Economic Democracy Now!

What is Economic Democracy?

Economic Democracy is real socialism, period. It is a state of society in which all people work cooperatively as equals for the common good of all. It is achievable only when democracy has been extended from the political sphere to also include the economy. The titles democratic socialism, economic democracy and participatory economics have been used lately to distinguish “true socialism” from the authoritarian and undemocratic states which have wrongly mislabeled themselves as socialist.

Here Are A Few Simple Principals of Democratic Socialism:

* Production for human use, not for profit.
* Classless society where no person should exploit any other person.
* Conservation of natural resources through sustainable production.
* Changes in society and government should be made by free and open elections.
* Widespread and full public education is essential to guarantee the equality of people.
* People must have access to information and be allowed to communicate their ideas in order to make informed democratic decisions.
* Public, collective ownership of the means of production and distribution, as well as the democratic management thereof. (Not state ownership of every human enterprise)
* Food, housing and healthcare are basic human rights and should be guaranteed to all.
* Democratic socialism must be achieved democratically.

“Socialism” Misused

Many societies have disguised themselves by using the term socialism. Countless dictators and despots have been able to rally people around the egalitarian ideals of socialism in order to take control of their governments and then never put these ideals into effect. "National Socialism" for example advocates a one-party dictatorial capitalist society, aka fascism. "Communism" has been used by one-party authoritarian states with centrally planned economies, aka state run capitalism. The Soviet Union was neither democratic nor socialist. A real socialist society would have to arise by democratic means and remain completely democratic in order to remain truly socialist.

The Socialist Party, USA

Todd has been endorsed by The Socialist Party, USA and will appear on the CT ballot as the socialist candidate. The Socialist Party, formed in 1901, strives to establish a radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control - a non-racist, classless, feminist socialist society...where working people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically-controlled public agencies; where full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work; where workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions; and where the production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few. We believe socialism and democracy are one and indivisible.

A Note To “Nervous” Voters

You agree with Todd’s views on the major issues but are reluctant to vote for a socialist candidate? Please consider this: One socialist representative on the floor of the House of representatives will obviously not transform America into a democratic socialist society. What it will do is place a very progressive (liberal) voice in congress that will fight for the interests of the working class (middle class) and the poor, not the corporations. The wealthy already have more than 400 voices representing their interests in congress.

If you are afraid of being put on some kind of “government list” then you need to reconsider your belief that we live in an open and free society. I encourage everyone to learn more about socialism and what it really is. It is NOT the bogeyman trying to take your stuff and eliminate your freedom… it is actually the opposite. Please visit some of the links below to educate yourself on a subject that is always mislabeled and suppressed by the ruling capitalist class in order to maintain the current world order that is very profitable for them at the expense of the rest of us and the planet.

Learn More About Democratic Socialism

The Socialist Party, USA

http://www.sp-usa.org
Text Descriptions of Democratic Socialism:
A Primer on Democratic Socialism, by Edwin Laing (PDF)
http://daschaich.homelinux.net/SP/Saint.pdf
The Renewing of Socialism: An Introduction, by John Bellamy Foster
http://www.monthlyreview.org/0705jbf.htm
Approaching Socialism, by Harry Magdoff and Fred Magdoff
http://www.monthlyreview.org/0705magdoffs1.htm
Parecon: Life After Capitalism, by Michael Albert
http://www.zmag.org/ParEcon/pelac.htm

Audio Descriptions of Democratic Socialism:
A Primer on Democratic Socialism by Edwin Laing (mp3)
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=14518

Video Descriptions of Democratic Socialism:
Parecon Description Pt. 1 of 3 by Michael Albert
http://www.zcommunications.org/zvideo/6
Introduction to Participatory Economics Pt 1 of 5
http://www.zcommunications.org/zvideo/11

Please Complain! The CT Write In Vote Count is Flawed

Dear Friends,

As you may have heard, there have been serious vote counting errors regarding write in candidates in Connecticut. The Green Party and Socialist Party of CT have each filed complaints with the State Elections Enforcement Commission. I am now asking you to support the efforts to have every vote counted. Whether you chose to vote for a write in candidate or not is irrelevant, what is at stake is the principal that every vote must be counted.

We are talking about uncounted votes for official registered write-in candidates in the State of CT. These are candidates who lacked the resources to overcome the extremely prohibitive 2 party ballot access laws but chose to run as write in candidates despite the odds.

Below you will find the email addresses for the State Elections Enforcement Commission and Secretary of State's office accompanied by a sample letter of complaint.

I urge you to please have solidarity with your fellow voting citizens and file a complaint to demand that this counting error be corrected.

Thank You Very Much,
Todd Vachon
www.votevachon.com


email address for Elections Enforcement Commission: SEEC@ct.gov
email address for the Elections Division at The Secretary of State's Office: lead@po.state.ct.us


CT State Elections
Enforcement Commission
20 Trinity St
Hartford, CT. 06106
SEEC@ct.gov

November 12, 2008

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to register a complaint about the official write-in vote count from the recent election (11/4/08). Several voters who chose to vote for write in candidates have found their votes were not counted. This includes votes for: Cynthia McKinnney for President, Brian Moore for President, Todd Vachon for Congress, and likely other registered write in candidates as well. The counting error is very evident to individuals who checked their town's vote tally and discovered that it did not reflect their votes. These identifiable discrepancies represent the disenfranchisement of dozens of voters and suggest that perhaps less noticeable, but similar errors may have occurred throughout the state.

Every Vote must Count!

I urge you to please look into this matter.

Thank You,
(your name here)

Every Vote Must Count.

Letter to the Editor:

Unbeknown to most voters, last week’s election revealed many flaws with the statewide write-in ballot system. While the immediate response from most voters is that “the write in candidate isn’t going to change the outcome of the election,” further consideration would lead one to be more concerned. Whether one chose to vote for a write-in or a major party candidate does not change the principal of “one person, one vote.”

My name is Todd Vachon, and I was registered with The Secretary of State’s office as an official “write-in” candidate for U.S. Congress in District 2 last week. After much hard work by a handful of dedicated volunteers, we were unable to gather the necessary number of “valid” signatures to appear on the Connecticut ballot. My campaign committee convened after the August 6th petition deadline and voted to continue forward with a write-in campaign. We knew quite well that a write in candidate realistically had no chance of winning, but we proceeded in order to provide our closest supporters with the option of voting for the candidate they really wanted to vote for.

November 4th came and everyone went to the polls to register their vote for what they thought was best. While the majority of voters selected either the Democratic or Republican Party candidate, many others chose different candidates which they believed better represented them. Whether they voted for the Green, Libertarian, Socialist or Constitution Party or for an unaffiliated independent candidate, they went to the polls and cast their vote assuming that it would be counted.

What many of these folks discovered in the days following the election was that their vote was in fact not counted.

My campaign began receiving emails almost immediately from over a dozen folks who said they had written in my name on the ballot, but their town’s vote tally showed “zero” votes for the write-in candidate. Dealing with such a small number of votes made it quite easy to determine if one’s vote was actually counted. This phenomena effected my own parents, my website designer, many personal friends and several campaign volunteers in Eastern Connecticut. These are people who went out of their way on election day to write in the name of their candidate on the ballot and were not even rewarded with the pleasure of having their vote acknowledged.

If you too chose to vote for a write in candidate last week, I strongly urge you to check the official vote count for your home town. This information is available at the Secretary of State’s office and can be viewed at her website: www.sots.ct.gov. If you feel that you may have been disenfranchised please inform the Elections Division at the Secretary of State’s office (lead@po.state.ct.us) and also consider contacting your local town clerk as well. Even if you did not write in a candidate, please consider the weight of this voter’s rights issue and contact the Secretary of State on behalf of fellow voting citizens. While it has not been determined whether this error is a result of the voting process or the counting process, it is an error that must be addressed before the next election cycle. Every vote must count.

Un-American Activity

If you enjoy your freedom, thank a protester; thank a dissident, because dissent protects democracy. Be it a stingy two-party democracy, it is still better than a really stingy one party totalitarian state. False patriotism, flag waiving and unquestioningly supporting your government is not defending freedom, it's opening doors for fascist minded folks to eliminate our freedoms right from under our collective nose.

The extreme right has been drumming up all sorts of McCarthy era attacks in the past weeks including cries of "unAmerican activity" and "anti-American" and "socialist."

I find it rather odd that these same folks who don't miss a beat to run the rhetorical bits about "The Land of the Free" and "Defending Freedom" are the very same folks who would attack and limit our freedoms.

America was founded on the notion of freedom from persecution. How can someone who claims to defend freedom propose to limit it for certain groups of citizens. The real unAmerican activity is the work of those who would eliminate a women's freedom to control her own reproductive health, those who would discriminate and deny a couple the right to get married because of sexual orientation.

Puritans and Protestants, and later immigrants from all walks of life fled their home lands to come to America to seek freedom. Should women, LGBT folks, people of color and other minority groups make an exodus? There is nowhere else left to go, no more "uncharted land." This is what we have folks and who we are. We'll just have to start getting along and excepting each other for who we are. Period.

