>government in Bogota and its murderous henchmen in the AUC. > >Members of the IAC delegation that visited San Vincente >Caguan in liberated territory of Colombia now have the >opportunity to arouse the movement here to the pressing need >to show solidarity with the Colombian workers and peasants >and to fight to end Plan Colombia. We urge our readers who >can to attend the meeting in New York Dec. 12 as the first >step in that direction. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 21:46:27 -0500 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Jobs Threatened by Downturn >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >JOBS THREATENED BY DOWNTURN: "NEW ECONOMY" SAME >OLD CAPITALISM > >By Gary Wilson > >The U.S. economy has entered a rapid decline. Workers have >been feeling it for months. Now the capitalist economists >are admitting that it is happening. > >Liberal economist Paul Krugman, an adviser to the Clinton >administration and ardent supporter of Al Gore, said in his >column in the New York Times Dec. 5 that the economy has not >only gone into a slowdown, but that a recession is >"certainly possible." > >George W. Bush, the heir apparent to the presidential >throne, acknowledges that the economy appears to be headed >into a recession. > >Alan Greenspan, the unelected banking boss, would never call >a recession a recession, at least not until after it's over. >Instead, on Dec. 6, he cautiously said that this is "an >economy that already has lost some momentum." > >The National Association of Manufacturers says that the >manufacturing sector of the economy is in a full recession. >For the fourth straight month, manufacturing has contracted. > >The president of the NAM said at a Washington news >conference Dec. 1, "This economy is not as healthy as people >think." > >SAME OLD CAPITALIST ECONOMY > >What has hit is a capitalist crisis of overproduction. The >"new economy," it turns out, is the same old capitalist >economy. > >The phenomenon of capitalist overproduction happens >periodically. Although a crisis of overproduction can't be >stopped, the usual answer to it is to make credit more >easily available. This can sometimes lessen the impact of >the crisis, but it drives the problems deeper into the >economy. The only "solution" that will protect the profit- >system is to shut down plants and lay off workers, sending >the economy into a depression. > >As the bankers and big capitalists already know, any >loosening of credit right now probably won't "soften" the >downturn. That's because consumer debt is already high and >corporate debt is even higher. Add onto this the record >level of the U.S. trade deficit. > >Japan is still in a recession and the European capitalist >economies are sluggish. So U.S. businesses won't be able to >increase exports. > >This is a combination that could send the economy into an >even deeper tailspin, of the kind that causes great social >dislocation and political crisis. > >THE DOT-COM BUST > >The high-tech stock market, NASDAQ, has practically crashed. >The NASDAQ has dropped 40 percent from its all-time high >earlier this year. > >Layoffs and shutdowns are rampant in the high-tech >industries. Every Internet company is cutting back and >laying off. Almost every Internet stock is down by at least >75 percent from its 52-week high, according to a CNNfn.com >report on Nov. 9. Only five of the top 280 Internet stocks >are down less than 5 percent. None are up for the year. > >The stock market value of the top 280 Internet stocks has >lost $1.755 trillion over the last year, with most of the >loss taking place between March and September of this year, >CNNfn.com reports. > >WORKERS HIT HARDEST > >A recession hits the working class the hardest. It can also >devastate small businesses. The rich, the big businesses and >big bankers can wait out a recession and will even find a >way to make profits from it. That's what often happens in a >recession. That's why Paul Krugman, the liberal economist, >can glibly say, "Even if we do have a recession, so what." > >With every severe downturn comes the capitalist propaganda >meant to convince the people of this country that it is >necessary for them to make sacrifices. The facts are >falsified to support this propaganda and new enemies are >created to divert attention from the rich capitalists in the >U.S. who are responsible. > >Take the case of DaimlerChrysler. Already the Germans who >bought Chrysler are being blamed while plant closings and >layoffs are being proposed. Never mind that exactly the same >plant closings and layoffs are being considered at Ford, >another auto manufacturer that is owned by "Americans." The >problem is not the Germans or any other foreign entity. The >problem is right here in the United States. The problem is >capitalism. