[Boston-editorial] Re: [IMC Dispatch] Correction to Column on 3 More Billionaires, More Poverty 2

Mon Mar 21 16:20:32 PST 2005

Sofia,

PLEASE ask the collective about these things before
communicating to others as the voice of the IMC.  

Previously, the collective has discussed and approved
pointing Press Releases to dispatch.  

In this light, I have already been in communication
with Betsy (since 2004) and have encouraged her to
post these articles herself on our site, and when she
has press releases to send them to dispatch.

The editorial list however, has NEVER been discussed
or approved as a place to send PR.  It is a list we do
not even list on our website so we can keep content
focused.  

Could you please email Betsy and cc the list to clear
this up?

-Pete

--- Sofia JarrinT <sofiajt at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi Betsy,
> Please keep us on the nonexclusive op-ed list, but
> when you send your articles you might want to also
> cc
> the following email: 
> boston-editorial at lists.indymedia.org.
> 
> Then the editorial team  will know that you would
> like
> us to post the article.  The Dispatch also serves as
> a
> place for discussing media coverage ideas; we don't
> want your op-ed pieces to get lost in the traffic.
> 
> Any questions, let us know.
> Best,
> sofia 
> 
> --- Betsy Leondar-Wright
> <bleondar-wright at faireconomy.org> wrote:
> 
> > Thanks, Sofia.
> > We do have the posting instructions, for Boston
> and
> > other indy media sites,
> > and sometimes use them when we have time. But when
> > we're tight on time and
> > putting out an op-ed quickly, we use an e-mail
> list
> > where we push one button
> > and send it to a bunch of places that don't
> require
> > exclusive submissions.
> > Pete Stidman suggested the e-mail we used for that
> > kind of posting. But if
> > you don't want submissions that way, I can take
> you
> > off the non-exclusive
> > op-ed list. 
> > We always like reaching your visitors with our
> > stuff. Thanks for your work
> > in doing the site.
> > Cheers,
> > Betsy'
> > 
> > _________________________________
> > Betsy Leondar-Wright
> > Communications Director
> > United for a Fair Economy
> > (617) 423-2148 x113
> > bleondar-wright at faireconomy.org
> > 29 Winter Street
> > Boston, MA 02108
> > http://www.FairEconomy.Org
> > 
> > United for a Fair Economy is a national
> organization
> > that raises awareness
> > of the damaging consequences of concentrated
> wealth
> > and power.
> > Join us! 
> > Click here to donate securely online:
> >
>
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=1973
> > -- 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > on 3/18/05 2:54 PM, Sofia JarrinT at
> > sofiajt at yahoo.com wrote:
> > 
> > > Hi Betsy!
> > > 
> > > To contribute an article to BostonIndy, please
> > post it
> > > at:
> > > 
> > >
> >
>
http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/index.php?function=publish
> > > (select News, Local Interest, for Open Newswire)
> > > 
> > > Also, we would love to see some graphics (a pic)
> > with
> > > this as well...  
> > > 
> > > cheers,
> > > Sofia
> > > 
> > > 
> > > --- Betsy Leondar-Wright
> > > <bleondar-wright at faireconomy.org> wrote:
> > > 
> > >> Hello, There was an error in the column I just
> > sent
> > >> you; the rankings of the
> > >> Walton heirs in the Forbes billionaires list
> were
> > >> inaccurate. If you're
> > >> interested, please use this version instead.
> > >> Apologies for any inconvenience.
> > >> Betsy Leondar-Wright, United for a Fair Economy
> > >> 
> > >> 
> > >> The Cavernous Divide: More Billionaires, More
> > >> Poverty
> > >> By Scott Klinger
> > >>  
> > >> Two magazine covers stood out in poignant
> > contrast
> > >> on newsstands last week.
> > >> Forbes magazine released its 29th annual
> listing
> > of
> > >> the world1s
> > >> billionaires. Time Magazine1s cover story
