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Segami
Segami's Journal
Segami's Journal
September 2, 2012
REED SURFACES ONCE AGAIN!
Scandal-stained Republican activist Ralph Reed is back in the GOP’s good graces with a new “grassroots” operation organizing right-wing Christians. Also back on the Republican agenda is protection for an old Reed cause, maintaining sweatshops in the Marianas, note Bill Moyers and Michael Winship.
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
As the sun slowly sets over the Republican National Convention in Tampa, we settle back in the chairs that nice Mr. Eastwood just gave us and ponder some of the other oddities of the week. Like this item in the official GOP platform pointed out by Brad Plumer of The Washington Post:
This caught our attention (and thanks to colleague Theresa Riley for sending) because it once again reminds us of the sordid past of evangelical and political entrepreneur Ralph Reed who, as this week’s edition of Moyers & Company reports in detail, has emerged from the ashes of epic career failure to reestablish himself as a powerful figure in Republican politics. As head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Reed boasts he’s building a political dynamo of five million members with a massive database, an annual budget of $100 million and full-time lobbyists in all 50 state capitals, a colossal effort aimed at putting in place a right-wing social agenda and identifying and establishing contact with what it estimates as 27 million conservative voters in America. As you can imagine, with clout like that, Reed and his coalition were in high cotton at the Tampa convention.
Which brings us to that curious Mariana Islands minimum wage plank in the Republican platform. Some years ago, our government made an effort to clean up sweatshops on the islands – including Saipan – that have been under the control of the United States since the end of World War II. Chinese women were brought over to the islands to work under awful conditions – subject to forced abortions and prostitution and paid pennies for producing garments labeled “Made in the USA.” Corrupt local officials hired the firm of infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff — for more than $4 million — to try to stop the reforms proposed back in Washington. Abramoff, in turn, hired Ralph Reed and his political direct mail company, Millennium Marketing, to conduct a phony grassroots campaign urging Alabama Christians to write their local congressman to oppose the reforms.
Of course, Reed didn’t tell those Christians he was being paid to help keep running sweatshops that exploited women. Instead, he told them the reforms were a trick orchestrated by the Left and organized labor. Limits on Chinese workers would keep them from being “exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ.” His company explained it was just trying to encourage “grassroots citizens to promote the propagation of the Gospel” and that many of the workers were “converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand.” With the explosion of the Jack Abramoff scandals and exposes by Ms. Magazine and other publications, the spotlight on the Marianas sweatshops finally did lead to congressional action, including a raise of the minimum wage and a law to federalize labor and immigration rules in the Marianas. The minimum wage now is $5.05 an hour, increasing to $5.55 on Sept. 30, but many in the Marianas business sector continue to oppose the amount – hence the platform plank. Meanwhile, increasingly vocal calls have come for the impeachment of the islands’ longtime governor, Benigno Fitial, an old Abramoff pal. Nonetheless, there Fitial was in Tampa, unrepentant and front and center, head of the islands’ official Republican delegation. …
cont'
http://consortiumnews.com/2012/09/01/gop-defends-marianas-sweatshop/
GOP Defends Marianas’ SWEATSHOPS
REED SURFACES ONCE AGAIN!
Scandal-stained Republican activist Ralph Reed is back in the GOP’s good graces with a new “grassroots” operation organizing right-wing Christians. Also back on the Republican agenda is protection for an old Reed cause, maintaining sweatshops in the Marianas, note Bill Moyers and Michael Winship.
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
As the sun slowly sets over the Republican National Convention in Tampa, we settle back in the chairs that nice Mr. Eastwood just gave us and ponder some of the other oddities of the week. Like this item in the official GOP platform pointed out by Brad Plumer of The Washington Post:
“No minimum wage for the Mariana Islands.‘The Pacific territories should have flexibility to determine the minimum wage, which has seriously restricted progress in the private sector.’”
