Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is an unusually forthright member of Saudi Arabia’s extensive royal family.
Riyadh (AFP) – An outspoken billionaire Saudi prince has called for an “urgent” end to his country’s ban on women driving, saying it is a matter not just of rights but of economic necessity.
“Stop the debate: Time for women to drive,” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on his official Twitter account.
Alwaleed is an unusually forthright member of Saudi Arabia’s extensive royal family.
He holds no political posts but chairs Kingdom Holding Co., which has interests including in US banking giant Citigroup and the Euro Disney theme park.
He is a longtime advocate of women’s rights in the conservative Islamic kingdom, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive.
In conjunction with his short tweet, Alwaleed’s office issued an uncharacteristically long statement late Tuesday outlining his reasons for supporting an end to the ban.
“Preventing a woman from driving a car is today an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade her from receiving an education or having an independent identity,” Alwaleed said.
“They are all unjust acts by a traditional society, far more restrictive than what is lawfully allowed by the precepts of religion.”
He also detailed the “economic costs” of women having to rely on foreign private drivers or taxis, since public transit is not a viable alternative in the kingdom.
Using foreign drivers drains billions of dollars from the Saudi economy, Alwaleed said.
He calculated that families spend an average of 3,800 riyals ($1,000/940 euros) a month on a driver, money which otherwise could help household incomes at a time when many are making do with less.
Even if their husbands can take time out to transport the women, that requires temporarily leaving the office and “undermines the productivity of the workforce,” Alwaleed said.
“Having women drive has become an urgent social demand predicated upon current economic circumstances.”
The prince said he is making his call on behalf of those with “limited means”.
Activists say women’s driving is not technically illegal but that the ban is linked to tradition and custom.
Some women have challenged the prohibition by getting behind the wheel and posting images of themselves online.
A slow expansion of women’s rights began under the late king Abdullah, who in 2013 named them to the Shura Council which advises cabinet.
Abdullah also announced that women could for the first time vote and run in municipal elections, which were held last December.
These and other decisions were initially opposed by “certain elements” in Saudi society but soon became accepted, Alwaleed said, calling for “a similarly decisive” political act.
In April, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said change cannot be forced, and “it is up to Saudi society.”
In Alwaleed’s view, however, “what cannot be allowed is to have one segment imposing its preferences on the rest of society.”
Sahar Hassan Nasief, a women’s rights activist in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, said the appeal from such an influential figure could help to bring about change.
“Everybody’s talking about him,” she told AFP. “I think his comments gave us a lot of hope.”
Five Affiliated with Physician Home Visit and Health Care Companies in Dallas Plead Guilty in Health Care Fraud Conspiracy
File – A news conference announcing the result of a national Medicare fraud takedown at the Justice Department in Washington June 18, 2015. The U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday that 243 people have been arrested across the country, charged with submitting fake billing for Medicare, a government healthcare program, that totaled $712 million. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
A Dallas woman who was among those charged last year as part of a nationwide sweep led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force for her alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes pleaded guilty today, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Myrna S. Parcon, a/k/a “Merna Parcon,” 63, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. She faces a statutory penalty of up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain to the defendant or loss to the victim. Restitution may also be ordered. In addition, according to the plea agreement, she will be excluded from Medicare, Medicaid and all federal health care programs.
Last week, two of Parcon’s co-defendants, Oliva A. Padilla, 57, of Garland, Texas, and Ben P. Gaines, 56, of Plano, Texas, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count, and each faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Dr. Noble U. Ezukanma and Dr. Ransome N. Etindi. Ezukanma, 57, a physician from Fort Worth, Texas, is set to go to trial in January 2017, before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle.
Co-defendants Ransome N. Etindi, 56, of, Waxahachie, Texas, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit health care fraud; he faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain to the defendant or loss to the victim. Lita S. Dejesus, 70, of Allen, Texas, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count and faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The one defendant charged in the case who has not pleaded guilty, Noble U. Ezukanma, 57, a physician from Fort Worth, Texas, is set to go to trial in January 2017, before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle.
According to documents filed in the case, from approximately January 2009 through June 9, 2013, Parcon and the other five defendants conspired to defraud Medicare by making materially false and fraudulent representations and promises in connection with health care services, namely physician house call visits and home health care.
