Current Issues

The Communist Party USA meeting in New York City June 28-29, 2003 concluded that the most urgent task facing the working class and its allies in the next 17 months is mobilizing a broad people's coalition to defeat George W. Bush and the ultra-right Republicans in the 2004 elections.

As the seemingly endless lies and betrayals of the Bush administration come into the light of day, the insidious nature of the right-wing agenda is becoming more widely understood. Many national leaders now speak of the intent of the Bushites to bankrupt government; dismantle every public entity from education to Medicare; destroy union representation, civil rights and civil liberties; appropriate the spoils of the earth and dominate the entire world.

Our country and the world are going through an exceedingly dangerous period. I suppose one could imagine a more ominous time, but I can’t think of one. We have fought two wars in the space of six months and two bloody, costly, and coercive occupations have followed. No exit strategy is under consideration in either Afghanistan or Iraq.

May Day, much like other holidays, is an occasion to break bread with family and friends in a festive atmosphere. Who in their right mind could be against that? What makes May Day different from other holidays is that it hasn’t been drained of its meaning and commercialized by corporate interests.

Some are saying that the never-ending war policy may render Bush unbeatable in 2004. In reality, the Bush administration and the Congressional Republicans are very vulnerable. Their defeat is of the greatest importance for the future of our country and the world.

In the March 25 Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Mary Mitchell had the absolute gall to accuse those who do not support this war of not supporting the military men and women, many just teenagers, who have been deployed to Iraq.

Since the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration and its supporters in the media have been working overtime perpetuating an old myth that protesting a war is unpatriotic and against our troops whose lives are on the line. Nothing could be further from the truth. The U.S. people have a patriotic duty to object to the rogue-nation policies of George W. Bush and his “Republican Guards.”

WASHINGTON – Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) told a protest rally in San Francisco a few weeks ago that George W. Bush has “awakened a sleeping giant,” the worldwide movement to stop his doctrine of unilateral, preemptive war on Iraq.

With layer upon layer of misrepresentation, exaggeration, and outright lies, George W. Bush and his war cabinet have recklessly flung our nation into an illegitimate, illegal, and unnecessary war.

We are at a rare moment in human history. Politics has become the overriding passion of hundreds of millions and the halls of political power have been transformed into sites where vast political and social forces collide in a battle over the future. As an activist in the trade union movement said to me only a few days ago, “The world has become politicized.”

For the past seven months, the United Nations Security Council has been proceeding on the assumption that its sole objective was to disarm the Iraqi regime of weapons of mass destruction, not to overthrow it.

I wasn’t surprised to hear that the crew on the space shuttle Columbia enjoyed listening to John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Looking at our beautiful and fragile planet from space must evoke a deep feeling – a feeling that Imagine captures so poignantly – of the oneness of life and the overarching necessity of safeguarding world peace.

NEW YORK – The Bush administration faced a widening credibility gap in its efforts to convince the world that a war to remove Saddam Hussein is imperative even if 100,000 Iraqis die in the Pentagon’s “Shock and Awe” war scenario.

A lot has happened in the world since the last time we had a major discussion of the labor movement in the National Board. In preparation for our National Convention in 2001, we had quite an extensive and lively discussion of a new Labor Program for our Party.

At the beginning of the 2002 election cycle, we set three inter-related goals for ourselves: 1) to play a part toward defeat of the ultra-right; 2) to build political independence; and 3) to build the Communist Party at the grass roots.

On December 14, 2002 thousands of youth will hit the streets of Harlem and Washington Heights to let our voices be heard. Uptowh Youth for Peace and Justice recognizes the urgency of opposing this war, which would represent not only an attack on the innocent people of Iraq, but also on our communities at home.

Come hear Luis Fernandes', of the Communist Party of Brazil, analysis of what Lula's victory represents, the alliance that made it possible, and his projections of what comes next!

Baltimore, MD Monday, December 9 Stony Run Friends Meeting House 5116 N. Charles St.
Cambridge, MA Tuesday December 10, Cambridge YWCA in the Silva Room 7 Temple Street Central Square.
Chicago, IL Thursday, December 12, Hot House 31 E. Balbo.
Oakland, Ca Friday, December 13, YWCA of Oakland 1515 Webster St.
Los Angeles, CA Saturday, December 14, Los Angeles Workers Center 1251 S. St.
Andrews Place
New York, NY Sunday, December 15, Martin Luther King Labor Center Auditorium,
310 w. 43rd st.

After months of intense activity, a broad people’s movement came up just a little short at the ballot box on November 5. What would have been a breathtaking victory, especially given the unfavorable political atmosphere and circumstances, turned into a victory for the Bush administration and the Republican Party.

Three weeks ago the Bush administration announced a new strategic-military
policy, titled, “The National Security Strategy of the United States,” which,
to put it bluntly, is a promissory note for unending and calamitous war.

The results of the 2002 elections are not in the bag for the Bush Republicans. It would be a fatal mistake to come to that conclusion at this critical moment, six weeks before Election Day. The Bush Republicans are engaging in tactics of desperation. This election is too close to call as of today.