Friday, February 6, 2009

SEXISM IN CONGRESS

SEXISM IN CONGRESS



Yesterday, the hearing to confirm Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor was stalled again, this time for sexist reasons. Solis, as we have said, is the best major appointee of President Obama, the only one who can be truly called a progressive. Republicans and conservative Democrats don't want her, because she would be the first Secretary of Labor in a long time to actually represent Labor, and only corporate greed at any cost is allowed in our very corrupt system.

Yesterday it was 55 days since Solis was nominated, and she was scheduled to face a Senate committee when it was cancelled in the wake of a report saying that her husband paid about $6,400 to settle tax liens against his business.

For men, the standard is different. They are not responsible for what their mates do. One recalls that John McCain's very wealthy wife wouldn't even release her tax information, and said if he had been elected president she never would have disclosed information about her personal finances, including how much money she has or where she is invested. No Republican complained about that, despite the fact that it reeked of potential conflicts of interest.

Tim Geithner was confirmed as Secretary of the treasury despite the fact that he had not paid personal taxes, a much larger problem ($35,000) than that of Solis's spouse, but Solis has paid all of her taxes according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Solis is not a partner in her husband's business and has nothing to do with his mistake. This is really about two things-- first, she is a person of principle who a corrupt government sees as a threat, and second, she is female and held to a different standard. We have seen this all too often in politics.

If you agree that this is an outrage, contact your senators here.





BANKSTER DISTRESS



Banksters on Wall Street are in a tizzy over the proposed rule to cap their pay at $500,000 a year when they go on the dole to the taxpayers. Corporate media are reporting stories for days now quoting representatives of Wall Street firms saying they will not be able to keep "good" people at a mere half mil a year.

This is nonsense. We know local people, Steve Baggarly and his wife Kim Williams, who could manage any Wall Street firm better than the people they have there now. But Steve and Kim have devoted their lives to living in poverty helping homeless and hungry people, so don't have time to run a bank.

And don't worry about the banksters. According to British news this morning, they have already figured out ways around the salary cap so they can sail many yachts, buy many ski lodges and private islands at taxpayer expense.





HOW TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF GAZA



We asked our friend Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, who has been in prison for her peace work (and who violated the law by taking in supplies when our country denied food and medicine to Iraqis for 12 years causing over 500,000 children under age five to die), where to send contributions to help the people of Gaza.
She responded:

Middle East Children's Alliance
Home page: http://www.mecaforpeace.org
Contributions page:
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=1171

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Home page: http://www.icahd.org
Contributions page: http://icahd.org/eng/18000homesdonate.asp

Free Gaza
Home page: http://www.freegaza.org
Contributions page: http://www.freegaza.org/en/donate

Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Home page: http://www.pcrf.net/first.html
Contributions page: http://www.pcrf.net/can/can2.html

We'd also like to highlight the work of Direct Aid Iraq amongst Iraqis:

Home page: http://www.directaidiraq.org
Contributions page: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=20422

In Solidarity,
Kathy
Voices for Creative Nonviolence




There was a hearing Wednesday in Washington that you have not heard about, because the organizers knew it was a waste of time to try to notify the mass media. The magnificent Dennis Kucinich held it, to learn about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Russell Mokhiber, who has devoted his life to making a better world, fills us in on that which the corporate media will not allow, following --Jack



Occupied Territory



by Russell Mokhiber
Wednesday, Rayburn 2203 felt a bit like Gaza.
Or the West Bank.
It was occupied territory.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) was doing what he could to lob a shell at the occupier.
Holding a hearing, as it were, about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Kucinich invited his colleagues, but only one showed up - Congressman Brian Baird (D-Washington.)
Maybe the others were fearful of disproportionate retaliation?
Or collateral damage?
The room was packed with more than 100 people - by appearances, mostly peace activists.
Andrew Whitley, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) and Samer Badawi, director of United Palestinian Appeal, both spoke eloquently about the humanitarian crisis - the need to deliver to the more than one million Gazans food, clothing, medicines, medical care, shelter - you name it, they need it.
Kucinich tried to keep the discussion to the humanitarian crisis, but Badawi and the people in the room kept bringing Kucinich back down to the reality of the Israeli occupation.
Eugene Bird, of the Council for the National Interest, quoted a former UN official as saying - "If the people of Gaza were free, there would be no need for charity."
Badawi made a similar point - five thousand dollars for clothes, or ten thousand dollars for water, or twenty thousand dollars for food just doesn't cut it.
The United States has to change its policy to the Middle East and stop the Israeli occupation.
It was a fascinating 90 minutes.
And here's the thing.
Not one television camera.
Not one.
Now, I pride myself on being a student of the Washington press corps.
Can't tell you how many times I've seen citizen groups call press conferences at the National Press Club.
And no reporters show up.
Not one.
Often, I show up just to show support and to sympathize.
These citizen groups do all the right things.
They call all the reporters.
They put their event on the Reuters and Associated Press daybooks. (Those are the wire service calendars that reporters look to early every morning to see what's happening and to plan their days.)
And still, no coverage.
But here's the deal about the Kucinich hearing on Gaza.
Kucinich's office didn't even notify the press.
There was no press release.
The Reuters and Associated Press daybooks were not notified.
Maybe had C-Span been notified, they would have covered it.
Maybe Al-Jazeera would have covered it.
Maybe even some American television reporters would have covered it.
After all, it was a rare event - a hearing on Palestine right smack dab in the middle of occupied territory.
They could have covered it the way they cover Haley's comet.
So, during the question period, I ask Kucinich - Dennis, why didn't you notify the media?
Kucinich looks surprised, turns to his press secretary, Nathan White.
"Didn't we put out a press release?" Kucinich asks.
White says there was no press release.
The daybooks were not notified.
"We wanted to get the word out person to person - by word of mouth."
White says I should see him after the event.
A woman from Code Pink stands up and tries to sympathize with Kucinich.
She says she understands the pressure that AIPAC must be putting on members of Congress who raise any question in the occupied territory that is Capitol Hill.
Kucinich responds by saying that the power of AIPAC was "outside the scope of the meeting."
Citizens in the audience wanted to know - what if Netanyahu gets elected as prime minister on February 10 and seeks to fulfill his promise to eradicate Hamas?
"He will have to first talk to President Obama and Secretary Clinton," Kucinich says.
Kucinich said that he doubted that they would allow a renewed Israeli attack on Gaza.
The crowd is skeptical.
Afterward, I track down White - Kucinich's press guy.
He says his office didn't alert the press because they didn't want the meeting to become "a show."
Okay, so Kucinich is boxed in.
But then, so are we.
Time to break out, no?
Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter.

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