What does Obamacare mean for young people?
As
this article is being written, the U.S. is currently experiencing a
government shutdown. What happened? The official line is that the House
and the Senate couldn’t agree on a bill to fund the government, and time
has run out. Depending on who you ask, or what you read, this all
boiled down to the fight over the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which has
come to be known as Obamacare.
Of course, in looking closer at this situation, we know that other elements were at play. For example demands like defunding Planned Parenthood, expanding drilling on federal lands, and other “compromises” that the GOP wanted passed in order to implement the Affordable Care Act. Needless to say, a compromise was not reached and we are now in a government shutdown – the first one in 17 years. This means a whole new generation of youth are getting a first hand experience of our government at work.
Funny thing is, the Affordable Care Act is still happening. It began October 1. The ACA bill is long and it can be very daunting to read and understand how it will affect certain parts of the population, or the working people as a whole. In this technological age, most young people want the facts, in bullet point form if you please, so that we know what exactly we can expect. So, how will the ACA affect young people? Here are some key points and ways in looking at it:
At this point in time, there are about 47 million people in the U.S. without health insurance. This includes a good amount of young people. The ACA won’t greatly affect those that already have coverage through employers or government sponsored health care such as Medicaid or Medicare. So that leaves about 15 percent of the population not covered. With the ACA, they will be able to find affordable coverage. Some of the highlights of that and other changes to existing health coverage would be as follows:
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Of course, in looking closer at this situation, we know that other elements were at play. For example demands like defunding Planned Parenthood, expanding drilling on federal lands, and other “compromises” that the GOP wanted passed in order to implement the Affordable Care Act. Needless to say, a compromise was not reached and we are now in a government shutdown – the first one in 17 years. This means a whole new generation of youth are getting a first hand experience of our government at work.
Funny thing is, the Affordable Care Act is still happening. It began October 1. The ACA bill is long and it can be very daunting to read and understand how it will affect certain parts of the population, or the working people as a whole. In this technological age, most young people want the facts, in bullet point form if you please, so that we know what exactly we can expect. So, how will the ACA affect young people? Here are some key points and ways in looking at it:
At this point in time, there are about 47 million people in the U.S. without health insurance. This includes a good amount of young people. The ACA won’t greatly affect those that already have coverage through employers or government sponsored health care such as Medicaid or Medicare. So that leaves about 15 percent of the population not covered. With the ACA, they will be able to find affordable coverage. Some of the highlights of that and other changes to existing health coverage would be as follows:
- Young people would be able to stay on their parents insurance until the age of 26. Before, most insurers cut off the coverage at 21. Because of this provision, more than three million young people have gained coverage since approved. This works well in an economy when many young people are finding it hard to land full-time jobs that would give them the health coverage needed right out of college, high school, or post-graduate school.
- Everyone is entitled to free preventative care. This works well for young women seeking birth control and other contraceptives. They do not have to be charged extra for seeking birth control. Not to mention the population as a whole doesn’t have to pay extra for important health screenings such as for diabetes and HIV.
- With the health exchange you can see what you’re in for and you may even be eligible for a government discount. The websites provide a calculation of how much you will be paying based on your income. The lower your income the higher the tax credit you may be entitled to will be.
- Young women can’t be charged more than men. There’s a little (re: sexist) thing that insurance companies in some states do, where women are charged more than men for individual coverage. This practice will now be outlawed beginning in the new year.
- You cannot be charged for pre-existing conditions. This was another thing insurance companies were doing. Either they would reject people because of pre-existing health conditions or they would charge them more for it. Starting in the new year this will be illegal as well.
- In some states, if you make less that $16,000 a year, you may be eligible for Medicaid. This can come in handy for many young people who are having to settle for part-time work or lower wages in the current economy.
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Debt, climate change, immigration top student agenda
WASHINGTON
— The recent gathering of 328 college and graduate students from across
the nation here at the 45th annual “Grassroots Legislative Conference,”
hosted by the United States Student Association (USSA), which has
strong ties with the labor movement, could be called nothing short of a
“tour de force” in youth activism. “LegCon” is designed to train
students in congressional lobbying. Determined, organized, thoughtful,
and unafraid, the students present at this year’s LegCon were very clear
about a guiding principle: students must lead their own organization
and strategize together if the fight for accessible higher education in
this country is to be won.LegCon was intentionally held at Washington Court Hotel, where the employees are represented by UNITE HERE service workers union. Workshop titles included “Union 101,” “Beyond Yes Means Yes: Preventing Sexual Assault on Campus,” and “Fighting the Attack on the Youth Vote!”
