VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Members of the North End Woodward Community Coalition (NEWCC) who attended the Sept. 18 City Council meeting, including the group’s director, Rev. Joan Ross (third from left.)

• New D-DOT cuts to take effect Sept. 29
• NEWCC petitions Council to roll back previous cuts, files federal complaint
• D-DOT ridership down under private management

 By Diane Bukowski 

September 25, 2012 

D-DOT Director Ronald Freeland and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing at press conference Feb. 21, 2012.

DETROIT – Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Department of Transportation (D-DOT) Director Ronald Freeland have announced bus route changes effective Sept. 29 which they say will benefit passengers. However, riders at a City Council hearing Sept. 18 said they have been throwing Detroiters “under the bus.”

The changes include the combination of Fort Route 19 with Jefferson Route 25,  increased evening wait times on the Michigan route from 30 minutes to one hour, and ending some neighborhood routes before they get all the way downtown. (Click on DDOT Sep 2012 Service Changes.)

Riders boarding and leaving bus on Grand River near the Rosa Parks Terminal.

Bing hired Envisurage/Transpro, a private company, to manage D-DOT in January with promises it would increase ridership.  The system then purchased 46 new buses in February and, along with the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), received a $30 million federal grant in July.

However, according to figures released by the Mayor’s office Sept. 25, ridership has declined.

“Within the 1st quarter (August 2011), ridership tallied at 2,625,204 bus-riding passengers,” Bing’s chief of communications Naomi Patton said in a statement. “Within the same period for August 2012, the ridership amount totaled 2,608,718.” That is a decrease of 3,514 riders.

Speakers from NEWCC at City Council meeting Sept. 18 included Dennis Sloan at right, who said he lost his job due to cuts on the Telegraph route.

The Mayor’s office said, however, that rider complaints had decreased from 547 to 293 in the same period.

But there were plenty of complaints at Detroit City Council’s Sept. 18 community meeting held on the east campus of Wayne County Community College, from members of the North End Woodward Community Coalition (NEWCC).

“Detroit’s main bus terminal is named after Rosa Parks, who worked on behalf of poor people,” Lila Cabbell told the Council. “But people in Detroit are not able to get to work, and the whole Medical Center is not really connected to D-DOT. Most people in Detroit cannot afford a car. For us now, it’s not a matter of being in the back of the bus. It’s a matter of being under the bus.”

Rosa Parks began the Montgomery bus boycott by her act of civil disobedience.

A study just released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 57 percent of Detroit’s children are living in poverty. Federally-required Title VI studies on D-DOT’s website show that route changes have disproportionately affected poor and “minority” neighborhoods.

“I’m unemployed now because of schedule cuts,” Dennis Sloan said. “Things are so bad in my neighborhood that I was robbed going to a bus stop by a group of 13-year-olds. Detroiters’ lives have become a lot more unmanageable, but meanwhile Bing turned D-DOT over to a company with a manager from New York who is a member of the Tea Party and hosts a right-wing radio talk show.” (See sidebar on Bill Nojay.)

In April, Bing and Freeland established a so-called “4-15” plan, promising that buses on the city’s four busiest routes, Woodward, Gratiot, Dexter and Grand River, would run every 15 minutes on week-days from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Some riders have reported that 4-15 is not working.

“Service continues to be erratic and unpredictable on Woodward,” D-DOT rider and NEWCC member Syri Simpson wrote on the group’s website. She also spoke at the Council meeting.

“I find myself wondering, ‘Who thought that nobody wants to go to Woodward and Jefferson on the weekend?’” Simpson said. “The city spends big bucks advertising the River Walk, then makes getting to it a Herculean effort on the weekend. It already seemed odd to me that you cannot take the Woodward Bus to the downtown CVS or Charter One Bank during the week because the Woodward Bus misses several blocks of Woodward. You have to walk blocks to the downtown library or those cute restaurants (Olga’s, Hard Rock Café, etc.) on or off Woodward.”

Another rider told the Council that she recently waited two and one-half hours for the Cadillac-Harper bus at the Rosa Parks terminal.

