Power to the people? Mayor talks bold transformation.

By Ira Grupper irag@iglou.com

April 2010

LABOR PAEANS— April, 2010
Ira Grupper
(published by FORsooth, newspaper of Louisville, Kentucky chapter of F.O.R. [Fellowship of Reconciliation] )

Power to the people? Mayor talks bold transformation

My South Carolina friend, Jim Campbell, recently penned a memo about the current period: “…a meltdown of capitalism, growing permanent unemployment, less able capabilities of educators and school systems to educate our nation's children, a popular culture of ‘alienation’ abetted by electronic media gadgetry and content, the growth of repressively intolerant reactionary forces and practices via language, 'gotcha politics, popular images and the "Enquirerization" of our national media interest and content; we can do much better…”.

The mayor of Louisville, for sure a booster of the system, may have read Jim’s memo. Reports the Louisville Courier-Journal March 2, referencing the possibility of the city buying Louisville Gas & Electric (which is owned by a German conglomerate): “(Mayor Jerry) Abramson said public ownership would help keep Kentucky power rates low since governments, unlike private owners, would not require a large profit.” Well, shut my mouth, y’all.

The article continues: “There are about 250 municipally owned gas and electric utilities around the country. In Kentucky, they include utilities in Bowling Green, Owensboro and Paducah, among others…A possible model might be the Louisville Water Company, which is not supported by city funds but is owned by the city.” I really like that part about profit.

And while we are on the topic of enlightened officialdom: As I bear the shame of Kentucky’s illustrious professional-baseball-player-turned-U.S.-senator, Jim Bunning—who just a few weeks ago held up approval of an extension of unemployment benefits, perhaps reminiscing about how he left his balls on the baseball field way back when--I think back to 1983. I was in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, and maybe ten of us norteamericanos were peppering with questions (instead of listening to) some young nicaragüenses who had given up their school break to help with the coffee harvest.

One of these young volunteers spoke: “Most people in the United States are workers and are not rich, right?” We agreed. “Ronald Reagan represents the rich.” Again, we nodded in agreement. “So why did you elect Reagan the first time, and why are you going to return him to office next year?”

Then I think back even farther, to the 1960’s, and Tom Paxton’s classic song, What did you Learn in School Today?:

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little (child) of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little (child) of mine?

I learned our government must be strong.

It's always right and never wrong.

Our leaders are the finest men.

And we elect them again and again.

That's what I learned in school today.

That's what I learned in school.

As we head to press, the AFL-CIO is beginning a National Jobs Campaign. Reports Workers Independent News (www.laborradio.org) on March 14: “The AFL-CIO this week is kicking off a national jobs campaign calling Wall Street to task for the damage it has inflicted on American working families.”

The article quotes AFL-CIO official, Dan Pedrotty: “Millions of people are out of work today because Wall Street played Russian Roulette with our economy and our future. So the AFL-CIO will be holding more than two hundred rallies and demonstrations across the country where we’re calling on the biggest banks to pay to replace the jobs that they destroyed.”

But not all is well in the fightback. David Sirota’s Open Left blog (March 4) headlines: Obama Adopts Bush Plan to Hide Outsourced Job Data: “The Bush administration had a nasty penchant for trying to bury bad economic news -- a nasty penchant that I was intimately familiar with when working on the House Appropriations Committee. One of the most egregious examples of this came in 2003. Here's the Washington Post on 1/2/03: U.S. Drops Report On Mass Layoffs/Data Helped States Track Patterns of Industrial Demise: ‘Citing a shortage of money, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will stop publishing information about factory closings across the country, a decision that some state officials and labor leaders are protesting.’

“The monthly Labor Department analysis, known as the Mass Layoffs Statistics report, detailed where workplaces with more than 50 employees closed and what kinds of workers were affected. Luckily, because of progressive pressure and public outcry, this Bush move was overturned by Congress. But now, the same kind of thing is back.” That, again, was in 2003.

Sirota goes on: “…it looks like the Obama administration is reprising the same scheme, by closing down International Labor Comparisons statistical (reporting)…Apparently, no matter which party is in power, when bad news hits, the response is bury the news…”

So, why does the ruling class want to hide this stuff? Humana, the healthcare vulture perched here in Louisville, recently reported profits topping $1 billion in 2009, a 61 percent increase over the year before. Despite the profits, Humana has announced that 2,500 of their workers, including 750 here in Louisville, will lose their jobs. Yet, as I understand it, Humana will be creating jobs in another department.

How does all this impact the working class? The Alliance for Retired Americans informs us (March 12): “Tens of thousands of activists, seniors, union members, and religious leaders protested against insurance company abuses on Tuesday in front of the Ritz-Carlton (hotel) in Washington, D.C., where America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) leaders were meeting…Congressional Budget Office announced that the Senate health care plan would cut the deficit by $118 billion over a decade.”

Hey, between the Congressional Budget Office’s revelation and Louisville Mayor Abramson’s anti-monopoly epiphany—maybe we got a good thing going, y’all.

Well, maybe the good thing has a ways to go. The National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST) held their annual educational briefing on Capitol Hill on March 2, calling attention to the "silent need" for senior transportation in both rural and urban neighborhoods. NCST's priority is to ensure that older Americans have options in order to maintain mobility and their independence.

This news must have bypassed Louisville, since TARC, the city agency operating the city’s bus system, is eliminating many routes, which in turn is upending the lives of so many working people, and the disabled…Well, at least we can attend the many Kentucky Derby gala balls coming in May, a/k/a rub-elbows-and-get-sloshed-for-charity-and-write it-off-on-your-taxes.

But the next day, when the hangover subsides, we face more grim news: “(In February), the California pharmacy board was poised to adopt strict new requirements for prescription drug labels, such as large type on labels and an oral translation available for non-English speakers. Senior citizens, consumer advocacy groups and minority organizations had championed these proposals, calling them essential. However, the day before the vote, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) placed a CVS/Pharmacy executive on the board. The executive, Deborah Veale, then cast a vote that effectively killed that plan. Under the new regulations that did pass, pharmacies are not obligated to provide non-English translations of drug labels, and the small print on labels will remain (per Alliance for Retired Americans).

Good health care and civility toward folk who are different from us need to go hand in hand. Well, maybe we need to think back to National Brotherhood Week, created and overseen by the National Conference for Community and Justice, which used to be called the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

From the 1940’s through the 1980’s NCCJ celebrated National Brotherhood Week. And maybe we need to know that, just as NCCJ broadened its scope to include Muslims, and others, so must we.

Demonizing Muslims has a long history. Case in point. Glenn Beck interviewed Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim in the U.S. Congress, on the Glenn Beck television show (CNN Headline News, Nov. 14, 2006):

.''I have been nervous about this interview with you because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies. ... And I know you're not. I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.'' Should we ask Mr. Beck the same question?

Contact Ira Grupper: irag@iglou.com