Ghosts of Joe Slovo

Been gone for a while. This is going to be very stream of consciousness.

*Los Angeles smells GREAT after it rains. Seriously. But, we're in a drought, so this is something I've experienced, like, twice.

*We did the Bay Area for part of the Holidays. I love the Bay and I totally appreciate getting to jog in the redwoods. Totally did not appreciate the 5-day sore throat this gave me. Also, if you get a chance to go to a party in the Berkeley hills at a house with a panoramic view from Mt. Tam to the San Mateo Bridge during a winter sunset then you should go, even if it is just for the sunset. If the party is full of family members, good wine, and great food, then so much the better.

*Tyche and her family are good together for about 2.5 days, after that I suggest shin guards and one of those weird looking soft helmet things that soccer players use to prevent concussions. On a related note, there are few things as surpsingly disappointing as a banal "Jesus Loves You" Christmas Day homily. And I say that as an a person with no particular religious affiliation.

*New Orleans continues to be a mix of devestation and slow return. Comparing this time last year to this year, the amount of rebuilding and population growth is palpable. There are still massive problems - infrastructure, political, justice system, health care system, housing - but the change is hopeful. The culture that makes New Orleans New Orleans still shines through, though it will take awhile before it becomes as robust as it was.

*Case in point: New Year's at Tipitina's, a NOLA institution. Featuring Galactic, a NOLA funk band that is one of the few contemporary bands that can kick ass the way The Meters and JB and Parliament/Funkadelic did. Which is where Tyche and I along with my brother and his fiance ended up. Got there at about 9:45 and stayed until about 3AM. Galactic was even better live than on their CD's. But it was the entire scene, an alchemical mixture of drunken frat boys/sorority sisters in town for the various bowl games, recent "brain gain" young people there to rebuild, old school NOLA burnouts, southern fried hippies (think Asheville and Athens), and the usual number of funk-stoners that made it an utterly NOLA gathering. Well, that and the music. New Or-Lee-Annes knows how to party. Seriously.

*And as I stood there, about halfway back in the room, taking in the entire scene, the people, the music, the mixed scents of sweat, mixed drinks, spilled beer, tobacco, and marijuana all at New Year's on the cusp of 2008, I thought, "This is history in the making. People in this town are going to remember the years after the storm as something. It will be an era, a time spoken of as "a time when". And my brother is right in the middle of it and here I am right in the middle of this. This is going to be a thing."

*2008 is going to be a thing, too.

*The general election is going to be close, unless Bloomberg launches a 3rd party bid. Then it's the Democrats in a blow-out. Having said that, this year it is the Democrats' race to lose.

*About two years ago I wrote a few essays/longwinded blog comments about the coming crack-up of the GOP coalition between the Main Streeters and the Wall Streeters. Main Streeters were your Christianists and aspects of the small business community, Wall Streeters were your corporate owning class types. The latter use the former as foot soldiers to elect people like W who speak about values and proceed to rape the country and embark on pre-emptive wars. But this year, the Main Streeters finally have their own genuine candidate in Mike Huckabee. I think the crack-up is upon us. This is one of the reasons why I think this election is the Democrats to lose.

*Of course that means that who the Democratic nominee is becomes even more important than it was in 2004. There is an opportunity to get a functioning progressive into the White House and we need to take that opportunity. My choice is Edwards, clearly the most progressive and most populist of the Democratic contenders.

*Obama is good too, but it worries me that he chooses to make it difficult for citizen's organizations like ACORN and labor unions to get his campaign's attention and that he uses rhetoric and literature that calls groups like us "special interests" as if we played in the same sandbox with energy companies and Big Pharma. I wonder how open he would be to groups like us once he's in the White House. And believe me, we are going to be a big reason that core progressive voters show up at the polls this year.

That's all for now.

Kick ass and take names.

So ACORN has been engaged in a housing gutting and rehab program in New Orleans that has gutted over 600 homes in a effort to get the 9th Ward and New Orleans East ready for rehab and make the case that the community is ready to come back and fight for their neighborhoods.

We've been using a combination of paid and volunteer crews to do the work.

Well, last Friday, February 3rd, two volunteers, Paia Doctolero and Craig Mammano, had a special request. They wanted to be married in front of one of the houses.

ACORN. Bringing people together.

Kick ass and take names.

Well I'm kinda stunned at the moment. Remember when I posted about the Prez suspending the prevailing wage law that requires that all workers on federal-funded projects be paid the "prevailing wage" of the region in which they are working (so the Feds don't undercut the living standards of an area by only accepting low-balled bids based on paying workers shit wages)? You don't? I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked! Lucky for you I'm linking to thetwo posts related to this law, called Davis-Bacon.

But the reason I'm stunned is because today, the pressure campaign mounted by unions, religious leaders, and Democrats in Congress (who were, apparently, actually united on this issue: Memo to Howard Dean: economics works for you; you might want to explore wage and health care policies and initiation for the 06 elections) forced the President to actually rescind his executive order suspending Davis-Bacon! Unexpected and fantastic!

If we were really supercool we'd figure out a way for the displaced folks to get a lot of these jobs so that they could have the money with which to rebuild.

Either way this is a major victory for worker's rights from a White House that never caves in and continues to propagate the most anti-worker initiatives since the days when the National Guard was used to break strikes and kill strikers.

Kick ass and take names.

So, okay, I know that in the wake of Katrina, ACORN's ability to work with evacuees and put together efforts aimed at ensuring that their voice is a part of the rebuilding effort of New Orleans has really helped us make the case for giving us money to continue to do that and other organizing/national HQ relocation tasks.

And earlier I posted about all the people who've held benefits and helped us deal with the situation.

But I was not/am not prepared for this item that ran in the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

TICKET UPDATE: Approximately 52,200 tickets have been sold for the Saints home game against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 30 at Tiger Stadium, team officials said. Next week, Saints officials will present a check for $125,000 to ACORN of New Orleans and $440,000 to United Way of New Orleans and Catholic Charities. A youth clinic featuring Saints alumni will be held next Thursday at the FEMA trailer park in Baker.

