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Socialist Action is a nation-wide group of revolutionary socialists.  We fight for a society organized to satisfy human needs, rather than corporate greed. We seek to revitalize the anti-war, labor, student and other social movements, and to bring activists together from different backgrounds into a revolutionary party that can successfully challenge the wealthy elite. As socialists we seek to understand the theory of Marxism, but as an activist group, we also seek to put those ideas into practice.  Join us in the struggle to make a better world!   

 

 

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 Turning the Haitian Crisis Into an Occupation:  After a 7.0 earthquake hit the Haitian capital of Port au Prince on Jan. 12, U.S. President Barack Obama solemnly told the Haitian people two days later, “In this hour of need you will not be forsaken.” The quake was a catastrophe that may rival the deadly tsunami of 2004. At press time, the death toll is estimated at 200,000, and the number of affected or displaced persons is perhaps as high as 3 million to 3.5 million out of Haiti’s population of nine million.  continued

 

 Supreme Court Opens Door to Mumia’s Execution:  In a dangerous decision and a break with its own precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court, on Jan. 15, opened the door wide to Pennsylvania prosecutors’ efforts to execute the innocent political prisoner, murder frame-up victim, award-winning journalist, and world-renowned “Voice of the Voiceless,” Mumia Abu-Jamal.  continued

 

 U.S. Brokers Sham Accord at Copenhagen:  Given the greatly lowered expectations thrust upon us by world leaders in advance, it came as no surprise that the outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December did not include mandatory, binding, and enforceable greenhouse gas emission reductions. Thus, action was delayed once again.  continued

 

 The Health ‘Reform’ Bill:  On Nov. 7 the House of Representatives passed a health-care “reform” bill whose central plank was a massive giveaway to private insurers. It included a “public option” plan that would compete in an insurance exchange dominated by the profiteers, and would cover only a fraction of the number projected in earlier versions of the bill.  continued

 

 Civilian Casualties Soar in Afghanistan:  This month, the first members of President Obama’s call-up of 30,000 military reinforcements are being transported to Afghanistan. Foreign military strength in the country is scheduled to swell to about 140,000 troops by summer, including about 98,000 from the United States.  continued

 

 Activists Try to Break the Siege of Gaza:  At year’s end almost 1400 activists from 43 countries gathered in Cairo with the intention of marching on the border with Gaza to try to break Israel’s genocidal siege. Timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Israel’s massacres, the Gaza Freedom March (GFM) sought to draw attention to the continuing trauma, hunger, unemployment, and homelessness facing Palestinians in Gaza. At the same time, George Galloway’s third Viva Palestina convoy was wending its way toward Gaza.  continued

 

 Death Squads Unleashed in Honduras:  The human-rights situation in Honduras is getting progressively worse, with reports detailing a right-wing offensive that includes not just harassment but kidnapping, torture, and murder. The international spotlight that shined on Honduras after the coup against democratically elected President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya has now disappeared, and the right wing that has traditionally controlled the country is now free to pursue leftists and pro-democracy activists without fear of bad press.  continued

 

 Obama Escalates Afghan War:  Obama’s muted but substantial escalation of the war in Afghanistan shows exactly why the decisive section of American big business decided to turn the helm of their system over to him. The new flavor is “Bush lite.” That is, it is a continuation of the same policies that are characteristic of U.S. capitalism in decline but with an attempt to appear more flexible and collaborative with U.S. allies. continued

 

 U.S. Occupation of Iraq has Achieved Chaos & Ruin:  As the U.S. administration debates escalating its war in Afghanistan, more and more shocking stories are coming out about the extent of the ruin the U.S.-led war has created in Iraq. And they also give an indication of why it is so difficult for the U.S. government to get out of what is clearly becoming a deepening abyss in Afghanistan. Moreover, and what is worse from the standpoint of ruling rich, it is one from which U.S. capitalism as a whole can extract little profit since Afghanistan has no oil. continued

 