A quality college education should be a right for all, but for millions of students college is still either just a dream or a sentence to a lifetime of debt that never disappears, even if the student dies. National student debt has topped $1.2 trillion, which is greater than all national credit card and housing debt combined. There are college campuses in Miami, Milwaukee, and the Bronx where over 40 percent of the student population is homeless, and hundreds of college-campus food pantries are cropping up, according to Associate Professor Sara Goldrick-Rab of Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison.
Data from the Department of Education website says that only nine percent of the lowest quartile income students who enter college complete their degrees.
In one random group meeting of 29 students at LegCon, the combined debt of the students sitting around the circle was $1,645,000.00.
Goliath of student loans, the Sallie Mae Corporation holds $162.5 billion of student debt over the nation’s head. In 2010 and 2011 the corporation spent $6.8 million of their profit on lobbying activities, pressing their agenda of making student loans predatory. The federal government is now making a larger profit from student loans than ever before.
USSA is aggressive about recruiting students to their conferences whose voices are often marginalized. Sophia Zaman, current president of the USSA, said she was proud that this year LegCon included the largest representation of community college students in the organization’s history, and that a broad diversity of states were represented as well. “We are engaging a community of students that are deeply affected by current [higher education] policies, turning them into leaders, decision makers.”
Community college students, LGBTQ students, students of color, first generation college students, undocumented students, and women made up the overwhelming majority of the conference participants.
Guest keynote speaker Robert Samuels, president of the American Federation of Teachers for the University of California System, shared his arguments with the assembled students for why USSA’s goal of accessible education would be completely possible if national funding priorities were altered. Samuels estimates that it would cost the country $195 billion to offer a free college education for all students. In 2011, federal and state governments spent an estimated $201 billion on higher education, including $40 billion in tax breaks for wealthy ‘college trust fund’ investors.
In the immediate term, the USSA is asking legislators to support President Obama’s requests to increase Federal Work Study funding by $225 million, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) by $242 million, increase the Pell Grant maximum award to $5,830, and expand the Pay As You Earn Program (PAYE) for all borrowers. In addition, the USSA is asking Congress to increase funding to the TRIO program by $52 million, which is designed to uplift low-income students, veterans, and students with disabilities.
Other “asks” include:
*Eliminating “box 23″ from FAFSA forms, which requires students to show any conviction related to possession or sale of illegal drugs while receiving federal student aid. USSA argues that this barrier targets low-income and students of color, going against the very reason FAFSA was created.
*Making federal student aid available to undocumented students with Deferred Action status.
*Recognizing same-sex civil unions on the FAFSA application.
*Supporting the Voting Rights Amendment Act, designed to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling last year, which invalidated Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 would restore the integrity of the original law, which required that districts with a history of racial discrimination obtain federal permission before changing their voting policies.
The students at LegCon have taken charge of their social movement like it is the fight of their lives, and indeed it is. Andrea Perkins is one such student at University of Oregon, completing her studies off campus in Chicago. Perkins is an indigenous youth leader and activist, representing the Idle No More movement and the Young Communist League, USA.
Perkins says that her home community of the Chinook Nation of Oregon and Washington has “had it up to here” with capitalist profiteering at the expense of human health and well-being. The Keystone XL pipeline is slated to run straight through the backyards, and even the houses, of thousands of first nations peoples living on reservations.
Perkins made a presentation explaining as much at LegCon. Already the damage done by tar sands extraction and fracking have rendered indigenous lands, in square miles larger than the size of England, uninhabitable across the U.S. and Canada (though indigenous children and families without other options continue to live in these toxic environments).
Jose Caceres, member of the Dreamers of Virginia, is a community college student in Arlington, VA. “When I graduated high school in 2011, I found out that I had to pay out-of-state tuition due to my legal status. I have a younger sister who was five years old when we came to this country, and I don’t want her to face the same obstacles I’ve had to face. I also fight for my parents.”
Caceres reports that at a recent National Congress of the Dreamers in Arizona, the organization chose to highlight two campaigns: Tuition equity for undocumented students, and ending deportations. “Basically, we want DACA for all,” Caceres said. “I like that here at LegCon they’re being inclusive of Dreamers, I wasn’t expecting that. Also I like meeting students from other parts of the movement, from around the country.”
