International Forecaster January 2008 (#7) - Gold, Silver, Economy + More
By: Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster
-- Posted Monday, 28 January 2008 Digg This Article Source: GoldSeek.com
The following are some snippets from the most recent issue of the International Forecaster. For the full 23 page issue, please see subscription information below.
US MARKETS
...
The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have, in the first four weeks of 2008, lost all of their gains from 2007 and then some. They are all well into red ink when compared to their 12/29/06 levels. By contrast, since 12/29/06, spot gold has gained 43.16%, spot silver has gained 26.14%, the XAU has gained 30.43% and the HUI has gained 36.44%. Now here are your fundamentals: the credit markets are frozen, the real estate markets are virtually dead with record levels of inventory, much of it vacant, continuing to deteriorate, ARM and pick-a-pay mortgage payments on hundreds of billions in mortgages are about to adjust to unaffordable levels for millions of borrowers, defaults on all types of debt are starting to skyrocket including prime customers, consumer spending and confidence are both decreasing rapidly as hyper-stagflation begins its reign of terror, state budgets are running massive deficits and some are near bankruptcy, inflation is over 11% (officially 4.1%), M3 is about 16% (officially unpublished), unemployment is 15% (officially 5%) and growing as free trade, globalization, off-shoring and out-sourcing continue to decimate our better-paying job sectors, banks are writing off or writing down tens of billions soon to become hundreds of billions in subprime losses and bad mortgages and loans, a looming multi-tens-of-trillions mountain of potential derivative losses continues to threaten markets with a nightmarish thermonuclear meltdown, oriental stock markets are currently crashing while carry trades are unwinding, the United States government is talking about an economic stimulus of 145 billion which is a drop in the bucket meant to delay the day of reckoning past the November elections and is highly inflationary, the Fed is about to cut interest rates again even beyond the recent .75% rate cut as European banks reluctantly consider doing the same with their M3 levels on a par with the US that will send the developed economies of the West into a whirlwind of killer-hyperinflation while developing countries continue to have high rates of inflation, the dollar is at its lowest levels in multi-decades with no end in sight as to how far it could tank, our national debt and trade deficits are out of control while a huge decrease in tax revenues is about to hit at exactly the wrong time due to mega-write-offs of losses that will be suffered in stocks, bonds, derivatives and business income by taxpayers who pay the largest portion of income taxes, oil is at record levels over $90/barrel with peak oil pushing it ever higher, food prices have roared to record highs as the ethanol fraud diverts food into an energy inefficient bio-fuel source, war rages in Afghanistan and Iraq as we waste hundreds of billions on these wars for profit while thousands of our own people are needlessly slaughtered not to mention millions of Iraqis, nuclear threats and issues continue with Iran and North Korea, there is constant discord throughout the Middle East and parts of Africa, Serbia and Kosovo are about to have an armed conflict that could propel us into World War III, Russia is ticked off over our proposed missile systems near its borders and our extremely aggressive, bellicose behavior while it develops and distributes mobile, multiple-warhead ICBMs and carrier-killing missiles and China is competing with us for resources while developing a weapon that can knock out our satellites in outer space.
We ask our subscribers, would anyone in their right mind invest in any of the general stock sectors with this kind of data and fundamentals?
Does not this scenario sound like a poster advertisement for buying gold and silver? Could the fundamentals for precious metals possibly be more bullish than they are now? Buy gold and silver, or prepare to get reamed!!!
Speaking of getting reamed, the odds of us moving into a Much Greater Depression keep getting higher with each passing day as we experience shock and awe at the greed, stupidity, incompetence and fraud that are finally starting to take a terrible toll on our economy and on the economies of Western civilization and the Orient.
We refer to this upcoming calamity of epic proportions as the Much Greater Depression because that is exactly what we expect if our economy continues on its current trajectory, a much greater depression than the one that was initiated in 1929.
This expectation is due to several reasons and circumstances that did not hold true during the Great Depression of the 1930's and which now threaten to lead us into a final conflagration much worse than the first.
First, we have a massive derivatives overhang with the potential for tens of trillions in losses that did not exist in 1929 due to "financial engineering" that has created weapons of mass financial destruction.
Second, we have no manufacturing sector left to lift us out of a recession or a depression. Our manufacturing jobs and facilities have been victimized by an elitist agenda of free trade, globalization, off-shoring and outsourcing accompanied by rampant illegal immigration that was condoned, promoted and sanctioned by our government to break our unions and provide a source of cheap slave labor.
Third, we will have severe hyperinflation before our economy implodes. In 1929, the evil Fed tightened up the money supply much earlier than will be the case in the present day.
Helicopter Ben thinks that this was a mistake based on his Keynesian fantasies and that it "caused" the Great Depression. Had the Fed done then what it plans to do now, the Great Depression would have been much worse because any delay of the day of reckoning only makes the final cataclysm all the more devastating.
This time inflation will climb to levels never even dreamed of in 1929, and high levels of interest will either be voluntarily implemented by the Fed or will be involuntarily imposed by the markets through risk reassessment in order to counteract the destructive impact of such hyper-stagflation as business failures and loan defaults skyrocket.
This hyper-stagflation will either completely wipe out the value of the dollar, bringing it to near zero value, and render all dollar-denominated assets such as US treasuries, stocks and bonds worthless, or double digit interest rates will have to be implemented to get inflation under control. And if we get into double digit interest rates, our economy will be completely and utterly destroyed.
Company profits would get wiped out, the real estate market would suffer a myocardial infarction and keel over dead, and a thermonuclear meltdown of interest rate swaps would be ignited that would in turn cause problems with credit default swaps as principals and counter-parties alike would get wiped out. Such losses could run into the tens of trillions of dollars.
Fourth, we have been taken off the gold standard, so all sense of fiscal responsibility has been lost while worthless fiat paper is passed off as real money. This is why we are going to experience far greater problems this time around as our paper money is rendered worthless by almost a century of fiat money excesses and complete fiscal irresponsibility. This was done intentionally by the privately owned Fed so they could inflate us out of our wealth by charging interest on money created out of nothing by use of the fractional reserve banking system, which is simply a glorified Ponzi-scheme.
Fifth, unlike in 1929, we are now the world's greatest debtor nation. In 1929 and for some time thereafter we were on the way to becoming the world's greatest creditor nation of all time. Our current record national debt and record trade deficits are sucking us dry based on interest payments on our debts alone, much less the principal that is due.
This interest is being paid on money created out of nothing, and unlike in 1929, the insidious inflation of fractional banking has had many decades to wreak its havoc on our economy. Much higher tax rates due to out-of-control social welfare and entitlements has drained us of our spending power and our liquidity in a way that we had not even dreamed of in 1929. Our nation has gone bankrupt while our citizens have a negative rate of savings.
In the Great Depression, our rate of savings went negative after the financial crash occurred, whereas we have been into negative savings for some time now prior to the upcoming crash.
This governmental and individual fiscal irresponsibility will severely restrain our ability to restart our economy.
We have nothing left to work with to spur new growth and investment having all but lost our manufacturing sector. We are totally tapped out and we are all but helpless.
Sixth, worldwide economic integration and communication has interconnected economies on a scale never imagined in 1929.
When the US economy goes down this time, we will not just take a few of our major trading partners down with us.
Virtually everyone is a trading partner with the US today.
When the US super tanker economy goes down this time, it is going to take a much larger proportion of the world economy down with it than occurred in 1929, with far more dire consequences due to a burgeoning world population that will suffer greatly as resources are strained due to a dramatic loss of production that will dwarf what occurred in 1929.
The transportation logistics alone will be a nightmare as oil continues to skyrocket.
Seventh, and finally, the US has a stagnant or shrinking population today.
In 1929, we had a very quickly growing population due to both births and immigration, so we had a natural form of growth occurring where our work force was expanding along with our demand. We had the many taking care of the few.
Now as the Baby Boomers leave the work force we are going to have a smaller population of workers relative to non-workers which has a stagnating effect on growth as the few are forced to support the many, meaning that more money will be bled out of workers to take care of burgeoning entitlements, and this will put a huge drag on our work force and economy by draining our productivity and vastly reducing the amount of money that is available for future savings, growth and investment and for improvements to our infrastructure. Large curtailments of entitlements due to lack of funds are almost inevitable, and this will reduce the spending power of our populace.
We fear that another war is inevitable as the elitist panacea for economic stagnation has always been armed conflict. And with today's technology a world war has much greater destructive power than at any time in the past.
When taken together, the above seven differences from 1929 will place us all in an unenviable position when the Sword of Damocles finally comes chopping down, and frankly, we have no idea how the US economy is ever going to work its way out of this one.
We are going to get hammered and we may well become the next Japan - or worse.
If you want to survive the upcoming Much Greater Depression, get out of debt and buy gold, silver and their related shares like your life depended on it, because your life will depend on it!
Gold and silver are now in the middle of a picture-perfect consolidation before moving much higher as the Fed continues to cut and the dollar tanks. This is the perfect time to take a position before the next leg up! Gold will take a brief respite as the February futures contracts are rolled over mainly to April as well as to later expiration dates. After the rollover is completed, gold will continue to rise to new heights. Open interest for February has dropped this week from the close of a week ago Friday of 247,306 to 187,921 as of this Thursday's close, but we are still hoping that some may hold out for physical delivery to test the gold resources of the cartel which we believe are very nearly tapped out.
Already this Friday spot gold has set an all-time intra-day high of 923.65 and an all-time closing high of 910.50, while gold futures for February did likewise with parallel figures of 924.30 and 910.70, respectively. Silver also set new 27-year highs on Friday with an intra-day high of 16.61 and a closing high of 16.41. We could see more records set early next week due to short-covering as positions for February are closed out and as options expire. There may not be much of a lull at all if the Fed cuts again in their January 29-30 meeting, a high likelihood based on stock market performance since the cut was made, an incredibly dismal performance that is now being blamed on a rogue trader at Societe Generale in France who lost them billions in a complete embarrassment to the banking system in general as well as to the victim bank. This shows you just how rampant the corruption is in our banking system. This rogue trader is just the tip of the fraud iceberg that will sink the world economy. But this is not the reason for the worldwide meltdown. It is all about tanking earnings, rising inflation, a plummeting dollar, and a sinking US super tanker economy with consumers that are broke and unable to generate any further growth in demand. We might also add that Wednesday's 600 point miracle turnaround was another flagrant PPT manipulation to save the markets from a total catastrophe because the earlier collapse would have been a total non-confirmation of the Fed's move to cut rates by .75% and of the 145 billion stimulus package proposed by our government. Prior to this miracle, which has happened before when markets have reacted negatively to a major move by the Fed, the Dow was off about 300 after European markets were flushed down the toilet and given a "swirly" following the Fed's move to cut big which was a total embarrassment to the Fed.
No one has any more confidence in the Fed or in our government, especially pros, because they are finally seeing them for what they really are - lying sacks of deceitful hot air! The dumbest dolt could see that we are spiraling down to plumb the depths of fiat money hell. When the lawsuits start against money managers for gut-wrenching losses suffered by their clients because they did not diversify into precious metals despite rampaging inflation, these dolts will try to claim that official rates of inflation were tame and did not warrant such diversification. As soon as they make this claim in court, judges and juries alike will laugh them to scorn for their vapid stupidity and their stark ignorance.
They were supposed to be professionals and dig behind bogus government statistics to get to the truth on behalf of their clients, and juries will find that they totally ignored the obvious facts when even non-professionals could easily see what was really going on.
...
THE INTERNATIONAL FORECASTER
SATURDAY - JANUARY 26, 2008 - 012608(7)_IF
P. O. Box 510518, Punta Gorda, FL 33951-0518
An international financial, economic, political and social commentary.
Published and Edited by: Bob Chapman
E-Mail Addresses:
international_forecaster@yahoo.com
if_distctr@yahoo.com
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE
http://www.theinternationalforecaster.com/
RADIO APPEARANCES:
To check out all of our radio appearances click on this link below:
http://www.theinternationalforecaster.com/radio.php
1-YEAR $159.95 U.S. Funds
US AND CANADIAN SUBSCRIBERS: Make check payable to Robert Chapman (NOT International Forecaster), and mail to P.O. Box 510518, Punta Gorda, FL 33951-0518. Please include name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.
Or:
We accept Visa and MasterCard charges. Provide us with your card number and expiration date. We will charge your card US$159.95 for a one-year subscription.
You can email us in two separate emails (1- the Credit Card Number with full name, address and your telephone number and (2- the Expiration date on the card.
NON US OR CANADIANS SUBSCRIBERS:
Due to the time that it takes for your mail to arrive to us from a foreign country, we would like for you to email us as above the CC information in two separate emails.
Note: We publish twice a month by surface mail or twice a week by E-mail. international_forecaster@yahoo.com or if_distctr@yahoo.com-- Posted Monday, 28 January 2008 Digg This Article Source: GoldSeek.com
Previous Articles by Bob Chapman
Special Offer:
** Receive an Introductory Copy of the IF -- Please Use the Form Below**
Required Fields marked with *
*NamePlease enter your first & last name.
*EmailE-mail where free issue will be sent
Please allow 24 hours for a response to your request.
";
phpads_deliverActiveX(phpads_activex);
//-->
lunes, 28 de enero de 2008
http://thepowerhour.com, USA Vets Dave & Joyce, sw/radio...
Week of JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 1, 2008: S/W radio & internet:
MONDAY - JANUARY 28 - DOUBLE FEATURE:
International Forecaster BOB CHAPMAN provides details of the world market situation and what that means to U.S. investors and Wall Street (or more importantly what Wall Street has done to foreign markets), depicts why the worst is yet to come - - - despite emergency interest-rate cuts. "Get ready for the upcoming Financial Armageddon that will be playing soon at a theatre near you!"
Website: http://news.goldseek.com/InternationalForecaster
FREE NEWSLETTER: 1-877-479-8178
Former CBS news-insider turned current internet radio provider, RANDALL LIBERO talks about what the mainstream news creates as their 'reality' - - - purposely being misrepresented with hidden agendas to special interests.