Parcon owned US Physician Home Visits (USPHV) and managed its operations. USPHV, located on Viceroy Drive in Dallas, provided physician home visits to Medicare beneficiaries. It also certified and recertified Medicare beneficiaries for home health services, and it provided medication to Medicare beneficiaries. It became a credentialed Medicare provider in May 2009.
Ezukanma was a medical doctor for USPHV, had an ownership interest in USPHV, and provided his Medicare number to USPHV to use to bill Medicare. Etindi was also a medical doctor for USPHV, served as its medical director, and also provided his Medicare number to USPHV to use to bill Medicare. Dejesus held herself out to Medicare as the owner of USPHV and served various roles, including office manager. Gaines formed a home health agency known as A Good Homehealth, a/k/a “Be Good Healthcare, Inc.,” in 2007, A Good Homehealth, which was located in the same office as USPHV, applied for a Medicare number. Parcon purchased A Good Homehealth through a straw buyer, and both Parcon and Gaines concealed Parcon’s ownership from Medicare.
Parcon and Padilla formed another home health care company known as Essence Home Health, a/k/a “Primary Angel, Inc.,” located on Midway Road in Addison, Texas, and in December 2002, Padilla applied for a Medicare number for Essence. Parcon, Padilla, Dejesus and Gaines concealed from Medicare that Parcon exercised control over USPHV, A Good Homehealth and Essence Home Health. While the three companies appeared to be set up as three separate entities, the companies worked as one; the same employees often worked for all three companies and were often paid by all three companies. Had Medicare known about the improper relationship and true nature of the businesses, that is, the companies shared almost all of their beneficiaries, these companies would not have been allowed to enroll in the program and bill for services.
Once USPHV established a new patient and Ezukanma, Etindi or others conducted a home visit, USPHV, at the direction of Ezukanma, Parcon and Dejesus submitted billings for fraudulent claims for services not rendered.
USPHV submitted claims as if Ezukanma provided the services to Medicare beneficiaries, regardless of who actually performed the service; this caused Medicare to pay a higher reimbursement rate. Then, beginning in January 2013, the majority of claims for USPHV were submitted as if Etindi provided the services, regardless of who actually did perform the services. Ezukanma, Parcon and Dejesus submitted reimbursement claims for physician home visits that falsely represented to Medicare that Ezukanma and Etindi conducted comprehensive patient exams and prolonged service patient exams, when they did not. At the defendants’ directions, the majority of the claims fraudulently claimed that Ezukanma or Etindi spent a minimum of 90 minutes of face-to-face time with a patient, when in fact, most visits took a total of 15-20 minutes.
Ezukanma and Etindi signed Medicare Form 485s certifying the Medicare beneficiaries for home health services even if the beneficiary was ineligible to receive the benefits. They also signed and certified Form 485s regardless of the homebound status of the patient and often without any knowledge of the patient or the patient’s medical condition.
More than 97% of USPHV’s Medicare patients received home health care – whether they needed it or not. As a result of these false Form 485 certifications, Medicare paid more than $40 million in fraudulent home health services.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Pfeifle is in charge of the prosecution.
Former Destiny’s Child Michelle Williams to Headline Mayor’s Holiday Celebration and Tree-Lighting
Michelle Williams is an American R&B, pop and gospel recording artist who rose to fame as a member of Destiny’s Child.
Kick-off the holiday season with Mayor Sylvester Turner at the 97th Annual Mayor’s Holiday Celebration and Tree Lighting Presented by Reliant, an NRG company. The festivities will commence Friday, December 2 at City Hall in Hermann Square from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. This impressive, FREE event is a holiday tradition of music, fireworks and family fun. A massive 65’ holiday tree shimmering with energy-efficient LED lights, glistening ornaments and a magnificent star topper will light up the streets of downtown Houston this holiday season.
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holiday season, than with the community coming together and enjoying an evening of music, dancing and special appearances” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “As my first official Holiday Celebration as Mayor of Houston, I am privileged to be a part of such a long-standing tradition, and want to thank Reliant and all of our sponsors who have continued to make this event truly memorable.”
