Party Builder 31 May 2001

In this issue:
*Convention information on the Web!
*Kudos to Wally & the PWW
*Book sale at the Reference Center
*Star Wars
*Pro-Democracy Convention
*Alliance for Retired Americans
*Pacifica Alert
*ACLU Alerts
*Bush and Energy
*Bush and Kyoto
*BONUS: Excerpts from Jarvis Tyner's PWW article on the JEFFORDS SWITCH

COUNTDOWN TO THE CONVENTION! Only 36 more days to go! Check out the new Convention web site here.

The latest reports from the May 5-6 National Committee Meeting are up here.

We are having trouble with our web server and are waiting to make a transition to a new one before we can post anything new. So we will be posting the latest draft of the Constitution, along with an introduction to it, and a proposed resolution from the School Workers' Commission on the Yahoo! Discussion group. We should be adding these to the web site by mid-week.

KUDOS TO WALLY AND THE PWW!!

We received the following e-mail from Wally in Ohio:

Please pass this on to the PWW crew. Passing out the paper at the steelworker rally in Middletown Saturday, I was greeted with overwhelming praise for the work done by the PWW over many years in supporting steelworkers and their families struggling for the economic justice they have earned and so richly deserve. Young staffers I met for the first time called me a "legend" , but that praise belongs to the dedicated crew at the PWW and the small band of hard core Communists in Ohio that appreciate the 'legendary' impact our newspaper has when put into the hands of working
folks.

BOOK SALE AT THE REFERENCE CENTER FOR MARXIST STUDIES!

Get your rare books now! Check out the web site:
http://www.cpusa.org/rcms/books_for_sale.html

ATTENTION ALL STAR WARS ACTIVISTS!

Tell President Bush, Congress and their Corporate Sponsors: Stop the Star Wars Fraud! Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now! Stop the militarization of space!

Sunday, June 10, 2:00 p.m. National Mobilization. Join us at the White House! Lafayette Park, Washington, DC. Buses leave from Manhattan and Brooklyn on June 10th at 9:00 a.m. and return around 10:00 p.m. Cost is roundtrip. Payment needed by June 4. For more information or to reserve a seat, call Aaron Bouska (212) 870-2304 or Ken Estey (212) 280-1426. Please leave your name and number.

Sponsored by: Project Abolition, Greenpeace USA, War Resisters League, Peace Action, Fellowship of Reconciliation and many more.

PRO-DEMOCRACY CONVENTION

Shaping the Future of Democracy in America: From Voter Disenfranchisement to a Voters' Bill of Rights

June 29 - July 1, 2001

Annenberg Center, University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia
(sponsored by the Center for Constitutional Rights)

http://www.pro-democracy.com/

ALLIANCE FOR RETIRED AMERICANS

May 23, 2001 Press Release:
The Alliance for Retired Americans, a new 2.5 million-member advocacy group backed by the AFL-CIO, was announced today at a Capitol Hill news conference and retiree "Speakout" that drew enthusiastic support from Members of Congress.

For more information, visit www.retiredamericans.org.

PACIFICA ALERT AND UPDATE

Pacifica stations KPFK in Los Angeles and WBAI in New York continue to keep Democracy Now! off the air. We must continue to challenge this egregious act of censorship and to escalate our protests.

Go the following web site for ideas on what you can do:
http://www.pacificacampaign.org/actionagenda.html

ACLU ACTION ALERT ABOUT DISCRIMINATION AND VOUCHERS

TO: ACLU Action Network
FR: Jared Feuer, Internet Organizer
DT: May 22, 2001

1). Discrimination in Public Schools

2). Voucher Battle in House

1). As early as tomorrow, the Senate and the House could vote on an education bill amendment introduced by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Rep. Van Hilleary (R-TN), that would take all federal funds away from public schools that prohibit the Boy Scouts or other groups that discriminate against gays and lesbians from using public school facilities.

Since it is already illegal for public schools to treat the Boy Scouts differently because of their beliefs, this legislation is unnecessary. Simply put, the Helms/Hilleary amendment is an endorsement of discrimination. It would also give the Boy Scouts and other anti-gay groups a unique new right, thus violating the constitutional prohibition on the government promoting or penalizing a specific viewpoint.

Take Action! You can read more about this legislation and send a FREE FAX to your Members of Congress from our action alert at:
http://www.aclu.org/action/anti-gay107.html

2). Also, the House is expected to vote on a series of amendments to an important education bill that would create divisive vouchers programs in the nation's schools.

