By The Alice in Not-So-Wonderland Collective

By Cheshire Cat

I don’t know any Tea Party members and have never been to a Tea Party event, so I had to see for myself what all the commotion is about.  Noam Chomsky has recently said that the Tea Party in its present form is a failure of the left and that they (the tea partiers) have some legitimate gripes, so a couple of friends and I decided to go and see if we could find some common ground.

Walking up the hill to the steps of the Capitol, slightly nervous and unsure of what to expect, I was relieved to find that nobody paid much attention to us even though I thought we clearly looked out of place (under 35, tattooed, wearing black tee shirts). The first thing I noticed was Holy crap, there were a lot of flags! They were mostly American and Gadsden flags (coiling snake on a yellow background), however the flags that most caught my attention were the ones on the main stage, a row of them that had the tops of the poles adorned with gold crucifixes- which was a little creepy IMHO. Also, there were less cops than I expected (around 6 that I counted) which, for an event that drew a few hundred people, was odd considering that an hour earlier I was at a workers strike with about fifty people and there were just as many cops.

Yes, the crowd was 99% white but the same could be said for most anti-war rallies I’ve been to at the Capitol. Throughout an hour of wading through the crowd, I had the chance to speak with three or four people. They were obviously right leaning and although many of them claim to be independents, they clearly focus their anger on Democrats. In general, there was a friendly tone to the conversations I had. We agreed where we could (yup, Democrats suck) and disagreed as well (no, immigrants are not ruining the country). Mostly, folks complained about taxes and there was a lot of talk about the Constitution (most admitted they hadn’t read it) and how Obama is a Socialist (again, he isn’t). The middle-aged small business owner I spoke with said he was not against welfare but against “people who abuse the welfare system.” I asked him why he thought electing these same crooked politicians from both sides would change anything and he sheepishly said “What else is there? I have to have faith”. During a conversation with an elderly couple who were explaining to me that “Obama was not what the founding fathers had in mind”, the crowd started bellowing the pledge of allegiance in unison which made it difficult to focus.

Basically, my final analysis of the event is that the Tea Party is MoveOn.org for the Right. Although I somewhat agree with Chomsky’s assessment that the Tea Party is a failure of the left to reach out and organize with them, at this point, I think the chance to redirect that anger has long since passed. Here were a bunch of angry people, angry at the government (at least the Democratic arm) and the Left was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, Fox News, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin were more than happy to welcome them with open arms. So here we are.

By Alice Volcano

I visited the Tea Party protest at the state capitol this past Thursday—mainly to see what folks would show up, what signs they would be holding, what the speakers would be saying, what the counter-demos might look like.

The first thing I noticed were a bunch of white “middle-class” looking folk. I started running around looking at all the signs—taking photos of the most creative and/or inflammatory ones. While I was taking a photo of one particular sign (the one that displays Obama as a caricature with huge ears and money stuffed in them), the sign-holder and I realized we knew each other from back in the beginning of the millennium when we both worked in the same shopping complex. He was the groundskeeper and I worked in the coffee shop. We would exchange goods- I’d give him free coffee and he’d help me take out the trash and taught me how to sharpen my knife.

My friends (two men) and I stood up somewhere in the middle/front of the crowd listening to the speakers and just generally looking around, trying to get a sense of what the protesters are like—not wanting to rely on some liberal pundits who deem all the Tea Party protesters racists and Nazis.

Two men (and their wives, to an extent) turned around and took up conversations with my two male comrades (their stories are interwoven into this narrative). I stood there for a while, very used to feeling invisible or like an “accessory” at events such as these. Or I should say, to be more accurate, feeling like an accessory (or all together invisible) when there are older men talking about important things that I couldn’t possibly understand (ß sarcasm!).

I may have looked “blasé”—but I was listening to every word these folks were saying (I often find myself dealing with this type of sexism in this way. I’m not saying it’s helping anything, but hey—I do what I can). It was fun finding all the agreements I held with these folks. They want to have decision-making power over institutions and events that affect their communities—their lives. So do I! They don’t want “representatives” in Washington making decisions for them. Neither do I! They laugh at the US being considered a “democracy”—a better word for it is a “Republic.” I agree! Why filter money through Washington just to have it come back to your communities with hoops to jump through, not to mention missing about 20%? I don’t know! Hey, politicians are just money-hungry corporation lackeys! I think so, too!

Needless to say, our agreements ended there. The folks we were talking to (or I should say, the folks I was listening to) really (really) believe that Obama is a socialist. Even though socialism refers to the means of production being owned by the workers themselves, not just somewhat “socialized” health care or public schools and fire departments (libraries, etc…). They all love Ayn Rand—a woman who has written entire novels about her love affair with the “free” market. When we noted that most everyone was white (including ourselves), one of the protesters pointed to a man with a tan and said “He’s kind of colored!” Good grief.