And one more bit, Obama is no socialist. He is a fervent supporter of Free Market ideas that exploit the many in order to enrich the few. Just look at his advisers and likely future cabinet...we're talking University of Chicago Economics. There are many socialist political parties in this country and none of them are backing Obama for President. In fact, The Socialist Party, USA has it's own candidate; Brian Moore, who is an eligible write-in candidate in CT. The PSL has Gloria LaRiva and The Peace and Freedom Party of CA have chosen Nader.

Just some food for thought from a Monday morning ranting socialist. :)

Peace,

Todd

Meet Bruce The Plumber, Joe's Employee

Meet Bruce the plumber, Joe's trusty non-union employee who makes a few bucks more than minimum wage, does side jobs on weekends after doing 40 for Joe and still barely makes the mortgage. Bruce only has health insurance because his wife works full time as a nurse at the hospital, which thank god is unionized. Bruce's lungs aren't doing so hot either and the medical bills are enormous even with the fancy HMO plan. His condition is likely due to breathing chemicals without a respirator for 15 years because his boss Joe says that OSHA is 'socialist bullshit' and 'the government shouldn't tell him how to run his business'.

Bruce hates unions, supports the war because he's 'patriotic' and will likely vote for McCain because he'll put 'country first'

Now say hello to Mike, Bruce's older uncle, who was smart enough to join the Carpenter's union 30 years ago. He earns a very good wage and has a great benefits package thanks to collective bargaining. He's been busting his ass putting up and tearing down concrete forms and scaffolding on construction sites since Carter was President. Mike was all set to retire in '09 but the market tanked last week and took half of his annuity with it. He now has to work for 12 more years (unless he dies first), but the construction industry has froze up due to the recession and it's lookin like he'll be facing a pretty long layoff instead.

Mike is pro-union, but doesn't understand the difference between a democratic union and a business union like his. He supported the war at first and slowly came around to ending it, not coincidentally at the same time that the media finally began to question it's merit. He'll begrudgingly vote for Obama because he has 'never voted Republican in his life' and his union has endorsed Obama as 'the best choice for carpenters'

It would seem evident that Bruce and Mike would both do slightly better with Obama than with McCain, but imagine if they could hear other candidates proposals. What if Brian Moore, Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader or Bob Barr were able to respond to those same questions on national TV every week? What if the media experts spent hours comparing any one of these candidates plans extensively with Obama and McCains? Imagine if the media even mentioned one of these candidates mere existence?

There are wonderful alternatives to the same old crap every election, but these choices are systematically excluded from the 'marketplace of ideas'


Thoughts from an angry union carpenter/public school teacher


Todd Vachon
www.votevachon.com

> Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:05:27 -0700

Some debate remarks:

1. Joe The Plumber
Joe the Plumber is not the average American... he is the average American's boss.
Joe the plumber is the Average Republican.

2. Class Warfare? Re-distributing wealth?
The capitalist class, Republican and Democrat alike, have been waging class warfare against workers for decades. This is witnessed by the deregulation of industry, tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals and corporations, declining real wages, skyrocketing CEO pay, attacks on organized labor, anti-worker free-trade agreements, profit hungry health insurance plans and perverse levels of inequality.

If anybody really wants change, they're going to have to stop voting for the same two parties.

Moore/Alexander- Socialist Party, USA www.votesocialist2008.org

Nader/Gonzalez- Independent www.votenader.org

McKinney/Clemente- Green Party
www.mckinney2008.com/PRESIDENT/

-Todd

No To The Wall Street Bailout.

29 September 2008
Socialist Party USA
-National Action Committee

The current "financial crisis" is not just a temporary setback because of poor regulation in the financial sector. The collapse of the financial sector is indicative of the total failure of the capitalist economy. In recent years, the leading recipients of this proposed bailout have attempted to justify their “Washington consensus” (cutting social safety nets, wages and benefits, and privatizing public services) in the name of mercilessly strict adherence to the “tough love” and “sacrifice” of the “free market.” This deregulation and dismantling of social protections was a logical step for the capitalists represented by the Republican and Democratic Parties. The call now for regulation of the markets is a hypocritical call by those who continue to promote the free market as the solution to everything. In demonstrating the cynical facade behind the unwaivering economic ideology they've peddled for decades, these same power brokers and politicians who demanded the near complete deregulation of the financial sector under "free market" principles, are now calling upon all tax-paying U.S. workers to "come together as Americans" and take "collective responsibility" for their boundless greed and ultimate financial failure under the very standards they themselves imposed.

Congressional Democrats, through continuous pledges to reach a "bipartisan" solution to the financial meltdown, have predictably fallen over themselves to reaffirm their reliable role as one of the two great parties of capital. As Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proclaimed on September 26th, "We will not leave until legislation is passed that will be signed by the president. The markets [sic] need a message from us that we're acting." Barack Obama, whose $25 million dollars in campaign contributions from the financial industry in this election has exceeded the amount received by John McCain, has likewise urged bipartisan passage of the bailout package, "in the spirit of cooperation on behalf of the American people.

As socialists, we understand that there can no longer be any rational debate on the question of pursuing the "free market" as an alternative to the compelling urgency for a socialist transformation of society. The need of the largest capitalist firms to wipe out competition has already led to the centralization of economic power, but in the form of private ownership by an unaccountable ruling class of professional speculators, not working people.

If we the people are now to publicly socialize the costs of our ruling class' disastrous practices, as our corporate politicians demand, what justification can be given for handing the very pillars of our economic security back to their private and unaccountable ownership once resurrected?

The Socialist Party rejects the bail-out plan. Instead, we propose that the government take over the financial sector, and then delegate the distribution of home loans to a decentralized network of non-profit credit unions. These institutions are far less likely to push bogus loans than the white-collar criminals which control the current financial institutions.

While opposing the bail-out we also call for programs which will provide support to, and help empower individuals, families, and working people as a whole to take power away from the corporate powers that be.

We support building millions of units of low-density. high quality, and low-cost housing.

We support a federally funded socialized healthcare system which would eliminate health insurance companies and be controlled by locally elected community health committees.

We support elimination of anti-labor laws and giving all workers the right to organize through card check off with the right to strike.

We support laws that would encourage the creation of worker-owned/run institutions.

We support massive investment into mass-transit and alternatives to fossil fuels.

And finally we call for the immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan (which includes thousands of national guard troops which have been taken away from their families and jobs to fight oversees). Slashing our military budget by at least 50% and establishing a steeply progressive federal income tax system would help to fund our modest dreams.

The above actions would improve working people’s lives, bring thousands of troops home, raise hundreds of millions of dollars and take the tax burden off of low and moderate income individuals and families.

The real solution to the vast majority of these problems would be to move rapidly to a socialist society, one in which housing is provided to all as a basic right, the financial sector and commanding heights of the economy are made publicly accountable through social ownership and worker control. The economy and production must be oriented toward the needs of working people, rather than maximizing the profits of an obsolete ruling class of multi-millionaires and billionaires. We, the majority who work for a living, can no longer afford to produce and relinquish all that maintaining the private profits for our ruling class entails!

"No Banker Bailout"

NYC Local of the SP-USA
Rejects the "Banker Bailout" Proposal.

www.spnyc.org/main/

The Socialist Party USA (NYC local) protests against
the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout. This
proposal caters to the wishes of Wall Street bankers
while disregarding the increasing indebtedness and
economic squeeze which most working people are
experiencing. The corporate “bailout culture” sends
the message to all sorts of corporations that public
tax funds are fair game for laying-off bad
investments.

Wall Street is responsible for cleaning up its own
mess. The primary source of the immediate financial
crisis in the banking industry is mortgaged-backed
securities packaged by mortgage lenders and then sold
to banks that were willing to make a market for these
new financial instruments. Bankers made these
purchases with full knowledge of the potential for
loss. To now ask the federal government to cover
these losses violates all the laws of the free market,
which Wall Street rhetorically defends, and creates a
scenario where banks can make no-risk investments no
matter how irresponsible they are. The government
will become an ATM for bad investments.

Millions of mortgages are currently in default and are
now uncollectible. This is the fault of the lenders
who designed schemes in which delinquent homeowners
would face punitive balloon payments with exorbitant
interest rates. This accelerated the broader
financial crisis and forced millions of families out
of their homes. The mortgage lenders are the guilty
parties and should face criminal charges for predatory
lending and false advertising.

The proposed antidote to the crisis may be worse than
the illness. Pumping $700 billion dollars into an
economy which already features rising food and fuel
prices is reckless. The funds sent into the financial
sector will circulate into other equally unproductive
parts of the economy which could spark even broader
inflation. State-relief must serve the dual purpose
of stabilizing the economy while creating momentum for
the development of a new productive economy.

A bailout will enable the unhealthy economic
relationships upon which the US economy is currently
based to continue. The pattern of dependence on
Middle East oil exporters and multi-national companies
producing export goods in Asia is non-viable. The
only thing propping up the domestic US economy is the
return of dollars held abroad through financial and
real estate markets. This results in re-occurring
speculative bubbles. Consequently, the US has
developed a dangerous dependence on imports – oil,
goods and capital – inside of an economy which has
shed its productive manufacturing sector.