NEWCC presented petitions with 1,300 signatures to the Council, demanding fulfillment of the City Charter mandate to provide “reliable, convenient and comfortable transportation” for the people, and a rollback of the March 3 cuts.

Those cuts included elimination of bus service between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., elimination of the Imperial Express freeway route, discontinuation of weekend service on the Clairmount route and Sunday service on the Southfield route, and ending the Vernor route at the Rosa Parks Transit Center.

The group earlier filed a Title VI civil rights complaint against D-DOT, saying it did not hold public hearings prior to those cuts, and that its Title VI reports do not provide “a least harmful alternative,”  among other charges. A federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit is also ongoing against D-DOT based on accessibility complaints from wheel-chair users.

Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh promises NEWCC members that Council will consider their demands, presented along with 1300 petition signatures.

No hearings were held prior to the Sept 29 changes either. Title VI requires public hearings on “major changes,” which include route eliminations and increased wait times more than 20 minutes during non-peak hours.

Bing’s office said the new schedule does not constitute “major changes,” and is based in part on “school-open” changes to routes from summertime schedules.

It said the Fort-Jefferson route combination is not a route elimination, and makes it more convenient for passengers to travel east to west without a transfer. It said the Michigan route wait time increases are based on the formula D-DOT uses to determine “low-performing routes.” (Full comments at DDOT Statement on September 29 route changes .)

On Sept. 20, bus riders raised more complaints at D-DOT’s monthly “community information meeting.”

Regular attendees at D-DOT community information meetings on Feb. 16, 2012. That meeting was canceled without notification. They are standing in front of bike rack at D-DOT headquarters. Wheelchair users are continuing their non-accessibility lawsuit against DDOT in federal court.

D-DOT scheduling manager Larry Tiller told them that the Sept. 29 changes are not due to financial problems, but to the need to “right-size” the city’s bus service by taking buses from “low-performing” routes and putting them on heavily used routes.

According to D-DOT’s Title VI report, “DDOT’s service standards say that any service that operates at less than 50% system average for two consecutive quarters is subject to elimination. System average was 34.87 passengers per hour in FY11 and DDOT’s standard is 33.92.”

Customers at the meeting, however, said that lower ridership on many routes is due to unreliable bus schedules, which force riders to find alternate means of transportation. They said these include car and cab-pooling, and  riding bicycles part of the way to catch up with the buses.

D-DOT has installed bike racks on the sides of some buses in a pilot program, and sidewalk bike racks at some stops. It has also instituted a “Text Your Bus” program which says riders can find out when the next bus is coming by texting 50464. (Click on D-DOT website link at end of story for full information, and see video below.)

Despite the video’s claims, however, D-DOT officials at the meeting said the text system is not working on Boost Mobile and Metro PCS cell phones, commonly used by Detroiters because of their low monthly rates. They said an alternative phone number is available, at 313-499-0937.

Envisurage/Transpro CEO Mark Aesch advocates transit privatization in talks all over the country, and has published a book. Both he and former D-DOT Deputy Director Bill Nojay are former chairs of the Rochester-Genessee Transit Authority in New York.

According to news reports, Envisurage/Transpro CEO Mark Aesch told Detroit’s
appointed “Financial Advisory Board” Sept. 11 that ridership increased to 2.9 million in May from 2.7 million in January. He also boasted that driver salaries and overtime decreased from  $3.2 million in January to $1.9 in May.

The Financial Advisory Board was established under the Public Act 4 “Fiscal Stability [consent] Agreement.” However, a referendum to end PA 4 was put on the November state ballot Aug. 4. Under state law, all provisions of the act, including the establishment of consent agreements, are supposed to be suspended until the November vote.

Bing and Michigan Governor Snyder, however, have declared that the consent agreement is not part of Public Act 4, disagreeing with the city’s Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon.

The website for the North End Woodward Community Coalition is at http://www.newcommunitycoalition.info/Home_Page.html.

The D-DOT website is at tttp://www.detroitmi.gov/Departments/DetroitDepartmentofTransportation/tabid/80/Default.aspx.

