Facing South

Facing South tag:www.southernstudies.org,2008-10-10://5 2009-07-10T18:13:39Z Your leading source for news, politics and trends in the changing South. Published by the non-profit Institute for Southern Studies. Movable Type Pro 4.21-en This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site. Watchdog group urges Congress to investigate racist extremists in the military tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11693 2009-07-10T18:01:42Z 2009-07-10T18:13:39Z

FRI 7/10 | After finding some 40 personal profiles on a neo-Nazi website listing members' occupation as "military," the Southern Poverty Law Center is calling for action -- and questioning why the extremists get to stay when gays have to go.

Sue Sturgis http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=20

In a letter [pdf] sent today to the chairs of House and Senate Homeland Security committees and Armed Services committees, the Birmingham, Ala.-based SPLC says current Pentagon policies appear inadequate to prevent racial extremists from joining and serving in the armed forces. As the watchdog group reports on its website:

In recent months, SPLC investigators found approximately 40 personal profiles that listed "military" as an occupation on the Internet forum New Saxon, which is operated by the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement. One individual, who claims to be serving in Afghanistan, lists as his favorite book The Turner Diaries, which was written by neo-Nazi leader William Pierce. The book served as a blueprint for the Oklahoma City bombing by Gulf War veteran Timothy McVeigh. Another individual said he was about to be deployed overseas and was looking forward to "killing all the bloody sand niggers." Still another spoke of his hatred for undocumented immigrants.

The FBI released a report last year that also raised concerns about racist extremists in the military. And in April, the Department of Homeland Security released another report that found right-wing extremists present the most significant threat of domestic terrorism, and it cited concerns that these groups would exploit the combat training of returning veterans.

The DHS report sparked controversy, with some veterans groups and others accusing DHS of being anti-veteran. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano ended up issuing an apology to veterans upset by the conclusions. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, called for an investigation into "evidence of unsubstantiated conclusions and political bias" -- even though the report was initiated by the Bush administration.

The SPLC letter also notes that the U.S. military has discharged more than 12,500 service members since 1997 simply because they're openly gay:

It seems quite anomalous that the Penatgon would consider homosexuals more of a threat to good order than neo-Nazis and other white supremacists who reject our Constitution's most cherished principles.

]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/watchdog-group-urges-congress-to-investigate-racist-extremists-in-the-military.html Congressional members invested heavily in banks they bailed out tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11692 2009-07-10T16:58:11Z 2009-07-10T18:23:25Z

Revelations about the millions of dollars members of Congress have invested in banks, energy companies and other industries raises questions about conflicts of interest and how policy gets made.

Chris Kromm http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=19

When journalists and the public are trying to figure out how powerful interests are exerting influence on Congress, the first step is to look at campaign finance records and see who's paying for lawmakers' campaigns. But in recent weeks, disclosures about where members of Congress invest their own money -- such as health care industries -- have raised equally compelling questions about conflicts of interest and the ways corporate considerations influence policy.

Every member of Congress is required to submit a list of their major investments, and the always-helpful Center for Responsive Politics has compiled this data to figure out where our senators and representatives like to put their money. CRP concludes:

Just like many Americans, our elected officials like to play it safe with their investments, betting largely on blue chip companies across diverse industry groups.

What's most interesting is that, because CRP's data is from 2007, we get to see what Congressional members thought were "safe" investments before the 2008 crash.

Remarkably, many of the top Congressional investments were in financial institutions that they'd soon by spending billions to bail out. Here's a quick run-down of the financial institutions Congressional members were invested in, and their rank among all company investments in 2007:

CONGRESSIONAL INVESTMENTS, 2007 (House and Senate)

COMPANY / RANK / # OF CONGRESSIONAL INVESTORS

Bank of America / 5 / 59
Wachovia / 8 / 55
JP Morgan Chase & Co / 11 / 52
Citigroup / 14 / 49
Wells Fargo / 19 / 40

It's interesting to see the two Southern banks that failed so spectacularly -- BoA and Wachovia -- ranking in the top 10. That same year, both were plunging themselves more deeply into the mortgage credit crisis -- especially BoA, which purchased sub-prime albatross Countrywide Financial in August 2007.

Other notable investments with a direct bearing on current policy decisions:

* ENERGY COMPANIES, including ExxonMobil (#8 biggest investment in Congress), Chevron (#23) and ConocoPhillips (#31).

* WAL-MART (#25), which is a major lobbyist on issues from health care to the Employee Free Choice Act.

* HEALTH INTERESTS, like Pfizer (#5), Johnson and Johnson (#10), Merck & Co (#31) and Bristol Meyers-Squibb (#40).

The most popular investment by far? General Electric, which in 2007 had 53 Democratic and 43 Republican investors.

Also on the list: Government-supported giants AIG (#24) and Goldman Sachs (#46) -- which might be one reason many members of Congress thought they were "too big to fail."
]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/congressional-members-invested-heavily-in-banks-they-bailed-out.html Texas cities grapple with anti-gay bias among police tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11691 2009-07-10T16:10:51Z 2009-07-10T16:43:27Z

FRI 7/10 | Just weeks after a police raid on a gay club in Fort Worth left a patron with life-threatening brain injuries, El Paso is embroiled in controversy after gay men were kicked out of a restaurant -- and local police took the restaurant's side.

Sue Sturgis http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=20

Just weeks after a police raid on a gay club in one Texas city left a patron with life-threatening brain injuries, another Texas city is embroiled in controversy after gay men were kicked out of a restaurant -- and local police took the restaurant's side.

In the early morning hours of June 29, Carlos Diaz de Leon called El Paso police to report that he and a group of friends had been ordered out of Chico's Tacos by security guards because two the men in the group had kissed, the El Paso Times reports:

De Leon quoted one of the guards as saying he didn't allow "that faggot stuff" in the restaurant.

The men refused to leave and called police for help. In the meantime, the guards -- employees of All American International Security of El Paso -- allegedly directed other anti-gay slurs toward them. When two officers arrived about an hour later, one of them told the group that it was illegal for two men or two women to kiss in public and that they could be cited for "homosexual conduct" under law.

But the officer was wrong. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law he was referring to unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 -- the same year the El Paso City Council passed an ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation by businesses open to the public.

Briana Stone, an attorney with the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, told the paper that she found it troubling that a police officer chose not to enforce the city's ordinance:

"This is such a blatant refusal to uphold the law on account of discrimination," she said. "The result is devastating. The Police Department is allowing that and even participating in it by refusing to enforce an anti-discrimination ordinance, which is what their job is."

But El Paso Police Detective Carlos Carrillo defended the officers actions, telling the paper that every business has "the right to refuse service to whoever they don't want there."

At a meeting yesterday, members of El Paso City Council told Police Chief Greg Allen that they were upset with the conduct of his officers. Allen released a statement acknowledging that his officers were wrong about the law and that failure to stay abreast of the law would result in "appropriate discipline." Also yesterday, Diaz de Leon submitted a formal complaint to the police department's Internal Affairs Division.