Websites: http://visionary-entertainment.blogspot.com/ http://www.voiceamerica.com/ http://www.modavox.com/7thwavenetwork
TUESDAY - JANUARY 29:
FREDERICK GRAVES, J.D., provides the most unique and effective training CD series to teach any citizen how to win in court. Learn the court room procedure and winning techniques - - - it is easier than you think with down-to-earth practical language that anyone can learn, deliver and receive justice. Here are the tools for you to change the world.CD Training Series available at:Website: http://www.jurisdictionary.com/ or 1-866-law-easy
Please be sure to mention that The Power Hour sent you - - - Thank You!
OPEN LINES: To call the show--toll free: 1 800 259 9231 or International: 952-707-9960 X125.
WEDNESDAY - JANUARY 30 - DOUBLE FEATURE:
Former Senior Policy Advisor U.S. Department of Education, CHARLOTTE ISERBYT has become a Ron Paul crusader and started a new internet radio show devoted to Ron Paul issues. Today Charlotte exposes Lou Dobbs and CNN.
Websites: http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/ http://www.americandeception.com/
NEW: Ron Paul Revolution Radio at http://www.ronpaulrevolutionradio.com/ Charlotte: Saturday evenings 6pm - 8pm CST, 7-9 p.m. EST, etc.
Doctor, homeopath, herbalist and nutritionist CAROLYN DEAN, M.D., educates about hormones in food and water and a link between the increasing amounts of obesity in childhood and early puberty.Website: http://www.carolyndean.com/
BOOKS by Dr Carolyn Dean, MD, ND: Hormone Balance - The Magnesium Miracle - The Yeast Connection - IBS For Dummies - The Everything Alzheimer's Book & Menopause Naturally available by calling 1-877-817-9829 or online at ThePowerMall.com* Grown By Nature Multivitamin and Mineral Supplements by clicking here!
THURSDAY - JANUARY 31 - MULTIPLE FEATURE:
Board certified in Environmental Medicine, Pediatrics and Allergies, DR. DORIS RAPP educates about the harmful effects of numerous chemicals to which we are all exposed on a daily basis and the various ways their insidious symptoms appear on the human body.
Website: http://www.drrapp.com/ BOOK: Our Toxic World available at ThePowermall.com or by calling 1- 877-817-9829
DARREN CRADDOCK introduces a NEW healthy Cocoa drink, or chocolate for baking. Staying healthy has never been sweeter!NEW: Cocoa MoJo ADAM LOCK provides a current update to "Water In The News":http://www.berkeywater.com/news/waternews.html For all Berkey Products please call 1-888-803-4438 and please be sure to mention that you listen to "The Power Hour with Joyce & Dave" - Thank you!
FRIDAY - FEBRUARY 1:
MAC SPERRY believes he has devised a system of tamper-proof vote verification for every election, at any election level, same principle as checking your bank or credit card statement. "You go and look and verify your vote in the correct and counted spot."Website: http://http://www.howtorescueamerica.bravehost.com/
3rd HOUR: OPEN LINES: To call the show--toll free: 1 800 259 9231 or International: 952-707-9960 X125.
PAST SHOWS
Be Sure to Check out The Power Mall.com*NOTE: ALL announced Sales are good for online line ordering -- We will hand discount all the online orders and you will receive the corrected invoice upon delivery.
Tell your Friends about us.
The Power Hour:Show-Schedule(7-10am CST)···Listen Live
Listen FREE thru Global Star Satellite Feed
MONDAY - JANUARY 28 - DOUBLE FEATURE:
International Forecaster BOB CHAPMAN provides details of the world market situation and what that means to U.S. investors and Wall Street (or more importantly what Wall Street has done to foreign markets), depicts why the worst is yet to come - - - despite emergency interest-rate cuts. "Get ready for the upcoming Financial Armageddon that will be playing soon at a theatre near you!"
Website: http://news.goldseek.com/InternationalForecaster
FREE NEWSLETTER: 1-877-479-8178
Former CBS news-insider turned current internet radio provider, RANDALL LIBERO talks about what the mainstream news creates as their 'reality' - - - purposely being misrepresented with hidden agendas to special interests.
Websites: http://visionary-entertainment.blogspot.com/ http://www.voiceamerica.com/ http://www.modavox.com/7thwavenetwork
TUESDAY - JANUARY 29:
FREDERICK GRAVES, J.D., provides the most unique and effective training CD series to teach any citizen how to win in court. Learn the court room procedure and winning techniques - - - it is easier than you think with down-to-earth practical language that anyone can learn, deliver and receive justice. Here are the tools for you to change the world.CD Training Series available at:Website: http://www.jurisdictionary.com/ or 1-866-law-easy
Please be sure to mention that The Power Hour sent you - - - Thank You!
OPEN LINES: To call the show--toll free: 1 800 259 9231 or International: 952-707-9960 X125.
WEDNESDAY - JANUARY 30 - DOUBLE FEATURE:
Former Senior Policy Advisor U.S. Department of Education, CHARLOTTE ISERBYT has become a Ron Paul crusader and started a new internet radio show devoted to Ron Paul issues. Today Charlotte exposes Lou Dobbs and CNN.
Websites: http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/ http://www.americandeception.com/
NEW: Ron Paul Revolution Radio at http://www.ronpaulrevolutionradio.com/ Charlotte: Saturday evenings 6pm - 8pm CST, 7-9 p.m. EST, etc.
Doctor, homeopath, herbalist and nutritionist CAROLYN DEAN, M.D., educates about hormones in food and water and a link between the increasing amounts of obesity in childhood and early puberty.Website: http://www.carolyndean.com/
BOOKS by Dr Carolyn Dean, MD, ND: Hormone Balance - The Magnesium Miracle - The Yeast Connection - IBS For Dummies - The Everything Alzheimer's Book & Menopause Naturally available by calling 1-877-817-9829 or online at ThePowerMall.com* Grown By Nature Multivitamin and Mineral Supplements by clicking here!
THURSDAY - JANUARY 31 - MULTIPLE FEATURE:
Board certified in Environmental Medicine, Pediatrics and Allergies, DR. DORIS RAPP educates about the harmful effects of numerous chemicals to which we are all exposed on a daily basis and the various ways their insidious symptoms appear on the human body.
Website: http://www.drrapp.com/ BOOK: Our Toxic World available at ThePowermall.com or by calling 1- 877-817-9829
DARREN CRADDOCK introduces a NEW healthy Cocoa drink, or chocolate for baking. Staying healthy has never been sweeter!NEW: Cocoa MoJo ADAM LOCK provides a current update to "Water In The News":http://www.berkeywater.com/news/waternews.html For all Berkey Products please call 1-888-803-4438 and please be sure to mention that you listen to "The Power Hour with Joyce & Dave" - Thank you!
FRIDAY - FEBRUARY 1:
MAC SPERRY believes he has devised a system of tamper-proof vote verification for every election, at any election level, same principle as checking your bank or credit card statement. "You go and look and verify your vote in the correct and counted spot."Website: http://http://www.howtorescueamerica.bravehost.com/
3rd HOUR: OPEN LINES: To call the show--toll free: 1 800 259 9231 or International: 952-707-9960 X125.
PAST SHOWS
Be Sure to Check out The Power Mall.com*NOTE: ALL announced Sales are good for online line ordering -- We will hand discount all the online orders and you will receive the corrected invoice upon delivery.
Tell your Friends about us.
The Power Hour:Show-Schedule(7-10am CST)···Listen Live
Listen FREE thru Global Star Satellite Feed
viernes, 25 de enero de 2008
2 Tips for Skyrocketing Your Metabolism
2 Tips for Skyrocketing Your Metabolism
January 25th, 2008
Boosting metabolism (the conversion of fat to either heat or physical energy) relies on controlling an intricate balance of hormones such as insulin, leptin, IGF-1 and hGH as well as a family of fat burning molecules known as "catecholamines." Once done, your body becomes a fat burning and muscle bulding machine.
1. First and foremost, success rests in eating a breakfast LOADED with healthy fats and proteins. You cannot skip breakfast. My favorite morning meal is an organic avocado, two hard boiled eggs and Whey Advanced mixed with blue green algae and purified water. Without breakfast, you become a metabolic retard - your body stores fat and melts muscle. Minimizing refined sugars and simple carbohydrates in all future meals is mandatory.
2. And finally, drinking up to 16 ounces of water prior to meals can put our metabolism into overdrive thanks to its positive effect on thermogenesis (the conversion of fat to heat).
Learn more with my free report entitled: How I beat Obesity and Insulin Report in 90 Days!
This Is The Most Important FAT LOSS Information You Will Ever Read! It Saved Me From The Perils Of Obesity And It Can Save You! I Have Even Recommended It To Oprah!
*******************************************
How I Beat Obesity and Insulin Resistance in 90 Days My 10 Habits for Automatic Fat Loss Day and Night By: Shane Ellison, M.Sc.Copyright © 2006, Early to Risewritten for www.earlytorise.com
I have been rail thin and I have carried more fat than I like to admit. As a collegiate wrestler I was 4% body fat.
As time passed into my late 20's, I ballooned to a whopping 30% body fat. I felt weak, tired, edgy, depressed and was haunted by a constant craving for food - usually anything that had sugar. My brain screamed eat, eat, eat and by body said store, store, store. It was a metabolic nightmare. Disgusted, I was determined to awaken from it and lose the unwanted fat while building more muscle - in the shortest amount of time possible.
As an organic chemist trained in biochemistry and drug design I scrutinized every fat loss method available. I studied volumes of research available on fad diets, the government mandated "food pyramid" and strenuous exercise programs. I mapped out the actions of purported fat loss drugs like Wellbutrin, Phentermine, Xenical, Clenbuterol, Meridia and amphetamines.
And I thoroughly investigated those medications commonly used for type II diabetics such as Glucophage (metformin) and Glucotrol XL (glipizide). I learned that none of these options were for me. They only provided temporary fat loss at best while putting me at risk for worsening health and even deadly side-effects!
Digging deeper into science, I discovered that I could lose excess fat and gain solid muscle by adhering to key lifestyle habits that controlled a single hormone in my body - insulin! Insulin is the nutrient taxi. It escorts blood glucose (AKA blood sugar) and other nutrients into the muscle cells to be used for fuel. This keeps us alive and energized. Too much insulin however can be detrimental. Excess insulin tells the body to store fat and instead use glucose for fuel. In addition, many hormonal systems that regulate appetite, mood, muscle growth and even fertility are thrown out of whack by excess insulin. This imbalance is usually secured long-term by a sugar addiction that accompanies excess insulin. Soda, juice, cereal, beer and candy manufacturers have built empires around such addictions. Since the body is burning glucose for energy and storing fat, it screams for more sugar as glucose is converted into energy. This is the metabolic nightmare our parents innately feared when they told us, "Don't eat too much sugar." As adults most of us have ignored the warning not to eat sugar. We pay more attention to how many calories or grams of fat we put into our body. This is a deadly mistake.
Most low calorie and low fat foods are loaded with sugar or "sugar mimics." These include sucrose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed proteins, trans fat and milk sugars such as lactose and maltose. Looking at my own eating habits, I was consuming sugar every time I put something into my mouth. Whether I was drinking a "sports drink", eating a "health food" bar or Campbell's soup I was consuming some type of detrimental sugar.
Little did I know I was headed toward more treacherous health problems than just obesity. If habitual sugar consumption continues the metabolic nightmare can turn into a living hell. Over time, high insulin levels lead to a medical condition known as insulin resistance or Syndrome X. Similar to those who consume excess alcohol and develop resistance to it, excess insulin numbs the cells. Our muscles no longer react to it. Unable to gain entry into muscle cells, glucose remains in the bloodstream. Blood sugar skyrockets. Recognizing the rise in blood glucose, the pancreas attempts to curtail the danger with yet more insulin production. Insulin resistance begins to take its toll on the body. Insulin and glucose overload leads to hypertension, polycystic ovarian syndrome, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Aging accelerates so fast among those who suffer from insulin resistance that they can erase 10 years from their lives!
Alarmed with what I learned, I became wildly motivated to control my insulin. It wasn't that difficult. I never starved. I never counted calories. I never suffered in the gym. I learned how to control my insulin by adhering to simple lifestyle habits. Doing so allowed me to burn fat day and night. My body innately knew when to eat and how much to eat. I began to refer to my findings as The AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery - 10 Habits for Automatic Fat Loss Day and Night.
By controlling my insulin, I descended from 30% body fat to a lean 10-12% body fat in 90 days! During that time I gained 6 lbs of muscle. I had abundant energy all day. My mood was consistently upbeat. My physical and mental endurance was at an all time high. My productivity quadrupled. I felt like my newfound habits were the Holy-Grail for effortless fat loss.
Lost 30 Pounds205 to 175Lost fat - Gained musclePrescription Drugs: None
I awoke from my metabolic nightmare and freed myself from the impending health crisis that 80 million Americans are now faced with.
Here are the simple steps I took:
I had to learn how to exercise properly. Proper exercise and insulin resistance cannot co-exist. My workout only required 3 days per week at a maximum time of 45 minutes per session! Sometimes, I only exercised for 20-30 minutes! Sign up below to get the absolute best workout for fat loss (it will be sent IMMEDIATELY). This is for beginners and experts as it shows you how to CUSTOMIZE IT based on your ability!
Your Name:
Your E-Mail:
Powered by GetResponse email marketing software
This workout was specifically designed to lower blood sugar (sometimes 40 points in 45 minutes!) and insulin. I attained the best results when I exercised first thing in the morning before breakfast.
I had to quit eating sugar and sugar mimics. I scrutinized every food label to ensure that there were no sugars. If something tasted sweet I didn't eat it - not even fruit for the first 90 days. I abstained from all artificial sweeteners. I only used the natural sweetener known as Stevia. I quit all soda and fruit juice and replaced it with purified water, water with squeezed lemon or green tea. I limited wine consumption to none or 1-2 glasses per week. I lived by the mantra "if it tastes sweet spit it out."
I avoided dieting. Lowering food intake and dieting teaches the body to store fat. I ate a meal every 3-4 hours (women should go 4-5 hours between meals) until I was totally full. My meals focused on TONS of healthy, naturally occurring fat, vegetables and protein. I stayed away from food served out of a box, window or package. Sources of food were grass fed beef (www.uswellnessmeats.com) (London broil, sausage, bacon, New York Strip, ect), eggs (the whole egg), pork, tuna, Whey Advanced (free of sugar and artificial flavors and has vitamin C!) beans, brown rice, chicken, organic salads at least every other day, steamed vegetables (tons of broccoli), coconut oil, fish, organic bread with REAL butter, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, and avocados.