Related documents and articles:

Title VI_DDOT_Service_Equity_Analysis_of_MARCH_3_2012_Service

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/08/27/d-dot-deputy-dumped-will-feds-charge-nojay-bing-brown/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/02/22/regional-authority-will-likely-own-46-new-d-dot-buses-10-member-board-has-only-one-detroit-rep/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/02/16/drastic-detroit-bus-cuts-finally-acknowledged-hearings-feb-24/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/02/09/bing-to-slash-bus-routes-d-dot-jobs-feb-24-contractor-gets-big/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/09/20/bus-workers-riders-blast-bing/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/06/01/reparations-for-detroit%e2%80%94make-the-banks-pay/

VERY IMPORTANT PROPOSAL (VIP) SLATE: ABSENTEE VOTERS TAKE NOTE!

The VIP Slate was put together by a coalition of Detroiters, including those from Free Detroit – NO CONSENT! To go to their blogspot for further info, click on http://votevipslate.blogspot.com , or they can be reached at phone number in flyer.

DO NOT FORGET THESE MAJOR EVENTS:

• SAT. SEPT. 22, 2012 NOON AT BELLE ISLE CASINO: SAVE OUR ISLAND!
   
• TUES. SEPT. 25  1 pm. CITY COUNCIL MEETING ON BELLE ISLE LEASE.
   
• TUES. SEPT. 25 6-8 PM: SAVE OUR PENSION SYSTEMS MEETING AT FELLOWSHIP CHAPEL 7707 W. Outer Drive, w. of Southfield Fwy.

President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton at Democratic National Convention Sept. 5, 2012.

[col. writ. 9/7/12] © ’12 Mumia Abu-Jamal

I’ve not wasted a lot of time watching the conventions, for conventions are essentially – well – conventional.

Politicians make promises that they have no intention of keeping, and do so with earnest smiles; even tears, if need be.

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal!

Today’s conventions are the creation less of political parties than of corporate paymasters (called “sponsors” in news speak)

The sites, provisions, transportation and hotel accommodations are often corporate gifts; the ‘better to bribe you with, my dears!’

With the possible exception of Massachusetts senatorial candidate, Elizabeth Warren (who made her name criticizing the bank bailouts), few speakers held my interest, even if Michelle was a beautiful sight to see.

What I found most remarkable was the presentation of ex-President, Bill Clinton, and his oratory about jobs and the economy.

Bill Clinton signing NAFTA.

Clinton, easily the most masterful politician of his generation, is so distinguished precisely because he’s also probably the smartest.

What Clinton knows is that no matter who gets the nod in November, jobs – good-paying, manufacturing gigs – are gone for good, thanks in large part to his gift to the business and financial bigwigs in 1994: NAFTA.

NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) opened the doors abroad for business flight to countries with lower labor costs, dooming millions of American jobs, forever.

I bet, even if you watched every moment of every convention – you didn’t hear the acronym NAFTA once.

Protest in Mexico against NAFTA, which hurt workers in all countries.

I betcha.

For NAFTA, which also affected tariffs, textiles, and loosened controls on banks and high finance, it too put a barrier on high, working-class manufacturing wages – by giving businesses a way out – abroad.

Clinton not only signed it, he campaigned for it.

He represents the party politics of betrayal that is at the very heart of the corporatist electoral machinery.

To have Bill Clinton talk about jobs is a lot like Dracula giving advice on blood banks (he knows a lot about it, but from the wrong end)

That’s today’s political system, and why so many are so turned off.

–© ’12 maj

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 10:15 AM EDT, Sun September 23, 2012

• The owner of the home said he gave Brian Claunch a pen two days earlier
• Claunch lost an arm and a leg in a train accident
• Claunch used his wheelchair to corner a police officer, authorities said
• He attempted to stab the officers with a pen, authorities said

(CNN)— A Houston police officer shot and killed a schizophrenic, wheelchair-bound double amputee threatening people with a pen at a group home for the mentally ill after authorities said the man advanced on the officer’s partner.

Brian Claunch

The shooting occurred early Saturday morning after police responded to a call that resident Brian Claunch was acting aggressively after his caretaker refused to give him a cigarette and a soda, the owner of the home and police said.

