaries and bonuses to increase profits by any means. Much of this has been accomplished by sending the well paid manufacturing jobs offshore. The managers who emptied our factories pay less in income taxes than poor people thanks to predatory tax laws written by their cronies in congress who also allowed labor unions to be busted. Cheap imported goods containing dangerous substances make their way in to the country because the Federal Government no longer employs enough inspectors to keep them out and trade policy favors imports over domestically produced goods.
De-regulation which was sold as the solution to help businesses stay competitive has been wildly successful… in China. Chinese factories selling children’s jewelry and toys containing enough cadmium and lead to kill are thriving. Food poisoned with melamine and toothpaste poisoned with glycol helped China’s economy to flourish, thanks to the American market’s unquenchable thirst for all things cheap and shiny. It’s difficult to find products made by local workers.
Factories forced out of business haunt our community. Their empty buildings and weed filled parking lots, still secured by old rusting fences, stand as testament to better times in the past. Walmart parking lots filled with cars at all hours are solid proof that many American workers are no longer concerned about their own best interests. They not only fail to connect the dots, but due to the lack of consumer education, they no longer understand just how important the dots really are. Why else would people actually cheer when obsolete Kodak manufacturing buildings are brought down by the use of explosives?
The regulations that force American manufacturers to use raw materials that are safe for humans and the environment could eliminate the need to treat disease caused by poisonous imports coming from other countries. Savings could also be found by decreasing the number of incoming shipments that must be inspected for terrorist threats, harmful toxins that poison our children, and pests that are devastating the environment by endangering our waterways and killing native trees and plants.
Only one local lawmaker truly understands the impact the lack of a national health care plan has on jobs. Eric Massa knows that a health care plan such as Medicare for all would relieve employers of the burden of paying for and administering any employee health care including medical bills for employees injured on the job. These two things alone would allow U.S. factories to be more competitive with manufacturers in other countries. If you need proof of this, the great American sports car, the Camaro is now assembled in Canada; for one reason, they have National Single Payer Health Care. Estimates are that health care costs add $1,200. to $1,500. per vehicle in the US. No wonder we can’t compete.
Unlike many other lawmakers in our area, Massa’s also leading the charge to ensure the proposed General Motors Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plant in Honeoye Falls becomes a reality. Perhaps if we ask nicely, some of the other lawmakers can be convinced to support that effort as well.
January 27th Governor Patterson decided to let us know that unions are a major cause of all of our problems here in New York State. It doesn’t matter that every benefit union workers enjoy was negotiated fairly, in Patterson’s book, they are still to blame. Let’s contrast that with AIG executives who helped topple the worldwide economy and yet were allowed to keep exorbitant bonuses that totaled over 218 million dollars. (This number was underreported in the U.S. press by 53 million dollars. The BBC correctly reported 218 million.) Last year, 73 AIGer’s received more than 1 million dollars each and 5 others received more than 4 million dollars each. (So far this year, AIG is claiming the bonuses will total 100 million dollars, but as of this writing, the BBC has not yet published the true amount.) Kind of makes your neighbor’s $35,000 yearly salary with health insurance look like chump change, don’t you think? Yes, that’s right, $35,000. Those high salaries you hear about in the main stream media are useful for the union busters, but have nothing to do with the facts. And your neighbor doesn’t hide his income in Swiss banks to avoid paying taxes. He plows his wages back into your community.
Unionized auto workers are being asked to accept another round of concessions including further wage and benefit cuts while management rewards themselves with bigger raises and bonuses. Managers, from the highest paid executives, right down to plant supervisors at local factories are getting raises while the rank and file are being asked to work for less. Extortion tactics on the part of management threatens the unionized workforce with plant closures and offshoring jobs unless they accept these cuts. Folks who used to make good union wages have accepted so many wage and benefit concessions that now some are eligible for public assistance programs like Healthy New York, subsidized housing and free school lunches for their children. This is the “Walmartization†of American Manufacturing. These people work full time at factory jobs that can and do cause repetitive motion injuries, hearing loss, chemical exposure, etc. They earn their money and they deserve better.
