By Sylvia Gurinsky
When did middle-class workers become the bad guy in this economic crisis?
Media - including entities that should know better, such as The Miami Herald and WPLG-Channel 10 - have been running a torrent of stories about how police, fire and other public employees have been making high salaries and getting lots of benefits.
Now, there's no question there have been abuses of the system, particularly in the upper echelons. But the rank-and-file who have risky jobs as a police officer or firefighter, or a postal worker who does the job through extreme heat and humidity, rain and nasty dogs, have every right to receive the best of health and vacation benefits.
Those whose benefits are worth questioning are CEOs who have continued to receive their millions while they've been laying off thousands of employees, as well as politicians who still receive full perks while they slash the health protection of those who work in the public sector.
It's also worth questioning why U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder did not prosecute those responsible for the 2008 financial collapses.
But picking on middle class workers is absurd. They're not responsible for this crisis. Making them the scapegoat won't fix it.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Monday September 19: Tea Party Congress Disaster Handling Is a Disaster
By Sylvia Gurinsky
No matter how once pronounes it, the Tea Party faithful have a lot of chutzpah. What they don't have is any compassion - or good sense.
Only they could deny people along the east coast of the United States disaster relief by saying funding must be cut for the needy elsewhere.
Only they could sic members of the U.S. House of Representatives to delay that disaster relief when the U.S. Senate saw sense and approved the relief.
Only they could disagree with members of their own Republican Party - including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose state was battered by Hurricane Irene - over such a measure.
The rest of the United States - the majority of the United States - knows disaster relief is needed for the Eastern Seaboard. That majority needs to call, write and e-mail everyone in the House to approve that relief.
No matter how once pronounes it, the Tea Party faithful have a lot of chutzpah. What they don't have is any compassion - or good sense.
Only they could deny people along the east coast of the United States disaster relief by saying funding must be cut for the needy elsewhere.
Only they could sic members of the U.S. House of Representatives to delay that disaster relief when the U.S. Senate saw sense and approved the relief.
Only they could disagree with members of their own Republican Party - including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose state was battered by Hurricane Irene - over such a measure.
The rest of the United States - the majority of the United States - knows disaster relief is needed for the Eastern Seaboard. That majority needs to call, write and e-mail everyone in the House to approve that relief.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
September 13: Private Sector Must Show Congress How Not To Discriminate Against Unemployed
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Bills have been introduced in Congress that would prevent employers from discriminating against job applicants who are currently unemployed. But knowing how the Tea Party Blockheads in Congress are behaving - "Blockhead" is the appropriate word to describe what they're doing to legislation and the country - only a major public clamor can get such a law approved.
President Barack Obama could probably issue executive orders to a point. But American workers - and some American businesses - could do more to get Congress' ear:
*Organize marches and protests similar to the workers' marches of the 1930s.
*Campaign to prevent newspapers and job-listing sites such as Craigslist from listing any jobs that ban currently unemployed people.
If employers can't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, creed, physical/mental ability or sexual orientation, they shouldn't be able to discriminate on the basis of employment - and the media shouldn't help them do so.
*Boycott companies that discriminate against the unemployed in their hiring practices.
*Lobby municipal and (where possible) state leaders to campaign against such discrimination.
The vast majority of men and women who have lost their jobs during this recession are not to blame - particularly in cases where their former bosses were only interested in profits at the expense of personnel. They need support - not suffering - in finding new jobs.
Bills have been introduced in Congress that would prevent employers from discriminating against job applicants who are currently unemployed. But knowing how the Tea Party Blockheads in Congress are behaving - "Blockhead" is the appropriate word to describe what they're doing to legislation and the country - only a major public clamor can get such a law approved.
President Barack Obama could probably issue executive orders to a point. But American workers - and some American businesses - could do more to get Congress' ear:
*Organize marches and protests similar to the workers' marches of the 1930s.
