Poor families and children are being victimized by Michigan state government

By Rob South | rsouth@mlive.com  

February 02, 2012

 LANSING – As tax season starts in full swing, a new report says low income families will be hardest hit by a state tax reform package passed last year.

While the changes don’t take effect until the 2012 tax year, the Michigan League for Human Services hopes some credits helpful to the poor can be restored by then, particularly the $600 per-child tax deduction.

The League released a report that says the tax plan will hit poor families 1,000 times harder than wealthy households. (To read full report, click on TaxChangesHitLowIncomeFamiliestheHardest[1].)

Families making less than $17,000 a year would pay one percent more in taxes in 2012, while families making more than $334,000 would see their taxes go up by only .001 percent, the report states.

Gilda Jacobs, president of Michigan League for Human Services

Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO of the League, wants to see a fair tax structure that doesn’t hit the poor harder than the wealthy.

 “We want to be sure that we have shared sacrifice.” she says. “If you’re making $17,000 a year, this is going cost you about $100. That’s a lot of money to these people. That’s a car payment, that’s a winter utility bill. It’s huge.”

State Rep. Jud Gilbert, R- Algonac, chair of the House Tax Committee, says the bills were part of a larger package aimed at streamlining the tax code. He says about $1.4 billion in tax credits, including tax credits to businesses, were eliminated. The package also reduced the Earned Income Tax Credit – another credit for the poor – from 20 percent to 6 percent of the federal credit.

Gov. Snyder signs tax reform legislation into law. Pictured (from left) are: Lt. Gov. Brian Calley; Rep. Jud Gilbert, R-Algonac; Speaker of the House Jase Bolger, R-Marshall; Snyder; Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe; and Sens. Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Twp.; Darwin Booher, R-Evart; Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive Twp.; and Mike Kowall, R-White Lake. (5/25/2011)

 “I think what we’ve done in the revamping of the tax code,” says Gilbert,” is people are paying the same rate on the same amount of income. “

Jacobs points out that the package also included $1.6 billion in tax cuts to businesses. She says when the changes are fully implemented next year, business tax revenues would be cut 83 percent and individual income taxes would go up 23 percent. 

The report offers four recommendations to restore equity to the tax structure:

• Implement a graduated income tax

• Extend the sales tax to include services

• Create a low-income sales tax credit to offset new sales taxes

• Restore the Earned Income Tax Credit (IETC) to 20 percent. 

http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/02/michigans_poorest_families_hit.html 

Website for the Michigan League for Human Services is at http://www.milhs.org. Also go to http://saveoureitc.com/, a website campaigning to save the earned income tax credit.

WW II collaborators with shaven heads are paraded through town by the French Resistance on Bastille Day

By David Rambeau

February 2, 2012

We know their names,Ike McKinnon, Irvin Reid, Shirley Stancato, Glenda Price, and Conrad Mallett [appointed to the Detroit Emergency Manager Review Team by Governor Rick Snyder].

What we must decide on is their political, ideological and cultural allegiance; is it to our community or to those who would intensify our political and economic oppression and exploitation? 

Conrad Mallett

The proverb says, “Where you stand depends on where you sit.” These five plan to sit with those who would disenfranchise the people of Detroit through the imposition of an emergency manager on the city, and with this so-called manager dictate brutal social changes which will complete the deconstruction of our urban institutional and governmental landscape.

Historically throughout Michigan, the emergency manager (EM) dictat emanating from the state government has been perpetrated by both Democratic and Republican administrations (Blanchard, Engler, Granholm, Snyder) on urban areas, Flint, Pontiac, Highland Park, Benton Harbor and Detroit, on city governments and school systems, heavily populated by Black and poor people.

Glenda Price

These so-called managers have summarily removed locally elected public officials, laid off workers, cut workers’ salaries and benefits, sold municipal assets, privatized services, and after a period of time, often two years or more, disappeared from view with the local situation frequently in worse shape than when they first appeared on the scene.

What they never do is examine the systemic social processes that have caused the financial crises, identify or plan productive developments which will alter the people’s condition in the present and the future, or educate and involve the public in the transformative process. Of course, why should they; these are not in the interest of those who appointed them in the first place.

(ITEM: For an in-depth analysis of social change read, “The Rise And Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy, Random House publishers, 909.83 K385r in your Detroit Public Library, another urban institution undergoing severe financial stress.)

Isaiah McKinnon

Fortunately, opposition has arisen from several sources to the disenfranchisement of voters. A petition is circulating to delay and overturn Public Act 4, the emergency manager law. A congressman from Detroit has asked the U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, to investigate the legality of Public Act 4; local activists have begun to organize to oppose the financial review process and pundits have begun to characterize the appointed members of the review team.

One writer called The Five “window dressing.”