Meanwhile, protests are scheduled to continue for the third consecutive weekend in Fort Worth, Texas over a June 28 police raid on a gay bar during a Stonewall commemoration that left one man with serious head injuries, the Dallas Voice reports. Seven officers from the Fort Worth Police Department and two agents from the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission clashed with patrons of the Rainbow Lounge during the incident, which ended in the arrests of seven people and the hospitalization of patron Chad Gibson for brain injuries.

Witnesses have said Gibson, who was released from the hospital last Saturday, had his head slammed into a door by officers. He was reportedly in the custody of the ABC agents at the time the injury occurred.

The police department and Alcoholic Beverage Commission are conducting internal investigations and have called on witnesses to step forward with their stories. Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief asked the U.S. Attorney General's Office to review the police department's findings.

The incident at the Rainbow Lounge has also led to the formation of a group called Fairness Fort Worth, which aims to bring together a coalition of community, civic and government leads to prevent such incidents in the future, according the Dallas Voice.

As Facing South reported earlier this year, violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people often goes unreported to the police. Unfortunately, incidents like these in El Paso and Fort Worth do nothing to encourage crime victims to step forward.

(Photo of a pro-gay protest outside Fort Worth's Rainbow Lounge is from the Facebook group Rainbow Lounge Raid.)

]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/texas-cities-grapple-with-anti-gay-bias-among-police.html VOICES: How coastal erosion contributes to poverty: Time for a new federal approach tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11689 2009-07-10T14:21:38Z 2009-07-10T18:24:34Z

FRI 7/10| The communities of coastal Louisiana are being submerged by the encroaching Gulf -- an environmental problem that has become a socioeconomic one.

Guest Blogger http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=14 By Courtney Howell and Diane Huhn, Bayou Grace Community Services

The communities of coastal Louisiana, once exceedingly rich in resources and culture, now lie on the verge of collapse. A unique and remarkable environment that took thousands of years to create thanks to the abundant sediment and fresh water of the mighty Mississippi River has been nearly decimated in less than a century. Unfortunately, this natural disaster will also exacerbate poverty in a region already deeply afflicted by economic loss. Without action now to help address coastal erosion, an environmental problem will become a socioeconomic one.

Historically, healthy barrier islands and vast systems of marsh and wetlands helped block coastal communities from the intensity of hurricanes and tropical storms. They served as natural first and second lines of defense-slowing wind speeds and absorbing storm surge. Under healthy conditions, wetlands act as a colossal sponge, absorbing roughly one foot of storm surge for every 2.7 miles of healthy marsh. In addition to placing themselves between these protecting forces and the sea, early settlers built their communities in areas that provided a third line of defense-ridges, which served as natural levees.

But over the last 75-80 years, human intervention has so weakened these natural defenses -- especially in the Barataria-Terrebonne Estuary which lays east of the Atchafalaya and west of the Mississippi Rivers -- that families are now forced to rely almost solely on manmade levees for their protection. What was once the last line of defense is now quickly becoming the only line of defense. Even worse, far too many residents, particularly low-income Louisianans, live outside of levee systems, where there is almost no protection left at all.

Unnatural land loss and erosion have not only assaulted the physical landscape in which coastal Louisianans live, it has battered the financial landscape as well. The expense of repairing or rebuilding their homes and replacing their belongings has put a huge financial strain on so many, but a storm no longer needs to make landfall to put a burden on families' pocketbooks. Due to the unnatural loss of natural protections, many communities can no longer offer shelter facilities close to home due to safety concerns. Families must often make difficult decisions about when and where to evacuate in order to ensure that they don't become trapped with no way out.

In addition, living along coastal Louisiana requires that many residents elevate their homes - in excess of ten feet in some areas -- a venture that can cost between $30,000-100,000. Insurance rarely covers the total cost after a storm, and even residents still able to afford insurance face higher deductibles with each passing storm. Home owners and flood insurance has quickly become unattainable for many residents, with policies that now cost between $5,000-8,000 a year, or more.

These costs only exacerbate financial insecurity in a region that has endured an economic downturn for some time now. Many people who traditionally have made their living along the coast as fishermen or workers in the oil field could at one time claim moderate incomes, but that is no longer the case. Even without the costly effects of hurricanes and other storms, a large percentage of people along the Louisiana coast are worse off than the previous generation. Many are just getting by, and like many Americans, are one pay check away from financial collapse. According to a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries 2007 shrimp marketing survey, the average dockside price paid for shrimp in Louisiana has dropped from approximately $1.85 per pound in 1995 to approximately $0.98 per pound in 2006.

Despite these hardships, another costly environmental threat is on the horizon. Currently, there is just enough marsh left to provide food and nursery beds for shrimp, crab and other fisheries. However, if land loss is allowed to continue, the fishing industry is headed for collapse. And it is likely that it will not happen gradually. The collapse of the ecosystem will add stress to families already under great strain and who live in the most vulnerable areas.

Coastal Louisiana is at a critical juncture and in desperate need of comprehensive restoration and protection. This problem has been well documented for decades by both state and federal agencies. However, action and full commitment to restore and protect this area has moved slowly and the money needed to holistically implement restoration and protection projects that can reverse the tide have been minimal in light of what is required.

Some positive actions have occurred since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast was approved in 2006 and is administrated through the newly created Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Federal funds from the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) of 1990, Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP), oil and gas revenue sharing or state surplus funding that are dedicated to coastal restoration and protection are available through a competitive process under the CPRA.

Yet the CPRA is underfunded and in need of greater federal commitment. Funding available one year may be gone the next. In addition, because this is a competitive process due to resource constraints, coastal restoration and protection projects are often not well coordinated.

One of the biggest untapped opportunities would be for Congress to redirect the Army Corps of Engineers to help steward land management in the region.

The first thing Congress must do is guide the Corps to perform coastal restoration work in the name of hurricane protection. When policymakers determine the Corps' budget for Louisiana, they tend to focus on the immediate primary Corps operations, which include: navigation, flood control and restoration.

While all the pieces are there, policymakers frequently overlook the interconnectedness of these goals. The truth, however, is that island enhancement and marsh restoration will reduce storm surge and storm intensity, thereby limiting the cost of flooding and devastation.

If policymakers took a more holistic approach to restoration, they would recognize that protecting the coast would reduce the constant need for federal dollars to rebuild communities. Redirecting the Army Corps of Engineers to undertake restoration work as a means of protecting coastal Louisiana would accomplish this.

The second thing Congress can do is allow the Corps to use the sediment that they dredge annually from the Mississippi River and its tributaries to be used in a beneficial way. Currently, the Corps dredges the Mississippi to maintain river depths for navigation. The Corps is directed to dispose of the sediment they dredge in the most cost-beneficial manner. Unfortunately, this usually means not returning the material to the Louisiana estuary. Instead, the Corps dumps the sediment off of the continental shelf.