I’ve talked to a slew of radicals and anti-authoritarians about the TPM and there are a bunch of different viewpoints. Some feel like we should be making common ground with these folks—this is, after all, a popular uprising that is critiquing our government. Some other arguments are that these folks are critiquing the same institutions that anarchists and other radicals are. I don’t agree that we are critiquing the same institutions such as: white-supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, nation-states, heterosexism, etc… These folks, from what I gathered, don’t really give a fuck about other folks’ plights. If they’re OK, then that’s all that matters. One thing I love about anarchism is the understanding that my freedom and happiness is bound up with everyone else’s. “No one is free until everyone is free.” I think the slogan the TPM may employ is something more like “I want my freedom at the cost of anything, even yours.” Anarchism is an ethic—a notion that we can live differently—we can live in ways that fulfill all of our needs and desires. This would include a free and participatory society—free of all institutionalized hierarchies—a world that would allow all of us to develop and live out our desires and lives in beautiful and joyous ways. None of that is possible within nation-states, under capitalism, nor under any other form of domination and control.

When there is a populist movement budding that critiques the power of our government—that is the time for the Left to organize and help provide an understanding of how all power is connected and to offer up alternative institutions free of domination. We missed our chance to provide a framework with which to understand how to connect the dots. I’m not sure if it’s too late or not—but I do believe that the TPM is leaning so far Right due to the fact that there is no organized Left to speak of in the US as of late. As anarchists, I think we should probably try to find the folks that do have genuine critiques of how our society is (dis)organized and we should be able to offer up alternatives. There will be no revolution by anarchists alone. We need a popular movement and we are failing miserably.

Ritter made it clear that Perez’s trial is a sideshow that he would prefer to to avoid. “This has been a difficult time for the city,” Ritter said. “We have a budget to pass. We have to pass a balanced budget – that’s the priority. The trial is a distraction.” Ritter described the House passage of a deficit mitigation plan which maintains municipal aid as “positive”, but lamented the continued plight of cities such as Hartford that have to continuously look at tax increases as a means of maintaining vital services. “We have to focus on the effect on raising taxes on homeowners,” Ritter said. “I’ll be stunned if we don’t have to raise city taxes.”

Community residents, activists and legislators gathered at the State Capitol Wednesday to raise awareness about the Ban the Box bill, which would provide fair employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals by deferring the criminal background check until after a conditional job offer is made by the employer. BTB has encountered resistance from lawmakers, which Ritter chalks up to misconceptions about the legislation. “Ban the Box isn’t meant to dupe employers. It’s meant to give people a real opportunity,” Ritter said. “The bill hasn’t been accurately portrayed during the legislative session.”

While the Democrats and Republicans at the Capitol and in Washington D.C. have focused on job creation for the middle class, the poor in urban and rural communities have been overlooked. Hartford leads the nation with a 33.5% poverty rate. While the national unemployment rate for whites has decreased since December, it has increased for people of color. President Obama has resisted calls from the Congressional Black Caucus to initiate targeted job creation for communities with the highest unemployment rates as a means of addressing the racial disparities in joblessness, income and net wealth between whites and blacks / Latinos. Ritter believes that a two-fold strategy is needed to address the poverty issue, which cuts across racial lines. “There is a preparation gap in Connecticut. Kids in West Hartford and Greenwich are entering kindergarten with strong literacy skills. That’s not happening in Hartford. This will be a big focus for me,” Ritter said. “Also, towns should have been given more hiring flexibility with federal stimulus dollars. Here in Hartford we were unable to hire more city workers due to a technicality regarding the employees who took early retirement. The restraints on local and state government in terms of hiring must be removed.”

Ritter believes that the state must address the lack of revenue which has contributed to the budget crisis. The poor and working class in Connecticut pay more in taxes than the wealthiest 1% of state residents, while corporations ship hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to states such as Nevada which have no income tax. “Everyone should be a good corporate citizen,” Ritter said. “We could be more responsible as citizens, legislators and corporations. Everyone should be more honest in conversations about generating revenue for the state.” Ritter supports alternative measures such as consolidating school half days while extending random school days by a hour as a means of saving the state money. “We have to get creative in terms of cutting spending,” Ritter said.