I got more sunshine. I exposed at least 80% of my body to sunshine for 10-20 minutes per day. This helped control my appetite and mood while normalizing insulin and blood glucose levels.
I drank more water at the right times of the day. Drinking water activates your body's natural ability to burn fat (i.e. thermogenesis) by up to 30%! I drank 16 ounces of purified water upon waking in the morning and 5 minutes before every meal and workout.
I used supplements. As a drug chemist, I always knew that nutritional supplements could be useful. After all, the vast majority of drugs are derived from nutritional supplements! It wasn't until I fully embraced their proper use that I was able to experience their powerful benefits. To mobilize my fat from fat stores and intensify my workouts, I used a thermogenic aid. This consisted of a 30% extract from citrus aurantium (works very similar to ephedra except it does not cause users to feel "shaky") mixed with other supportive and synergistic herbs. I designed a product around this formulation known as EF ThermoFX. To increase my insulin sensitivity, I drank copious amounts of green tea. To help with digestion (the conversion of food substrates to energy) and circulation, I supplemented with Night Time ThermoFX at dinner time. This is a cayenne pepper based digestive aid. To mitigate my intense sugar cravings, I utilized the essential amino acid L-tryptophan at night. This is sold as SerotoninFX. Dosage and timing were all very important factors that ensured the effectiveness of each and every supplement.
Last but not least, I cheated. In order to ensure that I could stick to my habits long-term I cheated once per week. During this time, I did whatever I wanted to. As others learned of my findings and applied them they too had the same success, perhaps even greater.
Size 10 to Size 2Prescription Drugs: None
Consider Frank Dannenberg. At 5' 4" Frank weighed 205lbs. He was a three time heart attack victim and type II diabetic. At a mere 58 years old, Frank was planning his own funeral. After following the habits for 90 days, Frank lost 23 pounds of fat, gained 10 pounds of muscle and reversed his diabetes! With his newfound health, he abandoned 9 prescription drugs! A mere one year later, Frank has picture perfect health!
Lost 35lbsReversed DiabetesGained musclePrescription Drugs: NONE
Without a doubt, the benefits of controlling insulin via the habits used above go beyond fat loss. Insulin control is the long-awaited panacea that Americans have been searching for. Physician David Katz, Director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale Medical School, summed it up best. He suggested that learning how to regulate insulin could be the master control of all disease, not just obesity. Are You Ready To Beat Obesity And Insulin Resistance? Purchase the ENTIRE PACKAGE to get SUPPORT and to CUSTOMIZE a fat loss plan to match your individual needs! Purchase The AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery at www.health-fx.net. You'll be amazed at how fast you see results! Learn more here. Please read the "IMPORTANT NOTE" below BEFORE YOU CLICK! Oh yes, DON'T FORGET TO GET THE FREE WORKOUT by filling in the form below. I dont send junk! I hate spam too. The information and advice that I send is so helpful (sometimes disturbing) that you'll be forwarding it to your aunt Helga.
Your Name:
Your E-Mail:
Powered by GetResponse email marketing software
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a PACKAGE option and is only offered at CERTAIN TIMES. When the FULL package is available, all clients receive PERSONAL support along with day and night nutritional supplements! Of course, I (and my small phone staff) can't accomodate everyone. Therefore, availablity of the PACKAGE is LIMITED! It is dependent on how many people are currently "on" the program. As clients complete it and obtain exceptional health the ability to accomodate new clients increases. As this occurs we make this program available to you. Click here to check availability of the PACKAGE: The AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery. If not available, purchase the eBook here: AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery eBook. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shane holds a Master's degree in organic chemistry and has first hand experience in drug design. Abandoning his career as a medicinal chemist, he is dedicated to stopping prescription drug hype. He is an internationally recognized authority on therapeutic nutrition and author of Health Myths Exposed and The Hidden Truth about Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs. His books and FREE offers can be found at www.healthmyths.net.
January 25th, 2008
Boosting metabolism (the conversion of fat to either heat or physical energy) relies on controlling an intricate balance of hormones such as insulin, leptin, IGF-1 and hGH as well as a family of fat burning molecules known as "catecholamines." Once done, your body becomes a fat burning and muscle bulding machine.
1. First and foremost, success rests in eating a breakfast LOADED with healthy fats and proteins. You cannot skip breakfast. My favorite morning meal is an organic avocado, two hard boiled eggs and Whey Advanced mixed with blue green algae and purified water. Without breakfast, you become a metabolic retard - your body stores fat and melts muscle. Minimizing refined sugars and simple carbohydrates in all future meals is mandatory.
2. And finally, drinking up to 16 ounces of water prior to meals can put our metabolism into overdrive thanks to its positive effect on thermogenesis (the conversion of fat to heat).
Learn more with my free report entitled: How I beat Obesity and Insulin Report in 90 Days!
This Is The Most Important FAT LOSS Information You Will Ever Read! It Saved Me From The Perils Of Obesity And It Can Save You! I Have Even Recommended It To Oprah!
*******************************************
How I Beat Obesity and Insulin Resistance in 90 Days My 10 Habits for Automatic Fat Loss Day and Night By: Shane Ellison, M.Sc.Copyright © 2006, Early to Risewritten for www.earlytorise.com
I have been rail thin and I have carried more fat than I like to admit. As a collegiate wrestler I was 4% body fat.
As time passed into my late 20's, I ballooned to a whopping 30% body fat. I felt weak, tired, edgy, depressed and was haunted by a constant craving for food - usually anything that had sugar. My brain screamed eat, eat, eat and by body said store, store, store. It was a metabolic nightmare. Disgusted, I was determined to awaken from it and lose the unwanted fat while building more muscle - in the shortest amount of time possible.
As an organic chemist trained in biochemistry and drug design I scrutinized every fat loss method available. I studied volumes of research available on fad diets, the government mandated "food pyramid" and strenuous exercise programs. I mapped out the actions of purported fat loss drugs like Wellbutrin, Phentermine, Xenical, Clenbuterol, Meridia and amphetamines.
And I thoroughly investigated those medications commonly used for type II diabetics such as Glucophage (metformin) and Glucotrol XL (glipizide). I learned that none of these options were for me. They only provided temporary fat loss at best while putting me at risk for worsening health and even deadly side-effects!
Digging deeper into science, I discovered that I could lose excess fat and gain solid muscle by adhering to key lifestyle habits that controlled a single hormone in my body - insulin! Insulin is the nutrient taxi. It escorts blood glucose (AKA blood sugar) and other nutrients into the muscle cells to be used for fuel. This keeps us alive and energized. Too much insulin however can be detrimental. Excess insulin tells the body to store fat and instead use glucose for fuel. In addition, many hormonal systems that regulate appetite, mood, muscle growth and even fertility are thrown out of whack by excess insulin. This imbalance is usually secured long-term by a sugar addiction that accompanies excess insulin. Soda, juice, cereal, beer and candy manufacturers have built empires around such addictions. Since the body is burning glucose for energy and storing fat, it screams for more sugar as glucose is converted into energy. This is the metabolic nightmare our parents innately feared when they told us, "Don't eat too much sugar." As adults most of us have ignored the warning not to eat sugar. We pay more attention to how many calories or grams of fat we put into our body. This is a deadly mistake.
Most low calorie and low fat foods are loaded with sugar or "sugar mimics." These include sucrose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed proteins, trans fat and milk sugars such as lactose and maltose. Looking at my own eating habits, I was consuming sugar every time I put something into my mouth. Whether I was drinking a "sports drink", eating a "health food" bar or Campbell's soup I was consuming some type of detrimental sugar.
Little did I know I was headed toward more treacherous health problems than just obesity. If habitual sugar consumption continues the metabolic nightmare can turn into a living hell. Over time, high insulin levels lead to a medical condition known as insulin resistance or Syndrome X. Similar to those who consume excess alcohol and develop resistance to it, excess insulin numbs the cells. Our muscles no longer react to it. Unable to gain entry into muscle cells, glucose remains in the bloodstream. Blood sugar skyrockets. Recognizing the rise in blood glucose, the pancreas attempts to curtail the danger with yet more insulin production. Insulin resistance begins to take its toll on the body. Insulin and glucose overload leads to hypertension, polycystic ovarian syndrome, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Aging accelerates so fast among those who suffer from insulin resistance that they can erase 10 years from their lives!
Alarmed with what I learned, I became wildly motivated to control my insulin. It wasn't that difficult. I never starved. I never counted calories. I never suffered in the gym. I learned how to control my insulin by adhering to simple lifestyle habits. Doing so allowed me to burn fat day and night. My body innately knew when to eat and how much to eat. I began to refer to my findings as The AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery - 10 Habits for Automatic Fat Loss Day and Night.
By controlling my insulin, I descended from 30% body fat to a lean 10-12% body fat in 90 days! During that time I gained 6 lbs of muscle. I had abundant energy all day. My mood was consistently upbeat. My physical and mental endurance was at an all time high. My productivity quadrupled. I felt like my newfound habits were the Holy-Grail for effortless fat loss.
Lost 30 Pounds205 to 175Lost fat - Gained musclePrescription Drugs: None
I awoke from my metabolic nightmare and freed myself from the impending health crisis that 80 million Americans are now faced with.
Here are the simple steps I took:
I had to learn how to exercise properly. Proper exercise and insulin resistance cannot co-exist. My workout only required 3 days per week at a maximum time of 45 minutes per session! Sometimes, I only exercised for 20-30 minutes! Sign up below to get the absolute best workout for fat loss (it will be sent IMMEDIATELY). This is for beginners and experts as it shows you how to CUSTOMIZE IT based on your ability!
Your Name:
Your E-Mail:
Powered by GetResponse email marketing software
This workout was specifically designed to lower blood sugar (sometimes 40 points in 45 minutes!) and insulin. I attained the best results when I exercised first thing in the morning before breakfast.
I had to quit eating sugar and sugar mimics. I scrutinized every food label to ensure that there were no sugars. If something tasted sweet I didn't eat it - not even fruit for the first 90 days. I abstained from all artificial sweeteners. I only used the natural sweetener known as Stevia. I quit all soda and fruit juice and replaced it with purified water, water with squeezed lemon or green tea. I limited wine consumption to none or 1-2 glasses per week. I lived by the mantra "if it tastes sweet spit it out."
I avoided dieting. Lowering food intake and dieting teaches the body to store fat. I ate a meal every 3-4 hours (women should go 4-5 hours between meals) until I was totally full. My meals focused on TONS of healthy, naturally occurring fat, vegetables and protein. I stayed away from food served out of a box, window or package. Sources of food were grass fed beef (www.uswellnessmeats.com) (London broil, sausage, bacon, New York Strip, ect), eggs (the whole egg), pork, tuna, Whey Advanced (free of sugar and artificial flavors and has vitamin C!) beans, brown rice, chicken, organic salads at least every other day, steamed vegetables (tons of broccoli), coconut oil, fish, organic bread with REAL butter, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, and avocados.
I got more sunshine. I exposed at least 80% of my body to sunshine for 10-20 minutes per day. This helped control my appetite and mood while normalizing insulin and blood glucose levels.
I drank more water at the right times of the day. Drinking water activates your body's natural ability to burn fat (i.e. thermogenesis) by up to 30%! I drank 16 ounces of purified water upon waking in the morning and 5 minutes before every meal and workout.
I used supplements. As a drug chemist, I always knew that nutritional supplements could be useful. After all, the vast majority of drugs are derived from nutritional supplements! It wasn't until I fully embraced their proper use that I was able to experience their powerful benefits. To mobilize my fat from fat stores and intensify my workouts, I used a thermogenic aid. This consisted of a 30% extract from citrus aurantium (works very similar to ephedra except it does not cause users to feel "shaky") mixed with other supportive and synergistic herbs. I designed a product around this formulation known as EF ThermoFX. To increase my insulin sensitivity, I drank copious amounts of green tea. To help with digestion (the conversion of food substrates to energy) and circulation, I supplemented with Night Time ThermoFX at dinner time. This is a cayenne pepper based digestive aid. To mitigate my intense sugar cravings, I utilized the essential amino acid L-tryptophan at night. This is sold as SerotoninFX. Dosage and timing were all very important factors that ensured the effectiveness of each and every supplement.
Last but not least, I cheated. In order to ensure that I could stick to my habits long-term I cheated once per week. During this time, I did whatever I wanted to. As others learned of my findings and applied them they too had the same success, perhaps even greater.
Size 10 to Size 2Prescription Drugs: None
Consider Frank Dannenberg. At 5' 4" Frank weighed 205lbs. He was a three time heart attack victim and type II diabetic. At a mere 58 years old, Frank was planning his own funeral. After following the habits for 90 days, Frank lost 23 pounds of fat, gained 10 pounds of muscle and reversed his diabetes! With his newfound health, he abandoned 9 prescription drugs! A mere one year later, Frank has picture perfect health!
Lost 35lbsReversed DiabetesGained musclePrescription Drugs: NONE
Without a doubt, the benefits of controlling insulin via the habits used above go beyond fat loss. Insulin control is the long-awaited panacea that Americans have been searching for. Physician David Katz, Director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale Medical School, summed it up best. He suggested that learning how to regulate insulin could be the master control of all disease, not just obesity. Are You Ready To Beat Obesity And Insulin Resistance? Purchase the ENTIRE PACKAGE to get SUPPORT and to CUSTOMIZE a fat loss plan to match your individual needs! Purchase The AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery at www.health-fx.net. You'll be amazed at how fast you see results! Learn more here. Please read the "IMPORTANT NOTE" below BEFORE YOU CLICK! Oh yes, DON'T FORGET TO GET THE FREE WORKOUT by filling in the form below. I dont send junk! I hate spam too. The information and advice that I send is so helpful (sometimes disturbing) that you'll be forwarding it to your aunt Helga.
