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Why Hillary Clinton Has Always Been a Republican In the first of a series of profiles, Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair chart the formative years of Hillary Clinton. Watch her as she zigzags from Nixon campaigner and vote-fraud investigator in 1960 to Goldwater Girl and President of Young Republicans at Wellesley to her internship for Gerald Ford and campaigner for Nelson Rockefeller. Witness her reaction to the student protests at Yale and the demonstrations at Grant Park during the Democratic Convention in 1968. Learn how she and Bill vowed to "remake" the Democratic Party--using the Nixon model HRC learned about as a member of the House impeachment staff. And much more! Plus: David Price on anthropologist Andre Gunder Frank, the FBI and the Bureaucratic Exile of a Critical Mind.
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Today's Stories July 13, 2007 Patrick
Cockburn July 12, 2007 Paul
Craig Roberts Robert Jensen Dr. Susan Block Joshua Frank John Chuckman Corporate Crime
Reporter Mike Whitney Nicola Nasser Richard Rhames William S.
Lind Website of the Day
July 11, 2007 Patrick
Cockburn Richard
Neville Debra
McNutt John
V. Walsh Scott
Liebertz George
C. Wilson James
McEnteer Philip
Rizk Johnny
Hazard Dave
Lindorff Website
of the Day
July 10, 2007 James
Ridgeway Tariq
Ali Javed
Hussein William
Blum Ralph
Nader Jay
Arena Anthony
DiMaggio Eva
Liddell Jerry
Kroth Alice
Woodward Nikolas
Kozloff Paul
Shannon Website
of the Day
July 9, 2007 Fidel
Castro Diana
Johnstone John
Walsh Uri
Avnery Ramzy
Baroud John
Ripton Stephen
Lendman Bruce
Jackson Michael
Donnelly Doug
Giebel Website
of the Day
Saul
Landau Ismael
Hossein-zadeh Fawzia
Afzal-Khan John
Ross Pat
Williams Rannie
Amiri Farzana
Versey Bart
Gruzalski Paul
Rockwell Reza
Fiyouzat Monica
Benderman Kenneth
Couesbouc Dave
Lindorff Charles
Modiano Missy
Beattie Dal
LaMagna Jean
Gerard Anne
Dachel Ron
Jacobs Poets'
Basement Website
of the Day
Daniel
Ellsberg Gary
Leupp Harvey
Wasserman Omer
Subhani Marjorie
Cohn Christopher
Brauchli David
Michael Green China
Hand Renee
Saucedo Corporate
Crime Reporter Website
of the Day
July 5, 2007 Andy
Worthington Mike
Stark Norman
Solomon Michael
Schwartz Susie
Day Jacob
Hornberger Bill
Hatch Don
Fitz John
Wright Website
of the Day
July 4, 2007 St.
Clair / Frank Vijay
Prashad Carl
G. Estabrook Ron
Jacobs David
R. Dow Claudia
Johnson William
S. Lind Gregory
Afghani Paul
Edwards D.
K. Wilson Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Thomas
Jefferson Cindy
Sheehan Website
of the Day
Bill
Quigley Gary
Leupp Lynda
Brayer Richard
Thieme Helen
Redmond David
Swanson Jacob
Hornberger Ayesha
Ijaz Khan Franklin
Lamb Ray
McGovern Kevin
Zeese Dave
Lindorff Website
of the Day
Andy
Worthington Nina
Serrano Jack
Hirschman Paul
Craig Roberts Bill
Williams Anthony
Papa Sonja
Karkar Louay
Safi Anthony
Gregory Monica
Benderman Website
of the Day
June 30 / July 1, 2007 John
Ross Alan
Farago Peter
Quinn Christopher
Brauchli Robert
Fisk Uri
Avnery Judith
Siers-Poisson Saul
Landau Abbas
Zaidi Ron
Jacobs Ralph
Nader Donald
Worster Mike
Whitney Jacob
Hill Kenneth
Couesbouc Missy
Beattie Mohammad
Kamaali Ramzy
Baroud Leonard
Peltier Phyllis
Pollack Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
June 29, 2007 St.
Clair / Frank Brian
Cloughley Patrick
Cockburn Gilad
Atzmon Dave
Lindorff Jennifer
Matsui / Kevin
Zeese Daniel
Klimek David
Michael Green John
Chuckman Website
of the Day
June 28, 2007 Bill
Quigley Vijay
Prashad Margaret
Kimberley Winslow
T. Wheeler Philip
Rizk D.