 Antiwar Mov’t. Protests Obama’s War Escalation: President Barack Obama’s nationally televised speech on Dec. 1 at the West Point Military Academy announcing that 30,000 more U.S. combat troops would be sent to Afghanistan served to open a small crack in the wall of deference to the president that has to date prevailed in the antiwar movement and limited its power. Obama’s assertion that his troop surge, as with President Bush’s Iraq surge before him, would be followed 18 months later with the  “beginning” of a withdrawal of all U.S. troops, has been met with nearly unanimous opposition from antiwar activists. continued

 

 Lynne Stewart Jailed: The Nov. 16 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, to reject radical New York attorney Lynne Stewart’s appeal of her 2005 frame-up conviction on five counts of aiding and abetting terrorism is a legal and political atrocity. The court’s ruling is in line with the 9/11 witch-hunt “anti-terrorism” climate that has been orchestrated to stifle dissent, justify war and, in Stewart’s words, “chill the defense bar.” In interviews with the press, Stewart predicted that the ruling would set the stage for the upcoming U.S. prosecutions of Guantanamo prisoners. continued

 

 Gov’t. Softpedals Jobs Crisis; Bankrolls Corporations: As we go to press, U.S. job loss figures for November have just been released. The official unemployment rate remains basically unchanged at 10 percent, with jobs still being lost in construction, manufacturing and information, while temporary help services and health care added jobs. This still leaves the economy down eight million jobs since December 2007. When those who have stopped looking for work are included, the rate is over 17%.  continued

 

 Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Kevin Cooper’s Appeal: On Nov. 30 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the appeal of innocent San Quentin death-row inmate Kevin Cooper. The High Court reached its decision to reject Cooper’s petition despite overwhelming evidence of a massive police frame-up—laid out in dramatic detail in an unprecedented 103-page dissenting opinion signed by five judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  continued

 

 Honduran Congress Rejects Zelaya Return: In Honduras the Nov. 29 election is finished, as is the Dec. 2 congressional vote to decide whether or not to restore the ousted, democratically-elected President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya.

In the election, Porfirio Lobo of the conservative National Party (one of the two traditionally dominant parties of Honduras) won the most votes by all counts.  However, controversy has emerged regarding the percentage of voters that abstained from voting.  continued

 

 Mumia Faces New Execution Threat: After almost 28 years on Pennsylvania’s death row and innumerable battles in the U.S. criminal injustice system, innocent political prisoner, journalist and world renowned “Voice of the Voiceless” Mumia Abu-Jamal lost his final appeal on April 6, 2009. Ignoring it’s own precedents and those of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals below it, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to affirm what had been the “law of the land” for decades, that the systematic and racist exclusion of Blacks from juries voids all guilty verdicts and mandates a new trial.  continued

 

 Honduran Mass Movement: ‘Nobody Here Surrenders!’ On Oct. 26, the media announced an agreement between ousted Honduran President Manual “Mel” Zelaya and the right-wing coup-makers who overthrew him. The agreement will restore Zelaya to power (pending the Honduran congress’ approval) and pave the way for peaceful late November elections. continued

 

 Black is Back Protest: On Nov. 7, a national demonstration, called by the Black is Back Coalition, will be held in Washington, D.C. There will be a march and a rally in Malcolm X Park. People are marching under the call, “Resist U.S. Wars and Occupation in the U.S. and Abroad! Reparations Now!”  continued

 

 Report on Oct. 17 Antiwar Protests:  On Saturday, Oct. 17, protesters gathered in over 50 towns and cities around the United States to oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The date was chosen to mark eight years of war in Afghanistan and to oppose the continual escalation of that war, as well as to mark the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam Moratorium, in which millions marched to protest U.S. aggression in Southeast Asia. continued

 

 Report on LGBT Rights March in DC:  On Oct. 11, as many as 200,000 LGBT activists and straight allies descended on Washington, D.C., for the National Equality March (NEM), whose single demand on the federal government was “Equal protection for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states! Now!”  continued

 

 Union-Busters Close Stella D’Oro Factory:  What began in August 2008 as a strike at the Stella D’Oro bakery in the Bronx became an 11-month protracted war and one of the great labor battles in recent New York history. The Stella D’Oro workers became a national symbol of resistance to a heartless economic system.  continued