Skylar from New Jersey is organizing around a bill that would allow transgendered people in the state to change their gender on their birth certificates. “Once you can change the birth certificate, it’s a lot easier to change your gender on the other documents like driver’s license, etc,” Skylar explains. Chris Christie vetoed the bill in January, however students continue to push for the legislation as part of the set of bills known as the Higher Education Legislative Package or “HELP.” How does this bill affect students especially? Skylar explains. “With this bill, students wouldn’t have to disclose their past personal history, and wouldn’t be outed as transgendered to their peers. Violence aimed at transgendered people on college campuses would really go down.”
Conference organizers were dealt an unexpected turn of events when two inches of snow from the night before shut the federal government down, making it impossible to lobby as planned. Quickly, USSA staff rearranged the day’s activities to include a morning of phone banking to legislators and a social media blitz. “When Congress comes into their offices tomorrow,” declared Zaman, “they’ll have so many phone messages from us they won’t know what to do.”
Photo: Sophia Zaman, current president of USSA.
Hundreds arrested in Keystone XL pipeline protest
by: John Bachtell
In
a dramatic sign of growing opposition to construction of the Keystone
XL pipeline, 398 students were arrested March 2 after they chained
themselves to the White House fence.
A network of students called XL Dissent organized the protest, part of a groundswell of calls upon President Obama to block approval of the pipeline, which will carry millions of gallons of crude oil from the tar sands region in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the United States.
“Obama was the first president I voted for, and I want real climate action and a rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline,” Nick Stracco, a senior at Tulane University and one of the organizers of the protest, told the Huffington Post. “The people that voted him into office have made it absolutely clear what we want, and that’s to reject Keystone XL.”
Over 1,000 students from some 80 campuses and 42 states gathered at Georgetown University and marched on the White House. The students, many dressed in mock hazmat suits, first stopped at the home of Secretary of State John Kerry, where they unfurled a giant black tarp to symbolize an oil spill.
The State Department has issued a finding claiming that building the Keystone XL pipeline won’t have a significant environmental impact. The State Department study was necessary because the pipeline crosses international borders and is required for federal approval. Kerry must sign off on the study.
Once at the White House, students again unfurled a giant tarp and lay down on it to symbolize an oil spill. Students then tied themselves to the fence with plastic handcuffs and were arrested.
“The youth really understand the traditional methods of creating change are not sufficient, so we needed to escalate,” Aly Johnson-Kurts told Politico. Johnson was one of those arrested.
“They say we are too young to make a difference, but we are proving them wrong, right here, right now,” Earthguardians Youth Director Xiuhtezcatl Martinez told the cheering crowd.
This was said to be the largest student civil disobedience action at the White House in a generation. Over 1,200 people of all ages were arrested in a similar protest organized by the environmental group 350.org at the White House in August 2011.
“An entire movement has thrown itself into in this Keystone fight, from local frontline groups to big national green organizations,” 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben wrote in an email to Huffington Post. “But this weekend shows the power and bravery of some of the most crucial elements: young people, and activists who understand the centrality of environmental justice.”
The Keystone XL pipeline is a project of TransCanada. Once constructed it will transport 830,000 barrels of tar sands crude oil, described as the “dirtiest oil,” to its refining destination in the Gulf Coast.
The pipeline would double the amount of tar sands crude oil entering the U.S.
Environmentalists are warning that burning this dirty oil will increase greenhouse gas emissions exponentially at a time when they must be reduced to stem the climate crisis.
They also warn of vast ecological decimation due to extraction from the tar sands and massive oil spills over delicate aquifers and waterways.
In one of the largest spills in U.S. history, one million gallons of oil gushed into Talmadge Creek and Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010 and it still hasn’t been fully cleaned up.
Activists from the Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands also participated. Three activists were arrested last year trying to block construction of the pipeline by Enbridge Inc., which will also carry tar sands crude oil through the state. They face two to three years in jail if convicted.
Battles have also erupted in Detroit and Chicago over petcoke dumping. Petcoke is a byproduct of the refining process, which many believe is contributing to increases in cancer rates and other health issues.
Also participating in the demonstration were activists from the Indigenous community including Jasmine Thomas from Saik’uz First Nation in British Columbia.
