By Houston Communist Party

Republicans and their Tea Party sycophants have laid down a challenge to the working class never before seen in history. They are calling for a roll back in education, health care, law enforcement and any other public services which benefit all economic classes of our country. It is quite literally a “War on the workers” as illustrated by the song written by Anne Feeney. Meanwhile, we are embarking on another imperialist war in Libya.

To their credit, some of the ultra-right Tea Partiers and Libertarians have opposed these aggressive wars in the Middle East.

After 8 years of imperialist wars in the Middle East, most people understand that these wars are only for the benefit of the corporations and ultra-wealthy class. Profits for the wealthy have been skyrocketing while the working class has taken it on the chin as a result of these aggressive wars.

Real wages of working people have been stagnant since the 1970s. Higher education has been rolled back with extraordinary tuition hikes and cuts in research funds. Public education is under assault by the right wing like never seen before. Right wingers are proposing to increase class size and increase the emphasis on testing. Such test scores are easily manipulated and can be used effectively to harass teachers, reduce their wages and terminate them.

Massive demonstrations against the draconian budget cuts have been seen across the country. Little response has been seen from the right wing other than to ramp up the attack.

The working class has started the fight back. One push back needs to be on the legislative level.
One such push could involve demanding that the Federal Government levy a tax on the ultra-wealthy and corporations who have benefitted from the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya. Our government could impose an immediate tax on all individuals, groups and corporations who have benefitted from military activity in the Middle East.

We would propose a 90% tax on the ill-gotten gains that individuals, corporations and any other organizations have reaped from the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. This might include military contractors, munitions manufacturers, and private mercenary companies for a start. These funds could be used to fully fund public education, universal health care and support other vital social services beneficial for all classes of people. A 10% profit rate on blood and stolen resources as well as geopolitical posturing is extremely generous and more sensible people may want to scale this back. Any profit on the murder of the soldiers of our armed forces as well as the murder of innocent working people overseas may be seen as unfair by working people throughout the globe.

It was recently pointed out that GE reaped $14 billion in profits last year and paid no taxes. This is not an isolated incident. So far, the wars have cost the U.S. well over $1 trillion. It is time that working people demand that services that benefit the working class should be fully funded. Working people should fight with all their collective might the funding for aggressive wars in sovereign nations overseas.
We may not be fond of some dictator overseas, but it is not our business to intervene and try to push revolutionary change to benefit the interests of the U.S.A. Some people overseas may not be exactly pleased with the leadership of the U.S.A. now or in the past. Would it be OK for a foreign country to intervene in the affairs of our nation? We think not. Each country must pursue its own historical development and this should be possible without the intervention of a powerful nation seeking to impose its own needs on a smaller country.

cpusahouston@comcast.net

CPUSA Member/ Harlem Renaissance Poet Langston Hughes wrote a workers’ song entitled ” One more ‘S’ in the U. S. A.”

Excerpt:

Oh, the bankers they all are planning
For another great big war.
To make them rich from the workers’dead,
That’s all that war is for.
So if you don’t want to see bullets holding sway
Then come on, all you workers,
And join our fight today.

Chorus:

Put one more S in the U.S.A.
To make it Soviet.
One more S in the U.S.A.
Oh, we’ll live to see it yet.
When the land belongs to the farmers
And the factories to the working men —
The U. S. A. when we take control
Will be U. S. S. A. then.

weather advisory

when rain is
the subject of
prayer in places
where drought
and famine are
accompanied by
injustice
war
the dishonoring
of women
corruption in all
places
cracks in empires
barely known yet
too well known……..

when prayers
for rain are uttered
in such circumstances
such times
expect a thunderstorm
of sand….and i’ll
have more on my
forecast at eleven
and all other
hours day and night
without stop.

berkeley ca
ides of march 2011

gary hicks
longmarch2009@yahoo.com

In spite of the unending ideological brainwashing promulgated by the U.S. corporate media, many residents of this great nation are waking up and recognizing the abuses of working people here.

In a recent Rasmussen poll, 11% of likely U.S. voters think communism is superior to the current U.S. system of politics and economics. 13 % were not sure which system is superior. 27 % did not believe that communism is a failed ideology.

Given the lies and distortions about communism which have become the mainstays of the mass consciousness, this is truly amazing. The corporate media has portrayed communism as something worse than a nuclear meltdown. However, it appears that in reality the real nuclear meltdown in Japan which threatens the very existence of life on the planet may be attributed to the capitalists who chose to cheap it on the construction of the doomed facilities in order to increase profits for the wealthy of the planet.

More working people need to wake up and realize that the corporate media has been deceiving them and turning them against themselves. Only with a party dedicated to defending working class struggles, can working people save our planet from the ravages of capitalism. That party is not the Democratic Party. It is not various Social Democratic Parties. It is the Communist Party!

cpusahouston@comcast.net

http://www.latinocongreso.org/

March 25-27, 2011
Crowne Plaza, Austin, Texas

A newly released documentary will be featured at the National Latino Congreso in Austin, Texas

Saturday, March 26th at 8:00 p.m.

“Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up!”

Produced by Emmy-Award Winner Saul Landau will be featured at the upcoming Congreso Latino. Nelson Valdés, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico and one of the many people interviewed in the documentary will be present at the screening to respond to any questions by the audience (see brief bio below)

WHAT DID CUBA DO TO US?

In April 1961, the CIA sent a force of Cuban exiles to overthrow the Cuban government. This resulted in the Bay of Pigs Fiasco. Fifty years later, a new documentary shows that US-backed violence against Cuba continued for decades. The new film, with Danny Glover, anti-Cuba terrorists, and Fidel Castro himself (filmed recently) is combined with fascinating archival footage and a rare recorded interview from prison with one of the Cuban 5. These men are serving long sentences in US prisons for trying to stop terrorism against tourist sites in their country.

“Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up!” provides every professor and specialist with an invaluable teaching and learning tool about US-Cuba policy and the history of terrorism in that policy. It also explains the story of and context for the “Cuban 5,” the Cuban agents who penetrated Miami exile groups to stop their plans for violence against the island, and ended up in US prisons.” Julia Sweig, Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“It’s a real Who’s Who of key figures in the more than half-century-long grudge match over Cuba.” Tracey Eaton former Dallas Morning News’ Bureau Chief, Havana

Brief biography of Nelson Valdés: Cuban by birth, Professor Nelson Valdés first came to the US at age 15 and has maintained continuous contacts with family and associates on the island since then. In 1970 he was the first to translate the speeches of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara into English. He has written extensively on the politics and development in Cuba, Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America. Professor Valdés is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico and the creator and Director of the first university computerized database on Latin America, the LATIN AMERICA DATA BASE which he directed from 1986-1996. He also created the Cuba-L listserver in 1992 which continues to run on a daily basis. Nelson Valdés is considered by other Cuba experts to be the living Encyclopedia on Cuba and US-Cuba relations.

Check out:

http://groups.google.com/group/communist-university/web/anti-imperialism-war-and-peace—index

By James Thompson

As the catastrophe unfolds as a result of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a question emerges about the ownership of nuclear power plants in particular and utility companies in general. Given the as yet unknown horrors which will undoubtedly result from the damage to the three nuclear reactors near the giant metropolis of Tokyo, the world must consider the wisdom of such dangerous enterprises being under the control of privately held companies. The nuclear reactors in question are owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).

The TEPCO corporate overview statement written before the present calamity makes note that one of their power stations remains closed since it was damaged in 2007. The statement also complains that market competition has made it difficult for the company to operate.

Anyone in their right mind knows that nuclear reactors are not toys with which to play. Gambling on humanity’s future and the survival of people living in the vicinity of such facilities is a crime against humanity. Many anti-nuclear activists argue that reactors are too dangerous to be reliable sources of energy for human beings. This incident proves their point.

It is outrageous for such facilities to be in the hands of corporations whose primary goal is not the safety of people, but the amassing of continually expanding profits. As profits fall during times of crisis, corporations cut more and more corners by reducing personnel and slashing safety standards in order to increase profits.

Reports also indicate that the reactors were designed by the multinational corporation General Electric. Again, a private company designing such a facility is truly frightening. As corporations compete with each other for lucrative contracts, the company that can undercut all the others is likely to win. This means lowering safety standards, reducing staff, etc. to increase the profit margin.

We are seeing a lot of global catastrophes these days as a result of this privatization of energy companies and their Hell-bent drive for profits. The BP catastrophes in the Gulf of Mexico and Texas City are two such examples. It is reported that there have been upwards of 800 earthquakes in North Central Arkansas over the last six months which some experts attribute to unbridled natural gas companies’ explorations there.

The safety of human beings and other inhabitants of the world should take precedence over corporate profits. Also, it should be remembered that many humans invest their life savings in such corporate monsters. When catastrophes like the ones mentioned above occur, those people who have invested their money find themselves in poverty after a life of hard work, a frugal lifestyle and careful investing in powerful corporations.

What is needed is a mass movement for the nationalization of utility and energy companies on an international scale. UN oversight and regulation should be implemented to ensure the safest possible conditions for humans and other species living on our very fragile globe. Maximum safety regulations and enforcement of such dangerous industries should be maintained as well as funding for research for the development of such industries and the development of alternative sources of fuel and conservation.

How many more BP, TEPCO, GE and other corporate madness inspired apocalypses will be necessary to put humanity on a sane path to a safe, clean environment? How many more disasters can we, as global residents, survive? What will it take to break the stranglehold that corporations have on our lives and the lives of our children? Fightback must begin now and on a global scale if humanity is to survive the ravages of capitalism!

PHill1917@comcast.net