“The officers made verbal commands for the suspect to drop whatever he had in his hand, to stay still and to speak with the officers, but the suspect continued to make threats,” Jodi Silva, a police spokeswoman, told CNN affiliate KTRK in Houston.

Claunch, who lost an arm and a leg in a train accident, trapped one of the officers with his wheelchair in the corner of a room and attempted to stab the officer with an object that turned out to be a pen.

Officer Matt Marin, “in fear of the safety of his partner and the safety of himself, discharges his duty weapon, striking the suspect,” Silva said.

Marin shot Claunch once. He died at the scene, according to investigators.

It was the second time Marin was involved in a shooting. In October 2009, he shot and killed a knife-wielding man who stabbed his girlfriend and a neighbor, according to published reports at the time. Marin joined the Houston Police Department in 2007.

CNN could not reach the department for comment, but Houston police said the officer was placed on administrative leave per policy.

Claunch, who was in his 40s, had been at the Healing Hands home for 18 months, John Garcia, the owner of the group home, told KRTK.

Houston police have not released the identity of the man, though Garcia identified him as Claunch.

Garcia told the Houston Chronicle that Claunch liked to “doodle.”

Two days earlier, Garcia gave Claunch a black felt pen to draw. Garcia told the newspaper he did not know if it was that pen or another one that Clauch had in his hand when he was shot.

Garcia said Claunch suffered from schizophrenia and a bipolar disorder.

“He had a temper. He could fly off once in awhile,” he told CNN affiliate KHOU.

Claunch was capable of making people in the house feel threatened during an outrage, even though he was confined to a wheelchair, Garcia said.

[“He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it,” Garcia also told the Houston Chronicle.]

“Emotionally disturbed individuals, when threatened, are going to react in most instances, excessively,” Dr. Ed Reitman, a clinical psychologist, told KRTK.

“This was an incident that didn’t have to take place if the individual — a police officer — had been trained in dealing with emotionally disturbed individuals.”

The Houston Police Department has officers trained to deal with the mentally ill, though the department would not say whether Marin received training, according to KRTK.

Related articles:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/05/18/protest-erupts-after-all-white-jury-acquits-ex-houston-cop-over-teens-beating/

http://keyconversationsradio.com/investigating-houston-police-department-police-brutality/

Kimberly Rivera, along with her partner Mario, son Christian (10 years old) and daughter Rebecca (8 years old), came to Canada in January 2007 when she refused redeployment to Iraq. Kim has two Canadian-born children, Katie and Gabriel.

•  Rivera first woman to refuse return to Iraq, take refuge in Canada
• USDOJ had told Canadian judge they would not detain her

Compiled from reports by the War Resisters Support Campaign

September 20, 2012

U.S. Iraq War resister Kimberly Rivera voluntarily presented herself at the U.S.-Canada border this morning, after requests to have Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney process her humanitarian and compassionate application to remain in Canada were denied.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney with Prince Charles of Britain, a U.S. partner in wars against Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Kenney also wants to reduce health care for immigrants to Canada and is anti-choice.

Rivera was immediately arrested and detained, and transferred to military custody. She now awaits transfer to a different military facility where she faces punishment for being absent from her unit.

Her family, including four minor children, crossed separately. Kimberly did not want her children to have to see her detained by the U.S. military, as this would be traumatic for them.

On Aug. 30, the Canadian government ordered Rivera, her husband Mario and their children deported to the United States. Kimberly served in Iraq in 2006, and sought refuge in Canada in 2007 after making the decision that she could no longer participate in the Iraq War. Kimberly was the first woman U.S. Iraq War resister to come to Canada. She and her family were living in Toronto.

Robin Long

She now faces harsh punishment. Iraq war resisters Robin Long and Clifford Cornell, also deported by the government of Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, were court-martialed and sentenced to 15 months and 12 months respectively for speaking out against the Iraq War, upon their return to the U.S.

Clifford Cornell

Rivera and her attorneys appealed the deportation order.