Now I'll take a big check from anyone. I'm just not used to something as Establishment at an NFL team kicking down any bucks to groups like us, let alone this nice chunk of change. I'm not holding my breath that there will be more where that came from. But I am holding my breath waiting for the inevitable outrage from conservatives about how the Saints, the seat of all that is holy and good about sacred game of football in Louisiana, are supporting the overthrow of the US government, commies under the beds, and curbside baby raping for this donation to the terror/subversive/outlaw/radical/cannibal group of slimeballs poor people called ACORN.

Waiting for it with glee I tell you. Glee.

Kick ass and take names.

Back to Katrina for a minute.

Mayor Nagin just announced that he's going to lay off 3,000 city workers because he can't find the financing to keep them on the payroll.

I'm wondering how a city rebuilds itself without a workforce.

Just, you know, wondering.

Kick ass and take names.

So in the past 13 years I've been at ACORN, many of them intimately involved in the organization's fundraising efforts, I understand that (A) most people have never heard of us and that of those that have they are either (B) extremely wary of us because we are not afraid to take over a corporate headquarters or two or maybe create massive traffic headaches by blocking the street, or (C) extremely happy to give us money, but also, riding the edge of insolvency themselves.

So it has been a bit of a shock to see some of the people who have been promoting our work in the wake of Katrina and donating to our Hurricane Recovery Fund.

They cover a good range, from a Canadian visual artist in Burnaby (is that a n'hood in Vancouver or a town in BC?) who is also a member of the Canadian Public Employees Union, to a music recording company in Chicago called Compassionista Productions, to the Service Employees International Union, to Yale University student Sarah Stillman who is donating the bulk of the $5,000 prize she won in an essay-writing contest. And yesterday Roseanne Barr announced that she was donating all proceeds from her three shows in San Francisco this weekend (9/23, 24, and 25) to the ACORN fund.

On top of all that the editor of The Nation has plugged us repeatedly in the wake of Katrina, including a profile of us that is so flattering that even our own communications department would be slightly embarrassed to put such language in a press release.

It's not like we're raking in the dough for the fund, though I think we're getting more than we anticipated. Certainly we're no Red Cross! (Nor do we want to be.) The outpouring of support is a bit overwhelming for an organization used to being out on the front lines taking the slings and arrows that are so often directed towards those who challenges the status quo with only minimal (but absolutely critical and welcome) back-up.

I know that soon we will be back to being the punching bag for the right and whomever else wants to show that they are much more reasonable than those crazies who might bring the unwashed masses into your find business district, but right now I'm just meditating on and savoring the support that has come our way in the wake of this tragedy.

Kick ass and take names.

fengi has this post, which I am excerpting here because it gives a glimpse into what the future of New Orleans might look like, by looking at what happened, development and relief-wise, post The Great Fire of 1871.

I figured it should be spread pretty wide. Not that my friendslist is all that wide, especially when you realize that I bet at least half my friends are also friends with fengi as well.

But what the heck!

From fengi:

Real estate speculation has already started in New Orleans, raising the prospect of the disaster as gentrification bonanza. This put me in mind of the Great Chicago Fire and it's aftermath.

The capsule version of the fire is that it transformed the city like a legendary phoenix, rising stronger from the ashes. The long version, of course, is not so clean.

The Chicago fire started the night of Sunday, October 8, 1871, burned for half a day and took nearly two days to cool By October 13 (top that FEMA), Mayor Mason had decided to put a non-governmental organization, Chicago Relief and Aid Society, in charge of the millions in donations pouring into the city (news spread quickly thanks to the new information technology of the telegraph), which was supposed to keep things on the level.

...the Society opened offices and supply depots connected by telegraph and separated its work into different areas...each overseen by a different committee... distributed food and clothing...made available the materials for several thousand simple "shelter houses," erected four barracks for the homeless poor...and performed some 64,000 vaccinations against smallpox. It was a model of a new kind of "scientific" charity whose work was conducted by paid professionals carrying out the policies of an executive board.

The Society's efforts were highly praised in a study the Society wrote itself. It became the main source document, so groups like the Chicago Historical Society say little about discontent with recovery save well known issues like when the Society cut off 800 families in the dead of winter on the ground they were now the county's responsibility.

Deeper examinations show how were not so clean and contributed to Chicago being at the center of late-19th century labor strife. Albert R. Parsons, sentenced to death for his alleged role in the Haymarket Square "Riot" of 1886, put it this way in a court ordered autobigraphy (which again puts me in mind of modern bloggers):

In 1874 I became interested in the "Labor question," growing out of an effort made by Chicago workingpeople at that time to compel the "Relief & Aid Society" to render to the suffering poor of the city an account of the vast sums of money (several millions of dollars) held by that society and contributed by the whole world to relieve the distress occasioned by the great Chicago fire of 1871. It was claimed by the working people that the money was being used for purposes foreign to the intention of its donors, that rings of speculators were corruptly using the money, while the distressed & impoverished people for whom it was contributed, were denied its use. This raised a great sensation and scandal among all the city newspapers which defended the "Relief and Aid Society" & denounced the dissatisfied workingmen as "Communists, robbers loafers," etc.

What's even more interesting is how class conflict manipulation drove not just the reconstruction of Chicago, but also helped determine modern concepts of the city. Urban growth now considered "natural" were actually caculated, top-down social engineering.

There's more if you click the link above.


Kick ass and take names.

So in keeping with the last couple of weeks' theme of "All Katrina All The Time" I am posting an op-ed from ACORN Chief Organizer Wade Rathke that he has just posted onto his blog.

It lays out what he thinks some of the guiding principles should be as we undertake the rebuilding of New Orleans. I think the success of the rebuilding should be judged against them (and others that incorporate values of social justice, democracy, equity, and dignity).