Overall, the Socialist Party (NYC local) strives for
the abolition of all financial markets, the guarantee
of housing, healthcare and employment as human rights,
and the creation of an economy based on the production
of goods and services which fulfill the physical and
intellectual needs of the people in it, not based on
financial speculation and usury. While we see these
demands as the only way of achieving a long-lasting
solution to the social problems capitalism engenders,
we recognize the need for immediate action. In this
light we propose that the following measures be
implemented immediately.

• The US government should create a fund to stabilize
defaulting mortgage holders. The fund would extend
credit to homeowners in need of loans to bridge their
way through the financial crisis. In addition,
legislation should be passed to outlaw predatory
mortgages and force lenders to re-negotiate
unfavorable terms with home-owners. A moratorium on
foreclosures should be declared until such legislation
is passed.

• A federal tax of 6% on all incomes above $5 million
dollars should be enacted immediately. This funding
pool should be used to extend low or no-interest loans
to non-profit co-operatives and worker-managed
enterprises for the creation of new manufacturing
projects. This will help create a new productive core
of the US economy.

• The Congress should immediately pass House
Resolution 676 to establish a National Health
Insurance Program. This would remove a major cause of
personal bankruptcy claims – bills from healthcare
procedures.

• Legislation should be enacted to create a “Tobin
Tax” on financial transactions of .02 cents per
transaction. The resulting funds would be pooled to
share with indebted state governments to prevent cuts
in vital social services.

• Emergency legislation should be passed to remove the
wage base on social security payments. Currently, the
employer and employee must pay a 12.4% social security
tax on income up to $97,500. Any income above this
amount is exempt from social security taxes. Removing
this tax ceiling would secure future payments of
social security and allow for an increased payout
thereby reducing the dependency of retired workers on
401k plans tied to outcomes on Wall Street.

No Bailout Without Penalty.

By Todd Vachon

The President has unveiled his plan for a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street; a move that equates to nothing less than big-time welfare for big-time capitalists. Looks like the free-wheelin' free market privatizers have come to the same conclusion as their predecessors 80yrs ago: unregulated capitalism works only for the richest few and only for so long.

Unfortunately the corporately owned media is treating this like just another big bailout, necessary to "save the middle-class." Missing is the fact that this current economic crisis is not simply the result of a few greedy "bad apples", but was in fact a very predictable result of 3 decades of deregulation by Republicans and Democrats alike.

There is also little mention of the very unique and distinct nature of this bailout plan. Beyond the enormous amount of money being fronted by the public there is some rather shocking language in the White House's bill which would hand over unprecedented power to the Secretary of the Treasury Paulsen (former CEO of Goldman Sachs): "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." In simple terms, this gives Paulsen, who is personally tied to the financial industry, an enormous bank account and the ability to cut checks at his discretion with no accountability.

All of this from the administration that could not find it in their hearts to spend $7 billion to fund SCHIP healthcare for uninsured American children. This can be attributed to a very clear ideological agenda which can be summarized in one cliche' statement: "class warfare." The capitalist class gets government aid when it deems necessary, the rest of us are on our own and if we make a bad decision...bye bye house. The tyranny of the very few must be checked and there is no better time than now to stand up as working/middle-class Americans and state our demands: No more trillions for endless war. No more billions for irresponsible Wall Street gamblers. We want infrastructure that doesn't collapse or flood. We want top-quality healthcare for everyone. We want better pay for us and considerably less for the job-cutting CEO's.

This bailout must not be a blank check that investors come running to receive like kids for candy. It must be punitive; something that financiers will not be motivated to pursue unless absolutely necessary. The blatantly irresponsible behavior of these high rollers must be penalized, not rewarded. The Bush administration is bullishly trying to bulldoze their bill through congress like the PATRIOT Act. This is because it is robbery, and given the opportunity to digest it the nervous public and congress would come to this obvious conclusion.

Any bailout for reckless behavior must be punitive. There should not be people lining up to get a piece of it. The fact that there are tells us that this is not a serious bailout and much more like a handout. Capping executive pay and putting a moratorium on home foreclosures are a good starting point when writing an act of this nature. Re-instating a much larger corporate income tax and giving the public a share in the bailed out institutions is the next big step. The notion that the people who made out like bandits while being engaged in incredibly reckless behavior should now get billions of dollars from the American taxpayer is ridiculous. If you are outraged, you should be. Furthermore, you should share your outrage with your elected representatives. While your at it, share your thoughts about the war and the broken healthcare industry as well.

TELL CONGRESS "NO BAILOUT" NOW!

Built From The Ground Up

Statement by Socialist Congressional Candidate, Todd Vachon

From The Socialist, Fall 2008 (Election Issue)

Greetings fellow readers of TS. For those of you I haven’t had the pleasure to meet, my name is Todd Vachon and I am running as the Socialist Party candidate for congress in Connecticut, District 2.

I am not a politician. I am not a lawyer and I don’t have a speech writer. I am a union carpenter, a public school teacher, a father of two and a concerned citizen who loves democracy and believes in self-governance. I unfortunately see plutocracy and corporate governance today in our beautiful country.

The one political party, with it’s right-wing and it’s far-right-wing, is the party of big-business. Both the Democrats and the Republicans are bought and paid for by the same wealth. Unfortunately, the corporately owned media is content to have us think that they are dynamic opposites.

As a member of the working class majority I am tired of going to the polls year after year and having to select the “lesser of two evils.” We all know damn well that this party is no friend of labor except when it comes time to get some votes and foot soldiers.

They, the Democrats, as well as the Republicans, represent the interests of big-business capitalism. Most Americans are not capitalists. Most can’t afford a lobbyist. The only inherent goal of capitalism as a system is the accumulation of capital and the never-ending pursuit of profit at everyone and everything else’s expense.

No where does it say “guarantee meaningful work and a quality life for all.” No where does it say “preserve the environment, produce in a sustainable way and conserve resources.” Nope.

It just says “Make more profit. Get that money.” Profit, profit, profit.

So, let’s take a second to review where this quest for profit has landed us in 2008:

- The U.S. is still illegally occupying Iraq in year number 5 – a war built on lies and manipulated intelligence. $3 Trillion spent and 40% of the money sent to Afghanistan has come back to the U.S. in the form of corporate profit. This must be the biggest fleecing in history. - Tens of Millions of Americans still live without health care and a hundred million more are breaking the bank just to keep their families insured. - Our economy is in recession, part of a regular capitalist cycle every 10-15 years. -Property taxes… sky high. Homeowners are losing their homes at levels unseen since the great depression, mostly do to outstanding medical bills. -The “middle class” has been steadily eroding for 30 plus years under both Democrat and Republican administrations and congresses. -Good Paying Manufacturing jobs? Outsourced and replaced by low paying, part-time and temporary service sector jobs, due in part to bi-partisan, pro-business trade deals like NAFTA. - Our public education system is slowly being privatized. Our children and public school teachers are being hung out to dry to accommodate the desires of the for-profit education industry and it’s incredibly flawed NCLB policy. - Our roads, bridges, schools and other collectively owned assets are in complete disrepair due to never ending budget cuts. This conscious neglect will likely lead our congress to determine that this infrastructure should also be privatized. - Our most basic ideals about law and justice have been tossed out and the two parties continue to pass bills that further erode our civil liberties and even legitimize torture. -Our privatized prison industrial complex imprisons more people per capita than any other nation in the world.... disproportionately people of color, mostly poor, mostly black. -We are among the worst of industrialized nations for deaths by treatable causes, due to our private, for-profit health care system. –The U.S. ranks 139^th out of 171 democracies for voter turnout. Roughly 50% of eligible voters don’t bother to vote. When asked why, they say that it doesn’t matter- I guess a whole lot of people do understand that we haven’t really got much of a democracy at all.

These are the times of “jobless recoveries” and “market-based solutions”, terms which both share the same distinct odor as “Reagonomics” and “Trickle Down” economics. As members of the working class, which constitutes 80% of America, the only thing that trickles down to us is instructions and orders from way up the hierarchical ladder of corporate organization.

Class is not about income, it is about power. There may be a formula to calculate a particular income bracket that constitutes the so-called “middle-class”, but the truth of it is this: The boss determines what we do during our 8 hours, which is the majority of our waking time on work days. The boss determines how much to sell the fruits of our labors to other workers for. The boss determines how much we get paid, unless we organize and demand more, and the boss decides when he doesn’t need us any more because we are hurting profits. Whether we go to work in an office wearing a shirt and tie working at a computer or we go to a construction site wearing a hard hat and swinging a hammer the vast majority of us are working class- We do not own the means of production.