Your Name:
Your E-Mail:
Powered by GetResponse email marketing software
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a PACKAGE option and is only offered at CERTAIN TIMES. When the FULL package is available, all clients receive PERSONAL support along with day and night nutritional supplements! Of course, I (and my small phone staff) can't accomodate everyone. Therefore, availablity of the PACKAGE is LIMITED! It is dependent on how many people are currently "on" the program. As clients complete it and obtain exceptional health the ability to accomodate new clients increases. As this occurs we make this program available to you. Click here to check availability of the PACKAGE: The AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery. If not available, purchase the eBook here: AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery eBook. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shane holds a Master's degree in organic chemistry and has first hand experience in drug design. Abandoning his career as a medicinal chemist, he is dedicated to stopping prescription drug hype. He is an internationally recognized authority on therapeutic nutrition and author of Health Myths Exposed and The Hidden Truth about Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs. His books and FREE offers can be found at www.healthmyths.net.
domingo, 20 de enero de 2008
USA IMMIGRATION: Myths vs Facts
Immigration: myths vs. facts
Search WWW Search pww.org
Archive Modern archive back to Oct. 2001 2008 Editions Jan. 19, 2008
Author: Joelle Fishman, Rosalío Muñoz and Emile Schepers
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 01/17/08 13:10
A look behind the anti-immigrant furor In the buildup to the 2008 elections, the right-wing Republicans have decided to make immigrants the scapegoat for the failure of the Bush administration and the shortcomings of the capitalist system.
Right-wing personalities on cable TV, on talk radio and in newspapers are fueling this process. Vicious lies are being told about immigrants.
The questions and answers here are designed to provide you with accurate information about the impact of immigrant workers and their families, with or without papers, on the United States today.
Why are so many immigrants coming to the United States?
• Working people in Mexico and other poor countries have been devastated by the practices of U.S. and other international corporations. So-called free trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are imposed with conditions that prevent poor countries from meeting their people’s needs. • After NAFTA came into force, more than 1.3 million Mexican farmers were driven out of business. U.S. agribusiness, subsidized by our tax dollars, sold corn in Mexico at lower prices than farmers there could produce. Undocumented Mexican immigration to U.S. rose 60 percent.
• Big corporations in the United States have been glad to take advantage of the cheap labor, and have sent labor recruiters into economically depressed areas of Mexico, Central America and elsewhere. So why don’t people in those countries fix their situation at home instead of coming here?
• U.S.-based multinational corporations have put heavy pressure on other countries, including Mexico, to keep their economies open to penetration by U.S. corporations.
• When these countries resist this pressure, the U.S. government and corporations intervene with threats, bribery and even military force to stop union organizing and political change from taking place.
• With this pro-business, anti-worker foreign policy, the U.S. government has sponsored coups, civil wars and dictators in Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. My grandparents came from Europe legally.
Why can’t people from Mexico and other countries do the same? Why do they butt ahead in line?
• It is not a matter of “butting in line.” There is no line for them to get in! In 2005, the U.S. government gave out only 5,000 permanent legal resident visas for low-skilled workers.
• Even people married to U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents sometimes have to wait years to join their spouses. This is a different situation from the one our grandparents faced.
• Today it is nearly impossible for most people who don’t have relatives here or specialized skills to come at all.
Do immigrants cause unemployment?
• There are not a fixed number of jobs in our economy. The truth is immigrant workers and their families, like all other workers, create jobs at a rate corresponding to those they fill.
• The real causes of unemployment are rooted in the decreasing wages being paid to all workers. Our country’s workers can no longer afford to buy the products they produce. • Immigrant workers are not responsible for the millions of jobs wiped out by the shutting down of plants across the nation. They are not the cause of massive job loss which occurs when employers increase the workloads of some employees while laying off others.
Do immigrants drive down U.S. wages?
• It’s true that today U.S. workers are seeing their wages drop. This is especially true for young workers and people of color. But more than anything, this is due to a Congress and a president who refuse to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. It is due to right-wing policies that deny workers the right to form unions.
• Employers will always take advantage of workers who don’t have the right to defend themselves, using one group of vulnerable workers against the rest.
• Immigrants are not the cause of higher unemployment rates of African Americans and other U.S. minorities. The continued toleration of racial discrimination in hiring, the dismantling of affirmative action, and weak labor laws are to blame.
• The only effective response is to fight for equal treatment and equal rights for all workers. That is why the legalization of immigrant workers, with full labor and civil rights, is in the interest of us all.
Do immigrants join labor unions?
• Immigrant workers, even those without documents, have been at the forefront of many recent labor actions including organizing drives and strikes.
• One example is immigrant workers at Smithfield Foods’ meat-packing plant in North Carolina, who struck for safe working conditions alongside their African American and white co-workers.
• The roofers’ union reports huge organizing successes among immigrant workers in New Mexico.
• Immigrant workers are at the core of organizing efforts of laundry workers across the nation.
• Employers regularly use the threat of arrest and deportation to break up union actions where immigrant workers are involved. Nevertheless, union membership is growing even faster among immigrant workers than among others.
Do immigrants pay their fair share of taxes?
• Like other workers, most undocumented and documented immigrant workers have both federal and state income taxes deducted from their paychecks. An undocumented worker picking tomatoes in Florida pays more income taxes proportionally than many corporate executives.
• Undocumented workers pay $7 billion a year into Social Security. However, they are ineligible to collect any benefits. • Immigrants, like the rest of us, pay sales taxes every time they buy something. They pay property taxes too, either on property they own or through their rent.
What about the crime rate among immigrants?
• Numerous studies show that the rate of violent and property crime among immigrants, with or without documents, is lower than that of comparable sectors of the U.S. population, even though anti-immigrant agitators try to give the opposite impression by highlighting isolated cases of shocking crimes.
What about terrorism?
• Undocumented immigrant workers were not linked to 9/11 or any other recent terrorist attack. Every one of the 9/11 terrorists came here on a legal visa issued by the United States government.
• The vast majority of undocumented and documented immigrants have nothing whatever to do with terrorism, and come here only to work and be with family.
• If hard-working immigrants could have a legal way of coming here, the danger of terrorists entering secretly would be lessened.
What is the impact of immigrants on social, health care and educational services? • Immigrant workers are not getting a free ride. Like other workers, most immigrants pay the same federal, state and local taxes which finance our schools, health clinics and other public services.
• Immigrant workers, alongside their native-born co-workers, generate fortunes for their employers in industries such as agribusiness, meatpacking, hotels, restaurants and construction.
• However, Republican administrations since Reagan have given the super-rich huge tax cuts. If these were rolled back, there would be enough money to finance needed services for everybody: immigrant and U.S.-born.
• There is no evidence that new immigrants pose a public health danger to their neighbors. Indeed, studies show that they are on the whole healthier than comparable sectors of the U.S.-born population.
Do immigrants threaten the English language and American culture?
• There have always been other languages spoken alongside English in the United States, including Native American (Indian) languages, Spanish in the Southwest and Florida, French in Louisiana and German dialects in Pennsylvania.
• Our country’s experience has been that while new immigrants may struggle a bit with the language, the second generation always speaks English fluently. This is just as true of Latino immigrants today as it was of other immigrants in the past.
• All over the country, classes to teach English to non-English speakers are jammed full.
• The vast majority of new immigrants believe fervently in democracy, family, freedom and social justice, and thus are a boon to our values, not a menace.
What is really behind the anti-immigrant furor?
• Right-wing politicians and their media supporters want to distract the public’s attention from the scandals of the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, the health care crisis, the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs and the home foreclosures disaster. They are using the “illegal immigrant” scare to do this.
• Big business interests want cheap labor but do not want low-paid workers to have rights. So they whip up scare campaigns against immigrant workers. Their aim is to keep them quiet and underpaid, and the workers divided.
• Hard-core racist forces are using the immigration issue to whip up hate and fear against Mexicans, other Latinos, Africans, Middle Easterners and South Asians. Their strategy is to give legitimacy to racist attitudes and policies in this country. This works to the detriment not only of immigrants but of all U.S. minorities and the rest of us.
What is the solution?
The solution is not to hang a “keep out” sign on the Statue of Liberty’s torch. The solution is not to waste vast amounts of taxpayer money on a useless and environmentally destructive fence.
The solution is to carry out a comprehensive, worker-friendly immigration reform including:
• Legalization of the current undocumented immigrants, as quickly and cheaply as possible, with full labor and civil rights and a clear path to citizenship.
• Changes in U.S. visa policies so that ordinary working people who want to come here and live and work can do so without violating laws or risking their lives.
• Avoidance of guest worker schemes that keep foreign workers in conditions of serfdom without the right to defend themselves or integrate themselves into our society.
• Giving immigrant workers the same rights on the job and in the community that other workers have, so they can join unions and fight together for better wages and working conditions.
• Changes in U.S. trade and foreign policy so that the development of the economies of poorer countries is no longer undermined by multinational corporate interests or U.S. government interference.
For more information and sources:
• “They Take Our Jobs! and 20 Other Myths About Immigration” http://www.beacon.org/.
• “The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers” http://www.monthlyreview.org/.
• The Pew Hispanic Center http://www.pewhispanic.org/.
• Migration Policy Institute http://www.immigrationinformation.org/.
• Immigration Policy Center http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/.
• The People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo http://www.pww.org/,
and Political Affairs http://www.politicalaffairs.net/.
Emile Schepers, Rosalio Muñoz and Joelle Fishman serve on the Communist Party USA’s immigration legislative subcommittee. For more information contact: politicalaction @cpusa.org
Like what you read? Click here to donate. Printer-friendly page Send this article to a friend
pww@pww.org Office:3339 S Halsted St.Chicago IL 60608ph: 773-446-9920, fax: 773-446-9928
newcatcher@cpusa.org
Business Office:235 West 23rd StreetNew York NY 10011ph: 212-924-2523fax: 212-229-1713
****************++++++++*****************+++++++++
La inmigración: hechos y mitos
Search WWW Search pww.org Archive Modern archive back to Oct. 2001 2008 Editions Jan. 19, 2008
Author: Joelle Fishman, Rosalío Muñoz and Emile Schepers
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 01/17/08 13:21
Detrás del furor antiinmigrante, en realidad En las preparativas para las elecciones de 2008, los republicanos derechistas han decidido convertir a los inmigrantes en el chivo expiatorio para las catástrofes de la administración de Bush y las deficiencias del capitalismo. Personajes de la ultra derecha en televisión de cable, programas radiales y los periódicos impulsan este proceso. Las mentiras cada vez más ofensivas y racistas acerca de los inmigrantes siguen en circulación. Esta campaña derechista en contra de los inmigrantes es parte de un plan amplio de fomentar el racismo en contra de los afro americanos, latinos y otros pueblos oprimidos.
El propósito de este folleto es el de proporcionarle información verídica sobre el impacto que tienen los obreros inmigrantes y sus familias, con o sin papeles, en la sociedad estadounidense.
Por favor, comparta esta información con sus compañeros de trabajo, parientes y vecinos. Invitamos sus comentarios.
Escríbanos por correo electrónico a politicalaction@cpusa.org.
¿Por qué están llegando tantos inmigrantes a los estados unidos?
• Gente de clase obrera en México y otros países pobres han sido destrozados por las prácticas de las grandes corporaciones norteamericanas e internacionales. Pactos de libre comercio como el Tratado de Libre Comercio Norteamericano se imponen con condiciones que previenen que los países pobres satisfagan a las necesidades de sus pueblos.
• Después de que el TLC entre los Estados Unidos, Canadá y México empezó a funcionar, y especialmente después de las condiciones duras impuestas como condiciones del préstamo a México en 1995, más de 1.3 millones de campesinos mexicanos con sus familias se encontraron forzados a abandonar a la agricultura, pues corporaciones agrícolas norteamericanas, gozando de grandes subsidios proporcionados por los contribuyentes estadounidenses, empezaron a vender al maíz en México a precios mas bajos que los que podrían cobrar los agricultores mexicanos. La inmigración desde México y a los Estados Unidos disparó, subiendo más de 60%.
• Las grandes corporaciones norteamericanas han aprovechado muy felizmente de la mano de obra barata, y han enviado sus agentes al interior de México y Centroamérica para reclutar obreros. Los pueblos de esos países
¿Por qué no arreglan la situación en casa en vez de venir para acá?
• Las corporaciones multinacionales basadas en los Estados Unidos han presionado mucho a otros países, inclusive a México, para que mantengan sus economías abiertas a la penetración norteamericana.
• Cuando estos países resisten esta presión, el gobierno estadounidense y las corporaciones intervienen con amenazas, sobornos y hasta fuerza militar para poner alto a la sindicalización y el cambio político.
• Con esta política exterior que favorece a las corporaciones y perjudica a los trabajadores, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos ha auspiciado golpes de estado, guerras civiles y dictadores en Haití, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua y Honduras. Mis abuelos vinieron desde Europa en forma legal.
¿Por qué es que las personas de México y esos otros países no pueden hacer lo mismo? ¿Por qué se cuelan en frente de la cola?
• No es asunto de “meterse en frente de la cola”. No existe tal cola para que ellos se cuelen. En 2005, el gobierno norteamericano otorgó solo 5,000 visas de residencia permanente (micas) para trabajadores con capacitación limitada.
• Hasta personas casadas con ciudadanos norteamericanos o residentes permanentes legales a veces tienen que esperar años para que el gobierno permita entrar a sus esposos o esposas de otros países. Esta es una situación distinta a la que nuestros abuelos tuvieron que superar.
• Ahora es casi imposible que la mayoría de las personas que no tienen ni parientes en este país, ni capacidades especiales para el trabajo, venir a radicar en este país.
¿Son los inmigrantes la causa del desempleo?
• No hay cierto número fijo de empleos en la economía. Los trabajadores inmigrantes y sus familias, al igual como todos trabajadores, crean un número de trabajos igual a los que ocupan.
• Las verdaderas causas del desempleo se encuentran en la rebaja de los salarios de los trabajadores. Ya no pueden comprar los productos que ellos mismos producen.
• Los trabajadores inmigrantes no tienen la culpa por la pérdida de millones de trabajos eliminados por el cierre de fábricas en todo el país. No tienen la culpa por la pérdida masiva de empleos que resultan del hecho que los patronos aumentan el cargo de tra- bajo para algunos empleados mientras que dan descanso a otros.
¿Son los inmigrantes la causa de que los salarios vayan bajando?
• Es cierto que hoy en día, los trabajadores ven que sus salarios van bajando. Esto es el caso especialmente para trabajadores jóvenes y minoritarios. Pero mas que nada, el desempleo debe achacarse a un congreso y a un presidente que niegan aumentar el salario mínimo a un nivel decente, a políticas reaccionarias que les niegan a los trabajadores el derecho de sindicalizarse.