Irvin Reid

You’ve seen this before. Boss is making a duplicitous announcement while holding a press conference and brings in a few supernumeraries to stand behind him to fool or confuse the people. In this case, five Black faces from high places. And they collaborate with the charade.

After Boss leaves, they will be required to sign off on the fiscal review process while expressing their “concern” for the people whose voting rights have been seriously compromised. Meanwhile, Boss will continue his work eliminating the earned income tax credits, taxing pensions, enacting voter ID legislation, destroying public workers’ unions, limiting workmen’s compensation, welfare and food stamp benefits, drug testing for welfare benefits, eliminating public worker residency requirements as well as sundry other social benefits for the urban poor and black people. The EM is just one tool in Boss’ trick bag and Five Collaborators out of previous, present or long-term self- interest go along for the ride and the rewards. 

Shirley Stancato

If you watch the Military Channel, 112 on cable, you’ll regularly see WWII documentaries which feature the war in Europe, particularly France. France had many collaborators with the German occupation and after the French were liberated, they frequently seized the collaborators and publicly shaved their heads.

If and when you see these five pictured in the corporate press or on television making an eloquent comment about how “This is a critical juncture for the city, and we have to decide how we can best provide services to our citizens and ensure they benefit from the best outcome.” imagine the five with sullen faces and freshly shaved heads.

******

David Rambeau

David Rambeau is the long-time host of For My People which airs on Ch 50, WKBD-TV, Saturday mornings at 6:30 a.m.
For more info: 313-871-3333 messages only

projectbait@att.net
(website address – www.projectbait.blakgold.readyportal.net) 

AFSCME workers in green join UAW and other unions at protest against PA 4 in Lansing April 13 11

 Release by AFSCME LOCAL 207  Detroit water and public lighting workers

February 2, 2012

John Riehl, president of AFSCME Local 207, city's largest local

DETROIT — AFSCME Local 207’s president John Riehl joined the representatives from three other AFSCME locals in voting against the tentative agreement. Now it’s up to city workers to either reject or accept the concession contracts. Local 207 opposes the concessions for the following reasons: 

Most city workers, including Water Department workers, had historic concessions imposed on us in late 2010. Every time we let them force concessions on us, it merely convinces them that we’ll keep accepting them. 1,000 layoffs, 10% pay cuts, at least a 75% total increase in health insurance costs, huge pensions cuts, especially for those with less than 10 years seniority, are unacceptable, AND WILL ONLY MEAN MORE CONCESSIONS. 

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder

We do not think the concessions will stop the appointment of an Emergency Manager by the Governor, and/or Mayor Bing and the City Council from signing a “consent agreement.” For months, the press, the State, the City Council, and Bing himself have said that these concessions would only be a temporary fix, and that longer term cuts to our rights as workers and Detroiters will be required. If we agree to concessions now, the next cuts will be starting from the “new normal” established by the concessions that we’re being asked to accept.  

Nothing short of a general upheaval of Detroit can stop the on-going second class treatment that our city is subjected to. Petitions and lawsuits can be useful only if the super-rich fear that we will unite and fight to win. We do not want an EM imposed on Detroit.

Detroit APTE VP Cecily McClellan speaks at rally against Benton Harbor EM

But if they dare do it, the imposition of an EM will provide us with an opportunity to concentrate, clarify and unite the battle for Detroit’s future. All our energies and aspirations should be focused on the task of organizing the fight to demand the resources to rebuild and repopulate our city. City workers can and must play a leading role in this fight. If we vote yes to the concessions, we will just demoralize and weaken ourselves. It will be that much harder to fight when the attacks on our jobs and our city continue without missing a beat. 

U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox

We must overturn Federal Judge Cox’s anti-union, anti-Detroit order that separates Water Department workers from the rest of Detroit city workers. If we don’t succeed quickly, the proposed city worker concessions will set the pattern to be brought to Water Department workers next. If we don’t stand together we will fall separately. But together with the people of Detroit we have the numbers, the moral high ground and the power to fight and win. 

VOTE NO ON THE CONCESSIONS!

UNITE THE FIGHT FOR DETROIT! FIGHT TO WIN

“Jail-house snitch” Jay Schlenkerman testifies against Charles Jones as 36th District Court Judge E. Lynise Bryant-Weekes listens

VOD EDITOR: THIS STORY AS UPDATED FEB. 18, 2012 CONTAINS A RETRACTION/CORRECTION REGARDING MR. PETER VALENTE’S BUSINESS STATUS, AND OTHER CHANGES REQUESTED BY THE ATTORNEY FOR CRW, INC. THERE IS ADDITIONALLY UPDATED INFORMATION ON UPCOMING COURT DATES FOR CHARLES JONES.