Our primary source of wealth, as working-class Americans, is home ownership. However, most homeowners are really debtors. The banks own our homes and likely our cars as well. Even ignoring this fact our collective percentage of the national wealth is merely 16%! That’s right, the bottom 80% of Americans share just 16% of America’s wealth. The top 1% owns 33% of the wealth and the next 19% own 51%, giving the top Fifth of society control over 84% of all wealth. This is exactly the intent of a market based economy. So, not only do the capitalists enjoy empowering work and the access to information to make well-informed decisions, but they also get paid 500% more than their average worker.

I know I’m ranting a bit, but it’s my specialty. It’s what we Socialists like to do before taking action… and we are all chomping at the bit right now.

Grassroots Politics. Direct Action. These are the only ways that we have ever accomplished anything as a class. We can’t count on fundraising politicians to hand out National Health Insurance and Living wages. They only throw us a bone when we make the alternative worse. The driving force behind change and progress has always been class struggle, and this still holds true today. This is why I am running for congress as the Socialist candidate, to get out and speak to people and help raise class awareness.

No candidate from either of the capitalist parties will acknowledge the systemic nature of the problems I have outlined above. They will do little to slow the current destructive pattern: the wholesale privatization, or Milton Freidmanization of every remaining public entity- modern day primitive accumulation.

No, the Democratic Party, as Edwin Laing said, is “where social movements go to die”

and the Republican Party is where CEO’s go for tax breaks.

The capitalist two-party monopoly and it’s corporate media networks offer us two options that are both acceptable to them, then lead us to think that we have some kind of democratic choice.

As the young Howard Zinn so aptly stated more than 30 years ago: “Totalitarian states love elections, they get the people out to the poles to register their approval for the government. I know there is a difference, they have one party and we have two parties, we have one more party than they do you see.”

It’s high time to change that. The Socialist Party runs electoral campaigns to activate that 50% of voters, mostly low income, to stand up with a real alternative to the same old wage-slave-driving parties. It is true that one congressional representative cannot change the entire system, but he/she can fight for reforms that will improve our daily lives and, more importantly, develop the political consciousness/solidarity among the people who will collectively make the real changes in the long run.

I strongly agree with the statement that “capitalism cannot be reformed”, but am faced with the dichotomy of a socialist candidate. As a socialist running for office within a capitalist system my policy objectives may seem reformist or social democratic at best: real universal health care, graduated income taxation, socialized energy and expanded public transportation.

Such simple taxation and funding of social programs does not equate to socialism, but fighting together for such reforms can help to generate the necessary class solidarity to bring about a truly participatory economy. A sustainable form of production for human use and not for profit that replaces hierarchy with equality, cut-throat competition with solidarity, free-trade with fair trade. A complete democracy that extends from the political sphere of electing representatives to the economic sphere of making decisions about production, distribution and consumption. A society where every human being has food, housing, healthcare and employment. Where full civil rights and liberties are guaranteed to all, where every individual is able to fulfill his or her full potential.

As Eugene Debs said nearly 100 years ago: “The Earth is for all people, this is the demand.”

The ruling class already has 500 plus congresspersons representing their interests in both houses of the congress. It’s time that we stop voting for their representatives and start running and voting for our own.

-Todd Vachon (www.votevachon.com)

Stop Oil Speculators

Skyrocketing energy costs are effecting all of us in CT, especially those of us with long commutes and who have no choice but to drive automobiles. While I feel that the ultimate solution is to develop alternative sources of energy and mass transit, we must address the problems of our current system in the interim.

As a candidate for congress I support legislation aimed at closing loopholes and reining in excessive manipulation, and possible manipulation, of the oil futures market.

The Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices (PUMP) Act, is a comprehensive approach to address the loopholes that allow energy traders to evade federal oversight. The PUMP Act would quickly bring down the world oil price to the marginal cost of production, which the oil industry and oil market experts believe is around $60 a barrel.

The PUMP Act would:

• Close All Oil Futures Market loopholes: Completely closing the full range of loopholes being used by oil market speculators and dark market exchanges, including the so-called “Enron loophole” including for bilateral “off-exchange” trades; the foreign board of trade (FTOB) loophole; energy swaps dealers loophole; and, the bona fide hedging exemption loophole.
• Impose Aggregate Speculation Limits: Require the Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) to set aggregate position limits on energy futures contracts for a trader across all contract markets. In doing so, the CFTC will be able to better prevent traders from amassing excessively large positions in a commodity across exchanges in an attempt to play one exchange off another.
• Require Information on Index Funds: Require public monthly reporting of index fund data for anyone trading U.S.-delivered energy futures contracts or trade on U.S. computer terminals on the CFTC’s website.
• Strengthen Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Authority: Protect and strengthen the authority given to FERC in the 2005 Energy Policy Act to prosecute manipulation in natural gas and electricity markets.

While this is just a starting point for eliminating our daily economic struggles in Eastern CT, it is a step in the right direction. Please visit www.votevachon.com and click on the issues page to learn more about this and other major issues.

TV Interview with Todd: Music & Activism

Marsh Karp interviews Todd on her West Hartford Community TV program "Camera's Rolling".
Learn about Todd's background, personal history and involvement in music and political activism. 28 min.

Dialogue With Iran

Over the past few days I have received the following letter from
many district 2 voters concerning U.S./Iranian relations:

 Mr. Vachon:

Thank you so much for committing yourself to a campaign
for the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the last few weeks, a number of prominent politicians
in both the United States and Iran have begun talking about
the possibility of a war. Yet many observers in the United
States argue that such a war would be disastrous, and that
the surest way to prevent it is through direct,unconditional
negotiations between our two countries. Do you agree with
the recent call from five former secretaries of state -
Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, James Baker III, Warren
Christopher,and Madeline Albright - for an expanded U.S.
dialogue with Iran?

If elected, would you commit to work for direct,
unconditional,and comprehensive talks between the United
States and Iran?

I would welcome a chance to hear your views on the subject of
Iran, which could begin a public discussion. Would you
consider scheduling a public meeting in our community to
discuss these issues further? I would be happy to work
around your schedule.

Thank you for your time. I appreciate your desire to work on
my behalf and hope to hear back from you about your stance
on Iran.

Sincerely,
(names deleted)

Here was my response:

Dear _______,

Thank you for contacting me regarding
this issue of paramount importance. You're concerns are
shared with many other voters who have been contacting me
about Iran policy in the past few days.

I unequivocally agree with the calls for open dialogue
between the the U.S. and Iran. The recent rounds of saber
rattling throughout D.C. and the corporate media networks
eerily remind me of the build up to the invasion of Iraq,
a war which I opposed and protested months before it began.
As a nation,we ought to have learned historically that
violence does not solve problems of foreign relations;
rather it escalates them.

I am adamantly opposed to preemptive military strikes
against Iran or any other nation. Diplomacy must be given
a real fair shake this time and every time from now on.
The cost in American lives, the lives of innocent civilians
and the cost of U.S. tax dollars can no longer be afforded.

So yes, if elected, I would absolutely commit to
work for direct, unconditional, and comprehensive
talks between the United States and Iran.

Sincerely,

Todd Vachon
Candidate for Congress
CT District 2
www.votevachon.com

Joe Bageant on Todd Vachon

With Todd Vachon in Connecticut

( from www.joebageant.com)

By Joe Bageant

A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days of hard traveling back and forth across Connecticut's Second Congressional District. The Second District is not the Connecticut where Paul Newman lives and Katherine Hepburn is buried. The one with the marvelously tasteful old homes set against magnificent Yankee New England seascapes. It's the one where -- although quite pretty in its own right, with its small villages and winding roads -- the mills are closed, the housing bubble has popped and everyone fears what comes next. It is a place where good union men still stick together as best they can in the face of globalization, the sub prime collapse and a two-party system whose millionaire players are more married to the game than to the unheralded people who build their homes and make their world function every day.

Joe and Todd at WHUS

One of those good men is union carpenter Todd Vachon. Todd is a Socialist candidate trying to collect 3000 signatures to get on the ballot for the second district, and assisting Todd was the reason I was in the birth state of George W. Bush. This meant visiting the colleges, radio stations and lefty gathering spots such as Wrench in the Works in Willimantic, one of the sixty four towns in which Vachon has to collect signatures. In testimony to the rigged system the Dems and GOP have in place to keep any third party candidates or independents out, if Vachon is successful, he mist then drive to each of them individually again to turn the signature sheets in to the town clerks. At sixty five dollars a pop to fill his small car's gas tank, his campaign manager Andy Blood and I figured that each signature costs a few bucks apiece as we pumped gas and ran his credit card up. We can add that to the $60,000 student loan Todd is paying off and call it all the “cost of opportunity,” like big business does. Only somehow the result is not the quite the same for a working guy.

To make matters more difficult, Todd is running on a platform sure to ruin America: Universal not-for-profit health care (he supports HR676); High investment in renewable energy; Expanding public transportation; Campaign finance reform; A living wage; Women's right to choose; Bringing the troops home.

In other words, the entire rotten commie bill of goods the Democrats are forced to hint at when their ass is in a jam, the just and morally right things they will never deliver on the coldest day in hell.

