martes, 31 de enero de 2017
lunes, 30 de enero de 2017
sábado, 28 de enero de 2017
jueves, 26 de enero de 2017
miércoles, 25 de enero de 2017
martes, 24 de enero de 2017
domingo, 22 de enero de 2017
US must invest in social programs, undo military buildup.
 |
| Former 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis warned of skyrocketing deficits under Trump at CSUF. |
By
Alfredo Santana
Former Democratic presidential nominee Michael
Dukakis criticized President Donald Trump’s policy to beef up the military and
to inject funds to build a new generation of aircraft bombers to wipe out
terrorists in the Middle East.
Before an audience of about 300 people, composed of
retirees, activists and representatives of political parties in Orange County, Dukakis,
also a two-term former governor of Massachusetts, warned injecting funds to assemble more “Stealth”
bombers will skyrocket the federal deficit in times when money should be invested
in social safety programs.
He indicated the B-2 bomber is irrelevant to ISIS,
the terrorist Islamic group operating in Syria, organization which doesn’t have
weapons to combat airplanes capable to deploy nuclear
bombs that sneak under radars.
Individual terrorist cells who claimed allegiance to
ISIS launched attacks in the Boston Marathon of 2013, killing three people and
injuring dozens, and in the city of San Bernardino, CA. in December 2015, leaving 14 people dead and 22 injured.
Each B-2
Spirit Stealth bomber has a price tag of about $737 million.
“What are we doing? We should invest in children
development, infrastructure and environmental issues, which pose more serious
threats to the world,” Dukakis noted at the Rotary Club room in the library of
California State University Fullerton on Jan 21, 2017.
Dukakis, who deferred from studying law to join the
Armed Forces from 1957 to 1959 before graduating from Harvard University, said
the buildup touted by Trump doesn’t make sense in an international landscape
that poses a reduce threat of an arms’ race.
“Since World War II, the US has felt compelled into
foreign affairs. No country has intervened more brutally, aggressively and
constantly than us,” Dukakis said. He acknowledged the demise of Chile’s
Salvador Allende as part of the US’ lack of sympathy for the socialist
president.
Dukakis mentioned the US spends more money today
than Russia and China combined in arms and military equipment, 27 years after
the dissolution of the former USSR and the end of the Cold War.
Dukakis defined President Bill Clinton’s 1990s policy
to expand NATO into Ukraine, which borders with Russia as provocative.
“Of course Russia’s going to react. If this doesn’t
stop, we are going to spend billions and billions of dollars on this nuclear
stuff,” he insisted. “Also, the notion of China interfering in international
navigation is preposterous.”
He called for both Democrats and Republicans in
Congress to stand against more militarization of the Southeast Asia region, and
to stop all the “nonsense,” and to defeat terrorists in Syria and the Middle East with the cooperation of regional nations.
However, Dukakis said he’s “very worried” about North
Korea President Kim Jong-un, and defined him as a “dangerous kid,” with whom
Russia and China must work to craft a resolution that bans all of its nuclear activity.
Affordable
Care Act
Dukakis jabbed Trump for his twisted set of national
priorities, and said the Affordable Care Act
was a long overdue plan the country owed to its citizens.
He estimated that “95 percent of all people covered are working
people. Many are low-income, others are middle class. But they are not resting.
It was time to provide affordable healthcare to working Americans,” Dukakis
noted.
The 1998 Democratic presidential nominee attacked the
brand of populism linked to Trump, explaining the Republican billionaire ran on
a platform aiming to repeal the Affordable Care Act and Medicare, programs
designed to improve the lives of ordinary people. On the contrary, he said, Trump
will slash taxes to benefit the wealthy.
He lambasted House Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan to gut
Obamacare, and said retirees want stability in their lives, and detest plunging
into a healthcare market with vouchers to shop around.
Also, Dukakis called to pass legislation for about 700,000 DACA
students, the undocumented immigrants who arrived to this country as children
with their parents, but “by all intent and purposes are Americans.”
He stressed the Democratic Party needs to overhaul
its canvassing and recruiting efforts at the grassroots levels, and borrow a
model called “Precinct-base captain community organizations,” or platforms setup with 150 to 200 members who ensure voters are
informed about public issues, how they work and candidates' stance.
“While I was in law school, I put on a nice pair of
shoes and visited all households in my local district, and I won. I had a team
of 10 to 15 precinct workers who helped me. It’s not rocket science. We need to
get serious about grassroots organizations that affect thousands of people,”
Dukakis indicated.
viernes, 20 de enero de 2017
jueves, 19 de enero de 2017
martes, 17 de enero de 2017
domingo, 15 de enero de 2017
martes, 10 de enero de 2017
lunes, 9 de enero de 2017
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)
Entradas