Over 50 First Nation communities that will be impacted along the route of the pipeline are offering some of the fiercest resistance to construction.
“Even President Obama has admitted the jobs created are temporary and very few,” American University student Deirdre Shelly said in an interview on Democracy Now!
“There’s no reason why those jobs have to be in dirty and expensive oil. America is ready for a clean, green economy and we can begin by saying no to this dirty pipeline,” said Shelly.
In another protest, nine students were arrested when they sat in at the State Department building in San Francisco on March 3. XL Dissent organizers vowed the protests and acts of civil disobedience would continue.
Website 350.org has signed up over 70,000 people to commit civil disobedience against the pipeline. Many more actions are expected over the next few months.
Published on People’s World March 5, 2014.
In
a dramatic sign of growing opposition to construction of the Keystone
XL pipeline, 398 students were arrested March 2 after they chained
themselves to the White House fence.A network of students called XL Dissent organized the protest, part of a groundswell of calls upon President Obama to block approval of the pipeline, which will carry millions of gallons of crude oil from the tar sands region in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the United States.
“Obama was the first president I voted for, and I want real climate action and a rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline,” Nick Stracco, a senior at Tulane University and one of the organizers of the protest, told the Huffington Post. “The people that voted him into office have made it absolutely clear what we want, and that’s to reject Keystone XL.”
Over 1,000 students from some 80 campuses and 42 states gathered at Georgetown University and marched on the White House. The students, many dressed in mock hazmat suits, first stopped at the home of Secretary of State John Kerry, where they unfurled a giant black tarp to symbolize an oil spill.
The State Department has issued a finding claiming that building the Keystone XL pipeline won’t have a significant environmental impact. The State Department study was necessary because the pipeline crosses international borders and is required for federal approval. Kerry must sign off on the study.
Once at the White House, students again unfurled a giant tarp and lay down on it to symbolize an oil spill. Students then tied themselves to the fence with plastic handcuffs and were arrested.
“The youth really understand the traditional methods of creating change are not sufficient, so we needed to escalate,” Aly Johnson-Kurts told Politico. Johnson was one of those arrested.
“They say we are too young to make a difference, but we are proving them wrong, right here, right now,” Earthguardians Youth Director Xiuhtezcatl Martinez told the cheering crowd.
This was said to be the largest student civil disobedience action at the White House in a generation. Over 1,200 people of all ages were arrested in a similar protest organized by the environmental group 350.org at the White House in August 2011.
“An entire movement has thrown itself into in this Keystone fight, from local frontline groups to big national green organizations,” 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben wrote in an email to Huffington Post. “But this weekend shows the power and bravery of some of the most crucial elements: young people, and activists who understand the centrality of environmental justice.”
The Keystone XL pipeline is a project of TransCanada. Once constructed it will transport 830,000 barrels of tar sands crude oil, described as the “dirtiest oil,” to its refining destination in the Gulf Coast.
The pipeline would double the amount of tar sands crude oil entering the U.S.
Environmentalists are warning that burning this dirty oil will increase greenhouse gas emissions exponentially at a time when they must be reduced to stem the climate crisis.
They also warn of vast ecological decimation due to extraction from the tar sands and massive oil spills over delicate aquifers and waterways.
In one of the largest spills in U.S. history, one million gallons of oil gushed into Talmadge Creek and Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010 and it still hasn’t been fully cleaned up.
Activists from the Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands also participated. Three activists were arrested last year trying to block construction of the pipeline by Enbridge Inc., which will also carry tar sands crude oil through the state. They face two to three years in jail if convicted.
Battles have also erupted in Detroit and Chicago over petcoke dumping. Petcoke is a byproduct of the refining process, which many believe is contributing to increases in cancer rates and other health issues.
Also participating in the demonstration were activists from the Indigenous community including Jasmine Thomas from Saik’uz First Nation in British Columbia.
Over 50 First Nation communities that will be impacted along the route of the pipeline are offering some of the fiercest resistance to construction.
“Even President Obama has admitted the jobs created are temporary and very few,” American University student Deirdre Shelly said in an interview on Democracy Now!
“There’s no reason why those jobs have to be in dirty and expensive oil. America is ready for a clean, green economy and we can begin by saying no to this dirty pipeline,” said Shelly.
