tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-219789392024-03-13T13:34:04.591-04:00Norm's NotesAn archive of articles and listserve postings of interest, mostly posted without commentary, linked to commentary at the Education Notes Online blog. Note that I do not endorse the points of views of all articles, but post them for reference purposes.ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comBlogger1776125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-63564812101585875882024-03-13T13:07:00.003-04:002024-03-13T13:33:32.701-04:00Left Behind - Why Power Eludes the French Left - NYT Mag<p> </p><p><a href=" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/magazine/french-left-politics-melenchon.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/magazine/french-left-politics-melenchon.html</a></p><div class="css-1sojcmr ehdk2mb0"><h1 class="css-1xo8ouk e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-868f566">Why Power Eludes the French Left</h1></div><p class="css-ruketr e1wiw3jv0">France
has often been the vanguard of leftist politics — but support in the
streets doesn’t always translate to votes at the ballot box.</p><p> </p><div class="css-103l8m3"><div class="css-1e2jphy epjyd6m1"><div class="css-233int epjyd6m0"><p class="css-19ur514 e1jsehar1"><span class="byline-prefix">By </span><span class="css-1baulvz last-byline" itemprop="name">Elisabeth Zerofsky</span></p></div></div><div class="css-8atqhb" data-testid="reading-time-module"><ul class="css-1cgskve epjyd6m3"><li class="css-ccw2r3 epjyd6m2"><time class="css-mdod7 e16638kd2" datetime="2024-03-08T12:54:22-05:00"><span class="css-1sbuyqj e16638kd3">Published March 6, 2024</span><span class="css-233int e16638kd4">Updated March 8, 2024</span></time></li></ul></div></div><section class="meteredContent css-1r7ky0e" name="articleBody"><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
signs that a protest is happening in Paris are nearly always the same:
the quiet of blocked-off streets; the neat rows of police vans
containing the gendarmerie stretching down the boulevard; the sound of
drumbeats and whistles and the neon red flares that spit smoke into the
sky. For six months last year, those signs were constant and ubiquitous,
as furious, sometimes violent marches and general <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/france-pension-strikes-macron-explainer.html" title="">strikes protesting President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms</a>
brought Paris to a standstill. Students and activists, public-transit
operators, custodial staff, medics, mechanics, teachers, oil-rig
workers, writers and celebrities all gathered to rail against Macron’s
plan to raise the national retirement age by two years, to 64. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As
transit walkouts snarled traffic and sanitation strikes caused trash to
pile up in the streets, the protests were ridiculed abroad. Why must
the French, among the best-protected workers in the Western world, make
such a racket over two years of work? But for the demonstrators, this
missed the point: It is <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">because</i>
French workers put up a fight that they are protected. “We actually have
laws on our side,” Samira Alaoui, a union representative at
Teleperformance, a digital business services company, told me. “We are a
model for the world. If we don’t do anything, who will?”</p></div></div></section><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In
2023, France seemed less the exception than the rule. There was a surge
in labor activity around the world last year — strikes and victories —
as much as or more than any year in decades. This was true in the United
States, where <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/business/media/hollywood-writers-strike-deal.html" title="">the Writers Guild of America,</a> <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/business/uaw-ford-general-motors-stellantis-contracts.html" title="">the United Auto Workers</a> and the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/business/economy/ups-contract-vote-teamsters.html" title="">UPS Teamsters</a> all won significant concessions from executives. In <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/world/europe/uk-nhs-nurses-strike.html" title="">Britain, nurses went on strike</a>
to protest staffing shortages and patient backlogs at the National
Health Service. Still, it was perhaps in France that labor’s rise was
most visible — most combustive and most telling. France has always been a
vanguard of leftist politics. Today it is one of the few Western
democracies where a far left has managed to survive and even thrive, as
it works to invent a new leftist politics that can succeed in a moment
of right-wing ascendancy. How it fares says much about where the left
may be headed and the headwinds it faces, not just in France but
throughout the West.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">While once-robust labor unions have seen their numbers decline more
drastically in France than in other European countries — around 8
percent of French workers belong to labor unions, compared with 35
percent in Italy or 18 percent in Germany — French unions remain strong.
In part this is because recent labor activism has been buoyed by a
newly resurgent leftist movement, La France Insoumise (L.F.I.), or
“France Unbowed.” At the final pension-reform march in Paris last summer
— a defanged one, to be sure, as the measure had already been made law —
the area cordoned off for protesters gathering to march down the
Boulevard des Invalides was draped with banners for L.F.I. “A different
reform is possible, 60!” one proclaimed. Another demanded the founding
of a new republic. One protester carried a giant marionette of Macron
peeking out of a bright green garbage bin, an allusion to the scandal
that followed the arrest of a woman at her home for an online post in
which she called Macron “trash.” (The charges were later dropped.)</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">L.F.I. was founded in 2016 by Jean-Luc
Mélenchon, 72, an unruly populist in the vein of Bernie Sanders with an
even more strident rhetorical style, who is widely credited with
sustaining leftism in France and with its strong showing in the last two
presidential elections. Mélenchon came in third in the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/french-presidential-election" title="">2022 presidential election</a>, with 21.95 percent of the vote, about a point behind Marine Le Pen, the leader of the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/magazine/new-french-right.html" title="">far-right National Rally</a>
(formerly the National Front), who advanced to the final runoff against
Macron. By contrast, the progressive left in the United States
represents only about 7 percent of registered voters, according to Pew,
and though center-left parties are common throughout Western Europe, it
is unusual for the far left to capture this much of the vote and come so
close to the presidency.</p>Because of
Mélenchon’s performance in the general elections, he was able to form a
coalition with other left-leaning parties — the P.C.F. (or French
Communist Party), the Socialists and the Greens — each of which garnered
only a fraction of the vote. The coalition, known as NUPES, largely
adopted L.F.I.’s platform: to tame the chaos of the free market by
instituting large tax hikes on the wealthy, increase the minimum wage,
renationalize formerly public companies, and fight climate change and
racial and gender inequality. This week a bill to enshrine abortion
rights in the French Constitution, introduced and promoted by the L.F.I.
and the Green Party, became law. The L.F.I. now leads the largest
opposition bloc in Parliament, which has some 26 percent of the seats,
enough to block Macron from having a controlling majority.<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Yet L.F.I. has so
far failed to translate its electoral plurality into the kind of
consensus and broad-based support that could eventually lead to running
the country. Though 62 percent of the French approved of the protests
against Macron, polls later showed L.F.I. to be not much stronger than
before. By contrast, Marine Le Pen, who offered hardly any public
commentary on the pension reforms at all, received a boost in the polls.
On many economic matters, “public opinion is largely with the left,”
Rémi Lefebvre, a political scientist at the University of Lille, told
me. “The French believe that the problems the left wants to address are
important, but they don’t believe in their solutions.”</p><p>For the French left, as for center-left parties across Western democracies, the path to power is commonly seen to lie in recapturing the (white) working class outside large urban centers, who in recent years have been drawn toward the far right. But if the left has struggled to attract these voters — and to keep them — it is not just for reasons of policy. Profound economic, social and cultural changes — deindustrialization, the loss of secure jobs, the breakdown of unions and party structures — have so remade politics that even policies that should appeal to such voters cannot persuade them on merit alone. While in France, as elsewhere, the left and the far right are often viewed as vying for power over the political center, this narrative glosses over some critical distinctions. “The condition for winning is not at all the same for the extreme right and the left,” says Samuel Hayat, a political scientist specializing in the history of French political thought at the French National Center for Scientific Research. </p><p> </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Ongoing tensions over immigration and
asylum policies, a spate of lethal terrorist attacks and the explosive
emotions stoked by the Israel-Hamas war (France has both the largest
Jewish and the largest Muslim populations in Europe) create a climate
favorable to the far right on social issues. “Immigration is a topic
that is difficult for the left to address,” Lefebvre says, not only
because many of its constituents are themselves immigrants or the
descendants of immigrants but also because leftist ideology, which
embraces equality for all, is in many ways antithetical to the harsh
enforcement of border laws. This difficulty has been exacerbated by the “<i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">droitisation</i>”
of French media, or the ubiquity of extreme right figures. Marine Le
Pen “doesn’t even need to speak,” Lefebvre says. “The debate has become
so right-wing. The other forces do the job for her.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">If
the far right has succeeded in “being hegemonic in the way that the
media interprets certain questions, such as the question of Islam, the
question of immigration,” Hayat says, the left is in the unenviable
position of having to offer concrete proposals and persuade people it
can implement them. “They have to go and conquer every place, they have
to do politics,” he says. “They have to appear as a real force of
opposition that will truly change the lives of people if they arrive in
power.” </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Like many recently </b>birthed political movements,<b class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10"> </b>L.F.I.
has fashioned itself in and for the era of social media. While its
policy platform is largely out of the left-wing playbook, its tactics
are aimed at the attention economy. From its inception, L.F.I. has
excelled at the optics of protest — what Mélenchon’s opponents call “the
decibel left” — theatrical disruptions of power that attack the
establishment, especially the media and within Parliament. During the
anti-pension-reform marches last spring, its deputies became well known
for shouting down Macron’s ministers. In one notorious incident, an
L.F.I. representative plastered an effigy of the labor minister’s head
onto a soccer ball and posed for a photo with his foot on top of it. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">These
kinds of actions are not mere provocations. They are seen by L.F.I. as a
way to mobilize a new kind of grass-roots populism by engaging voters
who have long ceased to participate in politics. Like Chantal Mouffe, a
theorist of leftist populism and a friend of Mélenchon’s, Mélenchon
believes that voters have become demoralized by a technocratic
neoliberal consensus: the primacy of markets and social values that
favor individualism over the collective good. The expression of anger is
meant to make room for changing course, by solidifying support among
the working class and luring voters who might otherwise be tempted by
the far right. </p><p> </p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In France, as in
many Western democracies today, the working class is now in large part
nonwhite. The 10th Arrondissement of Paris, where the L.F.I. has its
headquarters in an old uniform distribution center, is a mix of
immigrant workers (and their descendants) and the bobos, as the French
refer to yuppies, who have gentrified the area — the very urban voters
who have become Mélenchon’s strongest bloc. His constituency also
comprises the academic and activist left, who dominate
social-media-driven messaging and give voice to this demographic
coupling. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Last summer, I found
Mélenchon in his office behind a sunny glassed-in antechamber staffed by
older millennials. Warm and extroverted, with a well-deserved
reputation as an intellectual, he relayed anecdotes and reflections in
an erudite yet idiomatic French that was a notch or two above my
nonnative proficiency. On his desk I saw a copy of “The Communist
Manifesto,” which I assumed that Mélenchon, a French sovereigntist with a
fierce anti-American streak, might have left out as a mild provocation.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mélenchon
was a member of the center-left French Socialist Party until 2008, when
he quit to form a separate party because he thought the Socialists had,
like their counterparts across Europe and the United States, fallen
under the thrall of neoliberalism. “We currently live in a country,
France, the seventh economy in the world, with nine million poor people,
six million who can’t feed their children,” Mélenchon told me. “This
was never France.” </p><div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mélenchon
has advocated the founding of a new republic that would change the
Constitution to shift power away from the president and toward the
people. He described himself to me as “a tribune of the people,” even as
he acknowledged that “the people” of the 21st century is not the same
as the people of the 20th century or the 19th century. He is nonetheless
clearly inspired by the rabble-rousing leftist politics of previous
eras. “The tribune was always someone whose body was engaged,” Mélenchon
said, as he twisted around in his seat and waved at a photo of Jean
Jaurès, one of the founders of the Socialist Party, a diminutive man in a
bowler hat, hanging by one hand from a flagpole, the other hand raised
toward a sea of people below him. “Conflictuality,” he said, referring
to his politics of disruption, “profoundly shocks the mores of the
ruling elite.” </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mélenchon never misses
an opportunity to apply his rhetorical gifts to challenging those in
power. It was to this end that they were deployed last summer when riots
exploded across the country after a police officer killed 17-year-old
Nahel Merzouk in the driver’s seat of his car. (Merzouk was shot during a
traffic stop.) As protesters across the Parisian suburbs, known as <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">banlieues</i>,
looted stores and set fire to cars, schools, town halls and other state
property, leading to thousands of arrests, Mélenchon took to Twitter to
call for justice. While leaders in the <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">banlieues</i>
praised him for acknowledging the lived experience of their
constituents, elsewhere the backlash was vicious. Critics from the
center and the right railed that, even as the country burned, Mélenchon
hadn’t called for calm. </p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The same defiant
impulse was on display this fall. After the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in
Israel, French politicians organized a march against antisemitism.
Nearly all major political figures in France, including Marine Le Pen,
attended. Mélenchon did not. (He later said this was because of the
presence of the far right.) Once Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip
began, Mélenchon joined marches calling for a cease-fire, from which he
posted pictures. Then he tweeted that the speaker of Parliament, Yaël
Braun-Pivet, who is Jewish and was in Israel on a fact-finding visit,
was “camping out” in Tel Aviv to “encourage a massacre.” The press,
including left-leaning outlets, jumped on Mélenchon’s remarks, calling
them antisemitic — one magazine decried them as “vile misjudgments” —
while newscasters on centrist or mainstream channels praised Le Pen’s
response, creating a media environment in which the left was portrayed
as potentially more dangerous to the country than the far right.
(Mélenchon later said his remarks were not antisemitic because what he
objected to was the unconditional nature of Braun-Pivet’s support for
Israel.) </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mélenchon’s critics,
including some of L.F.I.’s more mainstream coalition partners, cite such
tactics as the reason they think he has hit a ceiling with voters.
“There’s an L.F.I. discourse on social networks, saying, Oh, we don’t
care, we have to be honest and true, and the way to do it is to be the
same in the streets and in Parliament,”’ says Vincent Martigny, a
political scientist at the University of Nice, Côte d’Azur. “But we can
see that this strategy of L.F.I. to be very violent in Parliament at
this point doesn’t work at all. The middle class might be angry, but it
doesn’t want angry people to be at the Élysée Palace.” </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In
the past, unions and party organizations worked together to do both —
they mobilized their members to demonstrate and to vote for their
candidates. With unions in decline, and with many of the traditional
left party structures in France now nonexistent, radical actions, even
those that have strong participation across age groups and that enjoy
union support, don’t necessarily lead to greater voter turnout. As has
been repeatedly demonstrated by social movements over the last decade —
Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, the Yellow Vests in France and Gezi
Park in Turkey — impassioned social-media-driven engagement in the
streets does not necessarily translate into the kind of engagement
required to acquire and sustain power.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">An
electoral map of France from the 2022 presidential election shows that
the L.F.I. won in the immigrant suburbs of northeastern Paris and its
environs and did well in many pockets in the south of France and in
other major cities. The west of France, once a stronghold of the
Socialist Party, went to Macron. The south, which has long been
far-right territory, went to Marine Le Pen, as did large swaths of the
postindustrial northeast, a region that was once the breeding ground of
the French Communist Party. Amid the sea of National Rally victories in
northeast France, the left managed to win only a handful of districts.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Historically, the French</b>
left operated as a coalition of the French Socialist Party and the
P.C.F. Beginning in the 1930s and then again after World War II, that
coalition helped establish what many leftists think of when they think
of the social welfare state. The P.C.F., which played a paramount role
in the French resistance during World War II, operated effectively
through already well-established underground networks. It emerged from
World War II with a new legitimacy, especially in what had been occupied
northern and eastern France. That was also the country’s industrial
base; there, wartime destruction created ample opportunity to champion
the workers who would rebuild the nation.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As part of
coalition governments in the mid-1940s, the P.C.F. fought for and helped
put in place the social security system and the pension system — the
major pillars of the French welfare state. Though national leaders of
the P.C.F. continued to defend Stalin, and Stalinism, even into the
1970s, at the local level, P.C.F. chapters carried out the more
practical functions of organizing, representing and offering services to
workers. In short, the P.C.F. was part of a historically grounded
communal identity. “We built the social model, and we’re proud of that
history,” Fabien Roussel, the current head of the P.C.F., told me. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Roussel,
an energetic 54-year-old, took over the French Communist Party in 2018.
Over Bastille Day last July, I tailed him through St.-Amand-les-Eaux, a
quaint spa town named for its healing waters near the Belgian border,
in what was once French coal country, as he made his holiday rounds.
Roussel greeted constituents at a rock concert, joined a crowd gathered
to watch the fireworks, dropped in on a house party and finally, the
following morning, marched in a Bastille Day parade in the neighboring
town Fresnes-sur-Escaut. There, local officials had assembled in front
of an old union hall dedicated to the Martel brothers, “martyrs to the
resistance,” according to a plaque on the building: Henri, executed in
1942 at age 22, and Germinal, executed in 1943 at 21.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Today the climate
for the P.C.F. is very different than it was in the postwar years. In
the ’80s, the P.C.F. began to lose ground, as the industries that fueled
the economy (coal, metallurgy, textiles) moved out; the idea of
communism, always tainted by its association with the excesses of the
Soviet Union, became increasingly untouchable. As industrial jobs
vanished and workers ceased to be represented by unions, they became
unmoored from the party structures that once granted them political
representation and power — not just the formal ones, like unions, but
the social clubs and community leisure activities organized by workers
who spent their days together. People ceased to think of themselves as
part of a “proletariat,” and the idea of collective organizing began to
fade. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">At the same time, many workers began to experience what is known as <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">déclassement</i>:
a halt, or reversal, of improvements to the standard of living. The
economic consequences bred social ones. With less to do, people spent
more time inside their homes watching TV, where right-wing pundits and
ideologues thrived. Soon political protest against the status quo began
to shift from an embrace of the far left into support for Jean-Marie Le
Pen (Marine’s father) and his National Front. By the 1990s, the National
Front was using the language of protectionism to pander to discontented
workers.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As a result,
voters became increasingly unpredictable. “When you had mass political
parties, you could have stability in their vote, because the party was
an organization that defined important parts of your life,” Hayat, the
political scientist, says, “and not just what you voted for every five
years.” Now that politics “has been reduced to what ballot you put in
the ballot box, well, of course, people can sometimes vote for the left,
sometimes not,” he says. Even those who broadly identify with the left
do not join parties, Hayat says. This is largely because political
identities are now formed and expressed on social media, outside party
structures. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">This organizational
conundrum does not fall on all parties equally. “If you want to create
stability in the voting, you need organizations,” Hayat says. That is, a
structured, consistent and beneficial presence in communities. In
France, the left no longer has this kind of presence. The same is true
of Italy, which once had one of the strongest Communist Parties in
Europe and which now has a far-right government. And it is also true in
the United States, where, until the 1970s and ’80s, New Deal politics
kept white working-class voters close to the Democratic Party. In the
absence of such structures, Hayat continues, you “need to be the only
party that appeals to a certain emotion that is very strong in the
electorate, for example, fear.” That, of course, is the strength of the
far right.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“They take my exact words,”
Roussel said of Marine Le Pen’s party. “Without paying for rights,
naturally.” But behind it all, Roussel said, their platform is still
neoliberal. “The far-right may talk about raising salaries, but they
would also get rid of the employer contributions that help fund the
social security system,” he said. “I often say to the workers that I
meet: Be wary of the National Rally. It’s like a candy that is very
sweet when you put it in your mouth. But when you bite into it, it’s
very bitter. And it can make you sick.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
unemployment rate in St.-Amand now stands, by some calculations, at
23.5 percent. When Roussel took over the P.C.F. five years ago, the
party had just won about 1 percent of the vote in the second round of
parliamentary elections. He managed to double that figure during the
presidential elections in 2022 — to 2.3 percent in the first round. Some
53 percent of those who turned out to vote in St.-Amand voted for Le
Pen in the second round of the presidential elections. But they also
voted for Roussel against his far-right opponent in the parliamentary
elections; Roussel won his seat by nine points. This may be a testament
less to the particulars of his policies than to his multigenerational
roots in the region — his father was a journalist for a P.C.F.
publication — and to his persona and his presence in the community.
“Marine Le Pen is against Macron, and I’m against Macron,” Roussel told
me. “In the national elections, people are fed up with both left and
right, it’s always the same thing, so they vote far right. In local
elections, they vote for people they know, whom they like and who treat
them well.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">As the traditional </b>party
system in France has broken down, and as political figures skirt it to
succeed, “there is a cannibalization of politics by personality,” says
Martigny, the University of Nice professor. In that sense, the left has
mirrored the populist style of the far right, in which personality
trumps the traditional party machine. </p><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Many
French leftists dislike Roussel precisely for this reason, arguing that
his politics are more a matter of making friends than of fighting for
left-wing ideas. Even when it comes to Mélenchon, it is difficult to
determine how many people voted for him because they believe in his
politics and how many voted in favor of a big personality, with enough
charisma and fame to beat out the others in a multicandidate election —
what the French call the “<i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">vote utile</i>.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Some
politicians on the left have taken this to mean that they should each
cultivate their own followings, campaign for the presidency in the next
elections, then rally their followers behind whoever makes it to the
runoff, in the hope that, at that point, there will be enough votes to
form a leftist majority. Vitriolic debates that revolve around questions
of what in France is known as <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">le wokisme</i> have become fertile ground for such self-positioning.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As
a matter of policy, there is little disagreement within the French left
about the importance of feminism, antiracism and other matters of
social justice. Even Roussel, who more than anyone on the left might be
said to represent the kind of cultural conservatism inherent in the old
“white working-class guy” style of politics, largely subscribes to these
principles. When I visited him at his office at the Assemblée Nationale
in Paris, I spotted a poster on his wall that enumerated in Ch’ti, the
regional language of northern France, the historic “Droits de l’Homme,”
the Rights of Man, the document adopted during the French Revolution
that was foundational to democracy. Below it was a poster that
enumerated, also in Ch’ti, the Rights of Woman.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">What
disagreement there is centers on the public messaging around such
issues. Roussel has become one of the most popular figures in French
politics, in part because of his sometimes unwitting adventures in the
culture wars. His main sparring partner is Sandrine Rousseau, an
economist and a Green Party member of Parliament who was a leader of the
French #MeToo movement. In 2022, Roussel tweeted that he wished every
French citizen could enjoy “a good steak, a good wine, a good piece of
cheese — that’s <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">la gastronomie française</i>!”
In response, Rousseau tweeted a link to an article noting that, in
fact, couscous, a North African dish, was most popular among the French.
This exchange kicked off a debate as to whether it was still
permissible to define French cuisine as wine and cheese. To the delight
of many, Roussel insisted that it was.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv">Rousseau, a petite 52-year-old woman with a gray pixie cut, represents a
southern district of Paris, which includes most of the bobo 13th
Arrondissement. Visitors to her office at the Assemblée Nationale are
greeted by a poster that reads: “Replace Capitalism With a Good Nap!”
Her policies often carry a whiff of the ridiculous but are typically
based on solid research and are highly effective on social media. She
has a knack for combining ecological policies with feminist ones. Last
year, in response to the heat waves and fires France endured, she
started a campaign to reduce meat consumption, which contributes to
climate change. She said that to get men, who consume more meat than
women, to eat less of it, we must “de-virilize” barbecuing. This idea
generated a lively round of “<i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">le buzz</i>.” </aside><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"> </aside><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Rousseau insisted
that, in addition to the attention the barbecue controversy brought, it
was part of a messaging strategy to stem the growth of the far right.
“Right now, they control the terms of debate,” she said. “That’s why
it’s important that we impose our own themes. We have to counter that.
It’s not easy.” </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">According to Lefebvre, the political scientist at the University of Lille, the <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">wokisme</i>
debates don’t really speak to most French. “What interests them are
questions about work, economics,” he says. In recent years, France has
been hit by such a severe housing crisis that a rising number of
university students have begun living at campsites. The number of
homeless people in France has doubled in the last decade. “Middle- and
working-class left-wing voters, they want to pay their taxes, they’re
thinking about how to pay their bills, they want to educate, raise their
children,” Martigny says. “Of course, if their child is gay that’s
fine, and they’re worried about climate change, and they think fighting
racism is important. But in reality, their daily life is about
socioeconomic issues.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When I was with
Roussel in St.-Amand, we stopped at a butcher shop to buy provisions
for a holiday dinner he was hosting. As we waited for the cashier, I
asked Roussel whether he was interested in de-masculinizing meat. He
seemed unamused. He nodded at the butcher behind the counter and said,
“He won’t even understand the question.” </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Even as debates </b>about
social issues create fissures in the leftist coalition, the populist
theatrics at which it excels have never been its sole province. They can
be — and often have been — co-opted by the right. This winter there
were weeks of protests by farmers, who drove their tractors into Paris
and blocked roadways to signal anger at low incomes, unfair trade deals
and regulatory burdens. Although the left largely sides with the farmers
— during the 2017 election, Mélenchon advocated that France consider
leaving the E.U. — so does the far right. And because rural areas are
its base, the National Rally quickly made a show of supporting the
strikers.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The left’s
politics of outrage can further erode public support and confidence in
its ability to govern. The Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel brought
perhaps the most direct challenge to L.F.I. After Mélenchon’s remarks
about Yaël Braun-Pivet’s “camping out” in Tel Aviv to “encourage the
massacre,” the left coalition seemed to reach a breaking point. The
Socialist Party voted to withdraw from it. Even a prominent member of
L.F.I. said publicly that it was time for the group to move beyond
Mélenchon’s scorched-earth politics.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Some
have put their hopes in François Ruffin, a popular and respected
muckraking journalist and member of Parliament. A more polished if less
intellectual supporter of Mélenchon’s, Ruffin became known in France as a
leader of Nuit Debout — or Night, Standing Up — an Occupy Wall
Street-style movement. In 2017, his film “Thanks, Boss!” an exposé in
the vein of Michael Moore about the outsourcing of jobs in his region of
northern France by LVMH, won him a César Award (sometimes known as the
French Oscar). That same year, he was elected to Parliament, joining
L.F.I.’s parliamentary group. Ruffin happily participates in some of the
disruptive antics of L.F.I., but he is also a native of the northern
French industrial belt and has an intuitive feel for the cultural
conservatism of his voters, at times playing down the salience of, for
example, gender issues. Last summer he expressed skepticism about a
Spanish law enshrining the right to change gender identity and was
attacked for it by leftist activists; he subsequently apologized.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">There
has been some chatter that Ruffin, who represents a portion of Picardy,
a region near Roussel’s district, will take over from Mélenchon and run
for president in 2027. For Ruffin, the discords within the left are not
impediments to electoral success. “The history of the labor movement is
a history of overcoming contradictions,” Ruffin told me. It is about
winning fair wages, maternity leave, paid vacation and pensions but also
about standing for the dignity and importance of work. He believes that
bringing together the lower and middle classes — “the France that
works” — will be key to re-establishing the left as a party with mass
popular support. Though the left performs well among the highest and the
lowest income levels in the country, Ruffin says, everywhere in between
“Marine Le Pen is completely dominating us.” </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Over the spring, Ruffin supported the mostly female employees who were
on strike at a fulfillment center of Vertbaudet, the children’s clothing
company. After two months, the company reached an agreement on a new
contract for the strikers and two other unions. He also attended a forum
on the challenges of organizing in modern warehouses and other growing
industries, like home health care, in which workers are poorly
compensated, even though they provide crucial services. “How can the
left be identified as the party of postindustrial workers?” Ruffin said.
“We need to name them, talk about their lives.”</p><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When
it comes to divisive social issues like the Israel-Hamas war, Ruffin
often assumes the line that French leaders have always taken — the
tradition of Charles de Gaulle and François Mitterrand, straddling
parties and politics, appealing to the sense of grandeur that is broadly
shared in France. The French tradition was to “express ourselves
independently, without aligning ourselves,” Ruffin told Le Monde in
October, referring to the war in Gaza. He pointed out that France is the
only nuclear power in the E.U. and the only E.U. power with a permanent
seat on the United Nations Security Council. In following the lead of
the United States, he argued, France was doing the world — and the
Israelis and Palestinians — a disservice. “Our leverage is the word that
is listened to, that carries, that drives. When France decides to speak
out loud and clear, its voice is heard. But it has chosen to be mute.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In
the same way, building a winning majority in France, Ruffin told me,
has always required speaking to its sense of grandeur. For the left,
that may mean invoking one of its defining contributions to the
invention of democracy: the <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">sans-culottes</i>,
who gave us the notion of “the people.” “It’s the educated petite
bourgeoisie who represent the Third Estate in the Assemblée Nationale,”
Ruffin said, “but it’s the people of Paris who take the Bastille. It’s
all of that together that makes the French Revolution.”</p><hr class="css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0" /><p class="css-e0b2u4 etfikam0"><b class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Elisabeth Zerofsky</b>
is a contributing writer for the magazine who has reported across
Europe and the United States. Her last feature was on Poland’s response
to the war in Ukraine. <b class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Antoine d’Agata</b> is a French photographer, film director and member of Magnum Photos. His most recent book of photography is “Psychodémie.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"></p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div class="css-acwcvw"><b class="css-1vg6q84">A correction was made on</b> <div class="css-1s5la7a e16638kd1">March 8, 2024</div>: <p class="css-o5w3xl evys1bk0">An
earlier version of this article referred imprecisely in one instance to
La France Insoumise (L.F.I.), or “France Unbowed.” It leads the largest
opposition bloc in France’s Parliament; it is not the only group in the
opposition bloc.</p></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div></div></aside></div></div></div></div></div></div>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-23526125019012667782024-03-01T20:27:00.000-05:002024-03-01T20:27:01.474-05:00 How the Hospital Lobby Pummeling Hochul’s Budget Brought in a Billion Dollars <p> </p><div class="
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How the Hospital Lobby Pummeling Hochul’s Budget Brought in a Billion Dollars
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<p>While the nonprofit Greater New York Hospital Association
lobbied, a lucrative for-profit arm may have run up costs for hospitals.</p>
</h2>
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<a class="yellow-underline" href="https://nysfocus.com/author/chris-bragg">Chris Bragg</a> · February 29, 2024
</div>
</div><p> https://nysfocus.com/2024/02/29/medicaid-greater-new-york-hospital-association-hochul</p><div class="w-full relative pt-6 md:pt-24 pb-8">
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<p dir="ltr"><span class="inlinehead">Two-thirds of New York</span>
hospitals and health systems are losing money. To Kenneth Raske,
president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, one clear reason
is that while drug, supply, and labor costs have climbed, the state
government’s hospital spending has not kept pace. </p>
<p dir="ltr">In Raske’s view, Albany should — and can afford to — spend billions more. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“You’re sitting on a mountain of cash,” Raske told members of the state legislature during a January budget hearing.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Raske didn’t mention that his organization is sitting on
its own. Over the past decade, the for-profit medical and drug supply
business that has run up hospitals’ bills has also brought immense
earnings to Greater New York — supercharging what is arguably Albany’s
most influential lobbying group.<br /></p> </div>
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<img alt="Former state budget director Robert Mujica sits at a table with a name card wearing a suit." height="195" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/QTNrLMxUpABVWK4Kr_mauO0P_IoQu368KenwQuER-N0/w:820/h:500/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9tdWppY2EuanBn.jpg" width="320" />
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<div class="">
<div class="font-serif font-bold text-xl md:text-2xl leading-tight text-black py-2 headline"><a class="yellow-underline-hover" href="https://nysfocus.com/2024/02/29/robert-mujica-budget-medicaid-cuomo-hochul">Robert Mujica, Former Budget Chief, Advises Hospital Lobby on Budget</a>
</div>
<div class="text-xs md:text-sm font-caps py-2">
<a class="yellow-underline-hover" href="https://nysfocus.com/author/chris-bragg">Chris Bragg</a> </div>
</div>
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</div>
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<p dir="ltr">As a nonprofit, Greater New York lobbies on
behalf of 280 hospitals, health systems, and continuing care facilities
in New York and three nearby states. Its demands for more hospital
funding have been highly effective. New York <a href="https://www.cms.gov/data-research/statistics-trends-and-reports/national-health-expenditure-data/nhe-fact-sheet" target="_blank">has spent</a> more per resident on health care than any state in the country, which spends <a href="https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/" target="_blank">more</a> than any high-income country on earth.
</p>
<p dir="ltr">At the same time, from its office in Midtown Manhattan, the
organization has operated up to eight for-profit companies. Aided by
the nonprofit’s lobbying prowess, the state’s record-setting hospital
spending helped the for-profit businesses to grow valuable. That value,
in turn, has bolstered the nonprofit’s lobbying prowess.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131552496/202303149349303100/full" target="_blank">tax</a>
records, Greater New York officers are permitted to fly first class on
commercial airplanes and, on occasion, use private jets. Two officers
have a chauffeured vehicle at their disposal. In 2016, Raske made $12.3
million from the association’s for-profit arm.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In the past decade, the for-profit arm has sold off many of its businesses, bringing in over $1 billion by the <a href="https://americantheatrewing.org/trustees/lee-h-perlman/" target="_blank">estimate</a> of its decades-long leader, Lee Perlman. In 2016, he made $12.8 million — just a bit more than Raske.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The most lucrative of Greater New York’s for-profit
businesses have been middleman companies that negotiate between
hospitals and the vendors that supply them. When state spending on
hospitals has gone up, a chunk has gone back to Greater New York. The
money is used to “convince the world, and to convince the legislature,
that they don’t have enough money,” said Bill Hammond, senior fellow for
health policy at the fiscally conservative Empire Center for Public
Policy.</p> </div>
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<p dir="ltr">According to Raske, 75 hospitals are currently in such dire fiscal condition as to be on a “financial respirator.”<br /></p>
</div>
</div>
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<p dir="ltr">According to OpenSecrets, between 2015 and 2023, the association spent <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/federal-and-state?cycle=ALL&jurisdiction=NY" target="_blank">vastly more</a> on lobbying than any other organization in New York, and it has doled out tens of millions in campaign donations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Emails obtained by New York Focus through a public records request offer a glimpse into the organization’s influence.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Last year, for instance, Greater New York lobbyist David
Rich proposed a state budget measure to Governor Kathy Hochul’s office,
sending several pages of draft legislative language.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The proposal, “Pay and Resolve,” would have required health
insurers to pay a hospital’s claims before determining their medical
necessity. A version of the measure appeared in Hochul’s budget
proposal, with some passages that were highly similar or identical to
Greater New York’s draft. (The legislature declined to include the
measure in last year’s budget.)</p>
<p dir="ltr">With this year’s budget now in the works, Greater New York
is again seeking to influence the governor. Hochul has argued that with
Medicaid spending having climbed 40 percent over three years, she wants
to cut costs and save the state $1 billion. Raske contends that,
instead, the state could tap $23 billion in reserves to spend more.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Greater New York’s reserves, meanwhile, are at historic
highs. Between 2013 and 2020, the sale of for-profit assets caused the
lobbying arm’s bottom line to explode.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2012, the group’s main nonprofit branch held $243,000 in
net assets. A decade later, that had jumped to $211 million — an 86,000
percent increase.<br /></p> </div>
<div class=" hidden md:block relative z-50 px-4 md:px-10 w-full py-4 md:py-8 px-4 ">
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<p dir="ltr">“When they ask for money, it doesn’t feel like
they’re being greedy. It feels like they are speaking on behalf of the
sick and the downtrodden,” Hammond said. “And that’s a very powerful
combination: to be ostensibly representing the poor and disenfranchised
and, at the same time, having just boatloads of money to distribute your
message.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">In late January, Raske testified in Albany that the state’s
Medicaid program pays hospitals 30 percent less than the cost of care,
and it would cost $2.7 billion to close the gap this year. His four-year
plan would “eliminate the disparities in health care” outcomes in
communities of color served by “safety net” hospitals that
disproportionately serve Medicaid patients. According to Raske, 75
hospitals are currently in such dire fiscal condition that they are on a
“financial respirator.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Hochul’s budget proposal “stinks,” Raske said. His plan,
meanwhile, is like “going to the moon in a spacecraft.” And if Greater
New York’s track record is any indication, his multibillion-dollar
moonshot could land.</p> </div>
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<p dir="ltr"><span class="inlinehead">The medical middleman</span>
business began humbly. In 1910, several New York hospitals banded
together to create the nation’s first known group purchasing
organization, or <span class="caps">GPO</span>. As intermediaries, GPOs
identified products and negotiated contracts with vendors on behalf of
their members, leveraging the hospitals’ collective buying power to
bring costs down. Their expenses were covered by the money hospitals
saved. <br /></p>
<p dir="ltr">Greater New York started a group purchasing company in 1978
under this now-dated business model. It was upended within a decade, to
the association’s advantage.</p> </div>
<div class="pb-8 ">
<div class="relative z-50 flex flex-col md:flex-row pt-6 float-right px-4 md:px-10 md:w-3/5 md:pt-10 pb-12 ">
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<img alt="A man dressed as Santa Claus addresses a child standing on a bed in a sepia photograph of an old hospital" class="w-auto md:w-full pb-3" height="222" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/5hGOF-OlAZ1VdHaemUtUKCsW7hPElUPNB-4qi2Zp3-U/w:820/h:570/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9OZXdfWW9ya19OdXJzZXJ5X2FuZF9DaGlsZHNfSG9zcGl0YWxfQW5udWFsX1JlcG9ydF8xOTEwLmpwZWc.jpeg" width="320" />
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<div class="pt-2 md:pt-0 font-sans text-sm lg:text-base ">Dated c. 1910, Santa Claus visits the children's ward at New York Nursery and Child's Hospital.
<span class="opacity-50"> | New York Nursery and Child's Hospital</span> </div>
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<p>Lobbyists convinced Congress that hospitals would save
more if middlemen were paid through administrative fees charged to the
vendors, rather than hospital savings. A 1987 federal law shifted the
incentives: When hospitals paid more, middlemen now made more. This
would normally be prohibited by federal anti-kickback laws, but Congress
exempted GPOs from criminal prosecution.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For most of the country’s hospitals, GPOs evolved into
buyers of a wide range of goods — from bandages and needles to
pharmaceuticals and pacemakers — and began facing questions about
whether they’d secured the best products or prices. Critics <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Group-Purchasing-Organizations-Undisclosed-Healthcare/dp/0230607675" target="_blank">called</a>
the new model an oligopoly: a few corporate behemoths serving as
gatekeepers to the nation’s medical market, determining what hospitals
could buy, and, at times, holding financial interests in the vendors to
whom they awarded contracts. This warped supply and demand, they argued,
crowding out smaller companies’ innovative devices and creating
crisis-level prescription shortages.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Among the most powerful group purchasing organizations was Premier Inc., which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/a-region-s-hospital-supplies-costly-ties.html" target="_blank">took over </a>most of Greater New York’s buying service for hospitals in 1996. Premier’s contracts <a href="https://nebula.wsimg.com/61ab44ec522ad21bd280d746294f8a2d?AccessKeyId=62BC662C928C06F7384C&disposition=0&alloworigin=1" target="_blank">prohibited</a>
hospitals from retaining vendors outside Premier’s stable; as a result,
sales surged for vendors with exclusive deals to sell to Premier.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A 2002 New York Times <a href="https://professional.masimo.com/company/news/media-room/nyt-series/" target="_blank">series</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/04/business/medicine-s-middlemen-questions-raised-of-conflicts-at-2-hospital-buying-groups.html" target="_blank">detailed</a>
how Premier and the other national buying group, Novation, allowed
favored vendors to crowd out smaller competitors. There were alleged
kickbacks and conflicts of interest, and while Greater New York’s member
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/a-region-s-hospital-supplies-costly-ties.html" target="_blank">hospitals spent</a>
$1.5 billion buying goods through Premier in 2001, hospital executives
told the Times they’d found cheaper products elsewhere. In a 1997 study,
Greater New York itself had found that Premier’s prices were not always
the best.</p>
<p dir="ltr">While Greater New York promoted Premier, the purchasing
organization paid the hospital association $11.9 million in commissions
in 2001. Premier <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/08/business/a-region-s-hospital-supplies-costly-ties.html" target="_blank">also invested</a>
in the association’s for-profit internet company — for which Greater
New York executives could buy stock options — and lent marketing muscle
to another Greater New York for-profit in exchange for a stake.</p> </div>
<div class="sidenote px-4 sm:px-8 sm:float-right md:mr-0 md:ml-8 mt-4 mb-10 lg:mr-8 xl:mr-32 w-full md:w-1/2 md:max-w-sm">
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<div class="lockup pr-8 md:pr-0 md:pl-8 pt-0 md:pb-6 ">
<div class="image">
<a href="https://nysfocus.com/2023/10/27/medical-debt-lawsuit-albany-health">
<picture class="w-full h-full">
<source type="image/webp"></source>
<source type="image/avif"></source>
<img alt="Exterior of a hospital with cars and motorcycles parked in front" height="195" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/CKFchHAg_GWjzp3Ea9r9E_u8yX2MkczFG2cxms7d7hw/w:820/h:500/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9HbGVuc19GYWxsc19Ib3NwaXRhbC5qcGc.jpg" width="320" />
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</a>
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="font-serif font-bold text-xl md:text-2xl leading-tight text-black py-2 headline"><a class="yellow-underline-hover" href="https://nysfocus.com/2023/10/27/medical-debt-lawsuit-albany-health">Despite State Measures, New Yorkers Fear Health Care Over Medical Debt Lawsuits</a>
</div>
<div class="text-xs md:text-sm font-caps py-2">
<a class="yellow-underline-hover" href="https://nysfocus.com/author/churchill-ndonwie">Churchill Ndonwie</a> </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class=" typography [&_blockquote]:border-l-[10px] [&_blockquote]:mt-8 [&_blockquote]:pl-8 [&_footer]:font-sans [&_footer]:text-base [&_blockquote]:-ml-[40px] [&_blockquote]:border-yellow font-serif px-6 md:px-10 break-words md:break-normal leading-normal md:leading-normal max-w-3xl print:text-base text-lg sm:text-xl md:text-[23px] ">
<p dir="ltr">Perlman told the Times that the association’s
ties to Premier did not affect his judgment. “There is no question in my
mind that tens of millions of dollars have been saved,” he said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Amid increased scrutiny, <a href="https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20040322/NEWS/403220323/i-do-again" target="_blank">Premier agreed</a>
in 2004 to allow Greater New York to revitalize its own regional group
purchasing arm and pocket administrative fees up to the legal limit of 3
percent of members’ purchases.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Beginning in 2002, the U.S. Senate’s antitrust subcommittee
held a series of hearings examining GPOs. By 2006, the organizations
had adopted an industry code and created a voluntary system of
self-regulation. Since then, purchasing organizations have submitted
annual, publicly available <a href="https://hgpii.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2018-HGPII-PAQ-Acurity.pdf" target="_blank">questionnaire responses</a>
to an industry association that Greater New York helped found. In those
responses, the groups attest that they’ve avoided conflicts of interest
and curbed exclusionary contracting practices.</p>
<p dir="ltr">An 2009 industry-funded <a href="https://www.supplychainassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/schneller.pdf" target="_blank">study</a>,
which found group purchasing saved the U.S. health care industry $38
billion annually, is difficult to verify, because there’s a lack of
public data about <span class="caps">GPO</span> pricing. And academic research, based on the rare data that has emerged, has concluded the opposite.<br /></p> </div>
<div class=" typography [&_blockquote]:border-l-[10px] [&_blockquote]:mt-8 [&_blockquote]:pl-8 [&_footer]:font-sans [&_footer]:text-base [&_blockquote]:-ml-[40px] [&_blockquote]:border-yellow font-serif px-6 md:px-10 break-words md:break-normal leading-normal md:leading-normal max-w-3xl print:text-base text-lg sm:text-xl md:text-[23px] ">
<p dir="ltr"><span>A 2010 study published in the Harvard
Business Review and funded by the Medical Device Manufacturers
Association, which has long argued to reform GPOs, </span><a href="https://hbr.org/2010/10/broken-compensation-structures" target="_blank">concluded</a><span>
that the organizations were inflating health care costs up to $37.5
billion annually — including inflating taxpayer-funded Medicare and
Medicaid costs by up to $17.3 billion. The co-authors called the
conclusions “inconsistent with the notion that GPOs are securing
competitive prices for their member hospitals.”</span><br /></p>
<p dir="ltr">Robert Litan, one of the authors, is a former associate
director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and is currently a
fellow at the Brookings Institution.</p>
<p dir="ltr">He told New York Focus that although it had been over a
decade since he conducted his research, he has not seen any “evidence
that things have changed — namely, no convincing evidence of which I am
aware that <span class="caps">GPO</span> save hospitals money.”</p> </div>
<div class="pb-8 ">
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<source type="image/webp"></source>
<source type="image/avif"></source>
<img class="w-auto md:w-full pb-3" height="123" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/Bzggs6gdA1O0HxjjU3NVQDibvaRRWnIyn5IDcL35KTA/w:820/h:123/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9zdGV0aG9zY29wZWRpdmlkZXIucG5n.png" width="820" />
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</div>
</div>
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</div>
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<p dir="ltr"><span class="inlinehead">The Times series</span>
drove public outrage and spurred interest from Congress, but the
industry’s self-policing initiative helped keep the government from
taking action. During the more than two decades since, GPOs have
operated largely unchecked.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2013, Premier decided to go public and sell stock in its
company. Ahead of the public offering, Greater New York and Premier
revamped their agreement once more, making Greater New York a
significant shareholder in the company. </p>
<p dir="ltr">To Phillip Zweig, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who
became an advocate for reforming group purchasing, the stock ownership
posed a new conflict of interest for Greater New York.<br /></p> </div>
<div class="pullquote print:hidden z-60 pt-8 relative px-4 md:px-10 float-right w-full md:w-3/5 md:px-10 pt-4 pb-12 md:pl-20 ">
<div class="font-headline text-25xl md:text-3xl lg:text-4xl leading-snug md:leading-snug lg:leading-tight py-6">
<p>Senator Chuck Schumer called criticism of GPOs “ridiculous”
in 2006. Greater New York has donated over $23 million to the Senate
Majority PAC.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class=" typography [&_blockquote]:border-l-[10px] [&_blockquote]:mt-8 [&_blockquote]:pl-8 [&_footer]:font-sans [&_footer]:text-base [&_blockquote]:-ml-[40px] [&_blockquote]:border-yellow font-serif px-6 md:px-10 break-words md:break-normal leading-normal md:leading-normal max-w-3xl print:text-base text-lg sm:text-xl md:text-[23px] ">
<p dir="ltr">“As a public company — whose goal is to
increase shareholder value — they can do that and in a limited number of
ways,” Zweig said of Premier. “One is by increasing price” of medical
products sold to hospitals, he said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Under the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1577916/000104746913009072/a2216569zs-1a.htm" target="_blank">agreement</a>,
when Greater New York member hospitals purchased supplies through
Premier, Greater New York would receive 30 percent of the gross
administrative fee, according to a filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. When the hospital association’s own purchasing
organization received fees from members, 70 percent went to Premier.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In a later earnings call with investors, Premier Chief
Administrative Officer Craig McKasson explained that, with minor
exceptions, the two companies “actually shared fees on all of their
contracts,” so “there was aligned incentives.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">By 2014, Greater New York owned about 12 percent of
Premier, making it the company’s largest owner. Over seven years,
Greater New York had the option to <a href="https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20141115/NEWS/311149946/hospitals-cash-in-premier-shares" target="_blank">sell off</a> a seventh of its stock in Premier annually, and it began to do so — earning a combined $105 million in sales in 2014 and 2015.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The association’s path to $1 billion culminated with the sale of four for-profit arms. Premier <a href="https://investors.premierinc.com/news/press-release-details/2016/Premier-Inc-Expands-GPO-Position-in-Continuum-of-Care-Market-with-Agreement-to-Acquire-Innovatix-LLC-and-Essensa-Ventures-LLC/default.aspx" target="_blank">bought</a> two purchasing organizations from Greater New York for $325 million in 2016, then <a href="https://investors.premierinc.com/news/press-release-details/2020/Premier-Inc-to-Acquire-Acurity-and-Nexera-Businesses-from-the-Greater-New-York-Hospital-Association/default.aspx" target="_blank">another</a>
purchasing organization and a consulting firm for $291.5 million in
2020. The deal got Greater New York out of the group purchasing business
while expanding Premier’s massive portfolio.<br /></p> </div>
<div class="sidenote px-4 sm:px-8 sm:float-right md:mr-0 md:ml-8 mt-4 mb-10 lg:mr-8 xl:mr-32 w-full md:w-1/2 md:max-w-sm">
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<div class="image">
<a href="https://nysfocus.com/2024/02/26/medicare-advantage-uft-retiree-advocate">
<picture class="w-full h-full">
<source type="image/webp"></source>
<source type="image/avif"></source>
<img alt="People gather outside a stone arch with sign that says "Hospital & Emergency Room" displaying letters A, C, D, F, G, H, and an emergency cross." height="195" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/jklj_TjK9tbgUFzCpnRPeivHbMr9mDJq2ed-igGyja4/w:820/h:500/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9CZWxsZXZ1ZV9Ib3NwaXRhbF9lbnRyYW5jZV9hcmNoLWNyb3AxLmpwZw.jpg" width="320" />
</picture>
</a>
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="font-serif font-bold text-xl md:text-2xl leading-tight text-black py-2 headline"><a class="yellow-underline-hover" href="https://nysfocus.com/2024/02/26/medicare-advantage-uft-retiree-advocate">Retired Teachers Seek Union Shakeup to Dodge Medicare Advantage</a>
</div>
<div class="text-xs md:text-sm font-caps py-2">
<a class="yellow-underline-hover" href="https://nysfocus.com/author/sam-mellins">Sam Mellins</a> </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<p dir="ltr">While purchasing organizations were originally
intended to send savings back into hospitals, a chunk of the $1 billion
made from the Premier transactions has gone into Greater New York
itself, its efforts to gain more taxpayer funding, and its executives.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Raske’s and Perlman’s compensations started to soar in
2013, thanks to equity payments that coincided with Premier’s public
offering. Between 2013 and 2022, the equity payments, combined with
salaries and bonuses, brought Raske a total of at least $60 million and
Perlman at least $54 million, according to tax filings.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to a 2019 state financial disclosure form, that
year Perlman owned two homes, one apartment, and one condo worth a total
of between $12 million and $13 million, in addition to an investment
portfolio worth a minimum of $16.9 million. (He has since reported no
longer owning the two homes.) Raske is a longtime resident of
Westchester County, but in 2020, his wife purchased an additional $1.8
million home in Montauk, according to property records.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In response to detailed questions about Greater New York’s
business history, hospital association spokesperson Brian Conway offered
a brief statement to New York Focus.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Serving our members has always been <span class="caps">GNYHA</span>’s ultimate mission,” Conway said. “The time was right to further secure <span class="caps">GNYHA</span>’s
long-term financial stability by monetizing valuable assets. Most
important, the transaction greatly strengthened our core mission —
member advocacy — for years to come.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Conway did not answer questions about how much of Greater
New York’s excess revenue had gone to directly defraying hospital costs,
nor whether hospitals had saved money by having Greater New York as
their group purchasing agent.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Since taking over Greater New York’s regional group purchasing empire, Premier has <a href="https://premierinc.com/downloads/Disclosure-of-Corporate-Equity-Interests.pdf" target="_blank">disclosed</a>
that it holds an ownership interest in six vendors that seek to offer
products through the middleman. Records show that as of January, <a href="https://premierinc.com/downloads/Participating-Vendor-List.pdf" target="_blank">five</a>
of them did have Premier contracts, ranging from a pharmaceutical
company to a manufacturer of personal protective equipment. Those
companies for the most part are required to bid competitively, the
disclosure states.</p> </div>
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<img alt="From left: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Governor Kathy Hochul at the July 2023 I-81 groundbreaking in Syracuse." class="w-auto md:w-full pb-3" height="213" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/-4ePOPw5bOddM88vI_-g6pBv2fxqxtp8WTtEM7CrE7g/w:820/h:546/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9naWxsaWJyYW5kLXNjaHVtZXItaG9jaHVsLmpwZw.jpg" width="320" />
</picture>
<div class="pt-2 md:pt-0 font-sans text-sm lg:text-base px-6 md:px-8 ">From
left: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Governor
Kathy Hochul at the July 2023 I-81 groundbreaking in Syracuse.