• Los patronos siempre se aprovecharán de aquellos trabajadores que carecen del derecho de defenderse, utilizando un grupo de trabajadores vulnerables en contra de los demás.
• Los inmigrantes tampoco tienen la culpa para las tasas elevadas de desempleo entre los afro americanos y otras minorías norteamericanas. Esto debe achacarse al hecho de que en este país se tolera a la discriminación racial en el trabajo, de que prácticamente se ha deshecho a la acción afirmativa, y que tenemos leyes laborales demasiado débiles.
• La única respuesta a tales tácticas es de luchar a favor de trato igual y plenos derechos para todos los trabajadores. Por eso es que la legalización de los trabajadores inmigrantes, con plenos derechos laborales y civiles, representa el interés legítimo de todos los trabajadores.
¿Se afilian con los sindicatos los inmigrantes?
• Los trabajadores inmigrantes, inclusive los que no tienen papeles, han sido tenaz en la lucha en muchas acciones laborales recientes inclusive campañas de sindicalización y huelgas, donde se encuentran concentrados.
• Un ejemplo es el de los trabajadores inmigrantes en la empacadora de carne “Smithfield” en Carolina del Norte, quienes salieron en huelga en contra de las condiciones peligrosas de trabajo, al lado de sus compañeros afro americanos y blancos. El sindicato que organiza personas que construyen techos dice que tiene tremendo éxito en organizar a los trabajadores inmigrantes en Nuevo México. Los trabajadores inmigrantes se encuentran en el mero corazón del esfuerzo de organizar a las lavanderías industriales en todo el país.
• Los patronos en forma regular utilizan la amenaza de detención y deportación para parar las actividades sindicales cuando hay trabajadores inmigrantes involucrados. Sin embargo, la afiliación en los sindicatos va creciendo más rápidamente entre obreros inmigrantes que entre los nacidos en los Estados Unidos.
¿Pagan sus impuestos los inmigrantes?
• Como otros trabajadores, la mayoría de los trabajadores inmigrantes, con o sin documentos, ven sus impuestos federales y estatales sustraídos de sus cheques. Un indocumentado cosechando tomates en la Florida paga mas impuestos sobre su ingreso, proporcionalmente, que muchos ejecutivos de corporaciones.
• Los trabajadores indocumentados pagan $7 mil millones de dólares cada año al fondo de Seguro Social, y no pueden cobrar ningún beneficio cuando se jubilan o se enferman.
• Los inmigrantes, como todos los demás, pagan impuestos de ventas cada vez que compran algo. Además pagan impuestos de bienes raíces (propiedad) o por propiedades de que ellos mismos son los dueños, o por el alquiler que pagan. ¿Cuál es la tasa de crímenes entre los inmigrantes? • Varios estudios muestran que la taza de delincuencia violenta y de propiedad entre los inmigrantes con o sin papeles, es menos que entre sectores parecidas de la población no inmigrante, a pesar de que los demagogos antiinmigrantes pretenden dar la impresión contraria por medio de destacar caso aislados de crímenes espantosos. ¿Y el terrorismo? • Los trabajadores inmigrantes indocumentados no tuvieron nada que ver con el 9-11 o cualquier otro ataque terrorista reciente. Cada uno de los terroristas que atacaron a las torres gemelas y el Pentágono entró legalmente en los Estados Unidos con una visa otorgada por nuestro gobierno. • La inmensa mayoría de los inmigrantes, con o sin documentos, no tienen nada en absoluto que ver con el terrorismo; simplemente vienen a trabajar y estar con sus familias. • Si los trabajadores inmigrantes tuvieran una manera de entrar legalmente, el peligro de que terroristas puedan infiltrarse ilegalmente disminuiría. ¿Qué impacto tienen los inmigrantes sobre los servicios sociales, el cuidado de salud y las escuelas? • Los trabajadores inmigrantes no están recibiendo un trato especial “gratis”. Como los otros trabajadores, la mayoría de los trabajadores inmigrantes pagan los mismos impuestos federales, estatales y municipales que proveen los fondos para nuestras escuelas y clínicas de salud. • Los trabajadores inmigrantes, al lado de sus compañeros de trabajo nacidos en este país, generan fortunas para los empleadores en industrias como agricultura, empacadoras de carne, hoteles, restaurantes y construcción. Pero, las administraciones republicanas desde la presidencia de Ronald Reagan han regalado tremendas rebajas de impuestos a los súper ricos. Al eliminar estas rebajas, habría suficiente dinero para apoyar a los servicios para todos, inmigrantes y nacidos acá. • No hay evidencia de que los inmigrantes representan una amenaza a la salud pública de sus vecinos. De hecho, las investigaciones que se han hecho muestran que los inmigrantes en general son más sanos que los no inmigrantes. ¿Representan los inmigrantes una amenaza al idioma Ingles y la cultura Norteamericana? • En este país siempre ha habido otros idiomas que se hablan al lado del inglés. Estos incluyen idiomas indígenas norteamericanas, castellano en el suroeste y la Florida, francés en Loisiana, y versiones de alemán en Pensilvana. • La experiencia de este país ha sido de que aunque los inmigrantes recién llegados a veces tienen que luchar un poco para aprender inglés, sus hijos y nietos siempre dominan perfectamente bien al inglés. Esto es el caso también con los inmigrantes latinoamericanos hoy en día. • En todo el país las clases de “ingles como segundo idioma” para los adultos se encuentran rellenas de gente. • La inmensa mayoría de los inmigrantes nuevos creen fervientemente en la democracia, la familia, la libertad y la justicia social, de modo son beneficiosos para nuestros valores y no representan ninguna amenaza. ¿Qué hay detrás del furor antiinmigrante, en realidad? • Políticos derechistas y sus cómplices en los medios masivos pretenden distraer la atención del publico de los escándalos de la administración de George Bush—la guerra en Irak, la crisis de seguro de salud, el problema de las hipotecas de casas. Para lograr eso, pretenden asustar al público con “la amenaza de la inmigración ilegal”. • Las grandes corporaciones desean mano de obra barata pero no quieren que estos trabajadores mal pagados tengan derechos. De modo que se confabulan con campañas de terror en contra de los inmigrantes que tienen el impacto de mantenerlos callados, mal pagados y la clase obrera dividida. • Fuerzas racistas intransigentes buscan utilizar al tema de inmigración para fomentar campañas de odio en contra de los mexicanos, otros latinos, africanos, gente del medio oriente y de Asia como parte de una estrategia de restaurar legitimidad a las ideas y actividades racistas en este país, cosa que perjudica no solo a los inmigrantes sino también a las minorías norteamericanas y todos los demás. ¿Cuál será la solución? La solución no es colocar una pancarta declarando “manténganse fuera” a la antorcha en la mano de la estatua de libertad, ni tampoco de desperdiciar millones de dólares de los contribuyentes en una valla en la frontera que es tan dañina al medio ambiente como es inútil. Más bien, la solución es de llevar a cabo una reforma integral de las leyes de inmigración, favorable a los trabajadores, con los siguientes componentes. • Legalización de los actuales inmigrantes indocumentados, tan rápidamente como sea posible y con cuotas mínimas, y con plenos derechos laborales y civiles y un camino abierto a la ciudadanía. • Cambios en el sistema de visas del gobierno norteamericano para que gente de la clase obrera que desean venir y vivir y trabajar aquí, puedan hacerlo sin violar las leyes y sin arriesgar sus vidas. • Se debe evitar el uso de programas de trabajadores temporales que mantengan a los trabajadores extranjeros en una situación de peonaje sin derecho alguno de defenderse o integrarse en nuestra sociedad. • Otorgarles a los obreros inmigrantes los mismos derechos en el trabajo y en la comunidad que tienen otros trabajadores, para que pueden luchar unidos para mejores salarios y condiciones de trabajo. • Una transformación de las políticas extranjeras y comerciales de los Estados Unidos para que ni los intereses de las corporaciones norteamericanas ni la intervención del gobierno de este país impidan el desarrollo de los países pobres. Para mas información, aquí tiene algunas sugerencias • “They Take Our Jobs! And 20 Other Myths About Immigration,” www.beacon.org. • “The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers,” www.monthlyreview.org.. Y para hallar más información en el Internet: • El Pew Hispanic Center. www.pewhispanic.org. • Immigration Policy Center, a www.immigrationpolicy.org. • People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo, www.pww.org, and Political Affairs www.politicalaffairs.net. Este folleto fue preparado por el Subcomité sobre Legislación de Inmigración de la Comisión de Acción Política del Partido Comunista de los Estados Unidos. Visítenos en Internet a www.cpusa.org. Contáctenos por correo electrónico en politicalaction @cpusa.org.
Search WWW Search pww.org
Archive Modern archive back to Oct. 2001 2008 Editions Jan. 19, 2008
Author: Joelle Fishman, Rosalío Muñoz and Emile Schepers
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 01/17/08 13:10
A look behind the anti-immigrant furor In the buildup to the 2008 elections, the right-wing Republicans have decided to make immigrants the scapegoat for the failure of the Bush administration and the shortcomings of the capitalist system. Right-wing personalities on cable TV, on talk radio and in newspapers are fueling this process. Vicious lies are being told about immigrants. The questions and answers here are designed to provide you with accurate information about the impact of immigrant workers and their families, with or without papers, on the United States today. Why are so many immigrants coming to the United States? • Working people in Mexico and other poor countries have been devastated by the practices of U.S. and other international corporations. So-called free trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are imposed with conditions that prevent poor countries from meeting their people’s needs. • After NAFTA came into force, more than 1.3 million Mexican farmers were driven out of business. U.S. agribusiness, subsidized by our tax dollars, sold corn in Mexico at lower prices than farmers there could produce. Undocumented Mexican immigration to U.S. rose 60 percent. • Big corporations in the United States have been glad to take advantage of the cheap labor, and have sent labor recruiters into economically depressed areas of Mexico, Central America and elsewhere. So why don’t people in those countries fix their situation at home instead of coming here? • U.S.-based multinational corporations have put heavy pressure on other countries, including Mexico, to keep their economies open to penetration by U.S. corporations. • When these countries resist this pressure, the U.S. government and corporations intervene with threats, bribery and even military force to stop union organizing and political change from taking place. • With this pro-business, anti-worker foreign policy, the U.S. government has sponsored coups, civil wars and dictators in Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. My grandparents came from Europe legally. Why can’t people from Mexico and other countries do the same? Why do they butt ahead in line? • It is not a matter of “butting in line.” There is no line for them to get in! In 2005, the U.S. government gave out only 5,000 permanent legal resident visas for low-skilled workers. • Even people married to U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents sometimes have to wait years to join their spouses. This is a different situation from the one our grandparents faced. • Today it is nearly impossible for most people who don’t have relatives here or specialized skills to come at all. Do immigrants cause unemployment? • There are not a fixed number of jobs in our economy. The truth is immigrant workers and their families, like all other workers, create jobs at a rate corresponding to those they fill. • The real causes of unemployment are rooted in the decreasing wages being paid to all workers. Our country’s workers can no longer afford to buy the products they produce. • Immigrant workers are not responsible for the millions of jobs wiped out by the shutting down of plants across the nation. They are not the cause of massive job loss which occurs when employers increase the workloads of some employees while laying off others. Do immigrants drive down U.S. wages? • It’s true that today U.S. workers are seeing their wages drop. This is especially true for young workers and people of color. But more than anything, this is due to a Congress and a president who refuse to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. It is due to right-wing policies that deny workers the right to form unions. • Employers will always take advantage of workers who don’t have the right to defend themselves, using one group of vulnerable workers against the rest. • Immigrants are not the cause of higher unemployment rates of African Americans and other U.S. minorities. The continued toleration of racial discrimination in hiring, the dismantling of affirmative action, and weak labor laws are to blame. • The only effective response is to fight for equal treatment and equal rights for all workers. That is why the legalization of immigrant workers, with full labor and civil rights, is in the interest of us all. Do immigrants join labor unions? • Immigrant workers, even those without documents, have been at the forefront of many recent labor actions including organizing drives and strikes. • One example is immigrant workers at Smithfield Foods’ meat-packing plant in North Carolina, who struck for safe working conditions alongside their African American and white co-workers. • The roofers’ union reports huge organizing successes among immigrant workers in New Mexico. • Immigrant workers are at the core of organizing efforts of laundry workers across the nation. • Employers regularly use the threat of arrest and deportation to break up union actions where immigrant workers are involved. Nevertheless, union membership is growing even faster among immigrant workers than among others. Do immigrants pay their fair share of taxes? • Like other workers, most undocumented and documented immigrant workers have both federal and state income taxes deducted from their paychecks. An undocumented worker picking tomatoes in Florida pays more income taxes proportionally than many corporate executives. • Undocumented workers pay $7 billion a year into Social Security. However, they are ineligible to collect any benefits. • Immigrants, like the rest of us, pay sales taxes every time they buy something. They pay property taxes too, either on property they own or through their rent. What about the crime rate among immigrants? • Numerous studies show that the rate of violent and property crime among immigrants, with or without documents, is lower than that of comparable sectors of the U.S. population, even though anti-immigrant agitators try to give the opposite impression by highlighting isolated cases of shocking crimes. What about terrorism? • Undocumented immigrant workers were not linked to 9/11 or any other recent terrorist attack. Every one of the 9/11 terrorists came here on a legal visa issued by the United States government. • The vast majority of undocumented and documented immigrants have nothing whatever to do with terrorism, and come here only to work and be with family. • If hard-working immigrants could have a legal way of coming here, the danger of terrorists entering secretly would be lessened. What is the impact of immigrants on social, health care and educational services? • Immigrant workers are not getting a free ride. Like other workers, most immigrants pay the same federal, state and local taxes which finance our schools, health clinics and other public services. • Immigrant workers, alongside their native-born co-workers, generate fortunes for their employers in industries such as agribusiness, meatpacking, hotels, restaurants and construction. • However, Republican administrations since Reagan have given the super-rich huge tax cuts. If these were rolled back, there would be enough money to finance needed services for everybody: immigrant and U.S.-born. • There is no evidence that new immigrants pose a public health danger to their neighbors. Indeed, studies show that they are on the whole healthier than comparable sectors of the U.S.-born population. Do immigrants threaten the English language and American culture? • There have always been other languages spoken alongside English in the United States, including Native American (Indian) languages, Spanish in the Southwest and Florida, French in Louisiana and German dialects in Pennsylvania. • Our country’s experience has been that while new immigrants may struggle a bit with the language, the second generation always speaks English fluently. This is just as true of Latino immigrants today as it was of other immigrants in the past. • All over the country, classes to teach English to non-English speakers are jammed full. • The vast majority of new immigrants believe fervently in democracy, family, freedom and social justice, and thus are a boon to our values, not a menace. What is really behind the anti-immigrant furor? • Right-wing politicians and their media supporters want to distract the public’s attention from the scandals of the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, the health care crisis, the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs and the home foreclosures disaster. They are using the “illegal immigrant” scare to do this. • Big business interests want cheap labor but do not want low-paid workers to have rights. So they whip up scare campaigns against immigrant workers. Their aim is to keep them quiet and underpaid, and the workers divided. • Hard-core racist forces are using the immigration issue to whip up hate and fear against Mexicans, other Latinos, Africans, Middle Easterners and South Asians. Their strategy is to give legitimacy to racist attitudes and policies in this country. This works to the detriment not only of immigrants but of all U.S. minorities and the rest of us. What is the solution? The solution is not to hang a “keep out” sign on the Statue of Liberty’s torch. The solution is not to waste vast amounts of taxpayer money on a useless and environmentally destructive fence. The solution is to carry out a comprehensive, worker-friendly immigration reform including: • Legalization of the current undocumented immigrants, as quickly and cheaply as possible, with full labor and civil rights and a clear path to citizenship. • Changes in U.S. visa policies so that ordinary working people who want to come here and live and work can do so without violating laws or risking their lives. • Avoidance of guest worker schemes that keep foreign workers in conditions of serfdom without the right to defend themselves or integrate themselves into our society. • Giving immigrant workers the same rights on the job and in the community that other workers have, so they can join unions and fight together for better wages and working conditions. • Changes in U.S. trade and foreign policy so that the development of the economies of poorer countries is no longer undermined by multinational corporate interests or U.S. government interference. For more information and sources: • “They Take Our Jobs! and 20 Other Myths About Immigration” www.beacon.org. • “The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers” www.monthlyreview.org. • The Pew Hispanic Center www.pewhispanic.org. • Migration Policy Institute www.immigrationinformation.org. • Immigration Policy Center www.immigrationpolicy.org. • The People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo www.pww.org, and Political Affairs www.politicalaffairs.net. Emile Schepers, Rosalio Muñoz and Joelle Fishman serve on the Communist Party USA’s immigration legislative subcommittee. For more information contact politicalaction @cpusa.org.
