GOP Rep Calls For Cuts To Social Security And Medicare And “Moving Back Retirement Age A Little Bit” [VIDEO]

Notice that while claiming the debt is too high tRump and crew are still trying to make permanent the huge tax cut to the wealthy give during tRump’s first term that added nearly 8 trillion in debt.  Plus these people claim there is no money yet always find more for the military, increasing the profit of the defense contractors / companies that not only give them large donations but that the congress people have stocks in.  They also never talk of why there is not enough money … the constant push to cut all the government’s revenue from those with the most money, the wealthy and large corporations.   The greatest times of property for the public and the country was when taxes were high on the wealthiest people and corporations, why because they have all the money and can afford the tax. 

Then Reagan began the shifting the tax burden from those most able to pay to the poorest members of society, those with no ability to pay.  Suddenly the country went from a boom in infrastructure and ways to increase financially upward mobility for the middle class to a system of oppression and drudgery for the lower incomes while the upper incomes lived in untold luxury. 

The republicans pushing for European countries to pay more for NATO was recently explained on a Sunday news show as the Senator said that by forcing the European governments to pay more for defense it would lower what they would be able to do for social welfare programs for the public.  Why do the republicans in the US want the rest of the developed nations to lower the spending on their people?  Because the people in the US constantly can see now that other countries can do it, that other countries take care of their public, the people living there.  The US gives billions to Israel which has free healthcare, something these same politicians say we can not afford in the US.  Profit is king in the US, people are expendable.   Hug

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“We all agree this is an unsustainable area that we’re in right now — almost $36 trillion in debt and we are spending more on the interest on our debt than we are going to spend on the National Defense Authorization Act this year. Over a trillion dollars.

“And so we’ve got to right the ship and it’s going to mean cuts. It’s going to mean cuts to the 24% of the discretionary spending that we have and it’s also going to mean looking long-term at the front end of some programs like Social Security and Medicare.

“Not taking anyone off of what they paid into so far. But there is some waste, abuse and fraud in Medicare that we can take those numbers back and add to our general coffers and our treasury.

“And on the front end on Social Security, I think there’s a way, when people are living longer, they’re retiring later, then on the front end we can move that retirement age back a little bit.” – GOP Rep. Mark Alford, today on Fox.

Alford appeared here last week when he called for impeaching “full of slime” Biden. Alford, a freshman and former TV reporter, appeared here in December 2023 when he introduced a bill seeking to defund the Pentagon’s investigation into white supremacist service members.

Rep. Mark Alford: "It's gonna mean cuts to the 24 percent of the discretionary spending that we have. And it's also going to mean looking long term at the front end of some programs like Social Security and Medicare … we can move the retirement age back a little bit."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2024-12-09T14:16:29.236Z

Here is a radical idea. How about getting rid of the tax cuts for billionaires?

and forcing congress to fund all of the I.O.U.s they put into the social security trust fund when they took money from it to fun the budget instead of raising taxes. A one time surcharge on billionaires should take care of it.

and scaling back an overly bloated military budget their own auditors can’t reconcile

Do Republicans REALLY wanna dance on that third rail, given how they barely control the House already? Y’all wanna test your whole “but we have a mandate” bullshit?

But don’t forget decades ago bothsides of the isle in congress took large amounts of money from the Trust Fund so they didn’t have to raise taxes. It was Gore in 1999 when he was campaigning that he promised to put the Trust Fund in a ‘locked box” to protect it. But , too little, too late.

“But we still need to give millionaires, billionaires, and soon-to-be trillionaires more tax cuts because they need it, and cutting SS and Medicare is how we’ll pay for it.”

This is something that a lot of people get wrong because the US debt is never explained. The US debt is held in bonds which anyone can invest in. Yes, it’s technically borrowing, but it’s borrowing like one lends money when they invest in even a 401k or savings account. That money earns interest. And the money “borrowed” from social security is really that the social security fund is held in interest-bearing bonds. What republicans want to do is cut medicare and social security so they don’t have to make good on those bonds.

How about taking away the pensions, tax benefits, security, and health insurance benefits of retired Congresscritters? They’re typically all wealthy, and are a drain on the budget. Hey, if we are all expected to tighten our belts, these fuckers should lead the way.