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 21:46:24 -0500 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Jeb Bush's Racist Conspiracy to "Deliver Florida" >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >AL GORE, GEORGE W. AND THE MEDIA KNOW: JEB BUSH'S >RACIST CONSPIRACY TO "DELIVER FLORIDA" > >By Fred Goldstein > >Al Gore is drowning in Republican lawsuits and court >decisions favoring George W. Bush. As he goes down he >adamantly refuses to reach out for the one life preserver >that could probably save him, or at least help him make his >case with renewed energy. That is exposing the racist >exclusion of tens of thousands of Black voters in Florida. > >The capitalist media have spent thousands of hours >interviewing politicians, legal experts, professors, >pollsters and assorted pundits. They have speculated on >every aspect of law, court decisions, time schedules, >dimpled ballots versus punched-through ballots, etc., ad >nauseum. But the one subject that is virtually censored out >of all the coverage is the massive exclusion of votes from >the Black community. > >Gore's strategy had been to try to squeeze out a few hundred >extra votes from manual recounts in three counties. But the >fact is that racist exclusion resulted in many thousands of >votes by African Americans being cast aside. These could >very likely have secured his victory in Florida. > >But being part of the ruling-class establishment himself, >Gore prefers political defeat to lifting the lid on the >scandal of election racism and forcing the capitalist media >to deal with it. > >JEB BUSH'S DILEMMA > >When George W. Bush and his staff were planning their >overall electoral strategy, they calculated that their >fortunes would turn on winning in the state of Florida. Gov. >Jeb Bush was given the assignment of "delivering Florida" >for his brother. > >But already by mid-year Jeb's difficulties began. There was >a massive NAACP voter registration drive in the Black >community. With the Florida governor having outlawed >affirmative action despite huge protests, the anti-Bush >voter registration drive was signing up record numbers of >new voters in the African American community. > >It was not long before Jeb's dilemma reached the critical >point. How do you "deliver" a state in which the other side >is clearly going to get the majority? > >The Bush team devised the only strategy available to it: >Combat the massive voter registration drive with an equally >massive voter disqualification campaign. > >With his access to the state's voter registration records, >it was easy for Jeb to pinpoint the problem. > >According to the Dec. 3 Washington Post, the Black voter >turnout in Florida set a record. 893,000 African Americas >cast ballots--a 65-percent increase over 1996. Over 40 >percent of them were new voters. Jeb, as Florida's governor, >had prior knowledge of where the anti-Bush votes were going >to come from. > >DISENFRANCHISEMENT STARTED EARLY > >The disqualification campaign started long before the >election. In June Florida Secretary of State Katherine >Harris, co-campaign manager for George W. Bush in Florida, >sent out a list of over 700,000 so-called felons, according >to Dec. 4 edition of the British Guardian. Under a racist >19th century Florida law, petty offenses were branded as >felonies and those convicted were disenfranchised for life. > >This disenfranchisement operated hugely in Bush's favor, >since one third of those convicted were Black, the rest were >poor, and poor people don't vote for Republicans. > >But Harris decided to expand the disenfranchisement. >According to interviews conducted by the Guardian, "The >names of many Black voters were wrongly added to the list, >which included ex-convicts whose rights had been restored." > >On Election Day the racist disqualification campaign went >into full swing. According to a statement by the Leadership >Conference on Civil Rights, cited in a Dec. 5 Village Voice >article, "Poll workers reportedly were instructed by their >supervisors to be particularly 'strict' in challenging voter >qualifications because of aggressive voter registration and >turnout efforts that had been made in their communities." > >This explains why voters with registration cards were told >they had not registered; why others were wrongly told they >had been sent an absentee ballot and denied access; why >other were illegally sent home at poll closing time after >standing in line for hours; why others were put on long >"problem lines" if they did not have photo identification; >why help in filling out confusing ballots was denied to new >voters; and why translators were denied to Haitian voters. > >ONE IN FIVE BALLOTS SPOILED > >The net effect of all this planned obstruction was tabulated >by the Washington Post study. "In the most heavily white >precincts, about 1 in 14 ballots were thrown out, but in >largely Black precincts more than 1 in 5 ballots were >spoiled--and in some Black precincts it was almost one- >third." The one-third was in Jacksonville, in Duval County, >where 27,000 votes were thrown out from the Black community. > >On Dec. 3 the Miami Herald published the results of a study >of all 5,885 voting precincts in Florida. It found that >without all the obstruction, Gore would have won by 23,000 >votes. > >This racist disqualification