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People’s Voice June 16-30, 2017
Volume 25 – Number 11 $1
1) LIBERALS PREPARE FOR WAR WITH 70% INCREASE IN MILITARY
SPENDING
2) A BIG WIN BRINGS NEW CHALLENGES FOR B.C. WORKING PEOPLE
3) 2017 BC
ELECTION - BRITISH COLUMBIANS HAVE SPOKEN
4) CANADA 150: WHITEWASHING THE GENOCIDAL HISTORY OF
COLONIALISM
5) ONTARIO COMMUNISTS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN: “HOUSING FOR PEOPLE -
NOT PROFIT!”
6) NEW HOPE FOR WORKING
PEOPLE - Editorial
7) ABOLISH CHILD
LABOUR! - Editorial
8) “NEW” DEFENCE POLICY
- STILL MADE IN WASHINGTON
9) “A LITTLE CROOKED HOUSE” TRUDEAU, MORNEAU, BMO AND KPMG
INC.
10) POWER IS WITHIN SIGHT FOR THE LABOUR PARTY, BUT THE LEFT
MUST REMAIN VIGILANT
11) U.S. HEALTH
CARE HAS A RELAPSE
12) THE PLOT TO
SCAPEGOAT RUSSIA
PEOPLE'S VOICE June 16-30, 2017 (pdf)
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(The
following articles are from the June 16-30, 2017, issue of People's
1) LIBERALS
PREPARE FOR WAR WITH 70% INCREASE IN MILITARY SPENDING
By Liz Rowley, leader
of the Communist Party of Canada
Foreign
Affairs Minister Christa Freeland, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, and PM
Trudeau are working hard to convince Canadians that a 70% increase in military
spending is a noble expression of their government’s commitment to Arctic
sovereignty and global security. But the truth is much simpler and a lot
uglier: the Liberals are preparing to take
In a
reversal of the Liberal promises during the 2015 federal election, the
government has adopted Harper’s aggressive foreign policy of war and regime
change, and surpassed the vast military expenditures the Tories planned to make
- but had to back off from as a result of vocal public opposition.
What’s new?
The arrival of Donald Trump, his demand that
The
background to these developments is last year’s announcement that NATO no
longer sees itself as a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but as the world’s
policeman with the ability to overthrow governments at will, anywhere in the
world.
Trump, who
just last year also campaigned as a ‘peace’ candidate who could get along with Russia
and find political solutions in global hotspots like the Middle East, said then
that NATO was obsolete.
Pierre
Trudeau, when he was faced with US ultimatums over Vietnam and Cuba, among
others, developed a two-track foreign policy which kept
Justin
Trudeau, on the other hand, has put up no resistance to US demands on foreign
policy and military spending, or on trade. In every case, the Liberals have
responded with concessions, not only on trade and foreign policy, but on issues
affecting the fundamentals of Canadian sovereignty and independence.
To be sure,
the Canadian economy has been shot through with
It’s also
criminal. Overthrowing governments you don’t like is a crime under
international law, and under Canadian law too. Terrorist attacks in
The
government has said nothing about how it will pay for this 70% increase in
military spending. But since it has ruled out corporate tax increases to pay
for social programs and infrastructure spending, the only other options are (1)
to increase taxes on working people such as the regressive HST, property taxes,
gas tax, taxes on alcohol and other ‘sin’ taxes, invisible taxes and user fees,
such as road tolls, child care fees, etc., and/or (2) to eliminate universal
social programs such as Medicare, privatize public services and assets, privatize education, eliminate supply
management system in agriculture, increase the pension age to 67 or 70,
introduce right-to-work laws and smash the trade union movement, drive down
wages and living standards.
Sound extreme?
Just look south of the border, where a similar agenda is leaving millions of
working people unemployed and on the margins, living from hand to mouth, with
nothing left but a deep hatred for Wall Street, and (for some), an abiding
faith in the billionaire President who said he would fight to restore their
jobs and living standards – by making America great again.
Trump’s
prescription for recovery is war: huge profits for the arms industry that
backed him, and jobs for life (a short life) for the young unemployed.
It’s not an
agenda the Liberals want to admit to two years before an election, but it’s an
agenda that’s already out there in the NAFTA
‘renegotiations’ and in the NATO deployments and vast increase in
military spending.
