Michael Moore | President Obama, Please Come to Flint 
Michael Moore, Michael Moore's Blog Moore writes: "This week it was revealed that at least 10 people in Flint have now been killed by the actions of the Governor of Michigan." READ MORE
A World Divided: Elites Descend on Swiss Alps Amid Rising Inequality Ben Hirschler and Noah Barkin, Reuters Excerpt: "Just 62 people, 53 of them men, own as much wealth as the poorest half of the entire world population and the richest 1 percent own more than the other 99 percent put together, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said on Monday." READ MORE
Growing income inequality has been in focus in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial
crisis. (photo: Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images)
oliticians and business leaders gathering in the Swiss Alps this week face an increasingly divided world, with the poor falling further behind the super-rich and political fissures in the United States, Europe and the Middle East running deeper than at any time in decades.
Just 62 people, 53 of them men, own as much wealth as the poorest half of the entire world population and the richest 1 percent own more than the other 99 percent put together, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said on Monday.
Significantly, the wealth gap is widening faster than anyone anticipated, with the 1 percent overtaking the rest one year earlier than Oxfam had predicted only a year ago.
Rising inequality and a widening trust gap between people and their political leaders are big challenges for the global elite as they converge on Davos for the annual World Economic Forum, which runs from Jan. 20 to 23.
But the divisions go far beyond those that exist between the haves and have-nots. In the Middle East, the divide between Shi'ites and Sunnis has reached crisis point, with Iran and Saudi Arabia jostling openly for influence in a region reeling from war and the barbarism of Islamic extremists.
The conflicts there have spilled over into Europe, causing deep ideological rifts over how to handle the worst refugee crisis since World War Two and - with Britain threatening to leave the European Union - raising doubts about the future of Europe's six-decade push towards ever closer integration.
The shock emergence of Donald Trump as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination has exposed a gaping political divide in the United States, stirring anxiety among Washington's allies at a time of global turmoil.
Among the key figures in Davos, will be U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of both Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Canada's new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be on hand, as will Britain's David Cameron and Mario Draghi at a time when a new transatlantic monetary policy divide is opening up between his loosening European Central Bank and a tightening U.S. Federal Reserve.
Celebrities will also be out in force, including film stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Kevin Spacey.
FUELLING POPULISTS
Edelman's annual "Trust Barometer" survey shows a record gap this year in trust between the informed publics and mass populations in many countries, driven by income inequality and divergent expectations of the future. The gap is the largest in the United States, followed by the UK, France and India.
"The consequence of this is populism - exemplified by Trump and Le Pen," Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman, told Reuters, referring to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose National Front has surged ahead of traditional parties in opinion polls.
The next wave of technological innovation, dubbed the fourth industrial revolution and a focus of the Davos meeting, threatens further social upheaval as many traditional jobs are lost to robots.
The Oxfam report suggests that global inequality has reached levels not seen in over a century.
Last year, the organisation has calculated, 62 individuals had the same wealth as 3.5 billion people, or the bottom half of humanity. The wealth of those 62 people has risen 44 percent, or more than half a trillion dollars, over the past five years, while the wealth of the bottom half has fallen by over a trillion.
"Far from trickling down, income and wealth are instead being sucked upwards at an alarming rate," the report says.
It points to a "global spider's web" of tax havens that ensures wealth stays out of reach of ordinary citizens and governments, citing a recent estimate that $7.6 trillion of individual wealth - more than the combined economies of Germany and the UK - is currently held offshore.
"It's a major wake-up call," said Jyrki Raina, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, which represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors. "Inequality is one of the biggest threats to economic well-being and it needs to be addressed."
U.S. President Barack Obama touched on the issue in his recent State of the Union address, noting that technological change was reshaping the planet.
"It's change that can broaden opportunity, or widen inequality. And whether we like it or not, the pace of this change will only accelerate," he said.
"Companies in a global economy can locate anywhere, and face tougher competition...As a result, workers have less leverage for a raise. Companies have less loyalty to their communities. And more and more wealth and income is concentrated at the very top."
Why Did My Union Give an Early Endorsement to Hillary Clinton Over Bernie Sanders? John E. McElhenny II, In These Times McElhenny writes: "It's unfortunate that the national leaders of AFGE and a number of other unions have endorsed Hillary Clinton. Yet it becomes clearer with each passing day that union members support the candidate who best represents their interests. That candidate is Bernie Sanders." READ MORE
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton leads chief opponent Bernie Sanders in
endorsements from labor unions. She is shown at a town hall in Waterloo, Iowa, Dec. 9, 2015.
(photo: Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters)
he leadership of my union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), officially endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president on December 10. The endorsement came after union leadership had informed its members on November 17 that they would not make a presidential endorsement for at least two more months and without holding a membership vote.
Fifty-five rank-and-file union members from over 50 different AFGE locals signed on to a letter sent to AFGE leaders on November 16 that urged the union “to oppose an early primary endorsement for Hillary Clinton” and expressed support for Senator Bernie Sanders.
In response to the petition and the demand that the union refrain from issuing an early endorsement, National Vice President Gerald Swanke, from District 11, responded via email: "We're not. I don't expect an endorsement until at least the legislative conference."
The AFGE Legislative Conference of 2016 is scheduled for February 8, 2016. With the sense of urgency removed, many AFGE members began preparing to attend the conference to make the argument there to endorse Sanders.
