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February 2003

Economic Recovery Plan Could Benefit Few
On January 7 President Bush outlined his economic recovery plan that he said would provide significant tax breaks for many and job opportunities to everyone who would want to work. The economic plan would cost $674 billion dollars over the next ten years. Its largest component is a $364 billion provision eliminating all taxes paid on corporate dividends paid to shareholders.

An analysis from Call to Renewal shows that the President’s economic package would actually assist only the top five percent of the population who own most of the shares of stock and have an average annual income of $350,000. The top one percent of the tax filers would get 42 percent of the benefits. One striking disparity is that the top 0.2 percent of the tax filers would receive as much from this tax cut as the bottom 90 percent of the filers combined. Those who have incomes over $1 million will receive about $27,100 in benefits, those with incomes between $30,000 and $40,000 will get about $42 in tax benefits.

President Bush ran on a platform of "compassionate conservatism," but so far has not addressed the real needs of the disadvantaged. The number of people living under the poverty level is rising – 33 million, including 12 million children. Unemployment has jumped to 6 percent. Request for emergency food and shelter assistance rose 19 percent last year. Congress has failed to reauthorize welfare reform and just recently extended unemployment benefits for millions of Americans. Reports indicate that the administration will submit a budget cutting domestic spending to pay for the increased military budget to fund preparatitions for war.

If you want more analysis of how this tax cut and recovery plan will effect a majority of the taxpayers, you can get that information from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (www.cbpp.org).

Action Needed to Defend Guatemalan Witness
Amnesty International and TASSC has issued an action alert in the case of Otoniel De La Roca Mendoza, a key witness at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of "disappeared" Guatemalan guerrilla leader Efrain Bamaca. De La Roca and his family have been threatened and harassed, according to Amnesty International.

In October 2002 De La Roca’s nephew in Guatemala was tortured and murdered. His fingertips had been cut, his scalp removed and he had been shot three times in the head. The report indicates that this is consistent with torture linked to the armed forces and may have been done to terrorize the family. In December 2002 De La Roca started receiving suspicious and threatening calls at his home in the United States.

De La Roca witnessed the detention and torture of Efrain Bamaca Velasquez at the time of his capture in 1992. Bamaca was a commander of one of the armed guerrilla groups that waged civil conflict against the Guatemalan military until the peace accords were agreed to in 1996. De La Roca went into exile in the United States in 1997 in fear for his security. Since then his family in Guatemala has been subjected to sporadic harassment which has increased over the last year.

AI is recommending that appeals be sent to the Guatemalan government expressing concern for the safety of De La Roca and his family and urging authorities to take adequate measures to ensure their safety. Letters can be sent to the Guatemalan Ambassador to the U.S., Antonio Arenales Forno, Embassy of Guatemala, 2220 R Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008.

You can get updated information on this case from Amnesty International at www.amnesty.org, or by calling the Colorado office weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (Mountian Time).

Ecumenical Group Calls on Governments to "embark on a course of peace and justice"
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), the Washington-based interdenominational coalition that promotes peace justice in the Middle East issued a public appeal to the leaders of the United States, Iraq, Israel, and the Palestinians to seek peace and justice in the region so that war will be averted. In an open statement published in Washington on January 25, CMEP called on the Unite States to take actions to prevent war with Iraq by working with the international community to ensure Iraq’s compliance with UN Security Council resolutions, to take concrete steps to establish a Palestinian state, and to ensure Israel’s security. The statement called on Iraq to work openly and honestly with weapons inspectors and to end violent and oppressive practices against its own people. Concerned that any war with Iraq could become a regional conflict, CMEP called on the Palestinians to end the violence, pursue democratic reforms and to ensure the long-term security of Israel and the Israelis to cease military operations and violence against Palestinians, end the occupation of the territories, halt expansion of settlements, and implement a peace process that will lead to their security and the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

CMEP has been promoting these objectives for several years now, and more intensely in the past months, through meetings with members of Congress, representatives at the State Department and meetings with administration officials. A report on a recent meeting with the National Security Council is in the current Bulletin. CMSM is a member of CMEP and J/P Director Stan De Boe, OSST, is currently the chair.

For more information on CMEP and updated action alerts and analysis you can view their website at www.cmep.org.

Save the Date
May 18-20, 2003: National Interfaith Committee on Worker Justice Conference, Washington, DC. Join leaders from local religion-labor coalitions and religious denominations to strengthen local efforts and enhance public policy advocacy for workers. Contact the National Interfaith Committee on Worker Justice, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, 4th Floor, Chicago, IL, 60660. Phone: 773-728-8400, Webpage: www.nicwj.org.

Summer Justice Program
The National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice is now accepting applications for its annual "Seminary Summer 2003" program. The program is open to 35 seminarians, rabbinic students, novices, and Muslim students for a unique summer field internship of faith and action for workplace justice. The ten-week program includes a one week orientation and training program in Chicago before starting work on local union organizing campaigns across the country. The program runs June 9 – Aug. 15. Students receive $120 per week stipends, housing (if needed), transportation costs, and possible academic credit. The program was started in 2000 by NICWJ, the AFL-CIO, and McCormick Seminary. For information and an application go to www.nicwj.org/outreac.SemSum.html or call Regina Botterill at 773-728-8400 x15 or email regina@nicwj.org.

Stan De Boe, OSST
Editor

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