campaign was how Jeb Bush >conspired to "deliver" Florida and the presidency to his >brother. Gore knows it. Bush knows it. The big-business >media know it. But they won't say it. > >They all have a common commitment to concealing the fact >that racism is rampant--not just on Election Day in Florida, >but every day throughout the country. > >The Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act were >concessions made by the ruling class in the heat of the mass >struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. These >concessions didn't mean that the bosses were giving up on >racism. They waited for the struggle to die down so that >they could begin taking the concessions back. > >The elections show that racism is still a primary tool of >the bosses and, above all, that the time has come to open up >a mass struggle against the entire racist capitalist >establishment. > >And Gore? Anyone who prefers his own political demise to a >struggle against racism is a true enemy of the workers and >oppressed. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 21:46:27 -0500 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Free Leonard Peltier & Mumia Abu-Jamal >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >EDITORIAL: FREE LEONARD PELTER & MUMIA > >This December a critical juncture arrives for the movement to >free two political prisoners: Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu- >Jamal. > >After 25 years in a federal prison, and eight years after >presidential candidate Bill Clinton promised to free him, >Peltier's petition for executive clemency sits on outgoing >President Clinton's desk. Under intense pressure from the >progressive movement and world public opinion, Clinton is at >last weighing the possibility of Peltier's release before he >leaves office. A decision is likely before the winter >holidays late this month. > >Meanwhile the FBI is mounting a propaganda campaign aimed at >keeping Peltier behind bars, falsely claiming that he killed >two federal agents at South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation. >The FBI has set up a toll-free number and taken out full >page ads in major newspapers for this purpose. > >Brother Peltier and his defense committee have appealed to >all workers and progressives to call the White House >comments line every single day and demand his release. That >number is (202) 456-1111, and we urge our readers to call >frequently. > >It is equally vital for the working-class movement to take >action in the streets now to demand freedom for the >political prisoners. An important march is scheduled for >Dec. 9 in New York's Harlem community for Abu-Jamal, and >marches are also planned in San Francisco, Seattle and other >cities. On the following day, Dec. 10, there will be a march >for Peltier to the United Nations in New York. Next Jan. 20, >a national protest at the inaugural in Washington will >target the prison system and demand freedom for political >prisoners. > >In the spirit of solidarity, the organizers of the two New >York actions have joined forces. They have issued a joint >leaflet and are taking other measures to maximize turnout at >both protests. > >Peltier's and Abu-Jamal's cases are inextricably linked. As >the two best-known political prisoners in U.S. jails, their >names are virtual battle cries for those fighting racism and >social injustice. > >Both activists were framed by arms of the racist capitalist >state. In Peltier's case it was the FBI; in Abu-Jamal's it >was the Philadelphia Police Department. And they were framed >for the same reason. Both prisoners were--and are--dedicated >fighters for the rights of their oppressed communities and >for all poor and working people. > >Both men had sham trials. Both have been denied new trials >by the courts despite overwhelming evidence of their >innocence. Both are subject to racist disinformation >campaigns by the cops and the big-business media. > >There's another similarity. Peltier and Abu-Jamal both face >the equivalent of a death sentence. > >In Abu-Jamal's case its clear. He's on Pennsylvania's death >row. > >But Peltier's life, too, is in considerable danger. For >several years his health has been in decline. Prison >officials have denied him access to qualified doctors. They >even subjected him to a botched jaw operation that left him >in constant pain and unable to eat solid food. > >Leonard Peltier must be freed now so that he can receive >consistent medical care and return to his loving family and >friends. > >Because their cases are so closely linked, a victory in >freeing Leonard Peltier would be a tremendous contribution >to Abu-Jamal's freedom struggle. It would energize the >movements against racism and the prison-industrial complex >and be a blow against the forces of racism and reaction. > >The time to act is now. All out to free Leonard Peltier! >Forward to freeing Mumia! Onward to the Jan. 20 march on >Washington! > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for geopolitics. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