This caught our attention (and thanks to colleague Theresa Riley for sending) because it once again reminds us of the sordid past of evangelical and political entrepreneur Ralph Reed who, as this week’s edition of Moyers & Company reports in detail, has emerged from the ashes of epic career failure to reestablish himself as a powerful figure in Republican politics. As head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Reed boasts he’s building a political dynamo of five million members with a massive database, an annual budget of $100 million and full-time lobbyists in all 50 state capitals, a colossal effort aimed at putting in place a right-wing social agenda and identifying and establishing contact with what it estimates as 27 million conservative voters in America. As you can imagine, with clout like that, Reed and his coalition were in high cotton at the Tampa convention.
Which brings us to that curious Mariana Islands minimum wage plank in the Republican platform. Some years ago, our government made an effort to clean up sweatshops on the islands – including Saipan – that have been under the control of the United States since the end of World War II. Chinese women were brought over to the islands to work under awful conditions – subject to forced abortions and prostitution and paid pennies for producing garments labeled “Made in the USA.” Corrupt local officials hired the firm of infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff — for more than $4 million — to try to stop the reforms proposed back in Washington. Abramoff, in turn, hired Ralph Reed and his political direct mail company, Millennium Marketing, to conduct a phony grassroots campaign urging Alabama Christians to write their local congressman to oppose the reforms.
Of course, Reed didn’t tell those Christians he was being paid to help keep running sweatshops that exploited women. Instead, he told them the reforms were a trick orchestrated by the Left and organized labor. Limits on Chinese workers would keep them from being “exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ.” His company explained it was just trying to encourage “grassroots citizens to promote the propagation of the Gospel” and that many of the workers were “converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand.” With the explosion of the Jack Abramoff scandals and exposes by Ms. Magazine and other publications, the spotlight on the Marianas sweatshops finally did lead to congressional action, including a raise of the minimum wage and a law to federalize labor and immigration rules in the Marianas. The minimum wage now is $5.05 an hour, increasing to $5.55 on Sept. 30, but many in the Marianas business sector continue to oppose the amount – hence the platform plank. Meanwhile, increasingly vocal calls have come for the impeachment of the islands’ longtime governor, Benigno Fitial, an old Abramoff pal. Nonetheless, there Fitial was in Tampa, unrepentant and front and center, head of the islands’ official Republican delegation. …
cont'
http://consortiumnews.com/2012/09/01/gop-defends-marianas-sweatshop/
September 2, 2012
.
EXPLOSION on LIVE TV As Melissa Harris-Perry DEFENDS America's True Risktakers -- THE POOR.
Melissa Harris-Perry explodes on live TV with an impassioned and profound statement on true risk-takers.
.
September 1, 2012
MUST WATCH!!! PAUL RYAN IS TOAST!!
A former employee of the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wisconsin said Paul Ryan "should be ashamed of himself" for his misleading claim about the plant's shutdown.
During his speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Ryan blamed President Obama for the plant's closing.
"Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said, 'I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.' That’s what he said in 2008," Ryan had said. "Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year."
Brad Dutcher, the former GM employee, told MSNBC's Ed Schultz on Friday that he was at the Janesville plant during Obama's visit and that Ryan had told an "outright lie" by implying that Obama had been responsible for the plant's closure.
Dutcher said that Obama "had nothing to do with the decision to close our factory." He added that "there was never a promise made...to keep our plant open. That is completely false."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/01/brad-dutcher-paul-ryan-janesville-gm-plant_n_1848928.html
.
Janesville Auto Workers: PAUL RYAN IS A LIAR!
MUST WATCH!!! PAUL RYAN IS TOAST!!
A former employee of the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wisconsin said Paul Ryan "should be ashamed of himself" for his misleading claim about the plant's shutdown.
During his speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Ryan blamed President Obama for the plant's closing.
"Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said, 'I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.' That’s what he said in 2008," Ryan had said. "Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year."