The education bill is an essential source of federal funds, helping to ensure that disadvantaged students have access to quality public education. These important funds must not be turned into private school vouchers! When resources are taken from public schools to support vouchers for a few, the majority of students are left with fewer resources, teachers, textbooks and facilities.

Take Action! Although ACLU activists already sent more than 11,000 letters to the Senate on vouchers, the battle is now raging in the House. You can read more about the legislation and send a FREE FAX to your Representative from our action alert at:
http://www.aclu.org/action/vouchers107.html

PELTIER UPDATE AND ACTION

Strike While the Iron is Hot!
Demand Investigations

Dear Friends:

Recent revelations of FBI misconduct have prompted Senator Charles Schumer of New York and Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa to call for "top to bottom" investigations of the FBI. (Grassley is a strong critic of the FBI). Let's voice our support for investigations and push for the inclusion of the Peltier case.

Write and call your local Representative and your two Senators, and cc your letters to Senator Schumer and Senator Grassley. To find out who your Rep. and Senators are, and how to contact them, look them up on these sites:
http://www.senate.gov
http://www.house.gov
All senate and house addresses are also linked by state from Native News Online
or call the switch board: 202-224-3121. Go to the following link for a sample letter: http://www.freepeltier.org/demand_investigations.htm#top.
(If you are in New York or in Iowa, and either Schumer or Grassley is one of your Senators, adapt the letter by thanking them, encouraging them, and urging them to include Peltier in any push for investigations.)

BLOCK JOHN GRAHAM APPOINTMENT

An obscure appoint to the Office of Management and Budget may toll the death knoll for important federal regulations. President Bush has nominated John Graham as head of the Office of Internal Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at OMB. In this Post, he will become the primary "regulatory gate-keeper" and therefore able to delay, block or gut any new regulations on the environment, worker health and safety, patient protections and others.

The Committee voted 9-3 (11-4 if you count proxies) in favor of Graham. Senators Lieberman (CT), Durbin (IL), Torricelli (NJ), and Cleland (GA) fortunately stood up for strong public protections and opposed Graham. It is urgent that other Senators be encouraged to take a stand against Graham when the full Senate votes on his confirmation. Tell your Senators to vote against John Graham, and to oppose Bush's other efforts to weaken or eliminate national health, safety and environmental standards. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, or click here for a page that has a link for sending free faxes: http://www.citizen.org/congress/regulations/graham.html.

ACLU ALERT - RACIAL PROFILING

Although the practice of racial profiling, commonly referred to as "Driving While Black or Brown," has become an increasingly prominent issue, even taking center stage during the 2000 Presidential debates, Congress still stubbornly refuses to act on this problem. As a result, hundreds of thousands of African-Americans and Latinos continue to experience the humiliation of being stopped while driving, flying, or even walking for no other reason than the color of their skin.

Some members of Congress are planning to introduce bold new legislation to address this issue. This legislation would provide for a study of racial profiling while taking significant steps to remedy the nationwide problem. It would enable the Attorney General to fund and mandate data collection by federal and state law enforcement agencies on any police "stops," concretely define racial profiling and declare it illegal, and give victims of racial profiling the right to sue police departments that have violated their rights.

Take Action! Racial profiling is exactly the sort of unequal treatment that leads minorities to distrust the criminal justice system. You can read more about the proposed legislation and ask your Members of Congress to support and cosponsor its introduction from our action alert at:
http://www.aclu.org/action/dwb107.html

BUSH AND ENERGY

There's a web site with great information about the Bush plan, including a
way for you to e-mail to your senators. Check it out at
http://www.NewEnergyFuture.com/1

There's also a funny, quick video telling the truth about what's in
President Bush's energy plan at
http://www.NewEnergyFuture.com/11

BUSH AND KYOTO ACTION

President Bush recently announced that the United States Government
will not honour its commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to reduce
greenhouse gases. The United States produce 25% of the world's carbon
dioxide, a gas that is believed to be the main contributor to global
warming. Rising global temperatures are known to raise sea levels, and
change precipitation and other climate conditions. Changing climates
alter forests, crop yields, and water supplies. It could also threaten
human health, and harm birds, fish, and many types of ecosystems. An
increase in weather-related disasters will occur, deserts may expand
into existing range lands, densely populated coastal areas will flood
and large numbers of people will have to move.

Show you disagree with the Bush Administration's decision to withdraw
from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming. Urge President Bush to
review his policy in this matter and devise a comprehensive plan to
reduce US emissions of so-called greenhouse gases.

