San José, CA – On Feb. 17, the San José Day of Remembrance program commemorated the anniversary of Executive Order 9066 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. 300 people came to the San Jose Buddhist Church hall to remember E.O. 9066, which led to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II. At the beginning of the program the emcee, Will Kaku, said that the official apology from the government stated that the concentration camps “were due to racial prejudice, wartime hysteria and a failure of political leadership. Although those words pertain to events from 71 years ago, they serve as a warning to us today.”
San José, CA – On Jan. 30, the Commerce Department reported that Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, fell by a very small amount (0.1% at an annual rate) in the last three months of 2012. The drop in GDP was largely because of a big drop in federal government purchases of goods and services, in addition to a drop in inventories (meaning that stores sold goods that were sitting on their shelves instead of having more produced) and a drop in exports.
San José, CA – In the past few days, the Japanese government has accused China provoking Japanese navy ships near the Chinese Diaoyu Islands, which lie about 120 miles northeast of Taiwan. The new nationalist Japanese government is continuing to increase military tensions with China by sending naval forces and military aircraft to the islands, which are occupied by Japan, which calls them the Senkaku Islands. In addition, the U.S. still recognizes the Japanese occupation and says that it will back Japan militarily under the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty.
Federal Financial Aid to be cut 8.4% starting March 1
San José, CA – On March 1, the automatic spending cuts demanded by the 2011 Budget Control Act are scheduled to go into effect. These cuts were originally scheduled to go into effect Jan. 2, but were delayed as part of the solution to the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’ Included in the spending cuts is an 8.4% reduction in federal financial aid. While the large Pell Grant program is exempted, other federal financial aid, including the Stafford Loans, Work-Study, Perkins Loans and others would be all reduced by 8.4%. This would lead to less aid to students receiving financial aid, and some would be cut off entirely.
San José, CA – On Jan. 29, one day after a group of eight U.S. Senators announced their bipartisan proposal for immigration reform, President Obama made his own proposal. While the President’s proposal was better than the bipartisan Senate proposal in several areas, in particular calling for recognition of same-sex partners of U.S. citizens or legal residents who are seeking legal residency; overall it offered the same approach of harsh treatment of the undocumented and a pro-business approach.
San José, CA – On Monday, January 28, a bipartisan group of eight Senators, four Democrats and four Republicans, announced a framework for “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” or CIR. On Jan. 29, President Obama will be putting out his position, marking the beginning of an effort to “reform” U.S. immigration law this year.
San José, CA – On Jan. 26, there was a commemoration of Fred Korematsu, one of the Japanese Americans who resisted the World War II U.S. concentration camps for Japanese Americans. The event, held in San José’s Japantown, began with the film, “Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story.”
San José, CA – Starting Jan. 1, payroll taxes paid by workers went up from 4.2% to 6.2%. This increase will affect about 77% of all households. Depending on other deductions and taxes, this will lower the take-home pay of workers by 2% or more.
San José, CA – On Jan. 23, Congressional Republicans caved in and voted for a three-month extension to the Federal Debt Limit. Up until Jan.23, the Republicans in the House of Representatives had refused to raise the debt limit, raising the specter that the U.S. government would have to choose between delaying Social Security payments, Medicare payments, payments to military, and/or interest on the national debt.
San José, CA – On Jan. 4, the U.S. Department of Labor released its report on the labor market for December 2012. The overall official unemployment rate stayed the same as in November, at 7.8%, and 155,000 new jobs were added. But the unemployment rate for adult women (20 years and older), increased from 7.0% in November to 7.3% in December, rising above the unemployment rate for adult men, which stayed the same at 7.2%.
San José, CA – Early New Year’s Day, the U.S. Senate voted 89-8 to pass a compromise bill to put off the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’ The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, where Republicans are likely to try to get even more tax breaks for the rich.
San José, CA – On June 25 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against most of the parts of Arizona’s SB1070, which had ignited nationwide protests against the anti-immigrant law. But at the same time the court upheld part of the law that would allow for expanding federal and local joint efforts to deport more undocumented people.
San José, CA – On June 9, Spain and the European Union made an agreement to bail out Spain’s troubled banking sector. This agreement means Spain is the fourth country (along with Portugal, Ireland and Greece) in the eurozone to have to take a bailout.
San José, CA – On June 1, the Department of Labor released its monthly report on unemployment and employment for May, 2012. The report said that only 69,000 jobs were added in the U.S. economy in May, less than half of what professional economists had been predicting. Even worse, the report revised earlier estimates of job growth in March and April down by another 49,000 jobs.
San Jose, CA – On May 12, the South Bay Committee Against Political Repression held an art auction fundraiser for the defense of Carlos Montes. Bay Area artists contributed their paintings, posters, photographs and other art for a silent auction. The program included music and spoken word. Hundreds of dollars were raised for the legal defense and organizing efforts for Carlos Montes.
San José, CA – In the first five months of this year, more than 400,000 jobless workers have been cut from collecting unemployment insurance benefits under the Federal Extended Benefits (EB) program. Another 100,000 will also lose their benefits when the EB program ends at the end of May, bringing the total to more than a half million unemployed who will be losing their benefits.
San José, CA – A new report by the Associated Press confirms what many people already knew: the job market for young college graduates just plain sucks. Pardon my language, but to have more than half (53.6%) of people under 25 with a bachelor’s degree either out of work or doing jobs that only need a high school diploma or even less education is outrageous.
San José, CA – On Feb. 19, more than 425 people attended the 32nd Annual Day of Remembrance event in San José Japantown organized by the Nihonmachi (Japantown) Outreach Committee (NOC). This event commemorated the 70th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Roosevelt that led to the incarceration of almost 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II.
San José, CA – On Feb. 19, almost 50 people packed the San Jose Peace and Justice Center to hear Carlos Montes speak. The event was sponsored by the South Bay Committee Against Political Repression and co-sponsored by the Peace and Justice Center and by MAÍZ (Movimiento de Accion, Inspirando Servicio – Movement of Action, Inspiring Service).
San José, CA – On Feb. 29, federal Extended Unemployment Insurance benefits will end unless Congress agrees to continue the program. Republicans in Congress are threatening to block the extension unless they are able to cut benefits and make federal workers pay for the cost of the program.