<span class="opacity-50"> | Office of Governor Kathy Hochul</span> </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<p dir="ltr"><span class="inlinehead">As the sales</span>
deepened its coffers, Greater New York significantly increased its
campaign donations through its for-profit arms. While federal and state
laws restrict corporate donations to candidates’ campaigns, the
association has found other ways to influence elections. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Between 1995 and 2015, the group donated $669,000 to all
efforts related to federal elections. Since 2016, it has donated $31.8
million, according to records maintained by the Federal Election
Commission.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Since New York Senator Chuck Schumer became the <span class="caps">US</span> Senate Democratic leader in 2016, Greater New York has donated more than $23 million to the Senate Majority <span class="caps">PAC</span>, which is the main supplier of outside funding for Democrats in Senate races — and, as a super <span class="caps">PAC</span>, can take unlimited sums from corporations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A longtime ally of Greater New York, Schumer called the
criticism of group purchasing organizations “ridiculous” in a 2006
antitrust hearing. In 2009, Perlman collected and bundled $131,700 for
Schumer’s campaign fund, according to <a href="https://nebula.wsimg.com/0facd777dd4ec67cc9556c905f0e2045?AccessKeyId=62BC662C928C06F7384C&disposition=0&alloworigin=1" target="_blank">Newsday.</a>
When GPOs came under scrutiny again in 2011 — this time for their
potential role in creating shortages of life-saving prescription drugs —
Premier released a <a href="https://nebula.wsimg.com/d3a344fdd23eb3bb66bb8aa740c5e417?AccessKeyId=62BC662C928C06F7384C&disposition=0&alloworigin=1" target="_blank">study</a>
concluding that “gray market” resellers were to blame. Two months
later, Schumer called for a Federal Trade Commission investigation, <a href="https://nebula.wsimg.com/be37aa794a177b9bb2f22cffc28fa2f1?AccessKeyId=62BC662C928C06F7384C&disposition=0&alloworigin=1" target="_blank">citing</a> the Premier report.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Schumer, now the Senate majority leader, did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Greater New York spent $2.53 million on federal lobbying in 2019, according to OpenSecrets, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries/summary?cycle=2019&id=H02" target="_blank">placing it fifth</a> in the country among all hospital lobbying spenders, and first among local organizations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2020, when then-President Donald Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1242528658767654912" target="_blank">tweeted</a>
that he favored price transparency language in a Covid-19 economic
stimulus bill, the association strongly opposed those efforts. In an
email to members after the language was carved out, Greater New York <a href="https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-policy/covid-19-economic-stimulus-deal-passes-senate-billions-hospital-funding" target="_blank">reportedly stated </a>that
it was “pleased that extraneous measures supported by the Trump
Administration, such as surprise billing and price transparency
provisions, were not included in the final legislation.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Instead, most of the publicly available information about
group purchasing organizations depends on what they choose to
self-report.<br /></p> </div>
<div class="pb-8 ">
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<img class="w-auto md:w-full pb-3" height="123" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/cqYwph-ZbRzDQe7mn6_yn5Sn2DPLgkMrmNEzPAJdk44/w:820/h:123/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9kb2N0b3J0aGluZ2RpdmlkZXIucG5n.png" width="820" />
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<div class="pt-2 md:pt-0 font-sans text-sm lg:text-base ">
</div>
</div>
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<p dir="ltr"><span class="inlinehead">As Greater New York</span> helped keep regulation at bay, the voice of a powerful one-time adversary went silent.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1998, then-president of the Service Employees
International Union, Andy Stern, said GPOs were a “medical supply
cartel, a deadly one that is killing nurses, doctors, and other health
care workers,” through practices preventing hospitals from buying a
small manufacturer’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/business/2-big-hospital-buying-groups-settle-lawsuit-by-needle-maker.html" target="_blank">device</a> preventing needle stick <a href="https://d2ghdaxqb194v2.cloudfront.net/577/165825.pdf" target="_blank">injuries</a>. Six years later, <span class="caps">SEIU</span> submitted testimony to the Senate antitrust subcommittee, continuing to encourage reform.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The service workers were “full-bore allies in the effort to
get the GPOs,” recalled Zweig, who was working at that time for the
needle manufacturing company. “And then suddenly, they stopped.” <br /></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="caps">SEIU</span>’s criticism of group purchasing had been notable because the most powerful local union within <span class="caps">SEIU</span> — 1199, the New York-based health care workers’ chapter — was simultaneously working closely with Greater New York.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Despite the fact that 1199 represented hospital workers,
and the hospital association represented their employers, 1199’s
then-President Dennis Rivera saw the value in speaking as one.</p> </div>
<div class="pullquote print:hidden z-60 pt-8 relative px-4 md:px-10 float-right w-full md:w-3/5 md:px-10 pt-4 pb-12 md:pl-20 ">
<div class="font-headline text-25xl md:text-3xl lg:text-4xl leading-snug md:leading-snug lg:leading-tight py-6">
<p>The service workers were “full-bore allies in the effort to get the GPOs,” recalled Zweig. “And then suddenly, they stopped.”</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class=" typography [&_blockquote]:border-l-[10px] [&_blockquote]:mt-8 [&_blockquote]:pl-8 [&_footer]:font-sans [&_footer]:text-base [&_blockquote]:-ml-[40px] [&_blockquote]:border-yellow font-serif px-6 md:px-10 break-words md:break-normal leading-normal md:leading-normal max-w-3xl print:text-base text-lg sm:text-xl md:text-[23px] ">
<p dir="ltr">In 1999, the union and Greater New York
together spent $10 million on an Albany campaign, smashing lobbying
records — and winning a major expansion of health programs for the
uninsured. Their joint campaigns have since dented the poll numbers of
multiple New York governors, and their collective bargaining agreements
have set aside tens of millions of dollars for such advertising, while
also bringing steady raises to hospital workers.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rivera left the local union in 2007 for a position at the international <span class="caps">SEIU</span>. When he testified before Congress in 2009 about rising health care costs, he did not mention group purchasing reform, an <span class="caps">SEIU</span> priority five years earlier.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rivera worked as a consultant for <span class="caps">SEIU</span>
through 2018, when he also began consulting for Greater New York,
records show. In 2021 and 2022, Greater New York paid a Puerto
Rico-based company Rivera runs $300,000 a year for strategic advice on
health care policy.</p> </div>
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<p>Hochul’s proposal “stinks,” Raske said. His is like “going to the moon in a spacecraft.”</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><span class="caps">SEIU</span>’s press office
did not respond to a question about why it stopped advocating for group
purchasing reform. Rivera did not respond to multiple attempts to
contact him.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When former Governor Andrew Cuomo took office in 2011, he
headed off an attack from the sector by appointing Rivera as co-chair of
a commission charged with redesigning the state’s Medicaid system and
making Raske a member.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Greater New York’s campaign donations spiked during Cuomo’s
tenure. During his first re-election campaign in 2014, the association
gave $100,000 to the state Democratic Party’s ”housekeeping” account, a
vehicle that, under state election law, can take uncapped corporate
donations. During his second re-election bid, in 2018, those donations
jumped to $1.25 million. When Hochul ran for her first full term in
2022, Greater New York gave $942,000.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Under Cuomo, Greater New York had significant sway over
consequential health policy decisions in Albany, including a
controversial bill granting hospitals and their workers immunity from
Covid-19-related lawsuits — which Greater New York <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/new-york-lobbying-government-influence-17425348.php" target="_blank">itself drafted</a>. And, as emails obtained by New York Focus show, the influence has continued under Hochul.</p> </div>
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<img alt="Governor Kathy Hochul stands at a podium, flanked by staff, in a room with two high, arched windows and two screens that read "Our New York, Our Future."" class="w-auto md:w-full pb-3" height="208" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/dzuWDy0zxsg1ZOGobeXLyNOj63yklQKLQDJSgvb3sOg/w:820/h:532/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9ob2NodWwtYnVkZ2V0LmpwZw.jpg" width="320" />
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<div class="pt-2 md:pt-0 font-sans text-sm lg:text-base px-6 md:px-8 ">Governor Kathy Hochul presents her budget in Albany on January 15, 2024.
<span class="opacity-50"> | Mike Groll / Office of Governor Kathy Hochul</span> </div>
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<p dir="ltr">A year ago, when Greater New York and <span class="caps">1199SEIU</span>
started a joint ad campaign to hike the Medicaid reimbursement rate for
hospitals, Rich, the Greater New York lobbyist, emailed Hochul’s office
to assure that it “does not mention the Governor.” In the fall, when
both groups launched a <a href="https://healthcareeducationproject.org/" target="_blank">campaign</a> demanding more Medicaid funding for hospitals, the ads were again trained on “Albany,” rather than singling out the governor.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But pressure is amplifying. Medicaid cuts are unpopular, as
Rich pointed out when he emailed internal polling results to the
governor’s office last year. Raske said that in late 2023, he sat down
with the Hochul administration and attempted to sell Greater New York’s <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/admin/structure/media/manage/filefile/a/2024-01/greater-new-york-hospital-association.pdf" target="_blank">four-year plan</a> to fully fund hospitals’ Medicaid costs, to no avail. Since Hochul released her own plan in mid-January, Greater New York and <span class="caps">1199SEIU</span> have been running a new joint television ad that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTviobJvm0" target="_blank">does criticize</a> Hochul and her proposed budget.</p>
<p dir="ltr">On February 22, thousands of hospital and nursing home
workers, from Long Island to Buffalo, rallied outside their institutions
and called on Hochul to “reverse $1 billion dollars in proposed budget
cuts and to properly fund Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals and
nursing homes,” according to the <span class="caps">1199SEIU</span> press release. In another rally on Wednesday, New York City councilmembers joined the call.<br /></p>
<p dir="ltr">New York is expected to have the “largest reserve balance
of any state in U.S. history,” Raske told legislators in Albany — the
$23 billion “mountain of cash” he wants to tap to fund Medicaid.
Speaking to New York Focus, he mentioned that he’d been advised on this
by the state’s former budget director, Robert Mujica.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As usual, Raske is being heard in the halls of the Capitol.
In late January, the day before Raske formally presented his Medicaid
plan, Greater New York announced that a majority of Democrats in the
legislature had already signed on.<span class="pt-2 pl-4 h-6 w-10 bug inline-block"><svg id="uuid-bd46b89b-fecc-4fe5-a056-5c11757466b7" viewbox="0 0 89.01 67.22" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></span></p></div></div><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-33820048543585177102024-02-28T11:17:00.004-05:002024-02-28T11:17:38.800-05:00Retirees United to Preserve Medicare Access and Got Shut Down by Their International<p> </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_5470372775862701356templateContainer" style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td id="m_5470372775862701356templatePreheader" style="background-color: #fafafa; background-image: none; background-position: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover; background: #fafafa none no-repeat center/cover; border-bottom: 0; border-top: 0; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_5470372775862701356mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="m_5470372775862701356mcnTextContent" style="color: #656565; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: 150%; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-left: 18px; padding-right: 18px; padding-top: 0; text-align: left; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><br /></td>
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<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;">The
Cross-union Retirees Organizing Committee supports the following
statement by the DC 37 Retirees Association. The high-handed takeover of
the Association by its parent union, AFSCME, is a major blow to union
democracy. CROC stands with our DC 37 union brothers and sisters in our
ongoing fight for health care and quality of life for all.</span></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></strong></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; padding: 0; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</strong></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></strong></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>Retirees United to Preserve Medicare Access and Got Shut Down by Their International</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;">******</span></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong><em>Retiree Leaders Who Won't Be Silenced</em></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Manhattan, Tuesday, February 27, 2024</strong> - On February 22, <strong>AFSCME President Lee Saunders</strong> placed the <strong>DC37 Retirees’ Association</strong>
under emergency administratorship. Eight AFSCME staffers barged into
our office, seized books and records, and changed the locks to our
office. This ended our ability to meet our members’ needs. Our staff on
the job that day were shaken up by the way AFSCME staffers treated them
and are still suffering mental distress. They even attempted to take
away their personal phones. Contrast that with the efforts of our
dedicated staff that kept our office open during the Covid pandemic to
meet our members’ needs.</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">AFSCME’s
statement says that all this was done because we failed to submit IRS
990 forms and our books had not been audited. AFSCME does not say there
was any theft or wrongdoing. We gave our accountant the needed
information to complete these documents. We never received notification
from the IRS that there were any problems. We are not the only affiliate
to have such problems. Usually help would be given to resolve the
issue. When we learned there was a problem we started corrective action
at once.</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Ann Widger</strong>,
who was named administrator of our association, said in her statement
to our members, “I realize that some will say this is about the current
debate around retiree health care for New York City Retirees. Make no
mistake: it is not.” Our reply to Ann is that the healthcare issue is
exactly what this takeover is about . What you call a “debate” is a
matter of life and death for an older population whose health conditions
will be compromised by switching from traditional Medicare to a
Medicare (dis)advantage system known to put profits ahead of patients’
health needs.</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">One
month prior to the AFSCME action, our board voted to resume
contributions to help pay for the legal expenses of cases filed by the
New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees. Those lawsuits
have stopped the retiree healthcare changes in their tracks. Last June,
Widger sent us a threatening memo warning us not to continue our
contributions. After a serious discussion, we resumed our contributions.
We support the fight against the deal agreed to by the <strong>Municipal Labor Committee</strong> (including our local <strong>AFSCME District Council 37</strong>) and the city. That is the real “crime" we are being punished for.</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">We
would have hoped that our national union would stand with us in this
fight. They say they are in favor of traditional Medicare. They have
passed resolutions saying so at conventions over the years. Instead,
they are punishing us for our fight to maintain it. Many of us have
spent over fifty years as members of AFSCME fighting for the benefits we
all need. Our retiree constitution says that we exist to protect and
expand the rights and benefits of New York City retirees. We refuse to
have our health benefits diminished by the privatized for-profit
Medicare (dis)Advantage Plan!</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">###</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Contact Information:</strong> For more information, interviews, or detailed discussions, please contact:</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Neal Frumkin</strong></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">718-938-5193</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="mailto:frumps@msn.com" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">frumps@msn.com</a></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Anna Berry</strong></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">917-557-6707</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="mailto:annamarieberry@yahoo.com" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">annamarieberry@yahoo.com</a></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Bruce Heigh</strong></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">516-547-0784</span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="mailto:bheigh2627@gmail.com" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">bheigh2627@gmail.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Media Coverage</strong></span></p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><em>The Chief</em>: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gmail.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D0a324d4966d866550b141aa73%26id%3D0fc8866668%26e%3De34d743265&source=gmail&ust=1709222919590000&usg=AOvVaw3UcQSwBE1I-rEAeyxI34a2" href="https://gmail.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a324d4966d866550b141aa73&id=0fc8866668&e=e34d743265" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">DC 37 Retirees Association Taken Over by AFSCME</a></span></p>
<h1 style="background: white; color: #202020; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 26px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 125%; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">The City</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">:</span> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gmail.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D0a324d4966d866550b141aa73%26id%3Dbd5b5f11e0%26e%3De34d743265&source=gmail&ust=1709222919590000&usg=AOvVaw3jyIDo5qRqG-1w7WYof7br" href="https://gmail.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a324d4966d866550b141aa73&id=bd5b5f11e0&e=e34d743265" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Medicare Advantage Feud Looms Over Union Takeover of City Retiree Grou</span></a><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gmail.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D0a324d4966d866550b141aa73%26id%3Dd57223643b%26e%3De34d743265&source=gmail&ust=1709222919591000&usg=AOvVaw25-y0BitHOc2RLtAoYlYef" href="https://gmail.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0a324d4966d866550b141aa73&id=d57223643b&e=e34d743265" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">p</span></a></span></h1>
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<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-7355787030819046372024-02-27T09:19:00.002-05:002024-02-27T09:19:42.567-05:00Bennet Fischer and Marianne Pizzitola on WBAI with Daniel Alicea "Talk Out of School"<p> </p><p>I took a few notes but go listen here: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-with-bennett-fischer-and/id1490313171?i=1000646815704">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-with-bennett-fischer-and/id1490313171?i=1000646815704 </a><br /></p><p> </p><p>Bennett
is up first and is running for Chapter Leader of the 60-70 thousand
member UFT retiree chapter. Bennett describes his reasons for running
for chapter leader of his school in order to lead a fight back against
supervisor over reach. He makes an interesting analogy to his current
run for RTC Chair, leading a slate of 300, as fighting back against the
same supervisor type mentality by which Unity has been running the
chapter.</p><p>What is wrong with Medicare Adv? Limited care ecosystem,
gate keeper for care who can second guess your doctor, fully subsidized
supplemental care by NYC Org of Public Service Retirees )NYCOPSR) --
people have planned based on a given assumption. A forced switch to Med
Adv could cause irreparable harm and even death. Not only retiree think
that but state courts, and even mainstream press reports on dangers and
scams of MedAdv. </p><p>Danial -- how would a victory change things?
Look what we've done so far? Fought back, alliances with other unions
and Marianne group, 300 delegates and honest information to members. May
never be the union president -- we can have a strong chapter to guide
and inform the leadership.</p><p>D: What does an effective CL look like?
Listens to membership, guide to resources, will work with union
leadership when it can but if necessary will stand up to leadership.
Right now chapter does service things right and we will continue to do
the same thing - serve members. The team RA will bring to the chapter is
amazingly skilled and well qualified. Hundreds of years of experience.
Former HSVP -- Michael Shulman. Arthur Goldstein. Gloria Brandman.
People in union since 1964 -- Bobby Greenberg. </p><p>Next step in
campaign is to get information out to 70k members. Many are not even
aware yet. People leave job and often stop paying attention under
assumption they have what they always had. We need to reach people
before they open their ballot in mid May.</p><p>Daniel -- not just any election but a referendum on the UFT leadership and Unity Caucus. </p><p>B: Unity Caucus pushing this entire MedAdv plan - they set this up by fudning raises in 2014 contract on the back of retirees. <br /> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpiwWfcO4pstv9AWXbr8GUBS6X1iQR4i4yuw7twegAUEnCFoxHTgqa2FLydU7KCl1Ma1NQSLXc8HdTOMX47Zht7swwXG0GgzgI4lex4_uJ7LRGEdpBS2r7LmCrr9_hpt0S_bOFgiU_QzA7mEGN7a2iKfVVIAE_M9DPFzKFH3h7b8RKB-dkjsR5/s1118/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20at%205.14.38%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1118" data-original-width="924" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpiwWfcO4pstv9AWXbr8GUBS6X1iQR4i4yuw7twegAUEnCFoxHTgqa2FLydU7KCl1Ma1NQSLXc8HdTOMX47Zht7swwXG0GgzgI4lex4_uJ7LRGEdpBS2r7LmCrr9_hpt0S_bOFgiU_QzA7mEGN7a2iKfVVIAE_M9DPFzKFH3h7b8RKB-dkjsR5/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20at%205.14.38%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="264" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Hey, union family:</p><p>I’m inviting to join me, tonight, Sunday,
February 25th at 7 PM, for a very special broadcast of Talk Out of
School on WBAI 99.5 FM.</p><p>I speak to retired educator and union activist, Bennett Fischer. </p><p><span>Bennett, along with over 300 retirees, is running on the </span><a href="http://retireeadvocate.org" rel="">Retiree Advocate</a><span> slate to lead the </span><a href="https://www.uft.org/chapters/retired-teachers-chapter" rel="">Retired Teachers Chapter</a><span> within the United Federation of Teachers. </span></p><p><a href="http://retireeadvocate.org" rel="">Retiree Advocate</a><span> (RA) is political caucus in the Retired Teachers Chapter (RTC) of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).</span></p><p><a href="https://thewire.educators.nyc/p/uft-rtc-election-race-launches-with" rel="">They will challenge Michael Mulgrew’s deeply entrenched Unity caucus with a full slate of three-hundred retired educators</a><span>
— teachers, paraprofessionals, therapists, counselors, nurses,
secretaries and other UFT titles - in the triennial chapter elections
this spring.</span></p><p><span>For nearly three years, Retiree
Advocate/UFT and our allies from across the spectrum of NYC municipal
unions, have been fighting to preserve our traditional Medicare
benefits, as they face attacks from the mayor's office, the Municipal
Labor Committee, and Mulgrew, </span><a href="https://thewire.educators.nyc/p/mulgrew-and-uft-unity-not-mlc-initiated?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Fintiated&utm_medium=reader2" rel="">the architect behind the city’s privatized Medicare Advantage plan (MAP)</a><span>. </span></p><p>Health
care decisions should be between us and our doctors. Big private
insurance corporations should not profit at the expense of our health.
Thankfully, RA and NYC retirees are fighting to preserve and strengthen
NYC laws that protect our benefits.</p><p>This upcoming spring retiree
chapter election may have a big impact on our union leadership in
regards to the fight to stave off attempts by the city to force all
Medicare eligible city retirees into the highly litigated and much
maligned MAP.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"http://retireeadvocate.org","text":"Learn more about RA","action":null,"class":null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="http://retireeadvocate.org" rel=""><span>Learn more about RA</span></a></p><p><span>In the second segment, I speak to Marianne Pizzitola, president of the </span><a href="http://nycretirees.org" rel="">New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees</a><span>. Her organization, comprised of NYC retirees from our city’s unions, has been </span><i><b>leading the fight</b></i><span>
against the city and the top establishment union bosses who are
partnering in cost savings healthcare givebacks that endanger the
healthcare benefits of retired and active city workers. </span></p><p>She
will share updates on the fight the NYC retirees are waging to preserve
their hard earned benefits. We also have an very interesting
conversation about the upcoming RTC election and the history behind the
misuse of the Healthcare Stabilization Fund.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"http://nycretirees.org","text":"Learn more about NYC Retirees","action":null,"class":null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="http://nycretirees.org" rel=""><span>Learn more about NYC Retirees</span></a></p><p><span>You don’t want to miss tonight’s broadcast! You can listen to the livestream on your computer or mobile device at </span><a href="http://wbai.org" rel="">wbai.org</a></p><p><span>The show will be available to download as a podcast on Apple, Spotify, and here, at </span><a href="https://thewire.educators.nyc/s/tos" rel="">The Wire</a><span>.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"http://wbai.org","text":"Listen live","action":null,"class":null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="http://wbai.org" rel=""><span>Listen live</span></a></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p>The
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<h1 style="color: #202020; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 26px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 125%; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;">Dear Retirees & Retirees In Training -<br />
<br />
The below email is from our Labor for Traditional Medicare Team.
Following their update is the recent article from The Chief Leader on
this issue. There will be more news coming! <br />
<br />
<br />
*************<br />
<strong>Statement on ASFCME Trusteeship of the Retirees Association of DC 37 </strong><br />
<br />
We are alarmed by the decision of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees to put the Retirees Association of
District Council 37 under trusteeship today. Several AFSCME officials
arrived unannounced at the association’s Manhattan office, and they took
over the facility. They informed the association’s staff that they were
suspended, took control of records, including email lists, and changed
the locks.<br />
<br />
The national union posted a letter about the takeover on the
association’s website and released the names of the AFSCME
representatives who will be running the association. ASFCME claims the
trusteeship was carried out because the association failed to file
certain tax records, something the national union knew about for some
time but failed to act upon.<br />
<br />
In fact, the true reason for the takeover is that the Retirees
Association has supported a lawsuit against the city over its attempt to
force city retirees into a profit-seeking Aetna Medicare Advantage
plan. That change will result in the loss of their traditional Medicare
coverage.<br />
<br />
The association has supported the NYC Organization of Public Service
Retirees’ lawsuit with a $2,000 monthly contribution. DC 37 Executive
Director Henry Garrido has been one of the most outspoken municipal
labor leaders backing Mayor Eric Adam’s privatization scheme.<br />
<br />
Ironically, at annual conventions, AFSCME has opposed Medicare
Advantage, and its flagship affiliate DC 37 opposed Medicare Advantage
in its former official publication, Public Employee Press, years ago.<br />
<br />
Retirees, who joined the city workforce with a promise that they would
be taken care of with modest pensions and comprehensive health-care
coverage in their golden years, feel betrayed by union leaders and the
city.<br />
<br />
In contrast to traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans place
restrictions on coverage, have bureaucratic loopholes to get through for
treatment, and more frequently deny coverage. And they may have costly
drug plans. Studies have pointed to billions of dollars in waste and
corruption in Medicare Advantage plans. For retirees, preserving their
traditional Medicare coverage is a matter of life and death.<br />
<br />
We condemn the blatant takeover of the retirees association by its
national union, AFSCME. It’s an outrageous anti-democratic and
anti-union power grab.<br />
<br />
Gregory N. Heires<br />
Ray Markey<br />
Labor for Traditional Medicare<br />
<br />
************</h1>
<h1 id="m_-959973726433306521headline" style="color: #202020; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 26px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 125%; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">DC 37 Retirees Association taken over by AFSCME</h1>
<h3 id="m_-959973726433306521subtitle" style="color: #202020; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 125%; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Tax issue cited, but opposition to Medicare switch could also be a factor</h3>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d%26id%3D8dd7c0ae59%26e%3Dc112dedb46&source=gmail&ust=1708992175462000&usg=AOvVaw1lUmpfuawx8fmhwcTq2eTa" href="https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d&id=8dd7c0ae59&e=c112dedb46" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><img alt="District Council 37’s Retirees Association, which has about 40,000 members, was placed under administratorship by AFSCME Thursday. In a note on the association’s website, an AFSCME official said that the union took over the association because it failed to file taxes for the last six years, and had not had an outside audit since at least 2017." class="CToWUd" data-bit="iit" height="400" id="m_-959973726433306521photo_47965" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NbYhRAgOa6DOsGMHnhoxH1-QbrIcsqexb8OAGetlAvdIiqA_7wiBCx7RCYD2b1RU4ph9nQHej0c-Zp4j6Y2QqubeidOtLyUWN5J2hj4mNS2TnZKZCUWmS0JX5B4v2avjHr8Fp7i=s0-d-e1-ft#https://zeta.creativecirclecdn.com/chief/original/20240223-224826-phphfT9sw.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: 400px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; width: 600px;" width="600" /></a><br />
District Council 37’s Retirees Association, which has about 40,000
members, was placed under administratorship by AFSCME Thursday. In a
note on the association’s website, an AFSCME official said that the
union took over the association because it failed to file taxes for the
last six years, and had not had an outside audit since at least 2017.<br />
MICHEL FRIANG/THE CHIEF<br />
Posted Saturday, February 24, 2024 3:50 pm<br />
BY CRYSTAL LEWIS
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><em>This story was updated Saturday afternoon to include comments from the Retirees Association's president.</em></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">District
Council 37’s Retirees Association has been put under administratorship
for allegedly failing to file tax returns for the last six years. The
association's president and others, though, say its opposition to the
city’s effort to switch municipal retirees to a Medicare Advantage plan
was an overriding factor in the takeover. </p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Ann Widger, the international retirees director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d%26id%3D5d6f6b4c1f%26e%3Dc112dedb46&source=gmail&ust=1708992175462000&usg=AOvVaw1YENpc3L2hqVNtH5A_M9PB" href="https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d&id=5d6f6b4c1f&e=c112dedb46" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">informed members Thursday</a> that
AFSCME President Lee Saunders has placed the Retirees Association under
“emergency administratorship” and that she would serve as the
association’s administrator. Terri Brady, AFSCME’s retirees field
coordinator, will serve as deputy administrator.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">“The
International Union recently became aware that the DC 37 Retirees
Association was not following AFSCME’s Financial Standards Code or
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements, which jeopardized the
Retirees Association’s funds and assets,” Widger’s message notes.
“Unfortunately, the IRS has revoked the Association’s tax-exempt status
for failure to file its annual tax return for the past six years.”</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">The association has reportedly also not conducted an outside audit “since at least 2017,” according to the international.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">“These
are serious failings. In pursuing these matters with the Association,
it became clear that there was no significant effort or progress being
made to correct them,” Widger wrote. “While there is no evidence of any
individual financial wrongdoing, these matters cannot go unaddressed.”</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">In
a letter to the Retirees Association’s executive board obtained by The
Chief, Saunders stated that the association’s officers were suspended
and must turn over all records, funds, books and property belonging to
the group, citing “an emergency situation … in that dissipation or loss
of funds or assets is threatened.”</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">DC
37 represents approximately 80,000 retired city workers. The Retirees
Association counts more than 25,000 members who typically pay $36 in
annual dues that are deducted from their monthly pensions.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">A
spokesperson for DC 37 declined to comment on the announcement. AFSCME
did not immediately return a request for comment inquiring why the
international was unaware the association allegedly had not filed its
taxes or been audited for several years.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Several
officers of the Retirees Association, including the recording
secretary, Bruce Heigh, and a former president, Edward Hysyk, who served
in the position from 2018 until 2022, did not immediately return
requests for comment.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Did Medicare Advantage play a role?</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">A
source who wished to remain anonymous said there was another reason for
the administratorship — notably the Retirees Association’s $2,000
monthly payments to the NYC Organization of Retired Public Servants,
which is leading the fight against the city’s effort to switch retired
municipal workers’ health-care coverage to a Medicare Advantage plan.</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">In
a June email message obtained by The Chief, Widger wrote to the
association's president, Bob Gervasi, and cited a portion of the
international union’s constitution that notes, “no property of any
subordinate body … shall be given, contributed, assigned, donated or
result to … any seceding, dual or antagonistic labor organization group …
which is in violation of the International Constitution.” </p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">The email did not reference the association’s failure to file its taxes.</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Speaking
to The Chief Saturday, Gervasi said the Retirees Association had in
fact been making the monthly contributions to the retirees’
organization. </p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Out
of caution, though, he asked for the NYC Organization of Retired Public
Servants’ financial statements and eventually decided to stop making
the contributions. He also sent the language in AFSCME’s constitution to
members of his executive board. But several board members pointed to
the Retirees Association’s own constitution, which requires them to
protect the retirees’ health care. The board voted in December to resume
payments to the organization.</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Gervasi said he found out that the association had lost its tax-exempt status soon afterward. </p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">“If
AFSCME had called me up and told me ‘You have 30 days to fix this,’ I
would have done so. The tax exemption could have been fixed — we would
have paid our penalties. It’s really a shame it had to go down this
way,” he said.</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Gervasi
added that he was told that other DC 37 locals using the same
accountant as the Retirees Association reportedly had a similar problem
with their tax status, and had fired the individual. He did not indicate
which locals those were.</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">He
believes that the association’s loss of its tax-exempt status was an
excuse for the administratorship. “In my opinion, this is all about the
resumption of the payments to [the retiree group],” he said. “Now AFSCME
has control of the association’s money, and it all stops. That was the
ultimate goal.”</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Ray
Markey, the former president of DC 37’s Local 1930, and a former DC 37
staffer, Gregory Heires, said in a statement on social media on behalf
of Labor for Traditional Medicare, a group within the NYC Organization
of Retired Public Servants, that “the true reason for the takeover” was
because of Retirees Association’s support of the fight against the
city’s Medicare Advantage effort.</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">“We
condemn the [blatant] takeover of the retirees association by its
national union, AFSCME. It’s an outrageous anti-democratic and
anti-union power grab,” the statement said.</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Widger,
though, denied that AFSCME’s decision to place the association under
administrationship was tied to the Medicare Advantage matter.</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">“I
realize that some will say this is about the current debate around
retiree health care for New York City retirees. Make no mistake: It is
not,” the message reads. “It is about serious violations of AFSCME’s
Financial Standards Code and the International Constitution, which has
resulted in the IRS revoking the Retirees Association of DC 37’s
tax-exempt status.”</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Gervasi
said he was angered by the way AFSCME officials came into the
association’s office Thursday morning. “They were rude to my staff, who
were in that office everyday during Covid helping people, and they
changed the locks,” he said. “My employees didn’t deserve that.”</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">He added that, “Nobody did anything wrong. Nobody’s money is in danger.”</p>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">Gervasi
blamed the mayor, the Municipal Labor Committee and former labor
Commissioner Bob Linn for the rollout of Medicare Advantage. “I’m not
totally against the Medicare Advantage plan, but I want choice,” he
said. “The city picked the most vulnerable people to pick on. Our
retirees, they need help. My concerns have always been for the retirees
and their benefit.”</p>
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<img align="middle" alt="" class="m_-959973726433306521mcnImage CToWUd a6T" data-bit="iit" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NYIII5764Mhqz6soaGL9tgP-jjeya6Q1-nr2-0_sqAG9rmg9cgKfa0v47Bk-_W5HKfEJhXd1qu9BmhCQiAyULk4dpmSoG0aMMMiuqpiHYCNpe2GwJ1_N22bn9rmXfApzeCDw7R5KWHBMnDhwVqsGipRJ1dTfsUTz5pd=s0-d-e1-ft#https://mcusercontent.com/036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d/images/361cea43-cdbb-3e2f-9930-ded5ca95f0e2.jpeg" style="border: 0; display: inline!important; height: auto; max-width: 800px; outline: none; padding-bottom: 0; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: bottom;" tabindex="0" width="564" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 0; padding-left: 9px; padding-right: 9px; padding-top: 0; text-align: center;" valign="top">
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<h1 style="color: #202020; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 26px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 125%; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><u><em><strong>Donations are Needed! </strong></em></u></h1>
<h1 style="color: #202020; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 26px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 125%; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><em>TO DONATE TO THE ORGANIZATION<br />
<br />
Donation Instructions to Support Our Organization and our Fight To Protect Our Retiree Healthcare:<br />
<br />
We worked decades for our benefits! Let’s make sure the City and the MLC don’t take them away!<br />
<br />
A <u>suggested</u> $25 Donation* will help start the fight to keep our current benefits.<br />
<br />
*Give more if you can, and/or often! If you cannot meet the minimum
suggested donation, we appreciate whatever you can give towards this
fight for our benefits. We also added the option to make your donation
recurring (monthly) as was requested. <br />
<br />
We are incorporated as a Non-Profit, but not tax deductible. ALL
proceeds go to fund the organization and its legal challenge. Volunteer
retirees are running this effort. <br />
<br />
TO DONATE, HERE ARE 4 SIMPLE WAYS!<br />
<br />
1.Zelle using email <a href="mailto:NYCOrgofpublicserviceretirees@gmail.com" target="_blank">NYCOrgofpublicserviceretirees@<wbr></wbr>gmail.com</a>
YOU CANNOT USE THE ZELLE APP! You must use Zelle via your online
banking. In some cases you cannot use the Zelle via the bank app
either. So if you're finding trouble, use the computer and make the
payment via Zelle from your online banking. <br />
<br />
2. Make your check out to:<br />
NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees <br />
c/o JSH Accounting Services LLC<br />
PO Box 143538<br />
Fayetteville, GA 30214<br />
(this is the organization's accounting professional)</em><br />
<img alt="Checks2.png" class="CToWUd a6T" data-bit="iit" height="502" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NYSYapXkU_C_g7IwbP8dCYnOytOXb2PF6-k034DJUL_5A6_knihbwpXsDHv2A_3O4VBz_Fx3-Uuv7PsTBijH0UdfJA_X7SJXGlUifbgyMQh46AYklLTVS8IzZfQ_gAP7BexooEqZA5iRjQujWNVWzZWQ3j_p-hRl-52npYExgvOisolD9fy2O01nlo9n19l2unbE22c75DA7KqLGA=s0-d-e1-ft#https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6a0ad2_09929f07697144e3b1fe6d16422881b5~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_940,h_788,al_c,q_90,enc_auto/Checks2.png" style="border: 0; height: auto!important; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" tabindex="0" width="600" /></h1></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="center" id="m_-959973726433306521templateBody" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover; background: #ffffff none no-repeat center/cover; border-bottom: 0; border-top: 0; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_-959973726433306521templateContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 600px!important; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_-959973726433306521mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="m_-959973726433306521mcnTextContent" style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-left: 18px; padding-right: 18px; padding-top: 0; text-align: left; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><h1 style="color: #202020; display: block; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 26px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 125%; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><br />
<em>3. Or click on this Paypal link:<br />
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d%26id%3De4e177a931%26e%3Dc112dedb46&source=gmail&ust=1708992175463000&usg=AOvVaw3yD72K1VRLtH28fzP4oVRY" href="https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d&id=e4e177a931&e=c112dedb46" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/donate/<wbr></wbr>?hosted_button_id=<wbr></wbr>Q4VWJEYVJ9HTW&Z3&fbclid=<wbr></wbr>IwAR0pEOc51x9xhc-<wbr></wbr>CBb8vqAIkX97Bgg1Z02f1r9gQh9S3d<wbr></wbr>OsVmAdob5jBbw8</a></em></h1>
<strong><em>4. VENMO OUR Venmo Name changed! Please take note!<br />
<br />
VENMO is a Phone App or can be used on a PC or Tablet<br />
You can download and install the Phone App from the Android Play Store
or Apple App Store. There may be fees involved using this method.<br />
<br />
Our NEW ID is: @NYCRetirees2<br />
<br />
If you are on this list, it is because you subscribed to hear what we
are doing as an organization that represents all NYC Municipal workers
in protecting their Health benefits in retirement. Currently, we have a
FACEBOOK page located here: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d%26id%3D9ef12860e3%26e%3Dc112dedb46&source=gmail&ust=1708992175463000&usg=AOvVaw2WATukaZp7sZah4QJLIwDa" href="https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d&id=9ef12860e3&e=c112dedb46" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.<wbr></wbr>com/groups/888622578669131</a><br />
<br />
If you are not on FACEBOOK, we will be updating you here. And Check our website for FAQ <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d%26id%3D16ffcc195d%26e%3Dc112dedb46&source=gmail&ust=1708992175463000&usg=AOvVaw0iH90cAYvKtJ8tQ8aEmCSM" href="https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d&id=16ffcc195d&e=c112dedb46" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">www.nycretirees.org</a></em></strong>
<p style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;"><strong><em>Thank you for signing up for our <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d%26id%3Df42b422c00%26e%3Dc112dedb46&source=gmail&ust=1708992175463000&usg=AOvVaw1FIOg50M1NtBTGq5XQxTrj" href="https://nycretirees.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d&id=f42b422c00&e=c112dedb46" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" title="Sign Up Form">newsletter</a> and pass this to a friend to sign up too!</em></strong></p>
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</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-66660937519157464522024-02-13T19:53:00.006-05:002024-02-13T19:53:51.029-05:00Serious Medical Errors Rose After Private Equity Firms Bought Hospitals<p>Here is more important information in the battle for healthcare and
counter to the lies from our union leaders that downplay the profit
motive as a link to deteriorating healthcare. Aetna is not exactly the
same as private equity but maybe not far off. And we often don't know
exactly who owns what in healthcare.</p><div>What we do know is that Medicare is not owned but governed - not to say there are not political influences on Medicare either.</div><br /><div><h1>Serious Medical Errors Rose After Private Equity Firms Bought Hospitals</h1></div><p>A
new study shows an increase in the rate of inpatient complications,
including infections and falls, though patients were no more likely to
die.</p><div><div aria-label="Social Media Share buttons, Save button, and Comments Panel with current comment count" role="toolbar"><div><ul><li><div><div><br /></div></div><br /></li></ul></div></div></div><div><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/26/upshot/hospitals-medical-errors.html&source=gmail&ust=1703784283997000&usg=AOvVaw3pbez4wfDAt9IJ8Lhjk78-" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/26/upshot/hospitals-medical-errors.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/26/upshot/hospitals-medical-errors.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Marianne -- https://youtu.be/ilgrgLTK-wQ?si=rwuLerh37TzGcKsH </div><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ilgrgLTK-wQ?si=rwuLerh37TzGcKsH" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-13867967973808663642024-02-13T13:06:00.000-05:002024-02-13T13:06:26.423-05:00Latimer Picks Anti-Union Consultant for Bowman Challenge<p> </p><h1 itemprop="headline">Latimer Picks Anti-Union Consultant for Bowman Challenge</h1>
<p class="subtitle"><span>Global Strategy Group, which once
worked for Amazon to prevent union organizing in its warehouses, is
doing polling for the pro-Israel candidate.</span></p>
<p class="author">by
<a href="https://prospect.org/topics/luke-goldstein/" rel="author">Luke Goldstein</a> </p>
<p class="date">February 7, 2024</p><p> </p><p><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://prospect.org/power/2024-02-07-latimer-picks-anti-union-consultant-bowman-challenge/&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw1Lr5g4VSmW5Okk6CcMzbdB" href="https://prospect.org/power/2024-02-07-latimer-picks-anti-union-consultant-bowman-challenge/" target="_blank">https://prospect.org/power/<wbr></wbr>2024-02-07-latimer-picks-anti-<wbr></wbr>union-consultant-bowman-<wbr></wbr>challenge/</a></p><div id="m_-8315609342578550687gmail-content"><div><p>Pro-Israel groups have publicly declared war on progressive congressmembers critical of Israeli policy and the war in Gaza, <u><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/11/squad-primary-battle-israel-gaza-pacs.html&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw0jB8IU3ewlMLNQhU64bQBH" href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/11/squad-primary-battle-israel-gaza-pacs.html" target="_blank">vowing to spend</a></u>
nearly $100 million in the 2024 races to unseat them. Rep. Jamaal
Bowman of New York’s 16th Congressional District is a top target.</p>
<p>Bowman is facing a well-financed primary challenge from Westchester
County Executive George Latimer, hand-picked and recruited by the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). But while AIPAC’s
$600,000 investment in Latimer makes the organization <u><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://theintercept.com/2024/02/01/george-latimer-aipac-donors-jamaal-bowman/&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw18B0hd3gziNZMD-T4usIbJ" href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/01/george-latimer-aipac-donors-jamaal-bowman/" target="_blank">his largest donor</a></u>,
the candidate is also receiving help in the race from a top Biden
polling firm with deep corporate ties and a long anti-union track
record.</p>
<p>Federal Election Commission <u><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00859041/1753640/sb/ALL&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw3UMRrB5u1f3kwubK0SKPBU" href="https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00859041/1753640/sb/ALL" target="_blank">filings</a></u>
show that the Latimer campaign’s top consultant expenses went to
polling and public relations shop Global Strategy Group, which received
$34,200 for polling work in October of last year. Most famously, GSG’s
extensive union-busting work single-handedly almost <u><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://prospect.org/power/anti-union-consultants-have-no-place-in-democratic-party/&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw2riwtprLW8cMnQGqTwGgFz" href="https://prospect.org/power/anti-union-consultants-have-no-place-in-democratic-party/" target="_blank">got a new rule</a></u> passed by the Democratic Party in 2022 to blacklist consultants with anti-union clients.</p><div id="m_-8315609342578550687gmail-AdThrive_Content_1_desktop" style="min-height: 250px;"><div id="m_-8315609342578550687gmail-google_ads_iframe_/18190176,22499723596/AdThrive_Content_1/64e6772a7c204b7052cfc8aa_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div>
<p>“The corporate wing of the party has decided they’re more than
comfortable engaging in GOP billionaire-funded primaries of Democratic
incumbents and that’s a dangerous thing for our party,” said a senior
progressive strategist.</p>
<p><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://prospect.org/topics/luke-goldstein/&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw0DRvkSfzLq0LkUECg0JH_F" href="https://prospect.org/topics/luke-goldstein/" target="_blank"><em><strong>More from Luke Goldstein</strong></em></a></p>
<p>GSG <u><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/14/biden-pollster-gsg-deeply-sorry-for-amazon-anti-union-work-as-labor-groups-abandon-it.html&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw22Uz2SttinShcoVmSUw8vm" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/14/biden-pollster-gsg-deeply-sorry-for-amazon-anti-union-work-as-labor-groups-abandon-it.html" target="_blank">conducted</a></u>
polling for a Biden super PAC during the 2020 race and has a long list
of Democratic clients, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and even some
progressives such as Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). GSG’s ties to the top brass
of the Democratic Party extend to New York state as well. The firm’s
founding partner Jeff Pollock was a longtime ally of former New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and helped advise him on his response to sexual
misconduct allegations before stepping down from office.</p>
<p>The firm’s reputation is what set off the firestorm in 2022, when reports <u><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/31/amazon-hired-pro-democrat-consultant-to-fight-staten-island-union-vote.html&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw3gZ4DBmoN7FZvQtwqPFCQ1" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/31/amazon-hired-pro-democrat-consultant-to-fight-staten-island-union-vote.html" target="_blank">surfaced</a></u>
that GSG was hired by Amazon, explicitly for its union-busting efforts
at the Staten Island JFK8 fulfillment center. The reports revealed that
GSG put out anti-union flyers and even went as far as to assemble videos
for captive-audience meetings to dissuade workers from unionizing,
which is against the law. “This is disgusting,” Randi Weingarten,
president of the American Federation of Teachers, <u><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/rweingarten/status/1509641755909627911&source=gmail&ust=1707933921072000&usg=AOvVaw2qDoNopP1qij6U1nLPt7et" href="https://x.com/rweingarten/status/1509641755909627911" target="_blank">said</a></u>
at the time about GSG’s work for Amazon. Weingarten had reason to
publicly lambast GSG, which worked against the AFT on charter school
initiatives in a number of states on behalf of groups funded by the
Walton and DeVos families.</p><div id="m_-8315609342578550687gmail-AdThrive_Content_2_desktop" style="min-height: 250px;"><div id="m_-8315609342578550687gmail-google_ads_iframe_/18190176,22499723596/AdThrive_Content_2/64e6772a7c204b7052cfc8aa_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div>
<p>The backlash over the Amazon story was so severe that it led to an
official motion filed within the Democratic National Committee to ban
consultants that had worked for anti-union clients, though the rule
never got implemented. GSG denied the specific anti-union allegations at
the time but ended up terminating its contract with Amazon shortly
thereafter.</p>
<p>The Amazon incident wasn’t an outlier for GSG though, which has used
its Democratic connections to woo corporate clients, from Big Tech to
big banks. Both Uber and Lyft tapped GSG specifically to fight back
against legislation and administrative rules that would reclassify
drivers from independent contractors to employees.</p>
<p>UPDATE: In a statement given to the <em>Prospect </em>after
publication, a Global Strategy Group spokesperson said, “ We are proud
of our almost 30-year track record of working on behalf of progressive
candidates and causes across this country. We are currently working for
many labor unions who fight every day for workers and support the right
to organize. We have language in our contracts that makes it clear we
will not do any work that opposes efforts to organize, including
participating in campaigns that make it harder for workers to organize
or qualify for benefits. ”</p>
<p>GSG’s record puts daylight between the two candidates’ stances on
workers’ rights if that wasn’t already apparent. But it’s also
significant for a few other reasons.</p>
<p>After extensive encouragement, Latimer entered the race in December
with a guarantee that his campaign coffers would be bountiful from AIPAC
and related pro-Israel PACs. Recent filings confirm this premonition as
Latimer’s AIPAC contributions alone account for over 40 percent of his
fundraising totals. AIPAC remains a defining player in Democratic
primaries despite the fact that it remains aligned with Republicans
candidates whom it has funded just as much in past years as Democrats.</p><div id="m_-8315609342578550687gmail-AdThrive_Content_3_desktop" style="min-height: 250px;"><div id="m_-8315609342578550687gmail-google_ads_iframe_/18190176,22499723596/AdThrive_Content_3/64e6772a7c204b7052cfc8aa_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div>
<p>GSG taking on Latimer as a client shows that the Democratic Party’s
top corporate consultants are willing to help unseat Democratic
incumbents—a strategy that progressives were excoriated for just a few
years ago by the very same people when the dynamic was reversed.</p>
<p>“It is telling to see that when everyday working-class people were
challenging corporate incumbents, the DCCC made an entire blacklist to
prevent our party to look more like the people that elect them,” said
Usamah Andrabi, communications director with Justice Democrats. “Now, as
AIPAC threatens to spend $100 million against progressive Democratic
incumbents with Republican megadonor support, the DCCC is silent.” </p>
</div>
</div>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-77094740255351244562024-02-06T08:40:00.001-05:002024-02-06T08:40:30.833-05:00Los Angeles DSA Censures Lawmaker Over Pro-Israel Group's Endorsement <p> </p><p> </p><h1 class="mb-3 text-gray font-sanserif text-4xl">
Los Angeles DSA Censures Lawmaker Over Pro-Israel Group's Endorsement </h1>
<figure class="post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8">
<img alt="" class="w-full wp-post-image" height="491" src="https://s4.freebeacon.com/up/2024/02/marie-claire-honors-hollywoods-change-makers-736x491.jpg" width="736" /> <figcaption class="absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75">
Nithya Raman (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Marie Claire) </figcaption>
</figure>
<div class=" ">
<span class="text-gray text-xs md:text-lg"> <div class="w-fit-content" style="line-height: 1.1;">
<div class="w-fit-content">
<a href="https://freebeacon.com/author/susannah-luthi/">Susannah Luthi</a> </div>
<div class="w-fit-content md:text-xs">February 5, 2024</div>
</div>
</span>
</div>
<p>The Democratic Socialists of America's Los Angeles chapter
censured one of its members over the weekend because a pro-Israel
Democratic group <a href="https://www.dfi-la.org/endorse" rel="noopener" target="_blank">endorsed</a> her reelection bid for L.A. City Council.</p><div data-adpath="/339474670,22676103662/Freebeacon/InContent" data-google-query-id="CLqUoLjqloQDFb-EWgUdyxwGlQ" data-onpage="true" id="gpt_unit_/339474670,22676103662/Freebeacon/InContent_0" style="margin-bottom: 40px; margin-top: 40px; min-height: 250px; text-align: center;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/339474670,22676103662/Freebeacon/InContent_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div>
<p>The DSA said in a letter sent Saturday to L.A. councilwoman Nithya
Raman (D.) that she undermined the group's "commitment to overcoming
imperialist capitalism and the exploitation of working people across the
world" by soliciting and receiving support from Democrats for
Israel-Los Angeles, an organization that describes itself as "fighting
antisemitism in our party and in society at-large."</p>
<p>"This most recent action continues a pattern in which the
Councilmember has avoided embracing and organizing alongside the
movement, while accepting support from its enemies," the DSA letter <a href="https://dsa-la.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Letter-of-Censure-Nithya-Raman.pdf?link_id=2&can_id=9d3bea62deaaf7fea23944218070070a&source=email-letter-of-censure-nithya-raman&email_referrer=email_2193996&email_subject=letter-of-censure-nithya-raman" rel="noopener" target="_blank">said</a>. Raman in 2020 became the group's first member to win an L.A. City Council seat.</p>
<p>This move by the DSA's L.A. branch, which now counts three L.A. city
council members, two L.A. school district trustees, and the city
controller among its ranks, comes as the national DSA finds itself in a
financial hole after organizing against Israel. The group is <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/democratic-socialists-of-america-went-all-out-for-hamas-now-its-facing-a-financial-crisis/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">grappling with a $2 million budget shortfall</a> in the wake of its "All Out for Palestine" rallies, where protesters have waved swastika <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/09/most-of-nycs-democratic-socialist-pols-refuse-to-condemn-hateful-pro-palestine-rally/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">images</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/students-respond-to-the-israel-hamas-college-protests-middle-east-higher-education-ab5e2230" rel="noopener" target="_blank">cheered</a> terrorist "freedom fighters."</p>
<p>Los Angeles's DSA has been similarly focused on anti-Israel organizing. This week alone, the group has <a href="https://dsa-la.org/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">scheduled</a> its "Palestine Solidarity Working Group" meeting, a "Palestine reading group session," and a protest for a ceasefire.</p>
<p>The chapter won't yet pull its endorsement of Raman. To restore her
good standing in the group, leaders are urging her to help organize and
push an L.A. City Council resolution for a "permanent ceasefire" and to
reject the Democrats for Israel's endorsement. </p><div class="in-article-ad-wrapper">
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<p></p>
<p>The DSA's L.A. chapter, Raman, and the Democrats for Israel-Los Angeles did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Raman won her city council seat in 2020, as part of a local <a href="https://laist.com/news/morning-briefing-november-12-laist-los-angeles" rel="noopener" target="_blank">progressive wave</a>
that also elected anti-incarceration prosecutor George Gascón as L.A.