Featured artist, Michelle Williams is an American R&B, pop and gospel recording artist who rose to fame as a member of Destiny’s Child. As a solo artist, Williams reached acclaim with her debut album Heart to Yours (2002) which topped the U.S. gospel album charts and became the best-selling gospel release of the year. The album garnered three Grammy nominations, including Best Gospel Album. She went on to release Do You Know (2004) nominated for Best Gospel Act at the 2004 Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBO); Unexpected (2008), featuring the internationally charting single “We Break the Dawn” and “The Greatest,” a Billboard number one Hot Dance Club Single; and Journey to Freedom (2014), her highest-charting album in the U.S. Her single, “If We Had Your Eyes” reached the U.S. Adult R&B top 20 and the Soul Train-nominated “Say Yes” charted internationally topping the U.S. Hot Gospel Songs chart for seven weeks.
The holiday variety show will also include a performance by returning Mayor’s Holiday Celebration and Tree Lighting singer RaeLynn, “The Voice” season 2 alumnus and Baytown native. She is certified GOLD on the country music charts and will be touring with Blake Shelton in 2017. SVET, an Electro Hip Hop Violinist as seen on America’s Got Talent will also perform. He is one of the most profound and unique acts of today and is globally recognized for his incredible talent to recreate music and songs of today with the violin. Viewers will enjoy additional performances by Houston’s own SoReal Cru, a hip-hop dance group from the second season of America’s Best Dance Crew. Also featured will be the Shlenker Star Singers from Congregation Beth Israel’s The Shlenker School and appearances by costumed characters from the Houston Ballet.
Mayor Sylvester Turner, Reliant and NRG Retail President Elizabeth Killinger, along with Santa Claus, will light the official holiday tree and ignite a spectacular fireworks finale perfectly timed to the Hallelujah Chorus from “Handel’s Messiah,” featuring Music Director Ernest Walker, his award-winning band and a 60 voice combined choir from local Houston High Schools.
“Holidays, Houstonians and a hometown celebration are a few of our favorite things at Reliant,” said Killinger. “For more than a decade, we’ve been privileged to partner with the City to host this seasonal celebration of hope and love, and do it in fine holiday fashion with amazing sights, live music, dancing, fireworks and, a crowd favorite, our famous lighted Santa hats. I’m excited to welcome Houstonians from across the area to join us for family fun and watch us flip the switch on thousands of LED lights that illuminate the holiday tree. We are honored to have Reliant light your holidays!”
The public also is invited to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the Salvation Army booth at the Mayor’s Holiday Celebration to help make the holidays brighter for a child this season. Each person who brings a toy will receive a light-up Santa hat from Reliant. The annual toy drive benefits the Salvation Army Greater Houston Area Command.
Sponsors include: Reliant (an NRG company), Cigna, Wells Fargo, Magical Winter Lights, Maggiano’s, KHOU-11, the Downtown Management District and the Houston Public Library Foundation. The celebration is produced by the Mayor’s Office of Special Events.
South Africa’s president survives vote to oust him
President Jacob Zuma… Many ANC members have blamed Zuma’s corruption scandals for the party’s poor performance in local elections in August in which it lost the key municipalities of Johannesburg and Pretoria to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — President Jacob Zuma escaped a move to oust him as the leader of South Africa by senior members of his ruling party, it was announced Tuesday.
A motion to dismiss Zuma, 74, over a string of corruption allegations since he came to office in 2009 was introduced at a meeting of the National Executive Committee, or NEC, of the African National Congress in Pretoria on Saturday.
The majority of the ANC’s 80 executive committee members voted to keep Zuma in office, the party’s secretary general Gwede Mantashe told journalists in Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon.
“Following honest, robust, candid and at times difficult discussion, the NEC did not support the call for the president to step down,” said Mantashe.
“All members of the NEC had the opportunity to raise in the meeting the issues they feel are hurting the movement and the country,” he said.
Fresh from his victory, Zuma left Tuesday for Cuba to attend the funeral of Fidel Castro.
Many ANC members have blamed Zuma’s corruption scandals for the party’s poor performance in local elections in August in which it lost the key municipalities of Johannesburg and Pretoria to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. It was the worst performance for the ANC, once led by Nelson Mandela, since it won power at the end of apartheid in 1994.
Three weeks ago Zuma survived a no-confidence motion in Parliament that was raised by the Democratic Alliance after the state corruption watchdog issued a report which alleged that he may have abused his position to win state contracts for his friends, the wealthy Gupta family.
Zuma also faces the reinstatement of 783 corruption charges for an arms deal more than a decade ago. His term as the ANC’s leader expires in December 2017.