Connecticut's Second Congressional district covers half the state and has dozens of blue collar towns and studded here and there with wealthy Republican bastions such as old Saybrook and Mystic, places working people drive by, sometimes stopping to pay five bucks to ogle such mansions as the Gillette Castle, a massive piece of Kitsch built by William Gillette, wealthy turn of the century actor who entertained the likes of Calvin Coolidge there. Still, the district is solidly Democratic, and even some Republicans seem displeased with their native son down in Crawford regarding the war, though they love his economic policy.

For many decades working Americans have said that what we need in this country are some politicians who've actually worked for a living, not more lawyers in office, plus some ordinary common sense. A little compassion, something lawyers are not particularly noted for, might be nice too. But after the last blast of “conservative compassion,” we may not be able to take another compassion hit.

You'd think that simply allowing Vachon, socialist or not (hell, they elected Jasper McLevy, a Socialist, mayor of Bridgeport didn't they?) a crack at throwing his hat into the ring would be a no-brainer in one of the last districts with some remaining unions and a liberal history. But in these wary times, it's no cake walk to get signatures supporting a citizen's right to even get on the ballot, even though the signature implies no political support other than the right of an ordinary citizen to run for office.

Todd knows what he's up against, and knows the likelihood of ever getting elected, or even on the ballot. But he's out there anyway because he acts on his beliefs and accepts the risk and debt and stress on his wife and two children that come with the commitment. And when I learned of his campaign, I knew that if I were not there for him as best could be, then I don't have ball one and should forever keep my mouth shut about liberty, change and action toward those ends.

Which is how I found myself spending a few nights on the couch of Todd's parents, it was the most moving part of the trip. Todd's 55-year-old dad, another union carpenter and proud of it, is behind Todd all the way. Over a lifetime of hard work both at home and on the job, he has built a house with his own hands, blasted hundreds of tons of rock, cut and set it in winding retainer walls, pathways and generally built a testimony to the dignity of working life in America and the love of one's family.

(Click thumbnail image of flags to enlarge.)

Flying over the family home are three tattered flags -- the American flag, the big blue marble planet earth flag, and the missing POW flag. Testimony to the belief that we can still be a worthwhile nation, the earth's sanctity and memory across generations. The home itself is pretty much a play world for the grandchildren, Todd's kids, Marley and Toliver, whom grandma dotes upon while Todd and his dad play music together in the combination shop and soundproof jam room during those hours he is not busting his ass on some construction job. Every day there I could not help but remind myself, a working man's life was meant to be as satisfying as this household's.

Regardless of how his campaign goes, Todd is a fortunate man. And I am fortunate to have shared in his effort, conviction and family life.

Thank you Todd Vachon.

------

Here is Todd Vachon's campaign web site: www.VoteVachon.com

Click here to send an email to your friends with this page's headline and link.

---

Email Joe Bageant at joebageant@joebageant.com
Joe is the author of "Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America's Class War"

HOMELESSNESS IN CAPITALIST AMERICA:

A Socialist Perspective

By Todd Vachon ,

The Socialist Vol. 34, No. 2, Summer 2008

What’s the Problem?

Homelessness, as defined by Wikipedia, refers to “the condition and societal category of people who lack fixed housing, usually because they cannot afford a regular, safe, and adequate shelter.” According to The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, 2.5 to 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness each year.

In its annual report on homelessness, HUD reported that on any given night an estimated 754,000 persons will experience homelessness throughout the U.S., leaving approximately 300,000 more people homeless than the total number of shelter beds. At the same time the latest census report for the first quarter of 2007 estimates that 10% of rental apartments are vacant and 2.8% of privately owned houses are vacant…. in other words, there is far more than enough housing available for every person in this country.

What’s the Cause?

Why is it that some people are unable to afford housing? The answer lies within the system itself…capitalism puts profit before people, Always! Don’t believe the corporate media hype, it’s not just a few greedy bad apples, it is the nature of the beast. Larger than any individual player, capitalism is like a giant profit-seeking virus that lays waste to any and all that falls in its path, especially those most vulnerable…the people at the bottom of the economic spectrum. These are the very same people that experience or are at risk of experiencing homelessness at any given moment.

Why Point the Finger at Capitalism?

Isn’t it the person’s own fault for becoming homeless? Don’t we all start on an even playing field of opportunity? Aren’t they all just drug addicts and alcoholics anyway? If they wanted to work they could get a job and afford a home, right?....right?.....Wrong.

Lets Look at 3 Major Causes of Homelessness:

Number One: The Lack of Affordable Housing. As defined by HUD, affordable housing is housing that costs less than 30% of annual income. One third of Americans spend more than 30% of their income and 13% of households spend more than half their income on housing. More than 1 million households are awaiting HUD assistance and only 27% of eligible families are actually receiving housing assistance. Recent news coverage has exposed the practice of predatory lending by mortgage companies that leave working class Americans with enormous payments they could not make on homes they could not afford. Why isn’t there more affordable housing? Because there is far greater profit in building and selling brand new 3, 4, and $500,000 luxury homes, which in turn artificially inflate the value of everything around them, including rents. This price ballooning makes it even more difficult to find affordable housing, even with a full time job, which leads us to reason number 2 for homelessness:

Number Two: The Lack of Living Wage Jobs. As capital is constantly moving from industry to industry in search of greater profit, competition constantly drives prices down ever closer to production cost. This process of accumulation forces wages down and jobs to be eliminated to ensure “reasonable” profit margins. With minimum wage at an abysmal $5.15 /hr and part-time jobs replacing full-time employment poverty and homelessness are “on the march.” At current minimum wage a full-time worker will bring in $10,300 annually. The Federal Poverty level for an average family is $16,800, which would require a full-time wage of $8.29 hr. The real value of min. wage is 18% less than it was 25 years ago, while CEO’s have seen a 300% increase in salaries over the same period. (The SPUSA calls for a minimum wage of $15 per hour, indexed to the cost of living).

Capital and workers are always at odds: Just watch the stock price rise when a company lays off a few thousand workers. How many of these now unemployed eventually end up on the street? The landlord is not going to let them slide, and most “homeowners” don’t actually own their homes, the bank does. The recent changes in the bankruptcy laws, enacted immediately after Bush “won” the 2000 election (with enormous campaign contributions from MBNA), ensure that creditors and lenders get their money back first. And even worse yet, what if this laid-off person or a family member comes down with a health condition? That leads us to the other major cause of homelessness:

Number Three: The Lack of HealthCare. A National study in 2004 showed that 13% of homeless individuals became homeless due to health problems. Approximately 4% of all Americans have serious mental illnesses, that number is 5-6 times greater for the homeless population. As recently highlighted in the mainstream media a growing number of returning Iraq veterans are becoming homeless. This is attributed to a combination of unaffordable health coverage, exorbitant bills and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Approximately 1/3 of returning vets suffer from PTSD and lack the necessary health treatment. The current privatized health care system generates enormous profit for pharmaceutical and insurance companies. These same companies gouge prices and waste resources to make big ticket designer prescriptions for privileged customers, but leave the poor, working middle-class and many veterans lacking basic treatments for real health problems.

What’s the Solution?

(Excerpts from the 2006-2007 Socialist Party, USA Platform)

Housing:

The Socialist Party recognizes the right of all people to high quality, low cost housing. We call for a vast increase in Section 8 housing subsidies as one element of major public investment in the construction of low cost, scattered site, community-based, high quality housing. We call for rent control for all rental units, and the right of tenants to organize. We support the formation of non-profit land trusts and of socially owned, tenant controlled housing cooperatives. We call for the organization of a housing rehabilitation program aimed at renovating and remodeling existing homes to bring them up to housing and safety codes, as part of a broader public works program. We call for an end to home foreclosures.

Health Care:
The Socialist Party stands for a socialized health care system based on universal coverage, salaried doctors and health care workers, and revenues derived from a steeply graduated income tax. We support a national health program with full standard and alternative medical, dental, vision, and mental health coverage for all, publicly funded through progressive taxation and controlled by democratically elected assemblies of health care workers and patients. The National Health Program should extend, and replace, Medicare and Medicaid. We call for a health care system that emphasizes preventive care. We call for public ownership and worker and community control of the pharmaceutical industry. We call for educational programs to help prevent drug addiction; for voluntary treatment programs for addicts and alcoholics; and for the availability of free, sterile needles for those still using IV drugs. We call for the reinstatement of funding to community mental health services so that low-cost or no-cost treatment is available on a voluntary basis, with clients' rights respected.

(For the complete platform visit www.sp-usa.org or contact your state or local party)

Conclusion

Homelessness is a major problem in the United States. It can be attributed to three main causes, all of which are derivatives of a capitalist economy. The quest for profit leaves many people out in the cold. In this, the richest country in the world; healthcare should not be a privilege, the minimum wage ought to be a living wage and housing should be a basic human right. There is a large systemic problem, namely our political/economic system, which fails to ensure justice and equality. And until these root causes of homelessness are addressed the problem will continue to get worse.