One in ten American jobs is related to the Auto Industry; so government loans to keep these operations alive was a wise investment. I believe the American taxpayer intended that auto executives retain and create jobs; not loot the public treasury for their personal gain. We don’t know how the situation will play out now that the U.S. Supreme Court has given domestic and foreign corporations the right to vote in US elections. We need our elected employees in Congress to stop the abusive actions on the part of the Auto Executives. As stewards of American tax dollars, Congress has a duty and obligation to insure a return on our investment, which is the creation of middle class jobs. It’s time to overhaul Trade Laws. It’s time for the U.S. to withdraw most favored nation status from China and Russia, and extend it instead to every state in our own Union!
Education- 56 countries spend more of their gross domestic product on education than the U.S. does including France, Kenya, Ethiopia and Cuba. State aid to education continues to decline as arrogant lawmakers violate the public trust and mismanage state budgets. Students in some cities are more likely to go to jail than they are to go to college. Just as they did during the Vietnam conflict during the 60’s, the military is actively recruiting in city high schools while suburban districts shield their students from this assault and focus on academics. Poor test scores and low graduation rates of city school students are among the reasons given by the Mayor of Rochester, who wishes to take over control of city schools.
Some people cite the success of Mayoral controlled districts such as New York City as the reason we should give it a try, but the real statistics in those districts show that the success claimed is nothing but smoke and mirrors. New York City has a 52 percent graduation rate, not the 70 percent rate claimed. Many students who were counted as graduates were actually discharged instead. The Mayor and Chancellor Joel Klein created so many discharge codes that according to a study by Advocates for Children, the city can’t say what happened to tens of thousands of children. Parents in districts controlled by mayors have lost their voices as well as any control they exerted by voting for their local school boards.
Health Care– Lawmakers claim that the ever increasing cost of health insurance and prescription drugs cannot continue unabated. But they also know that they can’t win re-election without the obscene amounts of money those same corporations donate to their reelection committees.
In 2009, Washington made the most convincing show ever of their sincerity by pretending to spend months working on this crisis. The results of all this sleight of hand may guarantee that all Americans will be forced to buy health insurance from one of their generous donors.
Meanwhile, in the spirit of bipartisanship the Senate voted to prevent the re-importation of affordable prescription drugs. This all but guarantees that even those Americans with prescription drug coverage in their health insurance will continue to die because they can’t afford the co-pays. 30 Democratic Senators including Schumer and Gillibrand joined Joe Lieberman and 17 Republicans to vote against the Dorgan Drug Re-importation bill that would have saved Americans billions of dollars on prescription drugs.
All in all, health care reform is a real win for corporations. As of July, 2009, the Infant Mortality rate for the U.S. was 6.26 deaths per 1000 live births, putting us behind such nations as Cuba with 5.82, Canada with 5.04 and Slovenia with 4.25. Singapore seems to be the best place to be born with only 2.31 deaths per live birth. These facts come from the Central Intelligence Agency Fact Book which publishes statistics on every country in the world. The far right, including Republicans, Conservatives and Tea Partiers, usually trust everything the C.I.A. says, but when it comes to issues on health care, the C.I.A. is dead wrong about lower infant mortality rates and longer life spans in countries that have national and single payer health plans. According to the right, those countries are all socialist and health care reform really means that there will be death panels. (Something the C.I.A. really does know about.) The right only trusts Fox news, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin when it comes to health care reform. There may be some basis for this because after all, who knows more about prescription drugs than Rush Limbaugh?
Louise Slaughter, who has a Master’s Degree in Public Health, obviously has good reasons for voting against real health care reform that includes all legal reproductive care for women. We just don’t know what they are because she doesn’t grant her constituents an audience unless they pay $100.00 to attend one of her fund raisers. Her public statements are at odds with the way she votes and her two hours of teletown halls on health care last summer gave new meaning to the phrase “phone it in.†Maybe the recent 39% Health Insurance rate increase in California will shake Louise and her corporation loving colleagues to their senses. If not, the voters must be prepared to do so.
The Economy- The downturn has been especially hard on the poorest members of our community. Charitable agencies and volunteer organizations have been overwhelmed by dramatic increases in the demand for their services, while at the same time, donations are down because normally generous donors are starting to require those services themselves. This is shameful.
