We are sharing space at the Communications Workers of America Local 4009 hall, 17233 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield 48075.
The office will have a supply of ROC’s One Fair Wage
petitions to put a proposal on the 2018 state ballot to raise Michigan's
minimum wage to $12 for all workers, including tipped workers.
You can pick up petitions to collect signatures at your next membership
meeting, block club gathering, or whatever to help put
economic fairness in the ballot. SEMJWJ’s One Fair Wage brochures also
available at:
Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice
Office hours: Thursdays, 11 am to 3 pm
(We also have Earned Paid Sick Time petitions available from Mothering Justice.)
Call Helena Scott, SEMJWJ organizer at 313-720-2510 to make other arrangements for petition pickup.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
TAKE ACTION
Tell Congress: Vote NO on bill repealing the Affordable Care Act
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the number of veterans without health insurance has declined dramatically, to well under 10 percent.
Donald Trump and his Republican Party may try to repeal the ACA, but the one thing that terrifies them is stories of veterans who will lose their care if this bill gets through.
Sign VoteVets petition urging Congress to vote NO on legislation that will repeal the Affordable Care Act. And if you’re a veteran on the ACA, tell us your story.
Vote in favor of a thorough House investigation into Donald Trump’s use of the presidency to further enrich himself.
To bring about the change working families need for financial security and a say in our economy and political systems, millions of people across the country have been coming out in large actions demanding change. Now, Congressman Nadler is taking this fight to his colleagues demanding that Congress investigate the Trump administration's financial conflicts of interest.
To win an America where all families and communities can thrive, we need to expose how the Trump Agenda seeks to deny people a voice at work and in the economy to pad the pockets of corporations that take advantage of workers.
We’ve never had a situation where the president of the United States refused to separate himself from his investments and maintained conflicts of interests. Our president should work for us, not for himself. Rather than working every day on behalf of working people, maintaining these financial holdings results in him putting his own wealth -- and those of powerful corporations that rig our economy and democracy -- before families like yours.
Sign the petition: “Right-to-Work” Laws Lower Wages for All Working People – Union and Nonunion Alike
Donald Trump’s presidency could usher in a crisis for working people across the country.
Since Election Day, Republican lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures are aggressively pushing “right-to-work” laws. They’re paving the way for corporations to increase their power in workplaces and state and national politics.
And now, Donald Trump’s press secretary has indicated “the president believes in ‘right-to-work’” and he wants to do “what’s in the best interest of job creators.” These policies won’t lead to more manufacturing plants or better jobs. They will only lead to weaker unions, less bargaining power for working people, and lower wages (union and nonunion).
We all benefit from strong unions of working people who bring about a better standard of living – not just for union members. Politicians and CEOs pushing “right to work” want to weaken unions and increase corporate profits because their goal is to make the rich richer.
Sign the petition today telling congressional and state lawmakers that “right to work” is bad for your state and bad for the country.
To: All Members of Congress and State Lawmakers
Working people in “right-to-work” states earn at least $6,000 less than other people on average. And EPI research shows that, even after controlling for other differences between states like the cost of living, people in “right-to-work” states still earn 3.2 percent less – or $1,558 less per year. So-called “right-to-work” laws lower the wages of everyone who works for a living – union and nonunion alike. Pushed by corporate lobbyists and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the only real purpose of so-called “right-to-work” laws is to lower wages and weaken unions. We demand that you stand up for workers’ rights and oppose “right-to-work” laws in Congress and in your state.
Trump
blames China, Mexico and every other country in the world for our
economic troubles. But globalization - as well as automation - could
have created an economy that worked for everyone, if we truly had a
democratic society.
Instead of fighting for the working-class,
Trump intends to continue the Reagan policies that led to the extreme
inequality of wealth and power that hurt us all - more tax cuts for the
Top 1%, more cuts in social programs like Obamacare and more
deregulation of banks and corporations.
Time for a NEW New Deal.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Tools you can use to
TALK PROGRESSIVE with conservatives
(Developed by Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign and UAW Region 1A Retired Workers Council)
Pro-Government Quotes
“(There’s) a mindset that believes that less government is the highest good no matter what … It’s an ideology that undervalues the common good, says we’re all on our own and what’s in it for me, and how do I do well, but I’m not going to invest in what we need as a community.
