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Sweeney Calls Media Deregulation ‘Unprecedented’ In a dramatically unfolding story, the Federal Communications Commission on June 2 voted to roll back decades-old media ownership rules, giving significant advantages to large corporations that own TV stations, newspapers and radio stations. The action unleashed a storm of criticism. The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and the House of Representatives recommended overturning the FCC’s revised rules, citing the need to maintain diverse perspectives and local control of media outlets.
“ Deregulation of media ownership on this unprecedented scale,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, “deeply threatens the public’s First Amendment right to what the Supreme Court has described as the ‘uninhibited marketplace of ideas.’ In our democratic society, media ownership matters.” Several other groups, including unions representing television writers and directors, renewed calls for new limits on how many programs the major networks can own. Victoria Riskin, President of the Writers Guild of America, West called the FCC vote “profoundly troubling.” AFL-CIO Press Release 6/2/03 | NY Times 06/19/03 | NY Times 06/03/03 | WGA SAG/AFTRA Merger Rejected by a Narrow Margin By a margin of only 1,280 votes, members of the Screen Actors Guild rejected a proposed combination with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) following an acrimonious campaign that underscored deep divisions among actors. The narrow loss, just 2 percent short of the required 60 percent, was in stark contrast to the vote cast by AFTRA, which approved the proposed SAG-AFTRA Consolidation Plan by a 76 percent to 24 percent margin. SAG Press Release 7/2/03 | AFTRA Press Release 7/2/03 | Variety 7/2/03 Supreme Court Dismisses ‘Corporate Free Speech’ Case In a surprise move, the Supreme Court declined to take up a case involving Nike that raised questions on the limits to which corporations enjoy free-speech protections when they defend themselves against public criticism. The justices voted 6 to 3 to dismiss Nike’s appeal, freeing a San Francisco consumer activist to go ahead with a suit against the Oregon-based company. The California Supreme Court found last year that Nike, in responding through an extensive public campaign to charges that its shoes were made by underpaid and abused workers in Southeast Asia, was engaged in commercial speech meant to sell products, which has minimal protections under the United States Constitution. Marc Kasky, the consumer activist, is suing Nike on grounds that it engaged in false advertising when it denied the worker-exploitation allegations, wrote Brian Knowlton in the New York Times. NY Times 6/26/03 | Guardian UK 6/27/03 | Reclaim Democracy Annual Survey Counts 213 Unionists Dead in 2002 The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions issued its Annual Survey on Trade Union Rights Violations for 2002. In a survey of 133 countries, the study found that 213 trade unionists were killed last year. The report lists almost 1000 union activists attacked and beaten, 2,562 detentions and 89 prison sentences. Of those killings, 184 took place in Columbia, where union members are often considered guerilla sympathizers. ICFTU Press Release 6/10/03 | ICFTU Report | Columbia Report | Human Rights Watch, World Report 2003: Columbia | ILO Press Release 3/27/03 | Center for International Policy
Healthcare: How the Democrats Measure Up As the presidential campaigns begin, Labor Matters will offer occasional surveys of the candidates’ views on important issues. Here are short summaries of each of the nine Democratic candidates’ positions on healthcare. President Bush, as the only Republican candidate, has yet to issue any campaign positions. Former Governor Howard Dean’s (D-VT) healthcare plan starts by extending current programs to every child and young adult under 25, at up to 300 percent of the poverty level. His plan includes families at lower income levels and extends current programs for children to include parents at up to 185 percent of the poverty level. Small businesses would be able to buy into the federal employee health program at reasonable rates. For large companies that could afford to, but don’t provide coverage, the government may limit their tax deductions and their government contracts. Senator John Edwards (D-SC) advocates a Patients’ Bill of Rights, HMO accountability, the re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada to reduce prices, and federal financial aid to help states meet the soaring cost of Medicaid. Congressman Dick Gephardt’s (D-MO) proposal would eliminate all the Bush tax cuts in order to pay for healthcare and require employers who currently don’t offer health insurance to do so. In return, employers would receive a refundable tax credit equaling sixty percent of the full cost of the premium, replacing a tax deduction worth about 30 percent of healthcare costs. Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) has proposed a three-part program that expands the current child health insurance programs to guarantee that all children have health coverage; permits an affordable “buy-in” to the Medicare program for those nearing age 65 and retirement who have lost coverage from their employer; and modifies Medicaid to offer coverage to the working poor, who currently make too much money to qualify for subsidized health insurance but not enough money to afford coverage on their own. In addition, Graham also wants to upgrade the public health system. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) proposes to stop spiraling healthcare premiums by containing catastrophic costs, cutting administrative costs in half, making prescription drugs more affordable, and reducing the cost of malpractice insurance. The federal government would pick up the full cost of enrolling twenty million children in Medicaid if the states agree to expand coverage for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. He would also expand coverage to families and extend coverage to adults below the poverty line. To pay for the program, Kerry suggests canceling the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and closing corporate loopholes. A universal, single-payer system of national health insurance phased in over 10 years is Representative Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH) plan. Calling it “Medicare for All,” he argues that a single-payer approach is sound economics, because it extends Medicare to younger and healthier sectors of our population, thereby putting everyone in one insurance pool. Funding will come primarily from existing government healthcare spending (more than $1 trillion) and a phased-in tax on employers of 7.7% (almost $1 trillion). This employers’ tax is less than the 8.5% of payroll now paid on average by companies that provide private insurance. Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) intends to advance universal healthcare, ensure a patient’s bill of rights to hold HMOs accountable, provide a prescription drug benefit under Medicare and fight for mental health parity. Former Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) is in the early stages of crafting a proposal that would call for “decoupling” the relationship between health insurance and employment. The nation’s employer-based system is “not suited for our time,” she said. Moseley-Braun’s Healthcare Plan Reverend Al Sharpton (D-NY) believes that healthcare should be guaranteed as a constitutional amendment modeled after Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s House Joint Resolution 30, which asserts that every American should have healthcare of “equal high quality.” In May, HJR 30 was referred to the House Subcommittee on the Constitution. Sharpton’s Healthcare Plan | HJR 30 |
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