Like what you read? Click here to donate. Printer-friendly page Send this article to a friend
E-mail: piu#$@ww@pwiu#$@wiu#$@.iu#$@orgEditorial Office:3339 S Halsted St.Chicago IL 60608ph: 773-446-9920fax: 773-446-9928
newcatcher@cpusa.org
Business Office:235 West 23rd StreetNew York NY 10011ph: 212-924-2523fax: 212-229-1713
Search WWW Search pww.org
Archive Modern archive back to Oct. 2001 2008 Editions Jan. 19, 2008
Author: Joelle Fishman, Rosalío Muñoz and Emile Schepers
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 01/17/08 13:10
A look behind the anti-immigrant furor In the buildup to the 2008 elections, the right-wing Republicans have decided to make immigrants the scapegoat for the failure of the Bush administration and the shortcomings of the capitalist system.
Right-wing personalities on cable TV, on talk radio and in newspapers are fueling this process. Vicious lies are being told about immigrants.
The questions and answers here are designed to provide you with accurate information about the impact of immigrant workers and their families, with or without papers, on the United States today.
Why are so many immigrants coming to the United States?
• Working people in Mexico and other poor countries have been devastated by the practices of U.S. and other international corporations. So-called free trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are imposed with conditions that prevent poor countries from meeting their people’s needs. • After NAFTA came into force, more than 1.3 million Mexican farmers were driven out of business. U.S. agribusiness, subsidized by our tax dollars, sold corn in Mexico at lower prices than farmers there could produce. Undocumented Mexican immigration to U.S. rose 60 percent.
• Big corporations in the United States have been glad to take advantage of the cheap labor, and have sent labor recruiters into economically depressed areas of Mexico, Central America and elsewhere. So why don’t people in those countries fix their situation at home instead of coming here?
• U.S.-based multinational corporations have put heavy pressure on other countries, including Mexico, to keep their economies open to penetration by U.S. corporations.
• When these countries resist this pressure, the U.S. government and corporations intervene with threats, bribery and even military force to stop union organizing and political change from taking place.
• With this pro-business, anti-worker foreign policy, the U.S. government has sponsored coups, civil wars and dictators in Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. My grandparents came from Europe legally.
Why can’t people from Mexico and other countries do the same? Why do they butt ahead in line?
• It is not a matter of “butting in line.” There is no line for them to get in! In 2005, the U.S. government gave out only 5,000 permanent legal resident visas for low-skilled workers.
• Even people married to U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents sometimes have to wait years to join their spouses. This is a different situation from the one our grandparents faced.
• Today it is nearly impossible for most people who don’t have relatives here or specialized skills to come at all.
Do immigrants cause unemployment?
• There are not a fixed number of jobs in our economy. The truth is immigrant workers and their families, like all other workers, create jobs at a rate corresponding to those they fill.
• The real causes of unemployment are rooted in the decreasing wages being paid to all workers. Our country’s workers can no longer afford to buy the products they produce. • Immigrant workers are not responsible for the millions of jobs wiped out by the shutting down of plants across the nation. They are not the cause of massive job loss which occurs when employers increase the workloads of some employees while laying off others.
Do immigrants drive down U.S. wages?
• It’s true that today U.S. workers are seeing their wages drop. This is especially true for young workers and people of color. But more than anything, this is due to a Congress and a president who refuse to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. It is due to right-wing policies that deny workers the right to form unions.
• Employers will always take advantage of workers who don’t have the right to defend themselves, using one group of vulnerable workers against the rest.
• Immigrants are not the cause of higher unemployment rates of African Americans and other U.S. minorities. The continued toleration of racial discrimination in hiring, the dismantling of affirmative action, and weak labor laws are to blame.
• The only effective response is to fight for equal treatment and equal rights for all workers. That is why the legalization of immigrant workers, with full labor and civil rights, is in the interest of us all.
Do immigrants join labor unions?
• Immigrant workers, even those without documents, have been at the forefront of many recent labor actions including organizing drives and strikes.
• One example is immigrant workers at Smithfield Foods’ meat-packing plant in North Carolina, who struck for safe working conditions alongside their African American and white co-workers.
• The roofers’ union reports huge organizing successes among immigrant workers in New Mexico.
• Immigrant workers are at the core of organizing efforts of laundry workers across the nation.
• Employers regularly use the threat of arrest and deportation to break up union actions where immigrant workers are involved. Nevertheless, union membership is growing even faster among immigrant workers than among others.
Do immigrants pay their fair share of taxes?
• Like other workers, most undocumented and documented immigrant workers have both federal and state income taxes deducted from their paychecks. An undocumented worker picking tomatoes in Florida pays more income taxes proportionally than many corporate executives.
• Undocumented workers pay $7 billion a year into Social Security. However, they are ineligible to collect any benefits. • Immigrants, like the rest of us, pay sales taxes every time they buy something. They pay property taxes too, either on property they own or through their rent.
What about the crime rate among immigrants?
• Numerous studies show that the rate of violent and property crime among immigrants, with or without documents, is lower than that of comparable sectors of the U.S. population, even though anti-immigrant agitators try to give the opposite impression by highlighting isolated cases of shocking crimes.
What about terrorism?
• Undocumented immigrant workers were not linked to 9/11 or any other recent terrorist attack. Every one of the 9/11 terrorists came here on a legal visa issued by the United States government.
• The vast majority of undocumented and documented immigrants have nothing whatever to do with terrorism, and come here only to work and be with family.
• If hard-working immigrants could have a legal way of coming here, the danger of terrorists entering secretly would be lessened.
What is the impact of immigrants on social, health care and educational services? • Immigrant workers are not getting a free ride. Like other workers, most immigrants pay the same federal, state and local taxes which finance our schools, health clinics and other public services.
• Immigrant workers, alongside their native-born co-workers, generate fortunes for their employers in industries such as agribusiness, meatpacking, hotels, restaurants and construction.
• However, Republican administrations since Reagan have given the super-rich huge tax cuts. If these were rolled back, there would be enough money to finance needed services for everybody: immigrant and U.S.-born.
• There is no evidence that new immigrants pose a public health danger to their neighbors. Indeed, studies show that they are on the whole healthier than comparable sectors of the U.S.-born population.
Do immigrants threaten the English language and American culture?
• There have always been other languages spoken alongside English in the United States, including Native American (Indian) languages, Spanish in the Southwest and Florida, French in Louisiana and German dialects in Pennsylvania.
• Our country’s experience has been that while new immigrants may struggle a bit with the language, the second generation always speaks English fluently. This is just as true of Latino immigrants today as it was of other immigrants in the past.
• All over the country, classes to teach English to non-English speakers are jammed full.
• The vast majority of new immigrants believe fervently in democracy, family, freedom and social justice, and thus are a boon to our values, not a menace.
What is really behind the anti-immigrant furor?
• Right-wing politicians and their media supporters want to distract the public’s attention from the scandals of the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, the health care crisis, the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs and the home foreclosures disaster. They are using the “illegal immigrant” scare to do this.
• Big business interests want cheap labor but do not want low-paid workers to have rights. So they whip up scare campaigns against immigrant workers. Their aim is to keep them quiet and underpaid, and the workers divided.
• Hard-core racist forces are using the immigration issue to whip up hate and fear against Mexicans, other Latinos, Africans, Middle Easterners and South Asians. Their strategy is to give legitimacy to racist attitudes and policies in this country. This works to the detriment not only of immigrants but of all U.S. minorities and the rest of us.
What is the solution?
The solution is not to hang a “keep out” sign on the Statue of Liberty’s torch. The solution is not to waste vast amounts of taxpayer money on a useless and environmentally destructive fence.
The solution is to carry out a comprehensive, worker-friendly immigration reform including:
• Legalization of the current undocumented immigrants, as quickly and cheaply as possible, with full labor and civil rights and a clear path to citizenship.
• Changes in U.S. visa policies so that ordinary working people who want to come here and live and work can do so without violating laws or risking their lives.
• Avoidance of guest worker schemes that keep foreign workers in conditions of serfdom without the right to defend themselves or integrate themselves into our society.
• Giving immigrant workers the same rights on the job and in the community that other workers have, so they can join unions and fight together for better wages and working conditions.
• Changes in U.S. trade and foreign policy so that the development of the economies of poorer countries is no longer undermined by multinational corporate interests or U.S. government interference.
For more information and sources:
• “They Take Our Jobs! and 20 Other Myths About Immigration” http://www.beacon.org/.
• “The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers” http://www.monthlyreview.org/.
• The Pew Hispanic Center http://www.pewhispanic.org/.
• Migration Policy Institute http://www.immigrationinformation.org/.
• Immigration Policy Center http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/.
• The People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo http://www.pww.org/,
and Political Affairs http://www.politicalaffairs.net/.
Emile Schepers, Rosalio Muñoz and Joelle Fishman serve on the Communist Party USA’s immigration legislative subcommittee. For more information contact: politicalaction @cpusa.org
Like what you read? Click here to donate. Printer-friendly page Send this article to a friend
pww@pww.org Office:3339 S Halsted St.Chicago IL 60608ph: 773-446-9920, fax: 773-446-9928
newcatcher@cpusa.org
Business Office:235 West 23rd StreetNew York NY 10011ph: 212-924-2523fax: 212-229-1713
****************++++++++*****************+++++++++
La inmigración: hechos y mitos
Search WWW Search pww.org Archive Modern archive back to Oct. 2001 2008 Editions Jan. 19, 2008
Author: Joelle Fishman, Rosalío Muñoz and Emile Schepers
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 01/17/08 13:21
Detrás del furor antiinmigrante, en realidad En las preparativas para las elecciones de 2008, los republicanos derechistas han decidido convertir a los inmigrantes en el chivo expiatorio para las catástrofes de la administración de Bush y las deficiencias del capitalismo. Personajes de la ultra derecha en televisión de cable, programas radiales y los periódicos impulsan este proceso. Las mentiras cada vez más ofensivas y racistas acerca de los inmigrantes siguen en circulación. Esta campaña derechista en contra de los inmigrantes es parte de un plan amplio de fomentar el racismo en contra de los afro americanos, latinos y otros pueblos oprimidos.
El propósito de este folleto es el de proporcionarle información verídica sobre el impacto que tienen los obreros inmigrantes y sus familias, con o sin papeles, en la sociedad estadounidense.
Por favor, comparta esta información con sus compañeros de trabajo, parientes y vecinos. Invitamos sus comentarios.
Escríbanos por correo electrónico a politicalaction@cpusa.org.
¿Por qué están llegando tantos inmigrantes a los estados unidos?
• Gente de clase obrera en México y otros países pobres han sido destrozados por las prácticas de las grandes corporaciones norteamericanas e internacionales. Pactos de libre comercio como el Tratado de Libre Comercio Norteamericano se imponen con condiciones que previenen que los países pobres satisfagan a las necesidades de sus pueblos.
• Después de que el TLC entre los Estados Unidos, Canadá y México empezó a funcionar, y especialmente después de las condiciones duras impuestas como condiciones del préstamo a México en 1995, más de 1.3 millones de campesinos mexicanos con sus familias se encontraron forzados a abandonar a la agricultura, pues corporaciones agrícolas norteamericanas, gozando de grandes subsidios proporcionados por los contribuyentes estadounidenses, empezaron a vender al maíz en México a precios mas bajos que los que podrían cobrar los agricultores mexicanos. La inmigración desde México y a los Estados Unidos disparó, subiendo más de 60%.
• Las grandes corporaciones norteamericanas han aprovechado muy felizmente de la mano de obra barata, y han enviado sus agentes al interior de México y Centroamérica para reclutar obreros. Los pueblos de esos países
¿Por qué no arreglan la situación en casa en vez de venir para acá?
