Fight Back News Service is circulating the following press statement from Professor Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. The statement deals with economic developments in the Philippines and the United States.

San Jose, CA – On Dec. 6, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America reported that home foreclosures and late mortgages rose to record highs in the July to September period. The next day, Bush’s Treasury Secretary Paulson announced a plan to aid home-buyers. While consumer advocates criticized the plan for being too little, too late, Wall Street liked the plan, which would let banks off the hook, and sent stocks up.

Commentary

San Jose, CA – On Sept. 18 the Federal Reserve cut two key short-term interest rates for bank loans by one-half a percentage point. These interest rate cuts followed on the heels of dismal economic data on jobs and the worsening housing and mortgage bust, as well as continued instability in financial markets. While stock markets around the world celebrated the larger-than-expected interest rate cuts with large increases, the Federal Reserve action reflects weakness, not strength, in the economy.

San Jose, CA – In July the U.S. housing market hit new lows, with the lowest number of permits for new homes and the lowest number of construction starts in more than ten years. Then in August financial markets across the globe were shaken by the growing defaults on mortgages in the United States.

San Jose, CA – Between September of 2005 and December of 2006 permits to build new homes went down 28%, as home sales have dropped and prices have started to fall. In the last 50 years there have been seven other declines in building permits of 25% or more, and every single one has been followed by a recession, the most recent being the 1990 recession.

Chicago, IL – Across the country the rich are grabbing up land, pushing poor people and people of color to the suburbs and on to the streets. In Chicago this has meant the demolition of whole communities, the tearing down of public housing, violations of renters’ rights, condo conversions and working-class displacement.

San Jose, CA – According to a U.S. Census Bureau report released in October, the cost of renting rose even faster than the cost of buying a home between 2000 and 2005. Over those five years, rents rose 20.7% as compared to an 18.75% rise in homeowner costs (these are nationwide averages, the increases for both in some areas such as California have been much higher).

San Jose, CA – The official U.S. unemployment rate rose from 4.6% to 4.8% in July as the economic growth slowed over the past months, creating fewer jobs. The number of long-term (15 weeks or more) jobless people rose, as unemployed workers had a harder time finding new jobs. A better measure of unemployment, which includes workers who have to take part-time jobs because they can’t get full-time work, and those who temporarily gave up looking because they haven’t been able to find a job, also rose in July to 7.8%.

Republicans Respond with Tax Cuts for Rich

San Jose, CA – When the price of gasoline spiked above $3 per gallon, Republicans responded by proposing a $100 rebate. This was widely condemned as a public relations stunt at best and an insult at worst as working families are weighed down by high gas prices, rising interest rates and cuts in pensions and health care. But you don’t hear complaints about the Republicans coming from the rich.

San Jose, CA – Sales of existing homes slowed in January for the fifth month in a row, while inventories of unsold homes rose to levels not seen in years. The biggest drops took place in the hot markets of California, south Florida and Massachusetts, all of which saw sales of existing homes fall more than 20% from a year earlier.

Republicans plan more tax cuts for the wealthy, slashing of social programs

San Jose, CA – Just before the holiday recess, Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate agreed to cut social programs that serve the poor and working class, such as Medicaid (health care for low-income people), student loans for college, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and Medicare (health care for the elderly). At the same time Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill backed by President Bush to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the well to do and businesses.

San Jose, CA – The price of gasoline has risen 65% from only one year ago, topping $3 dollars a gallon in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This has forced many working families to cut back on spending or go deeper in to debt. The big energy companies and the corporate media have been blaming this year’s spike in gasoline prices, and the spike in heating bills to come, on hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which have shut down much of the gasoline refining and natural gas infrastructure along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. However, just as the disaster that took place in Louisiana and Mississippi was as much manmade as an act of nature, so too is the rise in energy prices.

Incomes Fall, Poverty and Uninsured Rise Four Years in Row

On Aug. 30 the federal government reported that average household income fell and the poverty rate rose for the fourth year in a row. The same report also showed that the percentage of people who went without health insurance for the entire year increased; their numbers rose to almost 46 million. While, on average, the bottom 80% of the population lost income in 2004, the top 20% of the population increased both their average incomes (to $151,000), as well as their share of income – to more than half, at 50.1%.

San Jose, CA – On July 19 Hewlett-Packard, or HP, one of the country’s largest computer makers, announced that they would cut almost 15,000 jobs and dismantle their workers’ pension program. HP said that it could increase its profits $300 million a year by ending pensions for all new workers and cutting pension payments for all but the oldest and most senior workers – and expanding their 401(k)retirement program instead. HP is just another big business to slash their workers’ pension plans. In 1979 over 60% of workers with retirement benefits had pensions, but now less than 13% do.

“Here’s the fix, tax the rich!” chanted 350 University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) workers, as they marched on May 26. Employees were mad as hell because of Governor Blagojevich’s threats against state pensions.

Government Pension Privatization Causes Disasters in Britain and Argentina

Commentary

San Jose, CA – Over the past four years, retired workers have faced a double-barreled attack as companies do away with their retiree health plans and dump their pension plans. At the same time, the fall in the stock market has reduced the value of 401-k plans for older workers and retirees, forcing many to have to work longer. Now the Bush administration has declared that it will move forward with plans to begin to privatize Social Security, creating personal investment accounts with the money that used to go to Social Security benefits. This would be a windfall for Wall Street, which could collect up to $15 billion dollars a year from ‘managing’ and ‘advising’ these retirement accounts.

San Jose, CA – 2003 saw a record number of people filing for bankruptcy – for the second year in a row. More than 1.6 million people filed for bankruptcy last year, or one out of every 73 households in the United States. The percentage of credit cards whose users have fallen behind on their payments also hit record highs last year. The increase in bankruptcies and late credit card payments, despite low interest rates, show that more and more households are being crushed by almost $10 trillion of debt.

San Jose, CA – As Congress wrapped up its business for the holiday break, the Republican leadership sent a big lump of coal to millions of unemployed workers. By refusing to renew the federal extended unemployment benefits program, jobless workers whose six-month state unemployment benefits ran out after Dec. 21, 2003 will no longer be able to collect thirteen more weeks of unemployment benefits. This will affect about 90,000 workers each week.