If Congress were to redirect the Corps to put sediment into the estuary, it would be an easy, effective way to build marsh and land. New technology will help ensure dredged sediment can be used to stabilize the environment and help to rebuild the environment so that it can once again protect the area.

Finally, all related agencies -- the CPRA, the Corps and other state and federal groups -- need to work with nongovernmental organizations to educate the public not only on the effects of coastal land loss and erosion, but also why rebuilding the coast will help sustain the environment and protect people from future storms. If the public at large is not apart of the overall process of restoration and protection, no governmental efforts will succeed.

If coastal Louisiana is going to survive, then the multiple lines of defense -- barrier island enhancement, marsh restoration and hurricane protection systems -- must be implemented. Allowing the natural environment to falter will only exacerbate the severe deprivation already pervasive along coastal Louisiana. Congress can take the lead in protecting this vital part of our national environment and reduce Gulf Coast poverty at the same time.

Courtney Howell is director and Diane Huhn is volunteer coordinator for Bayou Grace Community Services, which implements outreach, services, and advocacy that addresses the immediate needs of the five bayou communities of Terrebonne Parish, giving residents opportunity and renewed strength to advocate and work towards the environmental health of their community. This commentary originally appeared in a series presented by the Equity and Inclusion Campaign.
]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/post-37.html Repeating the past's mistakes? FEMA still lacks a viable disaster housing plan tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11690 2009-07-10T14:00:57Z 2009-07-10T18:25:44Z

FRI 7/10 | A month into the 2009 hurricane season, and almost four years since hurricanes Katrina and Rita blew threw the Gulf Coast, federal authorities still aren't ready to handle another Katrina-scale disaster.

Desiree Evans http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=21

A month into the 2009 hurricane season, and almost four years since hurricanes Katrina and Rita blew threw the Gulf Coast, federal authorities still aren't ready to handle another Katrina-scale disaster.

On Wednesday, Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives testified before lawmakers at a House hearing, detailing how FEMA is not ready to provide emergency housing in the event of a massive hurricane or an earthquake, nor does it have a coordinated plan to quickly get people permanent housing after such a disaster.

In fact federal authorities could repeat some of the same mistakes that followed Hurricane Katrina unless it establishes a better plan for housing people after major disasters. According to Homeland Security inspector general Richard Skinner, FEMA relies too heavily on costly programs to provide trailers and mobile homes to survivors.

"FEMA does not have sufficient tools, operational procedures, and legislative authorities to aggressively promote the cost-effective repair of housing stocks, which would increase the amount of housing available and likely limit increases in the cost of housing, particularly rental rates," Skinner said in his testimony.

Lawmakers also want to see a more comprehensive plan to address the continued dislocation of the families along the Gulf Coast. The government's inability to swiftly and cheaply repair damaged housing, especially rental housing, and the inability to quickly get people into permanent housing, has ensured that marginalized communities have suffered the most in the continued housing crisis along the Gulf Coast. Several thousands of poor residents and communities of color are still displaced and locked out from returning to their Gulf Coast communities due to the lack of affordable housing and support for transitioning back into permanent housing.

It's a systematic problem from start to finish. According to Skinner, all too often, families displaced by disasters are usually forced into temporary housing because the states aren't willing to restore low-cost housing. Yet federal and local government's reliance on temporary housing, as opposed to permanent housing, has been wasteful and a barrier to rebuilding.

As the Associated Press reported:

Not only does temporary housing leave communities unsettled -- thousands of families have been living in limbo along the Gulf Coast for several years -- but it is wasteful, [Skinner] said.

FEMA, for example, sometimes spent more than $100,000 after Katrina to keep a family in a temporary trailer for 18 months and has paid rent for thousands of families for more than three years. But it is restricted from spending significant amounts to repair permanent housing.

Skinner said FEMA is hamstrung by federal laws limiting its role in the broader rebuilding effort. He recommended that FEMA be given more leeway in facilitating permanent housing and that the Housing and Urban Development Department take over responsibility for housing assistance at some point after FEMA's initial response.

"FEMA needs better alternatives that quickly restore housing stocks," Skinner said.

]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/post-38.html Some states wasting money on corporate subsidies tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11688 2009-07-09T16:13:04Z 2009-07-10T16:45:02Z

While federal recovery spending is generally working as intended by helping states provide needed services and avoid layoffs, a number of states have squandered funds trying to steal jobs from each other.

Guest Blogger http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=14 By Nathan Newman, Progressive States Network

Overall, federal recovery spending is working as intended, helping states provide needed services and avoid layoffs that would be worsening unemployment rates. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that these funds are providing states with 40 percent of what is needed to help their budgets in balance over the next few fiscal years. The recovery plan has provided states with flexibility in addressing key programs and priorities.

Unfortunately, a number of states have wasted budget funds on trying to steal jobs from one another, as highlighted by Good Jobs First. A few of the worst examples:

A multi-state bidding war for a battery production consortium ended up with Kentucky offering $200 million to subsidize a 2,000-worker facility at a cost of $100,000 per job.
Georgia paid $100 million to NCR to move its 1250-person headquarters from Dayton, Ohio - its home for 125 years - down to an Atlanta suburb.
New Jersey has approved a radical new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) law that gives developers a whole range of subsidies.

As Good Jobs First writes, this is part of a long-term trend where "footloose corporations...play states and cities like a fiddle so that small businesses and working families get stuck with higher taxes and lousier public services."

But in a time of economic crisis when state budgets are devastated, wasting money on zero-sum bidding wars is destructive to the overall economy, since it diverts money from investments in people and infrastructure that will actually build long-term economic competitiveness for our country. ]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/some-states-wasting-money-on-job-bidding-wars-and-corporate-subsidies.html With Franken in the Senate, labor renews push for the EFCA tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11685 2009-07-09T12:28:59Z 2009-07-10T18:26:31Z

In one of his first acts as the junior senator from Minnesota, Al Franken signed on as a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to organize.

Desiree Evans http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=21 Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize. Franken was sworn into office on Tuesday following an eight-month recount.

Franken's support comes at a vital time. The battle over the EFCA has been quite a heated one this year. The EFCA, seen as one of the most important pieces of legislation in support of labor rights in a generation, was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in March. The bill would allow unions to form when a majority of workers sign cards -- a process dubbed "card check" -- as opposed to drawn-out National Labor Relations Board elections in which companies frequently subject workers to harassment and intimidation.

Although the legislation is expected to sail through the House, the issue has focused on whether the bill will get the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster in the Senate. When the act was first introduced in 2003, it won approval by a wide margin in the House, but a Republican filibuster prevented it from coming up for a vote in the Senate.

This time around, with Franken seated, Democrats have the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster. Now labor groups are making plans to renew their push for the EFCA, and hope to see the measure come up for vote this year. Franken's addition, in particular, is important due to the waffling of a handful of conservative Democrats -- such as Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln -- on the act. The bill has also faced constant attack by corporate lobbies waging a heavily-funded PR campaign.