*Campaign to prevent newspapers and job-listing sites such as Craigslist from listing any jobs that ban currently unemployed people.
If employers can't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, creed, physical/mental ability or sexual orientation, they shouldn't be able to discriminate on the basis of employment - and the media shouldn't help them do so.
*Boycott companies that discriminate against the unemployed in their hiring practices.
*Lobby municipal and (where possible) state leaders to campaign against such discrimination.
The vast majority of men and women who have lost their jobs during this recession are not to blame - particularly in cases where their former bosses were only interested in profits at the expense of personnel. They need support - not suffering - in finding new jobs.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
September 11, 2011: Saddest 9/11 Legacy: America the Meaner
By Sylvia Gurinsky
For the most part, the experiences of the Great Depression and World War II turned this country, at least for a time, into something better than the ideal the Founding Fathers set out.
The experience of 9/11 - or how this country has reacted to it - has turned it into something far worse.
No thanks to deregulation and the proliferation of anything-goes cable television, the United States had already been lurching in a darker direction even before Sept. 11, 2001.
But the reactions to 9/11 - the lack of request by political leaders of anything even resembling shared sacrifice, the mistrust and hatred of Muslims that continues today and the dual lives of those who serve and those who don't - "Soldiers went to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan as America went to the mall" - has made matters worse.
So has the coarsening of culture, particularly on commercial television, polluted with so-called "reality shows" with people who have no transferrable skills, other than throwing around insults. And especially on so-called "cable news," which has made American politics their dirtiest since the Boss Tweed days.
So has the distintigration of American journalism, which no longer holds lying politicians to account.
We've lost our compassion. Oh, we can be generous when a natural disaster takes place in Haiti, Japan or Joplin. But as a country, we've lost the ability to work together on a daily basis.
Many who profess to be people of faith - including a lot of politicians - seek to divide, rather than unite.
All of that is no tribute to the more than 3,000 innocent men, women and children of different nationalities, religions, races and so on who lost their lives on 9/11.
They were united in living better lives. For their memories, when are we going to start to do the same?
For the most part, the experiences of the Great Depression and World War II turned this country, at least for a time, into something better than the ideal the Founding Fathers set out.
The experience of 9/11 - or how this country has reacted to it - has turned it into something far worse.
No thanks to deregulation and the proliferation of anything-goes cable television, the United States had already been lurching in a darker direction even before Sept. 11, 2001.
But the reactions to 9/11 - the lack of request by political leaders of anything even resembling shared sacrifice, the mistrust and hatred of Muslims that continues today and the dual lives of those who serve and those who don't - "Soldiers went to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan as America went to the mall" - has made matters worse.
So has the coarsening of culture, particularly on commercial television, polluted with so-called "reality shows" with people who have no transferrable skills, other than throwing around insults. And especially on so-called "cable news," which has made American politics their dirtiest since the Boss Tweed days.
So has the distintigration of American journalism, which no longer holds lying politicians to account.
We've lost our compassion. Oh, we can be generous when a natural disaster takes place in Haiti, Japan or Joplin. But as a country, we've lost the ability to work together on a daily basis.
Many who profess to be people of faith - including a lot of politicians - seek to divide, rather than unite.
All of that is no tribute to the more than 3,000 innocent men, women and children of different nationalities, religions, races and so on who lost their lives on 9/11.
They were united in living better lives. For their memories, when are we going to start to do the same?
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
August 16: Happy Summer!
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Sunshine Statements blog posts will be off until after Labor Day. Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Sunshine Statements blog posts will be off until after Labor Day. Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
August 2, 2011: Symbolism and Perspective on the House Floor
By Sylvia Gurinsky
A little after 7 p.m. last night, some perspective showed up in the United States House of Representatives - in the person of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
Giffords did much more than cast a vote to prevent this country from going into financial default.