district attorney. She faces a competitive race this year after her
district was redrawn to include more moderate areas, and her leading
opponent—a deputy city attorney—<a href="https://abc7.com/debate-city-council-candidates-nithya-raman/14337034/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">has attacked</a> her over her DSA ties. Still, her progressive alliances have helped her <a href="https://lamag.com/politics/la-city-council-races-2024-campaign-finance-fundraising" rel="noopener" target="_blank">raise cash</a> from Hollywood stars such as Scarlett Johansson and Tina Fey, and she remains the best-funded candidate.</p><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-19332008541297415012024-02-02T22:23:00.001-05:002024-02-02T22:23:03.406-05:00Why do America’s liberal hawks attack Russia while giving Israel a free pass?<p> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/29/why-do-americas-liberal-hawks-attack-russia-while-giving-israel-a-free-pass</p><div class="dcr-1okpd28" data-gu-name="border"><div class="dcr-upmzd8"></div></div><div class="dcr-1djovmt" data-gu-name="headline"><div class="dcr-14emo0l"><div class="dcr-13w83bs"><div class="dcr-10pdguq"><h1 class="dcr-13vd7pi">Why do America’s liberal hawks attack Russia while giving Israel a free pass? </h1><div class="dcr-1uv1bpy"><div class="dcr-9ilcgz"><a data-link-name="auto tag link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/peter-beinart" rel="author">Peter Beinart</a></div></div></div><div><svg aria-hidden="true" class="dcr-2232f3" height="29" preserveaspectratio="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="var(--straight-lines)" viewbox="0 0 1300 29" width="100%" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></div></div><div class="dcr-mc7gai"><span class="dcr-14f8c26"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="dcr-1rctyfj" height="29" preserveaspectratio="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="var(--straight-lines)" viewbox="0 0 1300 29" width="100%" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></span></div><div class="dcr-1yi1cnj" data-gu-name="standfirst"><div class=" dcr-cj0iop"><p>Liberal
hawks like Michael McFaul, Max Boot and Anne Applebaum are quick to
denounce Russian aggression but ignore Israeli crimes</p></div></div><aside class="dcr-1rbr3jc" data-gu-name="meta"><div class="dcr-14emo0l"><div class=" dcr-c7ke56"><div class="dcr-rnfrqq"><div class="dcr-5l2n46"><div><details class="dcr-1vmj0r" style="--mobile-color: inherit;"><summary class="dcr-1ybxn6r"><span class="dcr-u0h1qy">Mon 29 Jan 2024 06.01 EST</span></summary>Last modified on Tue 30 Jan 2024 13.29 EST</details></div></div></div></div></div></aside><section class="dcr-vxrady"><aside class="dcr-1rbr3jc" data-gu-name="meta"><div class="dcr-14emo0l"><div class=" dcr-c7ke56"><div class="dcr-rnfrqq"><div class="dcr-9dgpdq" data-print-layout="hide"><div class=" dcr-10u93vk"><div class="dcr-14baf59"><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></aside><div class="dcr-ch7w1w" data-gu-name="body"><div class="dcr-1b457fa"><div class="dcr-14emo0l"><div class="dcr-1x4h12y" id="maincontent"><div class="article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-4txmpa"><p class="dcr-vq85ex"><span class="dcr-1ipjagz" style="color: var(--drop-cap); font-weight: 200;">O</span>n 7 January, Anne Applebaum, a historian and a staff writer at the Atlantic, retweeted a <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/pravda_eng/status/1743972852334723374">video</a>
of Russian missiles striking a Ukrainian hospital. Three days later,
former US ambassador Michael McFaul, a Stanford professor and
contributing columnist at the Washington Post, approvingly <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1745164224911798652">tweeted</a> a sign demanding that Vladimir Putin be sent to The Hague. On 15 January, Post columnist Max Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/israel-south-africa-genocide-charge-unjustified/">reminded</a> readers that, according to the United Nations, Russia has killed more than 10,000 civilians in Ukraine.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">These
expressions of outrage were entirely justified. What makes them odd is
that more than three months into the war in Gaza, Applebaum has still
not acknowledged on X (formerly known as Twitter), where she comments
frequently, that Israel has attacked hospitals there. She has not done
so despite a Washington Post <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/israel-war-destruction-gaza-record-pace/">investigation</a>
in December that found that Israel has “conducted repeated and
widespread airstrikes in proximity to hospitals”, thus contributing to a
public health catastrophe in which, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.emro.who.int/images/stories/Sitrep_-_issue_20.pdf?ua=1">according to the World Health Organization</a>, only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain even partly functional.</p><div id="sign-in-gate"></div><div class="ad-slot-container "><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline1 ad-slot--outstream ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CKPC0te4hoQDFaefWgUdfE0AeQ" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline1" data-name="inline1" id="dfp-ad--inline1"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/ng_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="ad-slot-container "><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline1 ad-slot--outstream ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CKPC0te4hoQDFaefWgUdfE0AeQ" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline1" data-name="inline1" id="dfp-ad--inline1"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/ng_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div></div><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Nor
would a reader know from following McFaul on X that Israel is currently
on trial at The Hague, accused by South Africa of committing genocide
in Gaza. Boot has addressed Israel’s war more forthrightly: he largely
defends it. One of the conflict’s lessons, he <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/20/gaza-hamas-ukraine-russia-israel-lessons/">argued</a>
on 20 December, “is the need for a robust defense-industrial capacity,
because high-intensity conflicts always consume vast quantities of
ammunition”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Applebaum, McFaul and Boot are
liberal hawks. They claim to support a foreign policy devoted to
defending democracy and human rights whenever possible, sometimes even
at the point of a gun. (The line between liberal hawks and
neoconservatives can grow fuzzy, but liberal hawks are more sympathetic
to diplomacy and international institutions, and generally favor
Democrats, not Republicans.) Not long ago, liberal hawks were considered
a casualty of America’s military interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and
Libya, wars advertised as bringing freedom to longsuffering
populations, which brought chaos and destruction instead. (I myself <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-good-fight-peter-beinart?variant=32207944056866">identified</a> as a liberal hawk until those wars forced me to <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.harperacademic.com/book/9780061998034/the-icarus-syndrome/">alter</a> my worldview.)</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But
in recent years, liberal hawks have regained much of their
respectability and power. Their resurgence has been fueled by
Washington’s turn away from the “war on terror”, which for many
Americans ended when the US withdrew troops from Afghanistan in 2021,
and its focus on a new cold war. Because dictatorships rule Russia and
China, and because Moscow and Beijing menace vulnerable democracies on
their border, liberal hawks argue that preserving freedom requires
deterring America’s great power adversaries.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Their
argument has gained particular force since Russia’s 2022 invasion of
Ukraine, which they see as a test case for the global struggle to come.
“Liberals who once protested the Iraq War now urge Washington to
dispatch more rocket launchers to defeat Russian imperialism,” the
Atlantic declared in a September 2022 essay entitled <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/liberal-democrat-military-support-ukraine-trump/671328/">The Rise of the Liberal Hawks</a>. Last February, Britain’s the Critic <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/february-2023/why-the-liberal-hawks-rule-the-roost/">argued</a> that the “Russian invasion of Ukraine has sealed liberal hawk ascendancy”.</p><aside class="dcr-5v1tqt"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"></svg></aside><aside class="dcr-5v1tqt"><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">Liberal
hawks often profess their commitment to human rights. Yet they haven’t
called to end a war killing more people per day than any conflict this
century</blockquote></aside><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Liberal hawks enjoy
particular influence in Washington because their worldview closely
aligns with the Biden administration’s. It’s no surprise that both
Applebaum and McFaul have been <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/10/biden-us-historians-democracy-threat/">invited</a> to private, off-the-record discussions with the president. Biden and his top foreign policy advisers share Applebaum’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/russia-ukraine-senate-testimony-autocracy-kleptocrats/627061/">belief</a> that today’s great power contest pits the “democratic world” against the “autocratic world”. As Biden put it in a 2022 <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/26/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-united-efforts-of-the-free-world-to-support-the-people-of-ukraine/#:~:text=It%20was%20a%20long%2C%20painful,need%20to%20be%20clear%2Deyed.">speech</a>
about Ukraine, the United States and its allies must “put the strength
of democracies into action to thwart the designs of autocracy”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">This
worldview contains important truths. Russia and China are far more
authoritarian than the United States and many of its key European and
Asian allies. They’re also far more authoritarian than Ukraine and
Taiwan, imperiled democracies that deserve to chart their own path free
from imperialistic aggression. Whether or not one agrees with the
policies that Applebaum, Boot and McFaul advocate in eastern Europe and
east Asia, they’re aimed at defending liberal democracy – a commitment
that extends to the United States, where all three writers staunchly
oppose Donald Trump.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But liberal hawks have a
problem: the borderlands of Russia and China are not the entire world.
In the global south, especially, the geopolitical boundaries between the
US and its adversaries don’t map easily on to the moral boundaries
between freedom and tyranny. When discussing countries outside Europe or
east Asia, liberal hawks often strain to shoehorn them into a worldview
that associates America and its allies with democracy’s cause.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">In March 2022, for instance, when Applebaum delivered Senate <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/russia-ukraine-senate-testimony-autocracy-kleptocrats/627061/">testimony</a>
about what she called “the new autocratic alliance”, she included in
its ranks China, Russia, Belarus, Venezuela and Cuba, all US
adversaries, along with Turkey, an American frenemy. She never mentioned
Saudi Arabia, a critical US ally that – awkwardly – scores lower in
Freedom House’s most recent <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores">freedom rankings</a> than all of the autocracies she denounced except Belarus, with whom it ties.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Never
have these ideological contortions been as conspicuous as during
Israel’s war in Gaza. Liberal hawks often profess their commitment to
human rights. Yet they haven’t called for ending a war that is killing <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam#:~:text=Israel's%20military%20is%20killing%20Palestinians,hostilities%20nears%20its%20100th%20day.">more people per day</a>
than any conflict this century. They haven’t done so because, like
their allies in the Biden administration, they are wedded to a narrative
about the moral superiority of American power that this war defies.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Liberal
hawks want to preserve American primacy, which they associate with
human progress. But Israel-Palestine reveals a harsher truth: that in
much of the world, for many decades, the US has used its power not to
defend freedom but to deny it. That’s why liberal hawks can’t face the
true horror of this war. Doing so would require them to reconsider their
deepest assumptions about America’s role in the world.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Since
7 October, liberal hawks have labored to analogize Israel’s war in Gaza
to Ukraine’s defense against Russian invasion – a template that renders
Israel an innocent victim of external aggression and places America on
the side of human rights and international law. In his 19 October <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/us/politics/transcript-biden-speech-israel-ukraine.html">speech</a>
from the Oval Office, President Biden declared that “Hamas and Putin
represent different threats, but they share this in common. They both
want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Liberal hawks in the media have offered similar comparisons. In a column on 9 October, Applebaum <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/israel-war-hamas-terrorism-ukraine-russia/675590/">suggested</a>
that “The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s surprise attack on
Israeli civilians are both blatant rejections” of a “rules-based world
order”. On 3 November, McFaul <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://michaelmcfaul.substack.com/p/the-strategic-significance-of-a-single">described</a>
Hamas and Russia as part of an “Illiberal International” – which also
includes Iran, Hezbollah and sometimes China – that “has come together
again to attack democratic Israel”. Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/20/gaza-hamas-ukraine-russia-israel-lessons/">added</a>
on 20 December that “the wars in both Gaza and Ukraine should remind
complacent western leaders that our adversaries do not share our liberal
values”.</p><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"></svg></aside><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">Human
Rights Watch and Amnesty International say Israel practices apartheid
and has for more than 15 years held millions of Palestinians in Gaza in
what both organizations call an ‘open-air prison’</blockquote></aside><p class="dcr-vq85ex">When
Applebaum, McFaul and Boot call Hamas an illiberal movement that does
not respect international law, they are correct. Its Islamist ideology
is incompatible with individual freedom and equality under the law, and
it blatantly violated the rules of war when it murdered civilians on 7
October. But to depict Israel’s war as another battle between a
democratic, rules-abiding west and a lawless, illiberal axis that runs
from Beijing to Moscow to Tehran to Gaza City, liberal hawks must ignore
elementary facts about the Jewish state.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">When detailing Russia’s crimes, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/06/ukraine-mass-murder-hate-speech-soviet/629629/">Applebaum</a> and <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/03/atrocities-are-the-russian-way-of-war/">Boot</a> are fond of citing Human Rights Watch; <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1626483875252695041?lang=en">McFaul</a>
boosts the work of Amnesty International. When it comes to Israel,
however, the findings of the world’s leading human rights organizations
become irrelevant. Israel is “democratic”, respects the “rules-based
world order” and embodies “liberal values” – even though <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution">Human Rights Watch</a> and <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/02/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity/">Amnesty International</a> say it practices apartheid and has for more than 15 years held millions of Palestinians in Gaza in what <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/14/gaza-israels-open-air-prison-15">both</a> <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/">organizations</a> call an “open-air prison”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">When
discussing America’s adversaries, liberal hawks often warn Americans
not to let their ideological preconceptions blind them to the harsh
realities on the ground. But when it comes to Israel, they do exactly
that. In recent years, Applebaum has written eloquently about the
struggle between liberal democrats and populist authoritarians in
Poland, Hungary and the United States. After traveling to Israel last
summer, she projected a similar dynamic on to the Jewish state. Benjamin
Netanyahu’s attempted judicial overhaul, she <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/israel-democracy-judicial-reform-netanyahu-hamas-attacks/675713/">declared</a>,
risks creating an “undemocratic Israel, a de facto autocracy”. But this
storyline only works if you ignore Palestinians. For more than 70% of
the Palestinians under Israel’s control – those in the West Bank, East
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, who live or die based on the actions of a
government for whom they cannot vote – Israel is an autocracy right now.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Among <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/ukraine-russia-kyiv-putin-bluff/621145/">Applebaum</a>, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1740812655634637094">McFaul</a> and <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/18/west-cant-stand-by-putin-tries-resurrect-evil-empire/">Boot’s</a>
favorite epithets for Americans who disagree with them about Russia is
“naive”. But when describing Israel, they conjure a fantasyland in which
Palestinians either don’t exist or would soon have their own state if
only they behaved themselves. On 4 November, McFaul <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1720939383896101232">suggested</a>
that if Hamas gave up power and released Israeli hostages it would
“give new momentum to Palestinian sovereignty”. But Israel hasn’t
elected a prime minister who supports Palestinian sovereignty in 15
years. And even Netanyahu’s leading centrist opponent<strong>, </strong>Benny Gantz, is careful to say that while he supports a Palestinian “<a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-697070">entity</a>” in the West Bank, it won’t enjoy the powers of a state.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">On 17 October, Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/17/hamas-isis-alqaeda-israel-gaza/">instructed</a>
Palestinians that “the most effective resistance against liberal
democracies is the most nonviolent”. In so doing, he evidently forgot
that the Palestinian Authority has been collaborating with Israel to
prevent unarmed resistance in the West Bank since 2005, that Israeli
sharpshooters and drone operators injured <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/two-years-on-people-injured-and-traumatized-during-the-great-march-of-return-are-still-struggling/#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20214%20Palestinians,were%20hit%20by%20live%20ammunition.">roughly 36,000 protesters</a>
in Gaza during the largely unarmed Great March of Return in 2018, and
that Palestinians launched a nonviolent boycott, divestment and
sanctions movement in 2005 – a movement Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/18/sally-rooney-israel-china-double-standard/">derided</a> because it targets Israel, not China.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">As
the war in Gaza has ground on, depicting Israel as the embodiment of a
rules-abiding, liberal democratic west has grown harder. But despite
some initial warnings, Applebaum and McFaul have largely averted their
eyes. On 13 October, Applebaum <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1712783200450150464">quoted</a> her Atlantic colleague George Packer, who <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/israeli-government-response-hamas-attack-gaza-9-11-lessons/675622/">urged</a>
Israelis not to “assume that the world’s support will last a day longer
if news emerges of mass civilian deaths in Gaza”. On 29 October, she <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1718548411069161538">tweeted</a>
a New Yorker essay about life in the Strip. But in the months since, as
news has emerged of civilian deaths on a terrifying scale, Applebaum
has said little. On <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/OstapYarysh/status/1740642363473903753">29 December</a> and again on <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/pravda_eng/status/1743972852334723374">7 January</a>,<strong> </strong>she
retweeted news that Moscow had struck civilian targets in Ukraine. Her
feed contains no acknowledgment that Israel has done the same in Gaza.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Four days into the war, McFaul <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/terrorism-terrorism">implored</a> Israel to “abide by international law and minimize civilian casualties and civilian suffering”. In early November, he <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1721052126095565250">declared</a>
that the Biden administration was “right to pressure Netanyahu to take
much greater measures to reduce civilian deaths” and even suggested that
“future US aid to Israel should have conditions”. But since then, as
civilian casualties have exceeded 20,000 and human rights groups have
repeatedly accused Israel of violating international law, McFaul has
used his X feed neither to endorse a ceasefire nor to endorse the <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/16/bernie-sanders-senate-test-vote-military-aid-israel">actual legislation</a> to condition aid voted on by the Senate.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Like Applebaum, McFaul has said barely anything. On 4 December, he <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1731814054359081170">applauded</a>
Senator Jim Risch for decrying “Russia’s brutality and continued war
crimes against the Ukrainian people”. From McFaul’s online posts,
however, you’d never know that <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/">Amnesty International</a>, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/human-rights-watch-accuses-israel-of-war-crimes-criticizes-selective-outrage-of-allies/7436111.html">Human Rights Watch</a> and even Israel’s own leading human rights organization, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20231207_the_humanitarian_crisis_in_gaza_is_not_a_side_effect_it_is_the_policy">B’Tselem</a>, have accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza.</p><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"></svg></aside><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">As
the war in Gaza has ground on, depicting Israel as the embodiment of a
rules-abiding, liberal democratic west has grown harder</blockquote></aside><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Boot
has been more upfront. He hasn’t ignored the destruction of Gaza; he’s
justified it. While acknowledging that “this is a great tragedy for the
people of Gaza”, Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/israel-south-africa-genocide-charge-unjustified/">alleged</a>
on 15 January that “primary blame must lie with Hamas, because it
launched an unprovoked attack on Israel and uses civilians as human
shields”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Depicting Hamas’s massacre as
“unprovoked” – and thus akin to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – requires
ignoring that Israel has been occupying Gaza since 1967 and blockading
it (with assistance from Egypt) since 2007. Justifying Israel’s
destruction because Hamas embeds itself among civilians would justify
the mass killing of civilians in most wars against a guerrilla foe
because, as Mao Zedong famously declared, “The guerrilla must move
amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.” Indeed, the United
States in the 1960s and 1970s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://humanityjournal.org/blog/human-shields-and-the-politics-of-humanity/">used</a> Boot’s argument about “human shields” to justify bombing villages that sheltered the Vietcong and Russia has <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/4/3/why-we-need-to-challenge-russias-human-shields-narrative">employed it repeatedly</a> to justify murdering civilians in Ukraine.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Boot also <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/israel-south-africa-genocide-charge-unjustified/">dismisses</a>
South Africa’s charge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
because, he argues, civilian deaths there “constitute less than 1% of
the territory’s population”. He contrasts this allegedly baseless charge
with the US government’s claim that China is committing genocide
against the Uyghurs, which he cites with approval.</p><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-6 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right"><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline6 ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CIKMrb6bjoQDFT2kWgUdjcYMSQ" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline6" data-name="inline6" id="dfp-ad--inline6" style="min-height: 600px;"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/ng_10__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div></div><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But when the state department in 2021 <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/determination-of-the-secretary-of-state-on-atrocities-in-xinjiang/#:~:text=After%20careful%20examination%20of%20the,other%20members%20of%20ethnic%20and">accused</a>
China of genocide, it didn’t allege that Beijing had killed any
particular percentage of the Uyghur population. It didn’t discuss mass
slaughter at all but rather “forced assimilation and eventual erasure of
a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group” through forced
sterilization and abortion; forced marriage to non-Uyghurs; separation
of children from their parents; denial of freedom of speech, travel and
worship; and mass imprisonment and torture in labor camps. By Boot’s
standard, these horrors – which <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://asiatimes.com/2019/07/chinas-treatment-of-uighurs-is-cultural-genocide/">some</a> <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/19/china-has-chosen-cultural-genocide-in-xinjiang-for-now/">scholars</a>
have called “cultural genocide” – wouldn’t constitute genocide either.
In accusing South Africa of a “double standard”, Boot inadvertently
reveals his own: one definition of genocide for America’s foes, another
for its friends.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Why do commentators who write
so passionately about the human rights abuses committed by Russia and
other US adversaries find it so hard to oppose a war that, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/500000-people-gaza-face-catastrophic-hunger-unrwa/story?id=106593939#:~:text=More%20than%20half%20a%20million,to%20multiple%20United%20Nations%20organizations.">according</a>
to the United Nations, is putting half a million Palestinians at risk
of starvation? It’s not that Applebaum, McFaul and Boot believe America
can do no wrong. To the contrary, they warn that under Donald Trump, the
US could go over to the dark side and join the autocratic world.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But
they tell a particular story about America, and about the last century,
which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict turns on its head. The story is
that America’s rise to global pre-eminence ushered in a freer and more
law-abiding world. Applebaum has <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/israel-war-hamas-terrorism-ukraine-russia/675590/">applauded</a> the “Pax Americana that accompanied the rules-based world order”. Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/09/19/u-n-trump-me-first-doctrine-abandons-trumans-postwar-security-for-all-max-boot-column/682014001/">argues</a>
that after winning the second world war, the US avoided “pursuing our
narrow self-interest” and instead created “lasting institutions such as
Nato and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (forerunner of the
World Trade Organization) to promote prosperity and security for all”.
McFaul <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://michaelmcfaul.substack.com/p/progressive-anti-imperialist-democrats">insists</a>
that “the US has not for many decades engaged in annexation or
colonization, does not attack democracies, and does not use terrorism
deliberately as a method of war”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But there are
many places, especially in the global south, that do not fit this story
of American power producing moral progress. The story doesn’t account
for the 62 times, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/07/the-us-has-a-long-history-of-election-meddling/565538/">according</a>
to the political scientist Dov Levin, that the United States intervened
in foreign elections between 1946 and 1989, nor the fact that,
according to Lindsey O’Rourke’s book <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501761737/covert-regime-change/#bookTabs=1">Covert Regime Change</a>,
many of the leftist parties the US sabotaged had “repeatedly committed
themselves to working within a democratic framework, and, in some cases,
US policymakers even acknowledged this fact”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">The story doesn’t account for US <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/vincent-bevins/the-jakarta-method/9781541724013/?lens=publicaffairs">complicity</a> in Indonesia’s killing of roughly 1 million alleged leftists in the mid-1960s or the CIA’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.npr.org/2016/05/16/478272695/retired-cia-agent-confirms-u-s-role-in-nelson-mandelas-1962-arrest">role in helping</a> apartheid South Africa arrest Nelson Mandela. It can’t be reconciled with the Nixon administration’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780307744623">decision</a>
to keep arming Pakistan’s war in what became Bangladesh when America’s
own chief diplomat on the ground told them that the Pakistanis were
committing genocide or the Reagan administration’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/05/19/what-guilt-does-the-us-bear-in-guatemala/guatemalan-slaughter-was-part-of-reagans-hard-line#:~:text=Once%20in%20office%2C%20Reagan%2C%20continued,were%20exempt%20from%20the%20ban).">insistence</a> on supplying weapons to President Efraín Ríos Montt, whom a Guatemalan court later <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/01/obituaries/efrain-rios-montt-guatemala-dead.html">convicted</a> of genocide for his effort to wipe out his country’s Maya Ixil Indians.</p><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"></svg></aside><div class="dcr-1x4h12y" id="maincontent"><div class="article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-4txmpa"><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">Israel-Palestine is part of a darker history about the era of American primacy that liberal hawks celebrate and wish to preserve</blockquote></aside><p class="dcr-vq85ex">The
story doesn’t explain the George HW Bush and Clinton administrations’
sanctions against Iraq, which the United Nations humanitarian
coordinator in that country <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/magazine/were-sanctions-right.html">warned</a> were “destroying an entire society” or the Obama administration’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://theconversation.com/us-complicity-in-the-saudi-led-genocide-in-yemen-spans-obama-trump-administrations-106896">participation</a>
in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’ blockade and
indiscriminate bombing of Yemen, which left 18 million of the country’s
28 million people without reliable access to food.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Israel-Palestine
is part of a darker history about the era of American primacy that
liberal hawks celebrate and wish to preserve. For decades, the United
States has used its unparalleled military might and diplomatic muscle to
ensure that Israel can deny millions of Palestinians the most basic
rights – citizenship, due process, freedom of movement, the right to
vote – with impunity.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">In 2020, the United States <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/11/us-sets-sanctions-against-international-criminal-court">froze</a>
the assets of the prosecutor of the international criminal court,
partly in retaliation for her decision to launch an investigation into
Israeli war crimes. At the United Nations general assembly, the entire
world – including virtually all the democracies on earth – regularly
vote to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://press.un.org/en/2023/gaspd798.doc.htm">tally</a> last November was 145-7. But the US renders this global human rights consensus impotent by again and again <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/scact_veto_table_en.htm">employing its veto</a> at the security council. Many US states <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/23/us-states-use-anti-boycott-laws-punish-responsible-businesses">bar</a>
individuals or organizations that support boycotting Israel – or even
merely boycotting Israeli settlements – from conducting business with
state government.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">These are not the actions
merely of Maga authoritarians. This intensive effort to protect Israeli
apartheid has been broadly bipartisan and spanned many presidencies. It
includes many of the politicians that Applebaum, McFaul and Boot believe
embody the best of America – those dedicated to supporting Ukraine and
keeping Donald Trump from re-entering the White House – chief among them
Joe Biden. And since 7 October, these decades of near-unconditional US
support have culminated in Biden rushing weapons to Israel even as, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam">according to Oxfam</a>,
Israel kills more than five times as many people per day as Russia is
killing in Ukraine. All this gravely undermines the moral dichotomy that
structures liberal hawks’ view of the world. The more honestly one
faces the horror in Gaza, the harder it becomes to draw a bright line
between the way America wields its power and the way its adversaries do.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">In 2021, Applebaum <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/12/the-autocrats-are-winning/620526/">bemoaned</a>
the fact that “a part of the American left has abandoned the idea that
‘democracy’ belongs at the heart of US foreign policy”. She speculated
that the left’s emphasis on America’s sins – its alleged belief that
“the history of America is the history of genocide, slavery,
exploitation, and not much else” – had convinced many progressives that
the US lacks the moral authority to aid people suffering “profound
injustice” overseas.</p><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-8 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right"><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline8 ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CLnBjKG5hoQDFT-4WgUd24QI6A" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline8" data-name="inline8" id="dfp-ad--inline8"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/ng_12__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div></div><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But
because Applebaum focuses on the oppression committed by America’s
adversaries, she ignored the possibility that American progressives
might rise up in solidarity with people oppressed by America’s friends,
and that they might draw inspiration not from a celebration of America’s
past virtue but from those in prior generations who struggled against
American genocide, slavery and exploitation.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">In
her 2021 essay, Applebaum criticized progressives for not producing
“something comparable to the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s”. They
now have. If a new generation of Americans eventually turns US policy
against apartheid in Israel-Palestine, as their forebears turned US
policy against apartheid in South Africa, it won’t be because they
extolled American power. It will be because they confronted the
“profound injustices”, committed under America’s auspices, which liberal
hawks so often obfuscate or ignore.</p><ul class="dcr-vq85ex"><li class="dcr-vq85ex"><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Peter Beinart is editor-at-large of <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://jewishcurrents.org/">Jewish Currents</a>,
professor of journalism and political science at the Newmark School of
Journalism at the City University of New York, and author of <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://peterbeinart.substack.com/">The Beinart Notebook</a>, a weekly newsletter</p></li></ul></div></div><div id="slot-body-end"><div class="dcr-oadkbb"><section class="dcr-vxrady"><div class="dcr-1ms23da"><div class="dcr-12xsd97"><div class="dcr-1puddky"><div class="dcr-aby5zk">You've read <span class="dcr-1txksjz">19 articles</span> in the last year</div><div class="dcr-xce57b"><div class="dcr-idfd2f">Article count</div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div><p class="dcr-1w8wvcg"><span>I
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If you can, please consider supporting us just once from $1, or better
yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you.</span></span></strong></p></section>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-41520525081150797122024-01-30T20:14:00.006-05:002024-01-30T20:14:53.291-05:00Why do America’s liberal hawks attack Russia while giving Israel a free pass? <br /><section class="dcr-13ojipo"><div class="dcr-1355byg"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="dcr-84we3z" height="13" preserveaspectratio="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="var(--straight-lines)" viewbox="0 0 1300 13" width="100%" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg><br /></div></section><aside class="dcr-ien304" data-gu-name="title"><div class="dcr-10355cg"><div class="dcr-1xdhyk6"><div class="dcr-1xxv1es"><a class="dcr-1ixogz" data-component="series" data-link-name="article series" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree"><span>Opinion</span></a><span class="dcr-1bn3p0w"><a class="dcr-1gc4u6t" data-component="section" data-link-name="article section" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/israel"><span>Israel</span></a></span></div></div></div></aside><div class="dcr-1okpd28" data-gu-name="border"><div class="dcr-upmzd8"></div></div><div class="dcr-1djovmt" data-gu-name="headline"><div class="dcr-14emo0l"><div class="dcr-13w83bs"><div class="dcr-10pdguq"><h1 class="dcr-13vd7pi">Why do America’s liberal hawks attack Russia while giving Israel a free pass? </h1><div class="dcr-1uv1bpy"><div class="dcr-9ilcgz"><a data-link-name="auto tag link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/peter-beinart" rel="author">Peter Beinart</a></div><div class="dcr-9ilcgz"> </div><div class="dcr-9ilcgz">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/29/why-do-americas-liberal-hawks-attack-russia-while-giving-israel-a-free-pass <br /></div></div></div><div><svg aria-hidden="true" class="dcr-2232f3" height="29" preserveaspectratio="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="var(--straight-lines)" viewbox="0 0 1300 29" width="100%" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></div></div><div class="dcr-mc7gai"><span class="dcr-14f8c26"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="dcr-1rctyfj" height="29" preserveaspectratio="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="var(--straight-lines)" viewbox="0 0 1300 29" width="100%" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></span></div><div class="dcr-1yi1cnj" data-gu-name="standfirst"><div class=" dcr-cj0iop"><p>Liberal
hawks like Michael McFaul, Max Boot and Anne Applebaum are quick to
denounce Russian aggression but ignore Israeli crimes</p></div></div><aside class="dcr-1rbr3jc" data-gu-name="meta"><div class="dcr-14emo0l"><div class=" dcr-c7ke56"><div class="dcr-rnfrqq"><div class="dcr-5l2n46"><div><details class="dcr-1vmj0r" style="--mobile-color: inherit;"><summary class="dcr-1ybxn6r"><span class="dcr-u0h1qy">Mon 29 Jan 2024 06.01 EST</span></summary>Last modified on Tue 30 Jan 2024 13.29 EST</details></div></div></div></div></div></aside><section class="dcr-vxrady"><aside class="dcr-1rbr3jc" data-gu-name="meta"><div class="dcr-14emo0l"><div class=" dcr-c7ke56"><div class="dcr-rnfrqq"><div class="dcr-9dgpdq" data-print-layout="hide"><div class=" dcr-10u93vk"><div class="dcr-14baf59"><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></aside><div class="dcr-ch7w1w" data-gu-name="body"><div class="dcr-1b457fa"><div class="dcr-14emo0l"><div class="dcr-1x4h12y" id="maincontent"><div class="article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-4txmpa"><p class="dcr-vq85ex"><span class="dcr-1ipjagz" style="color: var(--drop-cap); font-weight: 200;">O</span>n 7 January, Anne Applebaum, a historian and a staff writer at the Atlantic, retweeted a <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/pravda_eng/status/1743972852334723374">video</a>
of Russian missiles striking a Ukrainian hospital. Three days later,
former US ambassador Michael McFaul, a Stanford professor and
contributing columnist at the Washington Post, approvingly <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1745164224911798652">tweeted</a> a sign demanding that Vladimir Putin be sent to The Hague. On 15 January, Post columnist Max Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/israel-south-africa-genocide-charge-unjustified/">reminded</a> readers that, according to the United Nations, Russia has killed more than 10,000 civilians in Ukraine.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">These
expressions of outrage were entirely justified. What makes them odd is
that more than three months into the war in Gaza, Applebaum has still
not acknowledged on X (formerly known as Twitter), where she comments
frequently, that Israel has attacked hospitals there. She has not done
so despite a Washington Post <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/israel-war-destruction-gaza-record-pace/">investigation</a>
in December that found that Israel has “conducted repeated and
widespread airstrikes in proximity to hospitals”, thus contributing to a
public health catastrophe in which, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.emro.who.int/images/stories/Sitrep_-_issue_20.pdf?ua=1">according to the World Health Organization</a>, only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain even partly functional.</p><div id="sign-in-gate"></div><div class="ad-slot-container "><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline1 ad-slot--outstream ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CKPC0te4hoQDFaefWgUdfE0AeQ" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline1" data-name="inline1" id="dfp-ad--inline1"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/ng_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="ad-slot-container "><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline1 ad-slot--outstream ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CKPC0te4hoQDFaefWgUdfE0AeQ" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline1" data-name="inline1" id="dfp-ad--inline1"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/ng_0__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div></div><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Nor
would a reader know from following McFaul on X that Israel is currently
on trial at The Hague, accused by South Africa of committing genocide
in Gaza. Boot has addressed Israel’s war more forthrightly: he largely
defends it. One of the conflict’s lessons, he <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/20/gaza-hamas-ukraine-russia-israel-lessons/">argued</a>
on 20 December, “is the need for a robust defense-industrial capacity,
because high-intensity conflicts always consume vast quantities of
ammunition”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Applebaum, McFaul and Boot are
liberal hawks. They claim to support a foreign policy devoted to
defending democracy and human rights whenever possible, sometimes even
at the point of a gun. (The line between liberal hawks and
neoconservatives can grow fuzzy, but liberal hawks are more sympathetic
to diplomacy and international institutions, and generally favor
Democrats, not Republicans.) Not long ago, liberal hawks were considered
a casualty of America’s military interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and
Libya, wars advertised as bringing freedom to longsuffering
populations, which brought chaos and destruction instead. (I myself <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-good-fight-peter-beinart?variant=32207944056866">identified</a> as a liberal hawk until those wars forced me to <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.harperacademic.com/book/9780061998034/the-icarus-syndrome/">alter</a> my worldview.)</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But
in recent years, liberal hawks have regained much of their
respectability and power. Their resurgence has been fueled by
Washington’s turn away from the “war on terror”, which for many
Americans ended when the US withdrew troops from Afghanistan in 2021,
and its focus on a new cold war. Because dictatorships rule Russia and
China, and because Moscow and Beijing menace vulnerable democracies on
their border, liberal hawks argue that preserving freedom requires
deterring America’s great power adversaries.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Their
argument has gained particular force since Russia’s 2022 invasion of
Ukraine, which they see as a test case for the global struggle to come.
“Liberals who once protested the Iraq War now urge Washington to
dispatch more rocket launchers to defeat Russian imperialism,” the
Atlantic declared in a September 2022 essay entitled <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/liberal-democrat-military-support-ukraine-trump/671328/">The Rise of the Liberal Hawks</a>. Last February, Britain’s the Critic <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/february-2023/why-the-liberal-hawks-rule-the-roost/">argued</a> that the “Russian invasion of Ukraine has sealed liberal hawk ascendancy”.</p><aside class="dcr-5v1tqt"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"></svg></aside><aside class="dcr-5v1tqt"><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">Liberal
hawks often profess their commitment to human rights. Yet they haven’t
called to end a war killing more people per day than any conflict this
century</blockquote></aside><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Liberal hawks enjoy
particular influence in Washington because their worldview closely
aligns with the Biden administration’s. It’s no surprise that both
Applebaum and McFaul have been <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/10/biden-us-historians-democracy-threat/">invited</a> to private, off-the-record discussions with the president. Biden and his top foreign policy advisers share Applebaum’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/russia-ukraine-senate-testimony-autocracy-kleptocrats/627061/">belief</a> that today’s great power contest pits the “democratic world” against the “autocratic world”. As Biden put it in a 2022 <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/26/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-united-efforts-of-the-free-world-to-support-the-people-of-ukraine/#:~:text=It%20was%20a%20long%2C%20painful,need%20to%20be%20clear%2Deyed.">speech</a>
about Ukraine, the United States and its allies must “put the strength
of democracies into action to thwart the designs of autocracy”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">This
worldview contains important truths. Russia and China are far more
authoritarian than the United States and many of its key European and
Asian allies. They’re also far more authoritarian than Ukraine and
Taiwan, imperiled democracies that deserve to chart their own path free
from imperialistic aggression. Whether or not one agrees with the
policies that Applebaum, Boot and McFaul advocate in eastern Europe and
east Asia, they’re aimed at defending liberal democracy – a commitment
that extends to the United States, where all three writers staunchly
oppose Donald Trump.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But liberal hawks have a
problem: the borderlands of Russia and China are not the entire world.
