Actually there is a law about this,
** An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind Gandhi **
----- Original Message -----
From: "iloveubuntulinux" <valchaulinux@gmail.com>
To: <Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 10:34 AM
Subject: [Politics_CurrentEvents_Group] Re: How I View the American Economic
Crisis
> NO THEY DON'T have to PROVE anything!!! They simply ASSERT THIS LIE!! And
> there is no law requiring them to actually prove it or even to hire US
> workers before importing cheap labor!!!! That is how the careers of many
> mid life American programmers were destroyed. We were laid off so that
> cheaper imports could be hired.
>
>
>
> --- In Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com, "Sheep&Goatlady"
> <springcreek@...> wrote:
>>
>> in order to get those H1B into the US,, the company has to prove a worker
>> shortage or lack of american workers willing to take the jobs,, as for
>> illegal workers, take a ride inot the rural areas, and count how many
>> white
>> folks are working in the fields and vineyards?
>> ** My religion is very simple. My religion is Kindness .**
>> Dalai Lama ** Free Tibet **
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "iloveubuntulinux" <valchaulinux@...>
>> To: <Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com>
>> Sent: Friday, April 22, 2011 4:33 PM
>> Subject: [Politics_CurrentEvents_Group] Re: How I View the American
>> Economic
>> Crisis
>>
>>
>> there are jobs here that US citizens want and need but h1bs are imported
>> to
>> take them. Kick out all of these and the illegal workers and US workers
>> will
>> have better times
>>
>>
>>
>> --- In Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com, "zeus32117"
>> <zeus32117@> wrote:
>> >
>> > First of all, social progress is good. I am glad that women and African
>> > Americans have achieved equality, or at least near equality with white
>> > men. I am glad that the number of female college students is beginning
>> > to
>> > exceed the number of male college students, for example.
>> >
>> > Second, I want more and more jobs to be created, and I want incomes
>> > to
>> > be growing faster and faster. I want poverty rates to be falling. It so
>> > happens that incomes grow when employers have to pay more to their
>> > employees so that they would not go elsewhere. Which means to me that
>> > more
>> > and more jobs have to be created in order for incomes to be growing
>> > faster. But how many jobs can you crate when you are completely focused
>> > on
>> > trying to figure out how to comply with more and more laws and more and
>> > more government regulations?
>> >
>> >
>> > --- In Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com, "iloveubuntulinux"
>> > <valchaulinux@> wrote:
>> > >
>> > > Published on The Smirking Chimp (http://www.smirkingchimp.com
>> > > <http://www.smirkingchimp.com/> ) How I View the American Crisis
>> > > By Robert Parry Created Apr 17 2011 - 12:32pm
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Some readers tell me that I devote too much time to the historical
>> > > context of the American political/media crisis. They say I should
>> > > focus
>> > > more on its current manifestations, especially when there are so
>> > > many
>> > > to address. And these readers have a point.
>> > >
>> > > However, I think that without the context - and without
>> > > understanding how the various U.S. political/media forces evolved
>> > > over
>> > > the past several decades - much of what is happening today
>> > > doesn't make sense, nor are the solutions readily apparent.
>> > >
>> > > Only by analyzing how the country got into its current mess can there
>> > > be any hope of figuring a way out. In that sense, this history is
>> > > like
>> > > the thread that the Greek hero Theseus unrolled as he made his way
>> > > through the Minotaur's maze and then rewound the thread to guide
>> > > himself out.
>> > >
>> > > So, from my six-plus decades on this planet and my three-plus decades
>> > > as a Washington-based journalist, here is my ground-level view of
>> > > what
>> > > has happened to the United States:
>> > >
>> > > Generally speaking - and with a number of glaring exceptions -
>> > > the post-World War II period was a time when the institutions of the
>> > > Republic functioned along the lines of what we learned in our public
>> > > school civics classes.
>> > >
>> > > The federal government drew from the lessons of the Great Depression
>> > > and the New Deal to improve the country's general welfare by
>> > > creating conditions that helped expand the middle class.
>> > >
>> > > After World War II, government programs helped veterans buy homes and
>> > > get educated. Construction projects, like President Dwight
>> > > Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System, brought the country
>> > > together and increased productivity.