Fidel Castro Leaves Complicated Legacy in Africa
FILE – Ethiopian President Lieutenant Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam (R) makes V sign as he stands with Fidel Castro (C) and Raul Castro (L) during an official visit in La Havana, Cuba, Apr. 25, 1975. Mengistu took part in the attempted coup against Haile Selassie in 1960 and in 1977 after a further coup he became undisputed ruler of his country. He was overthrown in 1991 by the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Front.
In Africa, as in Cuba, the late Fidel Castro was both loved and despised.
Yibrah Mehari thinks of Castro as a benefactor. After his father, an Ethiopian soldier, died in 1971, Mehari was sent to Cuba at age 14 and educated there through his post-graduate years, becoming a successful architect.
Mehari says he and thousands of other Ethiopians educated in Cuba have “tremendous love” for Castro. “Like a father, he used to come to visit our school and encourage us to do well,” he told VOA’s Horn of Africa service Monday. “We felt at home in Cuba, never isolated or felt [like] outsiders.”
Angola
Jonuel Goncalves thinks of Castro as a war hawk. Goncalves is a political analyst in Angola, a country where Castro sent more than 20,000 troops in 1975 to back the Marxist MPLA in Angola’s civil war. He also deployed troops to support leftist governments in Mozambique and Ethiopia.
FILE – Fidel Castro, gestures while talking during an evening ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of Cuba’s military mission in Angola, Dec. 2, 2005 in Havana.
The interventions, backed by the Soviet Union, “transformed Africa into a Cold War battlefield,” Goncalves says. And, he notes, “The countries that benefited from the presence of Cuban soldiers had to pay for those soldiers.”
In all, Castro leaves a complicated legacy in Africa. Many on the continent will remember him as a key ally to African independence movements, and as a generous man who provided doctors and teachers to poor societies.
Those views, however, are far from universal. Perhaps the one thing all observers agree on is that Fidel Castro made a deep, lasting impact on Africa as the continent shook off the yoke of colonialism.
“As you know, and this is well documented, you cannot write the history of Africa or Cuba without Castro,” says Erastus Mwencha, the deputy chair of the African Union Commission.
FILE – Cuban President Fidel Castro (C) is, flanked by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (L), as he arrives in Harare, for the 8th non-aligned summit in Zimbabwe, Aug. 31, 1986.
Africa libre
Mwencha, a Kenyan, says Africa’s independence movements from the 1960s onward knew they had a comrade in the Cuban ruler, who, from the start, preached a type of liberation theology and practiced what he preached.
“It started with the DRC, with Patrice Lumumba, and continued until the liberation of South Africa from apartheid,” he says. “Cuba, through Castro, gave resources, gave soldiers, trained combatants, and did everything it could to assist Africa [and] gain independence.”
That spirit of assistance continued after Castro ceded power to his brother, Raul, Mwencha notes. “Most recently, when we had the problem of Ebola, Cuba was one of those countries, challenged as it is under sanctions, that sent doctors and did everything that they could to assist the countries that were affected.”
FILE – Cuban nurse Guillermo Ballines a day before his departure for Liberia during the Ebola crisis poses for a picture in Havana, Oct. 21, 2014.
A former chair of the AU commission, Salim Ahmed Salim, was once Tanzania’s ambassador to Cuba and carries a positive, albeit balanced, view of Castro.
“He improved the lives of his people but at the same time helped neighboring and African countries during the liberation struggle and sending doctors, teachers, scientists and military assistance to countries like Tanzania and Namibia,” he says. “Yes, there are a lot of things that did not go well on liberty of expression and other forms of freedoms, but when we talk about social and economic development, there is a lot to learn from and follow.”
Military muscle to leftists
Castro’s intervention — some would call it interference — in Africa’s affairs, stemmed from his strong communist beliefs, a need for economic partners abroad and his alliance with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
For years, Cuba was one of the chief supporters of the MPLA in Angola, supplying tens of thousands of troops to bolster the movement as it seized and held power. In return, Angola paid Cuba hundreds of millions of dollars from oil export revenues.
Ernesto Barbon, a veteran of the Angola war where Cuban troops fought in the 80s, waits in line to enter the Revolution PLaza, to render homage to Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 28, 2016.
