Don't Ask, Don't Give--DNC Boycott

The guys over at AmericaBlog have launched a boycott of the DNC until the Democrats do more for LGBT civil rights:

"President Obama promised to be a "fierce advocate" for LGBT Americans. But while making modest progress on a scant few issues, on the major campaign promises made to our community, the President and the Democratic party have failed to keep their commitments.

There has been little, if any, pressure from the White House for votes on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The administration continues to send mixed signals on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT). And we've been told not to expect the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to even be considered until President Obama's second term. In the last two weeks alone, we were angered that the Obama administration continued to defend DOMA in the courts -- last June, the administration's lawyers even compared loving gay relationships to incest and pedophilia -- and we were saddened that the White House and the Democratic party refused to help us defeat anti-gay ballot initiatives in Maine and Washington state. LGBT Americans, our families, and our friends kept our promise at the ballot box, we now expect President Obama to keep his in the White House.

Until the Democratic Congress passes, and President Obama signs, legislation enacting ENDA, repealing DADT, and repealing DOMA, we ask you to join us in pledging to postpone contributions to the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, and the Obama campaign. This temporary (we hope) boycott is sponsored by AMERICAblog, and cosponsored by Daily Kos, Michelangelo Signorile, and Paul Sousa, among others.

This isn't forever, the Democrats have it in their power to end this today -- all it takes is choosing to keep their promise."

Take the Pledge: Don't Ask, Don't Give

Democrats Give Up on Single-Payer Universal Health Insurance

The few remaining Democrats who were pushing for at least a vote on "single-payer" (Medicare for All) universal health insurance have given up and called off votes on their amendments:

Rep. Weiner Gives Up Single-Payer Amendment to Back House Party Leaders

Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers: Time is Not Right for Vote on Single-Payer

The House of Representatives is expected to pass a healthcare bill today which will include a weak "public option" which will only cover about 2% of the American people. While it may increase healthcare insurance to millions more, it also includes big give-a-ways to the insurance and drug companies. So I'm not sure that Socialists, and those who support REAL universal healthcare, should support it or not. It certainly NOT guarantee healthcare to all Americans.

Socialists must step up our attack on the "for-profit" healthcare industry and keep making the case for Medicare For All, or even better, socialized medicine. It may be a long fight, but the current capitalist system, especially when it comes to healthcare, is in crisis and will not stand. It is up to us to fight for a better future, and universal healthcare that is not rationed based on ability to pay and does not enrich a few at the expense of the many.

UPDATE: U.S. House Passes Watered-Down Healthcare Bill (220-215)

Dennis Kucinich: Why I voted NO

SPUSA Response to Nov. 3 LGBT Election Results

Response to the November 3, 2009 LGBTQ Referendum Results
by Jim Sanders, Chair SPUSA Queer Commission

Referendums effecting the lives of LGBTQ people were on ballots all over the country this week. A few
of the higher profiled ballot questions included:

Voters in Maine overturned by approximately 53 to 47 percent, a law passed by the Maine legislature that established same-sex marriages in order to end marriage inequality in Maine. The failure to attain marriage equality in Maine is particularly disheartening, but the fact that 47 percent of the voters in Maine supported marriage equality is significant.

Voters in Washington approved by a scant margin of approximately 51 to 49 percent, a law that would give
domestic partners some of the legal rights previously only available to married couples (only heterosexuals can marry in Washington state). The fact that 49 percent of the voters in Washington would oppose recognition of domestic partnerships is troubling.

Voters in Kalamazoo, Michigan approved by approximately 65 to 35 percent, an ordinance that grants
anti-discrimination protections to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals. The rare inclusion of transgender individuals is cause for celebration.

Jim Crow style localized oppression is no more acceptable for queers than for any other group. It's a shame
that human rights can still be held hostage to human prejudices.

Socialists will always fight beside those struggling to improve conditions in their daily lives. But, under the oppression of a capitalist system, reforms will always be necessary, and they will never be sufficient. Socialists need to constantly make clear that we fight for the power to create and maintain justice in our own lives, and not for fleeting opportunities to occasionally wrest concessions from the state.