>> > >
>> > > President John Kennedy's space program pushed the scientific
>> > > frontiers, propelling the United States into the world lead in
>> > > computer
>> > > technology. President Lyndon Johnson enacted Medicare for senior
>> > > citizens whose health needs were being ignored by for-profit
>> > > insurance
>> > > companies.
>> > >
>> > > In the 1950s and 1960s, the federal courts also began to address the
>> > > shameful history of racial segregation, as a violation of the U.S.
>> > > Constitution and particularly the 14th Amendment's mandate for equal
>> > > protection under the law. As the civil rights movement pressed the
>> > > issue
>> > > in the streets, the courts began striking down Jim Crow laws and
>> > > other
>> > > forms of discrimination.
>> > >
>> > > In the 1960s and well into the 1970s, the U.S. press corps also
>> > > functioned closer to its ideals of skepticism toward power.
>> > > Correspondents covering the Vietnam War warned the nation of the
>> > > folly,
>> > > and the New York Times and other newspapers braved the wrath of
>> > > President Richard Nixon by publishing the Pentagon Papers, with the
>> > > backing of the U.S. Supreme Court.
>> > >
>> > > When Nixon's anger over the Pentagon Papers spilled into his
>> > > political paranoia, the White House "plumbers" were soon
>> > > planting bugs in Democratic headquarters at the Watergate. After
>> > > Nixon's burglars were arrested and the President mounted a
>> > > cover-up, the Washington Post led the way in defying White House
>> > > power
>> > > and exposing the scandal.
>> > >
>> > > With Congress conducting serious Watergate investigations and federal
>> > > prosecutors demanding Nixon's internal tapes of his own conspiracy,
>> > > the Supreme Court again sided with the institutions of justice,
>> > > rejecting Nixon's arguments of an imperial presidency. Nixon was
>> > > forced to resign.
>> > >
>> > > Functioning Institutions
>> > >
>> > > So, by the mid-1970s, it could be said that the institutions of the
>> > > Republic were operating, more or less, as intended. There were real
>> > > checks and balances. The rights of citizens, especially racial
>> > > minorities and women, were finally being protected; the press was
>> > > exposing wrongdoing; accountability was imposed on the Executive for
>> > > constitutional and legal violations.
>> > >
>> > > Of course, these institutions had been pushed by popular movements,
>> > > millions of citizens demanding redress of longstanding grievances.
>> > > There
>> > > was also a vibrant "underground press" and other outlets for
>> > > disseminating information when the mainstream media didn't. It was
>> > > Dispatch News that exposed the My Lai massacre and Ramparts that
>> > > revealed CIA penetration of student groups.
>> > >
>> > > Yet, while this progress toward a more perfect union made undeniable
>> > > headway in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the changes also bred
>> > > resentment
>> > > in the South and in many white areas of the North.
>> > >
>> > > The demand for racial justice was viewed as infringing on traditions
>> > > of
>> > > white preference and superiority. Many men objected to the women's
>> > > movement, too. Meanwhile, social conservatives hated the
>> > > "counter-culture" and the sexual revolution.
>> > >
>> > > As early as the 1950s, the pushback from the Right was evident in
>> > > calls
>> > > for the impeachment of Chief Justice Earl Warren and the physical
>> > > assaults on blacks seeking to integrate schools, lunch counters and
>> > > other public institutions. White segregationists denounced the press
>> > > as
>> > > "liberal" for its coverage of the civil rights struggle. The
>> > > federal government was viewed as infringing on states' rights.
>> > >
>> > > The resistance grew in the 1960s as Alabama Gov. George Wallace and
>> > > other right-wingers rallied blue-collar whites against
>> > > "hippies," feminists, "uppity" blacks, academics,
>> > > environmentalists and "unpatriotic" journalists. These
>> > > Americans saw their traditional way of life under siege, and they
>> > > were
>> > > backed by wealthy businessmen who worried that their dominance of
>> > > the
>> > > economy might be threatened.