Seniors have to tighten their belts to counteract the lingering effects of Bush economic policy. Those who used interest income to supplement their social security payments are now struggling to make ends meet. Unemployment continues to be a problem that will not be solved until we resume manufacturing goods in this country. Local governments and school boards are overcharging taxpayers and building large reserves, while state lawmakers live like the rich and famous in Albany. Infighting and partisanship among those lawmakers has effectively prevented the passage of any measures that could help the state recover, however in a move reminiscent of the coliseum in ancient Rome, Governor Patterson proposed to allow extreme cage fighting also known as mixed martial arts in New York State for the purpose of entertainment. That’s governance?
Banks that are too big to fail have been bailed out by taxpayers for problems caused by their own greed and their deft manipulation of our unregulated financial system. They continue to award themselves 6, 7, 8 digit bonuses, all made possible by an uninitiated and largely apathetic public. These same banks do however, refuse to lend to small businesses that create jobs, and to homeowners who wish to refinance their high interest mortgages, and they do so with impunity. Why? Because our elected lawmakers let them.
The wars– have gone on for more than eight years now with no end in sight. Nor have we made ourselves any safer as we are looked on as aggressors and occupiers by the people in the countries where we have killed and maimed tens of thousands of civilians. They want revenge on us just as much as we want revenge on the people who attacked us on 9/11, but we have the greater firepower. One of our most effective new weapons is the unmanned drone capable of bombing targets in Kabul while the controller sits at a desk in Syracuse. Video gamers have finally found a way to use the skills they learned using X-Box and PlayStation.
Solutions- Last month a male republican who posed nude for Cosmo beat out a female democrat who doesn’t know much about sports to win the senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. The Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to allow corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns, effectively overturning the bipartisan McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law. This decision gives corporations relief from the burdensome and expensive practice of donating to individual politicians. Now, corporations will be able to run our elections straight through their ad agencies, and undoubtedly will write them off as expenses. You may recall that the Supreme Court also decided the 2000 presidential election. They voted 5 to 4 to put George Bush into the White House, in spite of the fact that he lost to Al Gore by more than 400,000 votes. A single corporation decided the 2004 election. Diebold promised to deliver electoral votes from the state of Ohio to George Bush in 2004 and Kerry lost. Politicians, bought and paid for by Wall St. write legislation and deregulate as corporations demand. The executive, legislative, judicial, corporate circle is now complete.
There’s only one force in this nation that is standing up against the moneyed power of the corporate elite that are gutting our nation’s manufacturing and economic heart and that is the labor movement. Corporate thugs have no sense of patriotism to our nation. Their only allegiance is to money. They weaken our nation and strengthen our enemies. This is treason. It wasn’t that long ago that communism was viewed as a bad thing, now for the love of money, communist countries are made to flourish at the expense of American democracy.
We need to wake up and hold our elected officials accountable. The strength of our nation depends on the strength of our economy. We need a vibrant, innovative manufacturing base to regain our position as world leaders. The best way to make this happen is for labor organizations and community groups to unite and take action to retake our government and put it back to work for working people.
There are those who advocate for a National Strike as a means to implement; sane, equitable trade policies, a national health care system, old age pension security, and fair wages and benefits for all workers.
Susan B Anthony broke the law when she cast her ballot that eventually led to giving all women the right to vote. Civil rights activists broke the law by sitting in whites only seats on buses and at whites only lunch counters that won Civil Rights legislation that protects us all today.
We desperately need activists and patriots brave enough to take similar actions in order to save our country.
We need to scrap bad trade laws, rewrite tax legislation and develop a manufacturing policy that protects American jobs and revives the economy.
We need to jail crooked politicians at every level of government and forbid lobbying. While we’re at it, we need to get off the perpetual campaign season calendar, set up term limits and publicly finance abbreviated campaigns so that these elected government employees know that we expect them to do their jobs. We’ve seen good people ruined in massive layoffs, why do we let bad politicians keep their jobs, pensions and lifetime health benefits?
They are our employees and we must keep sight of this fact. We must be ready to fire them. We can’t allow them to become lobbyists when they finish their public service. If they have to find jobs like the rest of us when they leave office, they will work harder to make sure there are jobs available for all of us.
We the people have made some bad decisions and corrections are long overdue, but now it’s time to restore the government of the people, by the people and for the people, to its proper place.
Thank you to everyone who contributed information for this statement.
Jane Q. Public