BUSH’S IRAQ OIL LAW
It’s embarrassing that George W. keeps trying to deceive the American public about developments in Iraq, but it’s shameful that the media establishment blithely goes along, parroting Bush’s deceit.
Take Bush’s high-pressure push to ram a new oil law through the Iraqi parliament. The official line is that this is a healing measure that would provide for a fair distribution of oil profits among Iraq’s Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. The oil law is touted by the Bushites as key to unifying these factions, and its passage is the No. 1 nonmilitary benchmark the White House has set to measure Iraqi “progress.”
Major media outlets in our country have swallowed Bush’s line whole, frequently and unquestioningly reporting that, for some reason, those quarrelsome Iraqis can’t even agree on something as basic as sharing oil revenues. There have been several impatient editorials demanding that Baghdad get on with it.
If our media barons were to have a sudden attack of journalistic curiosity, however, they might peer a bit deeper into the oil law. Then they’d learn the glitch is not about sharing profits but about a cynical power grab by multinational oil giants. Eager to seize control of Iraq’s massive petroleum reserves, Big Oil got the Bushites to write a provision into the proposed law that would open two-thirds of that nation’s oil fields to ownership by foreign corporations.
In short, the law would force Iraq to surrender sovereignty over its most valuable economic resource — and that’s why it is not passing. The people there have enough trouble without losing control of their oil, and there is vehement public opposition to Big Oil’s law.
So when you see stories about Bush, Cheney, and others imploring Iraq’s parliament to pass this law, remember, they’re not promoting national reconciliation; they’re promoting a shameful oil scam.
PUSHING FOR SHARED PROSPERITY
One of the most oxymoronic and obnoxious phrases in America today is “the working poor.”
We live in the richest nation in the history of the world, and it’s morally abominable that anyone who works in this country is poor. Our economy is deliberately skewed by public policy. As a result, the vast portion of America’s wealth, which is generated by all of us, flows to the few at the top, shortchanging the middle class and leaving millions of hardworking Americans — many working two or three jobs — in poverty.
For the first time in a decade, Congress finally has upped the minimum wage, increasing it by 70 cents an hour this summer, with two more 70-cent increases coming in the next two summers. If you’re one of the working poor — trying to make the rent, put food on the table, and cover the basics of utilities, clothing, and gasoline — every penny matters, so a 70-cent raise helps. But Congress critters should not injure their arms patting themselves on the back, for $5.85 an hour is a gross pay of only $12,000 a year — still a poverty wage for full-time work. Even with two more scheduled raises, the minimum wage will remain poverty pay.
Oh, exclaim right-wing apologists for this injustice, raising workers’ pay hurts small business. But wait, I’m a small-business owner, and it doesn’t hurt me. In fact, a recent survey found that three out of four small- and medium-sized-business owners say raising the minimum wage doesn’t hurt them. Indeed, two-thirds of small businesses support a boost, because their workers gain more purchasing power and the companies have less turnover, higher productivity, improved customer satisfaction, and an enhanced reputation.
Don’t let the wealthy elite pit small business against workers. We’re all in this together. For more information, check out Business for Shared Prosperity: www.businessforsharedprosperity.org.
This article appears in August 10 • 2007.