In the global south, especially, the geopolitical boundaries between the
US and its adversaries don’t map easily on to the moral boundaries
between freedom and tyranny. When discussing countries outside Europe or
east Asia, liberal hawks often strain to shoehorn them into a worldview
that associates America and its allies with democracy’s cause.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">In March 2022, for instance, when Applebaum delivered Senate <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/russia-ukraine-senate-testimony-autocracy-kleptocrats/627061/">testimony</a>
about what she called “the new autocratic alliance”, she included in
its ranks China, Russia, Belarus, Venezuela and Cuba, all US
adversaries, along with Turkey, an American frenemy. She never mentioned
Saudi Arabia, a critical US ally that – awkwardly – scores lower in
Freedom House’s most recent <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores">freedom rankings</a> than all of the autocracies she denounced except Belarus, with whom it ties.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Never
have these ideological contortions been as conspicuous as during
Israel’s war in Gaza. Liberal hawks often profess their commitment to
human rights. Yet they haven’t called for ending a war that is killing <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam#:~:text=Israel's%20military%20is%20killing%20Palestinians,hostilities%20nears%20its%20100th%20day.">more people per day</a>
than any conflict this century. They haven’t done so because, like
their allies in the Biden administration, they are wedded to a narrative
about the moral superiority of American power that this war defies.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Liberal
hawks want to preserve American primacy, which they associate with
human progress. But Israel-Palestine reveals a harsher truth: that in
much of the world, for many decades, the US has used its power not to
defend freedom but to deny it. That’s why liberal hawks can’t face the
true horror of this war. Doing so would require them to reconsider their
deepest assumptions about America’s role in the world.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Since
7 October, liberal hawks have labored to analogize Israel’s war in Gaza
to Ukraine’s defense against Russian invasion – a template that renders
Israel an innocent victim of external aggression and places America on
the side of human rights and international law. In his 19 October <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/us/politics/transcript-biden-speech-israel-ukraine.html">speech</a>
from the Oval Office, President Biden declared that “Hamas and Putin
represent different threats, but they share this in common. They both
want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Liberal hawks in the media have offered similar comparisons. In a column on 9 October, Applebaum <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/israel-war-hamas-terrorism-ukraine-russia/675590/">suggested</a>
that “The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s surprise attack on
Israeli civilians are both blatant rejections” of a “rules-based world
order”. On 3 November, McFaul <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://michaelmcfaul.substack.com/p/the-strategic-significance-of-a-single">described</a>
Hamas and Russia as part of an “Illiberal International” – which also
includes Iran, Hezbollah and sometimes China – that “has come together
again to attack democratic Israel”. Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/20/gaza-hamas-ukraine-russia-israel-lessons/">added</a>
on 20 December that “the wars in both Gaza and Ukraine should remind
complacent western leaders that our adversaries do not share our liberal
values”.</p><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"></svg></aside><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">Human
Rights Watch and Amnesty International say Israel practices apartheid
and has for more than 15 years held millions of Palestinians in Gaza in
what both organizations call an ‘open-air prison’</blockquote></aside><p class="dcr-vq85ex">When
Applebaum, McFaul and Boot call Hamas an illiberal movement that does
not respect international law, they are correct. Its Islamist ideology
is incompatible with individual freedom and equality under the law, and
it blatantly violated the rules of war when it murdered civilians on 7
October. But to depict Israel’s war as another battle between a
democratic, rules-abiding west and a lawless, illiberal axis that runs
from Beijing to Moscow to Tehran to Gaza City, liberal hawks must ignore
elementary facts about the Jewish state.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">When detailing Russia’s crimes, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/06/ukraine-mass-murder-hate-speech-soviet/629629/">Applebaum</a> and <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/03/atrocities-are-the-russian-way-of-war/">Boot</a> are fond of citing Human Rights Watch; <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1626483875252695041?lang=en">McFaul</a>
boosts the work of Amnesty International. When it comes to Israel,
however, the findings of the world’s leading human rights organizations
become irrelevant. Israel is “democratic”, respects the “rules-based
world order” and embodies “liberal values” – even though <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution">Human Rights Watch</a> and <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/02/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity/">Amnesty International</a> say it practices apartheid and has for more than 15 years held millions of Palestinians in Gaza in what <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/14/gaza-israels-open-air-prison-15">both</a> <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/">organizations</a> call an “open-air prison”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">When
discussing America’s adversaries, liberal hawks often warn Americans
not to let their ideological preconceptions blind them to the harsh
realities on the ground. But when it comes to Israel, they do exactly
that. In recent years, Applebaum has written eloquently about the
struggle between liberal democrats and populist authoritarians in
Poland, Hungary and the United States. After traveling to Israel last
summer, she projected a similar dynamic on to the Jewish state. Benjamin
Netanyahu’s attempted judicial overhaul, she <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/israel-democracy-judicial-reform-netanyahu-hamas-attacks/675713/">declared</a>,
risks creating an “undemocratic Israel, a de facto autocracy”. But this
storyline only works if you ignore Palestinians. For more than 70% of
the Palestinians under Israel’s control – those in the West Bank, East
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, who live or die based on the actions of a
government for whom they cannot vote – Israel is an autocracy right now.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Among <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/ukraine-russia-kyiv-putin-bluff/621145/">Applebaum</a>, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1740812655634637094">McFaul</a> and <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/18/west-cant-stand-by-putin-tries-resurrect-evil-empire/">Boot’s</a>
favorite epithets for Americans who disagree with them about Russia is
“naive”. But when describing Israel, they conjure a fantasyland in which
Palestinians either don’t exist or would soon have their own state if
only they behaved themselves. On 4 November, McFaul <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1720939383896101232">suggested</a>
that if Hamas gave up power and released Israeli hostages it would
“give new momentum to Palestinian sovereignty”. But Israel hasn’t
elected a prime minister who supports Palestinian sovereignty in 15
years. And even Netanyahu’s leading centrist opponent<strong>, </strong>Benny Gantz, is careful to say that while he supports a Palestinian “<a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-697070">entity</a>” in the West Bank, it won’t enjoy the powers of a state.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">On 17 October, Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/17/hamas-isis-alqaeda-israel-gaza/">instructed</a>
Palestinians that “the most effective resistance against liberal
democracies is the most nonviolent”. In so doing, he evidently forgot
that the Palestinian Authority has been collaborating with Israel to
prevent unarmed resistance in the West Bank since 2005, that Israeli
sharpshooters and drone operators injured <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/two-years-on-people-injured-and-traumatized-during-the-great-march-of-return-are-still-struggling/#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20214%20Palestinians,were%20hit%20by%20live%20ammunition.">roughly 36,000 protesters</a>
in Gaza during the largely unarmed Great March of Return in 2018, and
that Palestinians launched a nonviolent boycott, divestment and
sanctions movement in 2005 – a movement Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/18/sally-rooney-israel-china-double-standard/">derided</a> because it targets Israel, not China.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">As
the war in Gaza has ground on, depicting Israel as the embodiment of a
rules-abiding, liberal democratic west has grown harder. But despite
some initial warnings, Applebaum and McFaul have largely averted their
eyes. On 13 October, Applebaum <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1712783200450150464">quoted</a> her Atlantic colleague George Packer, who <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/israeli-government-response-hamas-attack-gaza-9-11-lessons/675622/">urged</a>
Israelis not to “assume that the world’s support will last a day longer
if news emerges of mass civilian deaths in Gaza”. On 29 October, she <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1718548411069161538">tweeted</a>
a New Yorker essay about life in the Strip. But in the months since, as
news has emerged of civilian deaths on a terrifying scale, Applebaum
has said little. On <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/OstapYarysh/status/1740642363473903753">29 December</a> and again on <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/pravda_eng/status/1743972852334723374">7 January</a>,<strong> </strong>she
retweeted news that Moscow had struck civilian targets in Ukraine. Her
feed contains no acknowledgment that Israel has done the same in Gaza.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Four days into the war, McFaul <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/terrorism-terrorism">implored</a> Israel to “abide by international law and minimize civilian casualties and civilian suffering”. In early November, he <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1721052126095565250">declared</a>
that the Biden administration was “right to pressure Netanyahu to take
much greater measures to reduce civilian deaths” and even suggested that
“future US aid to Israel should have conditions”. But since then, as
civilian casualties have exceeded 20,000 and human rights groups have
repeatedly accused Israel of violating international law, McFaul has
used his X feed neither to endorse a ceasefire nor to endorse the <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/16/bernie-sanders-senate-test-vote-military-aid-israel">actual legislation</a> to condition aid voted on by the Senate.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Like Applebaum, McFaul has said barely anything. On 4 December, he <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1731814054359081170">applauded</a>
Senator Jim Risch for decrying “Russia’s brutality and continued war
crimes against the Ukrainian people”. From McFaul’s online posts,
however, you’d never know that <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/">Amnesty International</a>, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/human-rights-watch-accuses-israel-of-war-crimes-criticizes-selective-outrage-of-allies/7436111.html">Human Rights Watch</a> and even Israel’s own leading human rights organization, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20231207_the_humanitarian_crisis_in_gaza_is_not_a_side_effect_it_is_the_policy">B’Tselem</a>, have accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza.</p><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"></svg></aside><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">As
the war in Gaza has ground on, depicting Israel as the embodiment of a
rules-abiding, liberal democratic west has grown harder</blockquote></aside><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Boot
has been more upfront. He hasn’t ignored the destruction of Gaza; he’s
justified it. While acknowledging that “this is a great tragedy for the
people of Gaza”, Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/israel-south-africa-genocide-charge-unjustified/">alleged</a>
on 15 January that “primary blame must lie with Hamas, because it
launched an unprovoked attack on Israel and uses civilians as human
shields”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Depicting Hamas’s massacre as
“unprovoked” – and thus akin to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – requires
ignoring that Israel has been occupying Gaza since 1967 and blockading
it (with assistance from Egypt) since 2007. Justifying Israel’s
destruction because Hamas embeds itself among civilians would justify
the mass killing of civilians in most wars against a guerrilla foe
because, as Mao Zedong famously declared, “The guerrilla must move
amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.” Indeed, the United
States in the 1960s and 1970s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://humanityjournal.org/blog/human-shields-and-the-politics-of-humanity/">used</a> Boot’s argument about “human shields” to justify bombing villages that sheltered the Vietcong and Russia has <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/4/3/why-we-need-to-challenge-russias-human-shields-narrative">employed it repeatedly</a> to justify murdering civilians in Ukraine.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Boot also <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/israel-south-africa-genocide-charge-unjustified/">dismisses</a>
South Africa’s charge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
because, he argues, civilian deaths there “constitute less than 1% of
the territory’s population”. He contrasts this allegedly baseless charge
with the US government’s claim that China is committing genocide
against the Uyghurs, which he cites with approval.</p><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-6 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right"><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline6 ad-slot--sky ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CI7vuJ65hoQDFdGfWgUd9soDdA" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline6" data-name="inline6" id="dfp-ad--inline6" style="min-height: 600px;"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/ng_10__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div></div><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But when the state department in 2021 <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/determination-of-the-secretary-of-state-on-atrocities-in-xinjiang/#:~:text=After%20careful%20examination%20of%20the,other%20members%20of%20ethnic%20and">accused</a>
China of genocide, it didn’t allege that Beijing had killed any
particular percentage of the Uyghur population. It didn’t discuss mass
slaughter at all but rather “forced assimilation and eventual erasure of
a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group” through forced
sterilization and abortion; forced marriage to non-Uyghurs; separation
of children from their parents; denial of freedom of speech, travel and
worship; and mass imprisonment and torture in labor camps. By Boot’s
standard, these horrors – which <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://asiatimes.com/2019/07/chinas-treatment-of-uighurs-is-cultural-genocide/">some</a> <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/19/china-has-chosen-cultural-genocide-in-xinjiang-for-now/">scholars</a>
have called “cultural genocide” – wouldn’t constitute genocide either.
In accusing South Africa of a “double standard”, Boot inadvertently
reveals his own: one definition of genocide for America’s foes, another
for its friends.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Why do commentators who write
so passionately about the human rights abuses committed by Russia and
other US adversaries find it so hard to oppose a war that, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/500000-people-gaza-face-catastrophic-hunger-unrwa/story?id=106593939#:~:text=More%20than%20half%20a%20million,to%20multiple%20United%20Nations%20organizations.">according</a>
to the United Nations, is putting half a million Palestinians at risk
of starvation? It’s not that Applebaum, McFaul and Boot believe America
can do no wrong. To the contrary, they warn that under Donald Trump, the
US could go over to the dark side and join the autocratic world.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But
they tell a particular story about America, and about the last century,
which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict turns on its head. The story is
that America’s rise to global pre-eminence ushered in a freer and more
law-abiding world. Applebaum has <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/israel-war-hamas-terrorism-ukraine-russia/675590/">applauded</a> the “Pax Americana that accompanied the rules-based world order”. Boot <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/09/19/u-n-trump-me-first-doctrine-abandons-trumans-postwar-security-for-all-max-boot-column/682014001/">argues</a>
that after winning the second world war, the US avoided “pursuing our
narrow self-interest” and instead created “lasting institutions such as
Nato and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (forerunner of the
World Trade Organization) to promote prosperity and security for all”.
McFaul <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://michaelmcfaul.substack.com/p/progressive-anti-imperialist-democrats">insists</a>
that “the US has not for many decades engaged in annexation or
colonization, does not attack democracies, and does not use terrorism
deliberately as a method of war”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But there are
many places, especially in the global south, that do not fit this story
of American power producing moral progress. The story doesn’t account
for the 62 times, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/07/the-us-has-a-long-history-of-election-meddling/565538/">according</a>
to the political scientist Dov Levin, that the United States intervened
in foreign elections between 1946 and 1989, nor the fact that,
according to Lindsey O’Rourke’s book <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501761737/covert-regime-change/#bookTabs=1">Covert Regime Change</a>,
many of the leftist parties the US sabotaged had “repeatedly committed
themselves to working within a democratic framework, and, in some cases,
US policymakers even acknowledged this fact”.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">The story doesn’t account for US <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/vincent-bevins/the-jakarta-method/9781541724013/?lens=publicaffairs">complicity</a> in Indonesia’s killing of roughly 1 million alleged leftists in the mid-1960s or the CIA’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.npr.org/2016/05/16/478272695/retired-cia-agent-confirms-u-s-role-in-nelson-mandelas-1962-arrest">role in helping</a> apartheid South Africa arrest Nelson Mandela. It can’t be reconciled with the Nixon administration’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780307744623">decision</a>
to keep arming Pakistan’s war in what became Bangladesh when America’s
own chief diplomat on the ground told them that the Pakistanis were
committing genocide or the Reagan administration’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/05/19/what-guilt-does-the-us-bear-in-guatemala/guatemalan-slaughter-was-part-of-reagans-hard-line#:~:text=Once%20in%20office%2C%20Reagan%2C%20continued,were%20exempt%20from%20the%20ban).">insistence</a> on supplying weapons to President Efraín Ríos Montt, whom a Guatemalan court later <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/01/obituaries/efrain-rios-montt-guatemala-dead.html">convicted</a> of genocide for his effort to wipe out his country’s Maya Ixil Indians.</p><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"></svg></aside><div class="dcr-1x4h12y" id="maincontent"><div class="article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-4txmpa"><aside class="dcr-h886b8"><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">Israel-Palestine is part of a darker history about the era of American primacy that liberal hawks celebrate and wish to preserve</blockquote></aside><p class="dcr-vq85ex">The
story doesn’t explain the George HW Bush and Clinton administrations’
sanctions against Iraq, which the United Nations humanitarian
coordinator in that country <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/magazine/were-sanctions-right.html">warned</a> were “destroying an entire society” or the Obama administration’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://theconversation.com/us-complicity-in-the-saudi-led-genocide-in-yemen-spans-obama-trump-administrations-106896">participation</a>
in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’ blockade and
indiscriminate bombing of Yemen, which left 18 million of the country’s
28 million people without reliable access to food.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Israel-Palestine
is part of a darker history about the era of American primacy that
liberal hawks celebrate and wish to preserve. For decades, the United
States has used its unparalleled military might and diplomatic muscle to
ensure that Israel can deny millions of Palestinians the most basic
rights – citizenship, due process, freedom of movement, the right to
vote – with impunity.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">In 2020, the United States <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/11/us-sets-sanctions-against-international-criminal-court">froze</a>
the assets of the prosecutor of the international criminal court,
partly in retaliation for her decision to launch an investigation into
Israeli war crimes. At the United Nations general assembly, the entire
world – including virtually all the democracies on earth – regularly
vote to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://press.un.org/en/2023/gaspd798.doc.htm">tally</a> last November was 145-7. But the US renders this global human rights consensus impotent by again and again <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/scact_veto_table_en.htm">employing its veto</a> at the security council. Many US states <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/23/us-states-use-anti-boycott-laws-punish-responsible-businesses">bar</a>
individuals or organizations that support boycotting Israel – or even
merely boycotting Israeli settlements – from conducting business with
state government.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">These are not the actions
merely of Maga authoritarians. This intensive effort to protect Israeli
apartheid has been broadly bipartisan and spanned many presidencies. It
includes many of the politicians that Applebaum, McFaul and Boot believe
embody the best of America – those dedicated to supporting Ukraine and
keeping Donald Trump from re-entering the White House – chief among them
Joe Biden. And since 7 October, these decades of near-unconditional US
support have culminated in Biden rushing weapons to Israel even as, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam">according to Oxfam</a>,
Israel kills more than five times as many people per day as Russia is
killing in Ukraine. All this gravely undermines the moral dichotomy that
structures liberal hawks’ view of the world. The more honestly one
faces the horror in Gaza, the harder it becomes to draw a bright line
between the way America wields its power and the way its adversaries do.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">In 2021, Applebaum <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/12/the-autocrats-are-winning/620526/">bemoaned</a>
the fact that “a part of the American left has abandoned the idea that
‘democracy’ belongs at the heart of US foreign policy”. She speculated
that the left’s emphasis on America’s sins – its alleged belief that
“the history of America is the history of genocide, slavery,
exploitation, and not much else” – had convinced many progressives that
the US lacks the moral authority to aid people suffering “profound
injustice” overseas.</p><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-8 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right"><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline8 ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CLnBjKG5hoQDFT-4WgUd24QI6A" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline8" data-name="inline8" id="dfp-ad--inline8"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/ng_12__container__" style="border: 0pt;"></div></div></div><p class="dcr-vq85ex">But
because Applebaum focuses on the oppression committed by America’s
adversaries, she ignored the possibility that American progressives
might rise up in solidarity with people oppressed by America’s friends,
and that they might draw inspiration not from a celebration of America’s
past virtue but from those in prior generations who struggled against
American genocide, slavery and exploitation.</p><p class="dcr-vq85ex">In
her 2021 essay, Applebaum criticized progressives for not producing
“something comparable to the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s”. They
now have. If a new generation of Americans eventually turns US policy
against apartheid in Israel-Palestine, as their forebears turned US
policy against apartheid in South Africa, it won’t be because they
extolled American power. It will be because they confronted the
“profound injustices”, committed under America’s auspices, which liberal
hawks so often obfuscate or ignore.</p><ul class="dcr-vq85ex"><li class="dcr-vq85ex"><p class="dcr-vq85ex">Peter Beinart is editor-at-large of <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://jewishcurrents.org/">Jewish Currents</a>,
professor of journalism and political science at the Newmark School of
Journalism at the City University of New York, and author of <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://peterbeinart.substack.com/">The Beinart Notebook</a>, a weekly newsletter</p></li></ul></div></div><div id="slot-body-end"><div class="dcr-oadkbb"><section class="dcr-vxrady"><div class="dcr-1ms23da"><div class="dcr-12xsd97"><div class="dcr-1puddky"><div class="dcr-aby5zk">You've read <span class="dcr-1txksjz">19 articles</span> in the last year</div><div class="dcr-xce57b"><div class="dcr-idfd2f">Article count</div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div><p class="dcr-1w8wvcg"><span>I
hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask
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Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on
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we avoid the trap that befalls much US media: the tendency, born of a
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readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our
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readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and
accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or
not.</span><strong class="dcr-1w2l4rq"> </strong></p></section>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-61726463302806060832024-01-17T11:41:00.006-05:002024-01-17T11:41:43.773-05:00Don’t Ditch Standardized Tests. Fix Them.<p> </p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/PTG"></a></p><div class="css-11wd83h euiyums0"><h2 class="css-1oep9zt eoo0vm40" data-testid="newsletter-name-label"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/PTG">Jessica Grose</a></h2></div><p></p><div class="css-18siymw"><div class="css-1s9y8so" data-testid="brand-bar"><div class="css-42igfv"><a data-testid="story-section" href="https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion"><div class="css-7ty29z e1vbbbt70">Opinion</div></a></div></div></div><span class="css-3koauq"><span id="header-onsite-newsletter-headline"><div class="css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0"><h1 class="css-xkf25q e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-7520f064">Don’t Ditch Standardized Tests. Fix Them.</h1></div></span></span><div class="css-ki3vv6" data-testid="onsite-timestamp"><time class="css-1g7pp1u e16638kd0" datetime="2024-01-17T05:03:32-05:00">Jan. 17, 2024, <span class="css-epvm6">5:03 a.m. ET</span></time></div><div class="css-79elbk" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper"><div class="css-z3e15g" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper-hidden"></div><div class="css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5" data-testid="photoviewer-children"><figure aria-label="media" class="sizeLarge layoutVertical css-nlqgyf" role="group"><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image"><picture><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source><img alt="An illustration of a classroom full of children taking a multiple choice test as one child’s view of the exam is obscured by a parent putting a hand in front of the child’s face." class="css-rq4mmj" height="400" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/17/opinion/17grose-newsletter-image/17grose-newsletter-image-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" style="cursor: pointer;" width="400" /></picture></div><figcaption class="css-1ifeaca e1maroi60" data-testid="photoviewer-children-ImageCaption"><span class="css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Eleanor Davis</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div><div class="css-ct9jkv e11si9ry2" data-testid="placeholder" height="720px" id="photo-17grose-newsletter-image" width="720px"><div class="css-tux0zj e11si9ry3" data-testid="photoviewer-overlay"><div class="css-terw69 e11si9ry1" data-testid="photoviewer-captionblock" height="791px" width="200px"></div><div class="css-15gbf7x e11si9ry4" height="720px" width="720px"><div style="transition: visibility 0s ease 0.5s; visibility: hidden;"><div class="css-1pq3dr9" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height: auto;"><picture class="css-1j5kxti" style="opacity: 1;"><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source></picture></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><article class="css-1vxca1d e1lmdhsb0" id="story"><header class="css-1nqmx0 euiyums1" id="header-onsite-newsletter-container"><div class="css-103l8m3"><div class="css-t91cuf epjyd6m1"><div aria-hidden="true" class="css-1w5zm64 ey68jwv0"><a class="css-uwwqev" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/jessica-grose"><img alt="Jessica Grose" class="css-owy2rv ey68jwv2" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/11/09/opinion/Jessica_Grose_newsletter/Jessica_Grose_newsletter-thumbLarge.png" title="Jessica Grose" /></a></div><div class="css-ehpuw4 epjyd6m0"><p class="css-1tx0lhj e1jsehar1"><span class="byline-prefix">By </span><span class="css-1baulvz last-byline" itemprop="name"><a class="css-n8ff4n e1jsehar0" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/jessica-grose">Jessica Grose</a></span></p><div class="css-8atqhb" id="enhanced-byline"><p class="css-1fovwrw e1wtpvyy0">Opinion Writer</p></div></div></div></div></header><section class="meteredContent css-1r7ky0e" name="articleBody"><div class="css-1lpvp6o"><div class="css-81mraw"><div class="css-le223v"><div class="css-1ibyhwt"><div class="css-myrxjz"><div class="css-13brihr"><span class="css-1dx7gx1">You’re reading the Jessica Grose newsletter, for Times subscribers only. </span><span class="css-1uk1gs8">A journalist and novelist offers her perspective on the American family, culture, politics and the way we live now. <button class="css-1mywdgm" data-testid="signup-button" type="button"><span class="css-im3bau" data-testid="signup-button-span">Get it in your inbox.</span></button></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">According to The New York Post’s <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://nypost.com/2023/12/31/metro/almost-200k-students-boycotted-ny-state-standardized-tests-in-parents-rights-revolt/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">analysis</a>
of New York State Education Department data, “Nearly 200,000 students —
or one out of five — refused to sit for the state’s standardized
reading and math exams for grades 3-8 administered in the spring” of
2023.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">That number surprised me.
There’s certainly some precedent for it, but I thought that the
educational havoc wreaked by the Covid pandemic might have dampened the
popularity of the opt-out movement — the tide of parents who’ve chosen
to exempt their kids from state standardized testing. Apparently not.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Opt-out proponents argue, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.optoutnyc.com/10-reasons" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">among other things</a>,
that “one-size-fits-all tests punish and discourage students who are
already vulnerable” and “the tests themselves become the focus of
education.” But after the major disruptions of 2020-22, I figured that
even test-skeptical parents might reconsider the value of getting <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/opinion/pandemic-school-learning-loss.html" title="">a straightforward accounting of learning loss</a>
that compared the progress of kids across schools and districts — to
know whether their children are still playing catch-up post-pandemic.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">I also thought that damning <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">revelations</a>
in recent years about “balanced literacy” — a method focused on
“developing a love of books and ensuring students understand the meaning
of stories,” as the Times education reporter Sarah Mervosh <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/us/science-of-reading-literacy-parents.html" title="">described</a>
it — which was shown to be less effective than phonics (“systematic,
sound-it-out instruction”), would make parents realize that standardized
testing is an important part of developing the best curriculum
possible.</p></div></div><div><div class="css-1o7t954" id="story-ad-1-wrapper"><div class="ad story-ad-1-wrapper css-rfqw0c" data-google-query-id="CO_m6ovo5IMDFdKKWgUdF0MGgQ" id="story-ad-1" style="min-height: 250px;"><div id="after-story-ad-1"> </div><div id="after-story-ad-1">Without
testing, it would have been harder for the public to discover that
balanced literacy doesn’t work very well. As Mervosh reported last year
in an overview of the “revolt” against balanced literacy, “The push for
reform picked up in 2019, when <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/us/reading-scores-national-exam.html" title="">national reading scores</a> showed significant improvement in just two places: Mississippi and Washington, D.C. Both had <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/us/reading-phonics.html" title="">required more phonics</a>.”</div><div id="after-story-ad-1"> </div><div id="after-story-ad-1">Opposition to standardized testing <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/06/opinion/soccer-moms-vs-standardized-tests.html?searchResultPosition=30" title="">isn’t new</a>, but it is especially prominent in New York, which has been described as a “<a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.warner.rochester.edu/blog/new-book-focuses-success-new-york-states-opt-out-movement" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">national epicenter</a>” of the opt-out movement. As The Times <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/12/nyregion/the-growing-strength-of-new-yorks-opt-out-movement-maps.html" title="">reported</a>
in 2015, resistance to standardized exams “began to snowball after
2013, the first year that the Common Core academic standards became the
basis for judging student performance in New York.” In the past decade,
an opt-out rate around 20 percent hasn’t been uncommon.</div><div id="after-story-ad-1"> </div><div id="after-story-ad-1">But despite <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/nyregion/new-york-to-shorten-standardized-tests-in-elementary-and-middle-schools.html?searchResultPosition=12" title="">reforms</a> <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/nyregion/standardized-testing-teachers-students.html?searchResultPosition=14" title="">in New York</a> and elsewhere, the broader conversation about standardized testing has stalled.</div></div></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><div>As
Freddie deBoer, the author of “The Cult of Smart: How Our Broken
Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice,” told me, “This is a
situation that drives me crazy because it presumes that the two
alternatives are hours of high-stakes testing for every student every
year or no testing at all.”</div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It doesn’t
have to be this way, he said, because there’s a third option: fixing
the tests — state tests, in particular — to be more useful and
effective. DeBoer said the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">National Assessment of Educational Progress</a>,
a test that all students don’t take every year, is often thought of as
“the gold standard.” It is administered annually to a stratified,
nationally representative sample of kids — <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://nces.ed.gov/statprog/handbook/naep_surveydesign.asp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">typically around 2,500 per state</a>, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.</p></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Additionally,
there are a handful of places currently working on testing reforms that
address many of the issues that parents have with state-administered
tests, including concerns that they’re <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/letters/2017/04/28/standardized-tests-too-time-consuming/21278141007/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">too long</a>, don’t really capture the depth of what students know and the results come in <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nysut.org/news/2023/june/testing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">too late</a> — sometimes not until summer break or the following school year — to provide usable information to classroom teachers.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Allie
Pearce, a K-12 policy analyst at the left-leaning Center for American
Progress, said, “Florida and Texas both recently launched through-year
assessment pilot programs.” Instead of one long test taken in the spring
of the school year, with results that don’t come in until that school
year is over, through-year testing provides “three testing opportunities
throughout the year” and then schools “make data available to
educators,” sometimes as quickly as within a week, Pearce told me. That
way, parents and educators have “near-immediate information on how
students are doing.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">I talked to Iris
Tian, deputy commissioner of analytics, assessment and reporting at the
Texas Education Agency, about her state’s <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/assessment-initiatives/texas-through-year-assessment-pilot#:~:text=Overview%20of%20the%20Texas%20Through%2Dyear%20Assessment%20Pilot&text=The%20progress%20monitoring%20system%20will,full%20scope%20of%20the%20curriculum." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">through-year assessment pilot</a>,
which is currently in its second year. Before students even sharpen a
pencil, she said, “every question gets reviewed and approved by a group
of current Texas teachers. We actually field-test each of the questions”
to make sure it’s not biased. The assessment creators also get
continual feedback from the schools to make sure that the information
teachers and principals are getting from the tests is actually useful to
them.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the pilot, the three tests
take place in the fall, winter and spring, and part of their research
involves figuring out how short they can make the test while still being
able to provide a valid statistical picture of where students are, Tian
explained. They’re also redesigning the test so that it more closely
mirrors “what’s happening in classrooms throughout the year” and is
supportive of classroom instruction, rather than forcing teachers to
teach to the test, a frequent complaint parents and teachers have about
standardized testing.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">One way the test
is being modified? Fewer multiple-choice questions, Tian said. “We all
know if all you’re doing in classrooms day in and day out during the
school year is giving multiple choice questions, that’s not how kids
learn.”</p></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Having
quality information about how America’s children are learning is
critical, particularly since the educational gaps between the haves and
the have-nots were exacerbated by the pandemic. As Tom Kane and Sean
Reardon explained in a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/11/opinion/pandemic-learning-losses-steep-but-not-permanent.html" title="">guest essay</a> for Opinion in May:</p><blockquote class="css-1ggt3fz etf134l0"><p class="css-12wzsk6 evys1bk0">In
2019, the typical student in the poorest 10 percent of districts scored
one and a half years behind the national average for his or her year —
and almost four years behind students in the richest 10 percent of
districts — in both math and reading.</p><p class="css-12wzsk6 evys1bk0">By
2022, the typical student in the poorest districts had lost
three-quarters of a year in math, more than double the decline of
students in the richest districts. The declines in reading scores were
half as large as in math and were similarly much larger in poor
districts than rich districts. The pandemic left students in low-income
and predominantly minority communities even further behind their peers
in richer, whiter districts than they were.</p></blockquote><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Without
standardized testing, we won’t know where to put the most resources, or
what the contours of the problems students face even look like. Getting
rid of widespread assessments won’t help the most vulnerable children,
it will only leave us without knowledge about how best to support them.</p><hr class="css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0" /></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="related-links-block css-z0eu1t epkadsg3"><div class="css-1j1bbkf epkadsg0">Want More?</div><div class="css-1a2n5bp epkadsg1">Links from around The Times</div><div class="css-nx1ff epkadsg2"><div class="css-8dhyd3 e16ij5yr7"><a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/07/briefing/the-misguided-war-on-the-sat.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article"><div class="css-1pksd7f e16ij5yr0"><img class="css-1p6jru7 e16ij5yr1" /></div><div class="css-1l19kgc e16ij5yr5"><div class="css-gz0gie e16ij5yr3">The Misguided War on the SAT</div><div class="css-1g7pp1u e16638kd1">Jan. 7, 2024</div></div></a></div></div></div></div></section></article><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-57357760026907769812024-01-13T09:13:00.001-05:002024-01-13T09:13:29.606-05:00The $1.8-Billion Lawsuit Over a Teacher Test<p> </p><p>https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/the-teachers-who-oppose-tests <br /></p><h1 class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SplitScreenContentHeaderHed-lcUSuI iUEiRd NbxED dfelga" data-testid="ContentHeaderHed">The $1.8-Billion Lawsuit Over a Teacher Test</h1><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SplitScreenContentHeaderDek-emptdL iUEiRd wOnsu dJrDEb">In
the nineties, New York began requiring aspiring educators to take an
exam. Thousands of people later claimed that the test was racially
biased.</div><div class="BylinesWrapper-KIudk irTIfE bylines SplitScreenContentHeaderByline-kvEhqE ejWxsm" data-testid="BylinesWrapper"><p class="BylineWrapper-jWHrLH ivtvgj byline bylines__byline" data-testid="BylineWrapper" itemprop="author" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span class="BylineNamesWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo" itemprop="name"><span class="BylineName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byline__name" data-testid="BylineName"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylinePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byline__preamble">By </span><a class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLink-eNWuiM BylineLink-gEnFiw iUEiRd ggMZaT cXqSTL eErqIx byline__name-link button" href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/emma-green">Emma Green</a></span></span></p><p class="BylineWrapper-jWHrLH ivtvgj byline bylines__byline" data-testid="BylineWrapper" itemprop="author" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">eter
Wilds-Bethea never intended to become a teacher. He started going to
school in his home town of Darlington, South Carolina, around the time
of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Segregation, he said, was
“in your face.” His dad was white and his mom was Black; he had
ancestors who served in the Confederate Army and who were enslaved
before the Civil War. Black teachers were major figures in his
community—neighbors, family friends. But he didn’t see education as his
path.</p><p class="paywall">That changed when a cousin
encouraged him to get a job as a teacher so that he could travel and
have time off in the summer. By then, Wilds-Bethea had moved to New York
City and had got a master’s degree in counselling. He inquired with the
city’s Board of Examiners—which, at the time, was the body that
certified New York City teachers—about a position working in guidance.
But he was made to understand that guidance-counsellor positions were
mainly awarded to favored or more experienced teachers. So, in 1985, he
took a role as a substitute teacher in special education, mostly working
with fourth graders who had behavioral and emotional issues.</p><div class="NewsletterSlimLoggedInWrapper-fXViVJ fvXBUt" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"ConnectedNewsletterSubscribeForm"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"ConnectedNewsletterSubscribeForm"}" data-include-experiments="true" data-testid="NewsletterSlimLoggedInWrapper"><div class="NewsletterSlimLoggedInContentWrapper-ixpTSM fXaBCX"><div class="NewsletterSlimLoggedInTextWrapper-gCGxlg hDOugx"><label class="NewsletterSlimLoggedInHed-cSuemf ecPuIe" for="switch-desc">Sign up for the Puzzles & Games newsletter.</label><p class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ NewsletterSlimLoggedInDek-iiFixk iUEiRd jsMhrZ bSDWEa">Our
daily crossword puzzles, which range from beginner-friendly to
challenging, plus cryptics, quizzes, and other brain-teasing games.</p></div><div class="NewsletterSlimLoggedInToggleWrapper-byksUf kEiQUY"></div></div></div><article class="article main-content" lang="en-US"><div class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN kbAoLA article-body__content" data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body"><div class="LightboxWrapper-dxsWBV hhylRt"><div class="ArticlePageChunksContent-etcMtP bwyLBj" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"ChunkedArticleContent"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"ChunkedArticleContent"}" data-include-experiments="true"><div class="ArticlePageChunks-fLyCVG Uozmo" data-testid="ArticlePageChunks"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxaau bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--item grid-layout__content"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa kXcnbJ body body__container article__body" data-journey-hook="client-content" data-testid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__inner-container"><div class="NewsletterSlimLoggedInWrapper-fXViVJ fvXBUt" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"ConnectedNewsletterSubscribeForm"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"ConnectedNewsletterSubscribeForm"}" data-include-experiments="true" data-testid="NewsletterSlimLoggedInWrapper"><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ NewsletterSlimLoggedInDisclaimer-ibSYoh iUEiRd dOuMWE cmfExF" id="privacy-text"><span class=""><p>By signing up, you agree to our <a href="https://www.condenast.com/user-agreement" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">User Agreement</a> and <a href="https://www.condenast.com/privacy-policy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement</a>. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google<a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Privacy Policy</a> and<a href="https://policies.google.com/terms" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Terms of Service</a> apply.</p></span></div></div><p class="paywall">Throughout
the next half decade, Wilds-Bethea worked toward a full-time, fully
licensed position as a teacher. He took a test required by the Board of
Examiners, got a second master’s degree, and completed a probationary
period. He thought that he was in the system for good and settled into a
job at P.S. 92, a school in Harlem, where many of the faculty members
were Black. But, in 1991, a new law went into effect that meant that
Wilds-Bethea, along with other teachers across the city, had to pass yet
another test: the National Teacher Examination, or N.T.E. The N.T.E.,
which had been administered in other states for decades, was adopted by
New York after several task forces concluded that low standards for
teachers were hurting student performance, and called for greater
knowledge of the liberal arts among educators. The exam covered basic
knowledge of social studies, science, math, literature, and writing. New
York City teachers—even those who had already been tenured and
previously licensed—needed to pass in order to keep their full-time jobs
with seniority and benefits.</p><p class="paywall">Wilds-Bethea started
taking the N.T.E. Each time, he would fail by two or three points. He
typically did fine on the math and science sections, but he had trouble
on the communications section, which he attributes to a then undiagnosed
hearing impairment that made it hard for him to focus on the listening
portion of the test. There were also essay prompts, which Wilds-Bethea
described as “ridiculous”: “I just went and wrote any old bullshit,” he
said. Wilds-Bethea failed the N.T.E. ten times. In 1993, the state began
phasing out the N.T.E. and introduced an alternative exam, the Liberal
Arts and Science Test, or <em class="small">LAST</em>, which Wilds-Bethea took and failed three times.</p><div><div aria-hidden="true" class="ConsumerMarketingUnitThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut consumer-marketing-unit consumer-marketing-unit--article-mid-content" role="presentation"><div class="consumer-marketing-unit__slot consumer-marketing-unit__slot--article-mid-content consumer-marketing-unit__slot--in-content"></div><div class="journey-unit"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">He wasn’t the only teacher who struggled with the N.T.E. and the <em class="small">LAST</em>.
At P.S. 92, Wilds-Bethea and his colleagues traded horror stories about
their test-taking experiences. One woman said that she threw up every
time she took one of the exams.</p><p class="paywall">Wilds-Bethea heard
that some teachers were organizing to address problems with the tests.
The first meeting that he attended was at a middle school in the Bronx,
in the lunchroom after school. There were maybe half a dozen people
there. Wilds-Bethea served as note-taker. They gave themselves a name:
the Committee for a Fair Licensing Procedure.</p><div class="inline-recirc-wrapper inline-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monitor-anchor" data-attr-viewport-monitor="inline-recirc" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"InlineRecirc"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"InlineRecirc"}" data-include-experiments="true"></div><p class="paywall">The
group started meeting every few weeks at different schools across the
city. Soon, they were averaging a hundred people at each gathering, with
several thousand more subscribed to the group’s newsletter. Committee
members would visit test sites, where they would hand out pamphlets and a
questionnaire. They started compiling a database of affected teachers
who had repeatedly failed the N.T.E. and the <em class="small">LAST</em>.</p><p class="paywall">Wilds-Bethea
felt consumed by these tests. He wrote to the heads of licensing for
New York City and State, asking for an exemption for previously
full-time, tenured teachers, but got no response. To him, it seemed
unfair to make full-time teachers prove themselves in this way—and to
watch the ones who failed get demoted and lose pay, which is what
eventually happened to him. And then there was the personal humiliation
of it: “your feelings of being incompetent,” he said. His colleagues
“wanted to be educators. And they’ve been tarnished and labelled. It’s
not good for your self-esteem.”</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--item grid-layout__aside"><aside class="PersistentAsideWrapper-deVGrR daRVRt persistent-aside" data-testid="PersistentAsideWrapper" style="height: 3521.55px; position: absolute; top: 904.801px;"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYBuk jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-node-id="tz58f"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-rail cns-ads-slot-type-rail-0 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-300x600" data-name="rail_0" data-slot-type="rail" id="cns-ads-slot-type-rail-0"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CN2X7NDF2oMDFT21gwgdy6MCgw" data-node-id="tz58f" id="rail_0" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/rail/news/article/1_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; margin: auto; text-align: center;"></div></div></div></div></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="ConsumerMarketingUnitThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut consumer-marketing-unit consumer-marketing-unit--display-rail" role="presentation"><div class="consumer-marketing-unit__slot consumer-marketing-unit__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-unit"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholder-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></aside></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-content-ad" data-testid="RowWrapper"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidcontent" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-include-experiments="true"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-content should-hold-space"><span class="ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-content" data-node-id="61idgd"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-0 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-728x90" data-name="mid_content_0" data-slot-type="mid_content" id="cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-0"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CNqk1dPF2oMDFTeWgwgd55QFfg" data-node-id="61idgd" id="mid_content_0" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/mid-content/news/article/1_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; height: 90px; margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 728px;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxaau bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--item grid-layout__content"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa kXcnbJ body body__container article__body" data-journey-hook="client-content" data-testid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__inner-container"><p class="paywall">The
committee members were predominantly Black, although not exclusively: a
few Latino educators joined, along with a substantial minority of white
Russian immigrants. According to coverage from the time, the N.T.E. had
earned a nickname in some circles: the Negro Teacher Eliminator. A
presentation by Bob Schaeffer, from the advocacy organization FairTest,
confirmed the committee’s perception that the test was racially biased.
From 1993 through 1994, an average of eighty-four per cent of white
test-takers passed the N.T.E., compared with forty-four per cent of
Black test-takers, and forty per cent of Latino test-takers. From March,
1993, to June, 1995, the average pass rate for the <em class="small">LAST</em>
was ninety-three per cent for white test-takers, compared with
fifty-three per cent and fifty per cent for Black and Latino
test-takers, respectively.</p><p class="paywall">After consulting a
civil-rights attorney, the committee voted to sue New York City and
State for violating Title VII, the legal provision that prohibits
race-based discrimination in the workplace, along with other provisions.
Their class-action lawsuit, filed in 1996, was made up of Black and
Latino teachers who failed the N.T.E. or the <em class="small">LAST</em>. The case has dragged on for almost three decades, and has come to include more than five thousand plaintiffs.</p><div class="Container-bkChBi byNLHx" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"CNEInterludeEmbed"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"CNEInterludeEmbed"}" data-include-experiments="true"><figure class="VideoFigure-eayQIa jZXcM" data-testid="cne-interlude-container"><p class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ InterludeHeader-jpfboO iUEiRd jElyjS dVGmQa">Video From The New Yorker</p><a aria-label="Opens in a new window" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLink-eNWuiM InterludeTitleLink-cHlEVd iUEiRd stdEm cmLSpu kyAPDp" href="https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/nina-and-irena-a-holocaust-survivor-breaks-eighty-years-of-silence" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><p class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ InterludeTitle-liWPgh iUEiRd eDtodZ iNrGZX">Nina & Irena: A Holocaust Survivor Breaks Eighty Years of Silence</p></a><figure class="CneVideoEmbedFigure-kCfJjN jCfLby cne-video-embed"><div data-testid="script-container"><div class="cne-player-container" id="a76138-ea0c-3bb7-5b22-2952ae31256d" style="box-sizing: content-box; display: inline-block; height: 0px; padding-top: 56.25%; position: relative; transition: height 300ms ease-in-out; vertical-align: top; width: 100%;"></div></div></figure></figure></div><p class="paywall">The
court found that Black and Latino teachers clearly passed these tests
at lower rates than white teachers. In order to prove that this wasn’t
illegal, the defendants had to show that the test actually demonstrated
what it promised: that teachers who did well on the test would do better
in their jobs. A district-court judge, Constance Baker Motley—a Black
woman and famous civil-rights lawyer who worked with Thurgood Marshall
on Brown v. Board—initially found in favor of New York, concluding that
the N.T.E. and the <em class="small">LAST</em> were sufficiently
job-related to justify their use. But the Second Circuit vacated part of
that decision and dropped New York State as a defendant. Another
district-court judge, Kimba Wood, subsequently found that the city had
violated Title VII because the <em class="small">LAST</em> was not
properly validated, or proven to show what it said it showed. In 2021,
the city agreed to a schedule of payments. This fight over tests has
proved expensive: the city now owes many of these teachers significant
back pay and other financial compensation. The payouts are expected to
total about $1.8 billion—the highest dollar-value judgment ever brought
against New York City. (In a statement, a New York City Law Department
spokesman called the court’s decisions “mistaken” and said they
“unfairly burden City taxpayers with costly judgements.”)</p><p class="paywall">The
lawsuit raised a difficult question that never really got resolved:
Were these tests racist? Coverage of the case, especially in
conservative outlets, has focussed on this matter. One New York <em>Post</em>
article noted tartly that Herman Grim, a Queens resident who will get a
payout of more than two million dollars from the city after failing the
<em class="small">LAST</em> in the nineties, could not give any
examples of why the test was racially biased. The clearly intended
takeaway is that teachers who weren’t smart enough to pass a
basic-knowledge exam cried racism and will get to collect millions of
dollars as a result.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--item grid-layout__aside"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYBuk jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholder-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-content-ad" data-testid="RowWrapper"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidcontent" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-include-experiments="true"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-content should-hold-space"><span class="ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-content" data-node-id="d7aaqm"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-1 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-728x90" data-name="mid_content_1" data-slot-type="mid_content" id="cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-1"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CKfby9TF2oMDFdWSgwgd0RQH4g" data-node-id="d7aaqm" id="mid_content_1" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/mid-content/news/article/2_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; height: 90px; margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 728px;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxaau bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--item grid-layout__content"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa kXcnbJ body body__container article__body" data-journey-hook="client-content" data-testid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__inner-container"><p class="paywall">Actual question examples from the <em class="small">LAST</em>
and the N.T.E. are difficult to find, in part because portions of the
trial transcript have been sealed—test-makers didn’t want their
proprietary materials being made public. But in the available sections
of the transcript, the prosecution’s expert witness, Frank Landy, a
professor of industrial psychology at Penn State, did discuss a few
N.T.E. questions that he found particularly problematic. One apparently
asked test-takers to look at a performance stage and speculate about why
its designer had created it in such an “unadorned” way. Another
concerned the splitting of the hemispheres of the brain, which Landy
said would require a sophisticated understanding of “neurophysiology and
neuroanatomy” and had “multiple correct answers.” Some test-takers were
presented with a picture of the cadet chapel of the Air Force Academy
in Colorado Springs and asked about its aesthetic purpose. Landy visited
the Academy’s Web site looking for an answer, and found that none of
the multiple-choice options listed on the test matched the explanation
the Academy gave.</p><p class="paywall">During the trial, Landy argued
that people’s experiences and knowledge are always shaped by race. “If I
grew up in New York, would I go to <em class="small">MoMA</em> and the
Metropolitan Opera and the Metropolitan Museum and listen to NPR?” he
said. “I’m a 60-year-old Irish Catholic. I look at things a particular
way, whether I want to or not.” In a conversation with me, Joshua Sohn,
the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, recalled that on the <em class="small">LAST</em>,
teachers were asked to explain the meaning of Andy Warhol’s famous
soup-can paintings. He questioned why a kindergarten special-education
teacher or a Spanish teacher needs to know this; in his view, it’s not a
meaningful measure of how well they can do their jobs. But the question
also gets to the heart of the case: “The further away the test gets
from evaluating basic skills—reading, writing, math—the more likely it
is to have some type of difference performance by group,” Sohn told me.
“It necessarily tests culture.”</p><div class="inline-recirc-wrapper inline-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monitor-anchor" data-attr-viewport-monitor="inline-recirc" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"InlineRecirc"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"InlineRecirc"}" data-include-experiments="true"></div><p class="paywall">The
plaintiffs’ ultimate argument is not that white people know about Andy
Warhol and Black people don’t. It’s that asking experienced teachers to
correctly interpret the meaning of soup cans is not actually
job-related—it’s closer to a poll test than a carefully considered
question of competency.</p><p class="has-dropcap has-dropcap__lead-standard-heading paywall">Earlier this year, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/10/the-end-of-affirmative-action">banned race-based affirmative action</a>
in college admissions. This reopened old debates over tests such as the
SAT and ACT and whether they disproportionately favor white and Asian
applicants. And yet, these debates about race and higher education focus
on the end of a long pipeline. Years before recent high-school seniors
prepared to take college-entrance exams, their teachers all had to take
tests, too—tests that have sometimes been found by the courts to
illegally disadvantage minority groups.</p><p class="paywall">There’s an
extensive history of states using licensure exams, sometimes
intentionally, to keep Black educators out of classrooms following Brown
v. Board. In the seventies, as Southern states reluctantly desegregated
their schools, Black teachers and the National Education Association, a
teachers’ union, believed that state officials deliberately used the
N.T.E. to make it less likely that Black teachers would obtain
certification. This was primarily achieved through cutoff scores—the
score someone needed to get on the test in order to pass, which was
determined by state officials and varied from place to place. According
to research by Leslie Fenwick, a professor of education policy at
Howard, these scores have often been set slightly above the average pass
rate for Black test-takers. In a quote from a 1970 report, the program
director for the N.T.E. warned, “You can build the best test available .
. . but if there’s malice in somebody’s heart, it can be used to
eliminate Blacks.”</p><p class="paywall">In the eighties, Black teachers
successfully sued the state of Alabama for using teacher-certification
tests that were culturally biased and had an adverse effect on racial
minorities. In a report she authored, Fenwick described the introduction
in the nineties of the Praxis I, now called the Praxis Core—a
broad-based skills test required in some states, often for college
students interested in becoming teachers—as a disaster for her education
department at a historically Black college in Atlanta. Suddenly,
instead of bustling hallways, the department struggled to recruit
teacher candidates. Black students had lower pass rates on the Praxis I
than white students, and failing this test meant that they were cut off
from trying to become teachers before they had even started. The test
shrunk the whole Black-teacher pipeline.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--item grid-layout__aside"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYBuk jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-node-id="ug6hig"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-rail cns-ads-slot-type-rail-1 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-300x250" data-name="rail_1" data-slot-type="rail" id="cns-ads-slot-type-rail-1"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CP6819TF2oMDFZyWgwgdxxcP3w" data-node-id="ug6hig" id="rail_1" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/rail/news/article/2_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; height: 250px; margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 300px;"></div></div></div></div></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="ConsumerMarketingUnitThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut consumer-marketing-unit consumer-marketing-unit--display-rail" role="presentation"><div class="consumer-marketing-unit__slot consumer-marketing-unit__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-unit"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholder-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-content-ad" data-testid="RowWrapper"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidcontent" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-include-experiments="true"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-content should-hold-space"><span class="ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-content" data-node-id="rd4w29"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-2 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-728x90" data-name="mid_content_2" data-slot-type="mid_content" id="cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-2"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CMaq4tbF2oMDFTeWgwgd55QFfg" data-node-id="rd4w29" id="mid_content_2" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/mid-content/news/article/3_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; height: 90px; margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 728px;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxaau bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--item grid-layout__content"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa kXcnbJ body body__container article__body" data-journey-hook="client-content" data-testid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__inner-container"><p class="paywall">Racially disparate pass rates on aptitude tests aren’t just a problem for aspiring teachers. The ACT, the SAT, the <em class="small">LSAT</em>, the <em class="small">MCAT</em>—Black
students do worse than white students on nearly every prominent
precollege and preprofessional test. To Fenwick, the problem lies with
test-makers: “If all those tests, including teacher tests, are showing
that there are racial disparities that have a practical significance in
terms of who we allow into professions,” she said, “you need to update
your tests.”</p><p class="paywall">And yet there’s a lot of disagreement
among experts about this question—whether the tests are inherently
flawed, or whether they just reflect society’s deeper problems with
race. “I don’t think it’s surprising that we see a disparate impact on
test performance,” said Dan Goldhaber, a professor at the University of
Washington whom another scholar described as “the doyen” of researchers
in this area. “There is inequality in society. And one of the ways that
manifests is with different educational outcomes.” Heather Peske, the
president of the National Council on Teacher Quality (N.C.T.Q.), pointed
out that disparate pass rates may reflect the racial inequalities of
K-12 schooling—all aspiring teachers were once students themselves, and
lots of evidence suggests that racial and ethnic minorities aren’t doing
as well in American schools as white students. “The idea that because
there are disparate pass rates, it somehow means that the instrument
itself is biased—I take issue with that as a premise,” Peske said. When
it comes to teachers who don’t pass the test, “we haven’t provided
test-takers of color with the content knowledge that they need to go and
be successful with students. And that’s really problematic for many
reasons.” It’s a vicious cycle: Black and Latino students are more
likely to attend failing schools, where research shows they’re more
likely to be placed with teachers who are uncertified or still in
training. Some of these kids will grow up to want to be teachers, but
they may have trouble passing the tests they need to enter the
profession. That will mean fewer Black and Latino teachers in
classrooms. Research strongly suggests that when Black students, in
particular, learn from teachers who look like them, they do better in
school, take more advanced courses, and are more likely to graduate from
high school and college.</p><p class="paywall">There’s another weak
link in that cycle, one that can be politically touchy to talk about:
teachers’ colleges. According to the N.C.T.Q., most teacher-training
programs don’t even require applicants to have a G.P.A. of 3.0 or above,
the equivalent of a B average. Once aspiring teachers enter their
programs, they don’t necessarily learn what they need to prepare
students: only a quarter of elementary-school teacher-training programs
address all the components of scientifically based reading instruction,
and another quarter don’t teach scientifically based reading methods at
all. Graduate programs for elementary-school teachers often emphasize
math pedagogy over math content, even though many teachers feel
unprepared to instruct students in basic concepts. Many programs don’t
give teachers in training enough opportunities for clinical practice in
classrooms. And teacher-training programs are overwhelmingly whiter than
the campuses where they’re housed. Many well-meaning policymakers have
suggested that having “a more diverse teacher workforce necessarily
depends on lowering the standards for who can become a teacher,”
according to a report by the N.C.T.Q. (In an e-mail, a spokesperson for
the New York State Education Department said that “creating more
inclusive opportunities for more New Yorkers to enter the teaching field
should not be viewed as lowering standards, and any attempt to draw
that conclusion is baseless and abhorrent.”)</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--item grid-layout__aside"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYBuk jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholder-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-content-ad" data-testid="RowWrapper"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidcontent" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-include-experiments="true"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-content should-hold-space"><span class="ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-content" data-node-id="mrhubs"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-3 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-728x90" data-name="mid_content_3" data-slot-type="mid_content" id="cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-3"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CMS-ytfF2oMDFT-YgwgdVasMGw" data-node-id="mrhubs" id="mid_content_3" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/mid-content/news/article/4_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; height: 90px; margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 728px;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxaau bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--item grid-layout__content"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa kXcnbJ body body__container article__body" data-journey-hook="client-content" data-testid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__inner-container"><p class="paywall">Still,
Peske told me, “we run the risk of perpetuating the inequities that
presently exist in our K-12 education system.” In her view, that’s where
licensure tests come in: they measure everyone the same way, even when
they come out of programs of wildly varying quality. “Licensure tests
serve as important guardrails on content knowledge of teachers,” Peske
continued. “When we take these shortcuts in preparing teachers and
insuring that they have knowledge and skills, it costs everyone, and,
most of all, it costs the students.”</p><p class="paywall">Goldhaber
pointed out that, in the debate over licensure tests, “there’s a lot of
options besides have exams or don’t have exams.” For example, states can
adjust or get rid of cutoff scores for teacher tests. Instead of making
the test an up-or-down measure of whether someone can enter the
profession, their score could be one piece of information a district may
or may not use in hiring. Many states, including New York, also require
certain teachers to pass subject-area exams—high-school chemistry
teachers have to prove they know chemistry, for example. These
subject-specific tests raise far fewer objections from educators who
criticize the racial impacts of general-knowledge tests, in part because
the disparities in outcomes are less pronounced.</p><div class="inline-recirc-wrapper inline-recirc-observer-target-3 viewport-monitor-anchor" data-attr-viewport-monitor="inline-recirc" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"InlineRecirc"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"InlineRecirc"}" data-include-experiments="true"></div><p class="paywall">Not
all test alternatives are equally good. In 2014, New York began
requiring teacher candidates to take the edT.P.A., an extensive
assessment that focusses on their performance in the classroom, drawing
on sample lesson plans and materials, written narratives about their
experiences, and video samples of their teaching. A few years later, the
state lowered the passing score for the test; Black test-takers were
nearly twice as likely to fail the edT.P.A. as white or Hispanic
test-takers, according to an analysis done by Chalkbeat. Last year, the
state got rid of the edT.P.A altogether. New York State United Teachers,
a federation of unions that represents a huge number of teachers in the
state, hailed the move, citing reports from students and educators who
“said completing the edT.P.A. was so consuming and stressful that it
ruined the student teaching experience.” Teacher candidates in New York
no longer have to take a broad-based knowledge or practical exam;
starting this fall, their preparation programs will be primarily
responsible for evaluating whether they’re ready to be in a classroom.