K. Wilson Bill
Williams Mahmoud
El-Yousseph Richard
Rhames Paul
Krassner Website
of the Day
Marjorie
Cohn Dr.
Susan Rosenthal, MD Alan
Farago Carla
Blank Matthew
Abraham Sunsara
Taylor Russell
D. Hoffman Robert
Weissman Sen.
Russ Feingold Paul
Buchheit Website
of the Day
June 26, 2007 Jonathan
Cook Ralph
Nader Corporate
Crime Reporter Ron
Jacobs Martha
Rosenberg John
Chuckman Denny
Haldeman Anthony
DiMaggio Stephen
Fleischman William
S. Lind Website
of the Day
Paul
Craig Roberts Jennifer
Loewenstein Bob
Anderson Robert
Pollin Patrick
Cockburn Eva
Liddell Dan
Bacher Larry
Atkins Mark
Brenner James
Rothenberg Website
of the Day June 23 / 24, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Jeff
Taylor Oren
Ben-Dor Gary
Leupp Robert
Fisk David
Rosen Russell
Mokhiber Alison
Weir Robert
Fantina D.
K. Wilson Nicole
Colson Stephen
Soldz, Steven Reisner and Brad Olson Dave
Lindorff Benjamin
Dangl Michael
Dickinson Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
June 22, 2007 Andy
Worthington Sherwood
Ross Eliana
Monteforte Robert
Weissman Richard
Rhames Christopher
Brauchli Ramzy
Baroud Ehud
Krinis, David Shulman and Neve Gordon David
Michael Green Kathryn
Webber Website
of the Day
June 21, 2007 Peter
Linebaugh Natsu
Saito Ron
Jacobs Saree
Makdisi John
Stauber Scott
Liebertz Tom
Clifford Robert
Jensen Michael
J. Smith Jeb
Sprague Website
of the Day
Omar
Barghouti Andy
Worthington Margaret
Kimberley Robert
Weissman Russell
D. Hoffman Rannie
Amiri Stephen
Lendman Dave
Lindorff David
Swanson Anne
Dachel Website
of the Day
June 19, 2007 Ralph
Nader Dr.
Shepherd Bliss Bill
and Kathleen Christison Jeff
Leys Dave
Zirin Chris
Floyd Ben
Terrall Anthony
Papa VIPS Linda Flores Website
of the Day
John
Ross Paul
Craig Roberts Martha
Rosenberg Norman
Solomon Don
Santina Isabella
Kenfield James
Brooks Eva
Liddell Sam
Husseini Akiva
Eldar Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn John
Halle Robert
Fisk Andy
Worthington Uri
Avnery Fred
Gardner Saul
Landau P.
Sainath Missy
Comley Beattie Alan
Gregory Walter
Brasch Website
of the Weekend
June 15, 2007 Alan
Farago Andy
Worthington Michael
Simmons Franklin
Lamb Gary
Leupp John
Ross Website
of the Day
June 14, 2007 Michael
Donnelly
Faisal
Kutty Harry
Browne Charles
Jonkel Steven
Higgs Bruce
Dixon Bruce
K. Gagnon
Website
of the Day June 13, 2007 Glen Ford Marjorie Cohn Bill Christison Charles Jonkel Silvia Cattori Richard Gott Firmin DeBrabander William S. Lind Keith Rosenthal Website of the Day June 12, 2007 Jeffrey St.