Brad Dutcher, the former GM employee, told MSNBC's Ed Schultz on Friday that he was at the Janesville plant during Obama's visit and that Ryan had told an "outright lie" by implying that Obama had been responsible for the plant's closure.
Dutcher said that Obama "had nothing to do with the decision to close our factory." He added that "there was never a promise made...to keep our plant open. That is completely false."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/01/brad-dutcher-paul-ryan-janesville-gm-plant_n_1848928.html
.
September 1, 2012
From labor leaders, activists, and other public figures, here are words of wisdom and support for the labor movement and all workers on Labor Day. Courtesy of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.
“They have waged class war on us. It is time for our class to fight back. It’s time for us to reach out to one another to fight for the right to organize, to fight corporations that would fight us, to demand that trade agreements protect workers and workers’ rights, children, our environment, and our quality of life, and to fight for human dignity.” – Stewart Acuff, labor organizer
“Power goes to two poles — to those who’ve got the money and those who’ve got the people.”
– Saul Alinsky, community organizer
“Silence never won rights. They are not handed down from above; they are forced by pressures from below.” — Roger Baldwin, a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
“When employers in this country say labor costs are too high, what they’re really saying to you is, you have it too good. What they’re really saying to you is, all you need is enough to get you into the plant and work.” — Boris Block, officer and activist for United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
“The most important word in the language of the working class is solidarity.” – Harry Bridges, leader in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
“The history of America has been largely created by the deeds of its working people and their organizations. Nor has this contribution been confined to raising wages and bettering work conditions; it has been fundamental to almost every effort to extend and strengthen our democracy.” — William Cahn, labor historian
“With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men (and women) that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men (and women) than any other association.” — Clarence Darrow, lawyer and member of ACLU
“The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.” — Thomas Donahue, labor leader with AFL-CIO
“Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.” – Fredrick Douglas, abolitionist and social reformer
“The cost of liberty is less than the cost of repression.” — W.E.B. DuBois, activist and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACP)
“If the workers are organized, all they have to do is to put their hands in their pockets and they have got the capitalist class whipped.” — William Dudley Haywood, a founder and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
“We want a better America, an America that will give its citizens, first of all, a higher and higher standard of living so that no child will cry for food in the midst of plenty.” — Sidney Hillman, leader of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
“If the workers took a notion they could stop all speeding trains;
Every ship upon the ocean they can tie with mighty chains.
Every wheel in the creation, every mine and every mill;
Fleets and armies of the nation, will at their command stand still.”
– Joe Hill, activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, also known as the “Wobblies”).
“If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.” — Molly Ivins, political commentator
“Some day the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit.” – Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, prominent labor and community organizer, co-founder of the Industrial Workers of the World.
http://www.massaflcio.org/labor-quote
15 Of The GREATEST QUOTES In Honor Of The AMERICAN WORKER
From labor leaders, activists, and other public figures, here are words of wisdom and support for the labor movement and all workers on Labor Day. Courtesy of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.
“They have waged class war on us. It is time for our class to fight back. It’s time for us to reach out to one another to fight for the right to organize, to fight corporations that would fight us, to demand that trade agreements protect workers and workers’ rights, children, our environment, and our quality of life, and to fight for human dignity.” – Stewart Acuff, labor organizer
“Power goes to two poles — to those who’ve got the money and those who’ve got the people.”