Goldhaber was skeptical of this approach. Teachers’ colleges have
“pretty strong financial incentives not to tell somebody who is pursuing
a teaching career, ‘Sorry, we don’t think you’re going to make it,’ ”
he said. “Those kinds of institutional incentives make me think that
very few people would be ruled out.”</p><p class="paywall">David
Steiner, a former New York State commissioner of education and current
professor of education at Johns Hopkins, said that most teachers’
colleges are fundamentally mismatched to the profession, focussing on
traditional academic research and publishing over clinical classroom
prep—he called the clinical training “pretty hopeless.” In the face of a
severe nationwide teacher shortage and a disproportionately white
teacher pipeline, “it’s much, much easier to do a chase to the bottom,
to rationalize the removal of almost any gateway, in the name of
attracting a more diverse teaching force.”</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--item grid-layout__aside"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYBuk jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-node-id="x6yn4c"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-rail cns-ads-slot-type-rail-2 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-300x250" data-name="rail_2" data-slot-type="rail" id="cns-ads-slot-type-rail-2"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CMGl1tfF2oMDFV-SgwgdSXALkg" data-node-id="x6yn4c" id="rail_2" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/rail/news/article/3_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; height: 250px; margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 300px;"></div></div></div></div></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="ConsumerMarketingUnitThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut consumer-marketing-unit consumer-marketing-unit--display-rail" role="presentation"><div class="consumer-marketing-unit__slot consumer-marketing-unit__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-unit"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholder-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-content-ad" data-testid="RowWrapper"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidcontent" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"StickyMidContent"}" data-include-experiments="true"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-content should-hold-space"><span class="ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-content" data-node-id="9ltczm"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-4 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-970x250" data-name="mid_content_4" data-slot-type="mid_content" id="cns-ads-slot-type-mid-content-4"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CMf_z9jF2oMDFZyHgwgdmxYNFw" data-node-id="9ltczm" id="mid_content_4" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/mid-content/news/article/5_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; height: 250px; margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 970px;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxaau bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--item grid-layout__content"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa kXcnbJ body body__container article__body" data-journey-hook="client-content" data-testid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__inner-container"><p class="paywall">Like
everyone else I spoke with, Steiner acknowledged that teacher-licensing
exams have disparate racial pass rates, and he pointed out significant
flaws in the edT.P.A. that, in his mind, could justify New York’s
decision to end its use, such as an emphasis on writing about teaching
over actual teaching experience. But, ultimately, he said, “you can’t
design a test around teaching methods if you can’t agree on what
actually counts as effective.” America doesn’t just have a problem with a
lack of teachers and a lack of teacher diversity. “We can’t agree on
what good teaching is in the first place,” Steiner said. “And that’s
something no one will talk about.”</p><p class="has-dropcap has-dropcap__lead-standard-heading paywall">In her finding against New York City, Judge Wood noted that the makers of the <em class="small">LAST</em>
never compiled a list of the tasks that teachers are supposed to
perform, nor did they try to figure out whether the knowledge tested on
the <em class="small">LAST</em> was relevant to those tasks. Although
this reasoning is important in court, it seems to miss something
fundamental about education. Teachers are not garbagemen or accountants,
charged with discrete, concrete duties. Their job is much broader, and
more subtle: to fill students’ minds and equip them to venture out into
the world.</p><p class="paywall">New York has cycled through at least
four licensure exams since the late nineteen-eighties, always eventually
dropping them. But it’s not clear that any of these changes have
actually improved students’ education. Since the pandemic, New York
State has tumbled in the national ranking of performance in reading and
math for fourth graders. This past school year, only half of New York
City’s third-to-eighth graders achieved proficient reading scores, and
among Black and Latino students, that figure was closer to forty per
cent. Schaeffer, of FairTest, has come to view teacher-licensing exams
as nothing more than performative symbols—something for states and
unions to point to in order to prove that teachers actually know
something. “They’re like the talisman that you wore around your neck in
the Middle Ages to ward off the plague,” he said, paraphrasing <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0091732X014001169">an old article</a> about flaws in testing. “The evidence for their efficacy is weak and self-serving.”</p><p class="paywall">Even
if states could devise the perfect test for teachers, fewer and fewer
people are entering the profession. The pay isn’t great: the Census
Bureau reports that teachers make less on average than their peers with
the same education level, and teacher pay has fallen over all since
2010. The pandemic made a difficult profession harder: reports of
mental-health crises, unmanageable classrooms, and staggering <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/whos-left-out-of-the-learning-loss-debate">learning loss</a> are everywhere.</p><p class="paywall">All
this has primed the field of education for an anti-test moment.
“Because of this shortage of teachers, we’re going to have to become
more creative about how we identify who could be a good teacher,” Pedro
Noguera, the dean of the School of Education at the University of
Southern California, said. “Several people over the years, myself
included, have been arguing that you can’t simply rely on a test.”
Schaeffer described the opposition to testing culture—from licensure
exams to student evaluations that affect teachers’ bonuses and
performance reviews—as “widespread” within teachers’ colleges.</p><p class="paywall">In recent years, thousands of teachers who failed the <em class="small">LAST</em>
have received compensation for damages. Some of these people remained
in education—maybe they moved to New Jersey, where testing cutoff scores
were lower, or stuck with lower-paying substitute-teacher positions in
New York. After a few years in limbo, Wilds-Bethea finally got a
guidance-counsellor job at a school—what he had always wanted, anyway.
Because of previous litigation, guidance counsellors were considered
social-services employees, not teachers, so he was exempt from the <em class="small">LAST</em>
requirement and could regain a full-time position with benefits. He had
a long career working in New York City public schools and retired in
2016. He lives in Harlem, neighboring some of his former students, in a
sun-filled apartment with a terrace covered in plants overlooking City
College, where he got his teaching degree. The testing saga didn’t
completely derail his career. But he knows plenty of teachers whose
lives truly changed: people who lost their houses or their pensions, or
who couldn’t afford to put kids through college.</p><p class="paywall">Wilds-Bethea
still hasn’t seen any money from the lawsuit; litigation over each
individual payout is ongoing. Given that he worked in New York City
public schools for many years while the litigation was ongoing, though,
the amount is likely to be large. Ultimately, he sees the whole thing as
a tragedy. “I think the money could have been much better spent
improving our schools,” he said. “That’s kind of painful, too.” He
wishes that all those years ago, the city would have granted an
exemption to already licensed teachers and avoided the lawsuit, along
with the billions it will cost the city. Kids won’t see any of that
money, but lawyers will. So far, the plaintiffs have been awarded at
least $57.2 million in attorneys’ fees. Sohn, the lead lawyer in the
case, defended the need to resolve this dispute in court: “When I
started this case, I thought that we could make people do the right
thing. And it’s become really clear that we can just make them stop
doing the wrong thing,” he said. That’s “an incredible service to our
communities.”</p><div class="inline-recirc-wrapper inline-recirc-observer-target-4 viewport-monitor-anchor" data-attr-viewport-monitor="inline-recirc" data-event-boundary="click" data-event-click="{"pattern":"InlineRecirc"}" data-in-view="{"pattern":"InlineRecirc"}" data-include-experiments="true"></div><p class="paywall">Now
some of these plaintiffs will have their lives changed once again
because of a test. Payouts in the one-to-two-million range are not
unheard of. The judgment also gives some plaintiffs a path to restoring
their licenses to teach in New York City. These plaintiffs will have the
chance to start over, but they may not want to take it. Many of them
are well past the age when they might want to begin a new chapter of
their career. As one of Wilds-Bethea’s Committee bulletins put it, years
ago, “Many of the teachers affected are enthusiastic young people who
have come to our profession with a great deal of energy and idealism.
They want to do a good job and are being cut off before they even
start.” ♦</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--item grid-layout__aside"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYBuk jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-node-id="ki9ddm"><div class="cns-ads-stage cns-ads-slot-type-rail cns-ads-slot-type-rail-3 cns-ads-slot-state-filled cns-ads-slot-size-300x600" data-name="rail_3" data-slot-type="rail" id="cns-ads-slot-type-rail-3"><div class="cns-ads-container" data-google-query-id="CKLRtITG2oMDFbWygwgdB9cKOg" data-node-id="ki9ddm" id="rail_3" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px auto;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_3379/conde.newyorker/rail/news/article/4_0__container__" style="border: 0pt; margin: auto; text-align: center;"></div></div></div></div></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="ConsumerMarketingUnitThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut consumer-marketing-unit consumer-marketing-unit--display-rail" role="presentation"><div class="consumer-marketing-unit__slot consumer-marketing-unit__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-unit"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholder-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margins grid-items-2 PaywallInlineBarrierWithWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--item grid-layout__content"><div class="body body__inline-barrier article__body"><div class="container container--body"><div class="container--body-inner"><aside class="PaywallInlineBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-testid="PaywallInlineBarrierWrapper"><div aria-hidden="true" aria-live="polite" class="ConsumerMarketingUnitThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut consumer-marketing-unit consumer-marketing-unit--paywall-inline-barrier" role="presentation"><div class="consumer-marketing-unit__slot consumer-marketing-unit__slot--paywall-inline-barrier"></div><div class="journey-unit"></div></div></aside></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--item grid-layout__content"><div class="body body__container"><div class="container container--body"><div class="container--body-inner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><h2 class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SectionTitleHed-dKqZet dxqEAa dqtvfu gbguXG"><br /></h2><p class="BylineWrapper-jWHrLH ivtvgj byline bylines__byline" data-testid="BylineWrapper" itemprop="author" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span class="BylineNamesWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo" itemprop="name"><span class="BylineName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byline__name" data-testid="BylineName"> </span></span></p></div><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-4178252369843484642023-11-19T12:19:00.004-05:002023-11-19T12:19:49.472-05:00Union Workers Back Contract Deals at 3 Big Automakers, UAW leadership Caucus Neutrality on Ratification<p> </p><p>https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/business/uaw-ratify-contract-general-motors.html</p><div class="css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0"><h1 class="css-1l8buln e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-39ac834f">Union Workers Back Contract Deals at 3 Big Automakers</h1></div><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary">The
United Automobile Workers union hopes the agreements with General
Motors, Ford and Stellantis will help it make inroads at other
companies.</p><div class="css-103l8m3"><div class="css-1u5onbp epjyd6m1"><div aria-hidden="true" class="css-165eim7 ey68jwv0"><a class="css-uwwqev" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/noam-scheiber"><img alt="Noam Scheiber" class="css-dc6zx6 ey68jwv2" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/07/16/multimedia/author-noam-scheiber/author-noam-scheiber-thumbLarge-v2.png" title="Noam Scheiber" /></a></div><div class="css-233int epjyd6m0"><p class="css-4anu6l e1jsehar1"><span class="byline-prefix">By </span><span class="css-1baulvz last-byline" itemprop="name"><a class="css-n8ff4n e1jsehar0" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/noam-scheiber">Noam Scheiber</a></span></p></div></div></div><div data-testid="reading-time-module"><div class="css-3xqm5e"><time class="css-8blifj e16638kd2" datetime="2023-11-16T11:26:33-05:00"><span class="css-1sbuyqj e16638kd3">Nov. 16, 2023</span></time></div></div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Members
of the United Automobile Workers union have given their backing to new
contracts with the three big U.S. automakers, agreements that deliver
hefty wage increases and other gains that had eluded the union for more
than 20 years.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the most closely
contested vote, the tentative contract agreement at General Motors won
the support of 55 percent of the nearly 36,000 members casting ballots,
according to <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QRtaTUVfEvJzav_qKJ87OIQ3hH0b0-wqrgSq_Cj831I/edit#gid=0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">a tally from all the G.M. locals</a> that the union posted on Thursday.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Tentative agreements with <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yjPgbvASszyT-brURup2M_5NE1mHN3VN-_KSvMSwWS0/htmlview#gid=0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">Ford Motor</a> and <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BdU9sB2SWGX9yGucYwBgQKBnsfWpZTIh6ZQCZyKNuAo/htmlview#gid=0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">Stellantis</a>,
the maker of brands including Jeep and Chrysler, appeared headed for
approval by more decisive margins, nearly complete results there showed.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A spokesman for the union confirmed the accuracy of the tallies but declined to comment further.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
agreements are similar across the three automakers and raise the top
wage for production workers 25 percent, to more than $40 over four and a
half years, from $32. They were reached last month after a six-week
wave of strikes that hobbled the companies — a strategy spearheaded by
the union’s new president, Shawn Fain, who had vowed to take a more
adversarial approach to negotiations than his predecessors.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The agreements appear to have quickly reverberated across the auto industry, with Toyota, Hyundai and Honda announcing <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/business/gm-uaw-union-contract.html" title="">significant wage increase</a> at nonunion plants in the United States only days later.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“We call that the U.A.W. bump, and that stands for ‘U Are Welcome,’” Mr. Fain said in <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieG5dXDub44" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">testimony</a>
before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this
week. “And we’re very proud of that. And when these workers decide to
organize and join the U.A.W., they’re going to realize the full benefit
of union membership and get what they’re fully due.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
new contracts also included larger company contributions to workers’
retirement plans and the right to strike over plant closures. All three
automakers declined to comment on the ratification votes.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr.
Fain said the union was seeking to capitalize on its momentum by waging
muscular organizing campaigns at nonunion plants, and, in <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/a700be36-df10-7e25-faa8-b9a5b29ac93d/Shawn%20Fain%20HELP%20testimony%20and%20bio.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">remarks</a>
submitted to the Senate committee, he added that thousands of workers
were already contacting the union and signing union cards.</p><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But
even Mr. Fain’s tough approach in the talks with the Big Three did not
yield terms attractive enough to many union members. G.M. workers at
several large plants voted against the tentative agreement by large
margins.</p><div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In contrast, members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/business/economy/ups-contract-vote-teamsters.html" title="">recently approved</a>
a new contract at United Parcel Service with 86 percent support, while a
new contract between the Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios
<a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/business/media/screenwriters-contract-ratify.html" title="">passed</a> with 99 percent support.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Rebecca
Givan, a labor studies professor at Rutgers University, said Mr. Fain
had achieved a major victory despite having taken office only a few
months earlier with a goal of reorienting the union.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div class="css-z3e15g" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper-hidden"></div><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0"></span><picture class="css-1j5kxti" style="opacity: 1;"><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source></picture><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> Dr. Givan said the union’s approach of initially striking at one plant
at each of the three automakers and ramping up over time had “really
upended a lot of conventional wisdom” in the labor movement and had
proved unusually successful at reversing some concessions that the union
had accepted years earlier, like the suspension of a cost-of-living
adjustment.</p><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“This shows that if workers build enough power, they can win things back,” she said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">U.A.W. members at Mack Truck also <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uaw-members-mack-trucks-vote-ratify-new-contract-2023-11-16/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">ratified</a> a contract on Wednesday, after rejecting an initial agreement with the company.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Across
the three automakers, skepticism toward the agreements arose in large
part from veteran workers who felt that the proposed contracts did not
go far enough to compensate them for years of concessions and weak wage
growth, even given strong gains for newer workers. Wages for some newer
workers will more than double over the next four years.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Huey
Harris, a G.M. employee at a large truck assembly plant in Flint,
Mich., who has worked at the company for over 20 years, said the deal
should have gone further in rewarding veteran workers, though he
ultimately voted for it. “The traditional people didn’t think they were
offered enough in the contract,” he said.</p><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Several
longtime employees of the Big Three automakers said that even after the
large gains of the new contract, they would not be making more than
when they started their careers.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Curtis March, who
works at Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant, said he made about $18 an hour
once he reached the top wage for production workers at the company in
the early 1990s, equivalent to more than $40 today when adjusted for
inflation. He will make about $36 in the first year of the new contract.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr.
March said the deal was likely to pass at Ford because it placated more
recent employees, who outnumber veterans like him. Workers at his plant
approved the deal after voting against several previous contracts.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Despite
the ultimate success, the path to ratifying the contracts has included
some internal strains for Mr. Fain and the union. Unite All Workers for
Democracy, a reform group that <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/business/economy/uaw-shawn-fain-unite-all-workers.html" title="">played a key role</a>
in electing Mr. Fain and six other members of the U.A.W. executive
board to their positions, declined to formally recommend that union
members approve the contract even after Mr. Fain urged the group to do
so at a recent meeting, according to three people familiar with the
meeting. Instead, Unite All Workers passed <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://uawd.org/project/let-democracy-prevail-once-again/?swcfpc=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">a resolution</a>
committing it to stay neutral during the ratification vote, though it
stated that the group “celebrates the record gains made in this
agreement.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Two of these people also
said the union’s General Motors department had been less communicative
and less proactive in distributing information about the contract to
local union officials and members than the Ford and Stellantis
departments.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The union declined to comment on these developments.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div></aside></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div class="css-z3e15g" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper-hidden"></div><picture class="css-1j5kxti" style="opacity: 1;"><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source></picture><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-793492641110928752023-10-02T19:45:00.002-04:002023-10-02T19:45:41.125-04:00Dianne Feinstein helped lead the Democratic Party’s neoliberal turn - Jacobin<p> </p><div class="po-hr-cn__contributors">
<dl class="po-hr-cn__authors"><dt class="po-hr-cn__byline">By</dt><dd class="po-hr-cn__author">
<a class="po-hr-cn__author-link" href="https://jacobin.com/author/liza-featherstone">
Liza Featherstone
</a>
</dd></dl>
</div>
<p class="po-hr-cn__dek">Dianne Feinstein deserves to be
remembered as a representative of the country’s monied interests — and
her centrist legacy should be rejected.</p><div style="text-align: center;">Dianne Feinstein helped lead the Democratic Party’s neoliberal turn.</div>
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<span style="color: black;">California senator
Dianne Feinstein died last week at age ninety, and mainstream media
outlets are rushing to eulogize her. She deserves recognition — and it
should go without saying that Feinstein’s death is sad for those close
to her — but the hymns of praise miss her real significance. Celebrated
as a “pragmatist,” Feinstein in fact helped remake the Democratic Party
into a political vehicle for the very rich, and relatedly, the
military-industrial complex.<br />
<br />
The <em>New York Times</em>’s obituary calls her “a tough campaigner who sometimes took conservative positions.” Even the left-leaning <em>Mother Jones</em> — which is named after, well, Mother Jones! — got in on the <em>festschrift</em>,
labeling Feinstein a “trailblazing Democrat” and citing their own 2017
feature on the senator, which quoted her friend Orville Schell calling
her “the last bastion of bridge building in the Senate.”<br />
<br />
What the establishment loved about Feinstein is clear from these
obituaries: she opposed what elites deem the excesses of the Left. On
the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, before <em>Roe v. Wade</em>, she carried out harsh penalties against illegal abortion providers, and in a 2022 interview with <em>New York</em> magazine’s Rebecca Traister, she didn’t seem to regret her actions in the least.</span></td><td class="m_4831655384627585254mcnTextContent" style="color: white; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-left: 18px; padding-right: 18px; padding-top: 0; text-align: left; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><span style="color: black;"> </span></td><td class="m_4831655384627585254mcnTextContent" style="color: white; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-left: 18px; padding-right: 18px; padding-top: 0; text-align: left; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><span style="color: black;"> </span>
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<p>California senator Dianne Feinstein died
yesterday at age ninety, and mainstream media outlets are rushing to
eulogize her. She deserves recognition — and it should go without saying
that Feinstein’s death is sad for those close to her — but the hymns of
praise miss her real significance. Celebrated as a “pragmatist,”
Feinstein in fact helped remake the Democratic Party into a political
vehicle for the very rich, and relatedly, the military-industrial
complex.</p>
<p><em>Politico</em> <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/29/dianne-feinstein-senator-mayor-00006007">describes</a>
Feinstein’s mayoralty in San Francisco, from 1978 to 1988, as one of
“healing.” While it’s true that she came into office during a crazy
period — in 1978, San Francisco’s then-major, George Moscone, was
assassinated along with supervisor Harvey Milk by fellow supervisor Dan
White — her tenure only inflicted more devastation on the troubled city.
As Bay Area leftist journalist Larry Bensky has written, she dutifully
advanced the interests of the rich, allowing the real estate industry in
particular to add “<a href="https://jacobin.com/2023/04/dianne-feinstein-retirement-ageism-sexism-billionaire-class-emissions-legislation">30 million soulless square feet</a>” of downtown office construction, while neglecting the needs and neighborhoods of the working class.</p>
<p>The <em>New York Times</em>’s obituary calls her “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/us/politics/dianne-feinstein-obituary.html">a tough campaigner who sometimes took conservative positions</a>.” Even the left-leaning <em>Mother Jones</em> — which is named after, well, Mother Jones! — got in on the <em>festschrift</em>,
labeling Feinstein a “trailblazing Democrat” and citing their own 2017
feature on the senator, which quoted her friend Orville Schell calling
her “<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/09/dianne-feinstein-dead-at-90/">the last bastion of bridge building in the Senate</a>.”</p>
<aside class="sr-at__slot sr-at__slot--left prt-x">
</aside><p>What the establishment loved about Feinstein is clear from
these obituaries: she opposed what elites deem the excesses of the Left.
On the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, before <em>Roe v. Wade</em>, she carried out harsh penalties against illegal abortion providers, and <a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/dianne-feinstein-abortion-gun-civil-rights.html">in a 2022 interview with <em>New York</em> magazine’s Rebecca Traister</a>,
she didn’t seem to regret her actions in the least. As a senator, she
supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, catastrophically. Even more
horrendous, her husband, Richard Blum, had significant investments in
the arms industry, which meant that Feinstein profited personally from
the wars she backed — and, therefore, from the deaths of hundreds of
thousands of Iraqis, Afghanis, and Americans.</p>
<p>From 2015 on, the movement around Bernie Sanders gave Feinstein’s centrism a new importance for the ruling class. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/09/29/dianne-feinstein-california-senator-dead/">As the <em>Washington Post </em>put it</a>,
“she held down the center of the Democratic Party as it moved swiftly
to the left.” She was a leading voice urging Sanders to drop out of the
2016 presidential primary, and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/18/politics/barbara-boxer-nevada-convention/index.html">publicly fretted</a>
ahead of the 2016 Democratic convention that his supporters would
unleash riots and chaos, in a repeat of 1968. (Many Democratic elites
believe that Richard Nixon won the presidency that year in part because
of violent televised confrontations between police and antiwar
protesters at the Democratic convention. A government-supported study
later pinned the blame for most of the violence on the police, but that
did not affect the narrative: liberals have been blaming the Left for
the chaos and for Nixon’s election for the last fifty years.)</p>
<p>In recent years Feinstein’s role as centrist disciplinarian took the
form, perhaps most notably, of bringing enormous condescension to the
climate debate. When a group of children <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/22/politics/feinstein-video-sunrise-movement-kids/index.html">visited Feinstein’s office in 2019</a>
as part of a delegation from the Sunrise Movement, the progressive
climate group, demanding that the senator support the Green New Deal,
the sweeping blueprint for decarbonizing the economy championed by
democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Feinstein had the most
bluntly patronizing reaction. “You can take that back to whoever sent
you here,” she remarked, implying that the young people were not
political actors in their own right. Learning that one of the activists
was sixteen, she still dismissed her with a brusque “you didn’t vote for
me.” Equally winningly, the senator informed the young people, “I’ve
been doing this for thirty years. I know what I’m doing.“ The exchange
went viral and served to educate many young people about the depraved
indifference of the Senate — and Democratic Party leadership — to the
very real threat climate change poses to their futures.</p>
<p>In what seemed a fitting coda to a career spent serving the monied class, Feinstein’s <a class="c-link" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-stringify-link="https://jacobin.com/2023/04/dianne-feinstein-retirement-ageism-sexism-billionaire-class-emissions-legislation" href="https://jacobin.com/2023/04/dianne-feinstein-retirement-ageism-sexism-billionaire-class-emissions-legislation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">refused to give up her Senate seat</a>
to the very end despite the consequences. Because she was no longer
able to reliably show up, Feinstein became an obstacle to confirming
President Biden’s judicial nominees and counteracting the conservative
project of stacking the judicial branch. Her absence also caused the
defeat of Biden’s effort to curb pollution from heavy trucks, a measure
that would have, over the next couple decades, saved an estimated 18,000
children from developing asthma.</p>
<p>Feinstein deserves credit for evolving on some issues, as all
politicians should do. Like most centrist Democrats, she initially
opposed but ultimately supported gay marriage. She changed her mind on
the death penalty, eventually rejecting it. In one of her more dramatic
and significant reversals, she went from an enthusiastic proponent of
George Bush’s post–September 11 war on terror measures to one of their
most powerful critics; as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee,
she oversaw a 2014 report on the CIA’s horrific torture techniques, and
the Obama Administration did not appreciate her honesty.</p>
<p>Those moments were admirable, but Feinstein should be remembered far
more for her stalwart advocacy against the Left, and for representing
the nation’s worst monied interests. Let’s hope her passing will be seen
in retrospect as part of the demise of the centrist, plutocratic
politics she espoused, in which socialists and young climate activists
are mere irritants and war is just a good investment opportunity.</p>
</section>
<section class="po-fr__section">
<h4 class="po-fr__heading">Contributors</h4>
<p class="po-fr__desc">Liza Featherstone is a columnist for <em>Jacobin</em>, a freelance journalist, and the author of <em>Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart</em>.</p>
</section>
<h4 class="po-fr__heading"><br /></h4>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-91889928375251048062023-09-25T00:08:00.000-04:002023-09-25T00:08:41.954-04:00Big-City Mayors Are Getting Kicked Out of Schools<p> </p><p>https://www.governing.com/education/big-city-mayors-are-getting-kicked-out-of-schools <br /></p><h1 class="Page-headline">Big-City Mayors Are Getting Kicked Out of Schools</h1>
<h2 class="Page-subHeadline">Having mayors run school districts
became a big trend 30 years ago. Now most cities are returning power to
independently elected school boards.</h2>
<div class="Page-byline">
<div class="Page-datePublished">Aug. 9, 2023 • </div>
<div class="Page-authors">
<a data-cms-ai="0" href="https://www.governing.com/authors/Alan-Greenblatt.html"><span>Alan Greenblatt</span></a>
</div>
</div><p> </p><div style="background: #eaeaea; padding: 25px;"><div class="List-header"><div class="List-header-title">In Brief:</div></div><li>Major cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston moved to mayoral control of schools in the 1990s.</li><li>They pushed through some reforms, but many voters found their approaches heavy-handed.</li><li>Only a dozen mayors are still responsible for schools, but almost all mayors still seek influence.</li></div><p> Chicago residents will get to do something next year that they haven’t
done since the 1990s. They will cast votes for members of the school
board. Thirty years ago, Chicago was in the vanguard of major cities
where mayors took direct control of schools. That idea is now in
retreat.<br /><br />Los Angeles, Detroit and Oakland, Calif., have already
moved away from mayoral control of schools. In Boston, nearly 80 percent
of voters approved a <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2021/12/15/bostons-huge-vote-for-an-elected-school-committee-puts-mayor-wu-at-odds-with-majority-opinion" target="_blank">nonbinding resolution</a> in 2021 to restore an independent school board, but Mayor Michelle Wu <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2023/02/17/mayor-wu-vetoes-an-elected-school-committee-for-boston" target="_blank">vetoed a proposal</a> earlier this year from the City Council to do just that.<br /><br />For
the most part, running schools has come to be seen as a complicated
endeavor that is just one plate too many to juggle for the person also
in charge of parks, public health, transit, crime and much else. “What
you’re seeing is that the idea you can hold a mayor accountable at the
ballot box for the performance of our schools has just not borne fruit,”
says Ricardo Arroyo, a member of the Boston City Council.</p><p>It’s a dim memory at this point, but mayoral control of schools was a <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Mayors_in_the_Middle.html?id=UZsAEAAAQBAJ" target="_blank">buzzy policy approach</a>
back in the 1990s. The experiment was ultimately run in only about two
dozen major cities — there are just under a dozen where mayors are still
in control — but they included some of the nation’s largest districts.
Michael Bloomberg and his handpicked Superintendent Joel Klein drew
national attention for <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Hope-How-Fix-Schools/dp/0062268643" target="_blank">pushing competition in New York</a>, while the embrace of charters in Washington, D.C., and other cities became the subject of a <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_%22Superman%22" target="_blank">high-profile documentary</a>.<br /><br />The
clout of mayors offered a counterweight both to teachers unions and
sometimes stodgy educational bureaucracies. At least in some places.
“When you had a strong mayor who was invested in it, it created
coherence and a focus on school performance that was otherwise lacking
in these big urban centers,” says Frederick Hess, director of education
policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative
think tank in Washington.<br /><br />That didn’t happen everywhere. Not all
mayors were as transparent about their plans for schools as elected
school boards had been. Nor were all of them willing or able to take the
political risks involved in driving real change. And it proved
difficult to find compelling evidence that mayors running schools worked
any miracles, compared with the performance of peer cities.</p><p>“In the scheme of things, how big were these impacts?” Hess asks. “It’s hard to argue they were that big.”<br /><br /></p><h3 id="problems-with-the-model">Problems With the Model</h3><p><br />A
couple of things are driving this move away from mayoral control. For
instance, the changing racial and ethnic mix within many cities means
many residents believe they will be better represented when they can
vote for multiple members of a school board, rather than letting the
mayor appoint everyone. “A school board can make everybody in the
community feel like somebody is articulating their agenda, where you had
folks who felt they were locked out of the mayor’s agenda,” Hess says.<br /><br />There
have been other downsides. Members of appointed school boards who’ve
crossed swords with mayors on key decisions have found themselves <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2019/01/04/regina-robinson-not-reappointed-to-boston-school-committee-after-controversial-vote" target="_blank">booted out of office</a>.
Even as they sometimes seem to act as rubber stamps, they can also
serve to insulate mayors from taking responsibility for unpopular
decisions.<br /><br />It’s the school board who did it, not me, a mayor
might say. “What makes an elected school committee more responsive is
that the constituency believes it’s working for them, rather than an
appointed committee that essentially works for the mayor,” Arroyo says.</p><h3 id="mayors-still-get-a-say">Mayors Still Get a Say</h3><br />When Phillip Jones took office as <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://www.governing.com/politics/leadership-lessons-from-a-33-year-old-mayor" target="_blank">mayor of Newport News</a>,
Va., he knew he had no formal control over schools. Not only does his
office not run the schools, he has no say at all about policy or
priorities. But he understood that schools are essential to the health
of his community, so he’s done everything he can to prod them in the
right direction. He intends to spend time this fall working as a
substitute teacher to draw attention to classrooms and their needs.<br /><br />“I
have zero agency, but I have been the first mayor to attend school
board meetings,” Jones says. “I am deep in their budget. I am actively
participating.”<br /><br />If contemporary mayors mostly don’t want to be in
charge of schools — and their constituents don’t want that, either —
that doesn’t mean mayors will have no say. Schools are too important.
They represent the biggest item in the typical city budget and are often
the largest local employer. Months before <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://abc7.com/city-workers-los-angeles-strike-contract-negotiations/13612739/" target="_blank">Tuesday’s one-day strike</a> brought many city services to a halt in Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass stepped in to <a class="Link" data-cms-ai="0" href="https://www.kpcc.org/podcast/airtalk/as-lausd-strike-enters-its-third-and-final-day-mayor-bass-steps-in-to-mediate" target="_blank">mediate a strike</a> that shut down schools for several days.<br /><br />Mayors
concerned with schools are finding lots of other ways to make their
wishes known. Some are pushing for specific policies, whether early
childhood education or afterschool programs. Dozens of mayors have
created children’s cabinets meant to coordinate services for children
and youth. All mayors spend plenty of time visiting schools and meeting
with parents and school officials.<br /><br />“Instead of direct, formal
control, mayoral leadership is picking up through these other
mechanisms,” says Kenneth Wong, an education professor at Brown
University. “Mayors are not shy to take on districtwide initiatives, but
they’re using cross-sector collaboration to support this work.”<br /><br />The
idea that mayors were going to take over schools and save education has
come to an end. Today’s mayors have gone back to the old way of doing
business, trying their best to make schools better while standing safely
on the sidelines. And that’s where voters seem to want them.<br />
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AIPAC Targets Black Democrats — While the Congressional Black Caucus Stays Silent </h1>
<p class="post__excerpt">
AIPAC has given at least $3.6 million to the CBC’s old guard
since last year, while members of the Squad draw the Israel lobby’s
ire. </p>
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<img alt="" height="60" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/akela-lacy-1580508741-120x120.jpg" width="60" />
</a>
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<div class="article-byline__info font-mono text-[14px]">
<div class="article-byline__authors text-accentDynamic mb-2">
<a aria-label="Posts by Akela Lacy" class="text-accentDark xl:text-accentLight" data-ga-track-action="author click - byline" data-ga-track-label="akelalacy" data-ga-track="article navigation" href="https://theintercept.com/staff/akelalacy/" rel="author">Akela Lacy</a> </div>
<time class="text-sm text-[#aaa]" datetime="2023-09-21T06:00:00-04:00">
September 21 2023, 6:00 a.m. </time>
</div>
</div>
<div class="entry-content__content md:mr-[25%] md:pr-[10px]">
<p><u>The American Israel</u> Public Affairs Committee, the country’s
most influential pro-Israel lobbying group, is recruiting candidates to
challenge progressive members of the Congressional Black Caucus in
primaries next year.</p>
<p>The CBC has been silent on the AIPAC bid to challenge at least three
of its members who are part of the so-called Squad, a loose group of
progressive representatives. According to media reports and The
Intercept’s investigation, the only incumbents AIPAC has targeted so far
in this election cycle are CBC members.</p>
<p>The CBC’s silence on the electoral challenges reflects the divide
among Democrats on Israel — with progressives increasingly willing to
buck Capitol Hill orthodoxies and speak up for Palestinian rights — and
fundraising dynamics among caucus members. AIPAC has endorsed more than
half of CBC members. The AIPAC-backed members of the caucus, some 31
lawmakers, have received a previously unreported total of at least $3.6
million from AIPAC since February 2022, according to Federal Election
Commission records.</p>
<blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-pull="right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote">“AIPAC
and its Republican donors are intentionally targeting progressive
members of the Congressional Black Caucus with right-wing primary
challenges.”</blockquote>
<p>The silence has given rise to calls for the CBC to speak up for
members under attack — especially given AIPAC’s propensity for directing
Republican money to challenge incumbent progressive Democrats in
primaries.</p>
<p>“AIPAC and its Republican donors are intentionally targeting
progressive members of the Congressional Black Caucus with right-wing
primary challenges,” said Alexandra Rojas, the executive director of
Justice Democrats, which backed all five CBC members from the Squad.
“The CBC — and every caucus in Congress — has the opportunity now to
demonstrate their power and stand up for all incumbents against AIPAC’s
role in funneling GOP dollars into Democratic primaries.”</p>
<div class="newsletter-embed" id="third-party--article-mid"><div class="tp-container-inner" style="height: 313px; width: 688.25px;">AIPAC is seeking to challenge CBC members Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.,
and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., because of their support for putting
restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel, Jewish Insider<a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/08/aipac-anti-israel-lawmakers-squad-jamaal-bowman-ilhan-omar-justice-democrats/"> </a><a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/08/aipac-anti-israel-lawmakers-squad-jamaal-bowman-ilhan-omar-justice-democrats/">reported</a> last month.According to three sources with knowledge of the recruiting process,
who asked for anonymity to protect professional relationships, AIPAC
asked Pittsburgh-area Democrat Lindsay Powell to challenge Rep. Summer
Lee, D-Penn.; Powell declined. Allegheny County Controller Corey
O’Connor also declined an AIPAC invitation to challenge Lee, according
to two of the sources. (Powell declined to comment, and O’Connor did not
respond to a request for comment.)</div></div>
<p>Bhavini Patel, a council member in the city of Edgewood,
Pennsylvania, is reportedly planning to run against Lee. Jewish Insider <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/08/aipac-anti-israel-lawmakers-squad-jamaal-bowman-ilhan-omar-justice-democrats/">reported</a> that it was unable to confirm if AIPAC had met with Patel. (Patel did not respond to a request for comment.)</p>
<p>While AIPAC declined to respond to specific questions about its
involvement in the challenges against CBC members, the pro-Israel lobby
defended its record supporting Black candidates for Congress.</p>
<p>“AIPAC proudly endorsed more than half the Black Caucus last cycle
and United Democracy Project” — an AIPAC-backed super PAC — “helped
ensure pro-Israel African American Democrats in Ohio, North Carolina,
and Maryland won their elections,” an AIPAC spokesperson said in a
statement to The Intercept. “While we have not made any decisions on
specific races this cycle, we are constantly evaluating every seat held
by a detractor of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and we base our
assessments exclusively on their anti-Israel votes and statements.”</p>
<p>The CBC did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-old-guard-versus-the-squad">Old Guard Versus the Squad</h2>
<p>Five Black progressive officials have joined the CBC’s ranks since
2019. Their additions strained already shifting dynamics in the caucus,
which has long been governed by traditional structures of seniority and
patronage.</p>
<p>The caucus has sometimes stood against the new crop of rising Black
progressives. The CBC bet against Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., in 2018
and backed her white incumbent opponent, former Rep. Mike Capuano;
Pressley won and joined the CBC. Bowman angered the old guard of the
caucus when he endorsed progressive candidate Cori Bush in her 2020
primary in Missouri against Rep. William Lacy Clay, a centrist who had
been a CBC member for two decades. Bush also won and joined the CBC.</p>
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<p>Divisions on Israel in the CBC, however, go beyond election alliances
to policy stances and votes. Since taking office, progressive CBC
members — including<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/02/ilhan-omar-kevin-mccarthy-democrats/"> Omar</a>, Bowman, Lee, <a href="https://bush.house.gov/media/press-releases/bush-tlaib-joint-statement-on-boycotting-israeli-president-herzogs-joint-address-to-congress">Bush</a>, and <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2021/09/how-ayanna-pressley-shifted-her-position-on-israel/">Pressley</a>
— have criticized human rights abuses against Palestinians or voted
against military aid to Israel. They were among the 10 House Democrats
who voted against a July resolution to absolve Israel of being an
apartheid state. The critical stance on U.S. support for Israel drew
AIPAC’s ire, with the group <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/08/aipac-anti-israel-lawmakers-squad-jamaal-bowman-ilhan-omar-justice-democrats/">ramping up</a> its efforts to challenge the CBC incumbents.</p>
<p>AIPAC’s shifting campaign strategy presents contradictions for the
CBC. The caucus’s leaders have close relationships with AIPAC, but the
group has also historically put an emphasis on the importance of
protecting incumbents.</p>
<p>Since 2022, the CBC’s top AIPAC recipients include<a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/07/20/aipac-maryland-donna-edwards-glenn-ivey-democrat/"> </a><a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/07/20/aipac-maryland-donna-edwards-glenn-ivey-democrat/">Rep. Glenn Ivey</a>,
D-Md., who has taken $756,000 from the group; House Democratic Caucus
Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who has taken $485,300; Rep. Valerie
Foushee, D-N.C., who has taken $456,800;<a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/ritchie-torres-is-the-future-of-pro-israel-politics"> </a><a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/ritchie-torres-is-the-future-of-pro-israel-politics">Rep. Ritchie Torres</a>, D-N.Y., who has taken $459,900; and Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, who has taken $349,600.</p>
<p>Jeffries, who has led congressional efforts to <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/democratic-primaries-progressives-incumbents-hakeem-jeffries-1301186/">protect incumbents</a> against primary challengers, is a<a href="https://twitter.com/RepHorsford/status/1650566581838131200"> close ally</a> of AIPAC, as are CBC leader Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., and CBC PAC leader<a href="https://x.com/RepGregoryMeeks/status/1110998009368727552?s=20"> Rep. Gregory Meeks</a>.
CBC members have regularly led and attended AIPAC’s annual trips to
Israel, conferences, and other events. (Horsford, Meeks, and CBC PAC did
not provide comment for this story.)</p>
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<p>The alliance has put CBC members at odds. Omar and Bush joined other
progressives in protesting an official congressional address by Israel
President Isaac Herzog in July amid efforts to radically<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/16/israel-jeff-yass-kohelet/"> politicize the country’s judiciary system</a>. Jeffries<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/18/progressive-democrats-protest-israeli-president-address-to-us-congress"> said</a> he welcomed Herzog “with open arms.” The next month, he led AIPAC’s annual congressional delegation to Israel.</p>
<p>More centrist CBC members and their political allies have been
involved in combatting progressive gains in the Democratic Party. In
June 2021, Jeffries, along with Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Terri
Sewell, D-Ala., another recipient of AIPAC cash, launched <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/democratic-primaries-progressives-incumbents-hakeem-jeffries-1301186/">Team Blue PAC</a>
to protect Democratic members facing primary challenges from their
left. And last June, Democratic operatives closely aligned with CBC
leaders launched a new <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/06/08/opportunity-for-all-action-fund-dark-money-democratic-primary/">dark-money group</a> to fend off primary challengers.</p>
<p>In their individual capacities, however, some of the centrist CBC
members are supporting their progressive colleagues. After news broke
that AIPAC was recruiting Omar’s challenger, Jeffries endorsed her last
month.</p>
<p>For some observers, Jeffries’s ascendency in Democratic leadership,
and many CBC members’ support of it, complicates the political calculus.
To invite a fight with an influential group like AIPAC could prove
folly for Jeffries, souring relationships in the wider Democratic caucus
where the group still holds sway. “Some of the older members have
trouble letting go,” said one senior Democratic strategist who requested
anonymity in order to speak freely. “And I think more than anything,
they want a Black speaker of the House, not protecting progressive
members.”</p>
<p>Jeffries’s spokesperson Christie Stephenson declined to say whether
Jeffries planned to endorse Lee and Bowman but said Jeffries would keep
backing Democratic incumbents across the political spectrum.</p>
<p>“Leader Hakeem Jeffries intends to continue his practice of
supporting the reelection of every single House Democratic incumbent,”
she said, “from the most progressive to the most centrist, and all
points in between.”</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">AIPAC’s Republican Money</h2>
<p>The rift between AIPAC and progressive CBC members reflects a broader
disconnect between more senior and moderate CBC members and the
caucus’s small but growing progressive wing. Those frictions have bled
into other recent primary elections. CBC members<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/06/how-ny-redistricting-became-democrat-war-of-all-against-all.html"> </a><a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/06/how-ny-redistricting-became-democrat-war-of-all-against-all.html">reportedly</a>
pushed former Rep. Mondaire Jones to run against Bowman last year.
Bowman is one of the five progressive Squad members who are also part of
the CBC.</p>
<p>“The CBC should be sounding the alarm and should be concerned,” said
Democratic strategist Camille Rivera, a partner at New Deal Strategies.
“We need to be very careful about letting power and influence change the
overall goal of the caucus, which is to protect Black incumbents and
expand representation, especially those that have been doing the work
and representing their constituents. We shouldn’t let any entity try to
divide and conquer.”</p>
<p>AIPAC’s attacks on Black progressives are not new. The group funneled money from<a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/07/27/nina-turner-shontel-brown-ohio-gop/"> GOP donors</a> to back the more centrist<a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/05/03/ohio-primary-elections-nina-turner-shontel-brown/"> Brown’s</a> successful House campaigns against Ohio progressive Nina Turner. And the group<a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/10/31/aipac-attack-ad-summer-lee/"> spent $4 million</a> to try to thwart Lee’s insurgent 2022 campaign.</p>
<p>Even powerful progressives have fallen amid the Israel lobby’s
attacks. Endorsements from former Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., weren’t enough to help
former Rep. Donna Edwards, D- Md., overcome the<a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/07/20/aipac-maryland-donna-edwards-glenn-ivey-democrat/"> $6 million</a>
AIPAC spent against her in her bid to reclaim her House seat. Pelosi, a
pro-Israel stalwart and at the time the speaker of the House, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/06/17/nancy-pelosi-aipac-ads-donna-edwards/">rebuked AIPAC</a>
for its attacks against Edwards. Her opponent, Ivey, the top CBC
recipient of AIPAC cash, won the primary by 16 points and went on to win
the general election by a landslide.</p>
<p>AIPAC’s strategy fits into a larger trend of Republicans and
Democrats teaming up to defeat progressive candidates critical of U.S.
support to Israel. Republican donors<a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/06/15/gop-republican-super-pac-eliot-engel-jamaal-bowman/"> poured last-minute cash</a>
into former New York Rep. Eliot Engel’s reelection campaign in the face
of Bowman’s insurgent 2018 challenge. Pennsylvania billionaire Jeffrey
Yass, a major GOP donor and funder of the<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/16/israel-jeff-yass-kohelet/"> Israeli think tank</a> leading the rightward lurch in the country’s judiciary, also funded a PAC run by Democrats and dedicated to<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/25/jeff-yass-megadonor-moderate-pac/"> challenging progressives</a> in Democratic primaries.</p>
<p>Lee told The Intercept that AIPAC used Republican money to fund ads
meant to discourage Black voters from coming out on Election Day.</p>
<blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-pull="right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote">“AIPAC funneled money from Republican billionaires to spend $5 million attacking me with baseless lies and racist tactics.”</blockquote>
<p>“AIPAC funneled money from Republican billionaires to spend $5
million attacking me with baseless lies and racist tactics,” Lee said.