Labor advocates hope that Franken's seating will also mean that Democrats will work to push the EFCA in its original form forward and not compromise by removing some of its most critical provisions.

]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/with-franken-in-the-senate-labor-renews-push-for-the-efca.html Without unemployment aid, residents in Miss. and Ala. face hard decisions tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11686 2009-07-09T12:26:13Z 2009-07-09T19:26:59Z

THURS 7/9 | Unemployed people in Alabama and Mississippi are finding themselves in dire straits because their states turned down federal stimulus aid to expand unemployment insurance.

Desiree Evans http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=21

Some unemployed residents of Alabama and Mississippi are finding themselves ineligible to receive unemployment benefits, new casualties of the battle between their state governors and the federal stimulus, reports the The Wall Street Journal.

During the past few months the South has been the epicenter for conservative governors waging battle against the federal stimulus. As Facing South reported, rejecting unemployment benefits became a carefully-played political move for a handful of Southern governors, who argued that unemployment funding came with "too many strings" attached.

The unemployment aid provided in the federal stimulus makes it easier for more jobless people to qualify for benefits and receive funds for longer periods of time, while also providing coverage for laid-off part-time and seasonal workers. Several states required a change in state law to qualify for the aid, including a significant overhaul of outdated unemployment systems to ensure accurate counting.

Alabama would have received some $99 million in federal stimulus money as benefits. In early April, Alabama state lawmakers passed a resolution calling for the state to accept the stimulus funds, but Riley refused to sign the resolution, saying that the legislature must change state law for Alabama to qualify. Because the legislature hasn't rewritten the law yet, Riley argues that the resolution is meaningless.The stimulus aid would have expanded eligibility and enabled some 20,000 more unemployed people to qualify for benefits in Alabama. Alabama's unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in May, the highest in nearly 25 years and more than double the rate from a year ago.

Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour similarly rejected some $56 million from the stimulus for unemployment benefits. The Mississippi state legislature had the power to overrule Barbour's decision with a joint resolution, but the motion did not pass in the Senate. Last spring, community advocates launched an online campaign called "Standing with Mississippi" that includes a petition urging Barbour to change his mind and to accept the $56 million in unemployment insurance benefits that could help some 40,000 people get through the recession. Mississippi's unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent in May.

Most states across the country have signed on to make the changes in their unemployment systems to receive the aid. As the Wall Street Journal reported:

Since the stimulus bill was passed, 25 states have overhauled their systems. In all, 33 states and Washington, D.C., now qualify for funds from the so-called modernization act, and seven more have introduced or are contemplating legislation that would make them eligible.

Alabama and Mississippi are the only two states that rejected the modernization act, as well as a separate program that would extend benefits by 13 to 20 weeks for people who exhaust their benefits but haven't found a job.

Without the aid, jobless residents in Mississippi and Alabama are finding it harder and harder to get by. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Laura Perry, an executive secretary in Mississippi who lost her job last year, said, "It is outrageous that the rest of the country is getting these benefits and we are left out." After her benefits expired in May, she sold her living-room set. She has been soliciting sponsors to help pay for her son's trips with his school basketball team.

]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/without-stimulus-unemployment-aid-residents-in-miss-and-ala-face-hard-decisions.html VOICES: Task force calls for immigration overhaul tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11687 2009-07-09T10:44:18Z 2009-07-10T18:26:04Z

Democrats and Republicans agree that the failure to get immigration policy right will have serious consequences for America's future.

Guest Blogger http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=14 By Edward Alden, New America Media

After several years of failed efforts, Congress appears set to take another crack at reforming the nation's antiquated and dysfunctional immigration laws. President Obama has made it clear that immigration reform is among his top priorities.

There is no issue that is more important to the long-term well-being of the United States.

According to a report released July 8 by the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy, a group of prominent Republicans and Democrats convened by the Council on Foreign Relations, the failure to get immigration policy right is having serious consequences for America's standing in the world. This country's openness to and respect for immigration has long been a foundation of its economic and military strength, and a vital tool in its diplomatic arsenal.

The United States attracts an extraordinary share of the world's brightest and most ambitious immigrants, an incalculable advantage in a global economy where huge advantages accrue to the most innovative countries. To take one of many examples, some 40 percent of science and engineering PhDs from American universities are awarded to foreign students. But Washington's inability to develop and enforce a workable system of immigration laws threatens to undermine the enormous benefits that immigration has brought to this country.

The Task Force, which was chaired by former Florida governor Jeb Bush and former White House chief of staff Mack McLarty, shows that a bipartisan consensus can be found on a sounder, more sensible approach. The basic principles should not be controversial: that America should generously welcome immigrants, as well as others who wish to visit, study, invest or work temporarily in this country, through an orderly and efficient legal system. At the same time, the United States must effectively control and secure its borders, denying entry to those who are not permitted and denying jobs to those not authorized to work here.

But achieving those ends will require that all sides in this debate recognize that there is plenty of blame to go around, and it is time to move forward. The current enforcement campaign, as laid out in the report, has given America a black eye in much of the world.

It is not fitting for a nation of immigrants to be separating families, locking up people for months or even years on often minor immigration violations, and building hundreds of miles of fence on its borders. At the same time, critics of these measures must recognize that they are a response to the longstanding, rampant violation of immigration laws in a country built on the rule of law.

On the other side, there is no evidence that enforcement alone is an effective policy. Illegal immigration has slowed primarily because the U.S. economy is in a deep recession and the demand for employees of all sorts has dried up. Yet there is little sign that unauthorized immigrants - who have homes, families and lives in the United States - are leaving in any significant numbers. If there is no reform of immigration laws, the problem will continue to fester for many years and even generations, creating security risks for the country, undercutting wages and working conditions for other employees, and leaving the immigrants themselves vulnerable to abuses, jail, and deportation.

The Task Force argues that there are three critical components to reforming the immigration system. First, the United States needs an overhaul of its legal immigration system so that it responds more efficiently and accurately to the needs of the labor market in a way that enhances the competitiveness of the U.S. economy. The current system operates on the basis of rigid quotas that block American companies from hiring the best workers, keep families divided, and leave many of those who make it here in a prolonged temporary status that provides no security to themselves or their families.

These restrictions are not just an issue for skilled workers; the annual quota for immigration by unskilled workers without family ties in the United States is an absurdly low 5,000. Fixing the legal immigration system will take money, but it is an investment that will pay off enormously. Currently the United States spends five or six times as much on enforcement as it does on processing legal immigrant applications--and all of the expenses on the legal side are paid by fees on the immigrants themselves.

What does it say about U.S. policy that we are willing to spend billions of dollars keeping out the people we don't want, but nothing to attract those we do want?