Baton Rouge Everyone seems to be throwing their 2 cents out on the op-ed pages and trying to graft their issues onto New Orleans like so many barnacles on the boat, so I found myself sending this piece out on Monday. It may not show up anywhere, but here it is. . .

My home is in New Orleans. I have less than ten years to pay on a mortgage where I hope a house still stands on Burgundy Street in the Bywater neighborhood.

My office, the national headquarters for ACORN – the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – and the regional headquarters for Local 100, Service Employees International Union, sits between my home and the French Quarter on Elysian Fields (the pathway to heaven in Greek mythology) only ten blocks from the River. The offices sit half on St. Claude and the rest on Elysian Fields in what was once a funeral home. At the last count more than 50,000 cars a day passed this corner on their way from home or work. St. Claude Avenue was one of the main thoroughfares to the 9th Ward, where I live, and the Lower 9th Ward, now awash in water up to the eaves, where more than half of the ACORN membership and no small amount of the Local 100 membership lived, and where many of the evacuees were rescued on their way to the humiliation and disgrace of the Superdome and Convention Center.

Like more than a million other people, I have spent way too much time trying to guess whether the water lapped at either location (which in hardcore denial I still doubt since they were on the alluvial floodplain of the great River, and therefore among the highest ground in the city) or whether my front door now swings open, broken down by the door-to-door sweep for the last holdouts, or whether some other coup de grace may have been administered in the government riot that inflicted whatever damage was not already inflicted by the storm. But, I don’t want to guess about the future. I think we have all earned a voice about the rebuilding of New Orleans, or its abandonment.

Let’s be frank about race and class. They still very much matter. They have always mattered in New Orleans for hundreds of years. That’s not news here. The economic development and income distribution in the city have suffered from a well documented inbred isolation which stunted our ability to compete with our neighbors as Houston, Dallas, and others shot past us. Our educational system was stunted by a dual system of public and parochial and private schools from a tax base that could not afford the competition and a business community that was committed to low wages and the limited educational requirements of housekeepers and dishwashers fueling the city’s hospitality needs. We overwhelmingly passed a living wage ordinance in New Orleans setting a high wage in the city by one-dollar over minimum wage, only to see it stymied by legislative chicanery and business mumbo-jumbo. We have been the cultural, third-world oddity and playground within the American empire, sort of a Jamaica without a beach, increasingly a playground without a real foundation. Two-thirds African American and one of the poorest cities in America, we were easily – and tragically -- abandoned in the aftermath of the storm. We were not New York. We were not even Miami.

Looking at the rebuilding, why not measure twice and cut once? Why not allow some of the messy back and forth of public debate on our future include those of us who actually live in the city and call it home? If the government could not hear our peoples’ screams above the water as the waves rose or in the din of the Superdome crowd, perhaps they could call this a “bought lesson,” as we say in New Orleans, and listen now.

We need some simple things now, whether or not we had them before or not:

• A commitment that New Orleans citizens will be the “first-source” for hiring on jobs in the rebuilding.
  


• A commitment that New Orleans citizens will be trained for all of the jobs available in the rebuilding of the city, so that these jobs can become stepping stones to their future and to the creation of real skills.
  


• A commitment that these jobs will have real protections, permanence, and living wages (overturn the President’s waiving of Davis-Bacon now!) and give people a chance to come home and get back on their feet.
  


• A commitment to publicly supported, decent and affordable housing on high ground above the Lake Pontchartrain level with appropriate density conforming to the special environmental challenges we face for the future.
  


• A commitment to assist in the building of a public infrastructure that quickly assures that we will have decent public schools, libraries, civic facilities, and the other amenities that good citizenship and tax paying should expect.
  


• A commitment that we will build in high technology infrastructure as part of the rebuilding, whether this means burying all of the utilities this time around, installing wireless and computer terminals bridging the digital divide, creating real and efficient public transit for working New Orleanians as well as to facilitate easy evacuation in the future.
  


• A commitment that we are worth the best and which enlists ideas and insight from around the world whether in flood control or wetlands protection and storm diversion or architecture for housing that fits our condition and incomes.
  


• A commitment that our future will be served and not just the expediency of the hospitality industry or other “race to the bottom” sectors, that will allow us to be a magnet because of our special culture, people, and skills to develop intellectual capital and amenities which attract the industries of the future to one of the very special cities in the country and the world.

Let’s have a real experiment in democracy right now on the floodplains of New Orleans and let our people have a real voice, not just the corporations bidding to make us Falluja on the Mississippi. We may be working people and poorer and blacker than the rest of America, but we are Americans nonetheless with the right to have our special place and our separate dreams.

We know some things that other people do not know. We know coffee is better with chicory. We know to eat red beans and rice on Mondays and fish on Fridays. We know that Mardi Gras still has something to do with Lent. We know the difference between a shotgun and a camelback house.

We definitely know enough to have a real say in the future of our city. Let’s hope this time our voice is heard.


Kick ass and take names.

If you know people helping out in Houston, please get this info to them. Form the ACORN web site...

Organizing at the Houston Town Hall Meeting on Katrina.

On September 13th, Houston Mayor Bill White, County Judge Robert Eckels, ACORN, and several community groups announced a local program to help those housing Hurricane Katrina evacuees with grocery purchases.

Grocery gift cards will be distributed to those providing refuge for evacuees. The grocery assistance program will be administered through the local branches of several community groups, including Houston ACORN.

If people are providing shelter in their homes for one to five visitors, they may be eligible for two $25 grocery gift cards, (not good for alcohol cigarettes or cash) per week. Those housing six to 10 visitors may receive four $25 cards per week. Those housing more than 10 evacuees will need to have verification provided by one of the participating community organizations. (No more than 20 cards per week will be given to any participant in the program.)

An affidavit that must be notarized at one of the sponsoring agencies such as ACORN will be required for participants. Download an application form here: Hurricane Katrina Emergency Shelter Per Diem Application (.doc) (.pdf).

Call Houston ACORN - 713-868-7015 or the ACORN Hurricane Hotline 800-790-2290 to find out if you are eligble to participate, arrange to get your form notarized, and to continue to organize for a full and just hurricane recovery.