During a Federal Court hearing in Toronto Sept. 16, lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice argued that Kimberly would not be detained when she crossed the border. Justice David Near, of the Federal Court, ultimately denied her request for a stay of removal, finding arrest and detention to be speculative.

But despite the USDOJ’s guarantees, Rivera was indeed arrested immediately on her re-entry into the U.S.

Rivera has mass international support for her war resistance.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu  of South Africa earlier called on Canada to welcome Rivera.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa

“Despite all of the ghastliness in the world, human beings are made for goodness,” Tutu said. “The ones who are held in high regard are not militarily powerful nor even economically prosperous. They have a commitment to try to make the world a better place. I truly believe that Kimberly Rivera is such a person, and that Canada can only benefit from allowing her to stay.” Read the full opinion piece here.

An overflow crowd of residents from the Parkdale neighborhood of Toronto turned out to an emergency meeting on September 5th to show their support for Rivera and her family, and to call on the government to allow her to stay in their community. The meeting heard from all three elected representatives from her riding, and Archbishop Tutu’s  statement of support was read. The meeting then spilled into the streets for a candlelight procession through the neighbourhood.

Delegation supports Rivera family at Labour Day parade in Toronto Sept. 3.

During the Sept. 3 Labour Day parade, Rivera marched with The War Resisters Support Campaign, part of the United Steelworkers contingent, along with Vietnam Veterans against the War and supporters from Buffalo, N.Y.

Member of Parliament Peggy Nash, who represents the Parkside neighborhood where the Rivera family lived, with Kimberly Rivera and two of her children.

Canada’s elected Parliament has adopted two motions calling on the federal government to allow war resisters to stay in Canada. But Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney has publicly labeled Iraq War resisters as “bogus refugee claimants.”

In July 2010, Kenney issued a bulletin to all Immigration Officers requiring them to red-flag applications that involve US war resisters, labeling them as ‘criminally inadmissible’.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is actually an appointee of the British Governor General of Canada, not an elected official. Book shown is available online.

Amnesty International Canada and former Immigration and Refugee Board Chair Peter Showler have called for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Operational Bulletin 202 to be rescinded because it “fails to recognize that military desertion for reasons of conscience is in fact clearly recognized as a legitimate ground for refugee protection” and it “misstates the law and seeks to intrude on the independence of both IRB members and Immigration Officers.”

URGENT APPEAL for funds to assist Iraq War resisters facing deportation

In addition to Rivera and her family, other war resisters living in Canada face imminent deportation to the United States. Another war resister has been told to complete all of the submissions for his case by September 20th and to expect a decision shortly afterwards. Many other resisters are awaiting decisions on Humanitarian & Compassionate applications or spousal sponsorships. It appears that these decisions will now start coming in quickly.

Protesters at Canadian consulate in San Francisco.

The War Resisters Support Campaign is urgently appealing for financial help to assist with this crucial phase of the fight to win asylum for war resisters.

Faith communities, human rights organizations, refugee rights groups and thousands of Canadians have called on the Minister to implement their Parliament’s motions, or, at a minimum, to allow the individual cases to be heard on their own merit.

The only reason that US Iraq War resisters have been able to stay in Canada as long as they have is because of the tremendous support they have received from Canadians for their courageous decision to stand up against a war that was internationally recognized as illegal and immoral.

The campaign says on their website, “Nobody deserves to spend even a single day in jail for making a conscientious decision not to participate in the Iraq war. We hope you will give as generously as you can. A victory for U.S. war resisters in Canada will be a major victory for peace and justice, and for the kind of Canada we want this country to be.”

Here’s how to donate:

1. Donate online by going here:
http://resisters.chipin.com

2. Donate by cheque:
To mail a donation, make a cheque payable to the War Resisters Support Campaign and mail it to:

War Resisters Support Campaign
Box 13, 427 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M5S 1X7
CANADA

http://resisters.ca/

Also see U.S. war resisters’ website at http://couragetoresist.org/.

To download and print this flier, click on Hands Off Our Island flyer.