Since AFGE's endorsement, I have reached out to over half a dozen staffers by phone and email at the district and national levels. I was able to reach one staff member and had the admin of the AFGE Facebook page respond to a comment or two, but other than that, my phone calls and emails have not been returned.
AFGE leadership appeared to pursue two paths to determine its endorsement. First, they sent out a questionnaire to all presidential candidates. Second, they conducted a poll of 800 members, which they refer to as the "gold standard" (it's not clear if this is 800 out of its 300,000 members or out of the 670,000 federal workers AFGE represents). Based on these results, AFGE’s National Executive Committee (NEC) then voted to endorse Hillary Clinton for president.
According to AFGE’s November/December 2015 issue of the Government Standard, the questionnaire was sent to all the presidential candidates, including Republicans, and only Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton responded in a timely manner. From the questionnaire, it was clear that Bernie stood with AFGE union members on every issue; Clinton, on the other hand, avoided giving direct answers to many of the questions, though she did proffer a few platitudes.
For example, when asked if they would oppose further pay freezes, retirement cuts or cuts to other benefits, Clinton responded that she would oppose “across-the-board arbitrary pay freezes, retirement cuts, or cuts to other employee benefits” (emphasis added). Bernie answered directly in strong support of union priorities with, “Yes. For far too long, the extreme right wing has demonized, belittled, and sought to destroy the federal workforce. That is wrong, that is unconscionable, and that has got to change.”
Regarding the Social Security Administration, Clinton stated that they needed to “keep defending” Social Security from “cuts and attacks,” while Sanders vowed that he will work “to expand, not cut, the SSA budget.”
As for the polling, according to the AFGE Facebook page, they polled 800 members. “We didn't come to the decision to endorse Secretary Clinton lightly,” a statement read. “We scientifically polled our membership and found that Clinton's support exceeded that of the closest candidate by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
After further inquiry and requests for more information, the union posted the following:
The scientific polled used a sample size of 800 respondents, contacted via phone – the gold standard on which all national polls are conducted. To get results that reflected the makeup of our membership, we had to make thousands more calls. Of our representative membership sample, 53% of members said they would vote for the Democratic candidate and 27% said they would vote for the Republican candidate, while 26% said they would vote for either. Of those who chose a democratic candidate, 42% said they would vote for Hillary Clinton while Bernie Sanders garnered 25%, with the remainder spread across other candidates, ‘won’t vote,’ or ‘undecided.’
Of those who said they would vote for a republican candidate, 18% chose Ben Carson, while 17% chose Donald Trump, with the remainder spread across other candidates, ‘won’t vote,’ or ‘undecided.’
Within the first hours of the AFGE's release, the union’s Facebook page was filled with statements in support of Sanders. Within days of the news, the Facebook page “AFGE for Bernie” nearly tripled its membership.
Breaking down the polling numbers, out of over 300,000 dues-paying members, assuming these are who were polled, AFGE contacted 800 members. Out of these 800 members, 424 said conclusively that they would vote for a Democrat. Of those 424, 178 said they would vote for Clinton while 106 said they would vote for Sanders—not at all the “2 to 1 margin” AFGE claimed in their initial release. The AFGE leadership apparently believes that a poll of 800 people with only 22% supporting Hillary Clinton is enough to make an endorsement for their entire union.
Why did AFGE's leadership feel this urgency to endorse so quickly after so many members made it clear they wanted to endorse Sanders or wait to endorse? Why not hold an actual membership vote like the Communication Workers of America (CWA) conducted? The CWA’s decision to endorse Bernie Sanders followed a “three-month democratic process, including hundreds of worksite meetings and an online vote by tens of thousands of CWA members on which candidate to endorse.” These questions should be answered by our union's leadership.
In the meantime, the rank-and-file AFGE members refuse to be silenced. We are standing firmly behind Bernie Sanders. Less than a week after the national AFGE announcement, AFGE Local 3360 in New York endorsed Bernie Sanders for president.
It's unfortunate that the national leaders of AFGE and a number of other unions have endorsed Hillary Clinton. Yet it becomes clearer with each passing day that union members support the candidate who best represents their interests. That candidate is Bernie Sanders.
COMMENT:
I totally agree. My union, the AFT, endorsed Hillary after what they said was a "poll". Nobody asked me. And the League of Conservation Voters did the same thing. Hillary is a machine, not an idea.
Jails Refuse to Hold Immigrants for Feds Morgan Smith and Jay Root, The Texas Tribune Excerpt: "More than 18,000 times over the past two years, local jails across the country have failed to hand over deportable immigrants to federal authorities, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement records." READ MORE
Sexual Violence Isn't Just a College Problem. It Happens in K-12 Schools, Too. Emma Brown, The Washington Post Brown writes: "There has been a sharp rise in the number of federal civil rights complaints alleging that K-12 schools have mishandled reports of sexual violence." READ MORE
The End of Impunity in El Salvador? Michael Busch, teleSUR Busch writes: "Former members of a U.S.-trained death squad in El Salvador may finally face justice after massacring 6 priests and two women 26 years ago." READ MORE
Martin Luther King and the Call to Direct Action on Climate Change Joe Romm and Van Jones Jan, Think Progress Excerpt: "The greater the moral crisis, the more King's words apply. The greatest moral crisis of our time is the threat posed to billions - and generations yet unborn - from unrestricted carbon pollution." READ MORE