Chrystia
Freeland’s assertion that this is an expression of Canadian sovereignty and
independence is nothing of the sort. It’s a craven collapse to the demands of
the Trump administration and
What’s the
solution here?
Pretty
simple in fact. This is exactly the moment for
Instead of
increasing military spending, we should cut the existing military budget by 75%
and use these funds to create good jobs across Canada; build affordable housing
and infrastructure; develop a sustainable industrial strategy and expand
value-added manufacturing and secondary industry; expand and improve Medicare;
introduce a universal, accessible, affordable public childcare system; fund
public and post-secondary education and eliminate tuition fees and student
debt; increase the minimum wage and pensions; raise wages and living standards;
deliver on promises made to Indigenous People for urgent and long-term funding
to raise living standards on and off reserve, for just and urgent settlement of
land claims, to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, and to create nation to nation relations within Canada.
This is the
recipe for peace, and for real economic and social recovery for working people
in
But it
won’t come without a fight that the labour and people’s movements must take on
now. There is no time to lose.
2) A BIG WIN
BRINGS NEW CHALLENGES FOR B.C. WORKING PEOPLE
Statement by the Communist Party of
BC, June 2, 2017
The
May 30 accord between the BC NDP and Green parties has been greeted
enthusiastically by people’s movements in
The
Communist Party of BC welcomes these developments as a major victory, but one
which also brings new challenges for the working class. The CPBC has worked
together with other progressive forces for the past 16 years to drive the
Liberals under Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark out of office. As our
candidates said in the May 9 provincial election, the Liberals have ruled
solely on behalf of the big corporations. Their huge tax breaks for the wealthy
and big business were imposed as part of a right-wing agenda of deep austerity
cuts to social programs, health care and public schools. The resource sector
corporations and the big developers took advantage of virtually non-existent
electoral financing regulations to pour millions of dollars into the coffers of
the BC Liberals, effectively purchasing a provincial government which backed
mega-projects aimed at extracting and exporting fossil fuels and other
unprocessed raw materials, at the expense of indigenous peoples, the
environment, and the jobs of British Columbians.
These
reactionary policies finally cost the Liberals their majority in the
Legislature. Under pressure from the nearly 60% of voters who clearly want a
change of government, the NDP and Greens have reached a deal to govern a full
term in office. Their 10-page accord promises action on many issues -
increasing the minimum wage to $15 in stages, reversing cuts to social
spending, health and education, action on child care and social housing,
increased tax rates for upper income earners, a referendum on PR (which Horgan
says will need 50%+1 to pass, not the previous 60% "super-majority"),
and much more. While there are some disagreements between the parties, such as
the NDP's support for the proposed $10/day child care program, the Greens will
not block progress on these issues.
The
accord promises to resist Kinder-Morgan’s Trans-Mountain Pipeline project, but
unfortunately, it does not include an immediate halt to the Site C dam. As a
working class party, we appreciate the political difficulties posed by laying
off building trades workers at Site C, but we believe that protecting the
valuable agricultural land of the Peace River region is a higher priority, and
that there are better ways to create jobs in British Columbia.
During
the recent election, the Communist Party of BC campaigned for fundamental
economic and social changes. We demanded complete reversal of Gordon Campbell’s
tax cuts for the rich and the corporations, which cost the provincial treasury
an estimated $2.5 billion annually. Our platform called for doubling social
assistance rates, a $20 minimum wage, universal child care, legislation to
implement PR, an improved Labour Code, public ownership of the resource sector,
a massive social housing program, and other policies to put people and the
environment ahead of corporate profits.
Despite
its shortcomings, we believe that the NDP-Green accord can reverse some of the
worst impacts of Liberal rule. Premier Clark should accept the democratic will
of the voters and resign immediately. Once the new government takes office, the
Communist Party of BC\will help to mobilize the working class and democratic
forces to press for quick action to carry out its positive promises. Such a
strategy is critical because big capital will use every tactic to make the new
government back away from implementing progressive policies.