 By Diane Bukowski

January 28, 2012 

Aiyana Stanley-Jones with little brother prior to her killing by police (Family photo)

DETROIT – Thirty-Sixth District Court Judge E. Lynise Bryant-Weekes bound Charles Jones, father of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, over to Wayne County Third Circuit Court on first-degree murder, felony firearms and perjury charges Jan. 26, based largely on the testimony of  Jay Allen Schlenkerman. 

Jones’ attorney characterized Schlenkerman as a “jail-house snitch” during a previous court hearing.

Schlenkerman claimed Chauncey Owens, also charged with first-degree murder, told him that Jones gave him the gun used to kill Je’rean Blake May 14, 2010, two days before Detroit police conducted a brutal raid on Jones’ home May 16, 2010. Detroit officer Joseph Weekley shot 7-year-old Aiyana to death during the raid. 

Jones' attorney Leon Weiss argues against admission of Schlenkerman's testimony; asst. prosecutor Robert Moran in front

“I love my brother,” Aiyana’s aunt LaKrystal Sanders called out twice after Bryant-Weekes’ ruling, only to be admonished by the judge. Aiyana’s grandmother Mertilla Jones wept. Court officers and Detroit police then chased at least ten members of Jones’ family out of the court and onto the elevators before they could talk to his attorney, Leon Weiss of the law firm of  Fieger, Fieger, Kenney, Giroux & Danzig. 

Bryant-Weekes first noted the testimony of two eyewitnesses, Sylvester Bell and Amber Holloway. Neither said they knew or saw that Jones gave Owens the gun. 

Bell only identified Owens as the shooter. Holloway testified that she was a passenger in the car with Blake and others, and that Jones was in the SUV from which Owens, Jones and others exited prior to the shooting. She said she did not see the shooting, but that she saw Blake “hike up his pants as if he was about to fight.” 

Bryant-Weekes then described Schlenkerman’s testimony. 

“Jay Schlenkerman testified that he had a conversation with Chauncey Owens who said he had shot the young man, then had a conversation with Charles Jones at his house,” she said. “Then the two individuals returned to the store [where Blake was shot]. The witness testified that Mr. Owens testified that Charles Jones gave him the gun.” 

Schlenkerman also said under oath during the hearing that he himself has been convicted of only one felony, a third offense of drunk driving, when in fact court records show he has been convicted of seven felonies. (See box at left.)

Weiss had moved unsuccessfully to exclude Schlenkerman’s testimony, saying it did not fall within the parameters of Michigan Rule of Evidence 804(b), which allows “hearsay” testimony under some circumstances. 

Prominent, long-time criminal defense and appeals attorney John Royal told VOD Schlenkerman’s testimony as it related to Jones should not have been admitted. 

“That was an improper interpretation of the court rule,” Royal said. “To the extent that Owens’ statement said he himself did something wrong, it was admissible. But to the extent he says someone else did something wrong, it is not admissible.”

Royal also said the admission violated a 2004 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of Crawford v. Washington, which made hearsay statements inadmissible if the defendant is not able to cross-examine the maker of the statement. In this case, Owens earlier refused several times to testify at Jones’ preliminary exam. 

Royal said Bryant-Weekes’ admission of Schlenkerman’s statement is not binding on the Wayne County Circuit Court judge who hears the case. Jones’ arraignment on the information was held Feb. 2 according to court records. His case is scheduled to be heard, along with that of Owens, in front of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Richard Skutt.  A motion hearing is set for April 20 at 9 a.m. A final conference is scheduled for April 27, and a jury trial date was set for June 20, 2012.

Debbie C. sustained these injuries to her eyes and mouth, among others, from Schlenkerman beating her across the face with his belt; photo from court files

Schlenkerman was incarcerated in the Wayne County Dickerson facility, where Owens was also being held, from July 1 to Nov. 16, 2011, for “aggravated domestic violence.” Sanders said Owens told her that Schlenkerman told other prisoners that he himself was in jail for a “bar fight.” 

According to a previous statement from Owens’ attorney David Cripps, and court records, both were held in segregation at various times. It is unclear at which points Schlenkerman came into contact with Owens. 

Schlenkerman claimed Owens made unusually detailed statements to him about his case in October and November. In response to a question from Weiss, he said he had told a “little bit” about those statements to Peter Valente. Court records from the 33^rd District show that Schlenkerman currently resides at 219 Windward Court in Detroit’s Harbortown complex, which is also Valente’s address, according to Wayne County Register of Deeds records and publicy available listings.

Valente is the CEO of Sales for CRW, Inc., a ceramic tile wholesaler in Detroit, according to a Detroit business website. Schlenkerman does tile installation work, but according to CRW, Inc.’s attorney J. Peter Hauser, is not employed by or a contractor for CRW, Inc.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Richard Skutt (Facebook photo)

Despite the detailed nature of his testimony, Schlenkerman said he had never written down any notes after talking with Owens. He said the only written record he made was the statement he gave to Assistant Prosecutor James Bivins Nov. 26. 