In another protest, nine students were arrested when they sat in at the State Department building in San Francisco on March 3. XL Dissent organizers vowed the protests and acts of civil disobedience would continue.
Website 350.org has signed up over 70,000 people to commit civil disobedience against the pipeline. Many more actions are expected over the next few months.
Published on People’s World March 5, 2014.
Syria: A possible victory for diplomacy?
Most
people who lean politically to the left end of the spectrum, when asked
about the Syria situation, believe that a peaceful diplomatic solution
to their civil war is possible and ideal. Until recently most believed
this was not going to be a likely outcome, that either military
intervention would take place or that nothing at all would be done.
The
response to President Obama’s proposal to intervene in Syria was
overwhelmingly negative. The president faced criticism from all ends of
the political spectrum, Ironically even from the Far-right who usually
favor war. Conspiracy theories surfaced on the internet claiming
everything from chemical weapons were never used (and that the victims
were actors!) to the Obama administration had sold the weapons to Assad.
Recently however, this has changed. First president Obama sought
congressional approval to take military action against Syria, making him
the first president since WWII to do so, this made the option of
avoiding involvement in Syria a possibility. Again the president moved
towards the best possible solution in postponing the vote and declaring
that “diplomacy in Syria deserves more time”.
While a “limited military intervention” remains a strong possibility, Syria has agreed to destroy their chemical weapons under UN supervision after. But questions still remain: will Syria actually destroy these weapons or are they just buying time? Was this “gun barrel diplomacy the presidents plan all along? or did Obama stumble onto a diplomatic solution? and finally, is this a step toward a peaceful Syria?
Update: Obama postpones Congress Syria vote
The
response to President Obama’s proposal to intervene in Syria was
overwhelmingly negative. The president faced criticism from all ends of
the political spectrum, Ironically even from the Far-right who usually
favor war. Conspiracy theories surfaced on the internet claiming
everything from chemical weapons were never used (and that the victims
were actors!) to the Obama administration had sold the weapons to Assad.
Recently however, this has changed. First president Obama sought
congressional approval to take military action against Syria, making him
the first president since WWII to do so, this made the option of
avoiding involvement in Syria a possibility. Again the president moved
towards the best possible solution in postponing the vote and declaring
that “diplomacy in Syria deserves more time”.While a “limited military intervention” remains a strong possibility, Syria has agreed to destroy their chemical weapons under UN supervision after. But questions still remain: will Syria actually destroy these weapons or are they just buying time? Was this “gun barrel diplomacy the presidents plan all along? or did Obama stumble onto a diplomatic solution? and finally, is this a step toward a peaceful Syria?
Update: Obama postpones Congress Syria vote
Jacksonville Against the War on Syria
Jacksonville,
FL– Memorial park in Riverside was stage to a vocal outrage against
U.S. military action in Syria. Over 130 Organizers, activists and
members of Jacksonville’s local Syrian community came out en masse to
speak out against U.S. imperialist intentions in Syria and to urge
congressional representative Ander Crenshaw to vote as the people will.An impromptu open speaker forum began the rally, allowing all present a chance to express opinion. Under the symbolic statue of Victory, many participants expressed concern that U.S. intervention would lead to hostile effects of colonialism. While others urged to stop the war preemptively, to cut the development of U.S. Corporate takeover. One organizer, Tefa Tamburo expressed her own experience , ““I have seen firsthand what U.S. Intervention does to not only my country [Colombia] but different countries through South America in a short amount of time. There for I felt the need of standing in solidarity with the brothers and sisters from Syria against a Military US Intervention.” Syrians in attendance spoke of unity, claiming that Muslim or Christian, all Syrian were under “one hand”. Many sought to illustrate the civilian causality in war, while others denounced war in more moderate terms, pointing out waste of tax dollars or resistance to send youth to fight.
From
the open forum, a civil march proceeded down Riverside Avenue , under a
black and white banner reading “Hands off Syria”. The marchers stopped
at the office of Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-4th District only to find the
building locked and vacant, although organizers had been informed a
representative would be there to receive the letters and concerns of
those in opposition. Local television stations filmed cries of both
devout Syrian Christians and Muslims as the protest continued. The end
result was the duct taping of the letters and signs to the glass front
of the building.AFI-CIO Mobile Coordinator Mike Stovall, who was in attendance at the march, felt the situation would solidly effect the working class , noting that“…[M]oney will be spent for warfare while we are told that the budgets can’t sustain healthcare, schools, and public services, locally that means things like police and libraries. If there is a war, the working class children will be sent to fight it.As far as local actions go, I hope that they will have an impact of politicians who will then go and vote in Washington against the war following their constituents wishes.”