This
new situation offers a historic opportunity for the working people of
But
we also know that the right-wing corporate agenda springs from the nature of
capitalism itself, regardless of which parties are in office. Capitalism is
based on maximizing private profits, through greater exploitation of the
working class and the destructive extraction of natural resources. The struggle
for immediate reform is crucial for the working class and its allies, and much
will be learned from the experience of an NDP-Green alliance government in
3) 2017 BC
ELECTION - BRITISH COLUMBIANS HAVE SPOKEN
An Open Letter from the
From
April 28th to May 9th nearly two million British Columbians took to the polls
to give expression to their deep concerns relative to the previous sixteen
years of a BC Liberal majority rule. Clearly, Sixty percent of those British
Columbians have overwhelmingly voted for change.
Six
years of a heavy-handed Clark majority government has left British Columbians
deeply mired in an overwhelming debt, subsequent to a litany of highly outdated,
unfeasible and environmentally destructive mega projects, including the Site C
Dam, the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project and the fading
market-dead LNG pipe dream. British Columbia’s economy has become reliant on an
industry propped up by a temporary and transient workforce precariously perched
on archaic notions requiring the complete destruction of our pristine air,
land, and waters, and on an industry which runs rough-shod over the democratic
and human rights of Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities alike.
British
Columbians demand a different way of governing and have called for a dramatic
shift from protecting foreign corporate interests to ensuring the health,
safety, well-being and the long-term, sustainable livelihoods of our families
and communities.
The
We
must immediately begin to make significant changes to strengthen the BC
Environmental Assessment process by disposing of the problematic and dangerous
MOU between the BC Environmental Assessment Office and the Canadian
Environmental Assessment Agency allowing BC to substitute its EA process for
projects where both provincial and federal EAs are required, and to promote the
wellbeing of communities across BC. First Nations have called for significant
engagement that is both genuine and meaningful.
Further,
we must work together to address the destructive policies and practices
permeating the state of child and family care in BC. A new BC government must
not only provide safe healthy environments for children but must ensure future
opportunities for their growth and development, to do so we must address the
funding and resourcing shortfalls of First Nations education and health care
services throughout the province. Homelessness and affordable housing must also
become immediate priorities of the new government. BC must also take
significant movement to address and effectively end the devastating opioid
crises gripping numerous BC communities.
The
new BC government must make great strides to rebuild the trust of British
Columbians and to protect the future of our environment and our communities.
On behalf of the
Chief
Robert Chamberlin, Vice-President; Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer.
4)
Statement by the Central Executive
Committee and the Indigenous Commission of the Communist Party of
On
National Aboriginal Day, June 21, the Communist Party of
Just ten days after June 21, hundreds
of millions of dollars will be spent by the federal government to mark "
The Communist Party of
The story of genocide began with
the theft of traditional indigenous territories, and the imposition of unfair
and repeatedly violated treaties. This was followed by the deliberate
destruction of indigenous languages and cultures, the mass removals of
indigenous children from their families (the residential schools, the "60s
scoop,", etc.), and thousands of unsolved murders of indigenous women and
girls. This record is usually dismissed as "past history", giving
rise to the arrogant racist view that "you people should just get over
it," and also to the liberal myth of a post-racist society.
But the legacy of genocide remains
very real today, even if individual expressions of racism may have become less
acceptable. Despite official apologies from politicians, and the important
recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, structural
anti-indigenous racism is so deeply embedded in Canadian society that it is
usually minimized or even completely denied.
How else to explain that 150 years
after Confederation, a judge and prosecutor in Edmonton can jail a young
indigenous woman, placing her in handcuffs and leg shackles, for the
"crime" of testifying against her violent sexual predator? Or that a
Prime Minister elected on the promise to respect indigenous rights then endorses
resource extraction and export projects with profoundly negative impacts on
First Nation communities? Or that the Sureté du Québec in
Countless examples could be given,
but the point is obvious: anti-indigenous racism is not "past
history", it remains a defining contemporary feature of the Canadian state
and society, right up to the level of the federal Liberal cabinet which has
failed to deliver on its promise of a new relationship with indigenous peoples.
This failure is a reflection of "big nation" Anglo chauvinism, the
ideological concept of an English-speaking, Christian, "white man's
country" which has held sway since before the time of Confederation,
despite huge demographic changes after 1867.