“He [Owens] told me he was there for the murder of Je’Rean Blake,” Schlenkerman testified impassively. “He told me he and his younger brother Chinaman rode their white scooters up to the party store. Chauncey Owens asked Je’Rean Blake if he had anything for him. The kid blew him off and shrugged, then Owens told him, ‘I’ve got something for you.’” 

Je'Rean Blake

Throughout his testimony, Schlenkerman, a white man who has spent most of his life in majority-white communities including various downriver suburbs as well as Adrian, referred to Charles Jones as “C.J.,” and his brother Sherrod Heard as “Chinaman,” as if he knew them. He variously identified the SUV involved as a white or silver Suburban. 

 “They rode their scooters back to the house, and had a conversation with his brother-in-law C.J.,” Schlenkerman said.  “C.J. told Chinaman to ditch the scooters, and they drove in a silver Suburban back to the party store. He didn’t say what they talked about. C.J. gave Chauncey Owens a gun. Chauncey Owens got out of the Suburban. Je’Rean Blake seen him and started running across the parking lot. Then he got back into the Suburban and they drove him back to the abandoned house where Chinaman ditched the white scooters. They picked Chinaman up and drove back to their house. C.J. told Chinaman, ‘We took care of business, this is the way you do it.’” 

Aiyana Jones' father Charles Jones is comforted by her great aunt Joann Robinson as he sits on couch where she died the morning of her killing, and below window shattered by grenade; Ms. Robinson has passed away since Aiyana was killed.

During her ruling, Bryant-Weekes said Schlenkerman’s testimony was that Jones said “we took care of someone.” 

Schlenkerman said he went to the prosecutor’s office several days after he was released, “because I felt bad for the kid. I have kids myself. It could have been my daughter.” 

According to various court records, Schlenkerman owes many thousands of dollars in child support for several different children. 

He said he had not been offered a deal, and that his testimony was “110 percent the truth.”

Court records show that in October, the prosecutor’s office dropped five of eight counts of violating a personal protection order against Schlenkerman. The order was issued by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Richard Halloran and involved numerous attempts to contact Debbie C., the victim of the domestic violence, while he was in jail. 

Asst. Prosecutor Opolla Brown

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Opolla Brown earlier reduced the original felony charge of “kidnapping” cited by Brownstown Township police, to a misdemeanor, “aggravated domestic violence.” (to read details of victim’s account of the brutal beating, rape, and bestial acts that Schlenkerman performed on her May 25-28, 2011, click on  http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/01/10/schlenkerman-brutally-abused-women-lied-served-mdoc-time-for-repeat-dui%e2%80%99s-but-is-%e2%80%98jail-house-snitch%e2%80%99-in-jones-case/.)

On cross-examination, Schlenkerman claimed he did not know anything about the police killing of Jones’ daughter Aiyana, although he testified that he watched Fox 2 News with Chauncey Owens repeatedly and wondered why Owens kept watching that channel. Most news reports on Owens’ case have given details of Aiyana’s death. 

Schlenkerman told Weiss that Owens never told him he had already pled guilty to second-degree murder in Blake’s death. 

“You’re telling the court he told you each and every detail except that he pled guilty?” Weiss asked him rhetorically. 

Despite the fact that Wayne County Pre-trial Services recommended that Jones be given a $100,000 bond, 10 percent cash, Bryant-Weekes remanded him back to jail without bond.

 We Stop The Banks From Foreclosing On The Garretts’ Home In Detroit!

 A No Struggle, No Development! Production By KennySnod.

February 1, 2012

After months and months of discussion with the banks trying to convince them not to evict the Garretts,  the Bank wouldn’t let them buy their home back and told them to get out! Were sending a dumpster out Monday to clean out your house! That’s when they asked for help from the community and activist group that have been active in working to stop “Evictions and Foreclosures,” and they came out. They demonstrated, rallied and did everything necessary to stop this Foreclosure and Eviction.

National Political Groups, Religious Groups of different denominations like People Before Banks, Stop Eviction Now, Moratorium Now, Workers World, Occupy Detroit, National Lawyers Guild, People Before Banks, (BAMN) By Any Means Necessary, Rev. Charles Williams, Job For Justice, Bailout The People Not The Banks, and others participated in the protest.

About seventy people rallied for a second day at the home of the Garrett’s stopping the eviction, and demanding there be a National Moratorium on Foreclosures & Evictions. They said the banks have received government bailout money should better serve the people who provided the funds. The banks are getting very wealthy off foreclosing on people’s homes, even though they took the $700 billion to do the opposite. There’s a serious moral and ethical gap between us and what these institutions are doing. They don’t care about us, it’s all about the rich getting richer, and we the people getting poorer. – 

A No Struggle, No Development! Production By Kenny Snodgrass, Activist, Photographer, Videographer, Author of From Victimization To Empowerment… www.trafford.com eBook available at www.ebookstore.sony.com YouTube – I also, have over 240 community videos on my YouTube channel at http://www.YouTube.com/KennySnod

William and Bertha Garrett in their home Photo: Homes Before Banks

Bertha And William Garrett Fight Eviction After 22 Years In Detroit Home

January 30, 2012

 By  Kate Abbey-Lambertz, HUFFINGTON POST DETROIT

After more than 20 years living in the northwest Detroit home where they raised six children, William and Bertha Garrett are facing eviction after the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company foreclosed on their home late last year.