– Saul Alinsky, community organizer
“Silence never won rights. They are not handed down from above; they are forced by pressures from below.” — Roger Baldwin, a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
“When employers in this country say labor costs are too high, what they’re really saying to you is, you have it too good. What they’re really saying to you is, all you need is enough to get you into the plant and work.” — Boris Block, officer and activist for United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
“The most important word in the language of the working class is solidarity.” – Harry Bridges, leader in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
“The history of America has been largely created by the deeds of its working people and their organizations. Nor has this contribution been confined to raising wages and bettering work conditions; it has been fundamental to almost every effort to extend and strengthen our democracy.” — William Cahn, labor historian
“With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men (and women) that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men (and women) than any other association.” — Clarence Darrow, lawyer and member of ACLU
“The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.” — Thomas Donahue, labor leader with AFL-CIO
“Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.” – Fredrick Douglas, abolitionist and social reformer
“The cost of liberty is less than the cost of repression.” — W.E.B. DuBois, activist and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACP)
“If the workers are organized, all they have to do is to put their hands in their pockets and they have got the capitalist class whipped.” — William Dudley Haywood, a founder and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
“We want a better America, an America that will give its citizens, first of all, a higher and higher standard of living so that no child will cry for food in the midst of plenty.” — Sidney Hillman, leader of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
“If the workers took a notion they could stop all speeding trains;
Every ship upon the ocean they can tie with mighty chains.
Every wheel in the creation, every mine and every mill;
Fleets and armies of the nation, will at their command stand still.”
– Joe Hill, activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, also known as the “Wobblies”).
“If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.” — Molly Ivins, political commentator
“Some day the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit.” – Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, prominent labor and community organizer, co-founder of the Industrial Workers of the World.
http://www.massaflcio.org/labor-quote
September 1, 2012
THE BIG ZERO!- His "big surprise" was canceled, and the GOP paid him zero attention in Tampa
Donald Trump, a television character in a 1980s-era satirical dystopian future SciFi movie, was supposed to have a big “surprise” on Monday at this week’s RNC, which he wasn’t invited to (he says otherwise but he is delusional), but then the Republicans were “forced” to cancel because of Hurricane Isaac. And they didn’t reschedule it. What they did make time for at the convention included a song by the guy your grandma liked on “American Idol” a few years back, a speech by former Hooters promoter Connie Mack and an old man yelling at a chair.
The old man yelling at the chair was, of course, legendary American actor and director Clint Eastwood, who was invited because I think the organizers assumed he wasn’t as crazy as every single other Republican celebrity, but then he went and did the craziest thing of the week. (I don’t think Eastwood is crazy, actually. He’s just … eccentric.)
That had to be particularly galling, for Donald. This totally unvetted rambling piece of absurdist theater got prime billing right before the nominee, but the dumb video he made was just ignored completely.
Poor Donald didn’t get any attention this week for his craziness, because he wasn’t invited to Tampa. Because he embarrasses the Republican Party. Because he is basically a giant national joke. Donald Trump, object of fun for all Americans, was too embarrassing to be allowed to go to Tampa and ruin Mitt Romney’s party.
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/31/poor_donald_trump/
LOL!!- POOR DONALD TRUMP!
THE BIG ZERO!- His "big surprise" was canceled, and the GOP paid him zero attention in Tampa
Donald Trump, a television character in a 1980s-era satirical dystopian future SciFi movie, was supposed to have a big “surprise” on Monday at this week’s RNC, which he wasn’t invited to (he says otherwise but he is delusional), but then the Republicans were “forced” to cancel because of Hurricane Isaac. And they didn’t reschedule it. What they did make time for at the convention included a song by the guy your grandma liked on “American Idol” a few years back, a speech by former Hooters promoter Connie Mack and an old man yelling at a chair.
The old man yelling at the chair was, of course, legendary American actor and director Clint Eastwood, who was invited because I think the organizers assumed he wasn’t as crazy as every single other Republican celebrity, but then he went and did the craziest thing of the week. (I don’t think Eastwood is crazy, actually. He’s just … eccentric.)
That had to be particularly galling, for Donald. This totally unvetted rambling piece of absurdist theater got prime billing right before the nominee, but the dumb video he made was just ignored completely.
Poor Donald didn’t get any attention this week for his craziness, because he wasn’t invited to Tampa. Because he embarrasses the Republican Party. Because he is basically a giant national joke. Donald Trump, object of fun for all Americans, was too embarrassing to be allowed to go to Tampa and ruin Mitt Romney’s party.
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/31/poor_donald_trump/
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