Deep Politics Forum

Occupy Wall Street is coordinating a global series of candlelight vigils on Sunday, January 15th in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Protesters aim to light candles at 7PM in every time zone from "California to Cairo, New York to New Orleans, Germany to Nova Scotia."
In New York, hundreds of activists are scheduled to assemble on the steps of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine and begin a massive candlelight march to nearby Riverside Church, where MLK delivered his famous, "Beyond Vietnam" speech in 1967.
At Riverside there will be performances by Patti Smith and Steve Earle, among others. Those pledged to participate in the vigil also include Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, the rapper K'Naan, former NYCLU Director Norman Siegel and Councilmen Ydanis Rodriguez and Jumaane Williams.
"Poverty, an issue to which King showed increased focus in the years just before his death, finds its way into the darkest chapters in American History," said protester Abigail Keegan, in a statement. "Dr. King sought to shine a light of justice against those dark chapters of war, repression and racism, our candles symbolize that light."
The vigils will lead into another day of events on Monday the 16th in celebration of Martin Luther King Day (see those events here) and help kick off 3 months of action from OCCUPY THE DREAM, a collection of black community church groups, which will ultimately culminate in a large rally in DC on April 12-15th:

Veterans Peace Team statement and application

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We invite you to apply to become a member of Veterans Peace Teams (VPT) and join with other military veterans across the U.S. as we plan to nonviolently stand in solidarity with the courageous citizens of the Occupy movement against excessive force by local police departments.
As many of us are aware, the inherent violence of the system's controlling elite will continue to become more manifest as the Occupy movement increases and builds its resistance.

We continue to reach out to individuals within the police with some success, but we are under no illusions about the police force as a whole.

In the past, repression against citizens has been an effective tool for the ruling elite but even as the government's capacity for violence and crowd control has increased, our ability to document and expose this violence to the masses has also grown.

That's why we've initiated the Veterans Peace Teams and are asking you to consider joining us. When people see nonviolent veterans being brutally assaulted, as we saw in the cases of Scott Olson and Kayvan Sabehgi, the resistance is not intimidated, it is strengthened.

Enclosed is an initial statement of purpose and the application for VPT. We have a great logo that we are having embroidered on military-style caps to identify us as members of the Veterans Peace Teams.

If you'd like to be part of this effort please either send an email to veteranspeaceteam@gmail.com with your name and address and we'll send you a hard copy application you can fill out and return (or download and fill out the app. below) and send to Veterans Peace Team 28 Arnold Dr. Woodstock, NY 12498, or email the document to veteranspeaceteam@gmail.com . We are also in process of setting up a web site, veteranspeaceteam.org where you'll be able to apply on line but that is still in process.



http://www.veteransforpeace.org/news_detail.php?idx=165

Social Welfare State, American-Style, Means Relief For The Rich

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has taken to accusing President Barack Obama of trying to turn the United States into a European-style social welfare state.

The hyperbole about Obama's actions aside, the United States already is a social welfare state -- almost right up there with the Europeans -- if you measure the total amount of drain on the Treasury caused by spending and subsidies on such things as health care and retirement.

The one big difference is that in the American social welfare state, a lot of the benefits go to the rich.

"We spend a tremendous amount on private social welfare through tax subsidies," said Christopher Faricy, a political science professor at Washington State University whose forthcoming book is about our divided welfare state.

"It just goes to a drastically different population than what we usually associate with welfare programs," Faricy said.

Direct government social welfare spending pays for such signature programs as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment.

But there's also a whole other world of social-welfare measures in the tax code -- called tax expenditures -- that benefit individuals and companies.

The two biggest tax breaks with a social welfare purpose are the exemptions for employer-sponsored health benefits (which cost the U.S. Treasury about $184 billion a year in foregone revenue) and for contributions to 401(k) and other retirement plans and pensions ($113 billion).