>> > >
>> > > Though the Right decried the national press corps as "liberal,"
>> > > it actually was run by businessmen who were mostly conservative and
>> > > protective of the establishment. Many top news executives chafed
>> > > against
>> > > the era's progressivism and the anti-establishment tone of reporters
>> > > as much as other businessmen did.
>> > >
>> > > By the 1970s, the American Great Backlash was gaining strength.
>> > > Well-placed conservatives, such as Lewis Powell (who later became a
>> > > Supreme Court justice) and William Simon (who was Nixon's Treasury
>> > > Secretary), were calling for massive investments in a right-wing
>> > > infrastructure of media, think tanks and attack groups to reverse the
>> > > nation's progressive trends.
>> > >
>> > > Simultaneously, as the Vietnam War was winding down, the Left largely
>> > > dismantled its own media infrastructure that had become a powerful
>> > > grassroots force in the 1960s and early 1970s but was deemed too
>> > > expensive.
>> > >
>> > > In a short time, the vibrant "underground press" of the Vietnam
>> > > era disappeared; flagship publications, like Ramparts and Dispatch
>> > > News, were closed; popular radio outlets, like WBCN in Boston, were
>> > > bought up by media conglomerates; key liberal outlets, like The New
>> > > Republic, fell into the hands of neoconservatives.
>> > >
>> > > Much of the Left bought into the notions that media was not
>> > > essential;
>> > > that working inside the Washington system was corrupting; and that
>> > > "local organizing" was the key to the future. Other leftists
>> > > fell victim to the vanity of perfectionism, putting their own
>> > > political
>> > > purity ahead of any practical idea for improving the lives of average
>> > > citizens.
>> > >
>> > > Competing Trends
>> > >
>> > > So, in the mid-to-late 1970s as the Right was shifting its focus to
>> > > national battles and investing more and more in getting its messages
>> > > out
>> > > to every corner of the country, the Left was dismantling its media,
>> > > decamping from Washington, and dreaming that somehow
>> > > "organizing" around local issues would create a grassroots
>> > > movement for revolutionary change.
>> > >
>> > > These two trends - the rise of the Right's national propaganda
>> > > machine and the collapse of the Left's ability to reach the broad
>> > > public - consolidated with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.
>> > > Though now viewed through the gauzy mythology that surrounds his
>> > > legacy, the real Reagan was a rigid right-winger who had opposed
>> > > many
>> > > of the social advancements of the era.
>> > >
>> > > Reagan denounced Medicare as socialist tyranny; he cracked down on
>> > > the
>> > > anti-war movement while governor of California; he aided and abetted
>> > > right-wing death squads in Latin America; he opposed environmentalism
>> > > and other government regulations; he worked to roll back civil
>> > > rights,
>> > > especially affirmative action aimed at ameliorating the legacy of
>> > > discrimination against minorities and women.
>> > >
>> > > Upon taking office in 1981, with the Senate under Republican control,
>> > > Reagan and his team began systematically deconstructing the
>> > > institutional safeguards that had defined the New Deal and post-World
>> > > War II-era.
>> > >
>> > > The Reagan administration took special aim at the federal appeals
>> > > courts, especially the most influential one in the District of
>> > > Columbia,
>> > > installing right-wing and neocon ideologues as judges, the likes of
>> > > Laurence Silberman. Reagan also appointed environmental
>> > > "regulators" who detested regulations and civil rights
>> > > attorneys who opposed efforts to improve the lot of blacks and other
>> > > minorities.
>> > >
>> > > Reagan emphasized, too, expanding the Right's propaganda
>> > > capabilities, coordinating with the growing network of right-wing
>> > > media
>> > > and attack groups that went after troublesome journalists and
>> > > intimidated political critics.
>> > >
>> > > Meanwhile, without the competitive pressure from the "underground
>> > > press," the mainstream media charted its own rightward course
>> > > following the prevailing winds, often with a conservative or
>> > > neoconservative at the helm.
>> > >
>> > > At the Associated Press, where I worked, the top executive, general
>> > > manager Keith Fuller, hailed Reagan's election in 1980 as a worthy
>> > > repudiation of the excesses of the 1960s.
