As I read of all the draconian cuts in services, things that we in the richest country apparently can no longer afford to do, I look to the black hole more and more of our national wealth is going down - the black hole of the super-rich, the ones who are engineering Enron and tax cuts for the wealthy and tas elimination in stocks, etc etc. All for more and more and more money for an insatiable (how much is enuf?) band of billonaires.
We can continue to let them steal more and more of our common wealth, and with it our services and amenities and necessities and eventually also our freedom and democracy. Or we can say, It's time to TAKE IT BACK! For instance, does Carl Pohlad NEED all two billion of the dollars in his name? Do the other fancy state names need mega-millions? Do Mpls sited international corporations need huge tax write-offs - especially at the expense of necessities for average citizens? Do we imagine that the only aim of life on earth is to give the rich a chance to own it all (like Monopoly), and at the expense of everyone and everything else? This is insanity. Insanity. We must be crazy ever to have listened to such bunk. "The members of the 'Forbes 400', a compilation of the 400 richest people in the United States, have a combined net worth of $1 trillion dollars - greater than the gross domestic product of China" (see Peter Newcomb, "The Richest People in America" Forbes 164 (October 1999): 169). We have let/helped some people become too damn rich - and at our expense. Are we willing to stand down from life so Sturdly Frothingale III can do prep school then Harvard then president of X Oil Co profiting from US imperial war and cutting basic services in Mpls? Class war? Yes, and about time - for our side -- the other side has been at it since the dawn of history. Most of the major ills of history (eg wars), I claim, are due to actions of the rich to get richer. A tiny percent, running everything -- the usual thru history. With the usual grim results for everyone else. Now Bush and the richies he acts for are moving for world domination, troops everywhere, wars anywhere, millions upon millions dead -- so multi-billionaires can add more multi-billions to their accounts before they die and rot. There is a DIRECT CONNECTION between all the cuts threatened below, and the the rapacious greed of the super-greedy. Tax the rich - hard. End corporate welfare. Support co-ops and small business (local, more jobs, more money stays here, sovreignty here) so that our money can't wind up in New York City or the Grand Cayman Islands. If the cuts below go thru, let's all think about where the money went. Who got it, and how. What this means for everyone else. --David Shove Roseville On Sat, 25 Jan 2003, Fredric Markus wrote: > Kevin Diaz' article in today's Star Tribune gives the gist of HUD's > backpedaling on moneys already committed to this fiscal year's budget > for MPHA.$1.5 million erased from the current operating subsidy creates > a serious challenge for MPHA management - where to slice when the entire > package is already in execution. Mention was made at the Minneapolis > Highrise Representative Council's board meeting this past Thursday that > security costs are a big-ticket item and that a triage decision at MPHA > would perhaps prefer continuing the roving team of Minneapolis police > officers over full funding of the security guard contract. > > This choice can be framed as preferring reactive to proactive management > of security concerns and is analogous to the "one strike and you're out" > profile that Congress has insisted is the rule for removing tenants > accused sometimes anonymously and sometimes for off-site behavior of > acquaintances and/or relatives over which said tenants may well have no > control. > > Removal of federal Project Lookout funding for citizen crime watch > initiatives is a companion piece that HUD Secretary Martinez defends, > averring that eviction is a more suitable tool than the highly > successful resident-driven crime prevention strategy. > > To the credit of the Pawlenty Administration, state funding that > replaces this federal subtraction has been left in place for now but the > deep deficit in the next state budget suggests that such continuing > support may be in jeopardy. Municipal financial support related to > preventative security concerns may also be in harm's way as the City of > Minneapolis confronts its own hard fiscal challenges. > > If public housing tenants are returned to the tender mercies of persons > who prey on the elderly, sell drugs to the gullible, and tear at the > social fabric of our lives with other violence against persons and > property and the public's defenses are reduced to a roving team of eight > uniformed officers for a population of 5000 tenants in forty-odd > highrises and the overworked capacities of 911 responses, we will > inevitably lose ground in what has been a dramatic turnaround in the > quality of life in our public housing domiciles since the bad old days > of the 1990s and before. > > The uniformed guards at our front doors and our volunteer crime > prevention strategies are proven assets that give our residents the same > peace of mind that one expects in any domestic setting. Prevention > works, pure and simple. > In contrast, short-staffed reactive law enforcement misses nuisance > crimes and can lead to the tense and often adversarial relationships > with law enforcement that now prevail in Minneapolis' low-income > neighborhoods. Enforcement is much more expensive than prevention in the > long run. > > There are no easy solutions when public money and personnel are drawn > off to pursue hegemonic pretensions elsewhere on the planet and our > municipal leadership refuses to speak out against this wanton abuse of > the national government's capacities. It is also not helpful when the > Minnesota House Republicans contemplate eliminating MFIP and food > assistance for legal immigrants, limiting access to Emergency Assistance > to once in every 18 months (vs. every 12 months), limiting education for > MFIP participants to 12 months (vs. 24 months), reducing eligibility and > increase fees for childcare assistance (cutting 1200 families off > childcare), eliminating state-funded Medical Assistance for legal > immigrants and undocumented pregnant women - all measures that drive > desperation, not allegiance. > > "Come," said President Lyndon Johnson, "let us reason together". Reason > indeed, lest baser necessities drive our social contract. > > Fred Markus, Horn Terrace, Ward Ten, in the Lyndale Neighborhood > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.443 / Virus Database: 248 - Release Date: 1/10/2003 > > > TEMPORARY REMINDER: > 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. > 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. > > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
