They can get away with this because of the crisis of and the financial sectors control over the political system. Their two political parties are bought body and soul by the capitalists and particularly the financial capitalists on Wall Street. Even after the near financial collapse of 2008/2009 the attempts to regulate the financial institutions have been blocked as these organizations have bribed the politicians. It is most likely that a new economic and financial catastrophe lies ahead.
At the same time as this goes on US capitalism is increasingly sinking into a military crisis. With insufficient soldiers to fight its wars and occupations there is increased discontent and questioning in its military. This will explode in the future. But even faced with this and the debt at home climbing higher and higher as they have to spend more and more on its wars and the military industrial complex they keep on with their efforts to invade and occupy country after country around the world and increase its planes, submarines, aircraft carriers and bases in all directions.
US Capitalism is in a complete mess.
As they face their debt crisis the debt of the states is urgently demanding an answer. The total states have a combined debt of around $400 billion. So they are going after the sectors of the states' spending that they think they can cut. Education is high on their target list. In California they are increasing university fees and cutting back on jobs. This is the pattern throughout the whole country. Tens and tens of thousands of teachers are being fired. Hundreds of thousands of students find they cannot afford to continue their education.
So this is what is happening; they are speculating with their capital in all sorts of get rich quick schemes, they are spending it on wars and invasions abroad, and at the same time they are cutting back on educating the country's youth which is an essential base for a healthy economy. Look at what Summers, the Obama regimes main economic adviser says. This is the same Summers, who was kicked out of the position as president of Harvard because he said women were not capable of studying the hard sciences. This is an insult to every woman in the country and abroad. This is who Obama takes into his regime. But that is another story. On the topic of the crisis in education he says 75% of the country's public schools are structurally deficient. That is they need major repair work or to be replaced. This is a catastrophe and a sign of the short sighted approach of US capitalism and how it is treating all the students and teachers and parents who use the public schools like dirt. How many aircraft carriers, submarines, fighter planes are structurally deficient. There is no chance.
The good sign is that young people and workers are fighting back. In California March 4th will see a strike and day of action in over 100 locations by students and workers against the increase in fees, against the attacks on education, for an expansion of the education system, demanding the rich pay for the crisis in the state's budget deficit and for education not incarceration.
In Oregon a few weeks ago there was initiative on the ballot to increase the tax on those earning over $250,000 per year, increase the tax on the corporations and to decrease the tax on the benefits of 270,000 unemployed. The increased revenue is to be used to defend education and deal with the budget crisis. This initiative was passed by a substantial majority. This is the way to go. Make the rich and the corporations pay for the crisis in their system. What is needed in California is for the March 4th movement to lead into a movement to increase the tax on the rich and the corporations, to tax oil and gas as it comes out of the ground and to use the income generated to solve the education and budget crisis.
Such a movement could be built on the March 4th committees which are organizing march 4th. These could come together with the forces that are working to rescind the undemocratic state law that demands a two thirds majority in initiatives and to pass laws that increase taxes. A mass popular movement could be built which could win as the struggle was won in Oregon.
This movement could mobilize hundreds of thousands. It would be important that such a movement would not then disappear into the sand. As this movement would be built the March 4th committees and the other bodies that are fighting against the two thirds undemocratic law should develop themselves and come together and lay the basis for a network throughout the state which could then build into a mass working class party, a mass working peoples party. Then some real change would be possible. Sean.
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