Sources:

The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (www.cohhio.org)

U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov)

National Coalition for the Homeless (www.nationalhomeless.org)

Socialist Party, USA (www.sp-usa.org)

Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com)

Grassroots Politics & Direct Action: Let's Make The Alternative

Dear unaffiliated voters who vote for Democrats, or just don't vote:

It's election season again. Let's ask ourselves: Who represents our interests? Who stands up for the working middle class and the poor? Is it the Democrats? The Republicans?

Hmmm…Neither. So why bother voting?

Well, by not voting we’re obviously not changing anything and simply handing more power over to the wealthy folks who already have a monopoly on it. But at the same time, by voting for one of the two parties we’re simply affirming their lousy policies. After being elected they can go on to claim that they were chosen by the people to carry out their crumby liaise fair programs that funnel all of the wealth upward . So what is our alternative?

We must make the alternative. Either run for office ourselves, encourage others we know to run, or stand behind one of the minor parties like the Socialists or the Greens.

If we really respect democracy as voters we need to vote for the candidates that we agree with the most. It is in fact anti-democratic to limit our spectrum to the two parties and choose the “better” of the two candidates. The “lesser of two evils” strategy has obviously gotten us nowhere fast.

I know your thinking that if you vote for a third party you’ll help to “throw” the election to the Republicans. That is nonsense. The minor parties cannot be blamed for the inadequacies of the Democratic party. If the Democrats keep losing, one of two things will happen: 1. A third party will begin to gain prominence as the real “left” party, or 2. the Democratic candidates will be forced to shift their policies to the left in order to regain votes. Either way, the progressive policies that we all want will finally begin to see the light of day.

Real change is a very slow process. Are we down to create a movement? We can’t expect instant gratification, we must be prepared to struggle. When armed with the knowledge that we are helping to make Real change for the future of our country and our world We Will Persevere!

Our ideas are plentiful and, despite the corporate propaganda, they have Not been tried and they have Not failed. If we really want universal non-profit healthcare we have to stand up for it. If we really want peace we have to stand up for it. If we really want to develop alternative energy sources we have got to stand up! Governments always represent the interests of the most powerful and wealthy within the society. In our case this is the military industrial complex, the insurance companies and the oil companies. We have got to demand change because it’s not just going to be handed to us by some fundraising politician. He/she owes a lot more to the corporations that helped get him/her into office than to the citizens of the country.

Let’s not be afraid. Let’s vote for what we believe. Let’s make a better world for our future generations.

Thank you,

Todd Vachon
Candidate for Congress
CT 2^nd District

www.votevachon.com

May Day Address

May Day Greetings brothers and sisters of labor. On May 1, 1886, nearly 1 million workers throughout the US went on strike in support of the eight-hour workday. The events that followed led to the Haymarket massacre on May 4^th 1886. Today, as I speak before you, the Longshoremen’s union in California is shutting down all ports for the day in protest of the war and occupation abroad, and we are here today in New Haven honoring all of the struggles and accomplishments past and present of labor from the days of primitive accumulation up to this May 1^st, the one true labor day- International Worker’s Day.

I would like to thank all of the groups who helped to organize this great celebration and particularly the New Haven May Day Celebration Committee who has been organizing this event on the green for 22 years! Long before it’s resurgent popularity.

For those of you I haven’t had the pleasure to meet, my name is Todd Vachon and I am the Socialist Party candidate for congress in District 2, East of the River.

I am not a politician. I am not a lawyer. I am a union carpenter, a public school teacher, a father of two and a concerned citizen who loves democracy and believes in self-governance. I unfortunately see plutocracy and corporate governance today in our beautiful country.

The one political party, with it’s right-wing and it’s far-right-wing, is the party of business. Both the Democrats and the Republicans are bought and paid for by the same wealth. Unfortunately, the corporately owned media is content to have us think that they are dynamic opposites.

As a member of the working class majority I am tired of going to the polls year after year and having to select the “lesser of two evils” knowing damn well that this party is no friend of labor except when it comes time to get some votes and foot soldiers.

They, the Democrats, as well as the Republicans represent the interests of big-business capitalism. Most Americans are not capitalists. Most can’t afford a lobbyist. The only inherent goal of capitalism as a system is the accumulation of capital. That is, the never-ending pursuit of profit at everyone and everything else’s expense.

No where does it say guarantee meaningful work and a quality life for all. No where does it say preserve the environment, produce in a sustainable way and conserve resources. Nope.

It just says make more profit. Get that money. Profit, profit, profit.

So Let’s take a second to review where this quest for profit has brought us to in 2008:

- The U.S. is still illegally occupying Iraq in year number 5 – a war built on lies and manipulated intelligence. $3 Trillion spent and 40% of the money sent to Afghanistan has come back to the U.S. in the form of corporate profit. This must be the biggest fleecing in history.

- Tens of Millions of Americans still live without health care and a hundred million more are breaking the bank just to keep their families insured.

- Our economy is in recession, part of a regular capitalist cycle every 10-15 years. –

-Property taxes… sky high. –

-Homeowners are losing their homes at levels unseen since the great depression.

-The middle class has been steadily eroding for 30 plus years under both Democrat and Republican administrations and congresses.

-Good Paying Manufacturing jobs? Outsourced and replaced by low paying, part-time and temporary service sector jobs, due in part to bi-partisan, pro-business trade deals like NAFTA.

- Our public education system is slowly being privatized. Our children and public school teachers being hung out to dry to accommodate the desires of the for-profit education industry and it’s incredibly flawed NCLB policy.

- Our roads, bridges, schools and other collectively owned assets are in complete disrepair due to never ending budget cuts. This conscious neglect will likely lead our congress to determine that this infrastructure should also be privatized.

- Our most basic ideals about law and justice have been tossed out and the two parties continue to pass bills that further erode our civil liberties and even legitimize torture.

-Our privatized prison industrial complex imprisons more people per capita than any other nation in the world.

-We are among the top 5 nations for state executions.

-We are among the worst of industrialized nations for deaths by treatable causes, due to our private health care system.

-We rank 139^th out of 171 democracies for voter turnout. Roughly 50% of eligible voters don’t bother to vote. When asked why, they say that it doesn’t matter. I guess a whole lot of people do understand that we haven’t really got much of a democracy at all.

We live in the times of “jobless recoveries” and “market-based solutions”, which both have that same distinct stench that I remember from “Reagonomics” and “Trickle Down” economics.

As members of the working class, which constitutes 80% of America, the only thing that trickles down to us is instructions and orders from way up the hierarchical ladder of corporate organization.

Class is not about income, it is about power. There may be a formula to calculate a particular income bracket that constitutes the so-called “middle-class”, but the truth of it is this:

The boss determines what we do during our 8 hours, which is the majority of our waking time on work days.

The boss determines how much to sell the fruits of our labors to other workers for.

The boss determines how much we get paid, unless we organize and demand more.

The boss decides when he doesn’t need us any more because we are hurting profits.

Whether we go to work in an office wearing a shirt and tie working at a computer or we go to a construction site wearing a hard hat and swinging a hammer we are all working class.

And the #1 source of wealth for working-class Americans is their home. However, Homeowners are really debtors, the bank owns our homes and likely our cars as well. Even ignoring this, our percentage of the national wealth is merely 16%!

That’s right, the bottom 80% of Americans share 16% of America’s wealth. The top 1% owns 33% of the wealth and the next 19% own 51%. Giving that top Fifth of society control over 84% of all privately held wealth.

So, not only do the capitalists enjoy empowering work and the access to information to make well-informed decisions, but they also get paid 500% more than their average worker.

I know I’m ranting a bit, but it’s my specialty.

The question is this: “what can we do about all of this?”

Well, Grassroots politics and Direct action are the only way that we have ever accomplished anything. We can’t count on fundraising politicians to hand out National Health Insurance and Living wages. They only throw us a bone when we make the alternative worse.

The driving force behind change and progress has always been class struggle, and this still holds true today.

This is why I am running for congress as the Socialist candidate, to get out and speak to people and help raise class awareness.

No candidate from either of the capitalist parties will acknowledge the systemic nature of the problems we are all facing collectively and they will do little to slow the current destructive pattern, the wholesale privatization, or Milton Freidmanization of every remaining public entity, this modern day primitive accumulation.

No, the Democratic Party, as Edwin Laing said, is “where social movements go to die.”

And the Republican Party is where CEO’s go for tax breaks.

The capitalist two-party monopoly and it’s corporate media networks offer us up two options that are both acceptable to them and let us think that we have some kind of democratic choice.

As Howard Zinn so aptly stated more than 30 years ago: “Totalitarian states love elections, they get the people out to the poles to register their approval for the government. I know there is a difference, they have one party and we have two parties, we have one more party than they do you see.”

Well I’m here tonight, and running this campaign in general, in an attempt to activate that 50% of voters, mostly low income, to stand up with a real alternative to the same old wage-slave-driving parties.

While one congressional representative cannot change the entire system, he/she can fight for reforms that will improve our daily lives and, more importantly, develop the political consciousness/solidarity among the people who will collectively make the real changes in the long run.