In the mid-1970s, Cuba supplied troops to support Mozambique’s ruling FRELIMO party and the government of Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia. The intervention in Ethiopia was especially forceful, a deployment of 15,000 troops after Somalia launched a 1977 offensive to capture the Ogaden region, which has an ethnic Somali majority.
Before the offensive, Castro visited the region and tried to enlist Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen in a socialist federation. “We told him that this is about the self-determination of people and if this federation is going to unite ethnic Somalis, we are up for it,” says former Somali Deputy Defense Minister Mohamed Nur Galal.
After Somalia attacked, Cuba and the Soviets sided with Ethiopia. By March 1978, Somali troops suffered heavy defeats and were driven back to where they started the offensive.
Not surprisingly, Castro is not remembered fondly in Somalia today.
“I read a book Castro wrote, saying he brought Somalia to its knees,” says Galal. “He was a bad man who hated Somalis.”
Not forgotten
Castro’s influence in Africa greatly declined but did not entirely vanish after the Soviet Union collapsed, costing Cuba its main economic sponsor and plunging the country into a wrenching depression.
In the 1990s, Cuba offered to help South Africa with its AIDS epidemic by providing cheap drugs. In 1998, Castro visited Johannesburg, where he met with President Nelson Mandela and was given a state dinner in thanks for his support of the anti-apartheid movement.
FILE – Former South African President Nelson Mandela (L) hugs Cuba’s President Fidel Castro during a visit to Mandela’s home in Houghton, Johannesburg, Sept. 2, 2001.
When Castro is laid to rest in Cuba on December 4, there will no doubt be an assortment of current and past African leaders on hand, saying goodbye to a man that many, though not all, considered a friend.
President Barack Obama shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Trump now stands to inherit an economy that’s gathering steam and could make his first year or two in office a new standard for prosperity.
The US economy grew 3.2% in the third quarter, according to newly revised government figures. That’s just three-tenths of a percentage point short of Donald Trump’s goal for growth, which is 3.5%.
Employers have created nearly 2.4 million jobs during the last 12 months. Donald Trump’s goal: 2.5 million new jobs per year. Again, we’re almost there.
Trump, the incoming president, campaigned on a litany of complaints about the economy’s performance under President Obama during the last 8 years. He repeatedly called the Obama economy “disastrous” and a “total failure.” Yet Trump now stands to inherit an economy that’s gathering steam and could make his first year or two in office a new standard for prosperity.
Trump now stands to inherit an economy that’s gathering steam and could make his first year or two in office a new standard for prosperity.
Trump supporters argue that recent economic news—almost all of it upbeat—is due largely to the fact that Trump won the presidential election and is now generating new hope about an economic revival. But it’s easy to break down the latest developments to determine which predate the election and which come after. The following updates were all published recently but refer to periods before the election, when most polls predicted Hillary Clinton would be the likely winner:
GDP. The latest figures, showing 3.2% annualized growth, are from the third quarter, which ended in September. Credit: Obama
Jobs. The latest 12-month number, 2.4 million new jobs created during the last year, is from October. Credit: Obama
Wages. A Glassdoor report shows that salaries are rising 3.1% per year, while inflation is just 1.6%. So while everybody wants more money, workers are getting ahead, on average. Glassdoor gathered the latest data in this series through Nov. 21, but it’s a three-month rolling average, so most of the data predates the election. Credit: Obama
Home prices. New figures show the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index hit a new record high at the end of September, signaling that the housing bust that began in 2006 is officially over. There’s a catch: the homeownership rate has fallen significantly, and many first-time buyers find it difficult to afford a home or get approved for a mortgage. But the trends are improving. Credit: Obama
There have been a few encouraging developments since Trump got elected, too, showing some Americans do, in fact, feel emboldened by his victory:
Consumer confidence. It surged unexpectedly in the latest reading, which included survey results through Nov. 15, which was a week after Election Day. Consumer confidence is still well below previous highs, but is back to the the prerecession levels of 2007. Credit: Trump
Stocks. They’re up more than 3% since Election Day, with shares of financials and industrials up the most. Credit: Trump
It’s cheeky to credit any president for developments in the economy; elected officials have less control over jobs, profits, wages and prosperity than many people think. Nonetheless, presidents typically get credit for the economy when it performs well under their watch, and blame when it doesn’t. That helps explain the rise in Obama’s approval rating, which, at around 50%, is the highest since he got reelected in 2012. Trump will be lucky if he enjoys a similar rating four years from now.