The struggle for national equality
calls for a conscious and dedicated effort to overcome the entire colonial
legacy of imperialism, as a crucial element of resistance against the
right-wing, racist agenda of the big corporations and pro-austerity political
parties. Such resistance can only be advanced through full rejection of Anglo
chauvinist and white supremacist ideologies, and unity in action of the working
class and democratic forces of all nations, around policies to put the needs of
people and the environment ahead of corporate greed.
The Communist Party of
5)
PV Ontario Bureau
In
response to the province’s prolonged, deepening housing crisis, the Communist
Party of
Housing
costs are soaring in all areas of the province, with the average house price
rising 24% between April 2016 and April 2017, to $670,000. The provincial
average for renting a one-bedroom apartment was $12,000 per year in 2016. Rent
control does not apply to units created after 1991, which means that the
proportion of rent controlled housing is diminishing rapidly.
The
Across
In
response, the Liberal provincial government launched its Long-Term Affordable
Housing Strategy. The current centerpiece of this is the proposal for
“inclusionary zoning,” which was introduced through Bill 204, Promoting Affordable Housing Act, 2016. Inclusionary
zoning empowers municipalities to require developers to temporarily reserve a
portion of new units for low- to moderate-income households. Such an approach
continues the failed reliance on the private sector to provide affordable
housing, by offering multiple economic and financial incentives to developers.
These incentives include waived development charges, lower taxes and fees,
fewer regulatory restrictions, and sale of public land at low prices.
Inclusionary zoning also does nothing to address the key issues of rent control
and construction of affordable housing stock.
Despite
the government’s claim that Bill 204 and inclusionary zoning will be a huge
step toward fixing the housing crisis, it all adds up to more of the same – big
profits for developers and no construction of affordable units. It facilitates
gentrification, as developers only need to temporarily set aside a token number
of affordable units while they gain cheaper and easier access to permits and
resources. It also means reduced public revenue through waived charges and
fees, and a huge transfer of valuable public lands to the private sector. Bill
204 also contains provisions for redefining affordable housing, which
effectively enables the provincial government to manipulate data and conceal
the depth of the housing crisis.
The
Communist campaign is focused on two main demands, reducing housing costs and
increasing the supply of affordable housing. According to CPC (
“As
The
initial phase of the campaign includes a public information campaign,
petitioning, and a push for unions, community organizations and municipalities
to pass resolutions demanding real political action on the provincial housing
crisis. More information about the campaign is available at
housingforpeople.ca.
6) NEW HOPE FOR WORKING PEOPLE
People’s Voice Editorial
After
a series of depressing elections over the last year (the rise of Donald Trump
was not the only case), some positive news for working people has arrived at
the ballot box. Here are two very different scenarios, with some interesting
similarities.
In
On
a global scale, the setback for Theresa May’s Tories in the
There
is much to discuss and debate about these complex events, along with the
continued popularity of Bernie Sanders in the
People’s Voice Editorial
June
12th marked the annual World
Day Against Child Labour, a phenomenon which most people in
Socialists
have always fought against every form of exploitation, either “disguised” in
the form of legal wage labour, or clearly barbarian. Child labour is in the
second category, existing since the very beginning of the inhuman capitalist
system. As the World Federation of Trade Unions points out, “the fortunes of
bourgeois were created by the hands and blood of children.”
Today,
an estimated 168 million children work in various jobs around the world. In the
Asia-Pacific region, for example, about 9.3% of the child population is forced
to work. Since the outbreak of the latest capitalist crisis a decade ago, and
the deepening of intra-imperialist rivalries, the exploitation of children is
intensifying, always with a view to maximizing the profits of multinationals.
Child workers are mainly employed in the sectors of agriculture, fishing and
mining, while other children work even as modern-day slaves. Immigrant children
often suffer double exploitation, even in Europe and
The
WFTU has raised important demands on this occasion, including public, free and
compulsory education for the new generation, and full access to leisure,
recreation and health care for children and youth. Child labour must be
abolished, along with laws which allow children or their parents to “consent”
to such work.
