1) DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS ON THE RADIO
                  2) GOP TO AXE BILLIONS FROM SOCIAL PROGRAMS
                  3) THE ONE SIDED CLASS WAR: WORKERS UNDER ATTACK
                  4) THE LATEST FROM SOCIALIST BLOG LAND
                  5) NOVEMBER ACTIVIST CALENDAR

1) DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS ON THE RADIO
Barbara Ehrenreich - DSA Honorary Co-Chair and author of Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream.  The best-selling author discusses going undercover as a middle-aged professional trying to get a white collar job in corporate America. She finds that the people who are playing by the rules -- going to college, being loyal to the to their employer -- are too often ending up in financial ruin.
Listen/Watch/Read:
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/17/1423218

Michael Eric Dyson - DSA member, professor and preacher, Michael Eric Dyson speaking on race, Katrina, and the state of the U.S. says, "If you're in the plane, being in first class ain't going to stop you from going down with the rest of us. When there is turbulence, there is turbulence everywhere. Everybody be shaking. If that plane goes down, you might die first in first class. Yes, some of us are in first class, but the plane is in trouble."
Listen/Watch/Read:
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/14/1353201


2) GOP TO AXE BILLIONS FROM SOCIAL PROGRAMS: FIGHT THE CUTBACKS!
Just 6 weeks after Hurricane Katrina, top Republicans are exploiting the cost of the tragedy to push forward a budget plan calling for $50 billion in permanent cuts to vital services for the poor, for students and the middle-class, while handing out $70 billion in tax breaks largely for the wealthy.  The vote on this critical budget will likely take place tomorrow, Thursday, October 20th.

Here's a brief description of the budget process: Last spring, Congress passed a budget and tax blueprint calling for three major changes: $35 billion in cuts to vital national services, $70 billion in new tax cuts, largely for the wealthy, and an additional $35 billion tacked onto the deficit. This was bad policy before Katrina, but now it's a catastrophe. Responsible leaders on both sides of the aisle have called for canceling this process, called "budget reconciliation," in light of the cost and increased need created by the hurricane.

Here is a list of some of the programs that are or could be on the chopping block if "budget reconciliation" goes forward:

• Medicaid and Medicare - the primary health insurance provider for America's poor and elderly.
• Federal student loans - which make higher education possible for millions of American students.
• Child Nutrition Programs (school lunch and breakfast, summer meals, day care meals) - which provide basic nutrition to underprivileged children in every state.
• Food Stamps - the highly successful federal program that keeps millions of Americans from facing hunger and even starvation.
• Earned Income & Child Tax Credits - vital tax relief for low-income working families.
• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation - the federal guarantor of private pension programs, needed more than ever in this era of major bankruptcies.
• State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and TANF - which provide basic cost of living support to millions of extremely low income and disabled Americans.
• Unemployment Insurance.

These cuts are an attack on students and the democratic right to an education!
Despite the fact that millions of students and families are coming up short of what it takes to pay for college, both the House and Senate have proposed cutting as much as $14 billion out of student aid programs. Students will face higher interest rates and lose critical borrower benefits through the budget reconciliation proposals.

Tuition has been skyrocketing over the past several years, with the average student graduating over $20,000 in debt.  If these new cuts are enacted, the average debt could rise an additional $5800!  This is outrageous.  Enough is enough! 
 