The eviction is expected to happen this week, but the Garretts are joining with family and friends, as well as members of local groups that fight foreclosures, in an attempt to stave off their displacement.

Protesters block dumpster from Garrett's home; driver eventually left. Photo by Steve Babson

Occupy Detroit, Moratorium Now, [BAMN], and Homes Before Banks gathered Monday morning at the Garrett home on Pierson Street in Detroit. A contractor attempted to deliver a dumpster to the house but was blocked by people gathering in the street, said Steve Babson, who works with Occupy Detroit and Homes Before Banks. Police then arrived on the scene but left shortly afterward, claiming it was a civil matter.

Shortly before noon, the Garretts’ daughter, Michele Finley, arrived at the bank’s downtown Detroit branch to plead her parents’ case again.

“My parents’ mentality is, ‘My daughter got married there, my two sons got married there, babies have been born here, this is not just a house,'” Finley told HuffPost. “This is our life.”

The Garretts bought the house 22 years ago and have been paying their mortgage ever since.

William, who owned a barbershop business, has struggled with his health, making it difficult for him to support the family. After a bad laser surgery left him blind in one eye, he lost half his income.

Protesters outside headquarters of Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company in Dime Building, downtown Detroit

The family decided to take out a second mortgage in the late ’90s. In 2003, William had another eye surgery to remove cataracts. That left him legally blind, and he and his wife began struggling to keep up with their mortgage.

“They added fees upon fees,” Finley said. Soon, their payments had tripled. Hoping it would bring down costs, Finley’s husband purchased her parents’ home. Their payment then went down from $3,000 to $900 per month.

As William’s health deteriorated, the Garretts again fell behind in payments. The mortgage company increased its rates steadily until they reached $2,500. Finley continued helping her parents with the mortgage, until she was laid off from her job in 2010.

In 2011 the family received notice of foreclosure. After meeting with the bank several times and getting the house appraised, the Garretts received a verbal agreement in October that they could buy their home back from the bank for $10,000.

But Finley said the bank kept changing its offer, raising the price to $12,000 and then $15,000.

In November, the bank denied the Garretts’ request to purchase their house. Two weeks later, William suffered a stroke. Finley said they were never told the reason the bank would not allow them to buy back the house.

“The money is sitting in the bank,” Finley said. The entire family chipped in to gather the necessarily cash. “We fought, we fought, we fought, and we couldn’t stop the foreclosure.”

Ron Gruendl, spokesman for Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, said that the mortgage servicer, who he identified as IA Services, is solely responsible for the property.

“BNY Mellon is a trustee in this matter. We don’t physically own the loan or the property, therefore we don’t have any say in how the property is disposed of, loan modification, anything like that,” Gruendl said.

A representative for IA Services said the company has no comment at this time.

The Garretts’ problem is a familiar one in Detroit. In 2011, the city had the 18th-highest foreclosure rate nationally for metropolitan areas.

The rate declined nearly 30 percent for 2011, but that was partially due to foreclosure filing delays. In 2012, the number of foreclosures is expected to exceed 2011’s nearly 56,000 properties, according to Realty Trac.

According to the Detroit News, metro Detroit has the most unsold lender-repossessed properties of any metro area in the country.

The Garretts’ situation is further complicated by William’s health concerns. While Finley searched for another house for her parents, and would gladly have them come live with her, her father is not able to use stairs, and the “shotgun” layout of the Pierson Street house makes it easier for him to navigate.

Additionally, Finley said, her parents would suffer if they left their tight-knit community.

“If anything happened in my parents’ house, a neighbor is going to call me,” she said. “When my dad had the first stroke, two neighbors would come down and make sure he did his therapy. I can’t find that anyplace else.”

Supporters of the Garretts gathered at the Detroit branch of the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company at noon on Monday, while others stayed at the house. Organizers are asking people to gather at the house at 17995 Pierson Street, Detroit, with the goal of preventing the Garretts eviction.

“We want to shame the bank into doing the right thing,” Babson said.

Finley is hoping her parents will not be forced to leave. “When I asked my daddy if I should stop fighting, he said, ‘That’s the only things that’s keeping me living.'”