8) “NEW” DEFENCE POLICY - STILL MADE IN
Letter to the Editor
On
June 7th Canada’s Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan, announced what he
referred to as a "new” defence policy indicating that the Liberal
government has bought into a more aggressive role for the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and making the Canadian military more suited to “war fighting” in
overseas theaters. Mr. Sajjan declared Canada will increase war spending over
70% during the next 10 years to the tune of 32.7 billion; he also pledged to
increase the number of fighter jets to 88 from 65; and to increase the number
of personnel in both the regular and reserve armed forces. Still on the table
is the issue of
As
“Last year
The
stage for Mr. Sajjan on June 7th was set by the Minister of International
Affairs on June 6th. Chrystia Freeland, who should be acting as our top
Canadian diplomat, heaped praise on past
If
we must look outside of our borders for leadership we would be wiser to look to
Britain than the U.S. – increasing numbers of people in the United Kingdom, especially
young people there are embracing a positive, peaceful vision of their country;
they also realize if their country is not bombing people in the Middle East
they will not be confronted with “blowback”.
-
Ed Lehman, President,
9) “A LITTLE
CROOKED HOUSE” TRUDEAU, MORNEAU, BMO AND KPMG INC.
By Paul Bentley
“There was a crooked man, and he walked a
crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence upon
a crooked stile
He bought a crooked cat, which
caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a
little crooked house.”
Finance
Minister Bill Morneau has recently reinvigorated his promise to crack down on
tax evasion schemes, but how can we trust him when he is himself named in the
In other
countries like
If, as the
There is no
doubt that as Executive Chair of Morneau Shepell, the pension and investments
consulting firm he inherited from his father, Morneau was responsible for
hiring the legal services of Lennox Corporate Services Ltd., to set up a tax
evasion scheme in the Bahamas. According
to the ICIJ site this was done in February of 2014, and Morneau did not retire
from the firm until October 2015.
The excuses
offered for Morneau are that, according the CBC, he “resigned from Morneau
Shepell and its Bahamian subsidiary before being sworn in as a minister”; and
that, according to the National Post,
Morneau is subject to a conflict of interest “screen” in regard to his family
business.
Wait a
minute, won’t Morneau still benefit from the proceeds of his crime when he
retires from politics? What a great maneuver, go into politics in order to
escape responsibility for tax evasion!
Now, if you
“follow the money” a little further, you find that Morneau is not alone. Take
for example his boss, Justin
Trudeau’s claim to have been “entirely and completely transparent” about his
family's finances; that is the millions of dollars he inherited from his father
(am I beginning to sense a pattern here?). Yes, he openly said that he placed
his money in a “blind” trust with BMO private banking, and yes BMO is
professionally audited by one of the Big Four international accounting firms –
KPMG, so you will never find Trudeau’s name in the
Not so
fast, what about the fact that KPMG is named in the
The plot
thickens when we consider that KPMG is likely also cooking the Liberal Party’s
books. Democracy Watch has recently accused Trudeau of a conflict of interest
by hiring KPMG executive John Herhalt to manage the Liberal Party’s finances.
The problem
with KPMG is not just that it is named in the
The problem
with KPMG is that it is currently
under investigation by the CRA for its tax evasion projects on the Isle of
“Five weeks
after KPMG was ordered to maintain all records during an ongoing investigation,
a group of offshore shell companies set up by KPMG went ahead and shredded
documents related to that probe. This is the very definition of obstruction of
justice. Then the Liberals blocked the investigation into KPMG. I am curious.
Is there any other way the Liberal front bench can twist obstruction of justice
and sweetheart deals for crooked billionaires into support for the middle
class?”
Well, there
may be one. When the little crooked Trudeau-Morneau household runs into trouble
with the law in Canada, it can always turn to its so-called opponents, the
Conservative Party and former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, to set-up meetings
with giant US firms “Blackstone”, and its spin-off “Blackrock” – the largest
private equity and assets management firms in the world – to raise some
cash.
Mulroney
happens to be on the Board of Blackstone, and his daughter Caroline, who just
announced her interest in a “political career”, is married to Andrew Lapham,
executive advisor to Blackstone based in
Not to be
outdone, Blackrock’s global head of active equities, Mark Wiseman, has wormed
his way onto Morneau’s economic growth advisory council. In this capacity he
organized Blackrock’s recent investor summit held in
Of course,
Blackstone and Blackrock are also named in the
Sadly,
Canadians may never see any benefits from the circulation of all this
international finance capital if it is ultimately destined for off shore tax
havens. I guess this is what Marx meant when he said that “the executive of the
modern state is but a committee for the management of the affairs of the
bourgeoisie”.