I'm reposting an entry that Katrina vanden Heuval posted to her Nation blog on Monday. She was responding to some news coverage of people named "Katrina" dealing with Hurricane Katrina. She mentions the various groups she has given to so far, including a kick-ass plug for ACORN. kickasphalt will be pleased to see that she also plugs the Southern Mutual Help Association.

Katrina vanden Heuvel Mon Sep 12,10:51 AM ET

The Nation -- Yesterday's New York Times's Sunday Styles section had a story
about those of us called Katrina, and how we are handling the fact that we
share a name with a Hurricane which has caused such enormous suffering and
destruction.

The article notes how angry I was that Rush Limbaugh stooped so low as to
link me to this human suffering. (He referred to the catastrophic storm as
"Hurricane Katrina vanden Heuvel"). The Times reporter says that I dismissed
the personal attack "and wheeled the issue into more comfortable terrain" by
raising serious questions about the disaster in a recent piece.

Yes, I did raise questions about the shamefully inadequate response to the
worst natural disaster in US history. But what the Times article didn't
report were my personal reactions to the suffering. Nor did it convey my
abiding hope that out of this tragedy--which has so starkly exposed our
country's racial and class divide--will come a renewed understanding of the
positive role of government in building a more just and equal America. Nor
did it mention my search for how to most effectively help those hardest hit,
spurred on, in part, by letters from many Nation readers asking our advice
on the best ways to help.

On behalf of The Nation--and my colleagues who care so deeply about
supporting grassroots relief efforts--I have made contributions to each of
the following organizations listed below. I encourage Nation readers to
consider these and other grassroots efforts in making your own gifts. Our
website has also collected information about other ways you can help. (Click
here for additional info.)

ACORN is a national, grassroots, dues-based organization of low-income
people with 175,000 members. It's been highly effective in the campaigns for
living wage-ordinances in 100 cities. Its headquarters was in New Orleans,
and the group needs funds to establish temporary offices in nearby cities.
More than 9,000 ACORN members lived in New Orleans before Katrina hit.
Donations are going to locate missing members and provide housing for those
who have been found. ACORN is holding town hall meetings around the country
to discuss the hurricane response, and in the coming months, decisions about
how to rebuild the city will take place. ACORN is one of the best hopes to
ensure that the voices of those most affected by the hurricane are heard.

For more information: www.acorn.org

To donate: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=36

Southern Mutual Help Association was founded in 1969 to help develop strong,
healthy, prosperous rural communities in Louisiana. Working alongside
southern Louisiana's fishermen and farmers, it is an advocate for preserving
threatened livelihoods even as it assists in the process of change towards
more sustainable futures.

Katrina has devastated the communities in which SMHA works. Louisiana's
commercial fishers, the thousands of very poor families whose livelihood
depends on fish, shrimp and shellfish from the bayous, have been virtually
wiped out by the hurricane. Boats, docks and other infrastructure were
destroyed, and the very waters they depend on have filled with salt, silt,
and pollution, damaging and destroying fisheries. SMHA is still assessing
the situation: It already knows the Acadiana region around Lafayette will
have approximately 150,000 refugees looking for places to stay during the
wait to return home (likely to be lengthy), and wondering how to recover and
rebuild their future.

People throughout these fragile bayou communities will need long-term
assistance, especially in the form of loans. But first SMHA must help
stabilize the situation. SMHA has the commitment to be there for the long
haul, and its mutually-trusting relationships with local communities will
enable it to be effective in responding to local needs.

For more information: www.southernmutualhelp.org

To donate: www.southernmutualhelp.org/RuralRecoveryFund

Federation of Southern Cooperatives was established in 1967 to work with
African-American rural communities in the South to save Black-owned land. In
1990 it successfully led efforts to pass the first "Minority Farmers Rights
Bill." This membership-based organization can make sure aid is used not to
deepen dependency, but to rebuild viable rural livelihoods. Their
on-the-ground networks and local knowledge make them good candidates to
loosen logistical bottlenecks and navigate complex politics; something
national or international aid organizations cannot match. FSC is a member of
Via Campesina, a global coalition of small farmers' organizations struggling
for resource rights from the Mississippi to the Mekong deltas.

For more information: www.federationsoutherncoop.com

To donate: www.federationsoutherncoop.com/relief05.htm

Earlier I posted demands that ACORN leaders from low-income communities across the nation had formulated for decision-makers regarding the response to Katrina. Leaders have since expanded on those demands to include the long-term future of evacuees.

A Policy Response to Hurricane Katrina

What low- and moderate-income communities in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast – including ACORN members, their families, friends and neighbors – experienced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina was not just a tragic natural disaster, but a brutal display of the consequences of racial and economic injustices that many of us already know too well from our own lives. As the largest community-based organization of low-and moderate-income families in New Orleans and the nation, ACORN is committed to helping our sisters and brothers whose lives have been shattered by Hurricane Katrina. We are also dedicated to fighting the economic and racial inequities that shaped this tragedy – and which impact low and moderate income communities throughout our country on a daily basis. For hurricane survivors, ACORN members demand:

1 - A Fundamental Principal: Respect
Low- and moderate-income people who have survived and been displaced by Hurricane Katrina need their persons and views to be respected. They need to be treated with dignity. Looking towards the future, they also need to be directly involved in developing and implementing relief and reconstruction programs.

2 - Meeting Immediate Needs
Basic necessities must be made immediately and easily available to all those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Survivors need access to safe and decent housing, schools for their children, income to sup-port their most basic needs, and healthcare to address both the health issues caused or exacerbated by the hurricane, and any underlying medical conditions. Access to these essential services should be clear, convenient and adequately staffed to quickly assist all survivors.

3 - Long-Term Needs
None of the individuals or families left without homes, jobs, income or their community of support should fall through the cracks.