Related articles:

COUNCILWOMAN WATSON HEARS CITIZENS ON BELLE ISLE; RALLY AT BELLE ISLE CASINO SAT. SEPT. 22 12 NOON; COUNCIL HEARING TUES. SEPT. 25 1 PM

90 YR. BELLE ISLE ‘LEASE’: ENTRY FEES GO TO STATE; FED/STATE COPS TO PATROL; COUNCIL HEARING MON. SEPT. 17, 1 P.M.

BELLE ISLE IN DETROIT IS OUR LAST DANCE

Councilwoman JoAnn Watson held special Quality of Life Task Force meeting at City Council Sept. 17, 2012 after state officials asked for cancellation of scheduled discussion on Belle Isle lease. New discussion is set for Tues. Sept. 25, 2012 at 1 p.m.

RALLY AGAINST BELLE ISLE TAKEOVER, PA 4 SAT. SEPT. 22 12 NOON AT BELLE ISLE CASINO, SPONSORED BY “FREE DETROIT, NO CONSENT”

COUNCILWOMAN WATSON HAS ASKED CORPORATION COUNSEL KRYSTAL CRITTENDON FOR OPINION ON BELLE ISLE LEASE                            

Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon with Assistant Council Louis Smith Sept. 12, 2012 after Council voted to issue subpoenas to Mayor Dave Bing, regarding his failure to provide an Executive Organization Plan to Council as required by Charter, and his use of outside counsel including Miller Canfield’s Mike McGee, a co-author of Public Act 4.

Part of crowd that came out to speak against Belle Isle lease: front Hilanius Phillips, city’s first Black head urban planner; back, Keith Hines, Tina Person, Morris Mays, Tyrone Travis

To read Tyrone Travis’ presentation on history of millages for Belle Isle since 1992 that Detroiters are still paying for, click on Tyrone 9 17 12. VOD will publish other comments from hearing shortly.

To download flier, click on Journey for Justice.

Romney “47 Percent” Fundraiser Host: Hedge Fund Manager Who Likes Sex Parties

Mother Jones—By David Corn
 Mon Sep. 17, 2012 5:48 PM PDT

Marc Leder, host of fund-raiser where Mitt Romney showed his contempt for working and poor people, and Romney speaking at another event. (Is that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder next to Romney?)

When Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser dismissed all Barack Obama voters as moochers and victims—showing disdain for nearly half of the American electorate—he was speaking at the home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder in Boca Raton on May 17, 2012. (It was Romney’s second fundraising event in Boca that day.) This is evident from references made by Romney within the full video recording of the event that has been reviewed by Mother Jones.

When Mother Jones first disclosed secret video of Romney’s remarks, we were obliged to not reveal details regarding the time and place of the event. That restriction has been lifted, as the story has garnered attention throughout the media.

At the fundraiser, Romney was asked how he could win in November, and he replied:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax…[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Marc Leder’s 15,000 sq. ft. home in Boca Raton Florida. His luxurious lifestyle also includes a vacation retreat in Stowe, Vt. and six vehicles including an Aston Martin DB9 convertible, a Bentley Continental convertible, a Cadillac Escalade, a Lexus LS, and a private jet.

Romney made those remarks before donors who had paid $50,000 a plate to attend the dinner at Leder’s swanky house.

Leder has long been a fan of Romney. In January, the New York Times reported:

 Years ago, a visit to Mr. Romney’s investment firm inspired Mr. Leder to get into private equity in the first place. Mr. Romney was an early investor in some of the deals done by Mr. Leder’s investment company, Sun Capital, which today oversees about $8 billion in equity.

The paper noted that Leder is something of a poster boy for private equity—and not in a good way:

 Mr. Leder personifies the debates now swirling around this lucrative corner of finance. To his critics, he represents everything that’s wrong with this setup. In recent years, a large number of the companies that Sun Capital has acquired have run into serious trouble, eliminated jobs or both. Since 2008, some 25 of its companies—roughly one of every five it owns—have filed for bankruptcy. Among the losers was Friendly’s, the restaurant chain known for its Jim Dandy sundaes and Fribble shakes. (Sun Capital was accused by a federal agency of pushing Friendly’s into bankruptcy last year to avoid paying pensions to the chain’s employees; Sun disputes that contention.) Another company that sank into bankruptcy was Real Mex, owner of the Chevy’s restaurant chain. In that case, Mr. Leder lost money for his investors not once, but twice.