10) POWER IS WITHIN SIGHT FOR THE
LABOUR PARTY, BUT THE LEFT MUST REMAIN VIGILANT
Editorial from the Morning Star,
June 11, 2017
Labour
is right to set its sights on preventing the passage of the Queen’s speech and
bringing down Theresa May’s tottering government.
May
might think she can cling to office with the votes of the repulsive
terror-linked Democratic Unionist Party, but the knives are out. Boris Johnson
is forced to deny planning a takeover, while aides of Scottish Conservative
boss Ruth Davidson are reportedly working on a plan to form a separate party to
the UK-wide Tories.
Commentators
and Labour MPs may be eating slice after slice of humble pie over Jeremy
Corbyn’s stunning success at the polls — achieving the largest increase in
Labour’s vote since 1945 — but too many keep peddling the narrative that May’s
incompetence rather than Corbyn’s message of hope was responsible for the
result.
Former
shadow chancellor Chris Leslie is the worst offender with his contemptible
assertion that against an incompetent like May another Labour leader would have
done better.
But
the passionate mass campaign by hundreds of thousands of members and the huge
surge in the youth vote would not have happened had the party been fronted by
some washed-out Blairite. It was hope and the empowering sense that change is
within our grasp that drove millions to the polling stations for Labour.
Labour’s
comeback from 20 points behind to neck and neck with the Tories was nothing
short of remarkable, but what’s just as important is that it’s continuing.
We
all heard pre-election claims in the Guardian that people would only vote
Labour if they were sure Corbyn had no chance of becoming prime minister. Well,
now he looks capable of snatching the keys to No 10 and Labour are five points ahead
of the Tories in the polls — according to the ultra-Conservative Daily
Telegraph, and further ahead in some other surveys.
A
healthy dose of Corbynism is prompting the third massive growth spurt the party
has enjoyed since he threw himself into the leadership contest two summers ago.
The
first came in 2015 as hundreds of thousands joined to elect him, the second in
2016 as many more did to re-elect him, and the current massive increase in
membership — with over 150,000 new members since the election, taking the total
to over 800,000 — signals a wave of enthusiasm that could carry him to power.
Corbyn
was relaxed and confident on Andrew Marr, a stark contrast to the dead duck
May. But the left should remain on the alert. Evidence that the Labour HQ declined
to properly resource many marginal seats that could have been taken shows the
party machine is still capable of sabotage.
And
while previously disloyal MPs are lining up to say they have changed their
minds about Corbyn, an understandable instinct to bring critics back on board
could risk diluting the passion Labour is inspiring if it waters down the
socialist message.
Corbyn
says he will build a strong new shadow cabinet — and quite right too, with some
vacancies remaining from the “chicken coup” last year. But his current set of
shadow ministers have played a blinder and delivered incredible gains. It’s no
time to split up the dream team.
Nor
should the left have any truck with proposals for a cross-party initiative to
devise an approach to Brexit negotiations.
Given
the pro-EU views of most MPs, this could undermine Labour’s determination to
work for an exit deal that puts the British people back in charge of our own
economy or even pave the way for an anti-democratic “national government” to preserve
neoliberalism in the face of popular revolt.
Labour
is within sight of power, and with its most progressive programme for many
decades. To realise that goal the left must stay focused.
11)
By Rob Gowland, in The Guardian,
weekly paper of the Communist Party of Australia
For
the right-wing in
Of
all the developed capitalist countries, the
The
people decry the lack of affordable health care and agitate for it at every
opportunity. Ranged against them, however, is the well-funded propaganda
machine of the “health care industry”, committed to for-profit health care and
keen to improve its lucrative business opportunities. So what if millions
cannot afford to get sick? As long as the better-off can still afford the
outrageous fees charged by private hospitals and specialists, the industry is happy.