Campuses across the country held activities yesterday to oppose student aid cuts.  Students mobilized to generate over 1000 phone calls to their representatives and senators.
Contact YDS for action ideas, or check out: www.moveon.org or the United States Student Association at: www.usstudents.org


3) THE ONE SIDED CLASS WAR: WORKERS UNDER ATTACK
U.S. Labor Is in Retreat as Global Forces Squeeze Pay and Benefits
Workers at auto parts maker Delphi Corp. will be asked this week to take a two-thirds pay cut. It's one of the most drastic wage concessions ever sought from unionized employees.  
by David Streitfeld (NYTimes Staff Writer)
The complete article can be viewed at:
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-workers18oct18,0,7671153.story?coll=la-home-headlines


4) THE LATEST FROM SOCIALIST BLOG LAND
What's the Democratic Left?
"Arguments about ideological labels and what they mean are important: they are ways of getting at the questions Which side are you on? and Who are your comrades?, which are among the fundamental questions of political life. Even in ideological organizations like the good old DS of A, however, these questions are almost always sidelined in favor of either a single-minded focus on political action or self-congratulatory statements about what everyone agrees on already the perfidiousness of conservatives, for instance. Consider this, then, the first installment in a series of posts about what we call ourselves."
To read the entire entry by YDSer Geoff Kurtz and view his related post on "Coalition and Realignment," go to: http://lookingatthecity.blogspot.com

The Philosophy of Poverty
"Hurricane Katrina laid bare the deep divisions which continue to plague American society. For days on end, we saw the faces of those left behind in New Orleans­-the dispossessed, the forgotten. The visibility of their plight underscored the existence of an underclass in America. Let us hope that in the coming years the question of poverty will regain a foothold in public consciousness. The tragedy of New Orleans was only partially a story of levees and poor planning. It was also the story of how disproportionately such events affect the affluent and the poor. Preventing future disasters means getting serious about fighting poverty."
To read the entire entry by Daraka Larimore-Hall, former YDS National Organizer, and view his related post on "Labor & November 8th," go to: http://hoverbike.blogspot.com/


5) NOVEMBER ACTIVIST CALENDAR: START PLANNING YOUR EVENTS!
Below is a list of key events that we encourage YDS members to participate in during the month of November.  Please contact us if you have any questions, need organizing support, or are already planning to participate.  YDS chapters are putting together local events on their campuses for particular days or action or attending demonstrations and conferences mentioned below.  Let us know what you're up to!

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force 18th Annual Creating Change Conference
November 9-13th
Oakland, California
Visit www.thetaskforce.org/ourprojects/cc/index.cfm for more info.

Democratic Socialists of America National Convention
November 11-13th
Los Angeles, California
We meet in Los Angeles, a city that has just elected Antonio Villaraigosa, a former union staff member, its first Latino mayor in a tremendous victory for that city's vibrant progressive movement (in which the labor movement plays a leading role). Los Angeles is representative of the emerging workforce, the cultural divide and the globalized economy that the corporations wish to impose on us; as such it is a particularly appropriate location for the DSA convention.
Contact YDS is you are interested in attending the convention.
Visit www.dsausa.org for more info.

Anti-Wal-Mart "Higher Expectations Week"
November 13-19th
Nation-wide
This week of action starts with the premiere WALMART: The High Cost of Low Price - a documentary that will change the way the country views our nation's biggest private employer.  Film screenings, house parties, press conferences, and more are being sponsored by Wal-Mart Watch and more than 400 national and local organizations, including YDS.
Go to http://walmartwatch.com/november to sign up and pledge your support to take action.

National "Not Your Soldier" Youth and Student Day of Action
Thursday, November 17th
Nationwide - at a high school or college campus near you....
Join YDSers in partnership with our coalition partners in the National Youth & Student Day to build the counter-military recruitment movement.  Are military recruiters invading your schools and using promises of scholarships and career opportunities to convince your friends to join the military? You are not alone! On November 17, International Students Day, join youth and students from around the country in the first nationally coordinated day of action for and about young people!
Visit www.nyspc.net for organizing ideas, to register your events and find out more about the issues.

3 Days of Remembrance & Resistance to Close the School of the Americas!
November 18-20, 2005
Fort Benning, Georgia
On November 18-20, 2005 we will gather at Fort Benning, Georgia -- one of the largest military bases in the world and home of the notorious School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC) -- to confront injustice, to speak out for truth and to change oppressive US foreign policy.
Visit www.SOAW.org for more information.



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