 

 Medicare in Canada: Canada’s national health insurance, called Medicare, provides hospital and physician insurance to all Canadian citizens. It does not provide health care directly from government hospitals or through publicly employed physicians. Just imagine 10 provincial nonprofit health insurance plans without deductibles, co-insurance or co-payments for medically prescribed treatment.  continued

 

 NYC Transit Worker Contract Bulletin: The arbitrator’s contract decision gives us raises of 4%, 4% and 3% over three years. Despite the hype, our 4’s are LESS than both 4’s in DC 37’s 2-year contract.  continued

 

 The Struggle for Universal Health Care: The U.S. ranks #39 on the overall quality of its health care, according a 2000 report by the World Health Organization. This puts us last among developed nations, and also behind such countries as Colombia, Morocco and Costa Rica.  continued

 

 Cockburn’s Light is Out at the End of the Tunnel: Alexander Cockburn’s Sept. 4-6 “CounterPunch Diary“ hit piece against the U.S. antiwar movement, “Deeper into the Tunnel,” merits the serious attention of all antiwar fighters and organizations. This is not so much because of the spurious accusations he hurls against Socialist Action and this writer, as well as others whose socialist politics offend him, but rather because of his serious misunderstanding of what it takes to build a united-front-type, democratic, and effective antiwar movement.  continued

 

 Casualties Mount in Iraq & Afghanistan: A lot of people who voted for Obama did so in hopes that he would get the United States out of the quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the first case, it was widely understood that the U.S-led war and occupation was a costly fiasco, and the sooner ended, the better. Yet there was less understanding of the futility and waste of the war in Afghanistan, which the politicians, including Obama, justified on the grounds that the 9/11 terrorist attack on America had been organized from there.  continued

 

 The Ultra-Right Pot Boils Over:  The appearance of right-wing mobs at town meetings organized by Democratic Party representatives to discuss the proposed health-care reform has set off alarm bells, in particular because of the blind fanaticism of the right-wing protesters and their threats of violence, including armed violence. These outbursts show many features of historic fascist developments—and on a scale as yet unseen in the United States. continued

 

 Workers Employ Sit-ins as Job Losses Mount:  There was a period of several months after Hitler invaded Poland of relative inactivity on the World War II European battlefield. Pundits called this the Phony War or, in a play on words with the strategy of blitzkrieg, sitzkrieg—a sitting down war. But there is nothing phony about the growing use of the tactic of sitzkrieg by workers on four continents. You don’t need lightning mobility to take control of a plant—just sit down and don’t allow any work to be done. continued

 

 Health-Care ‘Reform’ Schemes in Congress:  The election of Obama raised expectations for sweeping health reform sky high. But in spite of several self-imposed deadlines, Senate and House health-reform bills were not ready by the time of the August Congressional recess, when passionate local debate erupted at Congressional home district town hall meetings.  continued

 

 Climate Crisis Intensifies:  Since government leaders and environment ministers first met in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 to formulate an agreement to reduce global-warming emissions, the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels has gone unabated as the worldwide demands of the capitalist growth economy have risen. As a result, greenhouse gases belch out at ever-increasing rates from both developed and developing nations, causing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to spike every year. They have gone into deadly overshoot by having exceeded 350 ppm CO2 and now stand at 390 ppm.  continued

 

 Pittsburg Antiwar Conf. Demands “Out Now!”: Over 250 antiwar activists from 26 states and the District of Columbia participated in the second national antiwar conference sponsored by the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations (NA), on July 10-12 in Pittsburgh. They were joined by two central leaders of the recent Guadeloupe general strike, a top Haitian trade-union official, Palestinian leaders, and several Canadian antiwar activists from Toronto and Vancouver.  continued

 

 Medical Aid Convoy Breaks Gaza Blockade: On July 4 over 80 supporters of Palestinian liberation left JFK Airport in New York to join what would end up being a delegation of over 200 in the Viva Palestina-United States (VPUS) convoy to Gaza. Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Latin@s, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and whites embarked on a trip to bring medical aid as part of the broader goal of breaking Israel’s genocidal siege.  continued