President
Obama’s very modest universal health insurance scheme (the so-called
“Obama-care”) got off the ground despite a vigorous campaign by the industry
that portrayed it as that most hideous of anti-American things, “socialised
medicine”. It has been drummed into Americans for many decades now that
anything even resembling “socialised medicine” must be a very bad thing and as
a consequence many now simply accept it as incontrovertible fact. The industry
campaigned against this Communist-type evil with such catchy devices as posters
in which medical instruments morphed into a hammer and sickle.
Donald
Trump, a billionaire property developer, is naturally opposed to anything that
smacks of socialism, no matter how tenuous the connection. He denounced
Obama-care and declared that once-elected he would tear it up and replace it
with a real health care scheme, by which he meant one that the industry would
be happy with. This proved to be harder than they expected, as ordinary people
expressed concern over their future if they could not afford health care.
Trump
and the Republican majority in Congress had to water down their original plan
to simply “tear up” Obama-care when some of their own side got cold feet (or
grew a conscience) but on May 4 the House passed a bill to do just that. The
American Health Care Act (AHCA), aimed at altering or eradicating provisions of
Obama-care, “will devastate all but the richest of society with exorbitant
medical costs that many cannot afford. Medicaid would be slashed by hundreds of
billions. Twenty-four million would be left without health insurance.” (Michael
Winship, Emmy Award-winning writer, and the president of Writers Guild of
This
attack on the poor in
That
did not worry Trump and his team. On the contrary, they were ecstatic. “The
Republicans celebrated this impending tragedy with cheers on Capitol Hill and
then got on buses to the White House for some further revelry in the Rose
Garden,” notes Winship.
And
Ashley Parker observed in The
So
why were Trump the populist and his Republican Congressional legislators
ostentatiously celebrating their “achievement” in passing this legislation?
Sister
Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association of the
On
the other hand, it is very much in the spirit of who the American ruling class
are. They built up the
However,
since the shock of the election of Trump into the White House the watchword for
the whole of the Left in
12) THE PLOT TO SCAPEGOAT
The Plot to Scapegoat
Accused
of being a “Useful Idiot or Propagandist for
American
exceptionalism – the conviction that our excrement smells like perfume and
everyone else’s stinks – is deconstructed. Kovalik documents how the
Brought
up in an anti-communist conservative Roman Catholic milieu, where he was
instructed to pray for the conversion of the Russians, Kovalik now pleas that
the challenges of “global warming, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, mass
poverty, and constant wars” would best be addressed by mutual cooperation with
a willing
Informing
the book is the biblical allegory that it is more convenient to pull the speck
from your brother’s eye than the plank from your own. Hence, Kovalik has the
temerity to point out that “while Americans obsess over the numbers killed
under the Stalin Terror, few care to consider the most-likely greater numbers
killed in the
Kovalik
is sympathetic to Putin’s observation that the collapse of the
Likewise,
the presence of the Soviet alternative goaded the
Kovalik
emphasizes the underlying continuity among US rulers from Clinton to Bush to
Obama to Trump, despite less significant differences of party allegiances and
work styles. Overriding is allegiance to the
Obama,
Kovalik points out, had arrested more people under the 1917 Espionage Act than
all of his predecessors combined. Meanwhile, Trump is carrying Obama’s legacy
forward. The
Kovalik
traces back the use of “humanitarian intervention” as a cover for
The
book’s subtitle, How the CIA and the
The
CIA is not only an unreliable source (e.g. weapons of mass destruction),
Kovalik demonstrates that it is also a far greater threat to
Kovalik’s
The Plot to Scapegoat Russia is a worthy sequel to John Perkins’ 2004
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, though with more sophistication and
political insight than the earlier title. Just released on June 6, Kovalik’s
book provides a most timely analysis and documentation to combat the unholy
alliance of neo-conservatives and liberals fomenting heightened world tensions.
Kovalik
concludes with the admonishment that liberals have grown so apologetic about
the bedrock militarism of Democrats that they don’t resist it when the other
party is in power. “I wring my hands over my own country, which seems more out
of control and dangerous than any other in the world, and which is tapping into
old Cold War fears to justify its permanent war footing.”
Meanwhile
the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists have moved the doomsday clock up to two and a
half minutes before midnight, the closest it has been to Armageddon since the
height of the Cold War.
Roger D. Harris is on the state central
committee of the Peace and Freedom Party www.peaceandfreedom.org/home /, the only
ballot qualified socialist party in