During the debate over whether to raise the debt ceiling, Congress - the House in particular - has turned itself into something far below algae on the food chain and somewhere beneath Charlie Sheen and Wall Street bankers on the popularity level. The behavior of a number of members of Congress during the debate - including South Florida's own Allen West - was abominable.
By flying to Washington to cast her vote, Giffords, who is still recovering from a horrific January shooting in her Tuscon district, provided a quiet reminder of the cost of hatred and the dignity shown by those who overcome it.
The House managed to forget its differences for those few moments as its members cheered her.
Is it possible that such agreement can happen again in the next few years without such a powerful reason for it? Getting this country back to business requires its elected officials to work together.
A little after 7 p.m. last night, some perspective showed up in the United States House of Representatives - in the person of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
Giffords did much more than cast a vote to prevent this country from going into financial default.
During the debate over whether to raise the debt ceiling, Congress - the House in particular - has turned itself into something far below algae on the food chain and somewhere beneath Charlie Sheen and Wall Street bankers on the popularity level. The behavior of a number of members of Congress during the debate - including South Florida's own Allen West - was abominable.
By flying to Washington to cast her vote, Giffords, who is still recovering from a horrific January shooting in her Tuscon district, provided a quiet reminder of the cost of hatred and the dignity shown by those who overcome it.
The House managed to forget its differences for those few moments as its members cheered her.
Is it possible that such agreement can happen again in the next few years without such a powerful reason for it? Getting this country back to business requires its elected officials to work together.
Monday, August 1, 2011
August 1: Stop Foot-Dragging On Historic Preservation
By Sylvia Gurinsky
The economic, social and cultural benefits of historic preservation have been proven over and over. But in the City of Miami, some have yet to learn the lessons.
The city is haggling over naming rights money for what is already officially (and appropriately) named the Commodore Ralph Middleton Munroe Miami Marine Stadium. Of course, it's an unwritten law that everything has to have a corporate name today, because that's part of how things are paid for. The city wants most of the money from the corporate naming rights - after it and Miami-Dade County let the Florida/Miami Marlins get away with the money for the right to name its new version of Tatum Field/Roddey Burdine Stadium/The Orange Bowl.
Meanwhile, renovation of Marine Stadium is being delayed. With that delay comes fears that the city will let it go to neglect - and suspicions that Miami's political leaders still don't want to restore the stadium, but would rather have something glitzier on the Virginia Key site.
There is also mistrust on the matter of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, as this Miami Herald article indicates:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/29/2339491/coconut-grove-playhouses-fate.html
The economic, social and cultural benefits of historic preservation have been proven over and over. But in the City of Miami, some have yet to learn the lessons.
The city is haggling over naming rights money for what is already officially (and appropriately) named the Commodore Ralph Middleton Munroe Miami Marine Stadium. Of course, it's an unwritten law that everything has to have a corporate name today, because that's part of how things are paid for. The city wants most of the money from the corporate naming rights - after it and Miami-Dade County let the Florida/Miami Marlins get away with the money for the right to name its new version of Tatum Field/Roddey Burdine Stadium/The Orange Bowl.
Meanwhile, renovation of Marine Stadium is being delayed. With that delay comes fears that the city will let it go to neglect - and suspicions that Miami's political leaders still don't want to restore the stadium, but would rather have something glitzier on the Virginia Key site.
There is also mistrust on the matter of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, as this Miami Herald article indicates:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/29/2339491/coconut-grove-playhouses-fate.html
Despite progress in the historic preservation movement since the days when the battle for Miami Beach's Art Deco District seemed to be literally on a block-by-block basis, there is still not enough protection for significant structures. When the economy is tottering, as it is now, it seems difficult to remember that restored historic structures are usually profitable ones.
For the sake of the local economy and community, everyone - government and private - who has a stake in both of these structures should stop the foot-dragging and haggling. Get the fine print ironed out and get Miami Marine Stadium and the Coconut Grove Playhouse restored - soon.
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