Check out the new article on www.houstonpeacecouncil.com on the protest we held today in solidarity with the peace activists repressed by the FBI.

By James Thompson

A Texas judge sentenced former U.S. Congressperson Tom DeLay to 3 years in prison for conspiring to launder and direct some $190,000 in corporate contributions to Texas Republican candidates in 2002. DeLay was also known as the “Hammer” for his unscrupulous misuse of power in manipulating the U.S. Congress to uphold the interests of the most wealthy in this country.

Many Texans are asking “What took you so long?” and would just like to see the disgraced Congressperson get his just due.

His attorneys are, of course, appealing his conviction.

Texans and other interested parties will just have to wait as the justice system carefully considers what is the least punishment they can mete out to Mr. DeLay without arousing the working people who were his victims when he was in Congress.

Some may ask why it is that such a corporate criminal gets such lenient treatment by the justice system when poor working people get the book thrown at them for minor offenses. Perhaps we should ask “what is the purpose of the criminal justice system?” Is it to protect working people or corporate interests?

PHill1917@comcast.net

By James Thompson

HOUSTON – According to a Houston Chronicle article, Houston Mayor Annise Parker has mounted an attack on city workers pensions. Firefighters, police officers and municipal employees are the targets in a budget cutting move which follows in the footsteps of the previous Mayor, Bill White. Both White and Parker are Democrats. One of the first things White did when he took office was to slash the city worker’s pensions.

Parker will apparently take her case to the Texas legislature. The Texas legislature should be fertile grounds for her since a “supermajority” of Republicans were elected this last election cycle. Parker maintains that the firefighter pensions are “unsustainable”.

Of course, there is disagreement with the Mayor’s hysteria over worker’s pensions and some maintain that the burden on the city budget is exaggerated.

Firefighters argue that the nature of their job increases the risk of serious medical and health problems and an adequate pension is necessary to compensate the workers for the risks they take to protect the public.

Some maintain that the firefighter’s pension is the last city pension to provide a reasonable retirement.

All of this occurs in the context of the much ballyhooed Texas budget shortfall ($20 billion by some estimates) which will certainly capture the attention of the hysterical GOP supermajority which will seize control in Austin in the next legislative session.

One must wonder if Mayor Parker, while trying to emulate the “Grinch that Stole Christmas”, has considered any alternative to this robbing the poor to pay the rich scheme.

Houston is the home of some of the largest corporations in the world. The city has some of the largest neighborhoods of ultra-wealthy people in the world. The city is full of gigantic banks and mega-churches. All are reaping unprecedented profits in the current economic catastrophe.

Has anyone considered for a moment the possibility of making these corporations, individuals and organizations pay their fair share of taxes? If these parasites on the people were contributing to the good of the city and its workers, there would be no question that the valiant firefighters who risk their lives to save the leeches when their gigantic homes and office buildings are on fire would have a decent retirement.

Has anyone considered how much Texas tax dollars are being spent on slaughtering working people in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as many other places around the world? If these tax dollars were being spent on us, we would not have a budget shortfall.

Has anyone considered that the tax cuts for the wealthy only swell the budget shortfall?

Has anyone considered that the bailouts for corporations and banks only swell the budget shortfall?

Has anyone considered that rising unemployment reduces the tax base and contributes to the budget shortfall?

Perhaps the firefighters should consider reducing their efforts to save the fat cats by the same amount the fat cats reduce their pensions. Perhaps the police officers and city workers should consider such a tactic as well. As their houses burn to the ground, the wealthy might ask themselves “Maybe I should have paid a little more in taxes?”

You get what you pay for is what we have been taught all our lives.

PHill1917@comcast.net

By James F. Harrington

AUSTIN, Texas – I attended the eleventh annual March To Abolish The Death Penalty on Saturday, October 30, 2010 at the Texas state capitol in Austin. About 500 people participated in the rally.

Our contingent met at the S.H.A.P.E. center in Houston at nine in the morning. We were scheduled to take a bus to Austin, but the vehicle broke down. Therefore we carpooled in five cars to make the trip.

We took Highway 71 to Austin, which is a very scenic route. We stopped off at a small variety store which is known for their German sweets.

After a safe drive to Austin, we arrived right in front of the capitol building which was having some repair to its dome.

We got parking spaces right across the street from the capitol.

There was quite a good attendance and the weather was simply wonderful!

Special guests included exonerated death row prisoners, including Custis McCarthy, 21 years in Oklahoma; Derrick Jamison, 17 years in Ohio; Greg Wilhoit, five years in Oklahoma; Shujaa Graham, three years in California; Ron Keine, two years in New Mexico.

All spent time on death row for crimes they did not commit!

After most of the speakers spoke, we all marched down the street to Fifth Street, chanting our abolition slogans. Then we marched back to the state house to listen to the remaining speakers.

After the last speaker had spoken at the rally,everyone packed up all their equipment and headed off to their home towns.

Our group stopped off at an Mexican restaurant in Austin for some good Mexican food and comradeship.

Finally, we all headed back to Houston after a long day of activism on behalf of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Texas.

“If you tremble with indignation at every injustice,
then you are a comrade of mine!”
~Che Guevara

Come meet with
Jarvis Tyner
Executive Vice Chair CPUSA
On 11/14/10
From 1pm to 4pm
At
The Houston Institute for Culture
708C Telephone Road
Houston, Texas 77023
Sponsored by
CPUSA Houston

Jarvis Tyner will discuss with us the 2010 elections and their impact on working class progress with a particular focus on the struggle for African American equality and the fight against racism. Mr. Tyner is currently Executive Vice Chair of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and is a member of the national coordinating committee of the Black Radical Congress. He ran for Vice President of the USA in 1972 and 1976 with Gus Hall on the CPUSA ticket. Raised in Philadelphia, he was a member of the Amalgamated Lithographers and Teamsters Union there. He has authored numerous articles and pamphlets on issues of civil rights, peace and working class struggles.

Here is a collection of articles on BP Texas City written since 2005.

http://www.peoplesworld.org/bp-cost-cutting-caused-worker-deaths/

http://www.peoplesworld.org/bp-s-texas-city-refinery-leads-nation-in-deaths/

http://www.peoplesworld.org/bp-weighed-costs-of-refinery-blast/

http://www.peoplesworld.org/bp-plant-cited-as-worst-polluter/

http://www.peoplesworld.org/nationalize-bp/

http://www.peoplesworld.org/bp-hit-with-record-21-million-fine/

http://www.peoplesworld.org/-they-are-killing-people-for-money/

http://www.peoplesworld.org/texans-grapple-with-pollution-chemical-hazards/

http://www.peoplesworld.org/texans-slam-privatization/

Check out this link

http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/glenn-w-smith-attacks-on-voting-rights.html