October 7, 2013

How the Koch brothers planned and parsed the shutdown

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It’s not hyperbole to say the Koch brothers and the tea party are systematically working together to defund the American government. According to an article in the New York Times, that’s exactly how the government shutdown happened: wealthy Republicans, well-financed Super PACS and stink tank leaders got together with tea party members and planned it out at the beginning of President Obama’s second term in office.

“I think people realized that with the imminent beginning of Obamacare, that this was a critical time to make every effort to stop something,” former Ronald Reagan staffer and friend Edwin Meese told the New York Times.

According to the very insightful Times article:

Groups like Tea Party Patriots, Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks are all immersed in the fight, as is Club for Growth, a business-backed nonprofit organization. Some, like Generation Opportunity and Young Americans for Liberty, both aimed at young adults, are upstarts. Heritage Action is new, too, founded in 2010 to advance the policy prescriptions of its sister group, the Heritage Foundation.

The billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David, have been deeply involved with financing the overall effort. A group linked to the Kochs, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, disbursed more than $200 million last year to nonprofit organizations involved in the fight. Included was $5 million to Generation Opportunity, which created a buzz last month with an Internet advertisement showing a menacing Uncle Sam figure popping up between a woman’s legs during a gynecological exam.

The Times even dug up a a Defunding Obamacare Toolkit that was put together for astroturfing (astroturfing is when in politics something appears to be a grassroots effort but it is really being funded and formulated by powerful political players).

It seems Justin Katz got some material from the toolkit for our appearance on 10 News Conference this weekend. I asked him if we both agreed that everyone should have insurance and he replied that everyone should have health care (3:00) but not necessarily insurance. Here that is, right on page 11 of the toolkit, right under “Suggested Responses to Congressional Offices & Members of the Press about Defunding Obamacare.”

October 7, 2013October 8, 2013

NK spent $450,000 on forcing 24 hr fire fighter shifts

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The town of North Kingstown has already spent $450,263 in legal fees trying to force 24 hour shifts upon its fire fighters, according to documents shared today by Town Manager Mike Embury. A court has ruled against the new shifts, but the town is appealing that decision and trying to remove a Carcieri appointed judge for being biased.

“The issues are very involved and important,” Embury said in an email. “The unions from around the state are watching this closely.”

According to the document from Embury, the town spent $200,927.79 in 2013: $84,674.83 was for work on contract arbitration; $29,932.40 for “declaratory judgment work”; and $18,696 for unfair labor practices. In 2012, the town spent $155,641.232 on legal fees concerning the 24-hour fire fighter shift. Embury said the town has already spent $93,694.24 for 2014.

All but $277 of the half million dollar sum, which went to the American Association of Arbiters, was paid to legendary anti-organized labor lawyer Dan Kinder and his firm. Kinder famously made millions defending pay cuts in the East Providence school district. Kinder won that case, but labor responded by supporting a reform slate for the school committee, which beat the group that supported the cuts.

Look for labor to focus on local elections in North Kingstown in 2014 in a similar style.

Embury noted that it was much easier to win concessions from the local police union.

You can read the entire report issued by Embury here.

October 7, 2013October 7, 2013

Amnesty International USA has a new exec director

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Steve Hawkins-jpeg — **AIUSA Executive Director Steve Hawkins**

Last Wednesday I was in Boston to meet the new executive director of Amnesty International USA, Steven Hawkins. Hawkins is a lawyer with a lifetime worth of experience working for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund where he “represented African-American men facing the death penalty throughout the deep south.” From the NAACP he worked as the executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty before landing at AIUSA. When I met the man, he had been on the job for about six days, having already met people throughout the Amnesty International USA network in something like eight cities. He really hit the ground running.

The death penalty is not something we give much thought to here in Rhode Island, given our state’s proud history of having abolished the practice in 1852. Though our state had a death penalty statute “on the books” from 1872-1984, we haven’t executed anyone since 1845. Recently Governor Chafee took a stand against a federal death penalty case being brought against the murderer Jason Pleau, for which he faced some hard criticism. Occasionally some member of the General Assembly introduces a bill to bring the death penalty back, but the reality is that the death penalty is gone from Rhode Island, and in this way, as in others throughout our history, our state is a national leader.

Executive Director Hawkins was very direct about the challenges facing Amnesty International USA. The organization has gone through some hard times in recent years but it is hoped that new leadership can instill renewed vigor. Hawkins believes in AIUSA’s ability to fight for Human Rights both here in the United States and internationally, writing,

Amnesty International USA is uniquely positioned to connect discrimination against the LGBT community here in the United States to the discrimination and the LGBT community in Russia, Uganda, and Honduras experiences. We can connect police torture and illegal surveillance that occurs in the United States to similar abuses occurring in China, Egypt and elsewhere. We can connect a young woman in the U.S. fighting for reproductive freedom to women in El Salvador, Ireland and other countries who are fighting for the same rights.

I have been a proud supporter of Amnesty International for many years, and have participated in the annual Global Write-a-Thons, which take place in December, sponsored by the local Amnesty International Group 49 out of Providence, which was founded in 1976! This group has work tirelessly for the release and fair treatment of prisoners on conscience for over thirty-five years, with active members who have been there from the beginning.