Send an e-mail to the White House at president@whitehouse.gov to
show Mr. Bush the world is watching.

THE JEFFORDS SWITCH
It's time to take the offensive
excerpts from the June 2, 2001 PWW
By Jarvis Tyner, Executive Vice Chair, CPUSA

Last week, to the cheers of his constituents, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont boldly declared he is quitting the Republican Party and becoming an Independent. This single act by a single member of the US Senate represents a strategic setback for the Bush administration. It has shook
up Washington and is sending political tremors throughout the nation.

Jeffords, a life long Republican, declaring himself an Independent and joining with the Democrats, makes them the new majority in the US Senate. The Jeffords switch was like an aftershock from the November elections. Bush did not win the popular vote last November and took power based on the
most unscrupulous theft of the Florida vote. Bush then proceeded to boldly implement his program as if he had the full support of the American people. Jeffords switch was a wake up call for the Republicans and a reminder of what Lincoln a Republican president once said "you can't fool all of the people all of the time".

When you look at who will be in charge in the new Senate, the devastation to Bush from the Jeffords switch becomes dramatically clear. The entire administration is on the defensive. Klan-connected Trent Lott of Mississippi is out as majority leader and Tom Daschle is in. This new Senate Democrat/Independent majority will soon take over the committee chairs. Orrin Hatch of Utah will be out as Chairman of the Judiciary and liberal Joseph Biden of Delaware will take over. Patrick Leahy of Vermont will take over as Chairman of the sub committee on judicial appointments.

That means that the Bush right wing judicial nominees up to and including the Supreme Court could be blocked. Jesse Helms of North Carolina will be out as Chair of Foreign Relations. That means that the Star Wars program will face stiff opposition and is in trouble. Carl Levin of Michigan will
replace John W. Warner of Virginia US in the Armed Services this means that Rumsfeld's reckless military build up could be stopped. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts will take over the Health Education, Labor and Pensions which means a Patient's Bill of Rights has a fighting chance and the minimum wage increase will be seriously considered. Fred Thompson will be replace by Joseph Lieberman in Government Affairs. Charles Grassley of Iowa a vocal right winger will be replace by Max Baucus of Montana in Finance. Chris Dodd of Connecticut will replace Mitch McConnell in Rules and Administration. In Agriculture Tom Harkin from Iowa will replace Richard Lugar from Indiana. This will open the way for desperately needed support for family farmers. This all means that the Senate can become a powerful block against the disastrous policies of George W. Bush. But this will not happened without organized pressure from the people.

The Senator from Vermont, who is a moderate, made it very clear that it was Bush's extreme right wing policies and the heavy-handed dictatorial way they treated the moderate wing of his party that forced him to quit the GOP.

The Jeffords switch is very important and cannot be fully understood if it's seen solely as a fight between the Democrat and Republican Parties. Its historic significance lies in creating an opportunity for labor and civil rights and all progressive forces to block the disastrous policies of Bush and take the offensive.

The Jeffords switch opens the opportunity to broaden the anti Bush front. Others will follow Jeffords lead. The moderate voters who voted for George W. Bush did not expect to get Newt Gingrich in the White House. Those Republican women who thought George Bush was a moderate on abortion rights now know that he deceived them.

The Communist Party believes it is time to take the offensive. The US Senate can become a powerful block against the disastrous policies of George W. Bush. But this will not happen without organized pressure from the people. The ultra right has not given up. The struggle continues
under these new conditions. To win means it's time to take the offensive.

The new majority of Democrats and Independents in the US Senate gives the labor and progressive forces new leverage to not only block the Bush policies but to take the offensive on the vital issues of the day.

We say:
>- Why not real campaign finance reform and a total democratization of our electoral process?
>- - Why not call for a through investigation of what happened in Florida and the other states where blatant violations of the Voting Rights Act took place?
>- It's time to for a higher minimum wage .
>- It's time for new legislation outlawing racial profiling and for a moratorium on the death penalty .
>- It's time to advance a prescription drug program .
>- It's time to push for total health care coverage for all the uninsured.
>- It's time to Block the Star Wars and move towards complete nuclear
disarmament.
>- It's time for a massive Federal Public Works Jobs Program.
>- We need to immediate federal intervention to roll back rates and put a stop the oil and gas utility rip off.
>- We need to immediately act to protect Alaskan and other federal lands from the oil and gas profiteers.
>- We need to rescind the Bush ban on oversea abortions.
>- We need an immediate end to the bombing of Vieques .
>We must build on this set back and set the stage now for major victories against the right in 2002 and 2004.