 

 Israel Becoming Pariah as Atrocities Come to Light: The Zionist regime continues to become more discredited and isolated internationally, as the new Israeli government adopts a more openly right-wing character. Israeli soldiers involved in the assault on Gaza have themselves denounced the indiscriminate terror inflicted on the entire Palestinian population of the area.  continued

 

 Ruling in Firefighters Case a Setback for Affirmative Action:  A serious blow to civil rights was dealt by the Supreme Court on the last day of its 2008 term, when in Ricci v. DeStefano, the Court ruled in favor of a group of white firefighters who claimed they were victims of “reverse racism” in the aftermath of their city’s promotional exams. The ruling implicitly calls the future of affirmative action into question, and marks a great setback for people of color and women in job hiring, advancement, and equality in the workplace. continued

 

 Iraq Today – 5 Million Orphans:   On July 4 of this year, Vice President Biden celebrated American Independence Day in occupied Iraq, in one of the presidential palaces of the former regime, now an integral part of the U.S.-run “Green Zone.” Four days earlier, PM Nouri Al-Maliki’s U.S.-installed puppet government declared a “victory” signaled by the pullout of U.S. troops from major Iraqi cities, and the beginning of the “restoration of sovereignty.”  continued

 

 2009 SA Political Resolution: The central institutions of world capitalism are being shaken by a severe worldwide financial meltdown not seen since the Great Depression of 1929. The massive U.S. banking failures, credit freeze and ongoing corporate bankruptcies have their parallels in literally every industrialized and semi-industrialized nation, as do the draconian measures inflicted on their working classes. The poor nations of the world, already reduced to grinding poverty and deprivation, suffer even more. Still at the beginning stages of a now universally expected deep and long recession, if not depression, its full and devastating impact remains a way off.  continued

 

 The Story of North Korea: The capitalist press is full of horror stories about North Korea of late.  Almost every day we are bombarded with sensational stories about North Korea’s nuclear program, the test firing of its ballistic missiles and its reclusive leader, Kim Jong-Il.  And hand in glove with these sensational stories, is a steady drum beat from Washington calling the use of any means necessary to bring this rogue state to heel.  continued

 

 Iranian Regime Shaken by Mass Protests: After a week of massive protests and street confrontations, the Iranian government appeared to gain firm control of the streets in Tehran and other large cities. To achieve control, the government appeared to rely mainly on the Basij, a large volunteer militia force. Reports from bloggers in Tehran claimed that the Basij who suppressed the protest demonstrations were largely unemployed youths from backward rural areas that had been highly paid to do their work.  continued

 

 Obama Forces Layoffs at GM: It’s the most concerted union-busting drive in memory—and it is being led by Barack Obama, the auto bosses, and the Democratic Party. To the delight of the corporate elite, President Obama’s “Auto Task Force” (ATF) has insisted on a “quick and surgical” restructuring plan for the ailing automobile industry, which includes deep cuts in wages, health care, and pension benefits.  continued

 

 Supreme Court Rejects Kevin Cooper Appeal: On May 11 innocent death-row prisoner Kevin Cooper lost his bid in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for a rehearing en banc of crucial evidence that would have exposed a decades-old police frameup and set Cooper on the path to freedom from California’s San Quentin State Prison.  continued

 

 S.A. Statement on Iran: A division in the ruling elite has opened up the way for an explosion of discontent with the reactionary clerical capitalist regime in Iran. The massive mobilizations clearly reflect the deep hatred of the government by the masses in Iran's largest city. The greater Tehran area accounts for about one-fifth of the total population of the country and is where most of the industry is based. It is the major working-class center. It was also the focal point of the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed crowned dictatorship of the shah.  continued

 

 CA Court Upholds Same-Sex Ban: On May 26, a rally took place on steps of City Hall protesting the 136-page decision by the California Supreme Court decision to uphold the Nov. 2008 passage of Proposition 8, amending the state constitution banning same sex marriage. Over 18,000 same-sex marriages made prior to the passage of Prop. 8 will stand. The vote was 6-1.  continued

 