The debate over the merits of public and charter schools has reached a fever pitch. Proponents of charter schools cite underperforming city schools as justification for an alternative, while supporters of public schools point to segregation and union busting as arguments against the charter school concept. Ritter echoed the opinion of those in the urban community who believe that socioeconomic status shouldn’t determine the quality of education that their children receive. “You have to give people options,” Ritter said. “Charter schools are working. There are public school teachers who are reaching kids. The focus must be on addressing the preparation gap. It should be a fundamental right for kids to attend school at 3-4 years of age.” Ritter cited a Courant op-ed by Weslyan University freshman Corey Guilmette, which calls for the state Department of Education to include funding for a more comprehensive pre-K system in Connecticut’s second round Race to the Top application for federal education dollars. According to Guilmette’s research, pre-K programs have produced a $7 return for every $1 invested, due to a reduction in learning or behavioral problems as children become older. “I’m all about options,” Ritter said. “The momentum for charter schools is there. Pre-K is key to wiping out the achievement gap.”

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While pundits such as Haar pontificate on the issue of job creation then return to their comfortable homes and full refrigerators, single mothers in Hartford are selling their food stamps in order to buy necessities like shoes for their children. The draconian state public assistance program has a term of 21 months, the shortest in the country, and doesn’t allow clients to get back on if they can’t find work or experience some type of financial hardship.

Racial disparities in income and net wealth between people of color and whites continue to widen. The Insight Center for Community Economic Development released a report on disparities in gender wealth to mark International Women’s Day. The report finds that close to 50% of all single black and Latina women have zero or negative wealth. Single women of color possess about $100 of net wealth, while white women average $ 41,000.

Urban community residents aren’t the only ones who are suffering. Qualified job applicants all over Connecticut who have gone into debt due to circumstances such as medical bills are being rejected by employers due to credit background checks. These people have been caught up in a vicious cycle of falling into debt because they can’t find a job and being unable to get hired because they’re in debt.

Representative Matthew Lesser has introduced legislation which would restrict employers from doing credit checks unless they are relevant to the position for which a person is applying. Lesser says that the strongest opposition to his bill, which appears to be a no brainer in terms of helping people get back to work, are unregulated companies who are “making a killing” off of doing credit checks.

The state tax structure continues to be a monument to injustice. The General Assembly imposed slight tax increases on Connecticut’s wealthiest residents last year. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that 20% of non elderly taxpayers with the lowest family incomes ( $26,000 per year) pay an average of 12% of their income for state and city taxes. Connecticut’s wealthiest 1% of taxpayers only pay about half that amount – 6.5%.

It’s not just the big, bad Republicans who are protecting the rich – during the 2009 legislative session Democrat Senator Andrew McDonald called for the income threshold of taxpayers classified as wealthy to be raised above $250,000, claiming that income is considered “middle class” by many of his constituents. A real progressive income tax would bring in revenue which could be used toward balancing the state budget, prevent cuts of already underfunded social services and contribute to an economic climate which would be conducive to job creation.

It’s going to take a grassroots movement to bring about the changes that are needed to put people back to work and balance the state’s books, while bringing about economic justice. The Democrats, with a few exceptions, are acting like a watered down version of the GOP while Governor M. Jodi Rell continues her campaign to finish off people of color and vulnerable populations of all races in Connecticut.

Black and progressive leadership in the state has been demobilized by the election of President Barack Obama, while the Right continues to gain momentum as the Connecticut Tea Party organizes in a major way. Check out their website and their Facebook page if you think I’m kidding. The poor and working class in this state are in great danger of seeing their bleak existence become even worse.

The new campaign slogan for the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women certainly gets right to the point. And if anyone is unconvinced of their assertion, then I wish you could have attended Women’s Day at the Capital on Tuesday.  Invited speakers and the public submitted testimony on Tuesday and called attention to many issues like health care, domestic violence and protection, education, employment, women in politics, and childcare.  Two high school students from the Young Women’s Leadership Program essay contest also read their winning essays which focused on breaking the cycle of domestic violence and the need for more women in leadership positions.

Women’s Day was really more just like the morning which was noted by two young women sitting behind me who discussed why there wasn’t a day full of activities.  Ironically, these two left a bit before noon but I internally hoped that was because they were heading over to Trinity College for their program on reproductive health “I had an illegal abortion: telling my story” at 12:15pm.  These women also noted the lack of diversity in the room.  True, most of the women there were white, well dressed and in 40+ age category.  There were several men in attendance.  The attorney general, a male photographer, the father of one essay contest winner, and two men who sat at the center table.  They didn’t have the appropriate name cards so I couldn’t find out who they were.  The morning must have been a bit boring for them because one left about an hour into the testimony and the other looked like he was sleeping.  After studying him for a few moments I noticed that it wasn’t because he was sleeping that he was so still, it was because he was typing on his phone…possibly updating his twitter page as a call for action on these women’s issues?

