Meeting Report – “Poverty, by America” by Prof. Matthew Desmond

[johnkarls]

.

Usually no meeting report is prepared unless we are bombarded by inquiries about what happened.

[Indeed, our most-recent meeting reports had been for (1) our Feb 2020 meeting on “Hunger in America,” (2) our Jan 2021 meeting on “Civilization: The West and the Rest” which, inter alia, touched on the 2020 election, (3) our June 2021 meeting on “Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion & the Future of Policing,” and (4) our April 2023 meeting on “Marked for Life: One Man’s Fight for Justice From the Inside” – implying that meeting reports are less frequent than 10%.]

HOWEVER, the decisions taken at our 9/20/2023 are so numerous and complicated that a Meeting Report is required.


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The Suggested Discussion Outline –

“respectfully suggested that we review our E-mail Campaigns in each of the four [following] areas….., especially from the viewpoint of whether the most recent version should be revised and/or re-directed –

(1) Exporting American Jobs – most-recent campaign at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1215&sid=7a37777da ... 10371c56ea.

(2) Educating America’s Permanent 30% Under-Caste – most-recent campaign at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1925&sid=7a37777da ... 10371c56ea.

(3) The United Nations Two-Decade War on Modern-Day Slavery – most-recent campaign at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1828&sid=7a37777da ... 10371c56ea.

(4) Saving the Fed Gov $86 Billion/YEAR by Enacting “Medicare For All” – most-recent campaign at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1869&sid=7a37777da ... 10371c56ea – NB: explanation re to whom it was directed at viewtopic.php?f=757&t=2393&sid=7a37777d ... 10371c56ea.


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(2) Educating America’s Permanent 30% Under-Caste
(4) Saving the Fed Gov $86 Billion/YEAR by Enacting “Medicare For All”

Decisions taken –

No. 2 was sent 6/6/2020 to Presidential Candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. and its content is still current.

No. 4 was sent 12/19/2019 to Presidential Candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. and its content is still current.

Accordingly, it was decided that NO ACTION re these two items was warranted – ESPECIALLY SINCE RECIPIENTS OF OUR 51 CAMPAIGNS LISTED IN SEC. 1 OF OUR WEBSITE (viewforum.php?f=23&sid=8fe5a1d29897d848a07e479a8955493f) SHOULD BE GIVEN NO EXCUSE TO ASSUME OUR RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE AN EXPIRATION DATE.


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(3) The United Nations Two-Decade War on Modern-Day Slavery

No. 3 was sent 9/23/2019 to President Trump.

Its content is still current.

ACCORDINGLY, it was decided to send the same communication to President Biden.


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(1) Exporting American Jobs (aka War on American Workers)

No 1 was sent 2/15/2014 to President Obama imploring him to revive 1968 Executive Order 11387 which would have imposed the strict foreign-exchange controls of the Foreign Direct Invest Program.

In a comment about the Suggested Discussion Outline – “Halting the 1993-2016 Exportation of American Jobs to China et al. with the Imposition of Tariffs à la 2017-2020” at viewtopic.php?f=759&t=2396&sid=8fe5a1d2 ... 9a8955493f – it was noted that less than 3 years after our imploring President Obama to halt the Export of American jobs with foreign-exchange controls, President Trump was combatting the Export of American Jobs with Import Tariffs.

[NB: an additional comment on this issue – “Combatting the Exportation of American Jobs with Foreign Exchange Controls vs. Import Tariffs” at viewtopic.php?f=759&t=2397&sid=8fe5a1d2 ... 9a8955493f – explains how Exporting Jobs can be combatted with either foreign-exchange controls or import tariffs.]

HOWEVER, at the end of “Halting the 1993-2016 Exportation of American Jobs to China et al. with the Imposition of Tariffs à la 2017-2020” referenced in the second-preceding paragraph, I recommended that we vote as our focus book for our 10/18/2023 meeting “No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America’s Workers” by Robert Lighthizer (President Trump’s Trade Representative who re-negotiated NAFTA and other so-called “free trade” agreements while overseeing the imposition of import tariffs) so that we could more knowledgeably decide what action to take regarding “Stopping the Export of American Jobs” – noting that “If we do not select Lighthizer’s book, we will just have to plow ahead Wed evening re updating our historic action.”

[NB: Yours Truly does NOT vote for the following month’s focus book except to break ties.]

The other participants at our 9/20/2023 meeting voted for Lighthizer’s book.

Accordingly, action on this issue was deferred to our 10/18/2023 meeting.


Respectfully submitted,

John Karls