 Do ‘Buy American’ Schemes Save U.S. Jobs? Does "Buy American" mean "Buy Union," as many of the labor tops say? It should be obvious at the outset that the two slogans are quite contradictory, particularly in a country where a mere 7 percent of the private sector is unionized.  continued

 

 Obama Favors Drug & Insurance Companies: May was not a good month for liberals with illusions in President Barack Obama. Parallel to a series of statements indicating he would continue his predecessors’ attacks on civil liberties came a well-orchestrated show in the White House making clear that Obama’s health-care "reform" would be done by, for, and with the profit-makers in the industry.  continued

 

 YSA Student Purged From Campus Journal:   An important free-speech fight is gathering strength around the case of Marissa Blaszko, a member of Youth for Socialist Action. Blaszko was fired March 10 from her position as opinion editor on the Central Connecticut State University student newspaper, the Recorder.  continued

 

 Democrats Play ‘Soft Cop’ on Immigration Reforms:  When Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano recently called off a raid on 100 immigrant workers in a Chicago factory, her move was hailed as a significant shift away from the anti-immigrant repression of the Bush years. Less attention, however, was given to her directive that immigration agents take greater care in selecting the "targets" and the timing of their raids.  continued

 

 Fund Workers’ Needs, Not Banks & Billionaires:  As part of his plan announced March 30 to "save" GM and Chrysler, President Barack Obama demanded that autoworkers give back even more of the wages and benefits they had won from the corporations in years past.  continued

 

 Bankruptcy of Capitalist Solutions to Climate Crisis: We live on a planet in peril, one that is in jeopardy because of capitalist greed. The combustion of fossils fuels to power commodity production is causing Earth to melt down. Yet, no measurable progress is being made to cope with the situation since greenhouse gas emissions continue to spew forth with no end in sight, CO2 concentrations have spiked every year this century and temperatures are still rising.  continued

 

 Nationalize the Banks Under Worker’s Control: Simultaneous with the announcement of his 10-year budget plan, Obama rolled out new bank bailouts.  Obama announced on Feb. 26 that he was considering giving $750 billion or more to banks.  And he said that $250 billion more would be held in reserve, based on a conservative estimate of what the government could lose I the course of spending that $750 billion on assets that might never regain their value.  continued

 

 Zionism – An Ugly History:  The Zionist movement from the very beginning was aided and funded by capitalists who saw it as a preferred option to socialism and militant labor struggles, which they feared. Jews were heavily represented in the labor movement and the socialist parties of Europe. As an especially oppressed group within the working class, Jewish workers were more exposed to the brutality of capitalism, and were more likely to see a solution in socialism. continued

 

 Troubled History of Afghanistan:  The story of Afghanistan is in so many ways a tragic one. Afghanistan is one of the most impoverished nations of the world. It is also one of the most war-torn, most ravaged, and most beleaguered of nations. It is a nation that has been repeatedly beset by invasion, external pressure and internal upheaval since before the time of Alexander the Great. Its people are a people who have endured more than most of us can ever imagine. In fact, for many Afghans, all that has changed in the last one thousand years are the weapons which have been used against so many of them. It is therefore with great sadness and respect that we tell the story of Afghanistan.  continued

 

 Trotskyism & the Struggle Against Fascism:  Fascism is a term that is often thrown about rather casually, generally with very little understanding of its actual meaning.  While many liberals, and even some radicals, tend to use the term as simply a pejorative against people who are politically to the right of them, we as Marxists have a much more precise definition, and understanding, of what fascism truly is.   In our view fascism is a uniquely sinister and violent form of capitalist rule.  It is something that comes about when the ruling class of a nation is in an extreme crisis, when it feels that it can no longer afford the luxury of democratic appearances, when the threat from its own working class is so dire that it feels it must resort to the most brutal form of government in order to survive.  continued

 

 Workers’ Action Program to Confront the Crisis: The liberals propose to tweak the Wall Street Bailout on behalf of the amorphous “taxpayers” living on a mythical “Main Street.” Revolutionary socialists, in contrast, start from the needs of flesh-and-blood workers, and rely on their class power to challenge ruling class attacks.  continued

 

 

 

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