RedCeltic
8th April 2002, 15:41
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT MADE BY ERIC CHESTER
John Olver has represented the First Congressional district of Massachusetts for eleven years. During this time he has become fully incorporated into the political establishment, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. Olver accepts tens of thousands of dollars from corporate PACs looking for special favors. He takes money from some of the largest corporations that benefit from wars and the military budget, corporations such as Raytheon, General Dynamics and General Electric.
Needless to say, Olver voted for the war, and for the increase in the military budget. Although he recently voted to oppose the PATRIOT Act, legislation that has eroded our fundamental civil liberties, he has remained silent in the face of the mass detentions, as well as the other abuses of basic rights that have occurred since September 11.
Western Massachusetts needs a representative in Congress who will do what is right, rather than what is expedient. I will propose an immediate 50% cut in the military budget, with the 175 billion dollars a year thus saved being used for essential social services. I will call for an immediate end to the blockade of Iraq and will urge an end to the Israeli occupation of the Occupied Territories. I will oppose further military aid to Israel. I will propose that the United States withdraw from all overseas military bases, most especially Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and that the U.S. Navy immediately withdraw from the Vieques base in Puerto Rico.
I will also challenge corporate power by proposing a steep tax on high incomes and large estates. I will oppose the expansion of the free trade zone to South America, and an end to the current one covering North America. I will call for an economic program that will create millions of full-time union jobs in the public sector, jobs such as child care educators, teachers, professors, nurses, construction workers and bus drivers. We need to do all this, but we need to do much more.
The United States is in the midst of a deepening crisis. Since September 11, U.S. troops have invaded and occupied Afghanistan, and there is every reason to expect that other military actions will soon follow, all taken under the cover of the 'war against terrorism.' The corporate mass media continues to whip up a wartime hysteria, as politicians from both mainstream political parties try to outdo each other in their jingoistic support for more wars.
Civil liberties have been sharply curtailed, as the government uses widespread fear to expand its repressive powers. More than a thousand immigrants, mostly from the Middle East, have been held for months on the flimsiest of pretexts, in secret and without reasonable grounds for suspicion. The United States has also flaunted the Geneva agreement on prisoners of war in its mistreatment of those captured in Afghanistan.
The already bloated military budget has swelled by another forty billion dollars, with further increases on tap. At the same time, spending on vital social services is being drastically cut, so that essential programs such as education, child care, health care, low-cost housing and mass transit starve for lack of funds while the military booms.
Even before September 11, the economy was moving downward. Since then,
we have entered into a major slump, one of the most severe since the Great
Depression of the 1930s. Yet the government has done little to counteract
unemployment, relying on more tax breaks for the rich to stimulate the
economy.
All of these recent events come as a handful of huge and powerful corporations continue their drive to control the wealth and resources of the entire planet. In doing so, they act to destroy the environment and crush trade unions. Old industrial centers, such as Holyoke, Pittsfield and Greenfield, are left to rot. Around the world, the gulf between the rich and poor has widened. Millions sleep in the streets or live in squalid slums while a few individuals acquire a personal wealth in the tens of billions of dollars.
As long as a few powerful corporations dominate the global economy, we will continue to live in a society marked by poverty and violence. Changing this will require a massive social movement that can shake the foundations of the current system. Such a movement will of necessity advance an independent politics as it challenges the two party system. For too long, working people and those who seek social change have settled for the lesser evil. Both mainstream political parties are funded and controlled by the big corporations. Voting for Democrats is a dead end. It is time for all
those committed to a just world to make a definitive break with both the
Democrats and the Republicans.
Ultimately, only a democratic socialist transformation can move us out of the current impasse. Workers control, cooperation, grass-roots democracy, equality and social justice must replace competition, poverty and hierarchy. Instead of a capitalist market economy driven by production for profit we need to rapidly move toward a cooperative economy based on production for need through decentralized planning. My campaign can only provide one small step in this transformation toward a new society, and yet an important one.