“And, as a consequence, you end up seeing an underinvestment in the things that we all share that make us safe, that make us whole, that give us the ability to pursue our own individual dreams. So we underinvest in pipes underground. We underinvest in bridges that we drive on, and the roads that connect us, and the schools that move us forward.” - President Barack Obama
“Government is the tool we can use to build the kind of society we want.” - Ken Georgetti, Canadian labor leader
“I’ve always believed what the first Republican President, a guy named Abraham Lincoln, said. He said we should do individually those things that we do best by ourselves. But through our government, we should do together what we can’t do as well for ourselves.” - President Barack Obama
“Government does what America’s future requires and what the private sector cannot do iris not doing effectively or at all.” -George Lakoff
Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country. Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Big government is the only thing that could counter balance the power of big business and solve big societal problems like economic depression, racism, and environmental pollution” Douglas Amy
“Privatization and deregulation are seen as virtues that lead to less government. That is a fallacy; they lead to less responsible government.” - George Lakoff
Pro-Taxes Quotes
"Citizens should practically bear in mind that towards the payment of
debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes;
that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and
unpleasant.”
- George Washington
"Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Taxes are the lifeblood of government and no taxpayer should be
permitted to escape the payment of his just share of the burden of
contributing thereto."
- Arthur Vanderbilt
"In theory, taxes should be like shopping. What I buy is government services. What I pay are my taxes."
- P. J. O'Roarke
“Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.”
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
“A society that does not invest heavily in its future cannot endure”
-David Cay Johnston
“There should not be one new dime in tax breaks for millionaires and
billionaires as long as millions of children in America are poor,
hungry, uneducated and without health coverage.”
Marian Wright Edelman
“The debate about taxes raises two questions:
(1) What kind of society do we want?
(2) How are we going to pay for it?”
David Cay Johnston
“Once you realize that trickle-down economics does not work, you will
see the excessive tax cuts for the rich as what they are -- a simple
upward redistribution of income, rather than a way to make all of us
richer, as we were told.”
― Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
“The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of
the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their
respective abilities.”
― Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Help bring back Democracy to Michigan while helping Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign
Click on the above link to complete the survey on Redistricting Michigan.
Gerrymandered districts have guaranteed the minority party controls
state legislatures and Congress.
Time to make redistricting honest and
objective.
Filling out this
brief survey will help bring back democracy to Michigan and help
Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign hire a part-time
organizer.
And it won't cost you a dime. Thank you.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
"Reversing Runaway Inequality"
Communications Workers of America (CWA) union and Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign are offering a free training to help progressives get ready for the 2016 election.
Mike Schulte, staff person for the Michigan Communications Workers of
America (CWA) union, recently conducted a workshop with Jerry King, UAW
Local 140, for Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign
activists.
The workshop, "Reversing Runaway Inequality," was
developed by CWA and Les Leopold of the New York Labor Institute. It
provides activists the ammo they need to argue against the Building a
Better Business Climate political agenda and helps them become "silo busters" and "movement builders."
Twenty (20) participants attended the JWJ session including the
following labor and community groups: Michigan Voice, Empowered Voices,
AFT/Lakeshore Schools, Women International League for Peace and Freedom,
Our Walmart Alliance, Center for Community-Based Enterprises, Michigan
Universal Health Care Action Network, West Side Mothers, Coalition of
Black Trade Unionists, UAW Local 228, A. Philip Randolph Institute,
NAACP, Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee, Restaurant
Opportunities Center, Detroit Jews for Justice, and Economic Justice
Alliance of Michigan.
A second workshop will be held Sept. 10 sponsored by the NAACP and the Fannie Lou Hamer PAC., with SEMJWJ/UC
More can be organized.
If your group is interested in getting ready for
this year's election season - and beyond - Email semjwj2@gmail
Make Government Work Forum #4 coming up 10:00 am to noon, Saturday, July 16 Sacred Heart Catholic Church Activities Building 3451 Rivard St., Detroit (South of Mack Ave. and east of Chrysler Exp./I-75) North of Eastern Market.
____________________________________________
The 2016 Presidential election is important because it is about what
kind of country we will be and what values will determine government
policy and budget decisions.
Thanks to the 90-plus people who
helped make the Feb. 6 "Make Government Work" Forum so successful. It
was a very diverse audience, by union, community, age, gender and race.