JOBS AND INCOME SUPPORT: Hurricane survivors need family-supporting income from programs like food stamps, unemployment, disability, and possibly new income assistance programs. This support must be adequate to meet families' needs, and last long enough to take into account the total disruption caused by the hurricane. Survivors will also need access to job training and placement programs, and priority hiring for all jobs created by relief and rebuilding projects in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

ACORN strongly supports legislation to improve unemployment benefits by increasing benefit levels, extending benefit months, and shifting the primary cost burden in disasters to the Federal government, as well as legislation to ease and broaden access to food stamps, TANF, and other income support programs.

HOUSING: Hurricane survivors need a swift transition to decent, long-term housing in the communities they have evacuated to. This may involve rehabilitation of vacant houses or the release of large numbers of new housing assistance vouchers. However, affordable housing for displaced hurricane survivors must add to – rather than compete with – affordable housing and housing assistance programs for low-income families in host communities. In addition, the individuals, communities, and cities that are opening their homes and pantries to survivors need federal assistance too. Survivors who are homeowners also need extended moratoriums on mortgage interest and collections, and the negotiation of realistic payment plans that include debt forgiveness where appropriate.

HEALTH CARE: There should be an aggressive plan to make free health care services available to help survivors cope with both the physical and mental toll of Katrina and its aftermath, as well as other health issues that may arise. This care should be easy to use and people should be encouraged to use it. ACORN supports proposals to expand access to Medicaid, along with speeding and easing the application process.

EDUCATION: Schools and school districts that are taking in new students need financial support, additional counselors to help students whose lives have been disrupted by the hurricane, and a relaxation of criteria of the No Child Left Behind Act that might penalize schools for taking in new students.

CONSUMER PROTECTIONS: Homeowners and car owners will need standard and clear procedures, hands-on assistance, and consumer advocacy support in dealing with private insurance claims. Low- and moderate-income credit card holders need moratoriums on payments and interest, adjusted payment plans and, where appropriate, debt forgiveness. New and burdensome bankruptcy requirements should not apply to people impacted by Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans and Gulf Coast residents will also need legal protections and consumer advocacy to avoid financial scams arising in the wake of the hurricane, such as gas price gouging and car title "washing" (where the records of flood damaged vehicles are "washed" clean so they can be sold at much higher prices).

4 - Rebuilding New Orleans
Low- and moderate-income people and people of color – who make up the majority of New Orleans' population – must have a say in all major decisions about the city's reconstruction. ACORN members are especially worried that if we do not organize now, the city's housing stock will be rebuilt at prices low and moderate income people can never afford. ACORN members are also concerned that what affordable housing that is built will be shoddy and fall apart after only months, that health hazards caused by the hurricane will not be fully repaired in low-income neighborhoods, and that cronyism rather than fairness will control the rebuilding process.

Rebuilding plans for New Orleans must include: decent, affordable housing for all low- and moderate-income residents; "first source" hiring agreements and living wage requirements for all reconstruction projects so that area residents get first priority for family-supporting jobs; cleanup of all parts of the city to meet adequate health and safety standards; and a real plan on future disaster preparedness.

5 - Accountability: Creation of a Hurricane Katrina Commission
An independent Hurricane Katrina Commission must be formed quickly to investigate the decisions, actions, and circumstances which so magnified the devastating impact of this natural disaster. There must also be a commitment to act on commission findings. The investigation should look at all pieces of the puzzle, including how the evacuation plan failed to take into account people without cars or savings, how policy decisions were made about protecting New Orleans from strong storms and hurri-canes, and the actions of FEMA and others before, during and after the hurricane. Hearings to document the experiences of hurricane survivors must be held swiftly in Baton Rouge, Houston, and other places where large numbers of survivors are gathered.

Some of what ACORN is doing to help ensure that Katrina survivors get justice in the aftermath.



Turning frustration into action, Houston ACORN sponsored a Town Hall Meeting on Friday, September 9th to unite Katrina survivors andlow and moderate income community members. The meeting took place at the Mount Calvary Lutheran Church with about 300 people, most of them Hurricane survivors, in attendance.

The meeting was held in part to ensure that there is an accurate account of what happened, to ensure the catastrophe never happens again in New Orleans, or any other American city, as well as to begin organizing for a just and comprehensive relief and rebuilding plan. Texas ACORN President Toni McElroy welcomed Katrina survivors
to the community saying, "We're here tonight to get information to survivors, hold elected officials accountable and to help rebuild the New Orleans community. "

"There is strength in numbers," she continued. "You have a strong organization to depend on and that you can participate in so your voice can be heard."

Many of ACORN's 9,000 New Orleans members have been evacuated to Houston, including Joe Stafford, one of many who shared their testimony of loss and survival. He called for an investigation into decisions by officials that resulted in the flooding of his Uptown neighborhood. "I just want the councilman and everyone here to hear my side of the story. And my side of the story is that I think there could have been a better way to get us out of New Orleans," he said. Stafford also wants a voice in the recovery and rebuilding process. "I want to know what they're gong to
be doing with all that money."

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee received cheers when she called for an investigation into the response to the disaster, saying "I will first apologize to you, we failed in our initial response to save lives. We did not do our
jobs. We will be calling for an investigation in Washington, just like 9/11 with an independent committee."

Representative Lee committed to work for services for homeless children, Medicare and Medicaid recipients, as well as to provide a housing voucher for the next year for Katrina survivors. Houston Mayor Bill White committed to work with ACORN to respond to the needs of Katrina survivors. "Our goal is to help you help yourself in an environment were there is dignity," he said. He made promised to announce major initiatives the following Monday to deal with two
immediate issues raised by many survivors at the meeting: aid for families sheltering hurricane survivors, and stopping local hotels from evicting survivors who have run out of funds.

Other local officials addressed the crowed and FEMA responded to individual problems and concerns.

New Orleans ACORN member and Katrina survivor Dorothy Stukes co-chaired the meeting. She encouraged everyone to participate in building a survivor's organization, by joining, petitioning, door-knocking, and taking part in future actions: "If you're poor like we are, they're going to slam a door in your face. If we fight together, they can't turn a deaf ear to us."