She said political ads accused her of having ties to far-right figures
like former President Donald Trump “in order to keep Black voters from
showing up to vote.”</p>
<p>Lee drew a contrast to AIPAC’s support for scores of
“insurrectionist” Republicans who supported election denial and “shared
the same goals as a mob of armed white supremacists and antisemites.” </p>
<p>“Now they’re targeting Black incumbent champions for poor,
working-class, Black folks in districts where they’ve never been
represented,” she said. “These attacks add fuel to the fire of fascism
tearing away the history, civil rights, and lives of Black Americans,
who are the base of the Democratic party.”</p>
</div>
<p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-31838574054533322032023-09-22T07:09:00.003-04:002023-09-22T07:09:51.530-04:00 Marketing Medicare – How Health Insurers and Brokers Use TV Ads to Attract Enrollees.<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><div id="m_-3167007884348059777m_8848511910270541200section-3" style="padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px;">
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<div id="m_-3167007884348059777m_8848511910270541200column-3-0">
<div id="m_-3167007884348059777m_8848511910270541200hs_cos_wrapper_module-3-0-0" style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><div id="m_-3167007884348059777m_8848511910270541200hs_cos_wrapper_module-3-0-0_" style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><p style="line-height: 115%;">Hello,</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;">Thank you for your interest in today's web event, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://connect.kff.org/e3t/Ctc/RB%2B113/c1ThL04/VX6p2J4d6HXsN3l_Fhd8bsh4W61z83B53Hq05N7zrw_R5nR32W50kH_H6lZ3q6MzRjDCBDFSnW224mTj1n-2mCW7LV2Q97fKqP1W4smqpN81M_2hW6PXF0p5F5RT1W6LLkxt7kLlmcVV-zby3Wf7v2W42z5t65M02_zW90kqhL78HbymW8Bp5dt6qLMDSN5W2sFMJVmq2VMKH4t4DzR2dW6HZz8P3bStQSW4cYg9T6vw_qqW64VqhV3dvyn9VMmtgx29Q_71W3JsPyQ6_YClqW3y6kgk8wDsW2W566p2J4PYLnzV37P0q4Y2NQSW3Rss613N-FlWW5RjWvB5039wMW6l46_L8-YgShN7Bl47GXdlmXW857VdQ6TRd3jN7zRrktPG_W2W7C94sC55btnfW8MGYpG2C9m2zW7tM3lc38lk6dW85V4hj5_L6sMW2h3NGg6gYBfgN32s41ZX2WFjf7ktH4j04&source=gmail&ust=1695419964684000&usg=AOvVaw2vxAaChy0vHavuhnK2x3wt" href="https://connect.kff.org/e3t/Ctc/RB+113/c1ThL04/VX6p2J4d6HXsN3l_Fhd8bsh4W61z83B53Hq05N7zrw_R5nR32W50kH_H6lZ3q6MzRjDCBDFSnW224mTj1n-2mCW7LV2Q97fKqP1W4smqpN81M_2hW6PXF0p5F5RT1W6LLkxt7kLlmcVV-zby3Wf7v2W42z5t65M02_zW90kqhL78HbymW8Bp5dt6qLMDSN5W2sFMJVmq2VMKH4t4DzR2dW6HZz8P3bStQSW4cYg9T6vw_qqW64VqhV3dvyn9VMmtgx29Q_71W3JsPyQ6_YClqW3y6kgk8wDsW2W566p2J4PYLnzV37P0q4Y2NQSW3Rss613N-FlWW5RjWvB5039wMW6l46_L8-YgShN7Bl47GXdlmXW857VdQ6TRd3jN7zRrktPG_W2W7C94sC55btnfW8MGYpG2C9m2zW7tM3lc38lk6dW85V4hj5_L6sMW2h3NGg6gYBfgN32s41ZX2WFjf7ktH4j04" rel="noopener" style="color: #0076c3;" target="_blank">Marketing Medicare – How Health Insurers and Brokers Use TV Ads to Attract Enrollees</a>. The archived recording of the event and slides are now available.</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Check out the </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://connect.kff.org/e3t/Ctc/RB%2B113/c1ThL04/VX6p2J4d6HXsN3l_Fhd8bsh4W61z83B53Hq05N7zrx1W3qgyTW95jsWP6lZ3nvW8Jc_Bb3HL9VvN30ks68_BDMPW8ZL_DX3yS_NCW3Bd2b2771Qp9W8jMhTz2NHnfwW1S3dcC1T5bJ5W3lB50s2X0QCDW3wwljZ2MtwdYW5nT2WB6tNFpNVC0Fhw3wDc77W52rfNV4FbJQYW3VysDY1jwMR9W8sfDdF8Nh1zgW4SCrT-5BwPLQW7xLG887xTRq5W7FYNb-7Dy4YlW2FykdN4zs8V9W7xqrT74QKdxbN6sj4ckFf49nW6GDNb03Zm6gbW56PmST1FgFxsW7yFnf41PgqZJW6MnGwn2w_SSnW3-n3mW2DwgT1Vs8nYk6FJpp9W7PYSX293VqptW569H864gXxZpVk2FPY39Dz7SW8jvbDN5FNhDQN5VMMbQ_rpgzf6bb4Bq04&source=gmail&ust=1695419964684000&usg=AOvVaw2XHY1JwxshCDViY74WGKM7" href="https://connect.kff.org/e3t/Ctc/RB+113/c1ThL04/VX6p2J4d6HXsN3l_Fhd8bsh4W61z83B53Hq05N7zrx1W3qgyTW95jsWP6lZ3nvW8Jc_Bb3HL9VvN30ks68_BDMPW8ZL_DX3yS_NCW3Bd2b2771Qp9W8jMhTz2NHnfwW1S3dcC1T5bJ5W3lB50s2X0QCDW3wwljZ2MtwdYW5nT2WB6tNFpNVC0Fhw3wDc77W52rfNV4FbJQYW3VysDY1jwMR9W8sfDdF8Nh1zgW4SCrT-5BwPLQW7xLG887xTRq5W7FYNb-7Dy4YlW2FykdN4zs8V9W7xqrT74QKdxbN6sj4ckFf49nW6GDNb03Zm6gbW56PmST1FgFxsW7yFnf41PgqZJW6MnGwn2w_SSnW3-n3mW2DwgT1Vs8nYk6FJpp9W7PYSX293VqptW569H864gXxZpVk2FPY39Dz7SW8jvbDN5FNhDQN5VMMbQ_rpgzf6bb4Bq04" rel="noopener" style="color: #0076c3;" target="_blank">new KFF analysis</a> of television ads that aired during last year’s open enrollment season and <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://connect.kff.org/e3t/Ctc/RB%2B113/c1ThL04/VX6p2J4d6HXsN3l_Fhd8bsh4W61z83B53Hq05N7zrx0q5nR32W69t95C6lZ3pxW7q9hVp2Q4d3TV5ZbZ681Rn8HW7y_4hh6gf8MfW70C9V-1WkfBvW7Gtr1V1QnlklW2vgmY14qjqPsW1GPjVs4MmqtfN5xQcJYbJs8VW9c5kqj1Tc3kNW7nXj6l4qRhkzN60YjyqYKHsBW6BV4rZ7LdPG1W9kcdFD43RhWdW4KBS_k6sD4fWW3CvdJS26hWyxW8zzKmR4kY2_7W5LjgWF6Hq458W3xg7R63Thtg_W8vDgFg1KSQSqW1TwVjb944SrJN7c5bhQqWLqFW85dw2s98WWPMW2skP8Q6HLjhDN1qhWQs-rqvdW166ZjM9hlXcXW4XJKwR7cYzk1W1jbrjm6Qy6cgW1Y5bmp2Y7d2dW6n313Y1ZSJc2W7YXrtC6YCqJrW1YV3Nr2vZz2fW77k0tt25Hg9fW86cKCt7FxT5FW1Wcv3P8HwYbgW6c0VMb5BCcmBW97QTBy2nWt7Cf53zy8x04&source=gmail&ust=1695419964684000&usg=AOvVaw0wf9niRV7er5J5KzETKb7k" href="https://connect.kff.org/e3t/Ctc/RB+113/c1ThL04/VX6p2J4d6HXsN3l_Fhd8bsh4W61z83B53Hq05N7zrx0q5nR32W69t95C6lZ3pxW7q9hVp2Q4d3TV5ZbZ681Rn8HW7y_4hh6gf8MfW70C9V-1WkfBvW7Gtr1V1QnlklW2vgmY14qjqPsW1GPjVs4MmqtfN5xQcJYbJs8VW9c5kqj1Tc3kNW7nXj6l4qRhkzN60YjyqYKHsBW6BV4rZ7LdPG1W9kcdFD43RhWdW4KBS_k6sD4fWW3CvdJS26hWyxW8zzKmR4kY2_7W5LjgWF6Hq458W3xg7R63Thtg_W8vDgFg1KSQSqW1TwVjb944SrJN7c5bhQqWLqFW85dw2s98WWPMW2skP8Q6HLjhDN1qhWQs-rqvdW166ZjM9hlXcXW4XJKwR7cYzk1W1jbrjm6Qy6cgW1Y5bmp2Y7d2dW6n313Y1ZSJc2W7YXrtC6YCqJrW1YV3Nr2vZz2fW77k0tt25Hg9fW86cKCt7FxT5FW1Wcv3P8HwYbgW6c0VMb5BCcmBW97QTBy2nWt7Cf53zy8x04" rel="noopener" style="color: #0076c3;" target="_blank">insights from focus groups with enrollees </a>about their perceptions of the marketing efforts. </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;">For more information on past and upcoming KFF virtual events, please visit KFF's <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://connect.kff.org/e3t/Ctc/RB%2B113/c1ThL04/VX6p2J4d6HXsN3l_Fhd8bsh4W61z83B53Hq05N7zrx0K3qgyTW6N1vHY6lZ3nnW7ms0Cz90CWdlW5NJhdX2pn1P8W372jpH8hpcMgW9bRLPv1LTs9hVpdh1X60fwphW6cXdQQ3NprjfW5mp2Wr7CXSz9W1-Sxtb38RmFTW19qnLp3mTVKMW1jMKmr20Hc-9W2-_Ck-6Z521jW2X3mh8487ykvW4q0rWP3hjqvCN1jN165pHgmHW3kpGdC1tjgtPW4WCSQ-1Zd_6QW48jsf53HTMG8W52Ljqd4PnSStN4Rj-TRZ9VXzW66CQ8362sMnyW49Wvvp7xcjYNVz7zsG54_Gxgf10hrL204&source=gmail&ust=1695419964684000&usg=AOvVaw04GyV9Ig68Mf20jCR0lkEx" href="https://connect.kff.org/e3t/Ctc/RB+113/c1ThL04/VX6p2J4d6HXsN3l_Fhd8bsh4W61z83B53Hq05N7zrx0K3qgyTW6N1vHY6lZ3nnW7ms0Cz90CWdlW5NJhdX2pn1P8W372jpH8hpcMgW9bRLPv1LTs9hVpdh1X60fwphW6cXdQQ3NprjfW5mp2Wr7CXSz9W1-Sxtb38RmFTW19qnLp3mTVKMW1jMKmr20Hc-9W2-_Ck-6Z521jW2X3mh8487ykvW4q0rWP3hjqvCN1jN165pHgmHW3kpGdC1tjgtPW4WCSQ-1Zd_6QW48jsf53HTMG8W52Ljqd4PnSStN4Rj-TRZ9VXzW66CQ8362sMnyW49Wvvp7xcjYNVz7zsG54_Gxgf10hrL204" rel="noopener" style="color: #0076c3;" target="_blank">newsroom</a>. </p></div></div>
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<div id="m_-3167007884348059777m_8848511910270541200hs_cos_wrapper_module-5-0-1" style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><div id="m_-3167007884348059777m_8848511910270541200hs_cos_wrapper_module-5-0-1_" style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><p align="center" style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;">The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.</span></p></div></div><p> </p><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-08050d7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-jet-listing-dynamic-terms" data-element_type="widget" data-id="08050d7" data-widget_type="jet-listing-dynamic-terms.default">
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<h2 class="elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default">New Reports Examine the Impact of Medicare Advantage Advertising</h2> </div>
</div>
<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-5db20bb3 elementor-align-left elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info" data-element_type="widget" data-id="5db20bb3" data-widget_type="post-info.default">
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<ul class="elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info"><li class="elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-1318d28 elementor-inline-item" itemprop="author">
<span class="elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-author">
<span class="elementor-post-info__item-prefix">By</span>
Lindsey Copeland </span>
</li><li class="elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-13b9ae8 elementor-inline-item" itemprop="datePublished">
<span class="elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date">
September 21, 2023 </span>
</li></ul>
</div> </div><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-5db20bb3 elementor-align-left elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info" data-element_type="widget" data-id="5db20bb3" data-widget_type="post-info.default">https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2023/09/21/new-reports-examine-the-impact-of-medicare-advantage-advertising?utm_source=Medicare+Rights+Center&utm_campaign=4a6e45f9ce-medicare-watch-09212023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1c591fe07f-4a6e45f9ce-84733457&mc_cid=4a6e45f9ce</div><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-5db20bb3 elementor-align-left elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info" data-element_type="widget" data-id="5db20bb3" data-widget_type="post-info.default"> </div><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-5db20bb3 elementor-align-left elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info" data-element_type="widget" data-id="5db20bb3" data-widget_type="post-info.default"><p>Two new KFF <a href="https://www.kff.org/marketing-medicare/">research reports</a>
capture the prolific—and often problematic—nature of Medicare Advantage
(MA) television advertisements during Medicare’s fall open enrollment
period, as well as the impact of such marketing practices on
beneficiaries. Yesterday, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edtUNoLkno4">Medicare Rights joined KFF</a>
to discuss this important topic, including potential solutions for some
of the identified problems. This week, we examine the first report, <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/report/how-health-insurers-and-brokers-are-marketing-medicare/"><em>How Health Insurers and Brokers Are Marketing Medicare</em></a>. We will continue our analysis with the second report,<em> <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/report/what-do-people-with-medicare-think-about-the-role-of-marketing-shopping-for-medicare-options-and-their-coverage/">What Do People with Medicare Think About the Role of Marketing, Shopping for Medicare Options, and Their Coverage?</a>,</em> in next week’s Medicare Watch.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.medicareinteractive.org/get-answers/medicare-health-coverage-options/changing-medicare-coverage/six-things-to-know-about-fall-open-enrollment">open enrollment period</a>
for MA and Part D runs from October 15 through December 7 each year.
Beginning October 1, insurers, brokers, and other third-party entities
can begin marketing their plans, including through television ads. In
advance of this year’s ad blitz, KFF reviewed television spots that
aired last fall, examining plan marketing strategies in depth. Key
takeaways include:</p>
<p>MA ads were common during the annual enrollment period.</p>
<ul><li><strong>TV airways were flooded with ads for Medicare plans. </strong>There
were 643,852 airings of English-language Medicare ads run on broadcast
television and national cable between October 1, 2022, and December 7,
2022, an average of more than 9,500 airings per day. This is more than
were seen for any individual Healthcare.gov open enrollment period <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32589219/">between 2013 and 2018</a>.
Most—four of every five ads—were sponsored by health insurers, with the
remaining sponsored by brokers and other third-party entities, such as
marketing companies. Some TV ads used celebrity endorsements to promote
MA.Joe Namath was featured more often than any other celebrity,
appearing in nearly 10% of all MA ads.</li></ul>
<p>Many MA ads were misleading or confusing by design.</p>
<ul><li><strong>Ads often implied Medicare’s endorsement</strong>. Over 27%
of ads included a government-issued Medicare card or image that
resembled it, and 16% urged viewers to call a privately-run phone line
described as a “Medicare” hotline. Importantly, new <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/12/2023-07115/medicare-program-contract-year-2024-policy-and-technical-changes-to-the-medicare-advantage-program">rules that take effect</a>
before this year’s open enrollment period should help prevent this, by
prohibiting the misleading use of the Medicare name, logo, or card in
private marketing and communication materials.</li></ul>
<ul><li><strong>Other ads used language to suggest viewers were “missing
out” on benefits they were “entitled to,” or receiving incomplete
coverage under OM</strong>. Such framing can give viewers with OM the
incorrect impression they need to take action, have inadequate coverage,
or have overlooked a necessary enrollment step.</li></ul>
<ul><li><strong>Medicare Advantage ad airings often </strong><a href="https://www.kff.org/report-section/how-health-insurers-and-brokers-are-marketing-medicare-report/#active-seniors"><strong>featured active “enrollees” engaged in physical activities</strong></a><strong> (26%) but few (less than 5%) showed people who appeared to have a serious health problem or visible disability</strong>. This may represent an effort by insurers to target people in good health, but it fails to mirror the <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/access-problems-and-cost-concerns-of-younger-medicare-beneficiaries-exceeded-those-of-older-beneficiaries-in-2019/">demographics of the Medicare population</a>: One-fifth
(22%) of Medicare beneficiaries are in fair or poor self-reported
health, and more than one-quarter (28%) have at least one functional
impairment.</li></ul>
<p>Many of the ads mentioned possible benefits of MA, but none of the trade-offs.</p>
<ul><li><strong>Most ads (92%) emphasized supplemental benefits, such as dental, vision, and hearing care.</strong>
However, not all benefits are available to all enrollees, which can get
lost in a commercial. The lack of data about supplemental benefit usage
and access means plan promises could be largely empty. Notably,
services that may appeal to people in poorer health—including allowances
for food or grocery spending (20%), transportation services (20%), and
meals (10%)—were marketed much less often than others. As with
depictions of physically active plan members this may represent an
effort to attract <a href="https://healthpolicy.usc.edu/research/ma-enrolls-lower-spending-people-leading-to-large-overpayments/">lower-cost, healthier enrollees</a>.</li></ul>
<ul><li><strong>The majority of ads (85%) touted lower out-of-pocket
spending, such as $0 co-pays, no additional premiums, or reductions to
the standard Part B premium. </strong>These ads may also imply a benefit is more available than it is. For example, in 2023, Part B rebates were <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-advantage-2023-spotlight-first-look/">offered by just 17% </a>of plans, with an <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-advantage-in-2023-premiums-out-of-pocket-limits-cost-sharing-supplemental-benefits-prior-authorization-and-star-ratings/">even smaller share of enrollees (10%)</a> having access. <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/12/2023-07115/medicare-program-contract-year-2024-policy-and-technical-changes-to-the-medicare-advantage-program">New CMS rules</a>
now prohibit marketing of benefits that are not available in the
service area where the ad is aired, with an exception for regional ads.
This change may improve marketing accuracy, but additional unbiased
consumer education, outreach, and enrollment assistance is still needed.</li></ul>
<ul><li><strong>Ads rarely mentioned Original Medicare, or the potential limitations of MA coverage. </strong>MA-specific
features,such as limited and ever-shifting provider networks or prior
authorization requirements, were absent from the ads, leaving
beneficiaries with an incomplete view of their coverage options and the
tradeoffs among them.</li></ul>
<p>The KFF reports come as MA is becoming more complex for
beneficiaries, more costly for Medicare, and more lucrative for
insurers. Critically, these dynamics are interdependent. Fueled by <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/brookings-look-profitability-medicare-advantage">surging profits</a>, seemingly endless numbers of MA plans are coming to market: <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medicare-advantage-2023-spotlight-first-look/">In 2023,</a> beneficiaries had access to 43 MA plans, more than ever before. MA enrollment <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/half-of-all-eligible-medicare-beneficiaries-are-now-enrolled-in-private-medicare-advantage-plans/">is also climbing</a>, in part due to increased <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/digital-engagement-now-typifies-the-medicare-advantage-experience">advertising by plans</a>
and brokers. Such ads often feature “extra” benefits not available to
people with Original Medicare (OM), like dental coverage and gym
memberships. <a href="https://www.medicarerights.org/pdf/medicare-advantage-101-payments-methodology.pdf">The MA overpayments</a> that help fund these heavily marketed services are also <a href="https://www.medicarerights.org/pdf/medicare-advantage-101-overpayment-cycle.pdf">on the rise</a>,
worsening concerns about MA efficiency, Medicare sustainability, and
parity between OM and MA. Troublingly, many of the ads are misleading
and aggressive. Beneficiary <a href="https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Deceptive%20Marketing%20Practices%20Flourish%20in%20Medicare%20Advantage.pdf">marketing complaints grew</a>
sharply in recent years, leading to heightened attention from
policymakers, including new rules that will apply to plan and
third-party marketers during the upcoming Medicare open enrollment
period. Medicare Rights welcomes these regulatory updates and will
remain vigilant during the open enrollment period and beyond to ensure
successful implementation. We will continue to urge Congress and CMS to
more fully protect people with Medicare through further reforms,
including setting and enforcing standards for the marketing of
supplemental benefits, restoring <a href="https://www.medicarerights.org/pdf/082719-mpf-mcmg-2020-letter-cms.pdf">recently weakened</a> consumer
protections, boosting plan oversight, filling gaps in marketing rules,
and providing adequate funding for unbiased beneficiary education,
including State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs). We also
urge improvements to simplify enrollment, such as <a href="https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2022/02/24/senators-introduce-the-bipartisan-benes-2-0-act-to-further-simplify-medicare-enrollment">BENES 2.0</a>,
and greater attention to Medigap restrictions as well as inaccurate
provider directories and mid-year network changes that may leave MA
enrollees without access to care and their providers of choice.</p>
<p></p>
<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-0434ae5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-jet-listing-dynamic-terms" data-element_type="widget" data-id="0434ae5" data-widget_type="jet-listing-dynamic-terms.default">
<div class="elementor-widget-container">
<div class="jet-listing jet-listing-dynamic-terms"><span class="jet-listing-dynamic-terms__prefix">Policy Issues: </span><a class="jet-listing-dynamic-terms__link" href="https://www.medicarerights.org/policy-issues/medicare-advantage-issues">Medicare Advantage</a></div> </div> </div><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-0434ae5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-jet-listing-dynamic-terms" data-element_type="widget" data-id="0434ae5" data-widget_type="jet-listing-dynamic-terms.default"> </div> </div>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-308297537691743392023-09-18T09:09:00.000-04:002023-09-18T09:09:00.478-04:00Strikes and Bidenomics - Matt Stoler<p> </p><p><a href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/strikes-and-bidenomics?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=11524&post_id=136785351&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3qu3t&utm_medium=email">https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/strikes-and-bidenomics?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=11524&post_id=136785351&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3qu3t&utm_medium=email </a><br /></p><h1 class="post-title unpublished">Strikes and Bidenomics</h1><h3 class="subtitle">The
White House is trying to sell 'Bidenomics,' but poll after poll shows
that the public is extremely unhappy with the economy. What does the
public see that the bureaucrats don't?</h3><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-direction-column--Rq7pk frontend-pencraft-Box-module__padding-bottom-16--KVxKv"><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-direction-column--Rq7pk frontend-pencraft-Box-module__padding-y-16--ohCEm"><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-justify-start--_8fEd frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-align-center--rSd6h frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-12--rODKq"><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-direction-column--Rq7pk"><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Text-module__size-11--k1e8b frontend-pencraft-Text-module__line-height-20--p0dP8 frontend-pencraft-Text-module__weight-medium--x7khA frontend-pencraft-Text-module__font-meta--U_nxy frontend-pencraft-Text-module__color-pub-primary-text--RzL7j frontend-pencraft-Text-module__transform-uppercase--IDkUL frontend-pencraft-Text-module__reset--dW0zZ frontend-pencraft-Text-module__meta--jzHdd"><div class="profile-hover-card-target frontend-reader2-ProfileAndPublicationHoverCard-module__profileHoverCardTarget--Od_YL"><a class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Text-module__decoration-hover-underline--BEYAn frontend-pencraft-Text-module__reset--dW0zZ" href="https://substack.com/@mattstoller">Matt Stoller</a></div></div><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-4--zeW5_"><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Text-module__size-11--k1e8b frontend-pencraft-Text-module__line-height-20--p0dP8 frontend-pencraft-Text-module__weight-medium--x7khA frontend-pencraft-Text-module__font-meta--U_nxy frontend-pencraft-Text-module__color-pub-secondary-text--OzRTa frontend-pencraft-Text-module__transform-uppercase--IDkUL frontend-pencraft-Text-module__reset--dW0zZ frontend-pencraft-Text-module__meta--jzHdd">Sep 16, 2023</div></div></div></div></div><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flexGrow--mx4xz frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-justify-space-between--NvIcg frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-align-center--rSd6h frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-16--TpblU frontend-pencraft-Box-module__padding-y-16--ohCEm frontend-pencraft-Box-module__border-top-detail-themed--e17yZ frontend-pencraft-Box-module__border-bottom-detail-themed--eVwFY post-ufi"><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-8--HFpIK"></div></div></div><div class="visibility-check"></div><div class=""><div class="available-content"><div class="body markup" dir="auto"><p><em><span>Welcome
to BIG, a newsletter on the politics of monopoly power. If you’d like
to sign up to receive issues over email, you can do so </span><a href="https://mattstoller.substack.com/subscribe" rel="">here</a><span>.</span></em></p><p>Today’s
issue is about the incoherence of the Biden economic agenda, so-called
‘Bidenomics.’ With strikes in the auto industry and Hollywood, as well
as sour polling numbers, something about the White House framework for
policy isn’t working. </p><p><span>First, I want to offer a brief
summary of the Google trial, which seems to be going well for the
government. Trials are where the rubber meets the road on antitrust, so
we set up a special site, </span><a href="https://www.bigtechontrial.com/" rel="">Big Tech on Trial</a><span>,
where we’re covering the daily drama of the case. Here’s the TLDR so
far of the trial. The government has shown pretty clearly that the
search giant is paying large sums of money to block rivals from entering
the market. In addition, Google’s gotten busted covering up evidence -
or as I put it, Google is following the Stringer Bell rule. In addition,
in a separate Google trial, a judge tossed the search firm’s dirty
tricks </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/15/google-doj-antitrust-jonathan-kanter/" rel="">attempt</a><span> to go after the head of the Antitrust Division Jonathan Kanter as biased.</span></p><p><span>It
hasn’t been all roses for the government, Google drew some blood
showing that consumers, when faced with the choice of Bing, do switch to
Google. But the basic narrative of Google as a monopolistic liar is
working, and Google’s attempt to show this trial as just the government
trying to help Microsoft isn’t resonating. The biggest win for Google is
Judge Amit Mehta blocking a public audio feed, so the public just isn’t
tuned in. You can follow along by signing up at </span><a href="https://www.bigtechontrial.com/" rel="">Big Tech on Trial</a><span>.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F553f9b98-d037-4d60-8c10-2724fca4ca8d_549x613.png" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/553f9b98-d037-4d60-8c10-2724fca4ca8d_549x613.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":613,"width":549,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":718234,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null}" height="613" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F553f9b98-d037-4d60-8c10-2724fca4ca8d_549x613.png" width="549" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></figure></div></div></div></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><figcaption class="image-caption">This
is a real book for sale in D.C. next to bobblehead RBG and Pelosi
dolls. This is not a joke. Well it is, but it’s also true.</figcaption></figure></div><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget">Strike!<div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§strike"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/i/136785351/strike"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></div></h3><p><span>I’ve
been out in Los Angeles for the last few days, and the big economic
problem here are the strikes against the movie studios, which have shut
down production. More broadly, as I read the news, the biggest economic
stories are the high cost of living, and then the United Autoworkers
going on strike against the big three car companies. The Washington Post
had a </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/15/uaw-workers-striking/" rel="">good article</a><span>
asking workers why they are striking. Most cited inflation and
fairness. “We’re not making enough money” said Petrun Williams, a 58
year-old Ford repairman.</span><strong> </strong><span>“People should be able to buy their own houses, but right now it’s not possible.” </span></p><p><span>It’s
a hard problem to tackle, because GM, Ford, and Stellantis are giant
wildly inefficient bureaucracies with high costs optimized to make
$75,000 trucks, and electric vehicles are a completely different
product. But ‘Bidenomics’ isn’t necessarily </span><a href="https://prospect.org/economy/2023-09-04-bidens-indirect-play-just-transition-evs/" rel="">helping</a><span>. </span></p><p><span>In
fact, Biden’s White House staff just doesn’t seem to have the capacity
to hear what’s going on, or address it. Earlier this month, Biden </span><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/15/uaw-calls-on-biden-to-do-more-00116322" rel="">gave a speech</a><span>
in Philadelphia celebrating Labor Day, and ahead of it he said “I’m not
worried about a strike,” and “I don’t think it’s going to happen,”
comments that are clearly a result of his senior staff giving him bad
info. These delusional comments prompted a Detroit Congresswoman to call
up senior White House advisor Steve Ricchetti and scream, “Are you out
of your f---ing minds?”</span></p><p><span>And this gets to a common
question I hear in D.C., which goes as follows. Why is the public so
unhappy? The economy looks, by most conventional measurements, as if
it’s doing so well. Dave Dayen </span><a href="https://prospect.org/economy/2023-08-08-people-feel-bad-about-economy/" rel="">summarized</a><span>
the statistics as follows. Unemployment is low, inflation is down,
consumer spending is rolling along, and certain manufacturing areas are
booming. “Several measures,” he wrote, “like economic growth and
prime-age employment, have actually </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/opinion/us-economy-covid-2008.html" rel="">rebounded to their trends</a><span> from before the 2008 financial crisis, an almost unthinkable scenario just a few years ago.”</span></p><p><span>According
to consistent polling, the public thinks inflation is high and getting
worse, and that Biden has done very little to address any of their
problems. What explains how the White House is floundering? One problem
is plenty of people in the political class believe that the public is
simply wrong to be angry. Paul Krugman, for instance, wrote a </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/opinion/economy-inflation-negativity.html" rel="">column</a><span> saying that normal people </span><em>believe</em><span>
the economy is bad, even if it isn’t. I see White House officials
interviewed on CNBC periodically, and while they don’t say that
outright, it’s clear they think the economy is doing well and inflation
is down, and their job is to sell their accomplishments.</span></p><p>There
are two reasons why the White House simply cannot seem to govern
effectively. The first is that the tools the political class uses to
understand inflation are misleading them. The second is that Biden
doesn’t have one unified policy agenda, but has a bunch of policy
agendas that work against each other. The result of these two factors is
that Biden’s story - look at all this prosperity I have delivered -
doesn’t work in the face of strikes and anger.</p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget">Sticker Price Versus Reality<div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§sticker-price-versus-reality"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/i/136785351/sticker-price-versus-reality"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></div></h3><p>Let’s
start with why the White House doesn’t see a problem. It’s true that
key members of Biden’s senior staff are mismanaging the situation, but
that doesn’t explain why Krugman, as well as many economists in the
administration, don’t see one either. Sure you can look at individual
strikes, but those are noisy events, not economy-wide.</p><p>How does
the government perceive the experience of ordinary people in the
economy? There’s a mess of information out there, what information
matters, and what doesn’t? The President can’t ask 100 million Americans
how they are doing before making a decision. Over the last century,
bureaucrats have answered these questions by inventing a host of
measurements to serve as proxy for what normal people experience. </p><p><span>The government has been measuring prices using </span><a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/history.htm" rel="">some variant</a><span>
of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 1913. When there’s a change to
inflation, what that usually means is that the CPI is going up or down.
And a change to inflation isn’t a change in absolute price levels. If
inflation is, say, down, it doesn’t mean prices are down, only that the
rate prices are increasing is less rapid than it was before. </span></p><p><span>Since
2021, prices have spiked fairly dramatically, with a CPI reaching up to
9% at certain points in 2022 before settling back to 3.7% </span><a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm" rel="">last month</a><span>.
Once again, that doesn’t mean prices are down, just that the rate of
increase is down. The crazy expensive fourteen dollar sandwich is still a
crazy expensive fourteen dollars, it’s just not going up to seventeen
dollars. One of the bigger contributors to the CPI last month was
housing, jumping by 7.3% over the past year. </span></p><p><span>But
does the CPI really show how people experience price increases? After
all, one of the most significant changes in what we pay is higher
interest rates, which the Federal Reserve has hiked dramatically over
the past few years. The Fed’s actions have increased credit card rates,
mortgage rates, auto financing, and corporate and government borrowing
costs. Surprisingly, none of this is directly included in our inflation
metrics. “The CPI’s scope,” </span><a href="https://www.bls.gov/ppi/methodology-reports/comparing-the-producer-price-index-for-personal-consumption-with-the-us-all-items-cpi-for-all-urban-consumers.htm#:~:text=The%20CPI's%20scope%20excludes%20changes,not%20included%20in%20the%20index." rel="">writes</a><span>
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “excludes changes in interest rates or
interest costs.” The price of money, which is an input into everything,
isn’t included in how we see inflation today.</span></p><p>That’s crazy.</p><p><span>When
I was in the archives learning about Congressman Wright Patman, the
Chair of the House Banking Committee in the 1960s and 1970s, I found
that back then, people included the cost of interest rates in how they
understood inflation. The 1960 Democratic Party platform </span><a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1960-democratic-party-platform" rel="">discussed inflation</a><span>
in precisely this manner, saying that high interest rates enacted a
“costly toll from every American who has financed a home, an automobile,
a refrigerator, or a television set,” and was “itself a factor in
inflation.”</span></p><p>This logic made sense. When you borrow to buy a
car or a house, the cost of that car or house is your monthly payment,
not the sticker price. But in the 1980s, the government changed its
method of measuring inflation, so today, the CPI works under different
assumptions. So what does this change mean? Well, the two biggest
purchases for an American family are a car and a house, and in both of
these categories, the CPI excludes the key factor for normal people,
which is how interest rates affect the monthly payment. The sticker
price for a car is an important number, but it’s the monthly payment
that matters.</p><p>With that in mind, let’s take a look at the price of cars over the last ten years. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad6453f2-d26f-4263-adc4-97e1d19b8789_946x473.png" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ad6453f2-d26f-4263-adc4-97e1d19b8789_946x473.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":473,"width":946,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":56822,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="473" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad6453f2-d26f-4263-adc4-97e1d19b8789_946x473.png" width="946" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></figure></div><p>New
car prices spiked from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2022, but
price levels are starting to come down, ever so gently. But is the
monthly payment coming down?</p><p><span>No. According </span><a href="https://www.edmunds.com/industry/press/car-shoppers-feel-the-heat-from-scorching-financing-costs-in-q2-according-to-edmunds.html" rel="">to Edmunds</a><span>,
in Q2 of 2022, the average monthly payment for a car was $678, in Q2 of
2023, it was $733. So it’s a slight price decline for the CPI due to
new vehicle pricing, but an 8% inflation for what people actually pay.
Why are monthly payments going up if sticker prices are going down? It’s
simple - the price of money has gone up. The average interest rate for a
</span><a href="https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2023/09/212325-auto-financing-consumers-continue-to-prefer-shorter-term-loans-experian-report-claims/" rel="">new car</a><span> jumped to 6.63% in the second quarter of this year. It was 4.60% in Q2 of 2022, and 4.17% in Q2 of 2021. </span></p><p>And housing? Here’s chart from the Daily Shot of the monthly mortgage payment for a median home price. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fded94edd-dbdb-40e0-aad2-82ecce3e3794_564x445.png" rel="" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ded94edd-dbdb-40e0-aad2-82ecce3e3794_564x445.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":445,"width":564,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"","title":"","type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="445" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fded94edd-dbdb-40e0-aad2-82ecce3e3794_564x445.png" title="" width="564" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Redfin reports the typical mortgage payment is </span><a href="https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-monthly-mortgage-payments-near-record-high/" rel="">up 20%</a><span>
from a year ago. And while most homeowners have mortgages they got
prior to 2021, and so aren’t paying the higher prices, the exceptionally
high currently monthly payment means people can no longer move, and
they have to watch their children struggle to find a place to live.
Housing prices are social, since the home is so central to the American
order, so even if you are financially unaffected, seeing a lot of people
be unable to move, buy a home, or rent affordably gives everyone a
sense of economic insecurity. That’s why striking auto workers mentioned
the price of housing. </span></p><p><span>The calculation for housing in the CPI is a bit </span><a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-2/owners-equivalent-rent-and-the-consumer-price-index-30-years-and-counting.htm" rel="">more complicated</a><span>
than that for new cars, but the key piece to understand is that in
1983, the Reagan administration chose to exclude interest costs, instead
asking homeowners what they think they would be paying in rent if they
didn’t own the home they lived in. The government </span><a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2022/06/10/owners-equivalent-rent-a-key-property-of-inflation/" rel="">simply</a><span>
“underestimates changes in housing costs,” according to an economist at
Redfin, especially when interest rates are spiking. “And that’s because
housing costs for the person who is actually active in the market
experiences much greater fluctuation.”</span></p><p><span>The reason to
change this measurement was so that inflation would look lower than it
actually was. Over time, subsequent administrations sustained this
shift. Lying about the symbols used to govern has a short-term political
benefit in that it perhaps gets you some good media coverage, but over
time, it meant that the CPI for </span><a href="https://harpers.org/archive/2008/05/numbers-racket/" rel="">housing costs</a><span> isn’t necessarily reliable. </span></p><p>So
basically, the price of money is a big deal in terms of our experience
paying for things, and it’s being excluded from the inflation metric
that policymakers use to look at the economy. So that’s why policymakers
are confused. Some of their key tools aren’t reflecting reality, and
the people who originally broke the tools for political purposes aren’t
there anymore. Today’s political class doesn’t even know what they don’t
know.</p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget">What Is Bidenomics?<div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§what-is-bidenomics"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/i/136785351/what-is-bidenomics"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></div></h3><p><span>Of
course, housing and cars aren’t the only things people buy. Food is
much more expensive than it was just a few years ago, as are everything
from hotels to airfares to consumer packaged goods to seeds. I mean,
Visa and Mastercard, who are barely affected by inflation, </span><a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/visa-mastercard-prepare-to-raise-credit-card-fees-ed779be1" rel="">are jacking</a><span>
up their swipe fees to merchants. None of that is a secret, the CPI on
food shows that inflation might be coming down, but prices are still
high. So what is Joe Biden, and the Democrats in Congress, doing about
that? Well, White House officials call their plan ‘Bidenomics.’</span></p><p><span>The best way to explain Bidenomics is to listen to a judge Biden recently appointed to the D.C. district court, Ana Reyes, who </span><a href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/all-rise-how-judges-rule-america" rel="">was hostile</a><span>
to the Antitrust Division when they brought a case against two
smartlock makers. Last month, Reyes sat on an American Bar Association
panel where </span><a href="https://mlexmarketinsight.com/news/insight/judge-reyes-expects-more-merger-challenges-suggests-there-s-us-court-skepticism-of-revised-structural" rel="">she attacked</a><span>
the idea of stronger antitrust enforcement, focusing specifically on
her skepticism around labor-related claims. She bragged to the audience
of defense attorneys that during the antitrust case she heard, she
'pranked' government lawyers by spending three minutes pretending to
dismiss their key witness, before saying ‘April Fools. "I have never in
my life heard stunned silence," she later said gleefully.</span></p><p>Having
a corporate lawyer bully turned judge appointed by Biden killing an
antitrust suit brought by Biden officials is a great example of
Bidenomics, because it shows the lack of coherence of this
administration’s policy. I’m a big fan of Federal Trade Commission Chair
Lina Khan, but another Biden judge - Jacqueline Corley - let through
the largest big tech merger of all time, when Microsoft bought
Activision, after Khan challenged the deal. </p><p><span>These judges
matter in terms of inflation. Had Biden picked actual populists for the
judiciary instead of Corley and Reyes, the White House’s ability to
govern would look very different, and corporate America would be
changing their pricing behavior due to fear of crackdowns. In early
2022, there was a flurry of interest in using antitrust to attack how
corporations were informally colluding to raise prices. But an
aggressive legal theory needs judges willing to take market power
seriously, and Biden instead chose people who thwart his own
administration. It’s not just judges. </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/02/17/white-house-inflation-corporations/" rel="">Factions</a><span>
in the administration - in this case the White House Council of
Economic Advisors - explicitly opposed the corporate profit-inflation
link. </span></p><div><hr /></div><h4 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><em><strong>BIG </strong></em><strong>is
a reader-supported newsletter focused on the politics of monopoly and
finance. If you haven't done so already, please consider supporting this
work by upgrading to a paid subscription. The truth costs a few bucks,
but in the long run it’s much cheaper.</strong><div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§big-is-a-reader-supported-newsletter-focused-on-the-politics-of-monopoly-and-finance-if-you-havent-done-so-already-please-consider-supporting-this-work-by-upgrading-to-a-paid-subscription-the-truth-costs-a-few-bucks-but-in-the-long-run-its-much-cheaper"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/i/136785351/big-is-a-reader-supported-newsletter-focused-on-the-politics-of-monopoly-and-finance-if-you-havent-done-so-already-please-consider-supporting-this-work-by-upgrading-to-a-paid-subscription-the-truth-costs-a-few-bucks-but-in-the-long-run-its-much-cheaper"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></div></h4><div class="subscribe-widget is-signed-up" data-component-name="SubscribeWidget"><p class="button-wrapper"></p></div><div><hr /></div><p><span>I
think a lot about antitrust, but the incoherence is systemic across
most policy areas (and Democrats in Congress). The pro-labor
administration indicated </span><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/14/biden-supports-hollywood-actors-strike.html" rel="">support</a><span>
for the strikes in Hollywood against powerful studios, then a few
months later the former White House Domestic Policy Council head - Susan
Rice - </span><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/susan-rice-joins-netflix-board-after-biden-1235585878/" rel="">rejoined</a><span> the board of Netflix. For every attempt to make electric vehicles in America there’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen </span><a href="https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/treasury-delays-final-rules-on-manchin-ev-tax-credit-to-march" rel="">pushing</a><span> hard to ensure these cars are made abroad. </span></p><p>Normally,
policy disagreements would be decided by the President and his staff.
But Joe Biden is a procrastinator, and doesn’t like making choices. He’s
also very old. As for his staff, well, while Biden’s former chief of
staff Ron Klain was aggressive in terms of policy goals, his new chief
of staff, Jeff Zients, is a relentlessly cheerful former management
consultant wholly focused on process. Other important figures, such as
Tim Wu and Brian Deese, have also left. With Klain gone, there’s an
insular clubbiness at the top, and an inability to provide a vision or
pay attention to policy implementation. Even if you were to make the
point that housing prices need attention, there’s just no one there who
could or would do anything about it. </p><p><span>And that brings us
back to the strikes. The Biden administration should have headed off the
UAW labor action with discrete steps to help the workers, but the White
House just doesn’t have any coherence. And so while Biden is </span><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/15/uaw-calls-on-biden-to-do-more-00116322" rel="">saying pro-labor things</a><span> and agreeing the CEOs are paid too much, there’s this.</span></p><blockquote><p>There
is also a sense among some Democrats and labor officials that Biden’s
team miscalculated the standoff and hasn’t understood the severity of
labor’s frustration or concerns. Even the news this week that the Biden
administration was considering providing aid to auto suppliers rankled
some in the union world, who thought it could undermine the strike and
saw it as evidence that there are always funds available for companies,
but not workers.</p></blockquote><p>This isn’t to say there aren’t
significant achievements. Biden’s industrial policy push is real, with
increases in investment in semiconductor production, electric vehicles,
and batteries, as well new factories in general. His competition policy
approach is also real, with new merger guidelines, as well as crackdowns
in pharmaceuticals, mergers, the prohibition of non-competes, and the
Google suit.</p><p><span>There are routinely good decisions coming out of some of the regulators. The other day, for instance, the Department of Labor </span><a href="https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/Pages/proposed-overtime-rule-2023.aspx?utm_source=marketo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial~Compensation%20and%20Benefits~NL_2023-09-07_TotalRewards&linktext=Overtime-Would-Become-Available-to-Millions-More-Employees-Under-Proposed-Rule&mktoid=77642075" rel="">proposed</a><span> a rule opening up 4 million more workers to overtime pay. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission </span><a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-155" rel="">begins a crackdown</a><span> on private equity.</span></p><p>Unlike
the Obama administration, which was ideologically oriented to push
wealth and power upward, the Biden administration has a few populists
trying to do the opposite. But in an inflationary environment where the
stats are juiced to mislead policymakers, that’s not good enough.</p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget">What Happened to Biden’s State of the Union?<div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§what-happened-to-bidens-state-of-the-union"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/i/136785351/what-happened-to-bidens-state-of-the-union"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"></svg></div></div></div></h3><div class="available-content"><div class="body markup" dir="auto"><p><span>In February, Biden gave </span><a href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/bill-clinton-has-left-the-building" rel="">a State of the Union speech</a><span>
focused on making things in the U.S., going after junk fees, and taking
on corporate power. His polling temporarily spiked. Since then, there
has been no messaging follow-up from the White House on anything he said
in that speech, almost as if Zients and the rest of the White House
were embarrassed that Biden put forward a populist set of arguments.</span></p><p>Instead,
various officials are out there on TV saying ‘look at these charts!’
They want credit for inflation being down, economic growth being up, and
unemployment being low. But without recognizing that the actual costs
of housing and transportation are increasingly unaffordable and going
up, that just looks weird. Moreover, there’s no actual policy regime,
just a disjointed set of factions trying to get as much done as possible
according to their preferred view. It’s mostly unclear how Biden is
actually affecting people’s lives, and the only genuinely organized
groups of workers, are showing that things aren’t ok. </p><p>The economy
isn’t great, and there’s no point in trying to pretend it is. That
said, Biden can save his administration. He has accomplishments, and his
State of the Union messaging resonated. He can argue that his first
term was about having America recover from Covid by re-shoring
factories, restoring full employment, and fixing supply chain problems.
He can brag about all the big companies suing him, like various
pharmaceutical firms mad that the White House is imposing price caps.