In the meantime, consider spending $30 to participate in AIUSA’s Northeast Regional Conference, to be held at Boston University on November 9th.

Throughout the day you will learn about human rights violations taking place throughout the world and what we can do to stop these violations. Participants will learn new organizing skills, how to take actions and will ultimately be inspired by many of our featured speakers and workshops.

Some of this year’s focus will be on human tracking, human rights in Russia and what we can do in the lead up to the 2014 Olympics, and US Security Issues.

October 7, 2013

More public discussion on NECAP, sans Board of Ed

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Coaching a fantasy sports team is much different from being at the helm of a real club. One deals solely with statistics while the other has to factor in people. In addition, fantasy sports are guided by yesterday while real teams have to confront the here and now. If you believe that folks running fantasy teams are ready for the National Football League, you may be disappointed. The same argument is in play when it comes to standardized tests and educating young people. Are we running a fantasy league here where points mean more than people? Are we on the verge of drafting superintendents whose districts have the highest NECAP scores for our fantasy school systems? This might be fun for some, but for many kids it’s a disaster.

On Wednesday, October 2nd a number of folks from around the state met at Warwick City Hall to participate in a forum concerning the NECAP and standardized testing. Opinions were offered, PowerPoints were discussed and there was plenty of passion to go around.

But the big thing that occurred was that the general public got to participate. No two-minute time limits and audience members actually got responses to their questions. This allowed for lively discussion and an opportunity to hear both sides of the issue.

And guess what? We’re not done. Following the forum, numerous people came forward and requested that additional forums be conducted around the state. Sounds good to us.

At this time, Providence and Newport will be sites for future discussions and others will be added as requests come in. The Providence Student Union, the RI ALCU and other advocacy groups have done a wonderful job bringing this issue to the forefront. We believe that their concerns need to be discussed on a statewide level. In short, we are looking to take the discussion out of the Board room and bring it to Main Street. Stay tuned for further details.

October 7, 2013

Pensioners pay more taxes than hedge fund managers

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Regardless of whether you worship at the church of Rolling Stone or the Manhattan Institute, Matt Taibbi brings up a very good point about transferring wealth from local public sector retirees to hedge fund managers in his second critique of Rhode Island pension cuts.

Not only are states like Rhode Island paying millions in fees to outrageously expensive money managers, but those millions will be taxed at a rate far below what the teachers and police and sanitation workers who are being forced to swallow cuts in those states pay on their dwindling incomes. This is thanks in large part to a tax loophole preserved for years by cowardly Wall Street-supplicating politicians hailing, as Henn correctly notes, from both parties, Republican and Democrat.

Sam Bell, of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, tackles the part about Taibbi going soft on Democrats here:

Most out of state pundits forget this, but the legislature that so gleefully passed the pension cuts is the same legislature that passed a voter ID law. These are the people who gave us a D+ rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America–the worst of any solid blue state. It was these so-called Democrats who pushed through the steep 2006 tax cuts for the rich that blew up the budget in the first place. The top four leaders of the Democratic caucus in our state legislature–House Speaker Gordon Fox, Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed, House Majority Leader Nick Mattiello, and Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio–have each taken thousands of dollars from the NRA. And I believe those contributions were illegal. (The Board of Elections is still deliberating on my complaint.)

October 7, 2013October 7, 2013

PC Faculty Senate chides provost for Corvino cancelation

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Under the leadership of Dr. Fred K Drogula the Providence College’s Faculty Senate has passed a resolution by “an overwhelming majority” that takes to task Provost Hugh Lena’s recent cancellation of LGBTQ advocate and philosopher John Corvino’s scheduled talk at the college.

The resolution is a stirring defense of academic freedom, free inquiry, and LGBTQ person’s rights and dignity. The resolution reads:

Whereas, the Providence College Administration: cancelled an academic talk with no consultation with the organizer and used a non- existent college policy as justification;

publicly asserted that the organizing faculty member knowingly violated the non- existent policy:

publicly undermined the academic reputation of another faculty member without any consultation with said member as to her readiness to offer a response in the academic talk;

damaged the academic reputation of the college by portraying us as intolerant of our LBGTQQIAA students and unwilling to have an open discussion of these issues on campus;

by its actions have called into question academic freedom on this campus.

Resolved, the Faculty Senate demands the following: that the PC Administration publicly retract their decision and restore the academic talk according to the best judgment of the organizer, Dr. Christopher Arroyo, and his sponsors;

that the PC Administration publicly apologize to Dr. Corvino;

that the Administration abide by the Faculty Handbook statement on academic freedom at Providence College;

that the Administration work to restore the academic reputation of Providence College and the reputations of Professors Christopher Arroyo and Dana Dillon.

I recently called Providence College to task over this cancellation, publicly questioning whether or not an institution can be both religiously orthodox and maintain a dedication to free inquiry. Some objected to my analysis, suggesting that I was being religiously intolerant.

The passed resolution champions academic freedom over religious orthodoxy and in doing so seeks to refute the implication that Providence College’s professors are not up to the task of presenting cogent, scholarly arguments. I am glad to report that Providence College Faculty Senate has chosen to defend a “well rounded” over a “religious” education.