In stark contrast to social programs that involve the actual outlay of tax dollars, the tax breaks vastly favor the rich over the middle class and the poor. The biggest benefits accrue to people who can afford to put a lot away for their retirements and have generous health insurance plans. Even the charitable-donation exemption (which costs the Treasury about $43 billion a year) favors those in the higher tax brackets, because they get a bigger federal subsidy for each dollar they give.

Based on direct spending on social welfare programs as a proportion of the total economy, the U.S. (at 16.2 percent) lags behind every country in Europe except Slovakia, according to data analyzed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

By contrast, when it comes to tax breaks with a social purpose, the U.S. -- at 2 percent of gross domestic product -- leads the pack.

"Once tax expenditures for social welfare programs are included in social spending figures, the U.S. welfare state is a similar size to those in Europe," Faricy said.

Faricy's research focuses on how there are essentially two American social welfare states -- one for each political party -- and they ebb and flow depending on which is in power. But the point is: "They both believe in massive government subsidies."

While the Democratic welfare state -- based on direct spending -- redistributes wealth from the middle class and the wealthy to the poor, the Republican welfare state -- based on tax breaks -- redistributes wealth upwards.

"The top 20 percent receive 80 percent of those benefits," Faircy said of social welfare tax breaks.

"The middle class gets some from the Republican welfare state, but not as much as the rich," Faricy said. And since the Democratic welfare state primarily serves the needy, "the middle class is getting squeezed at both ends," he said.

Faricy said there's a lot of misunderstanding about the politics surrounding the Republican welfare state. While opponents of social programs often complain that what they call entitlement spending is allowed to grow unrestrained, Faricy argues that the tax expenditures are even more protected from the budget process, as there's no actual line item for the revenue that each of them costs the Treasury.

"The only way to get rid of these tax expenditures is to pass a tax bill," Faricy said -- and that's no simple task. "If you considered it spending, then we'd revisit it annually," he said.

Faricy also argues that tax expenditures distort the economy. "Look at areas where we've had bubbles: housing; health care, the financial industry," he said.

Subsidized health insurance has resulted in people overbuying health care, subsidized mortgages have encouraged people to buy oversized homes, and subsidized 401(k)s have generated huge proceeds for Wall Street, he said.

"There's a correlation between the areas that we spend the most on through the tax code and industries that have cost problems," he said.

In case you have not heard, huge crowds today Occupying and Protesting at the Congress, Supreme Court and White House today in DC!...maybe 5-10,000 at different times of the day...not bad for mid winter and four months into the Movement! Here is one video of many available from yesterday. Today are more events aimed at the Supreme Court.

[video]http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19832922[/video]

I hope you all watched all two hours of that [and the livestreams archived from before it!] GREAT moment in US History! Few Arrests; lots of action; MSM lied their teeth about about numbers, events, etc. I was shocked that Al Jazeera even followed the US Propaganda line on the events. I just sent them proof that they had. They reported that Occupy Protesters forced their way into Congress offices and caused problems. This is not so. They very politely went through security and politely went to their Congresspersons. I could point to several very nice and polite exchanges in the offices! AJ also reported [as did the USA MSM] that Occupy had set off a smoke bomb. It ain't so, it was Police or other such Provocateurs!..............

Quote: I was shocked that Al Jazeera even followed the US Propaganda line on the events.

I lost interest in Al Jazeera as soon as Hillary Clinton started coming out praising the network.I mean,if that don't raise some red flags.............:curtain:

Keith Millea Wrote:

Quote: I was shocked that Al Jazeera even followed the US Propaganda line on the events.

I lost interest in Al Jazeera as soon as Hillary Clinton started coming out praising the network.I mean,if that don't raise some red flags.............:curtain:

There is a bit more I know about. I've long been a fan of AJ, but the man at the top was removed recently [about 4 months ago] and replaced by one of the younger members of the Royal Family...since then their 'editorial stance' has 'changed'. Sadly. I believe this is the real difference. AJ still towers of American and UK MSM, but on 'sensitive' political issues the new chief [no background in journalism/TV - background in royalty, money, oil, oligarchy] seems to use his sense of real politique that his predecessor didn't.