Secondly, the United States needs to restore the integrity of immigration laws through an enforcement regime that strongly discourages the hiring of unauthorized workers, provides greater control over America's borders, and levies significant penalties against those who violate the rules. Critics of immigration enforcement must recognize that the enforcement is here to stay. What the United States needs is more effective and humane methods of enforcement, focused primarily on the workplace and on employers.

Most immigrants who come here illegally come to find jobs at wages much higher than they could earn at home. Stopping that will require comprehensive electronic verification system for employees and tamper-proof identity cards to prevent fraud. It means rewarding companies that follow those rules, but punishing harshly, including with criminal penalties, those that don't.

Finally, the United States needs to offer a fair, humane, and orderly way to allow many of the roughly 12 million migrants currently living illegally in the United States to earn the right to remain legally. This last point has been, and will continue to be, the most controversial element of the immigration debate. There is no alternative but for advocates of reform to push back vigorously on the claim that this constitutes "amnesty."

An amnesty is a free ride. Even the most generous legalization proposals in Congress would require that those here illegally demonstrate a long period of gainful employments, pass criminal and national security background checks, pay substantial fines, and demonstrate basic mastery of English or a commitment to learn. It is a demanding list, and many will not meet the standard.

There will be objections to moving ahead with any sort of immigration reform in an economy where the official unemployment rate is nearing 10 percent and the real figure may be almost twice that. There is no question that the urgent need in the economy right now is for more jobs, not more workers. But immigrants have long been a vital part of the dynamism of the American economy, and creating a more sensible immigration system is fundamental to building a more prosperous future for all Americans. The Task Force, which was made up of people from diverse political stripes whose only common conviction was that the United States can and must do better in its immigration policy, shows that progress is possible. It is time for the administration and Congress to move forward.

Edward Alden is the project director for the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy.

]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/editors-note-prominent-democrats-and.html Gov. Barbour's questionable climate accounting tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11684 2009-07-08T16:01:15Z 2009-07-10T16:48:26Z

A former lobbyist for dirty energy interests, Haley Barbour testified yesterday that the Waxman-Markey climate bill would cost too much. But what about the cost to his state of doing nothing?

Sue Sturgis http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=20

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing yesterday on the Waxman-Markey climate bill that recently squeaked by the House of Representatives. The bill would cap greenhouse gas emissions and create a market where investors could trade carbon pollution permits.

Among those who testified was Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), who spoke following an opening panel with administration brass including Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. He testified separately from the second panel he was supposed to take part in because of scheduling issues.

Barbour is certainly a busy man these days, serving not only as Mississippi's governor but also as chair of the Republican Governors Association since South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford resigned the chairmanship following revelations about an adulterous affair.

Perhaps Barbour's newly hectic schedule is also to blame for the questionable accounting in his testimony. He opened by talking about the current economic crisis, high unemployment rate and fast-growing national debt and then went on to argue that Waxman-Markey would impede economic growth by raising energy bills:

The cap and trade tax, the $81 billion of tax increases on the oil and gas industry contained in the President's budget and the Waxman-Markey renewable energy standard would all drive up costs and drive down economic growth.

Barbour discussed at length the costs related to the climate bill -- and make no mistake about it, it will cost money to clean up greenhouse gas pollution. A recent analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that while Waxman-Markey would benefit the poorest 20% of households by $40 per year, it would cost the average U.S. household about $175 a year by 2020.

But at the same time, there are considerable costs associated with not taking action to curb greenhouse gas pollution and related climate disruption -- and nowhere in his testimony did Barbour mention them.

Last month we reported on a new federal study that looked at the impacts that pollution-related climate change is already having on the various U.S. regions including the Southeast, which has experienced a 2 degree F. increased in its average annual temperature since 1970 and an increase in heavy downpours. If nothing is done to limit carbon emissions, models predict continued warming, with average temperatures in the region expected to rise by at least 4.5 degrees F. by the 2080s.

These changes would have devastating effects not only on the region's ecology but also on its economy. The increased heat along with related disease problems is expected to cause a decline in yields in the cattle and dairy operations in areas of the Southeast including the Mississippi Delta -- as much as a 10% drop under some emission scenarios, according to the report.

Another factor driving costs in the disrupted climate is acceleration of sea-level rise, which allowed to continue would cause further problems in coastal states like Mississippi. The report notes that intensified storms due to higher seas have already proven costly to Barbour's state, where the state Department of Transportation is expected to spend more than $1 billion to replace the Biloxi and Bay St. Louis bridges damaged in 2005's Hurricane Katrina. The report includes a map (at right, click for larger version) showing Gulf Coast area roads at risk from sea level rise including Interstate 10 through Mississippi.

So why would Barbour ignore one entire side of the balance sheet when doing his climate change accounting -- tallying up only the costs related to climate action but overlooking the costs of inaction?

Could it have anything to do with his long and deep financial relationships with dirty energy interests?

The folks at the Climate Progress blog examined that question, assembling a dossier on Barbour's dirty energy connections:

* The oil and gas and utility industries were major contributors to Barbour's Mississippi gubernatorial campaigns, donating more than $1.8 million, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

* Barbour Griffith, the prominent Washington lobbying firm the governor once headed, brought in millions of dollars from clients that included coal companies, electric utilities, and oil and gas firms, reports the Center for Responsive Politics.

* When Barbour chaired the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997, Republicans received almost three times the amount of contributions from the oil and gas industry as Democrats -- $30 million compared to $12 million, according to CRP.

* And at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Barbour hosted a party with the Southern Co., a coal-fired electric utility giant he once lobbied for. The company had the largest force of lobbyists seeking to influence the Waxman-Markey legislation, according to a recent report by the Center for Public Integrity.

Meanwhile, Barbour has not offered any proposals to cut greenhouse gas pollution at the levels scientists say is necessary to prevent catastrophic climate disruption. With the governor being talked about as a possible presidential candidate in 2012, we wonder what kind of short-sighted accounting the U.S. would be subjected to under his watch.
]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/gov-barbours-questionable-climate-accounting.html Decision to dump TVA's spilled coal waste in Alabama community sparks resistance tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11683 2009-07-08T12:44:52Z 2009-07-10T16:46:16Z

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan to dump 3 million tons of toxic coal ash from last year's massive Tennessee spill in an impoverished Black Belt county -- but local residents and officials are fighting back in creative ways.

Sue Sturgis http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=20

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a plan last week to dump 3 millions of tons of coal ash that spilled from a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in eastern Tennessee in an impoverished, largely African-American community in Alabama -- and the decision is sparking resistance among local officials and residents who don't want the toxic waste.

The district attorney for Perry County, Ala. -- where the privately owned Arrowhead landfill that's getting the ash is located -- said yesterday the federal government's decision to bring the waste to his community was "tragic and shortsighted" and would endanger generations of residents, the Associated Press reports:

Perry County District Attorney Michael Jackson said he would monitor the lengthy disposal process to make sure the landfill operator and the federal utility comply with environmental regulations.

Jackson said he doesn't know if anything can be done to block the shipments, however.