>> > >
>> > > "As we look back on the turbulent Sixties, we shudder with the
>> > > memory of a time that seemed to tear at the very sinews of this
>> > > country," Fuller said during a 1982 speech in Worcester,
>> > > Massachusetts, adding that Reagan's election had represented a
>> > > nation "crying, `Enough.' .
>> > >
>> > > "We don't believe that the union of Adam and Bruce is really the
>> > > same as Adam and Eve in the eyes of Creation. We don't believe that
>> > > people should cash welfare checks and spend them on booze and
>> > > narcotics. We don't really believe that a simple prayer or a pledge
>> > > of allegiance is against the national interest in the classroom.
>> > >
>> > > "We're sick of your social engineering. We're fed up with
>> > > your tolerance of crime, drugs and pornography. But most of all,
>> > > we're sick of your self-perpetuating, burdening bureaucracy
>> > > weighing ever more heavily on our backs."
>> > >
>> > > Fuller's sentiments were common in the executive suites of major
>> > > news organizations, where Reagan's reassertion of an aggressive
>> > > U.S. foreign policy also was widely welcomed.
>> > >
>> > > At the New York Times, executive editor Abe Rosenthal, an early
>> > > neocon,
>> > > vowed to steer his newspaper back "to the center," by which he
>> > > meant to the right. At the Washington Post, neocons also began
>> > > asserting
>> > > control over the editorial policies of that newspaper.
>> > >
>> > > Losing the Thread
>> > >
>> > > In short order, the institutions of the Republic, which had checked
>> > > Nixon's crimes, ceased to function in that way. Instead, the
>> > > institutions reversed roles, becoming cheerleaders - and enforcers
>> > > - for the powerful.
>> > >
>> > > The "professionals" of Official Washington quickly sniffed the
>> > > change in the air. Many learned to survive by honing their senses on
>> > > where the safe boundaries were. Those who didn't or wouldn't go
>> > > along - ethical journalists, diligent civil servants and some
>> > > independent-minded members of Congress - soon found themselves on
>> > > the outs.
>> > >
>> > > Yet, even as the nation's institutions stopped providing meaningful
>> > > checks and balances in the 1980s, some individuals continued to do
>> > > their
>> > > jobs.
>> > >
>> > > During much of the decade, the failure of the Republic's
>> > > institutions was masked somewhat by the fact that some individuals
>> > > stepped into the breach. There were still a few courageous
>> > > investigators on Capitol Hill; a handful of journalists who would
>> > > risk
>> > > their careers to get out important stories; and some civil servants
>> > > who
>> > > believed in doing their jobs honestly.
>> > >
>> > > Perhaps the most striking case of this was the work of Iran-Contra
>> > > special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh, a traditional Republican
>> > > conservative
>> > > who nevertheless took seriously his responsibility to investigate the
>> > > Reagan administration's worst scandal, the secret sale of weapons to
>> > > Iran and the diversion of profits to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels.
>> > >
>> > > Despite Walsh's establishment pedigree, Official Washington turned
>> > > on him en masse. Especially after he broke through the Iran-Contra
>> > > cover-up in 1991, he was subjected to withering attack - from
>> > > leading Republicans, such as Sen. Bob Dole, and from the right-wing
>> > > news media led by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times.
>> > >
>> > > But Walsh also faced ridicule from the mainstream news media, such as
>> > > the Washington Post where he was mocked as some crazed Ahab pursuing
>> > > a
>> > > white whale or as some out-of-control weirdo who would leave
>> > > Washington
>> > > a "perceived loser."
>> > >
>> > > Indeed, by the early-to-mid-1990s, there was little distinction
>> > > between
>> > > the mainstream news media and the right-wing press. Even when
>> > > documented evidence emerged shedding light on the criminality of
>> > > Reagan
>> > > and his team, there were no institutions - and by then few
>> > > individuals left within those institutions - daring to take note.
>> > >
>> > > First the institutions failed; then the individuals who had dared to
>> > > fight on disappeared.
>> > >
>> > > Planting a Flag
>> > >
>> > > It became clear to me that trying to get the mainstream news media to
>> > > publish important information was a losing battle if that information
>> > > went against the grain of right-wing orthodoxy or mainstream
>> > > conventional wisdom.