Activists came from Peace Action, UAW Locals 600, 1781, 898, 228, 1700,
869, 174, 163, and 909, Dearborn Democratic Party, Democratic Socialists
of America, D-15 (The $15 and a Union movement), Retirees for Single
Payer Health Care, MichUHCAN, American Federation of Teachers, AFT-AAUP,
Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, Michigan Nurses Association, Detroit Catholic
Pastoral Alliance, Our Walmart Alliance, Southeast Michigan Jobs with
Justice, UAW Region 1A Retirees Council, Michigan Alliance to Save
Social Security and Medicare, American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees, Marygrove College, A. Philip Randolph Institute,
Swords Into Plowshares, UAW-GM Department, Coalition of Labor Union
Women, Michigan Labor History Society, Michigan Universalist Unitarian
Social Justice Network, and University of Michigan-Dearborn's Center for
Labor and Community Studies.
Inside
the Republican debate in Detroit March 3, GOP candidates will be recalling the
spirit of President Ronald Reagan who proclaimed, “Government is
not the solution to your problems. It is the problem.”
For
decades now, we have been hammered with this anti-government
messaging and lived under the tyranny of anti-government governing.
In
Detroit, Flint, Highland Park, Pontiac and other Michigan cities, we
know first hand what we get when government is run by politicians
who hate government – A government people hate.
In
Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder showed his contempt for democracy and
local autonomy by running government like a business.
What
does running government like a business look like?
Top-down,
undemocratic rule, like a CEO unelected and unaccountable to the
people
Secrecy,
out of the scrutiny of the public eye and the media
Operating
with the Bottom Line as the only consideration worth considering and
ignoring public health and the real desires and needs of people.
Outside
the Fox Theater March 3, Detroiters will be saying we disagree with the
conservative Republicans' hatred of government.
We
say democratically-elected government is the very tool we need to
solve the problems we face:
stagnating
incomes
unsafe
and unaffordable water
emergency
management
suppression
of our right to vote
denial
of a workers' right to join a union without fear of retribution
police
violence and inequality
Let's
get the differences straight: Business is about maximizing private
profit for stockholders.
Government
is about maximizing fairness and justice for all.
We
are sick and tired of government of the corporation, by the
corporation and for the corporation.
Running
government like a business clearly does not work. It does not
“promote the General Welfare,” as the writers of our Constitution
understood government's role to be.
It's time
to restore government of the people, by the people and for the
people.
This is the third Make Government Work Forum sponsored by Southeast
Michigan Jobs with Justice and UAW Region 1A Retirees Council. The
forums seek to address 40 years of Right Wing Conservative
anti-government messaging and anti-government governing that has
resulted in 75% of Americans not trusting government and a government
that doesn't work for the 99%.
For more information on Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice's Make Government Work Project, go to "Campaigns."
__________________________________________________________________________
STOP OIL DRILLING IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN - TOWN HALL FOR EVERYONE WHO'S CONCERNED
Monday, Feb. 1 at 6 pm
State Rep. Jeremy Moss will host an event to provide residents information on oil and gas drilling. Auditorium at Southfield Public Library - 26300 Evergreen Road in Southfield. ___________________________________________________
MDEQ should heed concerns over drilling in Southfield
Jeremy Moss, Free Press guest writer
12:03 a.m. EDT March 30, 2016
Southfield
is not a community under state emergency management – but you wouldn’t
know it based on a recent Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
decision.
When
I first started to tell my colleagues in Lansing about this proposal
and my community’s outrage, someone pointedly replied, “At 9 Mile and
Evergreen? Everybody lives near 9 Mile and Evergreen!”
The
population density of this area only amplifies problems related to
drilling: spills, emissions release, transport accidents and others.
Further,
not all of Southfield is hooked up to the Detroit water system and many
residents use well water. Should any groundwater be contaminated during
the drilling process and anything other than the crystal-clear water we
expect comes out of Southfield faucets, we’ll have a huge problem.
That’s why I introduced House Bill 5258 to limit oil drilling in densely populated residential areas.
After
holding two crowded town halls on oil drilling attended by hundreds of
concerned Southfield residents, I asked MDEQ officials to conduct a public hearing on the permit in February to listen to my constituents. I didn’t want them to simply sign off on a backroom decision.
Alas, the meeting that night may have been just for show.
Among
the thousand residents who turned out on Feb. 17 was our deputy city
planner who read an unanswered Jan. 19 letter from the city to the MDEQ.
The letter requested more information from the permit’s applicant,
including the impact of the drilling on nearby residential water wells,
wetlands and endangered species, and details on protecting our residents
from air pollution, odors and waste.