Kick ass and take names.

Joseph Stratford
On Friday, Sept. 3rd, New Orleans ACORN Head Organizer Steve Bradberry sent out a text message from ACORN's temporary headquarters in Baton Rouge to hundreds of dislocated ACORN members' cell phones. The message told them to contact the nearest ACORN office for aid, and member Joseph Stafford, an ACORN member
from Uptown New Orleans, responded.

“I'm so glad we got in touch with ACORN,” Joe said. After contacting ACORN, he and his family were put up in the home of Houston ACORN member Tarsha Jackson. Joseph and his family were caught up in the horror of the Superdome shelter after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans. “This is America, there is no excuse for the way they did this, letting people die like this,” he said.

“I saw the 9-11, I saw the Tsunami, we're always the first ones to jump in and help, what about now? I don't want to be racist, but you know everyone is mostly black in New Olreans, and I feel like that's why they did it like this. Everybody knew that this might happen, that New Orleans could go under if a major hurricane hit, they knew, they should have been ready. “I'm so tired. I'm so sad. We have nothing. We only have what we are wearing on our backs,” he said. “I want to come to the ACORN meetings here in Houston, I want to stay in touch with ACORN. This isn't right what's happening to us. It’s like they're punishing us because we didn't get out in time.”


Irma Williams
New Orleans ACORN member Irma Williams lives near Louisiana Avenue Parkway in a three-story home that she
bought with assistance from ACORN's Housing program. The night before Hurricane Katrina, she was at her mother's house near-by with her brother and five cousins - this is where they would ride out the storm, and later be trapped by over 14 feet of water.

It wasn't until Friday morning, after they chopped a hole in the roof to signal for help, that Irma's family was rescued by helicopter and taken to an Interstate 10 interchange, only to endure more hardships: lack of food and water, "filthy and conditions, and "hot and miser-able" weather. "It was a nightmare," Williams says. Finally, on Saturday evening, they were transported to the airport and then eventually to a shelter in Corpus Christi, TX, where she called her uncle from Houston who drove out and picked them up and brought them back to Houston to stay with him.

Irma says a cousin in Houston who was involved in helping hurricane survivors saw a flyer about ACORN's September 9th Houston Town Hall Meeting on Katrina, and she made sure to attend. Over 250 people attended the meeting, to begin the process of organizing a survivors community organization. Mayor Bill White, Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee, other elected officials and officials from FEMA addressed the crowd. "I thought the meeting was great," Williams says. "The information from city leaders was very informative. I think it's important for other people to join and get involved with ACORN. It is a strong, people-based organization." "I have always worked hard for what I've gotten," Williams says. "Because of the hurricane, this is the first time I've had to go on food stamps, so it's been difficult."

She is also worried about the future of New Orleans and how the city will be rebuilt. "The politicians and big wigs are going to try and push poor people out. New Orleans is my home and I want to go back and rebuild my house." She hopes that through organizing with ACORN, she can help to make sure that other low and moderate income people get the chance to rebuild their homes, and lives, in New Orleans, too.


John Delay
New Orleans ACORN member John Delay, 75 years of age, was found at the shelter at the Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge by Baton Rouge ACORN members. John was rescued by the Coast Guard on Labor Day from his home
in the 7th Ward. "I didn't want to leave my home," says John. "They said I had to go. My home is all I know, I don't know about anywhere else. My son was going to come see me for Labor Day. I had a roast. All of it is ruined now."

When John ran into ACORN members at the shelter, he just wanted to let his sister and cousin who also live in New Orleans know that he was alright. John did not have any phone numbers for out-of-state family members. When ACORN members got back to the office that day, they looked on the Red Cross website and found a message from his sister asking if anyone knew about her brother. They called her in Washington, D.C. and gave her the number of the shelter so that they could call John. John's sister said she would call his son and have him drive from San Antonio to come get him in Baton Rouge.

Although he’ll soon be in San Antonio, John plans to stay involved with ACORN’s efforts there and across the country to help organize Katrina survivors.


Kick ass and take names.

I posted yesterday about how the Repiglicans had requested the Bush use Emergency Powers to suspend Davis-Bacon, the law that requires that all workers on constrcution projects with any Federal money must pay the "prevailing wage" in the region for that project. This generally means that wages and benefits won thorugh union bargaining will apply to all workers on the project. This stops the Feds from undercutting collective bargaining while it also guarantees middle-class wages to all workers. Smart economics, right? People need money in order to spend it on commodities, right?

So what does Bush do? Suspends Davis-Bacon.

Wow, I'm shocked.

Here's the scoop, again from Jonathan Tasini's incomparable Working Life blog:

Bush: Anti-Middle Class and Anti-Black

So, yes, the president, responding to a request from a group of Republicans, did move quickly to undercut workers’ wages in Louisiana and Mississippi, and for good measure in areas in Alabama and Florida (beats me how he slipped in those last two states). He invoked emergency powers yesterday to suspend the Davis Bacon Act—effectively a wage cut for tens of thousands of workers in those four states (see his statement below) who might otherwise be paid the area’s prevailing wage on any rebuilding projects funded by federal dollars.

This is an attack on the middle-class, no more misguided then the tax cuts favoring the top one percent of the population. Aside from being anti-union (though this isn’t just a union wage because all workers benefit from prevailing wage laws), this is just stupid economics. Let me get this straight: you’ve got a devastated area, which will need to have people, once they return home, able to spend money to generate economic activity. So, the first thing you do is attack a program that helps blue-collar workers earn a middle-class wage and puts money in peoples' pockets.

So, Mr. President, when you reprise your post 9-11 visionary suggestion and go tell people to get over the crisis by going shopping, where exactly will people get that disposable income from?

You dope.

So, instead of a Davis-Bacon environment (which attracts highly-skilled, highly productive workers), the country will get more Halliburton culture, which emphasizes over-billing the government for services rendered. Hmmm…

Might I add that his order also shows, to quote Kanye West, that Bush doesn’t care about black people: Davis-Bacon has helped maintain high wages for blacks and other minorities who work in the construction sector.