State of The Democratic Party – The Bigger Questions
The Democratic Party has been asking all the wrong questions since losing the 2016 presidential election. There has been the argument that the party’s message didn’t connect with white rural voters because it was too focused on appealing to “minority” democrats; people of color in urban cities, especially on the East and West coasts. This observation misses the fact that in many Midwest cities minority turnout was down.
More importantly, the argument that the Democratic Party needs a message to appeal to white rural voters takes for granted the possibility that the party’s current message does not actually appeal to a broad cross section of African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans and that those voters are simply voting for Democrats out of habit and fear of Republicans.
Democrats need to remember that it’s only been a little over fifty years since African Americans migrated from the party of Lincoln to the party of FDR, JFK, LBJ, Carter, Bill Clinton and Obama. Change is not static.
The working class is bigger than just rural white voters. It’s not just white voters who want more than a minimum wage job even if the minimum wage is $15 dollars an hour. That’s just $31,200 a year for a full time worker before federal, state and local taxes.
Democrats need to remember that it’s only been a little over fifty years since African Americans migrated from the party of Lincoln to the party of FDR, JFK, LBJ, Carter, Bill Clinton and Obama. Change is not static.
Where the Democratic Party goes from here is not just a question of who should lead the DNC; should President Obama speak out against the policies of the Trump administration or do we need a new generation of leaders to win back the House, Senate, Presidency, state legislatures and Governors’ mansions?
The real question is where do Democrats want to lead our nation? How do Democratic policy specifics add up to equal a coherent whole?
Rebuilding the party should not be based on a messaging strategy to reach voters based on race, region or gender? Nor should it be based on winning back the presidency just for the sake of winning or changing leaders just for the sake of change.
What is the vision for our nation in light of the technological, economic and geopolitical changes reshaping our world? Will we shape or be shaped by these “forces of change”?
One of the habits of highly effective people is that they begin with the end in mind. (Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). This should be the starting point for rebuilding the Democratic Party and it is bigger question than simply what needs to be done to win back the White House in 2020 or who should elected Chairman of the DNC in 2017.
If we agree that technology is reshaping our nation’s and the global economy in ways that go beyond industrial era manufacturing and an education system built for the transition from an agrarian to industrial society, then the future of public education transformation is bigger than a debate over vouchers, school choice and Charter Schools. Democrats must lead this transformation debate and they should start with restructuring education funding at the federal, state and local levels to invest more in early childhood education over a ten-year window.
This education investment strategy should be the cornerstone for a Democratic budget blueprint at the federal, state and local levels.
We know from academic research and brain science that the stronger the academic preparation and foundation at the earlier ages (3-10), the greater the level of student success in High School, College and workforce readiness.
This education investment strategy should be the cornerstone for a Democratic budget blueprint at the federal, state and local levels.
Reforming the criminal justice system and investing in education, coupled with rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure to make it smarter, more efficient and cost effective would free up money to invest in healthcare services focused on wellness, prevention and broad based pre-natal care.
A healthy and well-educated America would drive innovation, economic growth and shared prosperity even more than tax cuts and tax simplification.
Innovation and not just oil is what will be required to make America energy independent and secure.
Innovation and economic incentives and not just regulations will be required to reduce global warming while driving domestic and global economic growth. A clean environment and economic growth are not mutually exclusive nor are they opposite sides of a zero sum equation.
Think about it this way, it’s 2066, fifty years from now, what does America and the world look like and how did we get there? What role did the Democratic Party play in terms of domestic-economic-and international policy, diplomacy and politics to help get us there?
In other words, what is the Democratic Party’s strategic plan for our nation?
Fifty years from now will the current policy proposals and prescriptions being advocated and argued about give us a cleaner, healthier, safer, more peaceful, equitable and prosperous nation and world?
This is the debate that the Democratic Party needs to be engaged in. The questions we must answer are where do we go from here and how do we get there?
– CODA-
We are trying to say the world is changing and Democrats need to be engaged in a bigger endeavor than an autopsy of the 2016 presidential campaign or simply developing a plan to win back the White House. What we are trying to get people to focus on is why? What is the party’s vision for our nation? What is the strategy to achieve it? What are the policy and political tactics needed to get us from here to there? The party’s past and broader history must inform the present but they alone are not enough/sufficient to chart the future. They, along with instincts, values and courage must provide foresight to guide us in building a better, more inclusive and equitable America.