I strongly agree with the statement that capitalism cannot be reformed, but am faced with the dichotomy of a socialist candidate. As a socialist running for office within a capitalist system my policy objectives may seem reformist or social democratic at best: real universal health care, graduated income taxation, socialized energy and expanded public transportation.

Such simple taxation and funding of social programs does not constitute socialism. However, fighting together for such reforms can help to generate the necessary class solidarity to bring about a truly participatory economy.

A sustainable form of production for human use and not for profit that replaces hierarchy with equality, cut-throat competition with solidarity, free-trade with fair trade. A complete democracy that extends from the political sphere of electing representatives to the economic sphere of making decisions about production, distribution and consumption. A society where every human being has food, housing, healthcare and employment. Where full civil rights and liberties are guaranteed to all. Where every individual is able to fulfill his or her full potential.

As Eugene Debs said nearly 100 years ago:

“The Earth is for all people, this is the demand.”

The ruling class already has 500 plus congresspersons representing their interests in both houses of the congress. It’s time that we stop voting for their representatives and start running and voting for our own.

Thank You.

Text of Speech @ CCSU Forum: War, Healthcare, The Economy & Elections

“War, Health Care, The Economy and Elections 2008” is the topic.

Another World is Possible……Another World is Necessary is the theme.

The challenge is of course to remain positive and upbeat considering the current state of affairs.

Here is brief synopsis of where we stand in 2008:

- The U.S. is still illegally occupying Iraq in year number 5 – a war built on lies and manipulated intelligence.

- Millions of Americans live without health care and millions more are breaking the bank just to keep their families insured.

- Our economy is in recession, part of a regular capitalist cycle every 10-15 years. Property taxes… sky high. Homeowners are losing their homes at levels unseen since the great depression. The middle class has been steadily eroding for 30 plus years. Good Paying Manufacturing jobs? Outsourced and replaced by low paying, part-time and temporary service sector jobs, due in part to bi-partisan, pro-business trade deals like NAFTA.

- Our public education system is slowly being privatized. Our children and public school teachers being hung out to dry to accommodate the desires of the for-profit education industry and it’s incredibly flawed NCLB policy.

- Our roads, bridges, schools and other collectively owned assets are in complete disrepair due to never ending budget cuts. This conscious neglect will likely lead our congress to determine that this infrastructure should also be privatized.

- Our most basic ideals about law and justice have been tossed out and the two parties continue to pass bills that further erode our civil liberties and legitimize torture.

So…… Who do we have to thank for all of this? While it is very easy, and somewhat therapeutic, for us to place the blame squarely on Mr. Bush and his administration of corporate criminals, we are still left with the question: were things really so much better for working folks under Clinton? The democrat who brought us NAFTA, tremendously bloated military spending in a time of peace and supported his own illegal military operations that left thousands dead and injured? Were things all that better in the 70’s, a period of vast recession? And Vietnam, by the way was started and escalated by a Democratic president and congress.

Regardless of your political leaning, Three points are irrefutable: 1. The Democrats have started and supported as many illegal foreign military adventures as the Republicans. 2. The income gap in America has been ballooning steadily for thirty plus years, under both Republican and Democratic administrations and congresses. 3. The root cause of policies that lead to the two previous points is the influence of corporate capitalists on our representatives.

The only systemic goal of capitalism as a system is the accumulation of capital, which triggers the pursuit of ever-expanding profits, in a ravenous way, at everyone and everything else’s expense.

Both Democrats and Republicans represent these big business, capitalist, interests today. Just look at their campaign contributors and lobbying gift lists to verify. While these two corporate parties may have differing views on specific social issues and slight nuances of foreign policy, they both are 100% committed to representing American business interests, aka capitalism as a system. There may of course be a few exceptional individuals, but the leadership and the parties themselves as political entities are mere tools of the business world, responding only to public need when the alternative is worse. That is when the people make it necessary.

So…….“War, Health Care, The Economy and Elections”

Another World IS Possible.

I’d prefer to leave the detailed discussion and varied explanations of the intricacies and reasons for this current war of aggression to those who have stronger credentials in the field. I will however make this blanket statement: This war, this health care crisis and this latest recession are not themselves the problems… They ARE NOT Problems. What they are are Symptoms…. Symptoms of the real problem, a profit-based economic system. It’s ever-expansive, cancerous growth keeps spreading to each and every major organ until it squeezes all remaining life out of society.

The Destruction and Reconstruction of foreign countries with vast mineral riches are just the latest “emerging markets” and the profits are rolling in by the tank load. The press reported last week that 40% of money spent in the reconstruction of Afghanistan comes right back to the US in the form of profits.

This must be one of the biggest fleecings in history, enacted right under our collective nose. These are our tax dollars and our children’s debts to be inherited. War for Profit…when did that become a good idea? The implications are obvious, or they ought to be if one takes more than 7 seconds to think critically about it.

A major and largely untold element of this occupation is that the number of private, for-profit contractors in Iraq exceeds the number of U.S. soldiers on the ground. Perhaps the so-called “insurgents” wouldn’t be so frustrated if their homes weren’t bombed, families torn apart and jobs eliminated. And just to throw salt in the wound, they can’t even get new jobs rebuilding their own country, it’s all in-sourced with foreign contractors.

Just as in New Orleans after Katrina, the people directly effected by the tragedy, who really need the jobs as well as the psychological comfort of reconstructing their own city or country, are left to sit aside and watch.

The disaster capitalist complex jumps at the opportunity to rush in and scoop up tremendous government contracts after major disasters, terror attacks or military invasions. Once awarded, they proceed to subcontract the work to other companies who subcontract to yet still other companies who bring in their own workers. By the time the money makes it to the actual work at hand it’s been cut in half by profit takers on it’s way down the ladder. For those who haven’t read it, Naomi Klein’s recent book “The Shock Doctrine” does an excellent job of detailing this as well as the destructive rise of modern global capitalism, I highly recommend it.

All for profit……Profit, Profit, Profit. That is the only goal of a capitalist economy. Nowhere does it say “guarantee meaningful work, living wages and a quality life for everyone.” Nowhere does it say “preserve the environment, conserve resources and produce in a sustainable way.” It only says increase profits.

The Democrats are just as much a capitalist political party as the Republicans, they are not a workers’ political party. Both parties serve the interests of capitalism, where in a good economy is judged by Wall Street not Main Street, profit margins and revenues not standard of living and quality of life. This is the new global economy where recessions can have so called “jobless recoveries”…..recovery for who? For the big dogs, the fittest who survive and eat up their smaller competitors to lead us into the next uncontrollable chaotic boom that will inevitably lead to the next bust and reset the board yet again. It is a system of complete madness. Highly illogical and undemocratic.

Capital accumulation will always come first for capitalists, so lets not be fooled by their ever-changing newspeak, their latest jargon like “market based solutions.” Market Based Solutions? This has got to be the largest pot of crap soup we’ve smelled since “trickle down economics.” Since when can the problem be the solution?

The corporately owned, for profit, media of course doesn’t critically analyze our economic and cultural woes. They instead offer up heartless discussions of economic reports without an inkling of information about the impact on real peoples lives. For example; “The new CEO of Company X decided to restructure the corporation, and to the shareholders’ delight, stock prices have soared”

There is of course little or no mention of the 6,000 workers laid off, now losing health benefits, many facing bankruptcy and foreclosures. There is no mention of these axed jobs being outsourced to countries with despotic regimes that rule with iron fists and have zero labor or human rights protections. Nope, the millionaires made a few million more, it was a good move, a good decision, the economy is doing great……. So long as you’re not a worker……either here or abroad.

Lets also be sure not to follow the trend of labeling these CEO’s as a few bad apples either, let’s call them what they are….pigs at the trough. These exploiters of labor and resources may not be inherently evil individuals, but they are a direct product of a profit-based economy that rewards cut-throat tactics, heralds toe-stomping and celebrates lying, cheating and stealing as innovation.

So……… Yes…. We have a lot to work for. We have a long, bumpy, dusty road ahead of us. A treacherous, snake-infested trail of struggle.

“War, Health Care, The Economy and Elections”

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE.

In this election year health care is a big issue. Lots of talk about universal health care. What the heck is that? The average American is absolutely baffled by the term “universal health care” and even more clueless about the details of the plans championed by the leading presidential candidates.

I think we can qualify it like this: For-Profit health coverage is NOT Universal Health Care, lets set that straight first and foremost. That being said, none of the major party candidates are offering a universal plan.

For socialists and humanists in general, health care, like food and shelter, is a basic human right and should be provided for first and foremost, before all else. Especially in a functioning and prospering modern economy.

I personally, as a candidate for congress, support a National Health Insurance plan as a logical first step towards creating a truly socialized, democratic health system. A standard not for profit insurance plan that covers all Americans and replaces all private insurance policies. A high-end, top quality plan that covers all treatment of all citizens and is funded through progressive taxation.

The benefits of National Health Insurance, often referred to as a single-payer system, are tremendous and penetrate all levels of the economic ladder. The poorest of our brothers and sisters would obviously benefit by having access to all of the same doctors and facilities as everyone else, and not be forced to use the often broken ones that accept Medicaid in our current system.