Lasting freedom for LGBTQ people will only come about in a society concerned with, and conscientiously
working for, the liberation of all people.

Tuesday Election Roundup

Tuesday's elections were a mixed bag for gays and liberal democrats.

Maine voters rejected marriage equality Obama and the Democratic party were AWOL in Maine, LGBT activists are partly blaming Obama who did not speak out forcefully in support of Maine's marriage law.

But, Washington state voters approved domestic partnership benefits for gay couples
and Kalamazoo, MI voters approved a non-discrimination ordinance that covers LGBT people.

Anti-gay Republicans won the Gov. races in Virginia and NJ

The lesson for the Democrats is that if you run a moderate/conservative Democrat who runs AGAINST progressive values you will lose to a conservative Republican. Young, progressive Obama voters, and the progressive base of the Democratic Party, stayed home. The Democratic Party better pay more attention to its base, or they will loose big in 2010 (and 2012!)

Maine Repeals Marriage Equality

Maine Set to Vote on Gay Marriage

Will Maine be the first state where VOTERS decide to keep gay marriages legal?

Doesn't look like it..
Poll: 51% yes on 1, 47% No

AmericaBlog: Obama's "Organizing for America" Silent on Maine's Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Mixner: Obama Zero Help in Maine

UPDATE: Maine Repeals Gay Marriage Rights

It's another upset for the LGBT civil rights movement. Gay marriage has lost in all 31 states where it has been put up to a popular vote. Voters still do not want us to have equal rights. Should civil rights be an issue for popular vote??

Memphis Socialist Blog

I've created a new Memphis Socialist Blog  to help organize socialists in Memphis, Tennessee.  Specifically, I'm working with the Democratic Socialists of America and the Socialist Party USA, the two remaining groups left from the Socialist Party of Eugene Debbs and Norman Thomas.  
I hope we can work together to build a larger socialist movement/party in the future.  We need to work within the broader "Democratic Left" AND build a distinct Socialist Party in the U.S.  Let's work together to do both!

http://memphissocialists.blogspot.com/

The Beginning of the End of Capitalism?

From Thom Hartman, Black Tuesday:
"80 years ago today, on October 29th, 1929, Wall Street saw the worst day in its history. The shock of “Black Tuesday” came to an end, but the misery of the Republican Great Depression was just beginning. As a result of the disaster that followed three successive Republican administrations – and their cutting regulations and dropping taxes on the most wealthy from over 70 percent to under 30 percent – the Roosevelt administration through most of the 1930s re-regulated the economy and raised taxes on the very rich back up to 91 percent. That led to fifty years of growth and prosperity, which came to an end with Ronald Reagan re-introducing the Harding/Cooledge/Hoover tax cuts and supply-side economics. Hopefully the Obama Administration will soon learn the lesson of the last Republican Great Depression and follow in FDR’s footsteps."

Doesn't look like it Thom!

Thousands Protest Bank Power and Abuse in Chicago

Geithner Defends Collapsing Banking System 115 Banks Fail This Year. "Recovery will be choppy"

Inside the Bank Bailouts

Obama Goes Wobbly Over More Stimulus
Unemployment swelled to 9.8 percent, "with nearly nearly 26 million workers—17 percent of the workforce—unemployed or underemployed," according to economist Mark Zandi. The economy remains extremely weak and is expected to lapse back into recession if the Obama administration fails to provide a second-round of stimulus.

Propping Up a Broken Capitalist System

Mat Taibbi (Rolling Stone), Wall Street's Naked Swindle

Related: McClatchy series on How Goldman Secretly Bet on Housing Crash

Obama Signs Hate-Crime Bill

Obama Signs Matthew Shepard, James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act Today

President Barack Obama Wednesday signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act as part of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.

“After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we’ve passed inclusive hate-crimes legislation that protects people based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are,” Obama said, addressing the crowd. “I promised Judy Shepard when she saw me in the Oval Office that this day would come.”

I'm mostly happy today for Matthew Shepard's Mom, Judy Shepard.