I get blacklisted by the Duluth News Tribune.

Chuck Frederick center












On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 8:47 AM,
Chuck Frederick <cfrederick@duluthnews.com> wrote:

Hello Mr. Maki. Again, it was nice chatting with you yesterday. I have had the opportunity to speak with my colleague here at the News Tribune and have come to the decision not to publish letters from you because of your intentional violation of our rule for exclusivity, among other concerns. All of our rules and requests related to letters to the editor and other submissions are published daily on the Opinion page and are posted permanently at duluthnewstribune.com. Please know this decision was not an easy one. This is not an action we take lightly or often.

My sincerest regrets,

Chuck Frederick

-- 
Chuck Frederick

Editorial Page Editor

Duluth News Tribune 

424 W. First St.

Duluth MN 55802

cfrederick@duluthnews.com

218-723-5316 

cc: Ken Browall, Publisher, Duluth News Tribune

Ken Browall, Publisher, Duluth News Tribune


My response:

From: Alan Maki 
Date: Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 1:15 PM
Subject: Re: my regrets
To: Chuck Frederick
Cc: Ken Browall


Mr. Frederick,

What are your "other concerns?"

Sounds like blacklisting to me.

Oh, well; nothing new with blacklisting in Minnesota, is there?

Let me assure you I do not take your undemocratic actions "lightly," either.

It is no wonder so many people view the Duluth News Tribune as a mouthpiece for the bankers and mining companies and the rest of the 1%.

I will simply make a trip to Duluth and pass out what I wrote together with your communications as a leaflet headlined: "The Duluth News Tribune refused to publish these "Letters to the Editor;" Why?"

You have excuse after excuse for not publishing my "Letters to the Editor" and now you stoop to "other concerns" without specifics.

First you refused to publish this "Letter" citing it wasn't "exclusive," when it was:

Once again with President Barack Obama's State of the Union Speech we got another politician hypocritically talking about "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs."

If just one job was created every time some politician opened their mouth and started talking about "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" we wouldn't have any unemployment in this country and everyone who wanted to work would have a decent, living wage job.

So, what is the main obstacle to full employment? Accountability from the very politicians who mouth the words "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" whenever they want to get elected, re-elected or want thunderous applause then go about their business forgetting about jobs as they go looking for their next bribe from a Wall Street lobbyist who views unemployment as the way to keep all wages down which pushes profits up.

What we need in this country is a real "Full Employment Act" which mandates--- by legislation and law--- that the President and the United States Congress must maintain full employment as part of their responsibility to the American people.

What good is a government that gets us into war after war but can't even assure full employment for the very people it taxes?

Wars cause government debt and deficits; peace and full employment eliminate debts and deficits.
--
Alan L. MakiDirector of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432Cell: 651-587-5541

Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.netE-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com

Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

And now you refuse to publish this "Letter" for "other reasons," neither defined nor specified:

Every politician talks about "jobs, jobs, jobs."

In 1945, populist Democratic Congressman, Wright Patman, introduced the "Full Employment Act of 1945" which passed the U.S. Senate by a wide margin; garnering support from both Democrats and Republicans.

This Act would have required the President and the Congress to maintain real full employment; everyone who wanted to work would have a job even if it took the United States government working with local, county and state governments to put people to work on government funded projects. 

It was Patman's opinion that if the government was maintaining full employment putting people to work on jobs required to improve the lives of people the government would be less inclined to become involved in a costly arms race which was already beginning to emerge in the aftermath of World War II and foreign interventions would not be engaged in so lightly because costs involved would jeopardize full employment.

Congressman Patman understood, and history has proven him correct, no government can fund militarism, interventions, military bases dotting the globe and wars while maintaining a government with the purpose of improving the lives and livelihoods of its people.

Today, more than ever--- with some fifteen million people unemployed--- we need to hold politicians accountable for full employment. It will take a full employment act similar to the "Full Employment Act of 1945" requiring the government to maintain full employment as part of its legislatively mandated responsibility.

The next time you hear a politician talking about "jobs, jobs, jobs" ask that politician if they are prepared to support a real full employment act making providing jobs the government's responsibility. 

Wall Street ganged up on members of Congress to defeat the "Full Employment Act of 1945" because Wall Street investors derive super-profits from large numbers of workers being unemployed because this huge pool of unemployed people drives all wages down; lower wages means more profits.

