They have now moved on to pass a so called health bill. This hands over more hundreds of billions of dollars of working peoples taxes to the rich and the corporations. Specifically they have handed these billions to the the profit addicted privately owned sickness industrial complex. Apparently the Obama regime believes that every problem is to be be solved by taking money from the working peoples' taxes and giving it to the corporations and the rich.
Never before in the history of this country has so much wealth been transferred from working people to the corporations and the rich. Obama and his regime, the Democrats and the Republicans, they are corrupt representatives of the rich and the corporations. They see their role as to maintain the capitalist system the objective of which is to fill the pockets of the rich and the corporations and to do so by looting the income and resources of the working class and the poor. It is that simple and that brutal and that dirty.
The Obama regime, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, they must be seen for what they are. They are vicious slick corrupt representatives of the rich and the corporations, of capitalism. Working people must give no support to them under any condition instead must oppose them at every turn. Look at what these people have done in response to the movement to defend education in California.
This movement had state wide actions on March 4th to defend and expand public education, jobs and services and demand that the rich pay for the education and state budget crisis. These state wide actions were very successful. Their energy and the fact they took place in over 100 locations in the state and that similar actions took place in 27 other states got the attention of the class that runs this country and the attention of the Obama regime and the Republican and Democratic Parties which represents this class.
They wanted to send a message to this movement in response. Within two days they fired all the teachers and staff in the high school in Central Falls R.I., they announced the closure of 29 of 61 public schools in Kansas City, in state after state closures of public schools were announced. They were saying to the March 4th movement, we will give you nothing. They were throwing down the gauntlet to the movement. This needs to be recognized and the movement must respond to this.
It must do so by defiantly restating its demands, its defense of public education, its determination to make the rich pay for the education budget crises, the Obama regime must hear this. The movement must go onto the offensive and refuse to back down in any way. It should do so by moving to make the movement a more national movement. That the next day of struggle which now appears to be april 24th will have representatives from all over the country attend each others actions and make the movement a real national movement. Turn the April 24th actions into a real national action from which will be built a real national movement with a common program and an inclusive and democratic structure.
As referred to above alarmed by the March 4th events Obama and co struck back. One of their most vicious and dirty actions was their attack on Central Falls High school in R.I. Unlike what they did to the criminals of Wall street and the financial system whom they bailed out, unlike what they did to the sickness industrial complex to whom they have given hundreds of billions in subsidies, they fired all the hard working teachers and staff at Central Falls High School. This is a crime carried out by criminals in Washington. The difficulties in Central Falls high school are not ones of education. They are economic problems of the city and society in general, that is of capitalism.
Central Falls is the poorest city in the state of Rhode Island. 41% of children live in poverty. 63% of high school students qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Unemployment in this town of 19,000 is 13.8%. This town is an economic disaster. This is the reason why the education problems are so difficult. The problems are economic. They are poverty and unemployment. The town is an economic basket case.
This town is part of the US capitalist system. It is controlled and run by US capitalism and the local US capitalists and their Republican and Democratic Party flunkies. This system and their political representatives are responsible for the economic catastrophe in which working people live in this town. If anybody has failed it is the capitalists and their system. They and their capitalist system have failed Central Falls. But does the Obama regime and the Republicans and Democrats fire these capitalists and their system? Not at all. They are not interested in poverty and in the economic system except to make sure it is not blamed for its failures and crimes. So what do they do? These flunkies of capitalism pick out the hard working teachers and staff of the local high school and fire them all. Instead of blaming the real culprit, capitalism and the poverty and unemployment it produces, it fires the hard working teachers and staff, it makes them scapegoats.
Consider the Wall Street comparison again. Obviously the criminals who run Wall Street and the financial system in this country failed when their system had to be bailed out. But did Obama and co fire them all. No chance. Instead they were bailed out, given trillions of dollars of tax payers money. How come Obama and co does not take billions of dollars and invest this in well paid jobs and education in Central Falls? How come they do not take money and invest it in the town to create well paid jobs with good benefits and hire more teachers and staff. No, when it comes to public education they do not hand over money like they did to the Wall Street criminals. They do not take money and invest it in more schools and teachers and education resources. They do not take money and invest it in well paid jobs with good benefits. Instead they fire all the teachers and staff.
The organizers of this blog are unconditionally opposed to any action being taken against the teachers and staff of Central Falls High School. We stand for them all to be reinstated at their jobs. These teachers and staff are not responsible for the problems of education in their school. And not only that. Where are these teachers to get other jobs? How are they going to pay their mortgages? Obama and his slick greedy nauseating crowd of capitalists in his regime do not care about this. To add insult to injury apparently the school district has offered councilling to the fired teachers and staff.
Obama and his regime must be made to back off. The trade union leaders have the power to do this. However the response of the trade union leaders to the firings in Central Falls and to the post march 4th offensive of the Obama regime has been an absolute betrayal and scandal. They have done nothing. They should have gone to the entire union membership, compared the Obama regimes response to the Wall Street criminals to the hard working teachers at Central Falls and called out the entire working class movement in action in support of the Central Falls teachers and staff. Instead they keep bootlicking the Obama regime. They spent hundreds of millions of union members money to elect this slick capitalist politician and his Democratic Party and they continue to support him. The union leaders have forfeited the right to lead. They must be removed and replaced with a leadership that is prepared to defend the trade union membership and working people as a whole. Such a movement must recognize that working people in this country must give no support to the Democrats or Republicans, both are parties of the corporations and their corrupt capitalist system, working people need our own party which represents our own interests.
The movement to defend public education in California, the movements all over the country to defend public education must rise to the defense of Central Falls and link the teachers and staff and students there with the developing national movement to defend education.
Look at what some of the teachers and students in Central Falls are saying. We must link with these workers and students and give them our help. These workers must be supported. Teacher Frank Delbonsing says: '"I leave here at 6, 7, at night working with kids, coaching, getting lesson plans, doing interactive literacy. That is what people do not see." The school's French teacher says, "It makes you feel like all your expertise, all that you know, any degree you might have had is worthless. I've never been fired from anything and to be fired is devastating."
These statements from these teachers are heartbreaking. Not that Obama and his education secretary Duncan with their huge salaries and secure jobs will care. The teachers and staff of Central Falls are just so much pieces of dirt to them.
Listen to what a young student who recently graduated from Central Falls had to say. Theresa Agonia, 18, now a freshman at Roger William University in Bristol R.I., one of dozens of former students who have returned to the high school to give their support to the teachers and staff stated, "I feel like they are saying my education, my certificate is worth nothing. These teachers mean a lot to me. They did not turn their back on me and I won't turn my back on them." A 17 year old student at Central Falls whose mother works long hours in a factory says," My teachers are there for me. They push me forward." This is what the students think of the people that the Obama./Duncan regime are firing.
The organizers of this blog appeal to the movement to defend public education to make an extraordinary effort to link with the teachers, staff and students and former students of Central Falls. Let us take up their struggle. Let us make it part of the nation wide struggle to defend public education, to expand public education and all services and to make the rich pay for the crisis in budgets in education and in the country in general.
Sean.
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