Truthout

As Congress reconvened Tuesday for its lame duck session, small business leaders from the Main Street Alliance network sent a letter to President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and other congressional leaders outlining a small business agenda for the fiscal showdown coming in the lame duck session of the 112thCongress. Main Street business owners called for an end to the top-bracket Bush tax cuts, urged Congress to protect middle class programs that strengthen the small business customer base, and pushed for additional revenue options.

Long before teenagers were imbibing dystopian fiction with unquenchable gusto, my teenage cohort was captivated by Planet of the Apes, the 1968 sci-fi film in which a crew of astronauts crash-lands on an unknown planet in the distant future. More recently, a photograph of a person walking by the remains of a roller coaster in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, demolished by Hurricane Sandy reminded me of the final scene of the film; two human beings along the shore in the "Forbidden Zone"—a region outside of "Ape City" that has remained quarantined for centuries subject to an ancient taboo—stumble upon the charred and buried remains of the Statue of Liberty.

The most important aspect of the proposed plan for the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) – to get out of its desegregation order – is that beyond individuals, the community is coming together to respond, both as a local and national community.

Perhaps soon, we will hear of El Plan de Tlamanalco (Tucson) or something similar that our community is putting together. And why Tlamanalco? Because the fire and the drum have been there at every step of the way.

Dear Mr. Bill O’Reilly,

On election night, as it became increasingly clear that Mitt Romney was going to lose the election to Barack Obama, I watched Fox News host Megyn Kelly ask you, “How do you think we got to this point?”

We met James while walking around the East Village. Video by Francesca Coppola and Matthew C. Levy.

So for a while the political placards will no longer litter our streets and lawns. The commercials on TV and radio will for awhile be devoid of political commercial lies. And we won't have to listen to often disingenuous banter between candidates, or watch them pander shamelessly to those they may not care a whit about but for their votes.

So what of value might we learn from the elections in America?

Washington, D.C. - Policy makers often claim that marriage is a way out of poverty for Americans striving for the middle-class. As Governor Mitt Romney said during the second presidential debate, “…to tell our kids that before they have babies, they ought to think about getting married to someone — that's a great idea because if there's a two-parent family, the prospect of living in poverty goes down dramatically.” A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research demonstrates that marriage alone does not ensure economic security and that most parents with below-poverty incomes who are raising children are, in fact, married.

Acts of terror that strikes fear in the hearts and minds of people, such as unexpected and secretive deadly drone strikes, are always wars against hope. But not only are they wars against hope, they are acts of aggression against domestic and international rules of law and the civilities of life.

Just hours after President Barack Obama learned that he had four more years as the executive leader of the United States of America, he ordered another drone strike against in Yemen and against the Yemenis. It was reported that three "suspected" terrorists were killed on the outskirts of Yemen's capital, Sanaa.

Starting today through November 14, everyday people across the country – families living in shelters since Hurricane Sandy, clergy, family farmers, people living with AIDS/HIV, and others – are organizing more than 25 prayer vigils, sit-ins, civil disobedience, and other home-district events to pressure Congress to refuse massive across-the-board budget cuts and fix the revenue crisis by requiring the top 2% and large corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.

"With the elections behind us, it's time for Congress and the Administration to get to work for the American people, not a handful of CEOs. When the tax dodging ends, investments in jobs and an economy that works for everyone can begin," said George Goehl, executive director, National People's Action.

Election's over, the good guy won, so what now for working people? Labor's wish list for our re-elected president and the new Congress is long, but certainly the most basic item is raising the pay of our poorest workers by raising the minimum wage.

About four million workers have been living in poverty or near-poverty at the current minimum of $7.25 an hour ÐÊ$15,000 a year at most before taxes and other deductions. And that's assuming the workers manage to find full time, year-round jobs.