Militarism and wars are killing our jobs the same way these wars kill people. Workers without jobs are going to be poor.
 -- 

Alan L. MakiDirector of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432Cell: 651-587-5541

Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net
E-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com

Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

I find it very interesting that the Duluth News Tribune, at the time, did the dirty work for the mining companies in opposing the "Full Employment Act of 1945" with a vicious anti-worker, anti-union, anti-Communist attack supporting Wall Street back then and you support Wall Street today... hence your blacklist. You and the Duluth News Tribune carry on a dirty "tradition" of the worst kind of yellow journalism and then you have the gall to talk about how this country is the great bastion of democracy.

The people you are punishing is your readers because it is your readers who have never heard in over 75 years any mention in your newspaper of the need to make politicians legislatively responsible for full employment after they demagogically talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" to get the votes of working people to get elected and then turn their backs on working people ignoring their promise of jobs once elected with not a peep of protest coming from the Duluth News Tribune.

-- 

Alan L. Maki

Director of Organizing,

Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13

Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432

Cell: 651-587-5541

Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

E-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com

Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

My response to Robert Reich.

Robert Reich · 72,483 like this

about an hour ago ·

·         In light of the standoff in Washington -- and the continuing dysfunction in our nation's capital -- many of you are angry and frustrated. Some of you say you've had it with politics. Others feel powerless and hopeless. A number blame both parties, seeing Democrats as no different from Republicans.

All these reactions are exactly what the regressives want. This is the heart of their strategy. They want you to see all of politics and all politicians as crooks and con-artists, fools or knaves. They want you to give up. That way, they can have it all. They can turn the clock back on America. They can shred every safety net, eviscerate every regulation, prevent any investment in the health and education of future generations. They can hammer the poor and middle class with lower wages, fewer jobs, and less security, and create a plutocracy of the privileged and powerful. Get it? They want you out of the way so they have America to themselves. The showdowns and standoffs and gridlock in Washington are part of their plot.

We must not let them. The progressive forces in this country are stronger than the regressive ones, but only if we are united and determined. Don't stop making a ruckus. Don't stop writing and calling your representatives. Don't stop mobilizing others, and organizing at the grass roots. 2014 will be a key election year. We must take our democracy back.

Alan L. Maki

Yes; keep voting for these Dumb Donkeys.

Mr. Reich; what you don't explain is what we can expect even if the Democrats once again get a super majority in 2014. Come on, Mr. Reich, explain what it is we can expect from a Democratic super majority?

Can we expect the same thing we are getting from the Democratic super majority now holding power here in Minnesota?

As I recall, you, a Democrat, are the one who pushed NAFTA. And you kept your mouth shut and your pen idle when Bill Clinton, a Democrat, "reformed" welfare to correspond to Wall Street's dictate.

What we need to do is give all you Dumb Donkeys a good hard kick in the ass (pun intended) and break free from this two-party trap by establishing a working class based progressive people's party to challenge Wall Street for political and economic power.

The Democratic super majority in Minnesota has defined "hoarding" as a mental illness and a threat to societal well-being; when is the "hoarding" by Wall Street parasites going to be ended through legislative action so we can use the wealth created by labor to solve our problems?

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-is-alternative-to-sequester.html

What is the alternative to the "sequester?"

What is "sequestration?"

More lies from Obama being used to scare people into accepting austerity measures and supporting the military-industrial complex which should be shut down:



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/us/politics/obama-takes-budget-warnings-to-shipbuilder.html?ref=us&_r=0

From, "Losing Our Way"

"The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/opinion/26herbert.html?_r=0

Bob Herbert, Columnist
(former) New York Times

Now is the time we should propose a people's alternative to the "sequester" and Wall Street's very profitable military-industrial complex and imperialist wars which are making us all poor:

Here is where I would begin:

A progressive program for real change...

* Peace--- end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and shutdown the 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil.

* A National Public Health Care System - ten million new jobs.

* A National Public Child Care System - three to five million new jobs.

* Works Progress Administration - three million new jobs.

* Civilian Conservation Corps - two million new jobs.

* Tax the hell out of the rich and cut the military budget by ending the wars to pay for it all which will create full employment.

* Enforce Affirmative Action; end discrimination.

* Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage

* What tax-payers subsidize in the way of businesses, tax-payers should own and reap the profits from.

* Moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions.

* Defend democracy by defending workers' rights including the right to collective bargaining for improving the lives and livelihoods of working people.