The amorphous middle class, what is in reality the working class, would benefit in countless ways: The uninsured folks that made too much for Medicaid but not enough to buy private insurance would be covered. The mom and pop business owners could now have coverage. Young people pursuing their career dreams could truly follow those dreams and not be pigeon-holed into choosing the job that offers the best benefits.

Preventive based doctor visits would save billions of dollars that are spent now to treat major conditions that would have been preventable and treatable far earlier at much less cost had the person been able to visit a doctor regularly.

Health care for profit….Who thought THAT was a good idea? Providing unnecessary expensive treatments and drugs to some, while denying coverage to others. Patenting life saving drugs and rushing unsafe drugs onto the market so the gambling investors can be paid off.

Joe Bageant, a personal friend and campaign supporter, points out in his new book that Medical bills are the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the US for the uninsured. A 2005 Harvard study found that 50% of all bankruptcies were wholly or partly due to medical expenses, which is a 2,200% increase since 1981. The average medical debt of individuals filing for bankruptcy was $12,000. In the U.S., the richest nation on Earth, someone files bankruptcy because of health problems every 30 seconds and 68% of those filing actually do have health insurance….The private sector is so much more efficient though….. Efficient for who? HMO executives?

So yes, I do support a National Health Insurance, single payer plan like Dennis Kucinich’s HR676, but admit that this is only the first major step toward creating a truly universal plan. I think that once the public experiences the benefits of socialized insurance they will be more willing to consider a socialized health care system with salaried doctors and health care workers, that would include full standard and alternative medical, dental, vision, and mental health coverage for all, publicly funded through progressive taxation and controlled by democratically elected assemblies of health care workers and patients.

“War, Health Care, The Economy and Elections”

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE.

While the media and neo-liberal economists debate whether or not we are actually in a recession I have to scratch my head and think…. Did that recession from 2000 ever really end? I dare say that we have been in recession for 8 years and it is just now deepening with the housing crisis and sure to continue to deepen as we approach a credit card crisis and further elimination of good paying jobs.

It seems that even free market radicals must suck it up and plan the economy once in a while, as we have witnessed with the latest Bear Sterns buyout and other actions of the Federal Reserve. We can all look forward to enjoying further inflation thanks to that massive addition of currency into the system.

I will of course be happy to receive my tax rebate check in the mail, but rest assured, I will not be running out to consume commodities and “jumpstart” the economy. Being a mindless consumer is not our patriotic duty, being a smart consumer is. So, No, I like most other working folks will be sending most of that rebate check off to pay bills and saving some of it in my checking account as a buffer to absorb unforeseen economic problems as yet to arise.

This tactic may provide some short-term temporary relief for many Americans, but it is really just a band-aid on a cut to the jugular.

The Economic Policy Institute has issued their own list of suggestions for stimulating an economic recovery. The major suggestions here are far more logical, particularly Public Works Projects. Create good paying jobs repairing our failing infrastructure and building new infrastructure, investing in our own country and workers.

Our schools are old and overcrowded. Our bridges are collapsing, our subways flooding, our highways congested. Our public transportation system is virtually nonexistent and our libraries are closed more than they are open.

Investing in infrastructure as opposed to say…militarism helps the real economy, the one that we all live in, not that gambling house economy of Wall Street that does just fine while we all starve…that illogical casino that actually does better when we get laid off and worse when too many of us get hired. That same casino where many workers unfortunately and unwillingly see their retirement and pension plans riding the roulette wheel, which leads to a strong conflict of interest- what is best for their daily life and job or what is best for their investment portfolio.

Well, that portfolio doesn’t see much growth if the worker is left jobless.

So, the $3 trillion dollars spent on warfare these past 6 years could have done a lot of good here at home to finance this type of infrastructure building and repair. It could have greatly funded the development of a national sustainable energy grid and a public health care system or perhaps beefed up social security.

But when it comes to social programs and public property, there isn’t a penny to be found, and when it comes to saddling up to expand the empire the wallet becomes infinitely deep.

A combination of jobs paying living wages and a truly universal health plan can begin to make the working class majority feel a bit more like the so-called middle class that they are told they belong to.

This of course does not address the root of the problem, but it does make life more bearable for the multitude. It simultaneously educates folks through experience about the advantages of collectivism. A small taste of the other side. A reversal of the disinformation we have been fed since the start of the cold war.

As socialists we are also humanists, guided by the well-being of each and every human being, not by profit, ego or pride.

“War, Health Care, The Economy and Elections”

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE.

The driving force behind change and progress has always been class struggle, and this still holds true today.

The majority of Americans are working class, we don’t own the means of production and we have little or no say over our work day. All of the planning and decision-making is done at the top, and from there the orders are passed down through the hierarchy, which ironically are just about the only things that do trickle down to us in this economy.

Whether we’re in an office wearing a tie and working with a computer or on a construction site wearing a hard hat and working with a hammer we are all working class. We are all employed at our boss’s pleasure to do what he or she wishes us to do, disconnected from our labor, co-workers and products.

As Marx argued, workers in the capitalist system are alienated in 4 ways:

First, alienation from his or her humanity, that is the distinction from the animal kingdom,

Second, alienation from fellow workers, capitalism reduces labor to a commodity to be traded on the market rather than a social relationship,

Third, alienation of the worker from the product of his or her labor since this is appropriated by the capitalist class, and

Fourth, alienation from the act of production itself, such that work comes to be a meaningless activity, offering little or no intrinsic satisfaction.

Capitalists have the monopoly on decision making and other empowering activities. The powers that be have a very large stake in keeping things just the way they are.

Not only do these folks at the top of the ladder have all of the decision making power and necessary knowledge to do so, but they also earn the most income and have the most wealth. As I’ve already mentioned and as most people are vaguely aware, the income gap in America is skyrocketing.

According to 2005 statistics, the wealthiest 300,000 Americans collectively received as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans. Per person, members of this top group received 440 times as much as the average person in the bottom half earned, which consequently is double the income gap for these same groups from 1980.

Researcher William Domhoff reports that “As of 2001, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 33.4% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 51%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 84%, leaving only 16% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers).”

The gap is even worse on an international level. It has been estimated that the world’s richest 500 people have as much combined wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population, nearly 3 billion people.

This is the kind of stratified world that capitalism creates. A war torn world of have and haves not, where the owning class lives in gated communities and the masses fight and toil to survive.

This is why I am running for congress as the Socialist candidate. No candidate from either of the capitalist parties will acknowledge the systemic nature of the problems we are all facing collectively.

We, the working class, have been rallying behind the Democrats, the “lesser of two evils,” for decades and it has done nothing to slow the current destructive pattern, the wholesale privatization, or Milton Freidmanization of every remaining public entity, modern day primitive accumulation.

No, the Democratic Party, as Edwin Laing said, is “where social movements go to die.” Independent, grassroots politics in conjunction with direct action are the only way the population at large has ever won anything from the power elites.

The capitalist two-party monopoly and it’s corporate media networks offer us up two options that are both acceptable to them and let us think that we have some kind of democratic choice.

This is precisely why the U.S. ranks 149^th out of 171 democratic nations for voter turnout. Wholly half of eligible Americans don’t vote. Many because they see little or no difference between the two choices. What is really going to change in their daily lives whether there is a (D) or (R) after the President or Senator’s name? Most admit to being apathetic because they feel the government is going to do whatever it wants to do regardless.

As Howard Zinn so aptly stated more than 30 years ago: “Totalitarian states love elections, they get the people out to the poles to register their approval for the government. I know there is a difference, they have one party and we have two parties, we have one more party than they do you see.”

Well I’m here tonight, and running this campaign in general, in an attempt to activate that 50% of voters, mostly low income, to stand up with a real alternative to the same old wage-slave-driving parties.

While one congressional representative cannot change the entire system, he/she can fight for reforms that will improve our daily lives and, more importantly, develop the political consciousness/solidarity among the people who will collectively make the real changes in the long run.

I strongly agree with the statement that capitalism cannot be reformed, but am faced with the dichotomy of a socialist candidate. As a socialist running for office within a capitalist system my policy objectives may seem reformist or social democratic at best: universal health care, graduated income taxation, socialized energy and expanded public transportation.

Such simple taxation and funding of social programs does not constitute socialism. However, fighting together for such reforms can help to generate the necessary class solidarity to bring about a truly participatory economy.

A sustainable form of production for human use and not for profit that replaces hierarchy with equality, cut-throat competition with solidarity, free-trade with fair trade. A complete democracy that extends from the political sphere of electing leaders to the economic sphere of making decisions about production, distribution and consumption. A society where every human being has food, housing, healthcare and employment. Where full civil rights and liberties are guaranteed to all. Where every individual is able to fulfill his or her full potential.

As Eugene Debs said nearly 100 years ago:

“The Earth is for all people, this is the demand.”

The ruling class already has 500 plus congresspersons representing their interests in both houses of the congress. It’s time that we stop voting for their representatives and start running and voting for our own.

Thank You.