When one woman noted that the medical field has historically been dominated by females as midwives and mothers and it wasn’t until you could get paid $300k a year that men started taking over, the room erupted with laughter.  It wasn’t all jokes though, and Executive Director Teresa Younger took that very seriously.  I internally applauded Younger when she shushed two female political leaders talking during the testimony of Dr. Stefanie Chambers, which focused on the effect the recession had on women.

Younger has every right to be tense about this day.  For the second year, Governor Rell is calling for the elimination of the (Permanent) Commission on the Status of Women (which has been around for 37 years) in the state’s proposed budget.  Younger fought back last year and managed to save the commission but with a 65% cut in budget which eliminated half of the staff.  Community organizers presenting testimony also talked about the need to have the commission.  Several years ago a women’s clinic in New London faced closure due to funding. The PCSW stepped in to provide support and saved the clinic.

Enjoy this sprinkling of statistics from the morning!

- White women make .77 cents on the dollar compared to male counterparts while African American women make .70 cents and Latina women make .62 cents.

- 56% of medical bankruptcy filers are women.

- 1 in 7 women put off their annual obgyn appointment because of cost.

- Our current state childcare licenses can only care for 40% of children under the age of 5.

- Less than 4% of women serving on state commissions and boards are women of color.

- 80% of philanthropy is given by women, but only 10% of that reaches girls.

- 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, which is the 2^nd leading cause of death for women behind lung cancer.  The risk of getting the cancer is lower in African American women but are 35% more likely to die from the disease then white women because of financial barriers.

- Women spend 68% more on health care then men because of reproductive health.

The DSS line item funds housing and homelessness services, supports emergency shelters and transitional living programs, residences for persons living with AIDS, eviction and foreclosure prevention, rental assistance, security deposit guarantees, homelessness prevention interventions and other services. Funding for health care is on the chopping block. Adding insult to injury, the governor is also proposing to eliminate the municipal requirement to store possessions of evicted tenants. For more information visit www.cga.ct.gov and click on the February 11th date or contact the Appropriations Committee at 860-240-0390. You can also check out the HIMC site and my Facebook page.

The conclusion of the State of the Dream report is that targeted job creation programs for communities with the highest unemployment rates is the only way to address the aforementioned racial economic disparities. The findings of the report have been met with deafening silence by blacks who still want to believe in their president and white progressives who participated in an unprecedented grassroots campaign to get Obama elected. Health care reform is dead – the president did not refer to this issue until he was 30 minutes into his speech. The vaunted public option was not mentioned, so the crappy bill that passed the Senate is apparently still on the menu. There were never any discussions during the Health Care No Holds Barred Steel Cage Match between the Democrats and Republicans about the impact of racial health disparities. According to a report by Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland researchers, these disparities cost the United States $229 billion annually, enough money to completely revamp the national health care system. The report finds that people of color are generally in worse health than whites and far more likely to die from a wide range of diseases. Militarism will still be well served by the Obama administration as the spending freeze exempts the Pentagon. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq rage on, with Yemen and Nigeria possibly being added to the mix very soon.

After a year of national obsession over health care, job creation (for who?) is now the mantra for the president – he announced that he will introduce a new jobs bill. Tougher bank regulation and cap and trade legislation was promised, along with dough for community banks courtesy of a fee to TARP bailout recipients. Obama announced plans for the abolition of tax breaks for employers who outsource jobs overseas and financial incentives for businesses who keep jobs in America. The most significant announcement was the president’s promise to repeal the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy regarding homosexuals serving in the armed forces. The winners of the first year of the Obama administration undoubtedly were the health insurance industry, Wall Street and war profiteers. Big businesses were provided with icing on their cake by the conservative justices of the Supreme Court, who ruled that a corporation is the same as a person. Political candidates will now be able to receive unlimited financial donations from corporate donors. The U.S. military occupation of Haiti following the earthquake which decimated the world’s first black republic was further proof that U.S. imperialism will continue unchecked under Obama’s watch.

So what’s next? Apparently, more bleak economic times for blacks and Latinos. The president and the Democrats have clearly demonstrated that they have no interest in changing the repugnant status quo, so change will have to come from the streets. I’m calling out white progressives – whether you’re a Democrat, Independent, anarchist, basket weaver, whatever – it’s not enough for you to decry racial injustice on blogs and Facebook. You cannot rub elbows with downtrodden people of color in the streets and feel as if you’ve done your good deed for the day – you are complicit by your failure to engage. I’m also calling out the black Obama disciples who are acting like everything is everything because an African American is in the Oval Office. The State of the Dream report clearly shows that people of color are in worse economic shape since Politician Soul Brother Number One has been in the White House. A warm and fuzzy feeling over seeing a black president doesn’t trump the reality that blacks and Latinos in this country are still catching hell.

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