* Roll-back and freeze the price of food, electricity, gas and heating fuels; not wages, benefits or pensions.

* Defend and expand Social Security.

* Wall Street is our enemy

How is Barack Obama's Wall Street war economy working for you?

Climate change is like war, poverty and unemployment... without peace we aren't going to solve this problem either.

Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood for a real change.

What we need is a government that is responsible for full employment:

http://fullemploymentnow.blogspot.com/

Don't let Obama scare you with his lies--- sequestration--- into accepting austerity measures to pay for Wall Street's dirty imperialist wars and militarization.

Peace and full-employment is the alternative to the "sequester."

Why are some people afraid of discussing the need to make government responsible for full employment... it's all about Wall Street's super profits derived from unemployment.

Quite the discussion has taken place on the Justice Party's web site on my initial post on the issue of full employment which has garnered over 2,326 hits and generated much discussion. I am blocked from participating in my own post by folks purporting to believe in democracy; sad commentary on the state of democracy in the in a party calling itself the "Justice Party."

This is a recent exchange I had with the Editorial Page Editor of the Duluth News Tribune here in Minnesota over this issue of full employment; he too would like to prevent and restrict discussion of this issue.

I find it interesting how far so many people will go and the undemocratic means and methods these people will use to try to thwart discussion on an issue instead of engage in dialog, discussion and debate which is the way people interact in a democratic society.

I would also note that it was around the issue of making the government responsible for full employment which was the point upon which the forces of Wall Street decided it was time to restrict democracy in our country and they began massive repression against the labor movement and its leaders, including socialists and Communists, who were targeted under the Taft-Hartley Act and then Hubert Humphrey's "Communist Control Act."

And it has taken some 70 years for the issue of making the President and Congress responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment to surface again after this political repression.

And, once again, we see this issue attacked without merit and the attacks "backed up" with myths and lies like full employment causes some kind of rampant inflation (an obvious scare tactic not backed by any empirical evidence) combined, again, with the attempt to prevent dialog, discussion and debate through all kinds of devious, undemocratic methods.

The right of the American people to discuss making the government responsible for full employment is as important as the issue itself.

I would note there has been no response from Editor Frederick to my response to him; I provide my Letter to the Editor first; followed by the letter from Editor Frederick to me and my response back to him:

On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 11:45 AM, Alan Maki <alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com> wrote:

Submitted exclusively for publication as a Letter to the Editor of the Duluth News Tribune

Once again with President Barack Obama's State of the Union Speech we got another politician hypocritically talking about "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs."

If just one job was created every time some politician opened their mouth and started talking about "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" we wouldn't have any unemployment in this country and everyone who wanted to work would have a decent, living wage job.

So, what is the main obstacle to full employment? Accountability from the very politicians who mouth the words "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" whenever they want to get elected, re-elected or want thunderous applause then go about their business forgetting about jobs as they go looking for their next bribe from a Wall Street lobbyist who views unemployment as the way to keep all wages down which pushes profits up.

What we need in this country is a real "Full Employment Act" which mandates--- by legislation and law--- that the President and the United States Congress must maintain full employment as part of their responsibility to the American people. 

What good is a government that gets us into war after war but can't even assure full employment for the very people it taxes?

Wars cause government debt and deficits; peace and full employment eliminate debts and deficits.

--

Alan L. Maki

Director of Organizing,

Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13

Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432

Cell: 651-587-5541

Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

E-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com

Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

*********

On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 9:01 AM, Chuck Frederick <cfrederick@duluthnews.com> wrote:

Hello Mr. Maki. The subject line of the email containing your letter to the editor submission to the News Tribune indicated the letter was exclusively for publication in the News Tribune. Exclusively, as in ONLY submitted to the News Tribune. But I'm finding your letter already published by the Bemidji paper and already published on at least two blogs. That's hardly exclusive. So were you lying to us when you submitted your letter or did you not understand what "exclusive" means?

Chuck Frederick

Editorial Page Editor

Duluth News Tribune

Chuck Frederick

Editorial Page Editor

Duluth News Tribune 

424 W. First St.

Duluth MN 55802

cfrederick@duluthnews.com

218-723-5316

**********

February 25, 2013

Mr. Chuck Frederick

Editorial Page Editor,

Duluth News Tribune

Dear Editor Frederick,

When I did not hear back from your newspaper in a timely manner I decided to submit my Letter to the Editor to other newspapers. Your newspaper was the very first newspaper I submitted my letter to.