Clair Paul Craig
Roberts P. Sainath Ralph Nader Omar Waraich Dave Lindorff Harvey Wasserman Malini Johar
Schueller Ramzy Baroud Website of
the Day
June 11, 2007 Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig
Roberts Uri Avnery Norman Solomon Eva Liddell Rannie Amiri Rachel Voss Christopher
Brauchli D. K. Wilson Website of
the Day
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July 13, 2007 Waste Management Locks Out East Bay Garbage WorkersThe Wal-Mart of GarbageBy TODD CHRETIEN Five hundred scabs are collecting trash in Oakland, Calif., and other East Bay cities after Waste Management (WM) locked out 481 drivers from Teamsters Local 70 on July 2. Despite threats of being fired, the rest of WM's local union workforce--including 80 members of the International Association of Machinists Local 1546 and more than 300 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6--have honored the Teamster picket lines for nearly two weeks. WM claims the lockout is about new safety rules--but the workers say it's about something else. "Waste Management wants slaves working for them, and they want the rest of the country to bow down to them," said Bob Kuykenball, who has worked for WM for seven years, and has been a Local 70 member for 35 years. "The only thing that's going to break this is for everyone out there to get involved. The public has to let Waste Management know how they feel about this. It's time to treat the workers and the public right. The board of directors needs to understand that profit isn't the only thing in this world--treating people fair is what matters." Garbage is big business, and Waste Management is the Wal-Mart of garbage. The Houston-based giant ranks number 181 on the Fortune 500--above corporate giants like Northwest Airlines, Pepsi and Sun Microsystems. It has $20 billion in assets and raked in over $1.1 billion in profits last year. Over the last 30 years, it has gobbled up smaller competitors across the U.S. and Canada, and is now almost twice the size as its two next-largest competitors combined. On the way to top, WM earned a reputation as a company that would prefer to do business without worrying about labor rights. In the past four years, the Teamsters, who represent 8,500 of WM's workers (out of approximately 75,000 employees), have been forced to go on strike to defend wages and health care from New York to Chicago to Reno, Nev. to Washington, D.C. to Fort Worth, Texas. Dave Enriquez, a shop steward for Local 70, spoke at a July 11 rally of over 500 workers and their supporters outside the Davis Street dump in San Leandro. "Just last month, WM sent me a letter saying 'congratulations on 40 years of service,' and they sent me a pin," Enriquez said. "Then they locked me out. I've lived in this community all my life. I've worked in Oakland, Hayward, Fremont. What has Waste Management done? Continuously try to take away everything we've got." Although the Teamsters and other unions have suffered losses in the course of these fights, WM hasn't always had its way. In Chicago in 2003, Teamsters struck against WM and other trash haulers for nine days, successfully defending their health care and winning a 22 percent pay hike over 5 years. This show of strength in Chicago helps explain why WM has decided to declare war on the Oakland and East Bay Teamsters. "Waste Management has the audacity to say that one of the main issues in this lockout is safety," said IAM Local 1546 Area Director Don Crosatto explained at the July 11 rally. "Ask Don Welch about safety. Those of you who work at 98th Avenue know that Don is a 20-year member of ours--a 20-year Waste Management employee. Yet this morning, he was run over and almost killed by one of the scab rent-a-goons that they've got following the trucks. "This isn't a company concerned about safety. Let's be real about what this lockout is all about. It's not about wages. They've offered us plenty of money, and they've offered the Teamsters plenty of money. It's a profitable corporation. It's not about health and welfare. It's not about pensions. It sure isn't about safety. It's about solidarity. "The magnificent solidarity we've seen in the last week between our members, the members of Local 6 and the members of Local 70--that's what scares Waste Management. That's what they want to break up, and that's what we can't let happen. "Waste Management has a long-term agenda. They want to break up the bargaining unit. There are over 100 [union contracts with WM] across the United States. They don't want them talking together, and they sure don't want them negotiating together. "By hook or by crook, they're going to try to have their way--and if they succeed in fragmenting us, slowly but surely, starting with the smallest, most remote and most rural bargaining units, they're going to take us on and systematically destroy us, and force those of you still under contract to act as scabs. We can't let that happen. "These managers and scabs that they've imported from across the country don't have a choice. They have to work, or they're going to be fired. They don't have a choice. And I have to hope that deep down, some of them know what they're doing is wrong. "But you do have a choice. You have the freedom to support each other. That's your birthright as trade unionists. And we're not going to swap that for their 30 pieces of silver--now or ever." That message is starting resonate with other Bay Area workers. Mary drives a delivery truck for UPS in Oakland and took her personal break time to join the July 11 rally. "I'm out here to show that I'm supporting my sisters and brothers in the Teamsters," she said in an interview. Ron Herrera, the secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 396, which represents WM workers in Los Angeles, attended the July 11 rally--along with Seattle Teamster secretary-treasurer Ron Hicks, whose members struck WM last year. WM's claim that its first priority is public safety is being quickly undermined by the reality in East Bay cities. WM has created a public health risk, as garbage (filled with leftovers from July 4 picnics) piles up in East Bay neighborhoods and restaurants. To make matters worse, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that WM has a policy of picking up trash in upper-middle class neighborhoods, while letting piles of garbage fester in Black, Latino and poor neighborhoods. Management has sent 200 poorly trained scab drivers out into the narrow streets of East Bay communities in the middle of summer vacation. Accidents have already taken place. On July 9, a scab driver pulled down a power line and started a grass fire next to Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland. The fire department got it under control--but anyone who knows anything about East Bay summers knows that hill fires are serious business. The real aim is to impose a draconian new discipline policy that would allow management to fire workers after two small infractions. WM wants this power because many of its drivers are 20-, 30- and 40-year veterans. The company wants to use the new rules to clean house and speed up the pace of work--and target union activists or anyone else that management doesn't like. Ron Lookabill of IAM Local 1546 has worked at WM for almost 15 years as a mechanic. "I really believe they are trying to break the union," he said in an interview. "This will take time. People will have to see that the people they've put on the job are doing the unsafe measures that management tells us we can't do." Predictably enough, most of the local media is trying to place the blame for the lockout on the "overpaid" Teamsters. WM claims that Teamsters "average" $70,000 a year. But once again, WM's assertions deserve scrutiny. The drivers' top scale is about $25 an hour. At 40 hours per week, that comes out to $50,000 a year. With Bay Area rents and mortgages normally running between $1,500 and $2,000 a month, that doesn't leave that much for a family to get by on. So lots of drivers put in overtime hours to earn extra money to keep up with the high cost of living. But more is at stake than defending fair wages. Andrea Trujillo's husband is a locked-out Teamster. She read out a letter that to WM management at the July 11 rally, explaining the difficulties facing her family. "Workers have not only have lost their livelihood under hostile conditions," she said, "they face the very real situation of foreclosure, homelessness and having no health care benefits for their family. All the while, the drivers were very willing to continue working through negotiations. But now, they have no income and face the horrible reality of losing health benefits at the end of July for their families. "Let's zoom the scope in a little deeper to look at one family, and make these realities even clearer. In our case, we have a child cancer survivor in remission who continues to be seen by his oncologist. With our health benefits possibly ending...we will have an additional burden of a huge COBRA payment of $1,298 per month to avoid losing our benefits--something that is simply not an option in our case. "How can anyone be expected to pay such a bill with zero notice? How can a company that says they care so much about their employees put them at such risk? This will put our family in financial ruin and jeopardize the health of an innocent 15-year-old boy." Thousands of other family members of locked-out workers are facing their own crises--and workers across the country know what Trujillo is talking about. Clarence Thomas, the former secretary-treasurer of ILWU Local 10 and current member of the executive committee of the Alameda County Central Labor Council put the East Bay lockout in the context of U.S. corporations' assault on working class living standards. "This is about union busting," he said. "Different employers use different strategies. Take the ILWU--we were locked out in 2002, and there was an attempt by the Wal-Marts, Home Depots, Targets, Toyota to go to the Bush administration and encourage them to break up the ILWU coast-wide labor agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association in order to force into port-by-port negotiations. "I think we can say that Waste Management also wants to break up the solidarity of the Teamsters, the ILWU and the machinists. Even though the money may be acceptable, there are some things that are more important than money, like the right to have a union hall and the right to collectively bargain. I think they're testing the waters. The Bay Area is a union town, and I think it's going to be up to all unions to understand what this is about, and get involved with solidarity. "I think what a lot of people don't understand is that when you talk about solidarity, it's not just a slogan. Solidarity means that you have to give something up. It might mean a day's pay. It might mean your time. But you have to give something up." The Teamsters estimate that WM is spending $600,000 a day to pay their scabs, put them up in hotels and rent a fleet of cars for their security force. On top of that, the company risks losing millions in city contracts. Oakland is taking WM to court, and other cities may follow suit. But WM is sitting on over $1 billion in profits, so this is a drop in the bucket. It seems that WM's board of directors in Houston has decided to spend millions in the short term in order to break the strength of the unions--and thereby make hundreds of millions more in the long term. Faced with this type of assault, what will labor have to do to win? Chuck Mack, the secretary-treasurer of Local 70 and a Teamsters international vice president, set the right tone at the July 11 rally. "We're not going to let WM dictate the terms of any labor settlement to a union in the Bay Area," he said. "They've made every mistake in the world, and they've lied about it, over and over and over again. We're here to tell people the truth. This is what we've come to expect from this company during this dispute. The message has to get out about the lawlessness that this company is about." Sharon Cornu, executive