• Las corporaciones multinacionales basadas en los Estados Unidos han presionado mucho a otros países, inclusive a México, para que mantengan sus economías abiertas a la penetración norteamericana.
• Cuando estos países resisten esta presión, el gobierno estadounidense y las corporaciones intervienen con amenazas, sobornos y hasta fuerza militar para poner alto a la sindicalización y el cambio político.
• Con esta política exterior que favorece a las corporaciones y perjudica a los trabajadores, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos ha auspiciado golpes de estado, guerras civiles y dictadores en Haití, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua y Honduras. Mis abuelos vinieron desde Europa en forma legal.
¿Por qué es que las personas de México y esos otros países no pueden hacer lo mismo? ¿Por qué se cuelan en frente de la cola?
• No es asunto de “meterse en frente de la cola”. No existe tal cola para que ellos se cuelen. En 2005, el gobierno norteamericano otorgó solo 5,000 visas de residencia permanente (micas) para trabajadores con capacitación limitada.
• Hasta personas casadas con ciudadanos norteamericanos o residentes permanentes legales a veces tienen que esperar años para que el gobierno permita entrar a sus esposos o esposas de otros países. Esta es una situación distinta a la que nuestros abuelos tuvieron que superar.
• Ahora es casi imposible que la mayoría de las personas que no tienen ni parientes en este país, ni capacidades especiales para el trabajo, venir a radicar en este país.
¿Son los inmigrantes la causa del desempleo?
• No hay cierto número fijo de empleos en la economía. Los trabajadores inmigrantes y sus familias, al igual como todos trabajadores, crean un número de trabajos igual a los que ocupan.
• Las verdaderas causas del desempleo se encuentran en la rebaja de los salarios de los trabajadores. Ya no pueden comprar los productos que ellos mismos producen.
• Los trabajadores inmigrantes no tienen la culpa por la pérdida de millones de trabajos eliminados por el cierre de fábricas en todo el país. No tienen la culpa por la pérdida masiva de empleos que resultan del hecho que los patronos aumentan el cargo de tra- bajo para algunos empleados mientras que dan descanso a otros.
¿Son los inmigrantes la causa de que los salarios vayan bajando?
• Es cierto que hoy en día, los trabajadores ven que sus salarios van bajando. Esto es el caso especialmente para trabajadores jóvenes y minoritarios. Pero mas que nada, el desempleo debe achacarse a un congreso y a un presidente que niegan aumentar el salario mínimo a un nivel decente, a políticas reaccionarias que les niegan a los trabajadores el derecho de sindicalizarse.
• Los patronos siempre se aprovecharán de aquellos trabajadores que carecen del derecho de defenderse, utilizando un grupo de trabajadores vulnerables en contra de los demás.
• Los inmigrantes tampoco tienen la culpa para las tasas elevadas de desempleo entre los afro americanos y otras minorías norteamericanas. Esto debe achacarse al hecho de que en este país se tolera a la discriminación racial en el trabajo, de que prácticamente se ha deshecho a la acción afirmativa, y que tenemos leyes laborales demasiado débiles.
• La única respuesta a tales tácticas es de luchar a favor de trato igual y plenos derechos para todos los trabajadores. Por eso es que la legalización de los trabajadores inmigrantes, con plenos derechos laborales y civiles, representa el interés legítimo de todos los trabajadores.
¿Se afilian con los sindicatos los inmigrantes?
• Los trabajadores inmigrantes, inclusive los que no tienen papeles, han sido tenaz en la lucha en muchas acciones laborales recientes inclusive campañas de sindicalización y huelgas, donde se encuentran concentrados.
• Un ejemplo es el de los trabajadores inmigrantes en la empacadora de carne “Smithfield” en Carolina del Norte, quienes salieron en huelga en contra de las condiciones peligrosas de trabajo, al lado de sus compañeros afro americanos y blancos. El sindicato que organiza personas que construyen techos dice que tiene tremendo éxito en organizar a los trabajadores inmigrantes en Nuevo México. Los trabajadores inmigrantes se encuentran en el mero corazón del esfuerzo de organizar a las lavanderías industriales en todo el país.
• Los patronos en forma regular utilizan la amenaza de detención y deportación para parar las actividades sindicales cuando hay trabajadores inmigrantes involucrados. Sin embargo, la afiliación en los sindicatos va creciendo más rápidamente entre obreros inmigrantes que entre los nacidos en los Estados Unidos.
¿Pagan sus impuestos los inmigrantes?
• Como otros trabajadores, la mayoría de los trabajadores inmigrantes, con o sin documentos, ven sus impuestos federales y estatales sustraídos de sus cheques. Un indocumentado cosechando tomates en la Florida paga mas impuestos sobre su ingreso, proporcionalmente, que muchos ejecutivos de corporaciones.
• Los trabajadores indocumentados pagan $7 mil millones de dólares cada año al fondo de Seguro Social, y no pueden cobrar ningún beneficio cuando se jubilan o se enferman.
• Los inmigrantes, como todos los demás, pagan impuestos de ventas cada vez que compran algo. Además pagan impuestos de bienes raíces (propiedad) o por propiedades de que ellos mismos son los dueños, o por el alquiler que pagan. ¿Cuál es la tasa de crímenes entre los inmigrantes? • Varios estudios muestran que la taza de delincuencia violenta y de propiedad entre los inmigrantes con o sin papeles, es menos que entre sectores parecidas de la población no inmigrante, a pesar de que los demagogos antiinmigrantes pretenden dar la impresión contraria por medio de destacar caso aislados de crímenes espantosos. ¿Y el terrorismo? • Los trabajadores inmigrantes indocumentados no tuvieron nada que ver con el 9-11 o cualquier otro ataque terrorista reciente. Cada uno de los terroristas que atacaron a las torres gemelas y el Pentágono entró legalmente en los Estados Unidos con una visa otorgada por nuestro gobierno. • La inmensa mayoría de los inmigrantes, con o sin documentos, no tienen nada en absoluto que ver con el terrorismo; simplemente vienen a trabajar y estar con sus familias. • Si los trabajadores inmigrantes tuvieran una manera de entrar legalmente, el peligro de que terroristas puedan infiltrarse ilegalmente disminuiría. ¿Qué impacto tienen los inmigrantes sobre los servicios sociales, el cuidado de salud y las escuelas? • Los trabajadores inmigrantes no están recibiendo un trato especial “gratis”. Como los otros trabajadores, la mayoría de los trabajadores inmigrantes pagan los mismos impuestos federales, estatales y municipales que proveen los fondos para nuestras escuelas y clínicas de salud. • Los trabajadores inmigrantes, al lado de sus compañeros de trabajo nacidos en este país, generan fortunas para los empleadores en industrias como agricultura, empacadoras de carne, hoteles, restaurantes y construcción. Pero, las administraciones republicanas desde la presidencia de Ronald Reagan han regalado tremendas rebajas de impuestos a los súper ricos. Al eliminar estas rebajas, habría suficiente dinero para apoyar a los servicios para todos, inmigrantes y nacidos acá. • No hay evidencia de que los inmigrantes representan una amenaza a la salud pública de sus vecinos. De hecho, las investigaciones que se han hecho muestran que los inmigrantes en general son más sanos que los no inmigrantes. ¿Representan los inmigrantes una amenaza al idioma Ingles y la cultura Norteamericana? • En este país siempre ha habido otros idiomas que se hablan al lado del inglés. Estos incluyen idiomas indígenas norteamericanas, castellano en el suroeste y la Florida, francés en Loisiana, y versiones de alemán en Pensilvana. • La experiencia de este país ha sido de que aunque los inmigrantes recién llegados a veces tienen que luchar un poco para aprender inglés, sus hijos y nietos siempre dominan perfectamente bien al inglés. Esto es el caso también con los inmigrantes latinoamericanos hoy en día. • En todo el país las clases de “ingles como segundo idioma” para los adultos se encuentran rellenas de gente. • La inmensa mayoría de los inmigrantes nuevos creen fervientemente en la democracia, la familia, la libertad y la justicia social, de modo son beneficiosos para nuestros valores y no representan ninguna amenaza. ¿Qué hay detrás del furor antiinmigrante, en realidad? • Políticos derechistas y sus cómplices en los medios masivos pretenden distraer la atención del publico de los escándalos de la administración de George Bush—la guerra en Irak, la crisis de seguro de salud, el problema de las hipotecas de casas. Para lograr eso, pretenden asustar al público con “la amenaza de la inmigración ilegal”. • Las grandes corporaciones desean mano de obra barata pero no quieren que estos trabajadores mal pagados tengan derechos. De modo que se confabulan con campañas de terror en contra de los inmigrantes que tienen el impacto de mantenerlos callados, mal pagados y la clase obrera dividida. • Fuerzas racistas intransigentes buscan utilizar al tema de inmigración para fomentar campañas de odio en contra de los mexicanos, otros latinos, africanos, gente del medio oriente y de Asia como parte de una estrategia de restaurar legitimidad a las ideas y actividades racistas en este país, cosa que perjudica no solo a los inmigrantes sino también a las minorías norteamericanas y todos los demás. ¿Cuál será la solución? La solución no es colocar una pancarta declarando “manténganse fuera” a la antorcha en la mano de la estatua de libertad, ni tampoco de desperdiciar millones de dólares de los contribuyentes en una valla en la frontera que es tan dañina al medio ambiente como es inútil. Más bien, la solución es de llevar a cabo una reforma integral de las leyes de inmigración, favorable a los trabajadores, con los siguientes componentes. • Legalización de los actuales inmigrantes indocumentados, tan rápidamente como sea posible y con cuotas mínimas, y con plenos derechos laborales y civiles y un camino abierto a la ciudadanía. • Cambios en el sistema de visas del gobierno norteamericano para que gente de la clase obrera que desean venir y vivir y trabajar aquí, puedan hacerlo sin violar las leyes y sin arriesgar sus vidas. • Se debe evitar el uso de programas de trabajadores temporales que mantengan a los trabajadores extranjeros en una situación de peonaje sin derecho alguno de defenderse o integrarse en nuestra sociedad. • Otorgarles a los obreros inmigrantes los mismos derechos en el trabajo y en la comunidad que tienen otros trabajadores, para que pueden luchar unidos para mejores salarios y condiciones de trabajo. • Una transformación de las políticas extranjeras y comerciales de los Estados Unidos para que ni los intereses de las corporaciones norteamericanas ni la intervención del gobierno de este país impidan el desarrollo de los países pobres. Para mas información, aquí tiene algunas sugerencias • “They Take Our Jobs! And 20 Other Myths About Immigration,” www.beacon.org. • “The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers,” www.monthlyreview.org.. Y para hallar más información en el Internet: • El Pew Hispanic Center. www.pewhispanic.org. • Immigration Policy Center, a www.immigrationpolicy.org. • People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo, www.pww.org, and Political Affairs www.politicalaffairs.net. Este folleto fue preparado por el Subcomité sobre Legislación de Inmigración de la Comisión de Acción Política del Partido Comunista de los Estados Unidos. Visítenos en Internet a www.cpusa.org. Contáctenos por correo electrónico en politicalaction @cpusa.org.