I think I have the right to publish my own letter on my own blogs, do I not, with it still remaining an exclusive submission to your newspaper?

Anyways, if the original ideas in my Letter to the Editor are not worthy of being published in your newspaper that is up to you.

The fact of the matter is, you repeatedly publish the views expressed by all kinds of politicians as they hypocritically talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" and not once have you as the Editorial Page Editor of the Duluth News Tribune challenged these politicians by holding them accountable by asking where these jobs are. Nor have you ever suggested that since these politicians consider "jobs, jobs, jobs" to be the primary issue facing the country at election you don't follow up after the election asking them why they don't pass legislation making themselves responsible for full employment.

If one newspaper does not respond as to whether they will publish my letter I merely submit it to another for consideration.

Obviously I am aware my letter was on my blogs because I placed it there. I was also aware another newspaper, not the one you mentioned, published my letter--- after I had submitted my letter to the Duluth News Tribune.

What are you suggesting; I have a responsibility to notify you the letter is no longer an "exclusive" or else I become a "liar?" This seems rather petty of you.

In my opinion, you have gone way over the line as an Editor in calling one of your loyal readers a "liar" over this.

Make no mistake you are calling me a "liar" because I do know the meaning of "exclusive."

When was the last time you called Barack Obama or any politician a "liar" for saying they are for "jobs, jobs, jobs" when you know full well they aren't talking about creating jobs for every unemployed person who wants to work--- what is it now, Something like FIFTEEN MILLION unemployed people in this country and counting?

When was the last time you called any of these politicians "liars" because they continue to talk day after day about debts and deficits yet they continue funding these dirty wars for which they always manage to find the money even though this adds to debts and deficits?

In my opinion; I have not written about some kind of trivial issue. Nor have I written about something that is anything other than a very major issue that the entire Nation is focused on--- jobs and unemployment. I have not only written about an important issue; but, I have suggested a solution to unemployment by making the President and the members of the House and Senate legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment.

If these politicians are going to campaign for our votes on the basis that "jobs, jobs, jobs" are their highest priority items on their agenda then they should be held accountable once elected. Accountability can only be assured if full employment is made part of their job description and legislative duty.

Feel free to call me any names you want. You obviously have the "power" to decide whether my Letter to the Editor is published or not in the Duluth News Tribune. 

In the interest of "freedom of the press" and the right of people to have access to all ideas and suggestions for solutions to pressing problems discussed in the proverbial "public square," I am requesting you publish my Letter to the Editor in the Duluth News Tribune because it merits publication no matter how many times or where it has been published. You are certainly free to add your Editorial comments about what you think of me, or my ideas, before or after the Letter. This is what would best serve the public interest.

Perhaps one of the politicians receiving this would like to respond to my Letter? Perhaps some of your readers would like the opportunity to respond to my Letter. Perhaps since "jobs, jobs, jobs" is such a newsworthy issue you could assign some reporters to go out and talk to people in the Duluth area to see what they think about my Letter in relation to what the politicians have done to live up to their campaign promises of making "jobs" their number one priority when it comes to seeking votes but forgetting once elected.

I have noticed on the Editorial Page of the Duluth News Tribune you frequently endorse politicians who lie. And you endorse them more often than not on the basis of their lies--- "jobs, jobs, jobs" being the perfect example; drone warfare being another.

Use your power as an Editor to do as you see fit with my Letter to the Editor; not printing my Letter won't hurt or bother me; it will be your readers who will be deprived of an alternative viewpoint; it will be your readers who will pay the price in not having access to one more idea.

Let's see if there are any politicians who talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" who might want to weigh in on this controversy of whether or not my Letter to the Editor should be published... the Duluth News Tribune has endorsed enough of them--- all liars when they talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" being at the top of their legislative agendas.

All I ask is you not sue me nor turn me over to the authorities for punishment as the last Letter to the Editor I wrote that was published in the Duluth News Tribune ended up in the FBI's "Red Squad" file they maintain on me--- but there is another dirty little government secret like just like the drone wars killing our jobs just like they kill people we shouldn't read about or talk about.

By the way, Mr. Frederick; have you ever considered there is a reason so many people turn to blogging in this country?

I guess I can assume if I decide to run for the United States Senate there won't be any use my stopping by the Duluth News Tribune's Editorial Offices seeking your endorsement if I should choose to run on a platform of "jobs, jobs, jobs." 