At the public hearing, MDEQ
officials promised, in public, to provide answers to the city’s concerns
before making any move to issue a permit.
The city ended up
getting its answers from the MDEQ – about four hours after they issued
the permit, and a month and a half after a response was first requested
from the city.
Ultimately,
in addition to the health and environmental concerns (which are not to
be underscored),
Michigan residents in every city have another concern
upon which to reflect: When can our local government govern?
Prior
to being elected state representative, I served on the Southfield City
Council. During my tenure and for years before it, our City Council
passed countless ordinances on the city level to provide stricter
zoning, inspection, setback or operation regulations that what is
permissible at the state level.
That’s how local units of government work in this state. Or at least how they’re supposed to.
Some examples:
When
I first arrived on the council, we had a newly implemented ordinance
that placed stricter city regulations to approve in-home day cares than
what the state allows.
In 2012, we adopted an ordinance to limit
the zoning for fast check-cashing businesses and pawnshops in
Southfield, permissible under state law, but now subjected to local
zoning regulations.
At the end of 2014, the council approved
limited zoning and operations of medical marijuana facilities, a service
approved in statute by voters in 2008 but one that can be locally
restricted.
This is why I strongly believe that the
MDEQ’s rulings on oil drilling permits are incompatible with our city’s
ability to implement our lawful moratorium on such activities and future
zoning regulations.
I also was on the council when we denied a
proposed Walmart from being built at 12 Mile and Southfield Road in 2013
due to zoning concerns.
Walmart did not appeal our decision
because, as founder Sam Walton once said, “If some community, for
whatever reason, doesn't want us in there, we aren't interested in going
in and creating a fuss.”
If only the MDEQ operated under the same philosophy.
Jeremy Moss, a Democrat from Southfield, represents Michigan's 35th District in the state House of Representatives.
Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1MAe0vR
__________________________________________
Update from Southfield Mayor Ken Siver:
Public Hearing set for Feb. 17 at 6 pm at Southfield High School, 24675 Lahser Rd, Southfield, MI 48075.
The
format for the meeting will be a brief presentation by the the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
The
second part of the public hearing will be limited to audience questions
about the department’s role in granting permits and the proposed
drilling operations specific to Nine Mile & Evergreen.
The third
part of the hearing will be to for public comments by those in
attendance. Each person would be given up to three minutes to speak.
The official states that the MDEQ staff will remain as long as there are
people who wish to address them.
Take a look at the Word of Faith map
in the drilling application.
A corner of the mega-church building is within 670’
of the proposed well. Several driveways and parking lots are even closer to the
well. This is a MEGA-CHURCH with thousands of people and cars frequenting this
location, especially on Sunday. See page 3 in
The proposed well pad (the work space)
will be approximately 250 feet x 250 feet (62,500 square feet). This well pad
will be larger than a football field including end zones (57,600 square
feet).
An oil and gas production well pad will likely contain storage tanks for acid, drilling fluids, produced natural gas,
oil, and waste water, a rig, flaring equipment, plus, considerable heavy truck parking
and traffic, and more. Some details http://teeic.indianaffairs.gov/er/oilgas/restech/desc/index.htm
All of
this will provide unnecessary risk to humans, property and the environment
Gosh, what could happen? Take a look at these pictures of Michigan drilling
sites.
Perhaps Word of Faith members and the
insurance company that insures this multi-million dollar building for
fire and LIABILITY should be made aware of the potential dangers to people, vehicles
and buildings.
There
must be some Oakland County, State of Michigan, Federal … or common sense….. rules that put people first and supersede Part 615 regulatory requirements to maximize
oil and gas production.
Stop the Drilling in Southfield
Strategy Meeting
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
6:30-8:30
Room 221
Parks & Recreation Building
26000 Evergreen Road
Southfield, MI 48034
MDEQ Public Hearing Wednesday, February 17, 2016
6:00 pm
Southfield High Auditorium
24675 Lasher Road
Southfield, MI 48075
On Going
Protests at Word of Faith
Sundays at 9:00 am – Word of Faith
20000 W. 9 Mile Road Southfield, west of Evergreen
If you are concerned about Fracking and Oil Drilling coming to Southeast Michigan,
please express your concerns to the City of Southfield Planning
Department at contactplanning@cityofsouthfield.com.
Jordan
Development filed an Application for drilling in the City on November 4,
2015.
