[Marxism-Thaxis] Change
PROMISES, PROMISES: Early Katrina praise for Obama By BEN EVANS and BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press Writers Ben Evans And Becky Bohrer, Associated Press Writers 1 hr 55 mins ago WASHINGTON – As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama pledged to right the wrongs he said bogged down efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Seven months into the job, he's earning high praise from some unlikely places. Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., says Obama's team has brought a more practical and flexible approach. Many local officials offer similar reviews. Even Doug O'Dell, former President George W. Bush's recovery coordinator, says the Obama administration's "new vision" appears to be turning things around. Not too long ago, Jindal said in a telephone interview, Louisiana governors didn't have "very many positive things" to say about the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But Jindal said he had a lot of respect for the current FEMA chief, Craig Fugate, and his team. "There is a sense of momentum and a desire to get things done," the governor said. Added O'Dell: "I think the results are self-evident." The retired Marine general served what he calls a frustrating stint as Bush's recovery coordinator last year. "What people have said to me is that for whatever reason, problems that were insurmountable under previous leadership are getting resolved quickly," O'Dell said. "And I really hate to say that because (the top FEMA leaders) in my time there were good, hardworking, earnest men, but they were also the victims of their own bureaucracy." It's not that Obama has miraculously mended the Gulf Coast since Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005. The storm killed more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi and caused more than $40 billion in property damage. Hurricane Rita followed nearly a month later, with billions of dollars in additional damage and at least 11 more deaths. On the fourth anniversary of Katrina, many communities remain broken, littered with boarded-up houses and overgrown vacant lots. Hundreds of projects — including critical needs such as sewer lines, fire stations and a hospital — are entangled in the bureaucracy or federal-local disputes over who should pick up the tab. Like Bush, Obama has critics who say he's not moving aggressively enough. Chris Kromm, director of the Institute for Southern Studies, an advocacy group, said the coast is "still waiting for Washington to show leadership." In many areas, such as long-term coastal rehabilitation and rebuilding levees, it's too early to determine whether Obama will live up to the many promises he made. But on several fronts, there is evidence of progress. Victor Ukpolo, chancellor of Southern University at New Orleans, said the administration has been able to "move mountains" for his school, virtually wiped out by Katrina and the breached levees. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has visited the campus twice and awarded $32 million to replace four buildings. "It's really awesome," Ukpolo said. "There's been so much progress." Tommy Longo, mayor of Waveland, Miss., said it got so bad toward the end of Bush's tenure that "you almost couldn't get them to return a phone call, and you certainly weren't going to get them to make any big decisions." "It has been refreshing to be back working with people who are hungry and want to make a difference," said Longo, a Democrat. "Who knows, a few years from now, at the end of Obama's term it may be back to the same ol', same ol', but it is refreshing now." Obama backed up his pledge to name an experienced FEMA administrator by appointing Fugate, a career emergency management professional from Florida. By contrast, Bush's director was Michael Brown, a lawyer who worked at the International Arabian Horse Association. He resigned after Katrina. In half a year, Obama's team says it has cleared at least 75 projects that were in dispute, including libraries, schools and university buildings. The administration has embraced a new, independent arbitration panel for the most stubborn disputes, and assigned senior advisers to focus on the rebuilding. The administration recently reversed a FEMA rule that barred communities from building fire stations and other critical projects in vulnerable areas. Local officials said the rule could have effectively killed off some places. The Bush administration's flat-footed response to Katrina left a lasting stain on Bush's legacy, and the sluggish pace of the long-term recovery has drawn continued criticism. Local officials and civic leaders long have complained about the changing cast of FEMA representatives who review project worksheets and demand repeated inspections or additional paperwork. In some cases, agency workers have subtracted costs that local officials thought were settled. Along with battling red tape, community officials say FEMA often stubbornly refused to pay for work that should have qualified for federal aid. Under Bush, FEM
[Marxism-Thaxis] Change in mode of exploitation