For further information, go to www.occupy–detroit.us, www.moratorium-mi.org, www.bamn.com, www.peoplebeforebanks.org

Protesters occupy downtown DTE headquarters January 26, 2012

 By Diane Bukowski 

January 27, 2012 

DETROIT – Hundreds of DTE customers stunned the company Jan. 26, occupying the downtown headquarters lobby for over an hour with signs, drums, bullhorns, and chants of “No More Shut-offs; DTE: Pay your taxes; and DTE what about me?” 

Occupiers stayed for over an hour at DTE headquarters Jan. 26, 2012

The occupation dramatically ratcheted up the level of the sidewalk marches that have taken place over the last several years. It was organized by “Good Jobs Now!” and ministers including Bishop Walter Starghill of the Face-to-Face Ministries in Inkster. 

“We want them to see our faces,” said Joseph Shannon, a young member of Good Jobs Now!  “We want them to understand what drives us as we suffer from their rates and shut-offs. People are risking their lives to get lights and heat by setting up dangerous hook-ups, using generators and candles. Houses are getting blown up and people are dying. Crime is going up because of the conditions poor people face. Meanwhile DTE is sitting around getting rich. They have the power and funds not only to stop this suffering, but to contribute some of their millions in profits to build up our cities and neighborhoods for the benefit of their customers.” 

Good Jobs Now! organizer Joseph Shannon

The air was thick with both anger and exhilaration at breaking out of the traditional protest mode. People did not let up their chants, which rang throughout the building, for the entire time. Prominent among the signs was one proclaiming that DTE Energy’s new CEO Gerard Anderson makes $8.9 million a year. 

Shannon said the protesters planned to stay until Starghill and other ministers meeting upstairs with DTE executives reported back that DTE was going to act on their demands. 

“We won’t fall aside, we won’t look back, we demand heat and electricity today! If we don’t get it, we will be back with hundreds more,” he concluded. 

Good Jobs Now! members provide security for occupiers

A cadre of Good Jobs Now members in orange and green vests and hats linked arms at the entrance to the inner building, while others monitored the doors to allow media and other participants to enter. DTE guards had apparently retreated, with only one left at the front counter, which was commandeered by photographers climbing up to get shots of the rebellion. 

Police did not show up until after the protesters’ representatives had returned downstairs to report back to them, and even then, the Good Jobs Now! security line remained, despite the threat of arrest. Occupiers then took their protest to the streets. 

Protesters Elaine Pope and Georgia McCree (center)

DTE customers Georgia McCree and Elaine Pope held a giant banner outside. They spoke together about their anger against the wealthy utility company.

“We’re tired of DTE shutting off the lights and gas of those who are in need, including babies, children and seniors. They shut off in the winter time too. They had profits of $700 million last year, and have got $300 million in rate increases over the last three years. Those profits should be going back to the people, to give assistance especially for the mothers and children who were cut off welfare this year.” 

The protesters were heard calling on each other to bring all their bills to a meeting the pastors had scheduled with DTE for Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. Bishop Starghill told VOD the meeting would be a “fact-finding meeting.“ 

Bishop Walter Starghill of Face-to-Face Ministries in Inkster

“The people here today represent only about one percent of the people who will be here eventually,” Starghill, who had also led a delegation from Inkster to the Jan. 16 march on Governor Snyder’s house, said. 

Other ministers who met with DTE included Pastor Homer Jameson of the Jameson Temple, Pastor John Hearn, Jr. of Christ Faith in Garden City, Pastor Willie Walker of the Church of God in Christ, and Pastor Willie J. Rideout of All God’s People Congregation Ministries in Detroit. 

“People are hurting, but Governor Snyder still granted DTE a tax break while DTE hiked up its rates some more,” Rev. Rideout said. “We want amnesty on  bills for our seniors, many of whom live on machines that depend on electricity, for mothers and children and all the poor. People are using kerosene to heat their houses and dying. We will not tolerate this situation any longer.” 

DTE gets tax breaks, rakes in profits, while poor get shut-offs

DTE has benefited from the $1 billion tax break Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder gave to the state’s corporations, while slashing millions from education, revenue-sharing, and public assistance in a state with the highest unemployment rate in the country. 

DTE CEO rakes in $8.9 million a year

According to its DTE’s website, its business customers are also eligible for a sales tax exemption.

“All gas and electric business accounts are required to submit a copy of the Michigan General Sales Tax Exemption form to DTE Energy in order to have the correct tax exemption status on file and be billed accordingly,” says the website.

In November, DTE raked in a $174.9 million rate increase. Under state rules, DTE implements its own increases, which are later reviewed by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), which allegedly regulates the state’s utilities. It normally takes about a year for the review to be completed.  If the MPSC does not approve the entire increase, a small rebate goes to its customers, most of whom do not even notice it on their bill.