This Company is an oil and gas exploration company based in
Traverse City. They applied to the Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality (MDEQ) for a permit to drill an exploratory well on the grounds
of Word of Faith International Christian Center.
This Application was
filed with the MDEQ without any prior discussion or approval from the
City. The City of Southfield has opposed this Application and it
violates the Moratorium that has existed for some time.
Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice stands for FULL EMPLOYMENT AND GREEN JOBS. Fracking and oil drilling ain't it.
For more information: News Coverage of Jan. 17 Anti-Drilling Demonstration at Word of Faith Church, Southfield:
Word of Faith Church's position about fracking on its Southfield property:
Minister Andrea Simpson, media and public relations spokesperson at
Word of Faith International Church, declined to comment on the matter,
referring all comments to the written statement that Jordan prepared.
“Word of Faith and its congregation of thousands of people believe
the proceeds from this well may be a blessing to its members and the
community at large,” the statement said.
What Happened in California Could Happen to Southfield and Southeast Michigan:
Minutes from meeting with Southfield State Representative Jeremy Moss:
At least twenty residents, and a handful of activists from
the Committee to Ban Fracking and the Sierra Club, came to Representative
Jeremy Moss' Coffee Hour at the Southfield Library to protest and raise
questions about the requested drilling on Monday, December 14th. My notes from that meeting on the question -
what can be done to prevent the drilling?
·Moss
said request public hearing and submit comments to DEQ with drilling permit
application number # A150095. He
submitted his letter to Director of DEQ Dan Wyant (WyantD@michigan.gov) and Hal
Fitch, DEQ Director of Office of Oil, Gas and Minerals (fitchh@michigan.gov). I
think it's a good idea to send comments and to demand public meetings where we
can learn from each others' comments and questions. I sent an email to DEQ
asking if there is a specific person and email address to send the comments to
and asked how long they are accepting public comments.
·Any
registered voter can sign the petition or volunteer to collect signatures to ban
fracking and frack waste in Michigan, which would ban horizontal fracking and
acidizing (melting the rock instead of fracturing it) anyplace in Michigan.
·Lots
of other ideas came up on what to do during and after the coffee hour and the
city council meeting like holding a protest at the church and finding ways to
let other residents know what's going on.
·Jim
Nash will speak at the next coffee hour in library auditorium on January 25th.
·Jordan
Development Co lawyer Mike Cox, the former Attorney General for the state,
called Rep. Moss to inform him that the exploratory drilling is going to happen
and he is not going to debate it. This was how Moss first found out about it.
Notes
from
comments opposed to drilling made at City Council Meeting December 14th.
Skip Davis,
a long time resident - spoke against Keith Butler's plans to endanger woodlands
and water shed and destroy property values. He denounced a comment in a
Southfield Sun article on Nov. 26 in which the pastor said "proceeds from
the drilling will bring blessings to the community." Davis said fracking
will not bring blessings.
Larry
Bolenbaugh, a Southfield resident who stated he has been working with the
Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan, raised questions about the status of the
drilling, how the council will respond and how will this affect the community.
Eunice Rose,
also a Southfield resident said if the City of Southfield allows the drilling
it will increase the risk factors for lung disease and reduce property values.
She demanded that the plans to drill cease and desist. She said we must respect
the earth or we will have no place to live.
Diane Weckerle
Committee to Ban Fracking
in Michigan
Letter to Southfield Planning Commission:
Dear Southfield Planning Commission,
I'll leave it up to others who are more expert on fracking to make the environmental arguments against it.
I'll just express my opposition this way:
I
hope Southfield never becomes the "Center of It All" for an
environmental disaster like the one that has been happening in Southern
California since December.
I'm
sure our State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality already
has a plan for evacuating thousands of our city's residents if we should
experience a natural gas leak on the Word of Faith grounds.
Since this agency did such a wonderful job protecting the children of Flint, I guess we have nothing to worry about.
Let
me stop being sarcastic long enough, though, to thank City Planner
Terry Croad, Mayor Ken Siver and our Southfield City Council for having
the courage to stand up and do the right thing. Not enough public
officials do that.
Sincerely,
Sam Stark
Southfield resident, 24 years
Facebook Comment on California's Recent Natural Gas Leak:
Who thinks what happened in southern California won't happen here in Southeast Michigan?
