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February 21, 1988 - Image 11

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
Michigan Citizen, 1988-02-21

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

By Paul KodDfell
The multi-national corpora­
noDS represent an increUing
concentration of economic
power in the U.s. and the world.
So far Jesse J acbon is the only
candidate to challenge the cor-
porate O· that dominate
our eeo and culture.
Jacbon points out that, at the
end of World War Il, 45 perc:cot
of manufact\1rius assets were
I controlled by the. 200 largest
- firms. Today they control 60
percent. Of an the candidates,
Jacboit has the most progres­
ive, well-researched and
coherent approach to economic
ref_
There are two pre-condi­
tion , Jackson explains, for
revitaJjzjng the U.S. economy:
(1) limits on the excessive export
of capital d j . (2) sharp
reductions in the military
budget. Without these changes,
it is impossible to reverse the
rising deficit or end chronic un­
employment and the pread of
poverty.
STOP THE ECO OMIC
HEMMORHAGE
"The export of jobs and capi-
1," Jack on: rite, -j an
economic hemmorhage that .
must be tOPF" Taking ad-·
vantage of tax incentiveS in 1980,
for example, U.S, corporations
exported $150 billion in cap�taI.
Jackson's campaign
speeches dramatize the effects
of corporate greed on both
workers abroad and workers at
home. In 1985 - Jackson noted in
a peech to the N ACP­
General Motors closed-down
series of U.s. pl� destroying
about 30,000 jobs in the u.s. .
OM ubsequently an-
nounced that it would open two
newparts in South Korea;
which has the lowest wage...scale
in the iad trialized orld.
Armed by the U.s. muniti in­
dustry, the South Korean
mi1itary prevents labor from or­
pnizinl effective unio . ·Our
American jo are not being
taken by Koreans or Taiwanese;
they are being taken to South
Korea and Taiwan by U.s. COID-
• with tax incentfta.-
pamea. h .
In a p onate speee ID
Akron, Ohio in 1984, Jacbon
reminded his audicDce that in
1973 U.s. corporatioos and the
CA coupired to destroy the
elected � of ADeode
in OWe. The u.s. spent mjUions
of dollars to overthro a
popular govoel'lUDCDt andaet up
the hated dictatorsbip of.
Pinochet.
Then in 1978 - the Ohio
. worker hardly had to be
reminded - Goodyear en d
production of the las pa-
\ . I
I 0
t
. h
I
I •
economic
..
Jac�son's economic plan
senger-tire plant in Akron,l vestment: Ind stries are . RE-VITALIZE ECONOMY
Ohio. A month later Goodyear opened, new workers trained, - The J acbon plan can re-vi­
in\ated S34 million in a new tire plans drawn, bricks are laid, talize the U.S. economy. Jack­
plant employing 2,000 Chilean school upgraded, and new . son seeks to cliange the unfair
I workers. professionals eat out to re- tax structure. "Before World
AS J cbon put it: -Goodyear build our country. . War Il, corporate income taxes
left Akron to take dvantage of. The ina-eased prodUctivity accounted for 34 percent of all
cheap sIa\le labor in OWe. The may enable our nation to federal receipts. Today they ac­
people of Chile do not want to progress and repay the loan out ceunt for no more than 13 per­
be slaves. .. any more than the of the increased employment cent... A jU$l, equitable re-
I people of t\kton wanted to lose and civilian growth. But tructuring. of our t� syst�m
their jobs. Our present foreign "peacetime- military loans are . would provide our nation With
e policy serves no cae but the parasitic and retrogressive. $50 to S70 billion dollars a year:
multi-national corporations They drain our capital and Jackson wants a new public
seeking cheap labor markets divert human resources into' the works program, about $50 bil­
abroad". . works of death. u.s. militariza- lion a year to build new high-
U.S. corproations are � tion of Central America not only ways, repave 'roads, modernize
u.s. public military powe to I drained U.S. reserves, it . transit systems, renew our water
pr,Otcct their private empire. decreased productivity of an al- and sewage �ems, expand .af­
Jackson wants U.S. corpora- readyimproverishcd area of the fordable housmg. and provide
tions to stop pitting Third World world shelter and hope for the home­
Iabo against workers in the U.s.
. Accordiagly he calls for an end . I .
to tax loopholes that encourage ,
:r:-:Y�oan���c= Stop Economic Violence
sweatshops in the Third Worl4
Invest in American is
Jackson's theme.
REDUCETHEPARAS�C
MILITARY BUDGET
Reductio of the runaway
military budget is the second
pre-condition to genuine
economic reform.
In 1984 Ja4bon proposed a
20% reductlon int m.ftitary
pen� I
The Reagan oillitary spend­
iog binge was not only ced
by decreased investment the
civilian economy, the binge
generated the largest deficit in
history and was partly respon­
sible for the stock market crash
iaOctober.
Militarism helped tansfo�
the U.S. from the world's largest
. creditor to the world's largest
debtor.
Between 1982 and l� the
u.s. borrowed S400 billion from
abroad, about the same amount
of increase in the U.s. military
spending over the same period.
A net foreign debt � will ��
exceed $6SO billion, and anemic
manufacturing base, militarized
high-tech industry, indus�esl
transfOllllCd into merchants of
death, a.DeW trade-war - these
are the legacy of the export -and­
militarize economics of the
Reapn years.
Jackson alone cems to
rempi� � without limits on
the export of Capital and without
reduced mi1itary spending. the
riling deficit cannot be
reversed.
It· not oDIy the debt itself, as
Jackson tells but the kind of
debt that threatens us.
Under RCIpD we borrow to
destroy. It is one thing for a
country to takc,out loans for
pume capital and civilian Jo-
Redirect America to ard
ju Ice,1 peace an\d pr--erity
/1
oe 0
, Go to the Deinocratlc Caucu n
between 0 a.m, and 4 p.m. on
'At the Caucu
be prepared to:
e.
less. A national health care
policy, special legislation to deal
with youth unemployme-. job
training programs for the
chronically unemployed, a ten­
point labor platform that in­
cludes raising the minimum
wage, strengthening OSHA,
stopping the privitization of
government service up port
for comparable worth, parental
leave, work-place cbildcare, and
federal enforcemtnt of affirm­
ative action for minorities and
women - these are also part of
Jackson's economic program.
Jackson is not only the con­
science of the Democratic Party;
he is its leading economist as
well. .
Paul Rockwell is a feature
. writer in Oakland, fonnerly assis­
tant Professor of Philosophy at
Midwestern University, Texas.
,.
• Show ybur Ld.
• Sign a statement that you will·be a registered voter
on or before . ov.9, 1988 '
. • Sign a statement that you want to be a Democrat

. For informa · on on the cplucus location nearest you,
caJI the state Democraffc 0 ee at 517-371-5410
. In Detroit, for infonnati'on on the Caucus location, or to volunteer your
. help or the J ac on campaign-:· ..
JESSE'
EEDS
·YOU!
d

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