Uncle Sam Making Wrong Choices

By Norman Solomon 
Santa Rosa Press Democrat via L.A.Progressive 
December 26, 2011

http://www.laprogressive.com/progressive-issues/uncle-sam-wrong-choices/

On a recent day in Petaluma, two very different events
spotlighted grim results of upside-down priorities from the
federal government.

Upwards of 600 people gathered for an early breakfast at the
Veterans Memorial Hall to raise money for the Committee on
the Shelterless (COTS), a nonprofit organization that last
year sheltered nearly 2,000 individuals, served more than
127,000 hearty meals and distributed 800,000 pounds of food
to the needy.

 We heard moving stories about - and from - people whose
 lives have been transformed by active compassion, generosity
 and their own hard work. But, as speakers lamented, COTS
 must turn away many who need help.

Charities and other nonprofits are struggling to cope with
 deep economic wounds that have been festering for years. The
 dire consequences are far more widespread than private
 agencies can possibly heal.

Only government has the capacity to provide economic remedies
for social distress of this magnitude. But government is
failing.

Across the North Coast, elected officials speak of wanting to
create local jobs. But city, county and state budgets are
going from very bad to worse.

Only the federal government can use the Keynesian tool of
 deficit spending to bring down unemployment. But Washington
 is paralyzed by ideology. Job stimulus funding, inadequate
 from the outset, has dwindled. And the momentum is moving in
 the wrong direction.

 The threats to working people are now even coming from one
 of our great public institutions, the post office.

Hours after the COTS breakfast, I went across town to a
public meeting about a proposal to close both of the regional
mail-processing facilities in Petaluma. About 230 employees
would be directly affected.

Although enveloped in public-relations fog, the presentation
from U.S. Postal Service management was all too clear. This
is a national directive. In the name of becoming more
"competitive," the Postal Service is moving to severely
damage its quality of service.

Postal employees and the public will suffer. Many jobs will
be lost. And millions of us who depend on first- class mail
will discover that one-day delivery has morphed into two-day
or even three-day delivery.

This approach is aiming to make unwise changes irreversible.
So, Ukiah has been facing imminent closure of its beautiful,
functional and historic downtown post office. Some people in
rural areas are on the verge of losing the only post office
within reasonable driving distance.

Meanwhile, nationwide, plans are afoot to eliminate Saturday
postal delivery.

A bizarre accounting method, falsely portraying the Postal
 Service as insolvent, provides a rationale for slash-and-
 burn "remedies." Congress has failed to overturn a five-
 year-old requirement imposed by Republican leaders that
 cooked the books - mandating the extraordinary pre-funding
 of more than $5 billion every year for retiree health
 benefits.

This travesty is part of a pattern. While Wall Street
flourishes, Main Street suffers - and powerful forces in
Washington are opting for policies that normalize
unemployment while undermining individuals, families and
communities.

Hours after the COTS breakfast, I went across town to a
public meeting about a proposal to close both of the regional
mail-processing facilities in Petaluma. About 230 employees
would be directly affected.

Although enveloped in public-relations fog, the presentation
from U.S. Postal Service management was all too clear. This
is a national directive. In the name of becoming more
"competitive," the Postal Service is moving to severely
damage its quality of service.

Postal employees and the public will suffer. Many jobs will
be lost. And millions of us who depend on first- class mail
will discover that one-day delivery has morphed into two-day
or even three-day delivery.

This approach is aiming to make unwise changes irreversible.
So, Ukiah has been facing imminent closure of its beautiful,
functional and historic downtown post office. Some people in
rural areas are on the verge of losing the only post office
within reasonable driving distance.

Meanwhile, nationwide, plans are afoot to eliminate Saturday
postal delivery.

A bizarre accounting method, falsely portraying the Postal
 Service as insolvent, provides a rationale for slash-and-
 burn "remedies." Congress has failed to overturn a five-
 year-old requirement imposed by Republican leaders that
 cooked the books - mandating the extraordinary pre-funding
 of more than $5 billion every year for retiree health
 benefits.

This travesty is part of a pattern. While Wall Street
flourishes, Main Street suffers - and powerful forces in
Washington are opting for policies that normalize
unemployment while undermining individuals, families and
communities.

To the north of Sonoma County, economic distress is even more
widespread. In Mendocino and Humboldt counties - whether
visiting a health clinic, senior center, public transit
agency, community college, student ecology project or
veterans assistance center - I've seen ominous impacts of
severe and protracted funding shortages that are tearing at
our social fabric.

For instance, policymakers are squandering money - and taking
lives - in a war effort that costs about $1 million per year
for each U.S. soldier now in Afghanistan. The failure of
Congress to enact a proposed one-quarter of 1 percent
transaction tax on Wall Street is depriving the U.S. Treasury
of $150 billion a year. And so it goes. Our national funding
priorities are out of whack. We must change them to revive
our communities.

___________________________________________

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