"What
you can't see is easy to ignore. That's why communities that suffer
from pollution from oil and gas development are often dismissed by
industry and regulators," said
Earthworks spokesperson Alan Septoff. "Making invisible pollution
visible shows the world what people in Porter Ranch have been living
with every day for months."
"Aside from the
catastrophic setback the Aliso Canyon leak represents in the state's
efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the pollution is also
causing a public health nightmare for neighbors. Around 2,100 households
have been temporarily relocated as a result of the leak, and SoCal Gas
agreed this week it would find temporary housing for another 2,600
affected families. The company agreed to make sure pets were taken care
of, and to provide additional security for vacated neighborhoods.
"I
hate seeing SoCalGas' pollution billowing over my home and community.
Knowing this gas leak has been polluting us since October and won't stop
until March, if then, makes it clear there's only one way to keep us
healthy and safe now and in the future," said Matt Pakucko, President of
Save Porter Ranch. "Governor Brown needs to shut down the Aliso Canyon
facility."
Effort to ban residential area drilling in Michigan after Southfield controversy
A debate that started in Southfield after an oil company sought permission to drill
the grounds on a church property has led one lawmaker to propose
legislation seeking to ban oil and gas drilling in all residential areas
in the state.
State House Representative from the 35th District Jeremy Moss
said on Wednesday that he is soon going to introduce legislation that
will deny drilling in any residential area of the state.
His latest effort comes after Jordan Development of Traverse City
applied for a permit with the Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality to dig an oil well at the Word of Faith International Christian
Center on Evergreen Road and Nine Mile.
Southfield currently has a moratorium on oil and gas extractions in the city due to environmental concerns.
“If they aren’t going to hear our objections; if they aren’t
going to abide by a lawful city moratorium on oil drilling, then we are
just going to try and cut them off at the state level and ban this
practice in any residential area,” said Moss, who also served on the
Southfield City Council before being elected as a state representative.
Southfield Mayor Kenson Siver said there have been growing
concerns in his community about the oil and gas exploration efforts due
to environmental concerns.
“We do not want the environmental hazards, loss of trees, heavy
equipment, truck traffic and all that goes with such operations in our
neighborhoods,” said Siver. “Drilling for oil and gas in a fully
developed community such as ours is totally inappropriate.”
The city officials have been discussing the issue for the past
several months in hopes to come up with an ordinance to regulate the
exploration practices.
There has been debate, however, on the legal authority of the local ordinance if the state authorizes drilling in a community.
An earlier statement by Jordan Development said the oil well at
the church will be located in dense woods, “at a significant distance
from any residents or property owners.”
“Protecting drinking water and groundwater is also of paramount importance to Jordan Development,” the statement said.
On Jan. 27, Moss will host an event with Oakland County Water
Resources Commissioner Jim Nash to provide residents information on oil
and gas exploration and drilling, including fracking. The event will be held at 6 p.m. in the auditorium at Southfield Public Library located at 26300 Evergreen Road in Southfield.
"Uncle Bob" has bought into all the anti-government, pro-free
enterprise,"Hey You're Own Your Own, Buddy" arguments of today's
Conservative Movement. Come to Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice and
UAW Region 1A Retirees Council's "Make Government Work" Forum #3, Feb.
6, at U of M-Dearborn for more progressive perspectives like Robert
Reich's to use while engaging with your conservative brother-in-law,
cynical co-worker and neighbor who's stopped voting altogether. More
details to come.
Okay, let's pretend all of you are members of Congress in 1935 about
to vote on the newly introduced Social Security Bill. All those in
favor, please raise you hand. (Show of hands)
Just what I would have expected.
So how would you feel if I were to say, you just voted for an old
age benefits bill that excluded 75% of all African-Americans and more
than ½ of all women?
Real bummer, eh?
So how did that happen?
Despite the 1930s being a period of huge mass movements for social
change and economic justice, that was the deal President Roosevelt
was forced to cut in order to get the support of Southern Democrats,
then known as Dixiecrats, now known as Republicans.
This major flaw in FDR's premier piece of his New Deal was not to be
fixed until 15 years later.
So one of the severest limits of the New Deal was its failure to
take on and overcome the institutional and structural racism that
existed then and still exists today.
This accommodation to segregationists hurt poor whites as well as
Blacks. It appeared again and again, in the CCC camps which were
mostly segregated, government relief programs where local officials
denied equal benefits to Black families and the GI Bill, passed in
1944, to repay our World War II veterans for their sacrifice and show
our nation's appreciation for their service.