♦ Robinson and Adams are members of the faculty of the Political Science Department at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.
Deadly plane crash in Colombia kills Chapecoense soccer teammates from Brazil
Deadly plane crash in Colombia kills Chapecoense soccer teammates from Brazil Rescue workers search for survivors at he wreckage of a chartered airplane that crashed in La Union, a mountainous area outside Medellin, Colombia, Tuesday , Nov. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Luis Benavides)
A chartered plane with a Brazilian first division soccer team crashed near Medellin while on its way to the finals of a regional tournament, killing 75 people, Colombian officials said. Six people survived.
The British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by a charter airline named LaMia, declared an emergency and lost radar contact just before 10 p.m. Monday (0300 GMT) because of an electrical failure, aviation authorities said.
The aircraft, which had departed from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was transporting the Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil for the first leg Wednesday of a two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin.
Fidel Castro’s Death Sparks Celebrations On Miami’s Streets
People celebrate the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in Little Havana, Miami, Florida, U.S. November 26, 2016. REUTERS/Gaston De Cardenas
News of the death of Cuba’s revolutionary leader at the age of 90 has triggered celebrations on the streets of Miami where many Cuban exiles have made their home.
Large crowds gathered waving Cuban flags, cheering, dancing and banging on pots and pans late Friday. Castro’s government improved the living conditions of the very poor, achieved health and literacy levels on a par with rich countries and rid Cuba of a powerful Mafia presence.
But he also tolerated little dissent, jailed opponents, seized private businesses and monopolized the media. Castro’s opponents labelled him a dictator and hundreds of thousands fled the island.
Many settled in Florida, influencing U.S. policy toward Cuba and plotting Castro’s demise though they never managed to dislodge him.
His death on Friday was announced by his brother Raul to whom he handed over power in 2006. Castro’s remains will be cremated, according to his wishes. His brother said details of his funeral would be given on Saturday.
Trump Switches Position On Cuba – Says He Will Do All He Can To Help
At a Miami rally in September, Trump said he would roll back Obama’s Cuban policy reforms unless Cuban leaders allowed religious freedom and freed political prisoners. “The next president can reverse them, and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands,” Trump told supporters.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that his administration would “do all it can” once it takes office on Jan. 20 to help boost freedom and prosperity for Cuban people after the death of Fidel Castro.
Trump had threatened late in his upstart campaign for the White House that concerns about religious freedom in Cuba could prompt him to reverse President Barack Obama’s moves to open relations with the Cold War adversary after more than a half-century’s estrangement.
Obama said this was an emotional moment for Cubans and Cuban-Americans and offered condolences to Castro’s family.
“At this time of Fidel Castro’s passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people,” he said in a statement, noting his administration had “worked hard to put the past behind us.”
Republicans closely await what Trump – a billionaire businessman known for his unconventional approach to politics and policy – will do on Cuba once he takes office.
“Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty,” Trump said in a statement issued from his West Palm Beach, Florida, resort where he and his family are spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.”While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve,” he added.
At a Miami rally in September, Trump said he would roll back Obama’s Cuban policy reforms unless Cuban leaders allowed religious freedom and freed political prisoners.
“The next president can reverse them, and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands,” Trump told supporters.
A bloc of mostly Republican Cuban-American lawmakers has worked to keep tight restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba for years. Some Republican lawmakers broke with party orthodoxy to back Obama’s reforms, drawn by the economic benefits of restoring ties.
But many have chafed against the changes, saying Cuba’s government was still too repressive to ease restrictions.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who ran against Trump to be the Republican presidential candidate, said Castro turned Cuba into “an impoverished island prison” where dissidents were routinely jailed and killed.
“The dictator has died, but the dictatorship has not,” Rubio said in a statement. “The future of Cuba ultimately remains in the hands of the Cuban people, and now more than ever Congress and the new administration must stand with them against their brutal rulers and support their struggle for freedom and basic human rights.”
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a senior Republican House lawmaker from Florida who fled Cuba as a child, said on CNN that Castro’s death changes nothing.
“We lost our native homeland to communism,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “They just rule over Cuba with an iron fist.”
Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hoped Raul Castro would “turn the page” on oppression. “Freedom and democracy are long overdue in Cuba,” he said in a statement.