I expected the Democrats, per habit, to be out-to-lunch on this. But, to my surprise, Nancy Pelosi has attacked Bush for the action, as did Rep. George Miller and Sen. Ted Kennedy. Nothing yet from Harry Reid, Senate Democratic leader, nor leading lights like Hillary Clinton (she's likely doing substance-less photo-ops somewhere).

By the way, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about Davis-Bacon and, since many readers might not understand what Davis-Bacon is, I’ve posted a short explanation.

===============================

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

I hereby report that I have exercised my statutory authority under section 6 of the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. 276a-5, to suspend the provisions of sections 276a to 276a-5 of the Davis-Bacon Act in the event of a national emergency. I have found that the conditions caused by Hurricane Katrina constitute a "national emergency" within the meaning of section 6. I have, therefore, suspended the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act in designated areas in the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This action is more fully set out in the enclosed proclamation that I have issued today.

GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE
September 8, 2005

Kick ass and take names.

This is from Jonathan Tasini's Working Life blog, focusing on labor and organizing issues.

It speaks for itself, but jeebus, folks, if you think the GOP gives a shit about working people, this should really make you think twice.

Katrina: A Chance To Screw Workers

These people never stop. I mean, the Republicans--it isn't enough that people in New Orleans and Mississippi have been devastated by Katrina, losing homes, family and friends. Now, these low-lifes in Congress want to take away a chance for workers to make a decent living, particularly in the reconstruction efforts that will be fed by tens of billions of our tax dollars.

Led by Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), Jeff Flake (AZ) and Marilyn Musgrave (CO), 32 other Republicans sent a letter to President Bush yesterday asking that he use emergency powers to suspend Davis-Bacon, which requires that workers on federally-financed projects be paid the prevailing wage.

So, get this: while you and other Americans are taking money out of your pockets to help the Katrina-area people recover, the Republicans want to effectively negate everyone's efforts by forcing a wage cut on people who might actually get jobs--to replace those they lost because of the hurricane--in the reconstruction efforts. Your tax dollars--that would be the $62 billion, at a minimum, that would flow in federal money to the area based on Bush's request yesterday--would be the best way to help workers get on their feet, way beyond the charity, in the form of decent, paying jobs. But, nooooooo....

Question: I wonder whether Halliburton, which will likely put its hands into those reconstruction projects (and Dick Cheney is being sent to the area so he can probably give his former employers a nice heads-up on what will be coming through the pipeline), will be required to do the projects for no profit or, better yet, at a loss...you know, for the public good.

To summon up an old historical rhetorical question: Have they no shame?

Kick ass and take names.

Thank god someone can still find room for real parody in a country run by an Administration that engages in self-parody.

More Onion Katrina newsbriefs can be found here.

Bush Urges Victims To Gnaw On Bootstraps For Sustenance

WASHINGTON, DC—In an emergency White House address Sunday, President Bush urged all people dying from several days without food and water in New Orleans to "tap into the American entrepreneurial spirit" and gnaw on their own bootstraps for sustenance. "Government handouts are not the answer," Bush said. "I believe in smaller government, which is why I have drastically cut welfare and levee upkeep. I encourage you poor folks to fill yourself up on your own bootstraps. Buckle down, and tear at them like a starving animal." Responding to reports that many Katrina survivors have lost everything in the disaster, Bush said, "Only when you work hard and chew desperately on your own footwear can you live the American dream."

Kick ass and take names.

This is making the rounds of the blogosphere:

The whole article is here.

Here is the choice blurb that gets the blood boiling.

At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had ''absolutely no credentials.''

She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.

''He said 'Why would I do that?''' Pelosi said.

'''I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.' And he said 'What didn't go right?'''

''Oblivious, in denial, dangerous,'' she added.

Kick ass and take names.

Here's some info for you compiled by Ken Jacobs at the UC Berkeley Labor Center regarding the consequences of poverty and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans:

"In 1999, New Orleans voted to increase the city's minimum wage from the federal minimum of $5.15/hr to $6.15/hr [a campaign coordinated and run by New Orleans ACORN, by the way --ed.]. However, the courts found that a
law passed by the state's legislature in anticipation of New Orleans' decision pre-empted the rights of the city's workers to a better wage.

Here is some unpleasant arithmetic of what it would have meant for a family in NoLa with two full-time minimum wage workers with a buck an hour higher wage.

* Cost of 4 greyhound tickets to a nearby safe location: $200

* Cost of living in a motel for 6 months ($60/day for room and $70/board): $23,400

* Additional earnings since 1999 with a higher minimum wage: $24,000

* The difference it makes to have a better minimum wage: "PRICELESS" "

Please support the ACORN Hurricane Katrina Fund so we can continue to fight for the things that the displaced families will need (see my previous post about the kinds of problems that crop up in relief efforts).

Kick ass and take names.

This is a report from Darryl, the Head Organizer of Atlanta ACORN.

He talks about the difficulties that refugees are having getting assistance in the Atlanta Metro area, and some of the work we have done to help out. It is clear that the large rescue operations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army have yet to really asses the scope of the problem and aren't even giving help in Atlanta!

Further it appears that FEMA is saying that the only way to get assistance if you have been displaced by Katrina is to go back to where you fled! WTF? If there is no place to stay and no work for you, why would you go back? It sounds like a way to cheap out on the costs of dealing with compensating and resettling the victims to me.