WL: This is not true because bourgeois property does not arise on the basis of private property but rather on the basis of a certain stage in the development of the productive forces - commodity production, that compels a change in the form of private property. Private property exists before bourgeois property, which is the "final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products that is based on class antagonisms on the exploitation of the many by the few." CB: Commodity production exists before the bourgeoisie , too. It exists on the "periphery" of pre-capitalist societies , where the predominant mode of production is not commodity production. Commodithy production does not arise , as you say, "on the basis of a certain stage in the development of the productive forces. " Commodity production as a predominant tendency in the mode of production , (including qualitatively new: labor power existing as a commodity), develops out of the class struggles of feudalism, evidently especially in the countryside of Britain. This predominant tendency defined in _Capital_ has always existed in contradiction with various recurring specially oppressed or unfree commodity productive sectors or segments, such as slavery, indentured servants, jim crow sharecropping, colonial fascist oppressed, etc. ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] Change to Win endorses Obama
Change to Win endorses Obama Search WWW Search pww.org Archive Online eXtra Author: John Wojcik People's Weekly World Newspaper, 02/22/08 14:26 Citing his promise to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and saying that it is time for the race for the Democratic presidential nomination to end, the seven union, six million member Change to Win federation, on Feb. 21, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama. In a telephone conference with reporters, CtW Chair Anna Burger said the federation acted now, essentially, to push Obama to wins in the coming primaries, including Texas and Ohio. “One reason we endorsed now is because we think we can make a difference,” Burger said. “It’s time to bring this process to a close. There’s a movement building here and the winds of change are blowing for Barack Obama, and it could possibly be time for (Hillary Clinton) to recognize they’re blowing for him. We’re hoping to get to that point sooner rather than later.” “Obama’s stands on trade, on achieving the American Dream and on the war in Iraq – he was against it even while in the Illinois state senate before entering the U.S. Senate – really resonated with our members,” Burger continued. “NAFTA passed when Bill Clinton was president,” Burger said, referring to the trade pact that labor opposed at the time and maintains today is the cause of millions of job losses. "We have seen and lived through the impact of bad trade policies on working families in this country,” Burger said. Obama has said often that, if elected, he would tell the Mexican president and the Canadian prime minister that NAFTA would have to be re-negotiated. The CtW endorsement means that four of its seven unions – SEIU, UFCW, Teamsters and UNITE HERE – are joining forces now to make phone calls, leaflet and canvass in the upcoming primary states. The Laborers and Carpenters have yet to complete their internal canvassing while the seventh CtW union, the Farmworkers, endorsed Clinton. “But they’re comfortable with our decision,” Burger said. Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas vote March 4. Pennsylvania votes April 22. The biggest impact of the CtW endorsement may be in Ohio where Burger said CtW already has staffers on the ground and where member unions are mobilizing in different cities. CtW unions have 175,000 members in Ohio and Burger said the federation intends to get 110,000 votes for Obama out of that total. CtW unions have 60,000 members in Texas and 20,000 in Rhode Island. ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] Change from the bottom up
Production Mode Ode Maybe the Gulf oil disaster will force some changes, from the bottom up in a sense not thought of. The relations of production have become a fetter on the forces of production. They have to be burst asunder like the pipeline has burst asunder. Charles ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Change in mode of exploitation
CB: Commodithy production does not arise, as you say, "on the basis of a certain stage in the development of the productive forces." WL: Really. This is what I wrote and you quote: "bourgeois property does not arise on the basis of private property but rather on the basis of a certain stage in the development of the productive forces - commodity production, that compels a change in the form of private property." 1) "bourgeois property does not arise" means to me bourgeois property rather than the rise of commodity production. We are most certainly in agreement that the commodity form exists thousands of years before bourgeois property. What the quoted sentence means is: "Bourgeois property . . . arise . . . on the basis of a certain stage in the development of the productive forces - commodity production, that compels a change in the form of private property." Waistline ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