Fernando Figeroa , a UPS worker and fellow organizer, also highlighted the impact of war on the working class, “…war against Syria will hurt the working class by spending money on wars and occupations instead of jobs and education here at home…”.
The March took to the five points intersection for a brief stint and then concluded in the shade of Memorial Park. Future events where announced and final sentiments shared. Dave Schneider, concluded the march via bullhorn stating that ,”Since 2008, a lot of the anti-war forces dropped their vocal opposition to the US war machine because Obama was President. After seeing this President’s brutal assault on Libya two years ago – and the tepid response of some anti-war groups – I didn’t want to see that repeated in Syria. I think our march will go a long way in pressuring Ander Crenshaw and Corrine Brown to stop the President’s proposal before it gets out of Congress. Jacksonville sent a message yesterday, which is that we don’t support Obama’s war on Syria, and neither should our representatives. “
The March Forward
By Leffler, Warren K., photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
To combat this overt racism significant accomplishments were achieved through the Civil Rights movement. Such as the 1954 decision of Brown v. The Board of Education. This was a case in which the Supreme Court recognized that separate schools for black and white children were unconstitutional. Strides were being made but there was still much left to be done. This was why the March in 1963 was called about. It was originally titled the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Many credit this huge event of over 250,000 people marching in the streets of D.C with the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women. It is with that legacy that the fiftieth anniversary march took place. It is also with that knowledge that we understand that the fight for jobs and freedom is still being waged in the year 2013, and that although Jim Crow segregation was struck down, racial oppression is still evident in our country.
The anniversary march takes place with New York City’s ‘Stop and Frisk’ policy still being debated and fought against. A policy in which police are allowed to randomly stop, question, and frisk citizens for weapons. This policy has come under fire for the disproportionate rate in which African-Americans have been arrested and targeted. The march also happens just two months after a Florida court ruled George Zimmerman was not guilty for shooting and killing the young, unarmed, African-American teenaged boy Trayvon Martin. Not to mention the march is also happening at a time when unemployment rates are still high amongst people of color and the statics still show that nearly one in three African American males aged 20–29 are under some form of criminal justice supervision whether imprisoned, jailed, on parole or probation. The recent march is clearly a celebration of how far we have come as a nation, but it also highlights how much further we need to go.
The fight for jobs and freedom is still at the forefront. President Obama said it best during his speech on Wednesday, August 28th, the exact day of the 50th Anniversary of the march, when he, highlighting Dr. King’s historic “I Have A Dream” speech, stated, “For what does it profit a man, Dr. King would ask, to sit at an integrated lunch counter if he can’t afford the meal?” There is still a fight not only to be allowed to have an equal seat at the counter of life but to be able to afford the ‘meal’ once getting there. Yet, it is from the legacy of the historic march that we know change can come about and it is our job to take the momentum of the march to continue in our day to day campaigns and battles. “That’s the lesson of our past,” President Obama cited, “That’s the promise of tomorrow—that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.”
Is right wing extremism the new norm?
If
you live in upstate New York or similar communities you’ve probably
seen or heard of protests and rallies: against the affordable healthcare
act, against raising taxes on the extremely wealthy, against raising
the minimum wage, against marriage equality and more than anything
against stronger gun laws. These are the voices of the ultra-right, as
of 2008, with the election of the first African American president:
Neo-Nazi, Tea party, Ku Klux Klan and Militia groups have multiplied and
exist in many small communities, across the internet, on radio talk
shows and even in congress. Much of the rhetoric varies from group to
group however it is consistently anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ, anti-worker,
anti-reproductive rights, and radically pro-gun. These groups have
become more vocal and in many cases more violent.Galway: The smallest incorporated village in New York state with a proportionally small surrounding town in Saratoga county. Of Galways two thousand residents most know one another. Galway is home to a few local businesses, an animal hospital, three churches, a small public library and a small school who’s senior class usually contains an average of one hundred students. Glendon Scott Crawford, a General Electric employee, was a prominent and well known member of the community, he was married to the local High Schools Librarian and taught Sunday school in a local church, but Crawford was also a member of a radically right wing tea party/militia group called “Americans Demanding Liberty and Freedom” as well as a self proclaimed (but unconfirmed) member of the KKK. On June 20th 2013, Crawford was arrested on charges connected with domestic terrorism, attempting to build a truck mounted radiation gun which he believed could be used to poison people from a distance. His targets included Muslims and leftist. According to members of the community Crawford was a outspoken against Islam, women’s rights, immigrants rights, the presidency of Barack Obama and the NYS SAFE act. One girl, a Galway high graduate, told me in an interview “he was just really against Obama and really obsessed with guns, but that’s normal around here. I never thought he’d try to kill anyone, I mean he was my Sunday school teacher”, A student at Galway high told me, “Yeah, I talked to him a couple times, He just really hated Obama and it seemed like all he’d talk about”.