Here's the report:

Darryl is working hard helping ACORN members and others in Atlanta. Here's
his report:

Here is an update on our current situation. I've been meeting over the
past four days with coalitions in Atlanta and East Point where we have
members and chapters. ACORN members and staff from New Orleans are calling
everyday. Thus far, the Atlanta office has hired one field and one housing
staff person from New Orleans. The field has taken on the responsibility of
providing assitance to over 300 individuals steering them to local agencies
providing housing, food, health, counseling, education, transportation and a
number of additional services. The problem is that the Red Cross is not
providing these services. Our local agencies such as the Hosea Feed the
Hungry and the Homeless are filling the needbut they are overwhelmed and are
receiving no government assistance. Their funding is depleted and their
supplies are gone, but the people keep coming. Just today the ACORN office
was contacted by an additional 50 people needing assistance.
As I see it, there are three types of relief needed. Immediate relief
which is being provided by agencies such as food pantries, churches, etc...
They need funding sent directly to them due to delays by FEMA and the Red
Cross. Transitional assistance which no one is addressing and where ACORN
can make a difference. And finally, long-term assitance. Lets face it, New
Orleans may no longer be home to many of the former residents. They
anticipate 300,000 individuals from the gulf coast region, most of them from
New Orleans, will be relocating in the 10 county area of Metro-Atanta and we
are not prepared for this. The CEO of DeKalb County declared his county in a
state of emergency because of the large influx of gulf coast victims.

Another point is that this is the first wave of individuals who are
hitting the social services community hard. The next wave will be the
working poor who had enough $$ to get a hotel room for a few days, assuming
they would be able to go back to jobs and their homes after the hurricane
passed. Now they're here and and running out of resources. For example, I
got a call from LaShawn Jackson, a New Orleans ACORN member who got my
number from Steve. She is in a hotel room with 16 family members. As I
write this, they will run out of $$$ tomorrow and have to checkout of the
hotel by 12:00 noon. We are frantically trying to get them housing to
stablize their situation and then deal with school for the 3 teenagers, plus
WIC and medicade for the 3 infants and adults. Finally, the last wave will
be those still in New Orleans who will get here within the next week. FEMA
told Angela Celestine, a New Orleans field organizer now working out of
Atlanta, that she will have to go back to New Orleans in order to qualify
for assistance. The Red Cross told her they are only taking donations not
providing relief. She was not the only one. Hosea Feed the Hungry has
documented 100s of victims telling the same story. In addition to providing
assistance to members, the Atlanta office is setting up a coalition of
community agencies to provide direct services to ACORN members and other
victims. The coalition needs to have funds and donations sent directly to
us, not the Red Cross or The Salvation Army to insure they get to our
people.

We are also preparing the coalition to provide transitional assitance
(6 - 18 months) to address the period when this is no longer news and the
reality of the crisis has hit home.

This is from Editors and Publishers.

NEW YORK The Times-Picayune of New Orleans on Sunday published its third print edition since the hurricane disaster struck, chronicling the arrival, finally, of some relief but also taking President Bush to task for his handling of the crisis, and calling for the firing of FEMA director Michael Brown and others.

In an "open letter" to the president, published on page 15 of the 16-page edition, the paper said it still had grounds for "skepticism" that he would follow through on saving the city and its residents. It pointed out that while the government could not get supplies to the city numerous TV reporters, singer Harry Connick and Times-Picayune staffers managed to find a way in.

It also cited "bald-faced" lies by Michael Brown. "Those who should have been deploying troops were singing a sad song about how our city was impossible to reach," the staffers pointed out. "We’re angry, Mr. President, and we’ll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry."

Here is the text.

***

We heard you loud and clear Friday when you visited our devastated city and the Gulf Coast and said, "What is not working, we’re going to make it right."

Please forgive us if we wait to see proof of your promise before believing you. But we have good reason for our skepticism.

Bienville built New Orleans where he built it for one main reason: It’s accessible. The city between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain was easy to reach in 1718.

How much easier it is to access in 2005 now that there are interstates and bridges, airports and helipads, cruise ships, barges, buses and diesel-powered trucks.

Despite the city’s multiple points of entry, our nation’s bureaucrats spent days after last week’s hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city’s stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies.

Meanwhile there were journalists, including some who work for The Times-Picayune, going in and out of the city via the Crescent City Connection. On Thursday morning, that crew saw a caravan of 13 Wal-Mart tractor trailers headed into town to bring food, water and supplies to a dying city.

Television reporters were doing live reports from downtown New Orleans streets. Harry Connick Jr. brought in some aid Thursday, and his efforts were the focus of a "Today" show story Friday morning.

Yet, the people trained to protect our nation, the people whose job it is to quickly bring in aid were absent. Those who should have been deploying troops were singing a sad song about how our city was impossible to reach.

We’re angry, Mr. President, and we’ll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry. Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That’s to the government’s shame.

Mayor Ray Nagin did the right thing Sunday when he allowed those with no other alternative to seek shelter from the storm inside the Louisiana Superdome. We still don’t know what the death toll is, but one thing is certain: Had the Superdome not been opened, the city’s death toll would have been higher. The toll may even have been exponentially higher.

It was clear to us by late morning Monday that many people inside the Superdome would not be returning home. It should have been clear to our government, Mr. President. So why weren’t they evacuated out of the city immediately? We learned seven years ago, when Hurricane Georges threatened, that the Dome isn’t suitable as a long-term shelter. So what did state and national officials think would happen to tens of thousands of people trapped inside with no air conditioning, overflowing toilets and dwindling amounts of food, water and other essentials?

State Rep. Karen Carter was right Friday when she said the city didn’t have but two urgent needs: "Buses! And gas!" Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially.

In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn’t known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, "We’ve provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they’ve gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day."

Lies don’t get more bald-faced than that, Mr. President.

Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, "You’re doing a heck of a job."

That’s unbelievable.

There were thousands of people at the Convention Center because the riverfront is high ground. The fact that so many people had reached there on foot is proof that rescue vehicles could have gotten there, too.

We, who are from New Orleans, are no less American than those who live on the Great Plains or along the Atlantic Seaboard. We’re no less important than those from the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia. Our people deserved to be rescued.

No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced. Especially not one as preposterous as the claim that New Orleans couldn’t be reached.

Mr. President, we sincerely hope you fulfill your promise to make our beloved communities work right once again.

When you do, we will be the first to applaud.