Then he can pledge that he’ll focus on bringing down housing costs in
his second term. Will such a story work? I don’t know. Maybe the current
pitch will work, in the 2022 midterms, Biden out-performed
expectations. But it’s at least more relatable than ‘Eat some charts!’</p><div><hr /></div><p><span>Thanks
for reading! Your tips make this newsletter what it is, so please send
me tips on weird monopolies, stories I’ve missed, or other thoughts. And
if you liked this issue of BIG, you can sign up </span><a href="http://email.mg1.substack.com/c/eJxVUMFuwyAM_ZpwjIAmYT34UHXtb0QEnBSNQARmVf5-pN1hkyzberae37PRhEtMOxBmYiVjGp0FZoEradTEXB7nhLhq54FtZfLOaHIxHFtC9LJjDzhxNUs7nKTlnGsthRKDmj-s4dIYO0i2xUyjLtZhMAj4jWmPAZmHB9GWm9OlkfcaqybKFL3H1OYyZdLmqzVxraMn-togcyC5OPNzzT3ve9WKVnS3y5WL4a54d1PdZ9PxdRH_CFiCX946XA4vL7TaGWtdS3C0jxj05NECpYKM3v94Cad9Qwj4zB6JML3Bw74chFCsHrKxcgb4o_8H-RJ1Kg" rel="">here</a><span> for more issues, a newsletter on how to restore fair commerce, innovation and democracy. And consider becoming a </span><a href="https://email.mg1.substack.com/c/eJxVUMtuwyAQ_JpwtABjEw4ceulvIB6Lg4rBgrUq_31J0kO7Wmk1-xrNeIuw1XZphI7kqB0NXgfoAt89AyI0cnZoJgVNgqaSe-lI6iY2gN2mrMlxupy8xVTLc4uxhQvy0DZKpyjQIL31CqigggOPQYWBIqg3lz1DguJB15Ivc9gUSNYPxKPf5o8b_xy5W8SONWdoUz9dR-u_Jl_3MXpC35IDkjSnnI2Y6cwkZROfhIwuSrXauC7e2_u0rNhtvJaboPvG_v0iTf9SjOH21PXqDmlm1P0sCS8DxboMQWM7geDbsJcHZoMCbRgZjEXN1nmVchaci5W9VQ5bxEzlXVFFBm2o46roP8J-AJJ0hnE" rel="">paying subscriber</a><span> to support this work, or if you are a paying subscriber, giving a </span><a href="https://email.mg1.substack.com/c/eJxVUEtuxSAMPE1YRnwSSBYsKlW9BiJgUlQCETiqcvvy3uuitSxZ9tgezTiLsJd6a4SG5CwNDd4n6AzfLQEiVHI1qCZ6Tbymiju1kdhMqACHjUmT89pSdBZjyY8txmY-kU_tOZOU-bB5urhl9ouc-RomtnoXpOX0xWUvHyE70CWn25w2epL0J-LZBvE28I-eh0VsWFKCOrZra2jd1-jK0aFH62rcYBB9U-4x4CDesV5AouaUsx6CCqYoG_k4qbAFtUob5OycXcZZYrPhnoeJHjv795xU_cvZwf0h9DntWk2vx5Uj3gay3RJ4_STEl4NPU8wOGWp31huLmkkhlRIT55NkL9ndp0lQtax0JZ3Wl36V9R-lPyvjiqk" rel="">gift subscription</a><span> to a friend, colleague, or family member.</span></p><p>cheers,</p><p>Matt Stoller</p></div></div><div class="visibility-check"></div><div class="post-end-cta-full"><div class="visibility-check"></div><h3><br /></h3></div><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-84881166494972167732023-09-12T15:06:00.002-04:002023-09-12T15:06:36.525-04:00NYC Labor Day Parade Showdown: Retirees Challenge Union Leaders On Medicare Advantage Push <p> </p><p><a href=" https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/nougnesb242r1g8nr8z58i2fhtegwt"> https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/nougnesb242r1g8nr8z58i2fhtegwt</a>?</p><div class="blog-item-top-wrapper">
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<h1 class="entry-title entry-title--large p-name preSlide slideIn" data-content-field="title" itemprop="headline" style="transition-delay: 0.16875s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease;">NYC Labor Day Parade Showdown: Retirees Challenge Union Leaders On Medicare Advantage Push </h1>
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<div class="blog-meta-item blog-meta-item--categories" data-content-field="categories">
<span class="blog-item-category-wrapper"><a class="blog-item-category blog-item-category--Top Story" href="https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/category/Top+Story" tabindex="0">Top Story</a></span>
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<div class="blog-item-author-date-wrapper preFade fadeIn" data-animation-role="date" style="transition-delay: 0.178125s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease;">
<time class="dt-published blog-meta-item blog-meta-item--date" data-content-field="published-on" datetime="Sep 11" pubdate="">
<span>Sep 11</span>
</time>
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<div class="blog-item-content e-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1694545198929_100"><div class="sqs-layout sqs-grid-12 columns-12" data-layout-label="Post Body" data-type="item" id="item-64ff80708794a703b4e7eac4"><div class="row sqs-row" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1694545198929_99"><div class="col sqs-col-12 span-12" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1694545198929_98"><div class="sqs-block image-block sqs-block-image sqs-text-ready" data-block-type="5" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1694466161223_11215"><div class="sqs-block-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1694545198929_97">
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<img alt="" data-image-dimensions="4032x3024" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/d7b9bf3b-35e4-4af1-94b0-5eef82e33fb1/MMV2.jpeg" data-load="false" data-loader="sqs" data-src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/d7b9bf3b-35e4-4af1-94b0-5eef82e33fb1/MMV2.jpeg" data-stretch="false" height="3024" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/d7b9bf3b-35e4-4af1-94b0-5eef82e33fb1/MMV2.jpeg" style="display: block; height: 100%; object-fit: cover; object-position: 50% 50%; width: 100%;" width="4032" />
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<div class="image-caption"><p class="preFade" style="transition-delay: 0.196875s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYCOPSR President Marianne Pizzitola engages with NYS AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento [l] and NYC Central Labor Council President Vinny Alvarez [r] following Saturday’s Labor Day Parade. Photos and video by Joe Maniscalco</p></div>
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<p class="preFade" style="transition-delay: 0.20625s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong><em>Video follows story…</em></strong></p><p class="preFade" style="transition-delay: 0.215625s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>By Joe Maniscalco </strong></p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.225s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">This
weekend’s New York City Labor Day Parade saw municipal retirees
fighting to retain their Medicare coverage tangle with the heads of
both the state AFL-CIO and NYC Central Labor Council over the duo’s
opposition to Intro. 1099 — the City Council bill aimed at shielding
traditional health insurance from Medicare Advantage and
privatization. </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.234375s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">The
exchange happened at 5th Avenue and 64th Street after the retired civil
servants marching behind the DC37 Retirees Association banner finished
the parade route and spotted New York State AFL-CIO President Mario
Cilento and NYC Central Labor Council President Vinny Alvarez near the
reviewing stand. </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.24375s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">“Shame,”
New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees [NYCOPCR]
Treasurer Carol Whitton told Cilento, while an increasingly antsy
Alvarez looked on. The UFT retiree reminded the head of the New York
State AFL-CIO that it was civil servants like her who<a href="https://www.uft.org/your-union/our-history/back-brink-how-uft-saved-new-york-bankruptcy" tabindex="0"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> helped the City of New York survive the financial crisis of 1975. </span></a></p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.253125s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">“My
pension was put at risk in 1975 to save this city from bankruptcy and
this is how you thank me?” Whitton told Cilento. Fellow municipal
retirees wearing DC 37 green held up signs supporting passage of Intro.
1099 and chanted, “New York City, Don’t You Dare Touch My Medicare.” </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.2625s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">New
York City municipal retirees, along with their counterparts in other
cities around the country, have long maintained union leaders pushing
profit-driven Medicare Advantage programs are helping to destroy
traditional Medicare and <a href="https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/nyc-retirees-warn-union-leaders-threaten-to-destroy-labor-as-we-know-it" tabindex="0">jeopardizing the future of the entire American labor movement.</a> </p>
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<p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.271875s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">"There
was a very large contingent of both DC37 Retirees and NYCOPSR members
marching with DC 37 in the parade,” Council of Municipal Retiree
Organizations President Stu Eber later said. “We were chanting to save
our Medicare and to enact Intro 1099."</p>
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<p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.28125s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">Last month, the Municipal Labor Committee [MLC], the umbrella organization representing the city’s public sector unions, <a href="https://www.uft.org/sites/default/files/attachments/mlc-barron-bill-letter.pdf?j=1067686&sfmc_sub=32989415&l=222_HTML&u=21163450&mid=100022908&jb=1006" tabindex="0"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">sent out a letter</span></a>
to City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams [D-28th District] trashing
Intro. 1099 as “an attack on fundamental tenets of collective
bargaining” and urging its demise. The names of both Cilento and Alvarez
headed a list of labor leaders in apparent support. </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.290625s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">New
York City municipal retirees vehemently deny Intro. 1099 impacts
collective bargaining in any way — and they keep winning in court. </p>
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<img alt="" data-image-dimensions="4032x3024" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/6c0e3109-c612-49a6-8520-301db6baa0ec/RetireesMarching.jpeg" data-load="false" data-loader="sqs" data-src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/6c0e3109-c612-49a6-8520-301db6baa0ec/RetireesMarching.jpeg" data-stretch="false" height="3024" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/6c0e3109-c612-49a6-8520-301db6baa0ec/RetireesMarching.jpeg" style="display: block; height: 100%; object-fit: cover; object-position: 50% 50%; width: 100%;" width="4032" />
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<div class="image-caption"><p class="preFade" style="transition-delay: 0.309375s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYC municipal retirees fighting the privatization of their traditional Medicare coverage march in this year’s NYC Labor Day Parade. </p></div>
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<p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.31875s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">So far, however, less than 20 City Council members have signed on in support of Intro. 1099. </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.328125s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">Retired
EMT and NYCOPSR President Marianne Pizzitola briefly engaged the
labor leaders ahead of Whitton. Parade Grand Marshal Nancy Hagans,
president of the New York State Nurses Association, and Parade Chair
Mark Henry, vice-chair of the Amalgamated Transit Union, stood nearby. </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.3375s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">“I
went up to Mario Cilento and Vinny Alverez,” Pizzitola later told
Work-Bites. “I told Vinny I wanted to speak with you, but you didn’t
want to speak to me. So, we came to you as retired labor to be seen and
heard — because no union — and no president of a labor organization —
should advocate for diminishing benefits or privatizing Medicare against
a retired union worker.”</p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.346875s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">Pizzitola
then implored Cilento for a meeting to discuss the issue and urged
Hagans to support municipal retirees in their defense of traditional
Medicare health insurance coverage.</p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.35625s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">“I
said you’re a union leader — you should be standing by our side,”
Pizzitola told Work-Bites. “You should be explaining to Mario and Vinny
that no union should be advocating for diminishing a retired union
worker’s benefits — and should not be privatizing Medicare. She said,
‘That’s why I stand for the New York Health Act.’”</p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.365625s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">Work-Bites has reached out to Cilento, Alvarez and Hagans — and is awaiting comment. </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.375s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">Last week, UFT President and MLC leader Michael Mulgrew, expressed his disdain for the NY Health Act, saying, “<a href="https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/ofbwbran9fjo3vc5w1ti4evxcohtu6" tabindex="0"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">You cannot bankrupt your state's economy to make a point.</span></a>"</p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.384375s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">Meanwhile,
back at the parade — Jenny Roper, a municipal retiree who left the
Human Resources Administration in 2010, talked about losing her husband
to cancer last year. </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.39375s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">“He
was covered by my insurance,” she told Work-Bites following the parade.
“And I think if we had lost this [Medicare] battle, I would have lost
him sooner.” </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.403125s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">Neal
Frumkin, vice-president of Inter-Union Relations for the DC37 Retirees
Association, sounded energized following the exchange with union
leaders. </p><p class="preFade" style="text-align: justify; transition-delay: 0.4125s; transition-duration: 0.8s; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: normal !important;">“We’ll
turn out anywhere — anytime,” Frumkin said. “We’re in this fight for
the long haul. We’re winning — and we’re not gonna be turned around.” </p>
</div>
</div></div><div class="sqs-block video-block sqs-block-video" data-block-json="{"blockAnimation":"none","layout":"caption-hidden","overlay":false,"description":{},"hSize":null,"floatDir":null,"isOldBlock":false,"resolvedBy":"native","nativeVideo":"64ff92faf37f8b502e4d3b13","nativeVideoAssetId":"32bd9196-e738-4780-bceb-31c671e2873d"}" data-block-type="32" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1694466161223_20777"><div class="sqs-block-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1694545198929_91"><div class="intrinsic" style="max-width: 100%;"><div class="embed-block-wrapper " style="padding-bottom: 0.5625%;"><div class="sqs-native-video" data-config-block-id="yui_3_17_2_1_1694466161223_20777" data-config-settings="null" data-config-thumbnail="null" data-config-video="{"id":"64ff92faf37f8b502e4d3b13","recordType":61,"addedOn":1694470906049,"updatedOn":1694471122407,"workflowState":1,"authorId":"62f3ce4af4f34a1415ebc1f7","systemDataId":"32bd9196-e738-4780-bceb-31c671e2873d","systemDataVariants":"1920:1080,640:360","systemDataSourceType":"mp4","filename":"IMG_5846.MOV","body":null,"likeCount":0,"commentCount":0,"publicCommentCount":0,"commentState":1,"unsaved":false,"author":{"id":"62f3ce4af4f34a1415ebc1f7","displayName":"Joe Maniscalco","firstName":"Joe","lastName":"Maniscalco","websiteUrl":"https://Work-Bites.com","bio":""},"contentType":"video/mp4","structuredContent":{"_type":"SqspHostedVideo","videoCodec":"h264","audioCodec":"aac","alexandriaUrl":"https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/32bd9196-e738-4780-bceb-31c671e2873d/{variant}","alexandriaLibraryId":"630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d","aspectRatio":1.7777777777777777,"durationSeconds":59.338983},"videoCodec":"h264","audioCodec":"aac","alexandriaUrl":"https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/32bd9196-e738-4780-bceb-31c671e2873d/{variant}","alexandriaLibraryId":"630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d","aspectRatio":1.7777777777777777,"durationSeconds":59.338983,"pushedServices":{},"pendingPushedServices":{},"usageId":"b0a42e58-2b20-3818-95c4-1606094b770c","recordTypeLabel":"sqsp-hosted-video","originalSize":"1920:1080"}"><div class="native-video-player video-player video-player--medium"><div class="plyr plyr--full-ui plyr--video plyr--html5 plyr--fullscreen-enabled plyr--paused plyr--stopped video-player__container--click-to-play plyr__poster-enabled" tabindex="0"><div class="plyr__controls" style="bottom: -57px; transform: translateY(-57px);"><div aria-label="Current time" class="plyr__controls__item plyr__time--current plyr__time">00:00</div><div aria-label="Duration" class="plyr__controls__item plyr__time--duration plyr__time">00:59</div><div class="plyr__controls__item plyr__volume"></div><div class="plyr__controls__item plyr__menu"></div><div class="plyr__controls__item plyr__progress__container"><div class="plyr__progress"><progress aria-hidden="true" class="plyr__progress__buffer" max="100" min="0" role="progressbar" value="100">% buffered</progress><span class="plyr__tooltip">00:00</span></div></div></div><div class="plyr__video-wrapper"><video controls="" data-poster="https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/32bd9196-e738-4780-bceb-31c671e2873d/thumbnail"></video><div class="plyr__poster" style="background-image: url("https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/32bd9196-e738-4780-bceb-31c671e2873d/thumbnail");"></div></div><div class="video-player__controls-blocker" style="height: 57px;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-11957612580730990172023-09-05T16:15:00.001-04:002023-09-05T16:15:18.696-04:00Melissa Williams, Uncensored: "The game is rigged. It was rigged for two years. We are only now seeing the full force of the abuse of power in a union with one-party rule." <p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><h1 class="post-title unpublished">Melissa Williams, Uncensored: "The
game is rigged. It was rigged for two years. We are only now seeing the
full force of the abuse of power in a union with one-party rule." </h1><h3 class="subtitle">Melissa
Williams, shares her experience as chapter leader for occupational and
physical therapists under Michael Mulgrew's Unity - the partisan
patronage caucus machine that controls UFT leadership.</h3><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> <span>Note: </span><i><b>I am publishing this outside of UFT email because none of what I say would get through the editing of UFT leadership.</b></i><span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><span>When members of </span><a href="https://www.otptsforafaircontract.com/" rel="">OTs and PTs for a Fair Contract</a><span>
ran and won the Chapter Leadership in 2021, we ran without much
information provided about what the job would entail because (as I have
learned very well over 2 years) very few union HR policies and
procedures are actually in writing. </span></p><p>At my first solo
meeting with union leadership in July 2021, I was asked, “Why did you
run?”, and was told “the chapter leader job is what you make of it.” </p><p>In
fact, our Executive Board was not allowed to make the job as we wanted.
The first evidence of that is when we were not allowed to place our own
elected members into the PM staff positions (the 12 hours a week of
time that was theoretically available to assist the chapter leader). The
prior elected chapter leader and PM staffer were allowed to keep the
job, but this was not made clear to me until October 2021. I learned by
accident when I was “taken out of the sandbox” of the Salesforce HR
system (the system with all union members’ information) in October 2021
and saw that the prior PM Staffers had been working for weeks without
informing me. I was finally informed in my office, in the next breath
after I told leadership that my dad was just put in hospice, that “we
don’t just fire people.” If our group would have known that we would not
have been able to place our own people in PM staff jobs, I don’t think
we would have run. </p><p>In my mind it is the equivalent of Mayor Adams
being forced to keep all of De Blasio’s former staff. They were
both Democratic mayors, but they each have their own ideas and
priorities. This idea that “we are all one chapter” and should work
together, when there was deception right in the beginning and a pattern
of steering people to PM staff on social media to bypass the actual
elected chapter leadership was the first of many challenges in our
tenure. </p><p>Following the advice of Barbara Madeloni, former
Massachusetts Teacher Association president who mentored me in the
early months of my chapter leadership, “don’t make private beef public
because the average therapist doesn’t care,” I did not make public the
early undermining of our elected leadership. At the time, I was trying
out her philosophy to “stand somewhere while drawing people in at the
same time.” Over time, my ideas about this philosophy in the context of
the UFT power structure have changed. </p><p>The first three months
were a whirlwind made worse by the sudden and horrible way my
father died in October 2021 due to medical errors caused by extreme
understaffing on his dementia unit. There were times in the first six
months of my tenure that I didn’t take lunch because I was answering
emails nonstop about COVID policies, pivoting to remote tele-therapy,
and the mess of the recovery payment issues. Concurrently, I returned to
in-person therapy after 18 months of working remotely and dealt with
all the normal stressors of being a clinician in a pandemic. I quickly
realized that if I didn’t start erecting some boundaries, that the
chapter leader job would take over my life. </p><p>At this time, I was
also told by numerous male, highly paid, full-time union staffers that
“the chapter leader job is 24/7.” I countered that with, “but you said
the chapter leader job is what I make of it.” I began setting a
30-minute timer at the union office to hold myself accountable for
taking a duty-free lunch. I began placing limits on checking union
emails on non-union days. The job still took over my life. </p><p>Our
Executive Board’s successes during this time were to have many members
of the Executive Board plus members of the rank and file to present the
items on our consultation agenda each month. As much as I don’t think
consultation made a significant change in our working conditions, I do
hope that the practice of giving average therapists “voice” in
consultation continues after our leadership. We also conducted remote
meetings with 200 plus attendees each month when the expectation is only
6 chapter meetings a year, not twelve. </p><p>This year on top of
contract negotiations we ran 12 chapter meetings, a new hire
orientation, an itinerant PK meetings, a D75 meeting, and a meeting to
unpack the racist comments by the former AOTA president at the AOTA
conference this year. The use of remote meetings increased the ability
to conduct more meetings and increase access and participation. I also
went to numerous Panel of Education Policy meetings, sometimes staying
up until 1 AM on a school night to testify about our working
conditions. </p><p>The winter of 2021 and spring of 2022, our chapter
leadership was consumed by understanding the parameters of the payment
issues and became drafted payroll experts. I began to see that the
pattern of dealing with these types of issues one by one, instead of as a
systemic issue, was part of a pattern of UFT leadership enabling the
DOE to be negligent in their basic duties to pay people in a timely
manner. </p><p>One union leader framed it to me as a type of “harm
reduction,” but I remain convinced that if leadership continues to
enable the DOE not to perform the basic functions as an employer, the
DOE will have no incentive to do right by us. </p><p>The current
Summer 2023 paraprofessional pay issue is a perfect example. I learned
that our union leadership tends to play defense instead of offense on
these payment issues. After all the many months of work our OT/PT
Executive Board did gathering data for the UFT Grievance Department, the
UFT Grievance Department failed to pursue the Transfer List 2022 issue,
the recovery pay arbitration, or substantively address the months of
non-payment some therapists experience coming off of parental leave.
The success we had addressing the SEED Payment issues this year is
because we showed up at Panel of Educational Policy meetings, Citywide
Council of Special Education meetings, and leveraged our relationships
with parent leaders. </p><p>All of that was achieved outside of the union power structure. </p><p>In
the Spring of 2022, when I was given the list of therapists who wanted
to be on the negotiation subcommittee, I chose Marilena Marchetti,
delegate Jen Clavin, Susan Paul, OT vice-Chair Hannah Fleury, Chapter
Secretary Rachel Feinsilver, Regional OT At Large Beth Salzman, and
Itinerant PK PT, Peter Romagnuolo. Jen Clavin withdrew so OT delegate
Mimi Greenberg was replaced as an alternate. When Marilena left the DOE
in the Summer of 2022, we were not allowed to replace her. However, the
union leadership, without prior consent or consultation, placed two
former chapter leaders and an OT PM staffer on our committee as well.
This is yet another example of union leadership organizing around the
elected leadership of our chapter. </p><p><span>During our many
subcommittee meetings we were told by union leadership to “shoot for the
moon,” only to have those demands such as the 7</span><sup>th </sup><span>session
later weaponized against us by the members of the subcommittee that
were paced without elected chapter leadership consent by union
leadership. During bargaining, it did feel that we had reached consensus
as a group after very careful and thoughtful planning of demands. </span></p><p>The
fact that the members of the committee that were placed there without
consent are now mischaracterizing what happened at the table seems like
it was the design all along. Most of the therapists on the OT/PT
bargaining subcommittee did not go to their second and third jobs so
they could attend these meetings. Everyone there had a stake in the
outcome of our bargaining. Everyone there faced the city when they
turned down every single one of our demands. Everyone there could see
that the city’s two demands were an attempt to get us to begin servicing
charter schools and to maximize our productivity in a way that could
potentially displace therapists with less seniority who happened to be
payrolled in co-located schools. </p><p>At the end of the last session
with the city, the UFT staffer who was the leader of our subcommittee
said to us, “I hate to say this, but this is an example of effective
bargaining.” He stated that sometimes the best you can do is avoid
future harm. If the leader of our subcommittee stated that we engaged in
effective bargaining, one has to ask themselves what the motivation is
of the prior OT/PT chapter leadership as well as current union
leadership to characterize our bargaining as rigid in our seeking of pay
parity as well as a form of “politics and games” by an “extreme group
who has taken over our chapter.” </p><p><span>Our subcommittee took
the negotiation process very seriously. The seriousness and good
faith with which we approached the process was assaulted by the
information we received with the entire 500-person bargaining committee
that an optional 9</span><sup>th </sup><span>session was added at the
11th hour without our consent. The explanation given was that “you all
said you wanted us to get more money for you and all of this happened
quickly.” We were promised that if anything happened in the governance
committee that would directly affect us that we would be consulted.
That was a lie. </span></p><p><span>The majority of our subcommittee would have said no to the 9</span><sup>th </sup><span>session because we have been fighting any form of the 9</span><sup>th </sup><span>session
since at least 2007. We would have said no to the new rate of pay that
is not our regular overtime rate. We were not given that option. </span></p><p>For
many of us on the committee, it was an affront to the entire integrity
of the bargaining process and formulation of demands. It is particularly
offensive when our legitimate concerns are dismissed by comments such
as, “We are all adults, just don’t take the work”. </p><p>(There is a
magic word, ‘no’” without a touch of insight into the irony about
asserting that we should exercise our right to say NO in this instance
but not when voting down the contract). </p><p><span>Many therapists
in understaffed D75 schools who are already pressured to “partially
serve” students will now be coerced to perform 9</span><sup>th </sup><span>sessions
and it is a minimization of our concerns and a lack of understanding of
our actual working conditions to state otherwise. </span></p><p>When
this current Executive Board ran, we ran on and were elected on the
understanding that we were going to fight for pay parity. There were
other members of our bargaining unit who also refused to back down from
the idea of pay parity, yet curiously that fact is not being weaponized
against them as it is now weaponized against us by union leadership. </p><p>In
2018, there was a financial subcommittee where money could be moved
around. This time around we were informed that there was no such
subcommittee. We were not informed of the extra money from the
stabilization fund that was used to give the supervisors a raise until
after the tentative agreement was released. Had we known, perhaps the
other chapters in our bargaining unit would have also tried to get some
of that money which would have resulted in less for supervisors. </p><p>I
am curious as to why the stabilization fund was not presented to
our subcommittee. It fits a pattern of union leadership pitting chapters
in our bargaining unit against each other in a zero-sum game. We did
not create our bargaining unit, nor do we have control over the fact
that union leadership refused to break up the bargaining unit in 2018
and 2019 when they were asked by the smaller chapters in our bargaining
unit, just as we now have no control that union leadership is framing it
as an “injustice” to the other members of our unit that we voted
“No”. </p><p>When the information came out about us voting down our
contract with 56% voter turnout and 2/3 of therapists voting no, it was
immediately presented to us by union leadership as if it was a mistake
to exercise our right to vote no. The tone was demeaning and
paternalistic. </p><p>Union leadership made it very clear that they had
no intention of fighting the city on our behalf. A meeting was called by
union leadership in which the functional chapter leaders in
our bargaining unit were not involved. Instead of inoculating us against
fear of a prolonged fight and congratulating us about exercising the
only leverage we have under the Taylor Law, a NO vote, the wheels of an
unprecedented revote were already set in motion. </p><p>It is important
to think about what it means in our union to have a “mandate” to lead
as elected leaders. Our current chapter leadership won our positions
with a wide margin in an election with low voter turnout. Although 200
therapists routinely logged in to monthly Zoom meetings, that is still
only about 7% of our chapter. At our two meetings in June 2023 where
over 1,000 therapists logged in, that is still only about 25% of the
chapter. 44% of our chapter did not mail in a contract ratification
ballot. </p><p>Despite the words of our union president who accuses
current chapter leadership of “politics and games,” a union is a
political organization. Politics exist to address social problems. Our
lack of pay parity sits at the intersection of women’s
rights, disability rights, civil rights, and racial inequality. Every
union decision is inherently political and the idea that “politics” is
weaponized against our elected chapter leadership is deeply disturbing. </p><p><span>Our
chapter leadership led with information we gleaned from the therapists
who showed up and engaged in the work of unionism. We lead despite
active antipathy, </span><a href="https://unitycaucus.org/caucus-of-quit/" rel="">like this post </a><span>that was written by a caucus whose president is also the </span><a href="https://www.uft.org/your-union/leadership/secretary" rel="">Staff Director of the UFT</a><span>. </span></p><p>The game
is rigged. It was rigged for two years. We are only now seeing the full
force of the abuse of power in a union with one-party rule. </p><p>In
the face of a revote, I am stepping down as chapter leader of
occupational and physical therapists. The precedent of our union has
always been to run votes through the American Arbitration Association
and to accept the results of those votes. These are my bare
minimum expectations if I am to continue to give my time to a
“democratic” organization. </p><p>A revote is undemocratic on its face.
If our chapter votes no, I will still be a member of the
bargaining subcommittee unless union leadership decides to remove me
which at this point seems a strong possibility. I am deeply sorry to
the therapists who exercised their right to vote only to have union
leadership humoring the possibility of a revote, encouraging an email
campaign, refusing to perform their fiduciary responsibility to bargain
based on our vote, and using a convenient sample of emails to justify a
revote to get the desired outcome of both union leadership and
the city. </p><p>Many therapists who voted no have told me they are
going to throw the new ballot in the garbage, and I understand the
sentiment. I encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote again to
continue to fight for the pay and working conditions of our students
and therapists in the richest city in the history of humanity
deserves. </p><p>At the beginning of my tenure, I wrestled with the
question, “how do you stand somewhere and welcome people in at the same
time?” After two years, the question I began to ask myself was “how do I
stand somewhere, with the mandate of the therapists who elected me,
and effectively lead when union leadership exercises their power and
control of the mechanisms of communication to undermine me at every
turn?” With the current structure of the functional chapter leader job,
my answer is that I am unable and unwilling to continue to engage with
that question. </p><p>It has been posited by the ruling union caucus
that I am “taking my ball and going home.” In fact, I am engaging in the
regenerative Politics of Refusal. </p><p>To paraphrase poet
Mira Mattar, this is not a NO, but a YES to “not-this.” Despite my best
efforts, to use the language and analysis of my profession, the
environmental barriers set up by the ruling union caucus made it
impossible to do the “occupation” of chapter leadership in the way I
promised in my original campaign statement. It also required me to
neglect other areas of occupation in my life, including the role of
parent, grieving daughter, and friend in order to perform a job that was
not living up to its promise. </p><p>The occupational and physical
therapist chapter leader represents 2,963 people on two work release
days . It is my opinion that the job will be effective if there is a
chapter leader or delegate for each borough with dedicated time and pay
to represent each borough. </p><p>We also need a dedicated group of
therapists organizing and mobilizing outside of official union
positions at the district and D75 levels. A huge barrier to this work is
the fact that up to 75% of us still work second jobs, which is why we
fight for pay parity. </p><p>Our anger about our pay and working conditions seems to have gotten
lost amid this “disorganization” campaign this summer. This conciliatory
energy to accept these crumbs is not the energy of the 200
therapists who showed up to monthly meetings the past two years. </p><p>I
look forward to wrestling with these questions outside of the current
chapter leader position after I restore some “occupational balance” to
my life. I will have more energy for actual organizing instead of acting
as an unwilling enabler of the DOE HR and payroll department. </p><p>Thank you for the support of those who elected me over the past two years.</p><p> </p></div>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-52986841930850177652023-09-05T16:14:00.000-04:002023-09-05T16:14:14.055-04:00Healthcare is a human right - Labor Day Parade Sept. 9<p> </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-align: left;" valign="top"><p style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;">The Central Labor Council website, in the<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://grassrootsactionny.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D2a1eae8268632a13927d82afe%26id%3D6761f9e709%26e%3D9800cc9745&source=gmail&ust=1693321330030000&usg=AOvVaw2UazDxd4f_TZh_rqL6B-Uh" href="https://grassrootsactionny.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2a1eae8268632a13927d82afe&id=6761f9e709&e=9800cc9745" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid;" target="_blank"> issue section on health</a>, states <br />
<em><span style="font-size: 18px;">"Health care is a basic human right." </span> </em><br />
and<br />
<em><span style="font-size: 18px;">"Of course, the most cost-effective and
equitable way to provide quality health care is through the social
insurance model (“Medicare for All”), as other industrialized countries
have shown." </span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;">It's time for New York State and the power of labor to lead the way</span></p>
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<p style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 150%; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 40px;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"> NYC Labor Day Parade </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: red;">B</span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: red;">Canvass Sept. 9th *</span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: red;">b</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px;">*Never canvassed or flyered before? Rusty on the New York Health Act? <br />
The flyers have our talking points (see below). Also, there will be
canvass trainings and NYHA 101's offered evenings Wednesday, Sept. 6 <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://grassrootsactionny.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D2a1eae8268632a13927d82afe%26id%3Df78873569e%26e%3D9800cc9745&source=gmail&ust=1693321330030000&usg=AOvVaw1VNpUD1HAVTqDSvwtVTF9B" href="https://grassrootsactionny.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2a1eae8268632a13927d82afe&id=f78873569e&e=9800cc9745" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid;" target="_blank">RSVP </a> and Thursday Sept.7th <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://grassrootsactionny.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D2a1eae8268632a13927d82afe%26id%3D89d649514b%26e%3D9800cc9745&source=gmail&ust=1693321330030000&usg=AOvVaw0BdTZ3KVdtUXDnUyfsd089" href="https://grassrootsactionny.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2a1eae8268632a13927d82afe&id=89d649514b&e=9800cc9745" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid;" target="_blank">. RSVP</a> to get details TBD.</span></p>
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</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-450032759335491792023-08-28T19:48:00.002-04:002023-08-28T19:48:32.208-04:00The Buisness of American Healthcare - A Sick System - The American Prospect<p> </p><p><a href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/index.php">https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/index.php</a><br /></p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="layout layout-table root-table" style="width: 650px;"><tbody><tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td id="layout-row-margin50492" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 0px 0px 20px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: initial !important; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr class="layout layout-row widget _widget_text style50492" id="layout-row50492" style="background-color: white; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 0;"><td id="layout-row-padding50492" style="background-color: white; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td align="left" class="td_text td_block" id="text_div50181" style="color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;" valign="top" width="650"><div style="color: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;"> <div style="color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: inherit;"><a class="" href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/p_v.php?l=1&c=2180&m=2266&s=7d63915990dc1fea5bc4eac8cab7481f" style="color: #045fb4; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="" style="color: #045fb4; font-family: "Droid Sans", "IBM Plex Sans", Roboto, "San Francisco", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" target="_blank">View this email in your browser</span></a><br /></div>
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<tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td id="layout-row-margin50478" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: initial !important; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr class="layout layout-row widget _widget_text style50478" id="layout-row50478" style="margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 0;"><td id="layout-row-padding50478" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td align="left" class="td_text td_block" id="text_div50167" style="color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;" valign="top" width="650"> <div class="" data-line-height="1.5" style="color: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;"> <div class="" style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;"><b class="" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman"; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0;"><span class="" style="color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Where
is the money for the most expensive health care system
in the world going? The cut of gross national health care expenditures
commanded by administrative overhead and waste has ballooned to an
estimated 30 percent; the portion that pays doctors and nurses has
fallen. </span><span class="" style="color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Wealth
extraction, whether through excessive billing, under-delivery, or the
constant buying and selling of hospitals, has become the new normal in
American health care. </span><br class="" /><br class="" /><span class="" style="color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Once
upon a time, doctors and providers were some of the foremost defenders
of our for-profit system. But in recent years doctors and nurses have
had a disarming sense of clarity about the fundamental conflict between
caring for patients and delivering value to
shareholders. We think everyone should understand this fundamental
disconnect with our system.</span><br class="" /><br class="" /><span class="" style="color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">That’s
why we decided to dedicate our August 2023 print issue to the business
of health care—the inner workings of the monopolies and cartels
extracting ever-greater sums for ever-lousier outcomes, and the policies
and protocols pushing doctors and nurses to the brink—and increasingly
into labor unions.</span><br class="" /><br class="" /><span class="" style="color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">To
kick off the series, Maureen Tkacik and I wrote an overview of what’s
at stake in our corporatized health care system, both how it has gutten
patient care and the ways providers are fighting back. <a class="" data-ac-default-color="1" href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/Prod/link-tracker?notrack=1&redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwcm9zcGVjdC5vcmclMkZoZWFsdGglMkYyMDIzLTA3LTMxLXNpY2stc3lzdGVtLWJ1c2luZXNzLWhlYWx0aC1jYXJlJTJG&a=%7C%7C1000784918%7C%7C&account=americanprospect.activehosted.com&email=X0kNR6dtkyZopuxOtulLOxMTYzNDfiv30GrJTV0L8e5D%3Al8TUuf4TLsVz8lc5HszXt7nCrjmutuCk&s=7d63915990dc1fea5bc4eac8cab7481f&i=2180A2266A1A61388&sig=GT48LgCvfihjpv6z518rAiCCJrwz7YCdGArUcPDtJLfP&iat=1692461411" style="color: #f15a22; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="" style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">It’s available on our website today.</span></a></span><br class="" /><br class="" /><span class="" style="color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Today, we also present <a data-ac-default-color="1" href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/Prod/link-tracker?notrack=1&redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwcm9zcGVjdC5vcmclMkZoZWFsdGglMkYyMDIzLTA3LTMxLW15LWxpZmUtaW4tY29ycG9yYXRlLW1lZGljaW5lJTJG&a=%7C%7C1000784918%7C%7C&account=americanprospect.activehosted.com&email=X0kNR6dtkyZopuxOtulLOxMTYzNDfiv30GrJTV0L8e5D%3Al8TUuf4TLsVz8lc5HszXt7nCrjmutuCk&s=7d63915990dc1fea5bc4eac8cab7481f&i=2180A2266A1A61389&sig=oENmdZF2QMjmStfCjYpXhuHewLGcQ7pN6U8BHZFJv7v&iat=1692461411" style="color: #f15a22; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">the story of Stephanie Arnold</span></a>,
a young family physician who, after years of working several precarious
jobs owned by private equity, finally started her own direct primary
care practice to provide her patients affordable and comprehensive care
untouched by corporate greed.</span><br class="" /><br class="" /><a href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/Prod/link-tracker?notrack=1&redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwcm9zcGVjdC5vcmclMkZoZWFsdGglMkZidXNpbmVzc29maGVhbHRoY2FyZQ%3D%3D&a=%7C%7C1000784918%7C%7C&account=americanprospect.activehosted.com&email=X0kNR6dtkyZopuxOtulLOxMTYzNDfiv30GrJTV0L8e5D%3Al8TUuf4TLsVz8lc5HszXt7nCrjmutuCk&s=7d63915990dc1fea5bc4eac8cab7481f&i=2180A2266A1A61392&sig=5BEsq37F1fSSUYnMajTUG2gdmcMEUxAN3bHt7jEwCfS&iat=1692461411" style="color: #f15a22; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="" style="color: #f15a22; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">You can read the entire series as it is released here.</span></a></b><br class="" /></div>
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<a href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/Prod/link-tracker?notrack=1&redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwcm9zcGVjdC5vcmclMkZoZWFsdGglMkZidXNpbmVzc29maGVhbHRoY2FyZQ%3D%3D&a=%7C%7C1000784918%7C%7C&account=americanprospect.activehosted.com&email=X0kNR6dtkyZopuxOtulLOxMTYzNDfiv30GrJTV0L8e5D%3Al8TUuf4TLsVz8lc5HszXt7nCrjmutuCk&s=7d63915990dc1fea5bc4eac8cab7481f&i=2180A2266A1A61392&sig=5BEsq37F1fSSUYnMajTUG2gdmcMEUxAN3bHt7jEwCfS&iat=1692461411" style="background-color: #084b8a; background: #084b8a; border-radius: 3px; color: #fcfcfc; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial Black, Arial-BoldMT, Arial Bold, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0; mso-hide: all; outline: none; padding: 12px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> <span style="color: #fcfcfc; font-family: Arial Black, Arial-BoldMT, Arial Bold, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank"> READ ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF HEALTH CARE >> </span> </a> </div>
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<tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td id="layout-row-margin50490" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: initial !important; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr class="layout layout-row widget _widget_text style50490" id="layout-row50490" style="margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 0;"><td id="layout-row-padding50490" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td align="left" class="td_text td_block" id="text_div50179" style="color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;" valign="top" width="650"> <div class="" data-line-height="1.5" style="color: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;"> <div class="" style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;"><span class="" style="color: inherit; font-family: georgia, "times new roman"; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">It’s thanks to reader support that our newsroom has the resources to pursue stories this, </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Norman</span><span style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">. </span><a class="" href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/Prod/link-tracker?notrack=1&redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwcm9zcGVjdC5vcmclMkZtZW1iZXJzaGlw&a=%7C%7C1000784918%7C%7C&account=americanprospect.activehosted.com&email=X0kNR6dtkyZopuxOtulLOxMTYzNDfiv30GrJTV0L8e5D%3Al8TUuf4TLsVz8lc5HszXt7nCrjmutuCk&s=7d63915990dc1fea5bc4eac8cab7481f&i=2180A2266A1A61381&sig=H5Wc7fhAWPjNRrZYVQSkzFGaGVhob5rgky8viVpZM9ar&iat=1692461411" style="color: #f15a22; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f15a22; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;"><span style="color: #f15a22; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Y</span><span style="color: #f15a22; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">ou can help support this work by becoming a member today</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;"><a class="" href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/Prod/link-tracker?notrack=1&redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwcm9zcGVjdC5vcmclMkZtZW1iZXJzaGlw&a=%7C%7C1000784918%7C%7C&account=americanprospect.activehosted.com&email=X0kNR6dtkyZopuxOtulLOxMTYzNDfiv30GrJTV0L8e5D%3Al8TUuf4TLsVz8lc5HszXt7nCrjmutuCk&s=7d63915990dc1fea5bc4eac8cab7481f&i=2180A2266A1A61381&sig=H5Wc7fhAWPjNRrZYVQSkzFGaGVhob5rgky8viVpZM9ar&iat=1692461411" style="color: #f15a22; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f15a22; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">.</span></a> All of the reader support we receive funds our editorial mission: illuminating stories about ideas, politics and power.</span></span></span></div>
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customizable" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;" valign="top" width="630"> <div class="button-wrapper" style="margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/Prod/link-tracker?notrack=1&redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZwcm9zcGVjdC5vcmclMkZtZW1iZXJzaGlw&a=%7C%7C1000784918%7C%7C&account=americanprospect.activehosted.com&email=X0kNR6dtkyZopuxOtulLOxMTYzNDfiv30GrJTV0L8e5D%3Al8TUuf4TLsVz8lc5HszXt7nCrjmutuCk&s=7d63915990dc1fea5bc4eac8cab7481f&i=2180A2266A1A61381&sig=H5Wc7fhAWPjNRrZYVQSkzFGaGVhob5rgky8viVpZM9ar&iat=1692461411" style="background-color: #084b8a; background: #084b8a; border-radius: 3px; color: #fcfcfc; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial Black, Arial-BoldMT, Arial Bold, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0; mso-hide: all; outline: none; padding: 12px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> <span style="color: #fcfcfc; font-family: Arial Black, Arial-BoldMT, Arial Bold, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank"> I WANT TO SUPPORT THIS IMPORTANT WORK >> </span> </a> </div>
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<tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td id="layout-row-margin50484" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: initial !important; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr class="layout layout-row widget _widget_text style50484" id="layout-row50484" style="margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 0;"><td id="layout-row-padding50484" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td align="left" class="td_text td_block" id="text_div50173" style="color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;" valign="top" width="650"> <div data-line-height="1.5" style="color: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;"><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0;"><span style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;"><br />Thanks for being a part of this,</span></b><br /></div>
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<tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td id="layout-row-margin50493" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: initial !important; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr class="layout layout-row widget _widget_text style50493" id="layout-row50493" style="margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 0;"><td id="layout-row-padding50493" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly; padding: 5px 0px 5px 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-ms-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 14px; min-width: 100%; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><td align="left" class="td_text
td_block" id="text_div50182" style="color: inherit; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;" valign="top" width="650"> <div data-line-height="1.5" style="color: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; line-height: 150%; margin: 0; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; outline: none; padding: 0; text-decoration: inherit;"><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; outline: none; padding: 0;"><span style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">David Dayen<br />Executive Editor, </span><span style="color: black; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">The American Prospect</span></b><br /></div>
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100 Days In, Brandon Johnson Is Steadily Shifting Chicago’s Political Terrain
<h3 class="font-serif font-normal leading-tightish text-xl md:text-1xl lg:text-2xl py-3 auto">Movement
organizers and political strategists assess the new mayor’s record as
he seeks to make Chicago a progressive beacon—while modeling
co-governance.</h3><h3 class="font-serif font-normal leading-tightish text-xl md:text-1xl lg:text-2xl py-3 auto">
href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/brandon-johnson-chicago-mayor-100-days-movement-organizers<br /></h3>
<h4 class="font-sans font-bold text-sm md:text-base py-2 uppercase auto">
<a class="text-red" href="https://inthesetimes.com/authors/taylor-moore">Taylor Moore</a> <span class="font-normal pl-8 auto font-sans">
<time datetime="Aug 23, 2023, 12:30:00 PM">August 23, 2023</time>
</span>
</h4>
<figure class="pt-4 md:pt-8">
<img alt="" class="w-full h-auto" height="199" src="https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/4aG2zEQay-_QT1NJMkf00J-WDOOeiVKblKXr32Ul-kM/w:900/h:559/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:82/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTEuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pbi10aGVzZS10aW1lcy9icmFuZG9uXzIwMjMtMDgtMjMtMjAwMDA5X2d2ZG0uanBn.jpg" style="background-color: #2f2f32;" width="320" />
<figcaption class="font-sans text-sm py-4">Chicago's 57th Mayor, Brandon Johnson.
<span class="pt-4 block text-xs uppercase text-grey">Paul Goyette</span> </figcaption>
</figure>
In May, longtime teachers union organizer Brandon Johnson ascended to the Chicago mayor’s office,
becoming one of the most progressive leaders of any major city in the
United States.
<div class="max-w-article mx-auto px-4 inlinehead"><p dir="ltr">Just months before the election, Johnson was <a href="https://static.fox32chicago.com/www.fox32chicago.com/content/uploads/2022/12/chicagomayorpoll.pdf" target="_blank">polling</a> at <span class="numbers">3</span>%, far behind the frontrunners in the race, and had little name recognition. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>God bless. Brandon Johnson is not going to be the mayor,” said then-incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot on January <span class="numbers">21</span>, just over a month before the first round of the election.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Johnson’s win against the city’s most formidable political
insiders, including former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas who he
faced head-to-head in the second round of voting, represented
a rejection of the status quo for a city that’s facing crises ranging
from the pandemic to police abuse to pay-to-play politics and decades of
disinvestment in Black and Latino communities.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="dquo">“</span>We can reject the false choices
that have been presented to us for too long,” Johnson, a former Cook
County commissioner and middle-school teacher, said during his victory
speech on April <span class="numbers">4</span>. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>We
get to do it for everyone, Chicago. We don’t have to choose between
toughness and compassion, between the care of our neighbors and keeping
our people safe. If tonight is proof of anything, it is proof that those
old, false choices do not serve this city any longer.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">One hundred days into his term, Johnson has begun to
shepherd key progressive policy priorities through the City Council,
built relationships with President Joe Biden and Illinois Gov. J.B.