Alan L. Maki


Note: I have prepared a blog specifically dedicated to the issue of full employment:

http://fullemploymentnow.blogspot.com/

Business as usual for Minnesota mining

Reader's view:

 http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/259710/

Business as usual for Minnesota mining

The latest report from the UMD Labovitz School of Business and Economics (as reported on by the News Tribune in the Feb. 7 story, “UMD report underscores value of iron ore mining, potential for copper”), is business as usual in the world of mining in Minnesota.

Once again we get a promotional brochure for the mining industry masquerading as an economic report.

To make judgments about proposed industrial developments, the civilized world usually agrees that a cost-benefit analysis is required. But all we get from the University of Minnesota Duluth is a list of benefits. There was no apparent discussion of costs, of elevated sulfates in Lake Vermilion or of heavy metals leaching from the Dunka pit. I noticed no hint of the dead zone for wild rice in the St. Louis River, no analysis of the blighted communities along the length of the Mesabi Range and no acknowledgement of the poverty rate in Virginia, the heart of the Mesabi Range.

“Regulatory capture” refers to the industry domination of agencies meant to regulate them. “Deep capture” occurs when the industry dominates the media, academia and popular culture. It seems to me the state of Minnesota has been captured by the mining industry.

The editorial pages of the Duluth News Tribune and the publications of the Labovitz School of Business and Economics should be adequate proof of Minnesota’s subjugation to mining interests.

Robert Tammen

Soudan

Public Banking

Public Banking

End-run the 1 percent and the 'Grand Bargain'

By Mike Krauss

Bucks County Courier Times

The great strength of America has always been the immense diversity of our people; which has enabled us to adapt, survive and even prosper in an ever changing environment of challenges and opportunities.

That diversity is still our greatest asset, but it is being choked off in Washington. It can be enabled at the state, county and municipal level.

The key is sustained and affordable credit to stimulate locally directed economic development: new ideas, new technologies, job creation, strong local banks and sound municipal finances.

That is what public banking is all about — enabling an end-run around the callous indifference to the well being of the American people, which the self-absorbed parasites of the federal establishment barely trouble to conceal.

The urgent need for this banking innovation was fully on display in a recent column by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, in which he was again beating the drum for the “Grand Bargain.”

That’s the deal that will cut Social Security and Medicare, raise taxes on those who won’t feel it and supposedly cure the nation’s economic woes.

It is the argument for austerity, which has produced more misery for the 99 percent and more wealth for the 1 percent in every nation where it has been tried.

The Grand Bargain is a fraud — lipstick on a pig — and incredibly, Freidman doesn’t get it.

I say incredibly, because Friedman is married to a former billionaire, now millionaire, whose family fortune was in commercial real estate, mostly shopping malls, and was estimated by Forbes at $4.1 billion, back in 2007. But since the market crashed, the family’s fortune has declined to a reported $25 million.

Friedman is unable to make the connection. His wife’s family fortune was in shopping malls. Americans stopped shopping. They have no money. There are no jobs. And it is getting worse.

There was a lot of pre-Christmas hype about what a great shopping season it would be. It never happened.

Now, Bloomberg News reports that February sales at Wall Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, are “off to the worst monthly start in seven years,” according to a Wal-Mart VP who explained in a memo to his colleagues, “February MTD [month to date] sales are a total disaster… The worst start to a month I have seen in my seven years with the company.”

And Friedman thinks reductions in Social Security and Medicare support will send Americans out to the malls, shopping?

This is such easy math.

The population of the United States is something over 300 million. Let’s work with that number. If the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans all purchase new shoes — mom, dad and all the kids — about 3 million pairs of shoes will be purchased.

But if the 53 percent of Americans who have hung on in the middle class all purchase new shoes (I am excluding the 1 percent at the top and the 46 percent who now live officially in poverty) about 159 million pairs of shoes will be sold.

It takes jobs, more investment in the 99 percent and less in the 1 percent. The malls would be full.

I’m surprised Mrs. Friedman isn’t filing for divorce.

Still, Friedman bangs the Grand Bargain-austerity drum and warns that without more cuts, America would be in dire straits. How dire? So dire, he warns, that Americans might stop looking to Washington for solutions to their problems.

They already have.

Friedman cited polling data of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment, making his argument for reductions in Social Security and Medicare, but let slip this news. According to the poll’s director, historically “people have always turned to Washington in times of economic crisis, but now they’re losing confidence in the government’s ability to reshape the economy… Americans now think they have to take more control themselves.”