secretary-treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council, pledged the labor community's support and announced the "long list of elected officials supporting us. Yesterday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to tell Waste Management to end the lockout. We've got Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums supporting us, and City Councilors Jean Quan and Jane Bernner." The Labor Council has also taken the lead in gathering funds for the ILWU workers, who make only about $11 or $12 an hour, but are honoring picket lines nonetheless. "We've raised more than $10,000 in the last few days for the hardship fund," Cornu said. "The ILWU, UNITE-HERE, the California Nurses Association and the plumbers have all pledged. The fund is specifically for those workers who don't qualify for unemployment benefits. The labor movement is stepping up to protect those who need it during this time." Barry Luboviski, the secretary-treasurer of the Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council, revved up the rally. "I've heard of some dumb moves before, but Waste Management: What in the hell were you thinking about here?" he said. "I'm talking about stupid. I'm talking about a loser. I'm talking about an airhead. The worst kind of dumb--the kind of dumb that's going to lose. "You know why? They made a cardinal mistake. They took this stupid road show into Alameda County, and they pissed everybody off. Speaking for the brotherhood of the building trades, we're here with you." With pledges of support from East Bay Labor and the nearly unanimous condemnation from local elected officials, it's clear that WM is losing friends fast. But if WM has decided to draw a line in the sand, it seems unlikely that political resolutions will intimidate them. So far, no workers have crossed picket lines, and the picket lines themselves remain upbeat. Yet it's also true that the picket lines aren't stopping trucks from rolling out, but only slowing them down a little. Of course, WM is itching to get a court injunction to ban pickets altogether. In fact, they may use the fact that one of their own scabs ran over a union member as an excuse to ask a judge to ban pickets in the "interest of public safety." The legal threat has to be taken seriously. However, if WM proves impervious to symbolic picket lines, then the unions and their supporters will have to consider organizing mass picket lines to stop the trucks from rolling. But even this may not be enough--because WM's East Bay operation represents no more than 5 percent of its national revenue. Fred Pecker, ILWU Local 6 secretary-treasurer, pointed to the possibility of spreading the struggle beyond the East Bay to other WM facilities. "Brothers and sisters, this is about our survival," he said at the July 11 rally. "If they can knock down one of us, it'll be like dominos. We'll all go down together. "They locked us out, but we're not the victims in this. The victims are the people of Alameda County--because being a victim is having something done to you, and not being able to do much back. "The labor movement is here to offer leadership for all the people of the county to express their righteous indignation. We're not victims, because we're standing up together so we're stronger. And if we don't settle this here, let's spread this. "Because if there's no peace or public safety in Alameda County, then all of us should be out here. It's up to all of us to talk to our neighbors and make this happen. We have the recycler contracts. We have the lowest wage workers who work for Alameda Waste Management, and they're out there solid--every day, every morning at 6 a.m.. We're working without a net, but we're standing up together." WM workers are still hoping there's a way to settle the lockout and get back to work without having to up the ante, but as they spend the second week on the picket line, it's clear that trying to wait out the company and relying on public pressure may not be enough. As the lockout goes on and the discussion about how to win continues, one thing is clear. Everyone who cares about social justice and the rights of working people have to see this as their fight. The Labor Council is appealing for unions and community supporters to adopt picket lines by mobilizing members to show the workers they aren't alone. And the council is asking for the public to call local officials to tell them to get tough with WM. Finally, donating to the hardship fund is something that union supporters all over the country can do. WM's executives aren't worried about their rent or mortgage payments, or losing their health care, but the locked-out workers are. Rasheed Ali is a Local 70 member and has worked for Waste Management for 30 years. He summed up the situation this way, "This is about corporate greed in all its attributes," said Rasheed Ali, a Local 70 member who has worked for Waste Management for 30 years. "Labor is under attack. This is going to be in the textbooks. "To win this, we'll need intelligence, solidarity and pressure from the community. The working people need to keep their eyes open, because we're all under attack. United we stand, and divided we fall." Todd Chretien is the Green Party candidate for US
Senate, running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein in California.
He can be reached at: ToddChretien@mac.com 
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CounterPunch Books of the Crossroads: HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG By Daniel Cassidy  Click Here to Buy! How the Press Failed The Gang's All Here: Judy Miller, Bob Woodward, Rupert Murdoch, Bill O'Reilly...End Times Leaves No Reputation Unstained!  Buy End Times Now! CounterPunch Books! Saul Landau's Bush and Botox World with a Foreword by Gore Vidal  Click Here to Order!  Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair           The Occupation by Patrick Cockburn   Humanitarian Imperialism By Jean Bricmont               CITY BEAUTIFUL By Tennessee Reed        Bruce Springsteen On Tour By Dave Marsh                   |
