5-03-07, 10:10 pm

Click here to subscribe to Political Affairs weekly podcasts in iTunes Innocent and Executed: the Death Penalty in America

Opposing efforts to reexamine the Constitutionality of the death penalty, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently wrote that there has not been 'a single case – not one – in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent's name would be shouted from the rooftops.'

Ruben Cantu. Carlos de Luna. Larry Griffin. Cameron Todd Willingham. These are the names of four men who have been executed and whose cases are profiled in a new report from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty titled 'Innocent and Executed.'

Compiling data from major organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, The Innocence Project, the Justice Project, and the work of many attorneys and journalists, the National Coalition report has exposed 'grave errors leading to the execution of innocent people.'

Prosecutorial and police misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel and flawed testimony characterized each of these cases. Faulty eyewitness identification and lack of credible evidence were factors in at least three. According to the National Coalition it is time to either drastically overhaul the death penalty or abandon it altogether.

According to the report, 123 death row inmates have been proven innocent since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.

Read the full report at: . Read PA's interview with David Elliot of the National Coalition at PoliticalAffairs.net

Medicare for at least some

Earlier this month, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) introduced H.R. 2034, which he touted as a Medicare-for-all bill. This bill would allow most people to enroll either in Medicare or the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, which provides insurance coverage for members of Congress.

Some labor and community activists have praised the proposal's basic concept. Ruben Burks of the Alliance for Retired Americans said, 'The legislation is based on the premise that Medicare is a successful program that has saved countless lives, and could help younger Americans in addition to seniors.'

Critics of Dingell's plan have pointed to some important flaws. Because the bill preserves a two-tier health coverage system – Medicare and private insurance – healthier and higher-income individuals and families will go to private insurers, while lower-income people as well as those with more chronic or long-term care needs will be enrolled in Medicare.

If this occurs, the financial strain on Medicare without additional investment could help boost pro-privatization critics of Medicare. At the very least, Medicare recipients could see their out-of-pocket expenses grow.

Meanwhile, without proving itself more efficient and less-expensive, the private sector would enjoy continuing double digit inflation on premiums with declining coverage.

Rather than a stepping stone to a single-payer system, the Dingell plan, without the needed political commitment to guaranteeing health care for all, could very well sound the death knell of Medicare.

In addition, the Dingell plan does not mandate coverage for everyone in the US. It excludes undocumented workers and visitors to the country.

Another Medicare-for-all alternative is already on the books. H.R. 676, a national health care, single-payer plan sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), would expand Medicare to cover everyone for just about any health care need.

Find out more by searching for HR 676 at PoliticalAffairs.net.

Are Republicans Abandoning Bush?

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that some Republicans are breaking with Bush's stubborn stay-the-course, everything-is-OK, mission-accomplished position on the Iraq war.

The afterglow of Bush's hollow and lonely victory over Congress by vetoing the Iraq Accountability Act, which would have legislated a timeline for ending US military involvement in Iraq, is quickly fading.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins (ME) said that she didn't see Bush's demand for a 'straight' funding bill without accountability to be 'viable.' She pointed to a growing bipartisan demand for 'benchmarks' and 'conditions.'

Contrary to Bush's claims that he alone is the 'decider' or the 'commander guy,' his most recent self-attribution, Republican Rep. Charles Boustany (LA) said, Congress has 'to be engaged developing our own proposals and not just going along with what the executive branch is doing.'

Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME), who opposed the Iraq Accountability Act, has put forward a bill that would require US commanders to prepare withdrawal plans if 'benchmarks' for the Iraqi government are not met.

Republican Sen. John Warner (VA) also believes that a compromise with 'tough conditions' could be passed in a bipartisan way.

Look for defections from the President's position by others like Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, who is slated to lose his job to Al Franken in Minnesota; Republican Sens. John Sununu (NH) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC) as well.

The concept of 'benchmarks' appears to be aimed at punishing Iraq for Bush's war and subsequent failures and do not bring the war to an end as rapidly as possible.

Likely Democratic proposals will put a short leash on funding and insiders predict new timeline proposals will be returned to the president.

The peace movement will be keeping the heat on all of Congress, the president, and the presidential candidates to end US military involvement in Iraq.

Antiwar activists are also targeting these key Republicans for pressure to side with the vast majority of Americans who want to bring the war to an end.

Can Environmental Sustainability Create Economic Growth?

There was a big push in April for Congress to battle climate change by passing legislation that would cut carbon emissions by 80% over the next four decades.

Opponents of environmental protections often deny that global warming is real. In their more realistic moments, however, they typically complain that strong environmental laws will hurt the economy and weaken job growth.

Are they right?

No, according to a new report co-authored by the Apollo Alliance and Urban Habitat. With serious investment in the so-called 'green economy' high-skilled, well-paid jobs can be created.

For example, the report shows that investments in environmentally sustainable areas such as green building, energy efficient retrofits, and renewable energy can promote economic diversity and job growth.

New jobs could be created in union dense fields like construction, metal working, the public sector, general labor, chemical work, electrical work, pipe fitting, heavy equipment operation, as well as in management, administration, and information technologies.

The report recommends hiring local residents and using living wage standards that promote economic growth across the entire community, rather than quick profits for already successful corporations or individuals.

This kind of program isn't a magic bullet, says the report, for solving the current trends in job loss and outsourcing.

Turning that corner will take serious commitment by federal, state, and local entities to both find alternatives to oil dependence and the dangerous carbon-based economy as well as a commitment to investment in rebuilding our communities.