We can’t have that! Imagine American states, counties, cities and municipalities solving their own problems. What would become of us?

What would become of us is that America would stop looking to Washington.

And that is Friedman’s worry, and the worry of the governing elite and the 1 percent who have used the federal government for decades to set up the so-called meritocracy of the best and brightest (Mr. Obama is their poster boy), to set up an America in which — surprise! — they do very well, while the living standards of everybody else deteriorate .

I’m rooting for all the gridlock in Washington we can get, because every time the GOP and Democrats come together, the middle class takes it in the neck.

Friedman posed the question, “What to do to get Washington moving again?” The better question is, “What to do to get our states, counties and municipalities moving?”

The former will deliver us to more of Washington’s servitude to the 1 percent and the continued concentration of the vast wealth of the nation in the hands of the few, while the latter will lead to local initiative that will rev up the engine of American ingenuity and broadly shared prosperity.

Public banking at the state, county and municipal level is a declaration of independence from a thoroughly subverted and corrupt federal government, and the first step on the path back to prosperity for all Americans.

Peace, employment cure many ills

Published in the Bemidji Pioneer Press

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/peace-employment-cure-many-ills

Peace, employment cure many ills
By: Alan Maki
Warroad, MN
February 19, 2013


Once again with President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Speech we got another politician hypocritically talking about “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.”

If just one job was created every time some politician opened their mouth and started talking about “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” we wouldn’t have any unemployment in this country and everyone who wanted to work would have a decent, living wage job.

So, what is the main obstacle to full employment? Accountability from the very politicians who mouth the words “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” whenever they want to get elected, re-elected or want thunderous applause then go about their business forgetting about jobs as they go looking for their next bribe from a Wall Street lobbyist who views unemployment as the way to keep all wages down which pushes profits up.

What we need in this country is a real “Full Employment Act” which mandates –  by legislation and law – that the President and the United States Congress must maintain full employment as part of their responsibility to the American people.

What good is a government that gets us into war after war but can’t even assure full employment for the very people it taxes?
Wars cause government debt and deficits; peace and full employment eliminate debts and deficits.

An exchange with the Editorial Page Editor of the Duluth News Tribune

An exchange with an editor:

February 25, 2013

Mr. Chuck Frederick
Editorial Page Editor,
Duluth News Tribune


Dear Editor Frederick,

When I did not hear back from your newspaper in a timely manner I decided to submit my Letter to the Editor to other newspapers.

Your newspaper was the very first newspaper I submitted my letter to.

I think I have the right to publish my own letter on my own blogs, do I not, with it still remaining an exclusive submission to your newspaper?

Anyways, if the original ideas in my Letter to the Editor are not worthy of being published in your newspaper that is up to you.

The fact of the matter is, you repeatedly publish the views expressed by all kinds of politicians as they hypocritically talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" and not once have you as the Editorial Page Editor of the Duluth News Tribune challenged these politicians by holding them accountable by asking where these jobs are.

Nor have you ever suggested that since these politicians consider "jobs, jobs, jobs" to be the primary issue facing the country at election you don't follow up after the election asking them why they don't pass legislation making themselves responsible for full employment.

If one newspaper does not respond as to whether they will publish my letter I merely submit it to another for consideration.

Obviously I am aware my letter was on my blogs because I placed it there. I was also aware another newspaper, not the one you mentioned, published my letter--- after I had submitted my letter to the Duluth News Tribune.

What are you suggesting; I have a responsibility to notify you the letter is no longer an "exclusive" or else I become a "liar?" This seems rather petty of you.

In my opinion, you have gone way over the line as an Editor in calling one of your loyal readers a "liar" over this.

Make no mistake you are calling me a "liar" because I do know the meaning of "exclusive."

When was the last time you called Barack Obama or any politician a "liar" for saying they are for "jobs, jobs, jobs" when you know full well they aren't talking about creating jobs for every unemployed person who wants to work--- what is it now, Something like FIFTEEN MILLION unemployed people in this country and counting?

When was the last time you called any of these politicians "liars" because they continue to talk day after day about debts and deficits yet they continue funding these dirty wars for which they always manage to find the money even though this adds to debts and deficits?

In my opinion; I have not written about some kind of trivial issue. Nor have I written about something that is anything other than a very major issue that the entire Nation is focused on--- jobs and unemployment. I have not only written about an important issue; but, I have suggested a solution to unemployment by making the President and the members of the House and Senate legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment.