But Leder does differ from Romney in one significant fashion: how he likes to have a certain sort of fun. In August 2011, the New York Post reported,

It was as if the Playboy Mansion met the East EBond at a wild party at private-equity titan Marc Leder’s Bridgehampton estate, where guests cavorted nude in the pool and performed sex acts, scantily dressed Russians danced on platforms and men twirled lit torches to a booming techno beat. The divorced Sun Capital Partners honcho rented a sprawling beachfront mansion on Surf Side Road for $500,000 for the month of July. Leder’s weekly Friday and Saturday night parties have become the talk of the Hamptons—and he ended them in style last weekend with his wildest bash yet. Russell Simmons and ex-wife Kimora Lee attended a more subdued party thrown by Leder—who’s an event chair for Simmons’ Art For Life charity—on July 29 together. But the revelry hit a frenzied point the next day before midnight when a male guest described as a “chubby white meathead” and a “tanned” female guest stripped and hopped into the pool naked.

At Romney’s fundraiser at Leder’s Boca Raton home, not a single sex act was recorded.

Related article: http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/04/29/thousands-occupy-downtown-detroit-demanding-ge-pay-your-taxes/

To read about the hundreds of major corporations not paying taxes, go to CorporateTaxDodgersReport.

GE: Pay your taxes! Protest at GE shareholders’ meeting in Detroit April 25, 2012.

_____________________________________________________________

March at GE shareholders meeting April 25, 2012 occupied streets in front and back of Renaissance Center.

Chicago teachers struck despite bipartisan opposition.

                                                        
By Bruce A. Dixon, BAR Managing Editor

September 19, 2012

Despite universal hostility in corporate media, and new laws savagely restricting their right to strike, or even what they could bargain over, Chicago teachers mustered broad parent support behind their 7 day strike, now suspended. What does the Chicago strike mean for the national fight against privatization and corporate “school reform”?

By early this week, the truth was hard to avoid and impossible to deny. The Chicago Teachers strike threatened to expose the vast gulf between some of the president’s rhetoric about preserving public education and protecting teachers, and the savagery of the Obama administration’s Race To The Top initiative, which ties federal education funding to how many public schools are closed and privatized, how many public school teachers fired, and how many of those remaining are evaluated according to business-friendly norms like test scores.

“I want you to understand, the president has weighed in,” Emanuel said. “Every issue we’re talking about regarding accountability of our schools, quality in our schools to the education of our children, is the core thrust of Race to the Top.”

Emanuel added that the “notion” of the teacher evaluations he proposed came from Race to the Top.

“In that sense there couldn’t be a bigger push for the president,” Emanuel insisted.

Mitt Romney expressed his support for Rahm Emanuel vs. Chicago’s teachers,
parents and students.

Emanuel also thanked Mitt Romney for his statement of support.

Besides the president, Rahm Emanuel had every newspaper and radio station in town, the Commerce Club and all the billionaires, scores of well-funded charter school operators and their contractors and hedge fund backers. He even had fake citizen groups like Democrats for Education Reform, which used money donated by its billionaire backers to run deceptive radio and TV ads (still running as of Tuesday night) aimed at inciting parents against the people who teach their children. Illinois is also one of twenty or so states that have passed corporate inspired “school reform” testing and curriculum measures into law, and drastically limited the issues over which teachers can negotiate along with the their right to strike.

But one of the signs carried by striking teachers told it all. It said “our working conditions are your child’s learning conditions.” The Chicago Teachers Union had prepared months in advance for the strike by reaching out to and working with organized parents around the city and enlisting them behind its basic demands to keep schools open and well-funded, and keeping them informed on and involved in activities that fought the creeping privatization of public education in Chicago. While Rahm had the media the billionaires, armies of hired stooges and the president, the teachers enjoyed broad support among parents and the public. Continue reading →