Pritzker, and taken steps to ameliorate the city’s migrant crisis that’s
been spurred by GOP officials around the country. He has also courted
some amount of controversy with some of his staffing decisions,
including the hiring of interim police superintendent Fred Waller (and
later, into the permanent role, Larry Snelling) and the firing of public
health commissioner Allison Arwady.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The <span class="numbers">100</span>-day milestone, though
arbitrary, has traditionally been a temperature check on the policy
priorities and leadership style of a new administration that has moved
from campaigning to governing. To better understand Johnson’s first <span class="numbers">100</span> days in office and what it could spell for the next four years — or longer—<i>In These Times </i>spoke
to more than a dozen movement leaders, elected officials, researchers
and political strategists, including Johnson himself.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="dquo">“</span>We’ve laid a real clear
foundation that we’re going to need in order to build a better,
stronger, safer Chicago, and we’ve done that in the collaborative spirit
which we promised we would do,” Johnson tells <i>In These Times</i>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In a late August interview, the new mayor recounted some of his biggest accomplishments, including advancing the <a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/07/25/treatment-not-trauma-mental-health-emergency-program-should-not-include-cops-experts-say/" target="_blank">Treatment Not Trauma</a>
proposal and creating new deputy mayor positions related to
immigration, community safety and labor rights. Johnson also worked with
the business community and the Bring Chicago Home Coalition on a <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2023/8/22/23841506/real-estate-transfer-tax-increase-compromise-reached-chicago-city-council-johnson-homelessness" target="_blank">proposed real estate transfer tax</a>
that would combat homelessness by lowering the real estate transfer tax
for most homebuyers and raising it for properties over $<span class="numbers">1</span> million.</p><p dir="ltr"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <p></p>
<p dir="ltr">His campaign and transition report by his transition team
have promised big ideas that, if followed through, could catapult
Chicago into the national spotlight as a promising experiment in
progressive governance, especially as the administration looks to repair
long-standing racial inequities across the city.</p>
<p dir="ltr">With progressives previously on the outside of the
political sphere and now obtaining leadership positions, Chicago’s
left-labor movement is learning what co-governance and accountability
look like when one of their own is in power.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, and one
of Johnson’s closest allies, says that he is integral to the city’s
grassroots movement, even on the Fifth Floor. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>I don’t think he actually gets enough credit for that,” she tells <i>In These Times</i>. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>He’s not just an elected official. He is a proven organizer and movement leader … He is a part of our movement DNA.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b><span class="dquo">“</span>A historic moment”</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">In July, Johnson’s nearly <span class="numbers">400</span>-person transition team, composed of activist, civic and business leaders, released a <a href="https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/mayor/TransitionReport/TransitionReport.07.2023.pdf" target="_blank"><span class="numbers">223</span>-page report</a>
detailing policy recommendations under eleven major themes, including
arts and culture, housing, transportation and environmental justice.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The report was not reviewed or approved by the administration before its publication, but since then, <span class="numbers">35</span><sup class="ordinal">th</sup> Ward Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa — Johnson’s new City Council floor leader — tells<i> In These Times</i> the report has been <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>our north star.”<br /></p>
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<p dir="ltr">The transition report came out
several weeks after Johnson’s inauguration, but Amisha Patel, former
executive director of Grassroots Collaborative and senior advisor to the
transition, says the team <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>really wanted to do it right.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The advisory report makes a number of recommendations based
on Johnson’s campaign promises including reopening mental health
clinics and reinstating the Department of Environment that was closed by
former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Other recommendations are more ambitious and
would, if implemented, place Chicago at the forefront of national
progressive politics. These ideas include guaranteed college funding for
children born in Chicago, a public bank to address the lack of access
to loans in marginalized communities, reparations for descendants of
enslaved Black people, teams of ward-level Workers’ Rights Community
Navigators to promote unionization efforts at businesses across the
city, as well as universal childcare.</p>
<p dir="ltr">During the mayoral race, John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge <span class="numbers">7</span>, the union representing police officers, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/27/us/politics/chicago-mayor-race.html" target="_blank">threatened mass resignations</a> and predicted <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>blood in the streets” if Johnson were to win. Five months after this statement, that <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2023/08/23/chicago-police-department-staffing-steady-during-johnson-s-first-100-days-data" target="_blank">has not been the case</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Instead, it appears that police and abolitionists are joining in similar conversations.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="dquo">“</span>Things took the time that it did
because we had abolitionists and members of the police department in
the same committees,” Patel explains. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>We had a range of perspectives that had just not been seen before to get at complex issues of community safety.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Johnson has said that his approach to public safety is
focused on addressing the root causes of crime and poverty by, for
example, increasing available jobs for youth, <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2023/01/25/push-reopen-public-mental-health-clinics-closed-11-years-ago-defines-another-chicago" target="_blank">reopening the mental health clinics shuttered by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in <span class="numbers">2012</span></a>, and diverting some <span class="numbers">911</span> calls from police to mental health clinicians. Critics have falsely charged that Johnson wants to <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/elections/ct-brandon-johnson-defund-police-justice-for-black-lives-20230223-lrapyjp5xzcilfmvkys3bajcki-story.html" target="_blank"><span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>defund the police,”</a> though he has said he will maintain the department’s nearly $<span class="numbers">1</span>.<span class="numbers">9</span> billion budget in the coming year.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In his first <span class="numbers">100</span> days, Johnson
has steadily pushed forward with Treatment Not Trauma, a grassroots
coalition-led proposal to replace police officers with mental health
clinicians for <span class="numbers">911</span> calls relating to mental
health crises and homelessness. In July, the ordinance had its first
hearing in front of the Health and Human Relations Committee, now
chaired by Treatment Not Trauma sponsor <span class="numbers">33</span><sup class="ordinal">rd</sup> Ward Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Criminal justice reformers have also been calling for the
creation of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial, which would
commemorate survivors of <a href="https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/house-of-screams/" target="_blank">former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>Midnight Crew,”</a> who tortured and wrung false confessions from more than <span class="numbers">100</span> Black men from <span class="numbers">1972</span> to <span class="numbers">1991</span>. The memorial has been stalled since former Mayor Rahm Emanuel approved it in <span class="numbers">2015</span>, but Johnson announced in June that he had <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-monument-to-honor-survivors-of-burge-police-torture/e7082780-1f18-452f-91b2-498564b6f8d7" target="_blank">secured a $<span class="numbers">6</span>.<span class="numbers">8</span> million grant</a> for its construction, in addition to city-provided funding and land.<br /></p>
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<div class="bg-white font-sans text-sm text-grey py-3"> <span class="pt-4 block text-xs uppercase text-grey">Paul Goyette</span>
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<p dir="ltr"><span class="dquo">“</span>This is
a historic moment in the city of Chicago,” says Aislinn Pulley,
co-executive director of the Chicago Torture Justice Center. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>For
the first time, we’re now able to begin concrete movement on the
creation of a public memorial. Rahm Emanuel refused to meet around the
memorial [and] did not answer any requests for meetings. Lori
[Lightfoot] campaigned on it and then did nothing.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Crime is one issue that may have a deep impact on Johnson’s
administration and so far he has been praised by some progressives for
his responses to <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-violence-brandon-johnson-teens-new-mayor/13143044/" target="_blank"><span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>teen takeovers,”</a>
gatherings of youth people downtown — mediated by social media — that
have been chaotic and sometimes violent. After one such night in April,
Johnson, then the mayor-elect, <a href="https://twitter.com/Brandon4Chicago/status/1647737808260583424" target="_blank">called</a> the activity <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>unacceptable”
but cautioned against “[demonizing] youth who have otherwise been
starved of opportunities in their own communities.” After a similar
occurrence in August, Johnson <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2023/8/2/23817839/mayor-praises-chicago-cops-for-restraint-after-teen-takeover-in-south-loop" target="_blank">chastened</a> a reporter for using the term <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>mob action,” saying that “[referring] to children as, like, baby Al Capones is not appropriate.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">One tough spot for Johnson came earlier this summer when stories from WBEZ and <i>South Side Weekly</i> uncovered that his interim police superintendent, Fred Waller, had been accused of domestic abuse in <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicagos-interim-top-cop-accused-in-past-of-domestic-abuse/9fdaea9a-b91c-479f-8127-cf2624cefbbb" target="_blank"><span class="numbers">1994</span></a> and <a href="https://southsideweekly.com/interim-cpd-chief-fred-waller-was-accused-of-domestic-abuse-in-2006/" target="_blank"><span class="numbers">2006</span></a>, though the charges were <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>not sustained.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Karla Altmayer, chair of Johnson’s <span class="numbers">16</span>-member
transition team taskforce on gender-based violence, sent a letter to
Johnson earlier this month criticizing his appointment of Waller and
asking for a meeting. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>By
supporting and defending interim Superintendent Fred Waller in these
credible allegations of domestic violence, the city is communicating to
survivors that if people in power aren’t accountable, no one will be,”
she <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-task-force-concerned-about-waller-allegations/5951736f-0b94-4a93-965f-46fa1d552da3" target="_blank">wrote</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In an emailed statement to <i>In These Times </i>two weeks later, Altmayer praised the <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>swift
responses” of Johnson’s administration to the issue of gender-based
violence (GBV) that came after she sent the letter. The administration
had invited the transition team’s GBV taskforce to submit questions to
the police chief candidates, and she said that Johnson will soon meet
with the taskforce to discuss the city’s strategic plan to combat GBV.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Waller was only an interim and Johnson has since selected <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-snelling-cpd-superintendent-20230813-kfw6n6q7kfgo7fsl2cwgpcxrbi-story.html" target="_blank">Larry Snelling</a>, the Chicago Police Department counterterrorism bureau chief, as the superintendent — a choice <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2023/8/13/23827687/larry-snelling-named-chicago-police-superintendent-mayor-brandon-johnson-barnes-novalez" target="_blank">praised</a> by many aldermen as well as FOP president Catanzara.</p>
<p dir="ltr">One complication could be that Snelling appears supportive of the use of <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/05/27/chicago-gun-violence-shotspotter" target="_blank">Shotspotter</a>, a gunshot detection technology criticized by the former inspector general for its <a href="https://igchicago.org/2021/08/24/oig-finds-that-shotspotter-alerts-rarely-lead-to-evidence-of-a-gun-related-crime-and-that-presence-of-the-technology-changes-police-behavior/" target="_blank">inaccuracy</a>. Snelling was vocally supportive of the technology during a November <span class="numbers">2021</span>
City Council hearing. Johnson vowed during the campaign to end the
city’s use of Shotspotter. Its contract extension, which was quietly
brokered by Mayor Lightfoot, expires February <span class="numbers">2024</span>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Early challenges</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Mayor Johnson has also had to contend with limited resources to support the <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2023/08/17/chicago-migrant-buses-texas-denver" target="_blank">more than</a> <span class="numbers">13</span>,<span class="numbers">000</span>
migrants that have come to Chicago since the Republican governors of
Texas and Florida started sending them on buses to immigrant-friendly
sanctuary cities last summer.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Since then, thousands of migrants have been placed in <a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/06/12/migrants-report-moldy-food-poor-treatment-cold-showers-at-city-run-shelters-the-police-stations-treated-us-better/" target="_blank">temporary shelters</a> and <a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/05/22/forced-to-confront-migrant-crisis-daily-chicago-police-officers-step-up-to-help-with-no-guidance-from-city/" target="_blank">police stations</a>, both of which have been plagued by overcrowding and hygiene issues, with <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-migrants-rental-help-program-overwhelmed/339ec86d-34c7-4032-bb08-2829bca446f8" target="_blank">long waitlists</a> for more long-term housing. In one extreme case, a police officer was <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-police-officers-migrants-10th-district-station-news/13472441/" target="_blank">accused</a>
of raping and impregnating a young woman at a police station in North
Lawndale. (The migrants were moved out of the police station, and the
investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-police-officers-migrants-10th-district-station-copa/13517809/" target="_blank">stalled</a> because they couldn’t identify or find the alleged victim.)</p>
<p dir="ltr">Xavier Perez, an assistant professor of criminology at
DePaul University, says the fault lies with the federal government for
passing the humanitarian and financial responsibilities onto <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>welcoming” cities, some of whom are so overburdened that they’re also <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/06/1154412106/busing-migrants-asylum-border-republicans-democrats" target="_blank">sending buses</a> to Chicago.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="dquo">“</span>I’m working with all expediency to address the crisis that I inherited,” Johnson tells <i>In These Times, </i>adding that <span class="numbers">90</span> buses have arrived since his inauguration on May <span class="numbers">15</span>. He says he has collaborated with all levels of government to open <span class="numbers">10</span>
additional shelters, beyond the five that existed before he was sworn
in. He did not give a specific answer to when he expected all the
migrants living in police stations would be moved to shelters.<br /></p>
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<div class="bg-white font-sans text-sm text-grey py-3"> <span class="pt-4 block text-xs uppercase text-grey">Paul Goyette</span>
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<p dir="ltr">On his first day in office, Johnson
signed an executive order creating a deputy mayor for immigrant,
migrant, and refugee rights, in addition to positions for community
safety and labor relations. Beatriz Ponce De León was appointed to the
immigrant, migrant, and refugee rights position after working as
assistant director of family and community services for the Illinois
Department of Human Services.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Veronica Castro, deputy director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, calls the new position a <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>step
in the right direction” and praises the administration for its
collaboration with Gov. Pritzker’s office. Under Lightfoot, Castro felt
that the city and state had been operating <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>parallel” shelter and housing programs with little to no communication.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Conversely, Castro says that with Johnson’s administration, <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>when
we made recommendations [about] how to welcome and support new arrivals
coming in, I felt that there is somebody on the other end that is
actually hearing that and trying to do right by that.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">During a recent City Council committee meeting, <span class="numbers">20</span><sup class="ordinal">th</sup> Ward Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor, whose ward is sheltering more than <span class="numbers">500</span> migrants at the closed Wadsworth Elementary, said the system for housing migrants has been opaque and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/city-council-committee-meeting-migrant-shelters-jeanette-taylor/" target="_blank">inequitable</a>, with Black and Latino communities shouldering more of the responsibility than white communities. Taylor <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-migrants-chicago-conflicts-20230727-o6ffmo3hgra7dntbahgb4fd6ju-story.html" target="_blank">criticized</a>
the Johnson administration for not discussing the crisis with President
Biden while he was in town celebrating the announcement that Chicago
will host Democratic National Convention in <span class="numbers">2024</span>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">U.S. House Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), whose district is <span class="numbers">47</span>%
Latino, says the administration has inherited a situation in which
communities feel pitted against each other and that Johnson has to walk
a careful line. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>As
we see Abbott and other governors and certainly Congress continue to
use immigrants as a scapegoat to divide people, [Johnson] has to be the
leader that says loud and clear, <span class="push-single"></span><span class="pull-single">‘</span>We will invest in Black communities <i>and </i>we will support immigrant families.’”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>A union town</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Another issue facing Johnson’s administration is public education. On that front, Johnson has <a href="https://chicago.chalkbeat.org/2023/6/8/23754587/chicago-public-schools-cps-teachers-paid-parental-leave-policy-changes-fmla" target="_blank">extended</a> the paid parental leave policy for CPS employees to <span class="numbers">12</span> weeks, which is in line with the city of Chicago employee policy. He also <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2023/7/5/23784856/chicago-school-board-replaced-brandon-johnson" target="_blank">cleaned house</a>
in the Chicago Board of Education, replacing all but one member with
education justice organizers and nonprofit leaders. Jianan Shi, former
executive director of the parent advocacy group Raise Your Hand, and
a former teacher himself, was appointed Board President.<br /></p>
</div>
<div class="print:hidden px-4 mx-auto max-w-article z-30 relative">
<div class="my-6 py-6 leading-tighter text-black border-t-10 text-25xl md:text-3xl lg:text-4xl border-black font-lyon bg-white">“We
brought the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union
together. We haven't seen that in a very long time, if ever,” says
Johnson.</div>
</div>
<div class="max-w-article mx-auto px-4 smaller">
<p dir="ltr">The new mayor’s association with CTU is a boon for the union, which played a large role in helping get Johnson elected. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>We
brought the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union
together. We haven’t seen that in a very long time, if ever,” Johnson
tells <i>In These Times</i>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">CTU’s contract with CPS expires in August <span class="numbers">2024</span>, and Davis Gates expects the bargaining process with Johnson to be totally different from previous efforts. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>We
[will] start from a place of agreement. I think that’s a strong
starting place. Every negotiation I’ve been a part of, we’ve never
started from a place of agreement.” </p>
<p dir="ltr">Davis Gates sees the tenets outlined in the mayor’s
transition report, which includes the development of a permanent youth
council, creation of social justice-related curricula featuring leaders
like Marion Stamps and Rudy Lozano, and a repudiation of the <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>school choice” movement, as aligned with the union’s values. The sticking point in the coming years will be funding. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>This
is generational disinvestment, and we’re going to have to be very clear
about the need to find that investment for our school community,”
she says.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Johnson has also made organized labor a priority for his
administration. Loretto Hospital workers, represented by SEIU
Healthcare, recently <a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/loretto-hospital-chicago-strike-union-labor-contract-raises">won</a> a new contract after striking for <span class="numbers">11</span> days over low wages, and Johnson was credited by SEIU for bringing the two sides together.</p>
<p dir="ltr">On August <span class="numbers">21</span>, Johnson
appointed Bridget Early to the newly created deputy mayor of labor
relations role, which is set to work with employers across the city to
advance and defend workers’ rights. Early has worked as a director for
the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, the
National Public Pension Coalition and the Chicago Federation of Labor. <br /></p>
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<div class="bg-white font-sans text-sm text-grey py-3"> <span class="pt-4 block text-xs uppercase text-grey">Paul Goyette</span>
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<div class="max-w-article mx-auto px-4 smaller">
<p dir="ltr">Thomas Ogorzalek, co-director of
the Chicago Democracy Project at Northwestern University, says it will
be crucial for Johnson to form and maintain close relationships with
other elected officials, particularly Gov. Pritzker. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>Having
support from a very progressive governor like Pritzker is very
important, both for getting funding to potentially do some of these
projects so you don’t have to raise the taxes locally, and for getting
backup from the state so if something doesn’t pass at the city level,
maybe it can at the state level.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">At the federal level, Johnson and President Biden have so
far appeared to be on good terms. Biden congratulated Johnson the night
of his win, and Johnson endorsed Biden for the <span class="numbers">2024</span> presidential election. This month, at the request of Johnson, Pritzker and other state officials, Biden approved a <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/biden-approves-disaster-declaration-for-chicago-area-flooding/3208160/" target="_blank">disaster declaration</a> for Cook County to allow residents whose homes were flooded during a major summer storm access to relief programs.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Illinois State Sen. Robert Peters praised the inroads Johnson has made with other levels of government. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>I think there’s a sense of peace between city, county and state that I cannot recall in my adult life.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Co-governing</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">In <span class="numbers">2015</span>, Ramirez-Rosa was
elected to City Council as an insurgent candidate and became the only
democratic socialist to serve in the body. Eight years later, he is now
both Johnson’s <a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/06/05/how-ald-carlos-ramirez-rosa-went-from-progressive-agitator-to-city-council-boss/" target="_blank">floor leader</a> and chair of the powerful zoning committee. The <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/more-diversity-coming-to-chicagos-city-council/5f0aa2b1-3b26-436b-bd13-295b146454fb" target="_blank">makeup</a>
of Chicago’s City Council has also changed, becoming younger, more
diverse and more progressive, including a six-member Democratic
Socialist Caucus. The progressive caucus, Ramirez-Rosa notes, has
swelled to <span class="numbers">19</span>, though it will still require negotiation to carry progressive policies over the <span class="numbers">26</span>-person threshold for a majority.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There has been progress on many of the policy proposals
stalled under Lightfoot. Ramirez-Rosa says this year’s priorities will
include <a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/07/14/mayor-brandon-johnson-alderpeople-call-to-end-subminimum-wage-for-tipped-workers/" target="_blank">eliminating the subminimum wage</a> for tipped workers (which is about $<span class="numbers">5</span>-$<span class="numbers">7</span>
lower than the standard minimum wage for the city) and moving forward
Treatment Not Trauma and Bring Chicago Home. Ramirez-Rosa also says the
administration has created a working group to explore the idea of <a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/03/15/proposed-plow-the-sidewalks-ordinance-would-task-city-with-clearing-snowy-and-icy-sidewalks/" target="_blank">municipal snow clearance</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In the coming weeks, Johnson is expected to unveil his proposal for a <span class="numbers">2024</span>
budget. Approving the budget is often the first major challenge for new
mayors, especially as the City Council attempts to shed its reputation
as a <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2022/6/7/23156715/chicago-city-council-sheds-rubber-stamp-reputation-dick-simpson-uic-report" target="_blank"><span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>rubber stamp.”</a> It was during the vote on the <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2019/11/26/20983774/chicago-city-council-lightfoot-budget-vote" target="_blank"><span class="numbers">2020</span> budget</a> that Mayor Lightfoot started playing hardball with the council and created a <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-lori-lightfoot-defends-budget-website-20191212-3og7ef4havb4paaqwmhwiegkeu-story.html" target="_blank">website</a> shaming some aldermen for voting <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>no”
on the budget. This move created a hostile dynamic with the council
that Johnson will likely try to avoid. So far, Johnson has been <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-mayor-brandon-johnsons-first-100-days/265d4a8c-49a0-4fd4-9493-b8154b6e572c" target="_blank">praised</a> by even the most conservative members of the council for his temperament.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For many progressive leaders, this moment is without precedent. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>Doing
actions on the mayor used to be the ceiling of what we could do because
they weren’t going to listen to us no matter what we did,” says Emma
Tai, the former director of United Working Families. “[Now] that’s the
floor of what we can do. I don’t think we even know the ceiling.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Tai, who was on the executive committee of the transition team, used the <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2023/7/11/23791752/chicago-housing-commissioner-resigning-marisa-novara-mayor-lightfoot-cabinet" target="_blank">recent resignation</a> of Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara as an example. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>For
housing advocates, the question is not just how much of this one piece
of legislation or what part of the budget are you trying to have some
influence over? Now we also get to ask, <span class="push-single"></span><span class="pull-single">‘</span>Who do you want to be commissioner? … What’s our shortlist?’”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Many abolitionists are cautiously optimistic about the
policies that a Johnson administration can exact, even if they’re not
ideologically identical to him. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>He is a Democrat and I am not a Democrat,” says Pulley of the Chicago Torture Justice Center. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>I
would love it if he moved to become an anti-capitalist. I don’t have
a pretense he will move there, but I do have hope we can build
a movement where that is possible.”<br /></p>
</div>
<div class="print:hidden px-4 md:w-1/3 max-w-xl md:mx-12 md:float-right z-30 relative">
<div class="my-6 py-6 leading-tighter text-black border-t-8 text-25xl lg:text-3xl border-black font-lyon bg-white">"The
mayor’s not going to be able to do it all... we have to push and
organize and build and engage enough people to make sure we win," says
Amisha Patel.</div>
</div>
<div class="max-w-article mx-auto px-4 smaller">
<p dir="ltr">Pulley believes Chicago can become a <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>playbook”
for other cities to shed neoliberal policies, including by reinvesting
in public education and mental health services. At the same time, she
cautions against complacency. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>I
think there’s danger for the movement to feel like there isn’t more
work that needs to be done and that having Brandon in the mayor’s office
is enough.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Patel says expectations from the organizing community are high and that there is more to be done. <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>It’s
on community organizers to build the popular demand for those
platforms. The mayor’s not going to be able to do it all. He’s got the
doors open and the windows of possibility are open, but we have to push
and organize and build and engage enough people to make sure we win on
those ideas.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Co-governance — one of Johnson’s main campaign tenets — and
accountability are still open questions for the city’s left-wing
movements. Tai says that when evaluating the project of co-governance, <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>the measure that I look at is, <span class="push-single"></span><span class="pull-single">‘</span>Are we wielding our power in such a way that we’re building more power for next time?’”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ultimately, as many movement leaders and grassroots organizers told <i>In These Times</i>, the issues that progressives are trying to address have been in the making for generations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Davis Gates of the CTU even questioned the value of the <span class="numbers">100</span>-day benchmark in evaluating Johnson’s performance, adding it will take <span class="push-double"></span><span class="pull-double">“</span>multiple terms” to undo the harm that working-class Chicago have faced under previous administrations.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="dquo">“</span>As a teacher, I am calling into
question what rubric we are using to evaluate something that’s new and
different than what we have seen before.”<br /></p>
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</form></div></div></section><br />ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-57491303031203451352023-08-21T11:25:00.000-04:002023-08-21T11:25:50.267-04:00From Detroit to Hollywood, New Union Leaders Take a Harder Line Pushed by angry members, unions representing actors, autoworkers and UPS employees are becoming increasingly assertive under new leadership.<p> </p><div class="css-dqm0it"><div class="css-1vg6q84">GT Zura</div><div class="css-wd09rn"><span class="css-1ht9dc3"><span>Bowling Green, KY</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/business/economy/union-leaders-teamsters-uaw-hollywood.html#commentsContainer"><span aria-label="August 17" data-testid="todays-date">Aug. 17</span></a></span></div></div><p class="css-1ep7e7p" id="comment-content-2">NEGOTIATIONS FOOD FOR THOUGHT
1975 to 2022
GM auto worker pay of $6.25/hr adjusted for inflation would be $36.67.
BASICALLY THE SAME, except for tiers.
GM president Lee Iacocca pay of $292K
adjusted for inflation would be $1.7M.
Mary Barra yearly compensation $29M
SEVENTEEN TIMES HIGHER!
According to Barra Math and my calculations the auto worker should be making $600 PER HOUR!</p><p class="css-1ep7e7p" id="comment-content-2">Arguably my two leftmost political opinions are on display in this
delightful bit of news:
1) All workplaces should be unionized, and
2) If what it takes to overcome runaway corporate executive compensation
is to bring the economy to its knees through labor stoppage, then so be
it, let's have more strikes than a bowling tournament.</p><div class="css-dqm0it"><div class="css-1vg6q84">MikeH</div><div class="css-wd09rn"><span class="css-1ht9dc3"><span>Upstate NY</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/business/economy/union-leaders-teamsters-uaw-hollywood.html#commentsContainer"><span aria-label="August 17" data-testid="todays-date">Aug. 17</span></a></span></div></div><p class="css-1ep7e7p" id="comment-content-0">@Jerry Davenport Going bankrupt is a rather extreme way of calling their bluff, wouldn't you say? Yellow went under because of years of poor management, not because of union demands.</p><p class="css-1ep7e7p" id="comment-content-2"> </p><div class="css-dqm0it"><div class="css-1vg6q84">Carter</div><div class="css-wd09rn"><span class="css-1ht9dc3"><span>USA</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/business/economy/union-leaders-teamsters-uaw-hollywood.html#commentsContainer"><span aria-label="August 17" data-testid="todays-date">Aug. 17</span></a></span></div></div><p class="css-1ep7e7p" id="comment-content-8">I was involved in my union for decades. Over the years I rose up through the ranks and was elected to a high position and sat on the executive council of our International Union. One of the largest in the country. The higher I rose in the Union, the less it was about the membership. It became almost solely about organizing new members (money) and politics. Whenever I voiced my concern and issues about the members I represented I was quickly shut down. If there was even a whisper of one of my locals going on strike I was immediately pressured to quash it. There was hardly ever any attention or dollars allocated to helping the members unless a local was attempting to decert from the Union. Then that local was flooded with organizers, t -shirts, etc. When I was reassigned to cover a different area the members were shocked to see me at the local meetings or worksites. Most members had never seen a union rep before.
Don't get me wrong. Organizing the unorganized and electing politicians who support workers are important. But if a union is not visible to their members and do not represent their concerns than that Union really has no power. The members do not support their Union if they don't see a return on their dues. I don't work for that Union anymore. But I do support unions and believe workers do need representation. This article gives me hope that maybe unions are changing back to listening to their members and representing them. Real power comes from the members</p><p> </p><div class="css-dqm0it"><div class="css-1vg6q84">Lydia</div><div class="css-wd09rn"><span class="css-1ht9dc3"><span>Portland</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/business/economy/union-leaders-teamsters-uaw-hollywood.html#commentsContainer"><span aria-label="August 17" data-testid="todays-date">Aug. 17</span></a></span></div></div><p class="css-1ep7e7p" id="comment-content-0">@Carter I spent nearly two decades working as an internal/external organizer at both the National field and state-affiliate level. Half the time at AFSCME, half at an AFT-affiliated nurses union. Agree in large part with what you expressed (and- I wonder if we may have even crossed paths).
As a worker in those settings (and as union member myself)- I was often frustrated by the decisions made by out-of-touch, entrenched, trollish leaders at every level of those organizations. From the bargaining unit level- all the way to the top-most brass on the National scene.
I spent much of my career trying to push the organizations I worked for to be more progressive, more inclusive, more aggressive, and more directly responsive to the rank and file. I wasn’t alone in trying. Many union members have been frustrated with the movement for a long, long while. And- they’ve been organizing internally to push for something better. This cultural shift we’re seeing now is - in part- a culmination of that.</p><div class="css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0"><h1 class="css-1l8buln e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-1f81823c">From Detroit to Hollywood, New Union Leaders Take a Harder Line</h1></div><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary">Pushed
by angry members, unions representing actors, autoworkers and UPS
employees are becoming increasingly assertive under new leadership.</p><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/business/economy/union-leaders-teamsters-uaw-hollywood.html</p><div class="css-103l8m3"><div class="css-1u5onbp epjyd6m1"><div aria-hidden="true" class="css-165eim7 ey68jwv0"><a class="css-uwwqev" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/noam-scheiber"><img alt="Noam Scheiber" class="css-dc6zx6 ey68jwv2" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/07/16/multimedia/author-noam-scheiber/author-noam-scheiber-thumbLarge.png" title="Noam Scheiber" /></a></div><div class="css-233int epjyd6m0"><p class="css-4anu6l e1jsehar1"><span class="byline-prefix">By </span><span class="css-1baulvz last-byline" itemprop="name"><a class="css-n8ff4n e1jsehar0" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/noam-scheiber">Noam Scheiber</a></span></p></div></div></div><div data-testid="reading-time-module"><div class="css-3xqm5e"><time class="css-8blifj e16638kd2" datetime="2023-08-18T10:19:55-04:00"><span class="css-1sbuyqj e16638kd3">Published Aug. 16, 2023</span><span class="css-233int e16638kd4">Updated Aug. 18, 2023</span></time></div></div><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Shawn Fain is not a typical president of the United Automobile Workers union.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr.
Fain recently declined a symbolic handshake with the chief executives
of the major Detroit automakers, a gesture that traditionally kicks off
contract negotiations. He is seeking an ambitious 40 percent wage
increase for rank-and-file members — in line, he says, with the pay
gains of those corporate leaders over the past four years. And in a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=2672183916277760" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">video meeting</a>
with members this month, Mr. Fain threw a list of proposals from
Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler and Jeep, into a wastebasket, saying
it belonged in the trash “because that’s what it is.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">On one level, the circumstances that produced the union’s more aggressive leadership are idiosyncratic. Mr. Fain, who <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/25/business/uaw-autoworkers-union-election.html" title="">won his position in March</a>,
is the first president in the union’s history, dating back nearly 90
years, to be elected directly by its members. The change took place
after a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/26/business/uaw-gary-jones-investigation.html" title="">major corruption scandal</a> engulfed two of his predecessors and several more union officials.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But
on another level, the forces that swept Mr. Fain into power are the
same ones that have borne down on unions across a variety of industries:
a feeling among members that they have spent years enduring
out-of-touch leaders, meager wage growth and concession-filled labor
agreements, which forced some to do similar jobs as co-workers for less
pay.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“We kept being told, ‘This is a
good contract,’” said Shana Shaw, a U.A.W. member who has worked at a
General Motors plant in Missouri since 2008. “And our members are
saying, ‘It’s not a good contract!’”</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
long-simmering rage helps explain why, in addition to Mr. Fain, several
prominent unions are now in the hands of outspoken leaders who have
taken their membership to the brink of high-stakes labor stoppages — or
beyond.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Sean O’Brien, president of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has repeatedly referred to
corporate leaders as a “white-collar crime syndicate” and warned that a
strike of the union’s 300,000-plus United Parcel Service members
appeared inevitable. (The union recently <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/business/economy/ups-teamsters-contract-strike.html" title="">reached a tentative agreement</a> that members are voting on.)</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Just after a union of more than 150,000 Hollywood actors called a strike in July, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/business/media/fran-drescher-screen-actors-guild.html" title="">Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, said</a>
that she was “shocked by the way the people that we have been in
business with are treating us.” She added: “It is disgusting. Shame on
them!”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The companies, including <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/business/economy/ups-teamsters-contract-strike.html" title="">UPS</a> and the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/06/business/uaw-auto-workers-contract.html" title="">automakers</a>,
have indicated that they are willing to increase compensation but
cannot jeopardize their long-term viability. The large Hollywood studios
have offered actors pay increases <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/07/13/business/actors-strike-sag#sag-aftra-writers-strike" title="">but say</a> they must be able to adapt to the decline of traditional television.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Some
executives have called out the unions’ more confrontational gestures.
“The theatrics and personal insults will not help us reach an
agreement,” Mark Stewart, a top Stellantis official, said in a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://stellantisnegotiations2023.com/employee-letter-uaw-negotiations-update/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">letter to employees</a> after Mr. Fain literally discarded the company’s proposals.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">And channeling
members’ anger is not without risk: It can raise expectations and make
it difficult for leaders to finalize contracts. Mr. O’Brien is facing a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://teamstersmobilize.com/vote-no-campaign" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">“vote no” campaign</a> organized largely by UPS part-timers who argue that the union did not secure large enough raises.</p><div><div><div><section aria-labelledby="styln-toplinks-title" class="css-1at4x3t" role="complementary"><header class="css-c7qqm7"><h2 class="css-1hvg15v" id="styln-toplinks-title">Labor Organizing and Union Drives</h2></header><ul class="css-15azm6g"><li><span><strong>New Leaders: </strong>Several prominent unions, representing groups from automobile workers to actors, are now in the hands of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/business/economy/union-leaders-teamsters-uaw-hollywood.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-labor-movement&variant=show&region=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc">outspoken leaders</a> who have taken their membership to the brink of high-stakes labor stoppages — or beyond.</span></li><li><span><strong>United Auto Workers: </strong>Shawn
Fain, the new U.A.W. president, has vowed to be tougher than his
predecessors in contract talks with the Detroit automakers. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/06/business/uaw-auto-workers-contract.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-labor-movement&variant=show&region=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc">His initial demands attach big numbers to that promise</a>.</span></li><li><span><strong>Grindr: </strong>Two weeks after employees at the gay dating app filed a petition to unionize, the company told some workers they had to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/12/business/grindr-rto-union.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-labor-movement&variant=show&region=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc">relocate or they would lose their jobs under new return-to-office rules</a>. Grindr said the plan had long been in the works.</span></li></ul></section></div></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
populist approach is not unique to labor unions. The 2008 financial
crisis and the grindingly slow recovery produced a more militant style
of politics that upended established institutions <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/world/in-spain-rapid-rise-of-leftists-has-a-familiar-ring.html" title="">around</a> <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/world/europe/greece-election-tsipras-austerity.html" title="">the</a> <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/world/europe/britain-brexit-european-union-referendum.html" title="">world</a>.
The crisis helped lay the groundwork for the unexpected support of
Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race.</p><div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">If anything, unions were slower to adapt to the rising anger than other institutions, largely because they were less democratic.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In 2018, UPS employees voted down a labor contract negotiated by the Teamsters leadership, which created a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/16/business/economy/ups-union-workers-strike.html" title="">new category</a> of lower-paid drivers. The union’s president, James P. Hoffa, who had served in the position for nearly 20 years, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/business/economy/teamsters-sean-obrien-hoffa.html" title="">used</a> a procedural rule to impose the contract anyway.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But
even the change-averse labor movement could not withstand a final blow:
Covid-19, and union members’ anger over their perilous working
conditions as <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CP" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">corporate</a> <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=dhB" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">profits</a> grew at one of the fastest rates in decades.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“There’s a historical memory of all the concessions they made,” said
Ruth Milkman, a sociologist of labor at the Graduate Center of the City
University of New York, referring to union members. “And they feel
shafted. The C.E.O.s are sitting pretty with all this pandemic money
that didn’t go into their pockets.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Many nonunion workers saw their wages
rise rapidly thanks to a tight job market, but contracts negotiated
before the pandemic often locked union members into smaller wage
increases as inflation surged.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. O’Brien has tapped into that resentment.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A vice president and ally of Mr. Hoffa in the mid-2010s, Mr. O’Brien <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/business/economy/teamsters-sean-obrien-hoffa.html" title="">ran to replace him</a> in 2021, deriding his predecessor for foisting concessionary contracts onto members. He <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.tdu.org/fueled_by_pandemic_contract_givebacks_ups_reports_record_shattering_profits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">vowed to raise pay</a>
for part-timers at UPS — an unusual concern for a would-be Teamster
president, even though part-timers make up a majority of the union’s
members there — and secured a significant wage increase.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Other union leaders have followed a similar arc. In 2021, Ms. Drescher
ran for president of SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union now on strike, on the
union’s moderate slate and narrowly won. But she came to channel her
members’ anxieties over the rise of streaming, which has led to <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/business/economy/writers-strike-hollywood-gig-work.html" title="">longer gaps in work</a> for many actors and more <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.sagaftra.org/files/sa_documents/SAG-AFTRA_Negotiations_Status_7_13_23.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">limited royalties</a> as shows are reused less often.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The streaming
contracts negotiated back at the beginning of this, when certain
individuals thought this would be a fad, set us up for failure,” said
Linsay Rousseau, a SAG-AFTRA member who works primarily as a voice
actor. She said Ms. Drescher’s outspokenness had won over even members
who voted against her.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In some cases,
outraged rank-and-filers have taken matters into their own hands. Edward
Hall, a rail worker and local union official in Tucson, said he decided
to run for the presidency of the more than 25,000-member Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen in early 2022. The union’s longtime
president had arrived to hold a town-hall meeting about labor
negotiations that had dragged on for <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://ttd.org/rail-negotiations/bargaining-timeline/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">over two years</a>.
But, Mr. Hall said, he was unable to provide frustrated members with a
timetable for a deal. (Dennis Pierce, the former president, declined to
comment.)</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Mr. Hall was elected <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221217012137/https://ble-t.org/news/election-statement-by-dennis-r-pierce/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">last fall</a>,
shortly after Congress intervened to enact a labor agreement that
members of several rail unions had voted down. Many workers felt the
agreement did not go far enough to rein in a system of railroad
operations that sought to minimize equipment and employees.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“It
was profitable for them,” Mr. Hall said, referring to rail carriers.
“But for lack of a better way to put it, it made life on the railroad
hell for regular employees.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
combination of agitated members and more assertive leaders can sometimes
pry loose concessions from employers even without a strike, especially
amid a worker shortage. This year, rail carriers began voluntarily
addressing one of the workers’ biggest concerns: the lack of paid sick
days.</p><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">At UPS, Mr.
O’Brien spent months preparing his members for a possible strike, even
holding training sessions for strike captains and practice pickets. The
pressure appeared to yield <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/business/economy/ups-teamsters-contract-strike.html" title="">significant gains</a> in the recent tentative agreement between the two sides, including more than <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/teamstersforademocraticunion/pages/12952/attachments/original/1690400444/Wage-Examples_UPS-Teamsters-Tentative-National-Master-Agreement.pdf?1690400444" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">$7 an hour</a> in raises over the five years of the contract.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In
an interview last month, Mr. O’Brien said the Teamsters’ actions under
his leadership had made the strike threat credible. “We’ve been striking
since I took over,” said Mr. O’Brien, pointing to other companies where
the union represents workers. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">David
Pryzbylski, a labor lawyer at Barnes & Thornburg who represents
employers, said the strident rhetoric of union leaders often reflected a
genuine shift in workers’ attitudes. Still, he added, negotiations more
often hinge on fundamentals like a company’s profitability and the
union’s ability to disrupt operations through a strike, making it wise
for employers to ignore the bluster.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“A
lot of times that stuff stops: They go out and say what they wanted to
say, they send up a signal flare and move on,” Mr. Pryzbylski said. “If
you start responding, it stays in the news cycle.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The full-throated demands can also backfire in economic terms. Yellow, a
trucking company with 30,000 employees, declared bankruptcy several
months after talks with the Teamsters broke down. The company’s chief
executive <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://investors.myyellow.com/news-releases/news-release-details/yellow-corporation-files-voluntary-chapter-11-petitions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">said in a statement</a> that the Teamsters’ intransigence drove Yellow out of business, though <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/business/trucking-industry-yellow.html" title="">analysts note</a> that the company showed signs of mismanagement for years.</p><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The risks may be even higher in industries under pressure to embrace a new business model.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
major U.S. automakers have said that they need the ability to team up
with nonunion battery manufacturers to secure additional capital and
expertise. But Mr. Fain, the new U.A.W. president, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/business/economy/ev-battery-union.html" title="">has said</a>
that the failure to organize more battery workers was a major failure
of his predecessors, and that battery workers must receive the same pay
and working conditions that union workers enjoy at the Big Three.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Many U.A.W. members say <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/06/business/uaw-auto-workers-contract.html" title="">the tension between the automakers’ goals and the union’s</a>
indicates that a strike will be hard to avoid when their contract
expires in mid-September. But they do not appear to be shrinking from
that possibility.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“We have an
extremely well-oiled machine,” said Ms. Shaw, who also serves as a
co-chair of the organizing committee of Unite All Workers for Democracy,
a reform group within the union that assembled the slate of candidates
Mr. Fain ran on. “We’ll be ready to go if happens.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div class="css-1jp38cr"><div class="css-cw8msf eqi4ubu0"><div class="css-kzd6pg"><p><span class="css-97bxx6"><a class="authorPageLinkClass overrideLinkStyles" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/noam-scheiber">Noam Scheiber</a></span>
is a Chicago-based reporter who covers workers and the workplace. He
spent nearly 15 years at The New Republic, where he covered economic
policy and three presidential campaigns. He is the author of “The Escape
Artists.”<span class="css-kzd6pg"> <a class="authorPageLinkClass overrideLinkStyles" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/noam-scheiber">More about Noam Scheiber</a></span></p></div></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p></div><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary"> </p><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21978939.post-61437687750294402602023-08-20T21:34:00.005-04:002023-08-20T21:34:50.324-04:00Why Are School Therapists in NYC Revoting on a ‘Nothing’ Contract? - Work Bites - <p> </p><div class="blog-item-top-wrapper" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: "Work Sans"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 500; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 30px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="blog-item-title" style="order: 2;"><h1 class="entry-title entry-title--large p-name preSlide slideIn" data-content-field="title" itemprop="headline" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-title-color); font-family: var(--blog-item-title-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-title-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-title-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-title-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-title-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-title-font-line-height); margin: 0px; opacity: 1 !important; text-transform: var(--blog-item-title-font-text-transform); transform: translate(0px) !important; transition: transform 0.8s ease 0.156522s, opacity;"><a href="https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/osjr2qq7qpknkk5xfqd8f7dipgqgdh">https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/osjr2qq7qpknkk5xfqd8f7dipgqgdh <br /></a></h1><h1 class="entry-title entry-title--large p-name preSlide slideIn" data-content-field="title" itemprop="headline" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-title-color); font-family: var(--blog-item-title-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-title-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-title-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-title-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-title-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-title-font-line-height); margin: 0px; opacity: 1 !important; text-transform: var(--blog-item-title-font-text-transform); transform: translate(0px) !important; transition: transform 0.8s ease 0.156522s, opacity;">Why Are School Therapists in NYC Revoting on a ‘Nothing’ Contract?</h1></div><div class="blog-item-meta-wrapper" style="margin-bottom: 2rem; order: 1;"><div class="blog-meta-item blog-meta-item--categories" data-content-field="categories" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); display: block; font-family: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-meta-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-meta-font-line-height); text-decoration: none; text-transform: var(--blog-item-meta-font-text-transform);"><span class="blog-item-category-wrapper" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); font-family: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-meta-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-meta-font-line-height); text-decoration: none; text-transform: var(--blog-item-meta-font-text-transform);"></span><br /></div><div class="blog-item-author-date-wrapper preFade fadeIn" data-animation-role="date" style="display: flex; opacity: 1 !important; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.165217s;"><time class="dt-published blog-meta-item blog-meta-item--date" data-content-field="published-on" datetime="Aug 20" pubdate="" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); display: block; font-family: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-meta-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-meta-font-line-height); text-decoration: none; text-transform: var(--blog-item-meta-font-text-transform);"><span style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); font-family: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-meta-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-meta-font-line-height); text-decoration: none; text-transform: var(--blog-item-meta-font-text-transform);">AUG 20</span></time><time class="dt-published blog-meta-item blog-meta-item--date" data-content-field="published-on" datetime="Aug 20" pubdate="" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); display: block; font-family: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-meta-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-meta-font-line-height); text-decoration: none; text-transform: var(--blog-item-meta-font-text-transform);"><span style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); font-family: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-meta-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-meta-font-line-height); text-decoration: none; text-transform: var(--blog-item-meta-font-text-transform);"> </span></time><time class="dt-published blog-meta-item blog-meta-item--date" data-content-field="published-on" datetime="Aug 20" pubdate="" style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); display: block; font-family: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-meta-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-meta-font-line-height); text-decoration: none; text-transform: var(--blog-item-meta-font-text-transform);"><span style="color: var(--tweak-blog-item-meta-color); font-family: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--blog-item-meta-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--blog-item-meta-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--blog-item-meta-font-line-height); text-decoration: none; text-transform: var(--blog-item-meta-font-text-transform);"> </span></time></div></div></div><div class="blog-item-content-wrapper" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_98" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Work Sans"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 500; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="blog-item-content e-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_97" style="margin: 0px 0px 3vw;"><div class="sqs-layout sqs-grid-12 columns-12" data-layout-label="Post Body" data-type="item" id="item-64e239c105a6b577d3cc149e"><div class="row sqs-row" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_96" style="margin-left: -17px; margin-right: -17px; width: auto !important;"><div class="col sqs-col-12 span-12" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_95" style="float: left; padding-right: 0px; width: 642.375px;"><div class="sqs-block image-block sqs-block-image sqs-text-ready" data-block-type="5" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1692547535516_13156" style="clear: both; height: auto; padding: 0px 17px 17px; position: relative;"><div class="sqs-block-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_94" style="height: 599.78125px; width: 608.375px;"><div class="image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-site-default individual-animation-site-default individual-text-animation-site-default animation-loaded" data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_93" style="transform: translateZ(0px);"><figure class="
sqs-block-image-figure
intrinsic
" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_92" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 1000px;"><div class="image-block-wrapper preSlide slideIn" data-animation-role="image" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_91" style="min-height: 1px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow: hidden; position: relative; transform: translate(0px) !important; transition: transform 0.8s ease 0.173913s, opacity;"><div class="sqs-image-shape-container-element
has-aspect-ratio
" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1692581431490_90" style="mask-image: -webkit-radial-gradient(center, white, black); overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 492.78125px; position: relative;"><img alt="" data-image-dimensions="1000x810" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/d98c358c-8862-4ba0-8e70-bec503fb81ea/UFTOTPTcontract.png" data-load="false" data-loader="sqs" data-src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/d98c358c-8862-4ba0-8e70-bec503fb81ea/UFTOTPTcontract.png" data-stretch="false" height="810" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630f7a1a2c7e6a087ecee45d/d98c358c-8862-4ba0-8e70-bec503fb81ea/UFTOTPTcontract.png" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: 492.78125px; object-fit: cover; object-position: 50%; position: absolute; width: 608.375px;" width="1000" /></div></div><figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper" style="display: block;"><div class="image-caption"><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.182609s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The next step should have been to go back to the bargaining table. It was a fair and certified vote. It was not close. It was not compromised in any way.” - Alison Loebel Bertoni. </p></div></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-5201703ed70021d1dc58" style="clear: none; height: auto; padding: 17px; position: relative;"><div class="sqs-block-content" style="outline: none;"><div class="sqs-html-content" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 0px 0px 1rem; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.191304s; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; overflow-wrap: break-word;">By Steve Wishnia</strong></p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.2s; white-space: pre-wrap;">Almost 3,000 occupational and physical therapists [OT/PT] in New York City public schools are in the process of revoting on a contract they rejected by a 2–1 margin last month.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.208696s; white-space: pre-wrap;">Officials of their chapter in the United Federation of Teachers say the union’s leadership refused to try to renegotiate the agreement, which members overall ratified by a 3–1 margin. The UFT says bargaining-unit members requested the revote.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.217391s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The next step should have been to go back to the bargaining table,” Alison Loebel Bertoni, a member of the OT/PT chapter’s executive board, told Work-Bites. “It was a fair and certified vote. It was not close. It was not compromised in any way.”</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.226087s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Members of the OT/PT chapter considered possible options and next steps, and after consideration, it was the members of the chapter who asked for a revote,” UFT spokesperson<strong style="font-weight: 700; overflow-wrap: break-word;"> </strong>Alison Gendar said.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.234783s; white-space: pre-wrap;">The revote began Aug. 8, and ballots are due Aug. 29.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.243478s; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bargaining unit was the only one of 12 in the UFT to reject the contract. Its members opposed ratification by 1,129-782, according to the results announced July 5. That margin covered a split among different occupations in the unit: OTs and PTs voted no by 1,074-545, while other members — school nurses, supervisors, and audiologists — voted 237-55 for ratification.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.252174s; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Aug. 4, the UFT decided to put those groups of workers in a different bargaining unit. Loebel Bertoni says they had all asked to be removed. </p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.26087s; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; overflow-wrap: break-word;">‘Nothing for us’</strong></p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.269565s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There was nothing in the contract for us,” says Mimi Greenberg, a member of the chapter’s bargaining committee.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.278261s; white-space: pre-wrap;">Occupational and physical therapists work with special-education pupils. Physical therapists help them with gross motor coordination, Greenberg explains. Occupational therapists work with fine motor skills, such as whether pupils can use their hands well enough to write and use “manipulatives” such as the small blocks used to teach elementary math, and visual and perceptive skills such as being able to recognize numbers and write them.</p></div></div></div><div class="sqs-block quote-block sqs-block-quote null sqs-background-enabled preSlide slideIn" data-block-type="31" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1692550775833_4190" style="background-color: var(--tweak-quote-block-background-color); border-radius: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: var(--tweak-paragraph-medium-color-on-background); height: 229.0625px; opacity: 1 !important; padding: 38.53125px; position: relative; transform: translate(0px) !important; transition: transform 0.8s ease 0.286957s, opacity;"><div class="sqs-block-content"><figure class="block-animation-site-default animation-loaded" style="display: block; margin: 1em 0px;"><blockquote class="preSlide slideIn" data-animation-role="quote" style="color: var(--tweak-quote-block-text-color-on-background); font-family: var(--quote-block-text-font-font-family); font-size: calc((var(--quote-block-text-font-font-size-value) - 1) * 1.2vw + 1rem); font-style: var(--quote-block-text-font-font-style); font-weight: var(--quote-block-text-font-font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--quote-block-text-font-letter-spacing); line-height: var(--quote-block-text-font-line-height); margin: 0px; opacity: 1 !important; text-transform: var(--quote-block-text-font-text-transform); transform: translate(0px) !important; transition: transform 0.8s ease 0.295652s, opacity;"><span>“</span>I don’t think the union has any interest in going back,” Alison Loebel Bertoni says. She describes UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s behavior as “dismissive” and “patronizing.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span>”</span></blockquote></figure></div></div><div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1692550775833_4309" style="clear: none; height: auto; padding: 17px; position: relative;"><div class="sqs-block-content" style="outline: none;"><div class="sqs-html-content" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 0px 0px 1rem; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.304348s; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those children are “the most vulnerable people in our society,” Greenberg adds. She’s been an OT for 22 years and now works in Upper East Side schools.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.313043s; white-space: pre-wrap;">Their main issue in the contract talks, she says, was parity with the other professionals who help develop the “IEPs” — individual education programs —required for each child in special education. OTs and PTs must have master’s degrees, but are paid significantly less than teachers, social workers, and speech therapists. Their top salary rate is more than $15,000 a year lower.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.321739s; white-space: pre-wrap;">OTs and PTs get a 30-minute unpaid lunch, Loebel Bertoni says, while the others get a 50-minute paid break.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.330435s; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the tentative agreement was revealed to the bargaining committee, Greenberg says, it included an unpleasant surprise: OTs and PTs normally do eight sessions a day, and a provision allowing them to do an optional ninth session had been added.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.33913s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It never came to the bargaining table,” Greenberg says, and chapter leaders had not been told about it. She fears that OTs and PTs will face pressure to do the extra session, or that the added workload could be used to reduce staff. </p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.347826s; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; overflow-wrap: break-word;">‘Scare tactics’</strong></p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.356522s; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the OT/PT chapter voted against the UFT’s previous contract in 2018, Loebel Bertoni says, the union “very quickly” went back to the bargaining table. They won somewhat better pay increases.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.365217s; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time, she says, “I don’t think the union has any interest in going back.” She describes UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s behavior as “dismissive” and “patronizing.” </p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.373913s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The union tells the members this is the best we can get. We didn’t fall in line,” Loebel Bertoni says.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.382609s; white-space: pre-wrap;">The OT/PT chapter is the only one in the UFT not led by the Unity Caucus, the group that has run the union since the days of Albert Shanker.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.391304s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I would expect a union leader to say, ‘you guys voted this down, there’s something wrong here, let’s try to get the city back to the table,’” Greenberg tells Work-Bites. “Instead, we got an email telling us what we would not be getting.”</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.4s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Your contract was voted down,” UFT Vice President Richard Mantell wrote in a July 10 email to chapter members. “As a result, all the new contractual benefits, including the pay increases and the $3,000 ratification bonus, will not be available for the therapists, school nurses, audiologists, and supervisors of nurses and therapists covered by this contract. You will continue to work under the terms of the previous contract.” </p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.408696s; white-space: pre-wrap;">The latter groups got those benefits once they were separated from the OT/PT unit.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.417391s; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both Greenberg and Loebel Bertoni call that message “scare tactics.” The UFT leadership said it got more than 1,000 emails from members asking for a revote after it went out, Loebel Bertoni says.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.426087s; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a July meeting with chapter leaders, President Mulgrew “made it clear that the chapter had no good options,” Loebel Bertoni says; he told them that if they voted no, they wouldn’t get raises or new contract talks for years.</p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition: opacity 0.8s ease 0.434783s; white-space: pre-wrap;">“They’re having a do-over on the same agreement,” Greenberg says. “Democracy has been stomped on.”</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p> </p>ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.com0