If these politicians are going to campaign for our votes on the basis that "jobs, jobs, jobs" are their highest priority items on their agenda then they should be held accountable once elected. Accountability can only be assured if full employment is made part of their job description and legislative duty.

Feel free to call me any names you want. You obviously have the "power" to decide whether my Letter to the Editor is published or not in the Duluth News Tribune.

In the interest of "freedom of the press" and the right of people to have access to all ideas and suggestions for solutions to pressing problems discussed in the proverbial "public square," I am requesting you publish my Letter to the Editor in the Duluth News Tribune because it merits publication no matter how many times or where it has been published. You are certainly free to add your Editorial comments about what you think of me, or my ideas, before or after the Letter. This is what would best serve the public interest.

Perhaps one of the politicians receiving this would like to respond to my Letter? Perhaps some of your readers would like the opportunity to respond to my Letter? Perhaps since "jobs, jobs, jobs" is such a newsworthy issue you could assign some reporters to go out and talk to people in the Duluth area to see what they think about my Letter in relation to what the politicians have done to live up to their campaign promises of making "jobs" their number one priority when it comes to seeking votes but forgetting once elected?

I have noticed on the Editorial Page of the Duluth News Tribune you frequently endorse politicians who lie. And you endorse them more often than not on the basis of their lies--- "jobs, jobs, jobs" being the perfect example; drone warfare being another.

Use your power as an Editor to do as you see fit with my Letter to the Editor; not printing my Letter won't hurt or bother me; it will be your readers who will be deprived of an alternative viewpoint; it will be your readers who will pay the price in not having access to one more idea.

Let's see if there are any politicians who talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" who might want to weigh in on this controversy of whether or not my Letter to the Editor should be published... the Duluth News Tribune has endorsed enough of them--- all liars when they talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" being at the top of their legislative agendas.

All I ask is you not sue me nor turn me over to the authorities for punishment as the last Letter to the Editor I wrote that was published in the Duluth News Tribune ended up in the FBI's "Red Squad" file they maintain on me--- but there is another dirty little government secret just like the drone wars killing our jobs just like they kill people we shouldn't read about or talk about.

By the way, Mr. Frederick; have you ever considered there is a reason so many people turn to blogging in this country?

I guess I can assume if I decide to run for the United States Senate there won't be any use my stopping by the Duluth News Tribune's Editorial Offices seeking your endorsement if I should choose to run on a platform of "jobs, jobs, jobs."

Alan L. Maki

 

On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 9:01 AM, Chuck Frederick wrote:

Hello Mr. Maki. The subject line of the email containing your letter to the editor submission to the News Tribune indicated the letter was exclusively for publication in the News Tribune. Exclusively, as in ONLY submitted to the News Tribune. But I'm finding your letter already published by the Bemidji paper and already published on at least two blogs. That's hardly exclusive. So were you lying to us when you submitted your letter or did you not understand what "exclusive" means?

Chuck Frederick
Editorial Page Editor
Duluth News Tribune




On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 11:45 AM, Alan Maki wrote:

An exclusive Letter to the Editor submitted for publication in the Duluth News Tribune

Once again with President Barack Obama's State of the Union Speech we got another politician hypocritically talking about "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs."

If just one job was created every time some politician opened their mouth and started talking about "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" we wouldn't have any unemployment in this country and everyone who wanted to work would have a decent, living wage job.

So, what is the main obstacle to full employment? Accountability from the very politicians who mouth the words "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" whenever they want to get elected, re-elected or want thunderous applause then go about their business forgetting about jobs as they go looking for their next bribe from a Wall Street lobbyist who views unemployment as the way to keep all wages down which pushes profits up.

What we need in this country is a real "Full Employment Act" which mandates--- by legislation and law--- that the President and the United States Congress must maintain full employment as part of their responsibility to the American people.

What good is a government that gets us into war after war but can't even assure full employment for the very people it taxes?

Wars cause government debt and deficits; peace and full employment eliminate debts and deficits.

--
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell: 651-587-5541

Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net
E-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com

Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/



--
Chuck Frederick
Editorial Page Editor
Duluth News Tribune
424 W. First St.
Duluth MN 55802
cfrederick@duluthnews.com
218-723-5316




--
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell: 651-587-5541

Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net
E-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com

Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/