"We're looking at every option, talking to different groups," Jackson said.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management defends the decision, and some Perry County officials say it will bring millions of dollars in payments and about 50 jobs to the area.

Coal ash contains significant levels of toxic pollutants including arsenic, lead and mercury as well as radioactive elements, but it is still not regulated by the federal government as hazardous waste. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said her agency plans to release a proposed federal rule for the waste by year's end.

In May, Facing South broke the story that TVA's decision to primarily consider two landfills for dumping the ash -- in Perry County, Ala. and Taylor County, Ga. -- raised environmental justice concerns because of the social vulnerability of the communities targeted.

Georgia's Taylor County is an agricultural area where almost 41% of the population is African-American and more than 24% of residents live in poverty, according to census data. Alabama's Perry County -- part of the historic "Black Belt" -- is 69% African-American with more than 32% of its residents living in poverty, making it one of the state's poorest counties.

TVA reportedly considered moving the coal ash to two communities in eastern Tennessee that are predominantly white and with lower poverty levels, but the company sought regulators' approval only for the Georgia and Alabama sites. TVA's announcement regarding the Alabama landfill's selection said the choice was made after an evaluation process involving more than 30 companies.

In a letter to Facing South following publication of our May report, Peyton T. Hairston Jr., TVA's senior vice president for corporate responsibility and diversity, took issue with the story:

To write that TVA has made decisions on where to transport ash from the Kingston coal spill based on the racial composition of a community is simply wrong.

For the record, the story did not say TVA made its disposal decision because of the community's racial composition. But the effect is the same: TVA -- with EPA's approval -- has chosen to move toxic waste from a predominantly white and relatively well-off community in Tennessee to a poor and majority-black community in Alabama.

Meanwhile, Perry County District Attorney Jackson is not the only Alabamian raising concerns about the dumping decision. The Tuscaloosa News editorialized against the move in a piece titled "Coal ash dump site in Alabama not welcome":

Why is it that the cheapest, politically easiest option for dumping this toxic waste is to put it in a poor, rural county in Alabama's Black Belt?

Local residents are also voicing opposition -- some in creative ways. When TVA held a public meeting last month in Harriman, Tenn. to discuss the ash disposal plans, Perry County resident Betsy Ramaccia showed up wearing a protective suit and breathing mask to denounce the decision as "an environmental injustice and a social injustice," WVLT-TV reports. To view the segment, which was produced before EPA approved the disposal decision, see Jonathan Hiskes' report at Grist.

And residents of Uniontown, the community closest to the Alabama landfill, got an opportunity to speak their piece about the dumping plans via www.ashholes.org, a website created by Project M, a socially responsible design firm that's also behind the innovative PieLab community space in nearby Greensboro, Ala. It features a short video of Uniontown residents, including the man in the still shot above, delivering a simple message to the EPA administrator.

"Lisa Jackson, will you protect us?"

(Image is a still from the video at www.ashholes.org)
]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/decision-to-dump-tvas-spilled-coal-waste-in-alabama-community-sparks-resistance.html NEW ORLEANS: The fastest growing forgotten city in the U.S. tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11681 2009-07-07T17:14:02Z 2009-07-10T14:54:08Z

In 2008, New Orleans grew faster than any other large city in the United States, according to the latest census numbers -- but you wouldn't know that from visiting some of its neighborhoods, Paul A. Greenberg reports.

Guest Blogger http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=14 By Paul. A. Greenberg, Greenberg Rants

Seven weeks after Hurricane Katrina, upon returning from exile, a friend of mine took me to see the edge of Lake Pontchartrain. It is where old, established New Orleans seafood restaurants were located. "Let's go to the lakefront and eat some crawfish," was part of the easy local lexicon. A long line of old clapboard buildings lined the lakefront, along with a couple that had been built more recently -- meaning sometime in the last 40 years or so. You could get lucky and grab a table outside and spend the evening talking and drinking and eating Louisiana seafood. You could watch the sun set on the lake, or watercraft buzzing by. Sometimes people would drive their boats right up to the restaurant, disembark and have dinner. It was a lovely part of the city.

When my friend took me to see it after the storm (left), there was no trace whatsoever of anything that had been there. Not an intact board or rooftop, not one recognizable thing. I lost my bearings for a few moments, actually not being able to figure out exactly where I was. It was a barren space that just looked out over the water. All traces of the "forget your troubles" kind of a place this used to be were eradicated. Of all the post-Katrina moments I have had, that may have been one of the most devastating. Standing there taking it in I was struck by the fully unwelcome silence of the place. Standing in the exact spot where the old restaurants had been, my friend and I looked at each other and quietly we knew this was one of those "you had to be there moments." Nobody who isn't here is going to understand how this feels.

Fast forward almost four years later: It Is July 1, 2009 and the U.S. Census bureau reports New Orleans is the fastest growing city in the United States. Last year alone, the population in New Orleans grew by 8.2 percent. We have about 311,000 people now. That is, however, down from approximately 484,000 in the 2000 census. Still, I can report that New Orleans feels more like itself, finally. The population no longer feels sparse, as it did for the first couple of years after the storm.

The city looks better, but if you get out into some of the outlying areas, such as New Orleans East and the Lower 9th Ward, things are still rough. In some places, not a lot of progress has been made. The much ballyhooed "Musician's Village," (right) a housing development for local musicians, spearheaded by Harry Connick, Jr., is a sight to behold. Amazing. But spitting distance from there, for years after Katrina, was the graveyard for all the New Orleans Police Department vehicles killed by the floods. You can see some new housing developments in New Orleans East, but the Lake Forest Plaza Shopping Mall, once a commercial hub, was virtually destroyed by the hurricane and the subsequent flooding. It sits as a giant reminder of nature's wrath.

In the Lower 9th, Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation is doing a phenomenal job in raising money and building highly innovative, storm-resistant homes. But a stone's throw from the development you can drive down streets in the Lower 9th that look like Katrina hit yesterday. The grass may be higher, but the devastation remains visible. If you have been here before, the devastation tells a sad story. Part of a house remains that was built a century ago, and across the street are the remains of the home of the first house's descendants. Just down the street might be a pile of rubble that once housed the grandchildren. This was a community that had rich family heritage. There was no great wealth here; no one boasts of a U.S. President hailing from the Lower 9th, but there is important cultural history here, just the same. So why, four years later, is it all still crumbling foundations, waist high weeds and nothing but memories?

Recent reports indicate there are approximately 3,800 vacant properties in the Lower 9th. If you are not in New Orleans, what you do not know is that you can walk right up to some of the smashed houses, look in the windows and still see dishes in the sink from August 29, 2005, or clothes hanging neatly in closets -- the door may be torn off but the garments are still there, waiting. The homeowners are still spread far and wide from Texas to Maine, Virginia to California. Those who are back often live on blocks where theirs is the only inhabited house. It is not uncommon to see residents whose houses show signs of repairs that were started, but then stopped. Often that has much to do with contractors who took their money and ran, without completing the job. An over-taxed, under-financed District Attorney's office in Orleans Parish has countless such cases waiting to be settled.