DTE's Mark Jones with Rev. Willie Rideout

Representatives of DTE, Mark Jones and Alejandro Bodipo-Memba, both Black, were sent downstairs to speak with media representatives. They claimed that the MPSC is the chief entity responsible for approving most of the marchers’ demands, including an end to shut-offs, and  income-based rates.

They appeared taken aback by the protest, and said they wished the demonstrators had asked to meet with them prior to calling it. They touted DTE’s Customer Assistance Days and other programs already in place, which they said they planned to focus on in the Tuesday meeting.

Organizer leads chants from bullhorn behind front desk

Bodipo-Member  said DTE is campaigning with the legislature to restore funds to The Heat and Warmth (THAW) fund both from the state, and also with the federal government to restore LIHEAP (Low-income HEating Assistance Program) funds. One-third of those funds were cut from the current federal budget. U.S. President Barack Obama originally slashed half of the funds, but opponents reduced the cut.

They did not respond to a question from VOD regarding DTE’s policy of not cutting off utilities in the winter the first time, but then charging those customers for bills incurred during the winter and spring, and later shutting them off in the summer.

Protesters drummed loudly up to the rafters

Why DTE has to depend on the private non-profit sector, including THAW, or on federal revenues taken from taxpayers, to meet the demands of the protesters, is open to question.

MarketWatch reported in November, 2011, that DTE profits for the third quarter had increased 12 percent from the previous year, with revenue skyrocketing from $2.14 billion to $2.27 billion for that quarter alone. DTE Energy is one of the Fortune 500 wealthiest companies in the U.S.

For further information, contact Face to Face Outreach. Ministries. 29665 Pine. Inkster, MI 48141. 313.477.6710.  

Occupiers said "WE WILL BE BACK!"

OAKLAND, California | Sun Jan 29, 2012 9:56am EST

By Laird Harrison and Emmett Burg

VOD: go to Occupy Oakland website at http://occupyoakland.org/; donations are needed for bail funds and can be contributed through the site, which has ongoing coverage of these heroic events.

OAKLAND, California (Reuters) – Riot police fought running skirmishes with anti-Wall Street protesters on Saturday, firing tear gas and bean bag projectiles and arresting more than 200 people in clashes that injured three officers and at least one demonstrator.

Occupy Oakland protesters burn American flag Jan. 29, 2012

Three police officers and one protester were injured during the clashes, the city said, without detailing their conditions. Internet broadcasts by activists showed several demonstrators being treated by paramedics or loaded into ambulances.

The scuffles erupted in the afternoon as activists from the Occupy movement sought to take over a shuttered downtown convention center, sparking cat-and-mouse battles that lasted well into the night in a city that has seen tensions between police and protesters boil over repeatedly.

“Occupy Oakland has got to stop using Oakland as its playground,” Mayor Jean Quan, who has come under criticism for the city’s handling of the Occupy movement, said at a late evening press conference.

A group of police officers from various law enforcement agencies arrest an Occupy Oakland demonstrator near Frank H. Ogawa Plaza during a day-long protest in Oakland, California January 28, 2012. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

“Once again, a violent splinter group of the Occupy movement is engaging in violent actions against Oakland,” she said, speaking as officers in riot gear were still lined up against demonstrators in downtown intersections.

City Council President Larry Reid said a group of protesters broke into City Hall, damaging exhibits and burning a U.S. flag.

Occupy Oakland organizers had earlier vowed to take over the apparently empty downtown convention center to establish a headquarters, hoping to revitalize a movement against economic inequality that lost momentum after police cleared protest camps from cities across the country late last year.

A group of Occupy Oakland demonstrators climb a fence to escape arrest during a day-long protest in Oakland, California January 28, 2012. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

They also hoped to draw attention to homelessness in the attempted building takeover, seen as a challenge to authorities who have blocked similar efforts before.

A police spokesman said more than 200 people had been arrested during the day following altercations that began when activists tried to tear down a chain-link fence surrounding the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

“The 1 percent have all these empty buildings, and meanwhile there are all these homeless people,” protester Omar Yassin said.

‘IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES’

Police in riot gear moved in, firing smoke grenades, tear gas and bean-bag projectiles to drive the crowd back.

“Officers were pelted with bottles, metal pipe, rocks, spray cans, improvised explosive devices and burning flares,” the Oakland Police Department said in a statement. “Oakland Police Department deployed smoke and tear gas.”

Some activists, carrying shields made of plastic garbage cans and corrugated metal, tried to circumvent the police line, and surged toward police on another side of the building as more smoke canisters were fired.

“The city of Oakland welcomes peaceful forms of assembly and freedom of speech but acts of violence, property destruction and overnight lodging will not be tolerated,” police said in a statement.

Hundreds of demonstrators regrouped and marched through downtown Oakland, where they were repeatedly confronted by police in riot gear. Police at several points fired flash-bang grenades into the crowd and swung batons at protesters.