Another disturbingly similar incident took place earlier this year, in another small town of Clarkstown New York. A forty nine year old man, Larry Muiqueen. Another seemingly normal man also affiliated with a local Tea party group was arrested after his land lady alerted police to threats he made against local politicians via facebook. Police arrested Muiqueen and in his apartment found a “liberal hit list”, several rifles and bladed weapons. Muiqueen posted on a fake facebook account “I cannot wait to start killing the scum. I want these scumbags DEAD!!! That traitor scum. Obama subservient eunichs, F***k them and death to them”. Again in 2013 a Minnesota man, twenty four year old Buford Rogers, a member of a far right Militia called the Black Snake Militia was arrested in connection with domestic terrorism. In his mobile home the FBI found Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs and multiple firearms including an AKM assault rifle. There is no doubt that right wing domestic terrorism has become a trend in the United States seemingly in reaction the election of our first African American president.
Many may think that the actions of men like Crawford and Muiqueen, despite becoming the new norm in the US are of little significance politically, that people like them are “isolated incidents” which have no effect on the political mainstream but this is sadly far from the truth. In January of 2013 Washington state representative, Sherry Appleton, was forced to withdraw legislation she had introduced to repeal her states “stand your ground” law, a law which resulted in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager. Appleton received threatening phone calls and emails stating “We will be watching you” and “You will be sorry”. Appleton withdrew the legislation saying “these people when it comes to guns, they can be really threatening. People like that, you can’t talk to. I mean it was shocking to me”.
Republican/”libertarians” Ron Paul and his son Rand have achieved a new level of popularity, especially across the internet and amongst young people. What many of the Pauls supporters may not know about their candidate is that he has a history with white supremacists and right wing extremist groups and ideology. In the late eighties and early nineties Ron Paul published a news letter that contained many racist and anti-Semitic remarks and often talked about the “upcoming race war”. Years after these were published Paul denied having any knowledge or control over what was published in a news letter with his name on it but the full extant of Ron Paul’s relationship with white supremacists came to light recently in emails leaked by the hacktivist collective “anonymous” which reveal Ron Paul and his son exchanged emails with and regularly meant with the American third position(a3p), a neo-Nazi groups started by violent white power skinheads from southern California. According to these emails the A3P supported Pauls 2012 presidential campaign both financially and by organizing events. Jamie Keslo, the A3Ps webmaster has been very open about his support for Ron and Rand Paul, writing in 2009 “My own opinion is that the White revolution has already begun, and that the good White folks like Quinn [a member of A3P] that fills these Ron Paul crowds and marching armies ARE the start of the revolution.” Aside from this connection A3P Ron Paul has a long history with other white supremacists such as Don Black, the owner of a “white nationalist” message board called stormfront, who also funded his presidential campaign.
These events, as shocking as they may seem, have been happening more frequently every year since 2008. Not only do radical right wing groups have record numbers of groups and demonstrations, mainstream news pundits and even politicians who represent their ideology in the republican party but now they have the fear of democratic politicians, a fear that poses a threat to our democracy.
http://csgv.org/resources/2013/insurrectionism-timeline/
http://crosscut.com/2013/01/10/olympia-2013/112412/stand-your-ground-supporters-repulse-state/
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/291000/20120201/anonymous-ron-paul-neo-nazi-bnp-a3p.htm
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/06/fbi-arrests-minnesota-militia-type-for-plotting-localized-terror-attack/
http://westchester.news12.com/police-arrest-lawrence-mulqueen-for-alleged-weapons-possession-hit-list-1.4688980