Elsewhere in the city, the Army Corps of Engineers came forward recently to admit that it is running behind on 13 levee repair projects. Some of these projects were not due to be completed until 2011, but now may take even a couple of years longer. That is, unless we have a Katrina-like storm that decimates even more of the existing levee system. The government allocated $15 billion to repair the levees, but that figure was tied to a repair schedule the Corps can no longer meet. If the levee repairs cost more than originally anticipated, no one knows from where the additional funding will come.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) reported that much of the money allocated for repairs throughout the Gulf Coast region was tied up in red tape. FEMA promised $5.8 billion to repair roads, schools, libraries, sewer systems and other infrastructure, but a good portion of the rebuilding has yet to begin. Meanwhile, the facilities that should have been repaired by now continue to rot. How long do government officials think an old school building or library with all of the windows blown out (above, right) can sit idle before it is not longer repairable? Or, perhaps that is the wrong question. Maybe the real question is: Do government officials think about the Gulf Coast and/or New Orleans anymore? Or are we yesterday's news?

The answer depends on your location. If you are anywhere outside of the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina is history. However, those of us who live in New Orleans, or the surrounding areas, see Katrina in present tense. A Katrina-like catastrophe could happen in Anytown, USA. Maybe even your town. And once it does, be aware that you will ultimately be out there on your own -- even if you live in the "fastest growing city in the United States."

Paul A. Greenberg is a New-Orleans based journalist. You can view his blog at GreenbergRants.blogspot.com.
]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/fastest-growing-forgotten-city.html Keeping count of the Gulf Coast tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11680 2009-07-07T16:20:51Z 2009-07-09T16:21:13Z

Community groups are launching efforts to ensure an accurate 2010 Census count in the Gulf Coast, a region still dealing with mass displacement from the 2005 hurricanes. In some Gulf states, an undercount by even several thousand people could lead to the loss of millions of dollars in aid in communities still trying to recover.

Desiree Evans http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=21

As the 2010 Census approaches, states and community groups across the country are organizing efforts to ensure accurate counts.

The information gathered in the 2010 Census will be used to determine the distribution of some $300 billion in federal funding to state and local communities. The numbers will also help determine the redistricting of local districts and voting precincts, as well as the reappointment of Congressional seats.

As Facing South reported, the decennial count could pose a challenge for the South and other parts of the country facing budget crises and fast-changing demographics. Southern states have been undercounted in the past, resulting in the loss of millions in federal funding. Many Southern states also have a disproportionate share of the populations that are historically undercounted: African-Americans, new immigrants, low-income residents and military families. Simply put, undercounting means these communities and populations do not get their fair share of public funding, an increasingly important issue in the midst of the country's deepening economic troubles.

Community groups point out that when funding doesn't reach cash-strapped communities, vital infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and disaster preparedness programs suffer. Undercounting also decreases the political power for marginalized groups since legislative redistricting and representation in Congress is governed by population numbers.

In the Gulf Coast, which is still struggling to recover and rebuild from the hurricanes of 2005 and 2008, the Census will play an important role in determining the amount of dollars flowing to the region over the next decade. The mass displacement and depopulation in the region resulting from the 2005 hurricanes presents a unique challenge. As a result, Gulf Coast advocates say that it is important that residents, especially those displaced or temporarily living in other states, be counted.

Last month the Louisiana nonprofit Moving Forward Gulf Coast and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund launched a joint public awareness campaign around the 2010 Census, aimed at ensuring an accurate count for communities along the Gulf Coast.

According to Moving Forward Gulf Coast, without an accurate count communities stand to lose critical dollars, which would only hurt continued rebuilding and recovery efforts in the region. For instance, community advocates underscore the importance of an accurate census to Louisiana's post-Katrina recovery, where an undercount by even several thousand people could lead to the loss of millions of dollars in aid to parishes that are badly in need. Political observers already predict that Louisiana will lose a seat in Congress after the 2010 census.

Groups like Moving Forward Gulf Coast also support the right of return for those populations internally displaced by the 2005 hurricanes. Below is a letter sent by Moving Forward Gulf Coast on June 15, 2009 to Congressman William "Lacy" Clay (D-MO), requesting a hearing to count displaced residents at their pre-Katrina residences:

As advocates for rebuilding strong and inclusive Gulf Coast communities in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and subsequent storms, we are very concerned about the U.S. Census Bureau's ability to achieve an accurate count of Gulf Coast residents in the 2010 census, especially in low-income, Black, Latino, and Asian American communities. We respectfully request your consideration of a subcommittee hearing - perhaps in a Gulf Coast city, such as New Orleans -- in order to fully air and address these concerns during the final months leading up to the 2010 count.

It is well known that the decennial census is more likely to miss people of color and the poor than other demographic subgroups. The destruction of entire communities and displacement of thousands of residents along the Gulf Coast during the hurricanes of 2005, coupled with the slower pace of rebuilding and return-migration in poorer neighborhoods, compounds the usual difficulties the Census Bureau faces in enumerating so-called "hard to count" populations groups. According to the January 2009 New Orleans Index, "massive destruction from Hurricane Katrina remains widespread ... Hundreds of streets are still in disrepair. Tens of thousands of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings remain damaged and unoccupied." According to the Census Bureau, Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish and Orleans Parish were among the nation's fastest and third-fastest growing parishes, respectively, between 2007 and 2008, and the New Orleans metro area has reached nearly 90 percent of its pre-storm population, but settlement patterns have shifted significantly from the pre-storm blueprint, and the number of vacant and blighted residences in other parishes has increased since last fall.

All of these conditions -- rapid population growth, large numbers of displaced folks, and distressed neighborhoods -- present additional significant challenges for the Census Bureau and its community and municipal partners. Mail service in blighted communities might not reach all homes in various stages of renovation, even if homeowners have started to move back in, and census takers may find it difficult to navigate unsafe and unmarked streets to reach unresponsive households and to determine correctly the occupancy status of many structures.

An accurate census is essential to all communities, but its importance is magnified in Gulf Coast communities devastated by Katrina and subsequent storms. An analysis by the Brookings Institution showed that, in Fiscal Year 2007, Louisiana received $11.6 billion; Mississippi, $5.6 billion; and Alabama, $5.9 billion in federal funds for a wide range of critical programs and services, based in whole or in part on census data. On average, states receive roughly $1,200 annually, or $12,000 over a decade, for each person counted in the census; figures for some states in distress, such as Louisiana, are as high as $2,695 per capita annually. Our communities desperately need federal support to rebuild and strengthen our transportation, education, housing, health care, and public safety infrastructure. An accurate census also offers a necessary portrait of the pace of recovery and the challenges that remain to reach our goal of long term stability and prosperity, and will help ensure that our communities are represented fairly in national and state legislatures.