A group of demonstrators ultimately made their way to City Hall, where they brought out a U.S. flag and set it on fire before scattering ahead of advancing officers.

Several hundred people remained in the streets well after dark, facing off against lines of riot police holding batons who demonstrators sometimes taunted as “pigs.”

Protesters in Oakland loosely affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York last year have repeatedly clashed with police during a series of marches and demonstrations.

Elsewhere, the National Park Service said on Friday it would bar Occupy protesters in the nation’s capital, one of the few big cities where Occupy encampments survive, from camping in two parks where they have been living since October.

That order, which takes effect on Monday, was seen as a blow to one of the highest-profile chapters of the movement.

(Writing by Dan Whitcomb and Mary Slosson; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Bill Trott)

Dennis B. Rogers, PhD

By Dennis B. Rogers, PhD

January 22, 2012

(submitted by Greg Thrasher, VOD Washington Bureau contributing editor) 

What a difference a day makes in the campaign for the U.S. Presidency. The South Carolina Republican Primary was won by Newt Gingrich, a Georgian with a great deal of political baggage. According to exit poll data, evangelical Christians, Tea Party members and over 50-year-old Southerners gave the former House Speaker 40% of the South Carolinian vote (243,153 votes). Mitt Romney earned 27.8% of the vote (167,279 votes), Rick Santorum earned 17% (102, 055 votes), and Ron Paul earned 13% (77,933 votes). Let’s take a closer look at the two front runners. 

Newt Gingrich

What are the nature and the origins of Newt Gingrich’s victory? Having won the presidential debates while displaying vehemence and partisan warriorhood, he was belligerent in the face of hard questions by news people like Juan Williams of Fox News Network. He made racist comments in South Carolina that are not worthy of repeating. The comments reveal his political psychology while his actual movie-in-tribute to Ronald Reagan demonstrates to Tea Party members that he will keep up the conservative wing of the party. 

As a holder of a Ph.D. in Modern European History and as the author of 27 books, Gingrich is an avid thinker. After serving as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, he understands the social and cultural nuances—and the political nature and history—of the 435 U.S. Congressional Districts. For example, he won each of the seven Congressional Districts in South Carolina. 

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn

In response, the Assistant Democratic Leader, Representative James Clyburn of the 6^th Congressional District in SC, stated in an interview on CSPAN the day after the election that, “[Newt Gingrich] denigrates the Office of the Presidency and people trying to make a way during these tough economic times.” It is important to remember, of course, that South Carolina was the scene of race baiting in the Democratic presidential primaries in 2008. Also, since 1980 the S.C. Republican primary winner has gone on to be the Republican Presidential nominee. 

But while Gingrich captures the SC victory and much of the attention these past few days, most election watchers are wondering what happened to former front runner Mitt Romney? He has offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands that have been traced back to P.O. Boxes at the local post office; he has consistently paid a low tax rate of 15%; and his Party seems troubled to discern where he actually stands on hot-bed political issues. As a result, Governor Romney finds himself on the defensive regarding the tax returns that as of Monday, January 23, 2012, he still refuses to release. By most accounts, he is in a political tailspin. 

Mitt Romney

Case in point: Mitt Romney’s religious affiliation (he is a Mormon) and financial decisions were underlying factors to his defeat in SC, and more than ever people are talking about both issues.  Although better financed than the other candidates, Romney has lost any semblance of invulnerability—and just as the Florida primaries begin. Add to this the reversal of fortune in Iowa, wherein after a vote count Rick Santorum was the actual victor. For the first time in American political history, the first three primaries have three distinct winners. 

What is the “political mathematics” of the Republican Presidential Primary’s end game? According to the Republican Party (and adopted by the RNC in September 2008), of the 2,286 possible delegates, a candidate must accumulate 1,144 delegates to win the primaries. Currently, of the pledged delegates, Gingrich has 27, Ron Paul has 10, Mitt Romney has 18, and Rick Santorum has 7. The state of Florida is a winner-takes-all delegates state. The previous states have split the delegates based on percentage of the votes. 

Before the Florida primary begins on January 29^th, the primary debates unfold on January 23 and 26 in Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida. The interaction of leadership among the three million African Americans in Florida is imperative to shaping the debates. With 24 congressional districts and four African American Members of Congress in the State (that’s three Democrats and one Republican), the following issues should be substantially addressed: Latino immigration and employment and financing opportunities. As we tune into the debates and the discussions, it is imperative that African American and Latino scholars and organizers find meaningful ways to impact the election both on the Republican and the Democratic fronts. 

Dennis B. Rogers, PhD is a graduate of the Howard University Department of Political Science where he majored in Political Theory and Black Politics. He was a friend, colleague, and student of Dr. Ronald Walters. He resides in Washington, DC, and can be reached at http://www.DennisBRogers.info  or email  at Dennis.Rogers.PhD@Gmail.com.