>> > >
>> > > In fact, I had grown tired of trying to convince editors and
>> > > producers
>> > > who feared losing their jobs that they had a responsibility to take
>> > > on
>> > > such stories and such risks. Beyond exhaustion, I felt guilt when I
>> > > looked into their eyes and saw how scared they had become, a fear
>> > > that
>> > > would sometimes translate into anger at even the suggestion.
>> > >
>> > > My reaction to this grim reality was to look for a place where the
>> > > flag
>> > > of honest journalism could be planted and defended. I thought I
>> > > might
>> > > have found such a spot with the emergence of the Internet and our
>> > > creation of the Consortiumnews.com Web site in 1995.
>> > >
>> > > Of course, the downside was that the journalism would not have the
>> > > large audiences that my work did when I was at the AP or Newsweek or
>> > > PBS
>> > > "Frontline." But I thought readership might grow significantly
>> > > if I were able to raise the necessary money to ensure that our
>> > > stories
>> > > got more attention.
>> > >
>> > > That, however, proved more difficult than I had expected. Wealthy
>> > > progressives remained locked into the thinking of the late 1970s,
>> > > which
>> > > held that expenditures on information were wasteful; that reporting
>> > > the
>> > > news was somebody else's job. Maybe they believed - or wanted to
>> > > believe - the Right's propaganda about the "liberal"
>> > > media that, in reality, didn't exist.
>> > >
>> > > Instead, they favored either direct giving (such as helping the poor
>> > > or
>> > > buying up endangered wetlands) or support for "organizing" efforts
>> > > (such as seeking some regulatory change, like curbing money in
>> > > politics).
>> > >
>> > > I argued instead that the scarce money available should be invested
>> > > in
>> > > creating honest content and courageous outlets.
>> > >
>> > > While direct giving was surely noble, it ignored the power of the
>> > > Right's propaganda machine to undermine any worthy cause. By
>> > > destroying the New Deal and Great Society, right-wing legislators
>> > > could
>> > > create more poor people than any well-intentioned liberal benefactor
>> > > could feed and house.
>> > >
>> > > Regulation, like restricting money in politics, also might sound good
>> > > but was either impractical or easily reversible by right-wing judges
>> > > and politicians. All the money that progressive foundations invested
>> > > in
>> > > campaign finance reform was negated in 2010 by one 5-4 decision of a
>> > > Supreme Court dominated by appointees of Ronald Reagan, George H.W.
>> > > Bush
>> > > and George W. Bush.
>> > >
>> > > The hard truth is that there are no shortcuts to correcting the
>> > > imbalance that now exists in the U.S. political/media system. It will
>> > > take money, time and energy to build an infrastructure that can
>> > > successfully challenge the propaganda from the Right. It will also
>> > > require many on the Left to admit that their judgments over the past
>> > > three decades have been faulty.
>> > >
>> > > But the consequences of the Right's strategy - and the
>> > > Left's miscalculations - are apparent in the audacity of
>> > > today's congressional and statehouse Republicans in proposing the
>> > > virtual repeal of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, Franklin
>> > > Roosevelt's New Deal and even Teddy Roosevelt's progressive
>> > > era.
>> > >
>> > > The Right feels it is strong enough to impose its Ayn Rand vision of
>> > > a
>> > > winner-take-all society and deploy its vast resources to prevail on
>> > > Election Day.
>> > >
>> > > It is possible that the Republicans have overreached this time, with
>> > > their ambitious agenda of slashing domestic spending, replacing
>> > > Medicare
>> > > with a voucher system, and lavishing more tax reductions on the rich.
>> > >
>> > > But the fact that the Republicans and the Right would even dare
>> > > undertake such a radical approach is itself proof of how far they
>> > > believe they have come in controlling government institutions and
>> > > media
>> > > outlets, how successfully they have negated the Republic's checks and
>> > > balances.
>> > >
>> > > To find a route out of this political/media maze, the Democrats and
>> > > the
>> > > Left may have to start rewinding the string of history and retracing
>> > > the steps that got them so lost in the first place.
>> > >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>>
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