> > wondered
> > >> 3How to End Poverty.2
> > >>  
> > >> It was a good year for the global billionaires1
> > >> club. Their ranks grew to
> > >> 691, up 17 percent from the previous year.
> > >> Collectively, the wealth of the
> > >> world1s billionaires reached $2.2 trillion, up
> > more
> > >> than 57 percent over the
> > >> last two years. 
> > >>  
> > >> Poverty is growing as well. Time reports that
> > nearly
> > >> half of the world1s 6
> > >> billion residents are poor. Over one billion of
> > them
> > >> subsist on less than $1
> > >> a day. In the United States, according to the
> US
> > >> Census Bureau, the number
> > >> of impoverished Americans rose 3.7 percent in
> > 2003.
> > >> The number of children
> > >> living in poverty rose 6.6 percent.
> > >> 
> > >> Forbes seeks to explain the billionaires1
> success
> > by
> > >> noting that a majority
> > >> of those on the list are 3self-made.2  Forbes1
> > >> website features an
> > >> interactive quiz that asks, 3Do you have what
> it
> > >> takes  to become a
> > >> billionaire?2 and proceeds to explore things
> like
> > >> marital status and
> > >> hobbies.  The idea is that many billionaires 
> > made
> > >> it on their own.
> > >>  
> > >> But to suggest that membership in the growing
> > >> billionaires1 club requires
> > >> only a combination of hard work and character
> > traits
> > >> ignores some dramatic
> > >> shifts in global economic rules that explain
> the
> > >> cavernous divide that has
> > >> developed between the very rich and the very
> > poor.
> > >>  
> > >> Tax rates have fallen on upper income citizens
> > and
> > >> corporations worldwide.
> > >> Fifty years ago in the United States, the
> highest
> > >> marginal income tax rate
> > >> was 91 percent; today it is 34 percent.  As
> > recently
> > >> as 1979, taxes on
> > >> capital gains from the sale of stock, real
> estate
> > >> and businesses were 35
> > >> percent; today they are 15 percent.  Corporate
> > taxes
> > >> as a percentage of the
> > >> US economy have shrunk from 4.1 percent of
> Gross
> > >> Domestic Product in 1965 to
> > >> just 1.5 percent in 2002.  While corporate
> taxes
> > >> have declined throughout
> > >> the world, they have plummeted in the United
> > States,
> > >> leaving only Iceland
> > >> among industrialized countries with a lower
> > >> corporate tax burden.
> > >>  
> > >> Several of the wealthiest billionaires
> > capitalized
> > >> on public assets and made
> > >> their fortunes by buying formerly public
> assets.
> > >> This was the case with
> > >> Mexican Carlos Slim Helu, the world1s fourth
> > richest
> > >> man, who used inherited
> > >> wealth to buy a substantial share of Mexico1s
> > >> privatized national telephone
> > >> company. US billionaires Bill Gates, Paul Allen
> > and
> > >> Steve Ballmer of
> > >> Microsoft, and Larry Ellison of Oracle would
> not
> > be
> > >> in Forbes1 top 20
> > >> billionaires had the US government not invested
> > tens
> > >> of billions of public
> > >> dollars developing computers and the Internet.
> > >>  
> > >> Some billionaires1 fortunes rest upon paying
> > their
> > >> employees poverty wages.
> > >> Such is the case for the Walton family (numbers
> > 10
> > >> through 14 on the Forbes
> > >> list.)  Wal-Mart is the largest private
> employer
> > in
> > >> the world. Many of its
> > >> US workers are so poorly paid that they must
> rely
> > on
> > >> food stamps and other
> > >> forms of public assistance to get by. Such
> forms
> > of
> > >> government aid represent
> > >> an indirect government subsidy to corporations
> > whose
> > >> business model does not
> > >> include paying employees enough to live on.
> > >> Worldwide, billions are gained
> > >> by outsourcing service, production and
> > manufacturing
> > 
> === message truncated ===
> 
> 
> 
> 		
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