[b]ERIC CHESTER FOR CONGRESS
43 Taylor Hill Road
Montague, MA. 01351
(413) 367-9356 or [email protected]
(Edited by RedCeltic at 9:45 am on April 8, 2002)
John Olver has represented the First Congressional district of Massachusetts for eleven years. During this time he has become fully incorporated into the political establishment, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. Olver accepts tens of thousands of dollars from corporate PACs looking for special favors. He takes money from some of the largest corporations that benefit from wars and the military budget, corporations such as Raytheon, General Dynamics and General Electric.
Needless to say, Olver voted for the war, and for the increase in the military budget. Although he recently voted to oppose the PATRIOT Act, legislation that has eroded our fundamental civil liberties, he has remained silent in the face of the mass detentions, as well as the other abuses of basic rights that have occurred since September 11.
Western Massachusetts needs a representative in Congress who will do what is right, rather than what is expedient. I will propose an immediate 50% cut in the military budget, with the 175 billion dollars a year thus saved being used for essential social services. I will call for an immediate end to the blockade of Iraq and will urge an end to the Israeli occupation of the Occupied Territories. I will oppose further military aid to Israel. I will propose that the United States withdraw from all overseas military bases, most especially Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and that the U.S. Navy immediately withdraw from the Vieques base in Puerto Rico.
I will also challenge corporate power by proposing a steep tax on high incomes and large estates. I will oppose the expansion of the free trade zone to South America, and an end to the current one covering North America. I will call for an economic program that will create millions of full-time union jobs in the public sector, jobs such as child care educators, teachers, professors, nurses, construction workers and bus drivers. We need to do all this, but we need to do much more.
The United States is in the midst of a deepening crisis. Since September 11, U.S. troops have invaded and occupied Afghanistan, and there is every reason to expect that other military actions will soon follow, all taken under the cover of the 'war against terrorism.' The corporate mass media continues to whip up a wartime hysteria, as politicians from both mainstream political parties try to outdo each other in their jingoistic support for more wars.
Civil liberties have been sharply curtailed, as the government uses widespread fear to expand its repressive powers. More than a thousand immigrants, mostly from the Middle East, have been held for months on the flimsiest of pretexts, in secret and without reasonable grounds for suspicion. The United States has also flaunted the Geneva agreement on prisoners of war in its mistreatment of those captured in Afghanistan.
The already bloated military budget has swelled by another forty billion dollars, with further increases on tap. At the same time, spending on vital social services is being drastically cut, so that essential programs such as education, child care, health care, low-cost housing and mass transit starve for lack of funds while the military booms.
Even before September 11, the economy was moving downward. Since then,
we have entered into a major slump, one of the most severe since the Great
Depression of the 1930s. Yet the government has done little to counteract
unemployment, relying on more tax breaks for the rich to stimulate the
economy.
All of these recent events come as a handful of huge and powerful corporations continue their drive to control the wealth and resources of the entire planet. In doing so, they act to destroy the environment and crush trade unions. Old industrial centers, such as Holyoke, Pittsfield and Greenfield, are left to rot. Around the world, the gulf between the rich and poor has widened. Millions sleep in the streets or live in squalid slums while a few individuals acquire a personal wealth in the tens of billions of dollars.
As long as a few powerful corporations dominate the global economy, we will continue to live in a society marked by poverty and violence. Changing this will require a massive social movement that can shake the foundations of the current system. Such a movement will of necessity advance an independent politics as it challenges the two party system. For too long, working people and those who seek social change have settled for the lesser evil. Both mainstream political parties are funded and controlled by the big corporations. Voting for Democrats is a dead end. It is time for all
those committed to a just world to make a definitive break with both the
Democrats and the Republicans.
Ultimately, only a democratic socialist transformation can move us out of the current impasse. Workers control, cooperation, grass-roots democracy, equality and social justice must replace competition, poverty and hierarchy. Instead of a capitalist market economy driven by production for profit we need to rapidly move toward a cooperative economy based on production for need through decentralized planning. My campaign can only provide one small step in this transformation toward a new society, and yet an important one.
[b]ERIC CHESTER FOR CONGRESS
43 Taylor Hill Road
Montague, MA. 01351
(413) 367-9356 or [email protected]
(Edited by RedCeltic at 9:45 am on April 8, 2002)