Search WWW Search pww.org
Archive Modern archive back to Oct. 2001 2008 Editions Jan. 19, 2008
Author: Joelle Fishman, Rosalío Muñoz and Emile Schepers
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 01/17/08 13:10
A look behind the anti-immigrant furor In the buildup to the 2008 elections, the right-wing Republicans have decided to make immigrants the scapegoat for the failure of the Bush administration and the shortcomings of the capitalist system. Right-wing personalities on cable TV, on talk radio and in newspapers are fueling this process. Vicious lies are being told about immigrants. The questions and answers here are designed to provide you with accurate information about the impact of immigrant workers and their families, with or without papers, on the United States today. Why are so many immigrants coming to the United States? • Working people in Mexico and other poor countries have been devastated by the practices of U.S. and other international corporations. So-called free trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are imposed with conditions that prevent poor countries from meeting their people’s needs. • After NAFTA came into force, more than 1.3 million Mexican farmers were driven out of business. U.S. agribusiness, subsidized by our tax dollars, sold corn in Mexico at lower prices than farmers there could produce. Undocumented Mexican immigration to U.S. rose 60 percent. • Big corporations in the United States have been glad to take advantage of the cheap labor, and have sent labor recruiters into economically depressed areas of Mexico, Central America and elsewhere. So why don’t people in those countries fix their situation at home instead of coming here? • U.S.-based multinational corporations have put heavy pressure on other countries, including Mexico, to keep their economies open to penetration by U.S. corporations. • When these countries resist this pressure, the U.S. government and corporations intervene with threats, bribery and even military force to stop union organizing and political change from taking place. • With this pro-business, anti-worker foreign policy, the U.S. government has sponsored coups, civil wars and dictators in Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. My grandparents came from Europe legally. Why can’t people from Mexico and other countries do the same? Why do they butt ahead in line? • It is not a matter of “butting in line.” There is no line for them to get in! In 2005, the U.S. government gave out only 5,000 permanent legal resident visas for low-skilled workers. • Even people married to U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents sometimes have to wait years to join their spouses. This is a different situation from the one our grandparents faced. • Today it is nearly impossible for most people who don’t have relatives here or specialized skills to come at all. Do immigrants cause unemployment? • There are not a fixed number of jobs in our economy. The truth is immigrant workers and their families, like all other workers, create jobs at a rate corresponding to those they fill. • The real causes of unemployment are rooted in the decreasing wages being paid to all workers. Our country’s workers can no longer afford to buy the products they produce. • Immigrant workers are not responsible for the millions of jobs wiped out by the shutting down of plants across the nation. They are not the cause of massive job loss which occurs when employers increase the workloads of some employees while laying off others. Do immigrants drive down U.S. wages? • It’s true that today U.S. workers are seeing their wages drop. This is especially true for young workers and people of color. But more than anything, this is due to a Congress and a president who refuse to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. It is due to right-wing policies that deny workers the right to form unions. • Employers will always take advantage of workers who don’t have the right to defend themselves, using one group of vulnerable workers against the rest. • Immigrants are not the cause of higher unemployment rates of African Americans and other U.S. minorities. The continued toleration of racial discrimination in hiring, the dismantling of affirmative action, and weak labor laws are to blame. • The only effective response is to fight for equal treatment and equal rights for all workers. That is why the legalization of immigrant workers, with full labor and civil rights, is in the interest of us all. Do immigrants join labor unions? • Immigrant workers, even those without documents, have been at the forefront of many recent labor actions including organizing drives and strikes. • One example is immigrant workers at Smithfield Foods’ meat-packing plant in North Carolina, who struck for safe working conditions alongside their African American and white co-workers. • The roofers’ union reports huge organizing successes among immigrant workers in New Mexico. • Immigrant workers are at the core of organizing efforts of laundry workers across the nation. • Employers regularly use the threat of arrest and deportation to break up union actions where immigrant workers are involved. Nevertheless, union membership is growing even faster among immigrant workers than among others. Do immigrants pay their fair share of taxes? • Like other workers, most undocumented and documented immigrant workers have both federal and state income taxes deducted from their paychecks. An undocumented worker picking tomatoes in Florida pays more income taxes proportionally than many corporate executives. • Undocumented workers pay $7 billion a year into Social Security. However, they are ineligible to collect any benefits. • Immigrants, like the rest of us, pay sales taxes every time they buy something. They pay property taxes too, either on property they own or through their rent. What about the crime rate among immigrants? • Numerous studies show that the rate of violent and property crime among immigrants, with or without documents, is lower than that of comparable sectors of the U.S. population, even though anti-immigrant agitators try to give the opposite impression by highlighting isolated cases of shocking crimes. What about terrorism? • Undocumented immigrant workers were not linked to 9/11 or any other recent terrorist attack. Every one of the 9/11 terrorists came here on a legal visa issued by the United States government. • The vast majority of undocumented and documented immigrants have nothing whatever to do with terrorism, and come here only to work and be with family. • If hard-working immigrants could have a legal way of coming here, the danger of terrorists entering secretly would be lessened. What is the impact of immigrants on social, health care and educational services? • Immigrant workers are not getting a free ride. Like other workers, most immigrants pay the same federal, state and local taxes which finance our schools, health clinics and other public services. • Immigrant workers, alongside their native-born co-workers, generate fortunes for their employers in industries such as agribusiness, meatpacking, hotels, restaurants and construction. • However, Republican administrations since Reagan have given the super-rich huge tax cuts. If these were rolled back, there would be enough money to finance needed services for everybody: immigrant and U.S.-born. • There is no evidence that new immigrants pose a public health danger to their neighbors. Indeed, studies show that they are on the whole healthier than comparable sectors of the U.S.-born population. Do immigrants threaten the English language and American culture? • There have always been other languages spoken alongside English in the United States, including Native American (Indian) languages, Spanish in the Southwest and Florida, French in Louisiana and German dialects in Pennsylvania. • Our country’s experience has been that while new immigrants may struggle a bit with the language, the second generation always speaks English fluently. This is just as true of Latino immigrants today as it was of other immigrants in the past. • All over the country, classes to teach English to non-English speakers are jammed full. • The vast majority of new immigrants believe fervently in democracy, family, freedom and social justice, and thus are a boon to our values, not a menace. What is really behind the anti-immigrant furor? • Right-wing politicians and their media supporters want to distract the public’s attention from the scandals of the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, the health care crisis, the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs and the home foreclosures disaster. They are using the “illegal immigrant” scare to do this. • Big business interests want cheap labor but do not want low-paid workers to have rights. So they whip up scare campaigns against immigrant workers. Their aim is to keep them quiet and underpaid, and the workers divided. • Hard-core racist forces are using the immigration issue to whip up hate and fear against Mexicans, other Latinos, Africans, Middle Easterners and South Asians. Their strategy is to give legitimacy to racist attitudes and policies in this country. This works to the detriment not only of immigrants but of all U.S. minorities and the rest of us. What is the solution? The solution is not to hang a “keep out” sign on the Statue of Liberty’s torch. The solution is not to waste vast amounts of taxpayer money on a useless and environmentally destructive fence. The solution is to carry out a comprehensive, worker-friendly immigration reform including: • Legalization of the current undocumented immigrants, as quickly and cheaply as possible, with full labor and civil rights and a clear path to citizenship. • Changes in U.S. visa policies so that ordinary working people who want to come here and live and work can do so without violating laws or risking their lives. • Avoidance of guest worker schemes that keep foreign workers in conditions of serfdom without the right to defend themselves or integrate themselves into our society. • Giving immigrant workers the same rights on the job and in the community that other workers have, so they can join unions and fight together for better wages and working conditions. • Changes in U.S. trade and foreign policy so that the development of the economies of poorer countries is no longer undermined by multinational corporate interests or U.S. government interference. For more information and sources: • “They Take Our Jobs! and 20 Other Myths About Immigration” www.beacon.org. • “The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers” www.monthlyreview.org. • The Pew Hispanic Center www.pewhispanic.org. • Migration Policy Institute www.immigrationinformation.org. • Immigration Policy Center www.immigrationpolicy.org. • The People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo www.pww.org, and Political Affairs www.politicalaffairs.net. Emile Schepers, Rosalio Muñoz and Joelle Fishman serve on the Communist Party USA’s immigration legislative subcommittee. For more information contact politicalaction @cpusa.org.
Like what you read? Click here to donate. Printer-friendly page Send this article to a friend
E-mail: piu#$@ww@pwiu#$@wiu#$@.iu#$@orgEditorial Office:3339 S Halsted St.Chicago IL 60608ph: 773-446-9920fax: 773-446-9928
newcatcher@cpusa.org
Business Office:235 West 23rd StreetNew York NY 10011ph: 212-924-2523fax: 212-229-1713
martes, 15 de enero de 2008
Yanqui e Israeli Escucha...9 enero 2008
Panama President Martin Torrijos inaugurated "eternal flame."
Josefponce "baptized--eternal flame" with
1st antiimperialist USA war protest,
10 am Wednesday, 9 January 2008
Former, "Balboa High School"
Now, Panama Canal Authority, (ACP)
Ascanio Arosemena Canal Training Center
******************
Thank you So,
let me get this straight:
You tear my veil to free me
You jail me to rid me of my terror
You kill my beloved to liberate me
You shoot my baby to erase my misery
You starve me to show me how to vote
You threaten me to bring me to my senses
You wage war on me to help me find peace
You slay my people to teach me compassion
You humiliate me to aid me live with dignity
You insult me to illustrate freedom of speech
You crush my bones to save me from my evil
You demolish my home to elevate my morality
You uproot my tree to raise my ethical standard
You steal my resources to bring me social justice
You assassinate my leaders to bring me security
You bomb my town to train me into democracy
You destroy my history to educate me about progress
You dehumanise me to coach me into humanity
You wipe me out to push me to civilisation
You scorn my faith to bring me salvation
Thank you sir
How can I -ever- pay you back?
...nahida Homepage 01.15.08 - 5:32 am # utube.com
let me get this straight:
You tear my veil to free me
You jail me to rid me of my terror
You kill my beloved to liberate me
You shoot my baby to erase my misery
You starve me to show me how to vote
You threaten me to bring me to my senses
You wage war on me to help me find peace
You slay my people to teach me compassion
You humiliate me to aid me live with dignity
You insult me to illustrate freedom of speech
You crush my bones to save me from my evil
You demolish my home to elevate my morality
You uproot my tree to raise my ethical standard
You steal my resources to bring me social justice
You assassinate my leaders to bring me security
You bomb my town to train me into democracy
You destroy my history to educate me about progress
You dehumanise me to coach me into humanity
You wipe me out to push me to civilisation
You scorn my faith to bring me salvation
Thank you sir
How can I -ever- pay you back?
...nahida Homepage 01.15.08 - 5:32 am # utube.com
+++++++++
Rabochie dear,
My poem was addressed to those who are involved in committing crimes against us, whether by planning, giving orders, obeying orders, or being indifferent and complicit in those crimes by being silent and doing nothing about it.
I know very well that there are many innocent Americans, and I know very well that there are many more who are brainwashed, hence being victims themselves of a ruthless system without realizing.
And I realize that layla uses a lot of generalization as she addresses all Americans, and that’s quite understandable, layla feels outraged, and rightly so, her anger is blazing inside her, and this is nothing but the normal human reaction to this insanity and cruelty inflected upon her people.
What is not normal is to feel nothing!!
What is not normal is to make fun of her anguish and to condemn pain!!
But I am not Iraqi, I am Palestinian.
Iraq is going through what we have been through for over SIXTY years… it has only been 6 years in Iraq, their wound is still raw.
We have lived these atrocities and massacres ALL through our lives as Palestinians, we had four generation of suffering under occupation, and when that is the case, we had to find ways of coping with it, ways of preserving our humanity and dignity; otherwise we would've been driven to the edge of lunacy or barbarity.
What helped us preserve our humanity, not to lose our bearing, and to still be able to smile despite the horrors we’ve been through (and I know than many atheists would not like to hear this) is our FAITH.
We read in the Qur’an: “Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it. (99:7-8 )And:“No soul shall be made to bear the burden (liability) of another." (35:18 )
As we come to this realization, we find consolation and solace in knowing that we are only responsible for our own actions; so we rise above our pain and agony and… we keep going.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MARCO A. GANDÁSEGUI, HIJO
EL 9 DE ENERO Y EL PROYECTO DE NACIÓN
El 9 de enero de 1964 es una fecha muy especial en la historia panameña.Marca la insurrección popular contra la ocupación militar norteamericanade Panamá encabezada por jóvenes estudiantes.
Me atrevería a decir que enimportancia para la identidad nacional supera las otras fechas quecelebramos en el Istmo.¿Porqué los gobiernos de turno más recientes no la respetan o suelenconsiderarla una fecha de menor importancia?
La respuesta es sencilla. Adiferencia de las fechas que marcan nuestra independencia de España(1821) y Colombia (1903), producto de conspiraciones al más alto nivel,el 9 de enero representa la irrupción definitiva de los sectorespopulares en el quehacer nacional.Los grupos dominantes panameños nunca han reconocido este hecho.
Tanto enlos gobiernos liberales, así como durante la dictadura militar y en laactualidad, se insiste en pasar por alto la participación del pueblopanameño en la toma de decisiones políticas. Para orientar esas fuerzasque surgían de los sectores populares del país, Torrijos (1969-1981) hizoimportantes concesiones internas y logró firmar los Tratados del Canalcon EEUU que puso fin al colonialismo norteamericano (1979), a las basesmilitares (1999) y produjo la transferencia del Canal (1999).La generación de 1964 puede sentirse, en parte, reivindicada. Logróacabar con el colonialismo. Sin embargo, su aspiración más importante,que era democratizar a Panamá, todavía está pendiente. En los primerosaños del siglo XXI presenciamos como los grupos que se creen dueños delpaís han regresado a las mismas tácticas anteriores a 1964. Se estánhaciendo cada vez más ricos mientras que el pueblo panameño cada vez esmás pobre y reprimido.Los últimos cuatro gobiernos han adoptado una modalidad traída de EEUUque consiste en organizar encuentros entre grupos que se hacen llamar la“sociedad civil”.
Como de costumbre, las conclusiones de estos encuentrossiguen un guión bien conocido que se aplica a escala mundial.La sociedad civil es un concepto, no es un agregado de ONG. Las sociedades civiles más consolidadas se pueden comparar con redes queatraviesan los diversos sectores de la comunidad. Son las luchas yconquistas de comunidades, sindicatos y gremios que hacen realidad lasociedad civil.
Cuando en Panamá se habla del proyecto de Nación, especialmente despuésdel 9 de enero de 1964, la idea es acompañada de nuevos valores asociadoscon el trabajo, la educación y la movilización social. La sociedad civilpanameña del siglo XXI perdió el proyecto de Nación y en su lugarapareció la globalización (una caricatura extraña que manipulan losfinancistas de las instituciones del Consenso de Washington). El valorasociado con el trabajo fue destruido por la llamada flexibilización.
Los grupos que quieren debatir los problemas de la sociedad civil (seanONG u otros, incluyendo a unos pocos políticos) deben preguntarse,primero, que pasó con las nociones de movilidad social.
¿Por qué en vezde una movilidad social ascendente en Panamá, en los últimos lustros lamovilidad social es descendente?La clase dominante panameña y los gobiernos han desplazado el proyecto denación levantado por la generación de 1964 y lo han reemplazado consupuestas “estrategias” sin contenido de “goteo”, del “primer mundo” o decrecimiento económico.
Se olvidan que sin una participación y direccióndel pueblo panameño no hay proyecto de nación.
Panamá, 10 de enero de 2008.Profesor de la Universidad de Panamá e investigador asociado del CELA************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********
NOS VEMOS EN NUESTRA AMÉRICA: http://www.telesurt v.net/
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********
UNA ÉTICA PARA NUESTRA AMÉRICADos pueblos de América merecen ser quemados por el fuego de Dios sivienen a guerra! y por dineros! y por minas! y por cuestión de pan ybolsa!Oh! que fuera la ira látigo que flagelase, o barrera que cercase, opalabraque ennobleciese y conmoviese al hermano traidor! Traidor a su dogma dehombre, y a su dogma de pueblo americano!JOSÉ MARTÍJuramos no dar descanso a nuestro brazo ni reposo a nuestras almas hastaque hayamos liberado plenamente al pueblo de las amenazas que sobrenosotrospesan por voluntad del poder español."Para nosotros la patria es la América"SIMÓN BOLÍVAR"Si fuéramos capaces de unirnos... qué hermoso y qué cercano sería elfuturo""CHE"
GUEVARADECLARACIÓN DE CIUDADANÍA NUESTROAMERICANAhttp://mx.geocities .com/ipsge/ deciudamericana4 .html
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
Desde 1998 realizamos una investigación genérica para contribuir a laconstrucción de la IDENTIDAD "nuestroamericana" .
Ud. puede contribuír a la misma subscribiéndose a:Suscribir: mailto:nuestramerica- subscribe@ yahoogrupos. com.mxBorrar: mailto:nuestramerica- unsubscribe@ yahoogrupos. com.mxPropietario: mailto:nuestramerica- owner@yahoogrupo s.com.mx"Piensa genéricamente y actúa concretamente
"Hágase Miembro Solidario del Instituto de Psicología Genérica. a.c.(IPsGe)http://mx.geocities .com/ipsgeAgradecemos su visita ahttp://mx.geocities .com/cohen_ degovia/------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- -----
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)