Our organizations have had little contact with Census Bureau officials, and we are concerned about plans for promoting awareness and participation in communities where people remain unsettled, as well as among migrant workers and people with limited English proficiency.

]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/post-36.html Federal court ruling in KBR case shields contractors from some wartime lawsuits tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11682 2009-07-07T16:02:38Z 2009-07-09T05:17:30Z

A U.S. appeals court decides that the military, and not a private contractor, was actually in charge of a fuel convoy when an accident left a U.S. soldier with severe brain damage.

Sue Sturgis http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=20

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its ruling [pdf] last week in Carmichael vs. KBR, a civil suit brought by the wife of a soldier who received a profound brain injury in a wreck during a fuel convoy in Iraq. The appellate court held that the woman cannot sue KBR, the Houston-based civilian contractor that was delivering the fuel.

Sgt. Keith Carmichael was a so-called "shooter" riding in a tanker truck operated by KBR during a 2004 convoy north of Baghdad, an area well-known for attacks on U.S. forces as well as private contractors. When the driver lost control of the vehicle while rounding a curve, Carmichael was thrown from and pinned beneath the truck. The severe injuries he suffered left him in a permanent vegetative state.

Annette Carmichael of Atlanta sued KBR along with its former parent company, Halliburton, and the truck driver in Georgia state court in 2006. KBR got the lawsuit moved to federal court in Atlanta and then asked for dismissal, arguing that the military was in charge of the convoy.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy C. Batten dismissed the lawsuit, finding it raised a political question involving the military role in the convoy. Carmichael appealed on the grounds that the contractor was responsible for the accident.

In last week's 2-1 ruling, the appeals court affirmed the lower court's ruling, noting that the political question doctrine "excludes from judicial review those controversies which revolve around policy choices and value determinations constitutionally committed for resolution to the halls of Congress or the confines of the Executive Branch."

The opinion, written by Judge Stanley Marcus and joined by Judge R. Lanier Anderson, said that adjudicating the plaintiff's claims "would require extensive re-examination and second-guessing of many sensitive judgments surrounding the conduct of a military convoy in war time."

While Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch agreed that the military controlled the convoy, she said Carmichael "sufficiently alleged a claim of negligent supervision" by requiring the driver to work unreasonably long hours.

KBR praised the decision in a statement: "This ruling confirms that contractors conducting wartime operations under the direction of the U.S. military can enjoy significant protections from tort lawsuits arising out of activities directed by the military," said KBR Senior Vice President and General Counsel Andrew D. Farley.

In its report about the 11th Circuit's decision, Reuters notes that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that a case involving convoy truck drivers killed or injured in Iraq must be heard. Tommy Fibich, an attorney representing the families of the drivers, says the decision to allow convoys to leave the base was not political but was KBR's, and he's not alone:

Mike Doyle, a Houston lawyer representing National Guard soldiers who are suing KBR over exposure to a toxic form of chromium in Iraq, agreed with Fibich that the two appellate court decisions appeared to run in contrast to each other, but also believed this was due to the facts involved.

As Facing South has reported, KBR has also come under criticism for its use of toxic burn pits in war zones, the electrocution deaths and poisonings of U.S. soldiers, rapes of its contract employees in Iraq, and subcontractors' poor treatment of migrant workers. ]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/federal-court-ruling-in-kbr-case-shields-contractors-from-some-wartime-lawsuits.html Charleston sanitation workers fight for union recognition tag:www.southernstudies.org,2009://5.11679 2009-07-07T13:56:13Z 2009-07-09T06:41:23Z

Sanitation workers in Charleston, S.C. are knocking on doors to drum up support for their battle to gain union recognition. They've been learning from leaders of a historic 1969 struggle, and drawing support from students and other unions.

Guest Blogger http://www.southernstudies.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=5&id=14

By Kerry Taylor, Labor Notes

Sanitation workers in Charleston, South Carolina, are knocking on doors to drum up support for their battle to gain recognition for Local 1199B, part of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees-AFSCME.

On April 4, the anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination during a 1968 sanitation workers' strike in Memphis, the Charleston workers launched a door-to-door petition drive to raise awareness of their struggle and pressure the City Council to recognize the union.

City officials have offered to meet with any individual worker about their concerns, but maintain that the state's right-to-work laws prevent them from negotiating with public sector employees. Union supporters counter that no South Carolina law forbids public employees from collectively bargaining.

Workers have complained of abusive supervisors, an ambiguous system of promotions that pits workers against one another, and treacherous working conditions.

One driver was blamed for an incident in which a falling tree branch pinned her in the cab and seriously injured her neck and shoulders. She was rushed back to work, as was a collector whose eyes were burned by chemicals that shot from a paint can as it was being compacted.

Until recently the sanitation workers had hoped to resolve these grievances through discussions with their supervisors. The discussions have provided a few token concessions such as new rain jackets, but little actual relief.

The workers have now concluded that establishing an employees' organization with democratic rights to negotiate with the city is the only way to win some measure of equality and fairness.

"If you're a public servant you deserve dignity, respect, and acknowledgment that you're doing a service for the community," said Richard Polite, a 12-year sanitation department veteran, who adds that the workers' demands are not primarily economic but center on basic human rights.

"We're overworked, underpaid, and disrespected. The people who are in charge of sanitation have got to realize that they're dealing with human beings."

While the City Council has the power to grant the union's request, the decision likely rests with Mayor Joseph P. Riley, who enjoys considerable influence over the Council.

Learning from the '60s

Since last summer, the workers have been meeting with Mary Moultrie and other leaders of a historic 1969 struggle. Forty years ago, Charleston was the center of a bitter 113-day strike by 400 hospital workers, almost all of them black women.

It drew strong support from Local 1199 and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and many civil rights and union activists viewed the strike as an indication of the potential for joining black power with labor militancy.

"There is more openness in Charleston today. It's a different city," acknowledges Moultrie. "But what drew me to the sanitation workers is that the day-to-day grievances are exactly the same as the ones we faced 40 years ago. This petition drive has brought those hidden grievances to the attention of the public."

Area students and members of Longshoremen (ILA) Local 1422 have joined the workers in collecting more than 4,000 signatures.

"Our reciprocal approach to workers who are organizing is a lesson we learned well during our struggle," said Leonard Riley of Local 1422, which was at the center of a nearly two-year international solidarity campaign to resist union-busting and to free five of its members -- the Charleston 5 -- arrested during a picket line protest.

"We know that we have to be there for any group of workers like the sanitation workers who are doing what they do to earn a living and protect themselves on the job," he said. "No one does it in this political and economic climate on their own."

Kerry Taylor is co-chair of the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, and teaches labor history and oral history at The Citadel in Charleston. See www.charlestonpeace.net for more on the sanitation workers' campaign and to sign their petition.

(Photo by Ajamu Dillahunt, who co-chairs ISS with Taylor) ]]> http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/07/charleston-sanitation-workers-fight-for-union-recognition.html