In the original Social Security bill Blacks and women were excluded
not by name, but by category, specifically. the exclusion of all
those who work as domestic or agricultural workers, meaning
sharecroppers.
In the GI Bill, no such open racist language appeared either, but
when Black veterans tried to purchase new homes in the suburbs where
the government was approving mortgages, structural racism in the
form of housing discrimination ended up denying them the GI Bill
benefits they were entitled to.
The lesson for today? When progressives talk about addressing the
inequality of wealth in America, we need to make sure the benefits of
that social change are shared equally with all.
One of the goals of this
“Make Government Work” forum series is to re-claim the political
debate in the United States on behalf of workers and lower- and
middle-income people.
This is especially needed
in the arena of discussing the role of government in people’s
lives.
From the 1930s until the
middle 1970s, there was a general consensus among Americans that
government plays a constructive role in the way people live their
lives and deal with their political, economic and social problems.
This understanding of a
government that serves the General Welfare
has been reversed.
U.S. corporations and
Wall Street, through New Right Conservative think tanks and mass
media, have been pushing the idea: "That
government is best which governs least," a
philosophy of government that serves moneyed interests best.
In 1981, Conservative
Republican President Ronald Reagan put that philosopy into words that
caught on and have been repeated in the media and most voters ever
since:
“People
talk about government as the solution to our problems.
Government
is not the solution. GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM.”
One hundred and fifty
years ago, another Republican President Abraham Lincoln had offered a
totally different philosophy of government: “The
purpose of government is to do for the people those things which the
people cannot do for themselves.”
However, Lincoln's
Republican successors went entirely in the other direction. By the
mid-1920s, President Calvin Coolidge said: “The
business of government is business.”
So when the Great
Depression hit in 1929, President Herbert Hoover failed to address
massive unemployment or inspire desperate Americans with his “Limited
Government,” “Free Market,” and “Personal Responsbility”
conservative philosphy of government.
In 1932, candidate
Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed he would provide a “New Deal” for
the American people. The comparison was to a game of cards, where
the people were
stuck with a losing hand
and would continue to be stuck until the cards were dealt again.
Most people saw this idea of government as the constructive response
to a terrible economic crisis.
The idea caught hold.
Roosevelt was elected with a supportive Congress, and a succession of
new laws were passed and new programs put into effect. Despite Wall
Street's determined effort to defeat Roosevelt and destroy the New
Deal four years later, millions of new voters rose up to his support.
These new voters included millions of industrial workers who became
union members due to the rise of the CIO – Congress of Industrial
Organizations.
The new laws and programs
became known as the New Deal. Individually they were called: the CCC,
AAA, NLRA/Wagner Act, Social Security, Wage and Hour Law, WPA,
PWA, TVA, REA, Glass-Steagall, G.I. Bill and others. They did great
things for people. They became known as “alphabet soup,” with
affection by their supporters and with venom by their detractors.
Wall Street and corporate America set out immediately to try to
repeal them and continue to do so.
Today, Reagan’s message
has taken hold over public discourse: “Government
is the problem.” The
end result is that 75% of Americans now distrust government. We
need to reverse this, or we won't be able to make social and economic
progress on any front.
But now a new, tragic
failure of government operating like a business (without democracy
and focused only on The Bottom Line) has hit all Americans: the
poisoning of Flint.
To restore people's faith
that government can work and once again become the tool we use to
build the kind of society we want is the goal of these “Make
Government Work” forums.
We have our work cut out
for us.
By Mike
Kerwin, UAW Local 174, retiree
_________________________________________________ What Progressives Can Learn from Conservatives Lesson No. 1: They meet with each other
Every Wednesday since 1993, Grover Norquist, a central mover and shaker of the Conservative Movement, has chaired meetings of more than 120 elected officials, political activists and movement leaders, including the National Federation of Independent Businesses, American Conservative Union, National Rifle Association, bloggers, writers, religious leaders and others. President George W. Bush sent his own representative.
As the founder of Americans for Tax Reform, Norquist drafted the anti-government, anti-tax “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” in 1986, signed by 95% of members of Congress, all but one of the 2012 GOP presidential candidates and most of the Michigan State Legislature.
Norquist describes his “Wednesday Meetings” as “the physical representation of how the Leave Us Alone Coalition (Ed. Note - as he labelled it) works to build and organize the center-right.”