Peace & Justice History for 12/10

December 10, 1948
The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”
Since 1950 the anniversary of the declaration has been known as Human Rights Day.


Human Rights Day 
December 10, 1950

Ralph Bunche the Peacemaker 
Detroit-born U.N. diplomat Ralph J. Bunche became the first Black American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The award was in recognition of his peace mediation during the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. From his acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway.
“There are some in the world who are prematurely resigned to the inevitability of war. Among them are the advocates of the so-called “preventive war,” who, in their resignation to war, wish merely to select their own time for initiating it. To suggest that war can prevent war is a base play on words and a despicable form of warmongering. The objective of any who sincerely believe in peace clearly must be to exhaust every honorable recourse in the effort to save the peace. The world has had ample evidence that war begets only conditions which beget further war.”
December 10, 1961
Chief Albert Luthuli, President-General of the banned African National Congress, appealed for racial equality in racially separatist apartheid South Africa after accepting the Nobel peace prize for 1960 in Oslo, Norway.

Albert Luthuli
Mr. Luthuli said he considered the award “a recognition of the sacrifices made by the peoples of all races [in South Africa], particularly the African people who have endured and suffered so much for so long.”
“It may well be that South Africa’s social system is a monument to racialism and race oppression, but its people are the living testimony to the unconquerable spirit of mankind. Down the years, against seemingly overwhelming odds, they have sought the goal of fuller life and liberty, striving with incredible determination and fortitude for the right to live as men – free men.”

Watch and listen to Chief Luthuli’s speech 
December 10, 1964
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
From his speech in Oslo: 
“After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that [civil rights] movement is profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time — the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts.”
King’s Nobel acceptance speech: 
December 10, 1997
Julia Butterfly Hill, age 23, climbed “Luna,” a 1,000-year-old California redwood, to protect it from loggers. She stayed up in the tree for more than two years.

Julia Butterfly Hill atop Luna
Julia’s web site 
December 10, 2003

Shirin Ebadi
Iranian democracy activist Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman (first Iranian and only the third Muslim) to win the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted the award in Oslo, Norway “for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.”
More about Shirin Ebadi 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december10

New Jersey governor signs law blocking book bans

We need more of these laws protecting the representation of minorities and the ideas the fundamentalist right hate, such as female autonomy.   The only way to get more states to do this is to elect more progressives, become more vocal over what we want, and to support those who advocate for the full support of equality and inclusion of everyone in society, sometimes called DEI.   Hugs

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signs legislation aimed at barring public libraries and schools from banning books on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, at the Princeton Public Library. (Mike Catalini / AP)
 
Gov. Phil Murphy, at the Princeton Public Library, signs legislation Monday aimed at barring public libraries and schools from banning books.
 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed a law Monday prohibiting public schools and libraries from banning books and protecting librarians who obey state law.

Murphy’s signing of the Freedom to Read Act comes amid an ongoing push by conservative lawmakers and activists across the country to challenge books they consider inappropriate for minors, particularly those about LGBTQ issues and race. Lawmakers in at least 13 states this year have introduced legislation to disrupt library services or limit their materials, according to an NBC News tally.

“Across the nation, we have seen attempts to suppress and censor the stories and experiences of others,” Murphy said in a statement. “I’m proud to amplify the voices of our past and present, as there is no better way for our children to prepare for the future than to read freely.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy during an interview in New York, on Nov. 22, 2024.  (Jeenah Moon / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
 
Murphy during an interview in New York on Nov. 22.

In September, PEN America, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting free speech, reported that the number of books being removed from school shelves during the 2023-24 school year had tripled from the previous year, to more than 10,000.

 

The PEN America report, along with one from the American Library Association released that same month, outlined how frequently challenged books are often about or written by people of color or those who identify as LGBTQ.

In 2023, the American Library Association’s list of the 10 most challenged books nationwide included Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” a novel about a young Black girl who grew up after the Great Depression; Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” a graphic memoir about the author’s exploration of gender identity from adolescence to young adulthood; and George M. Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” a coming-of-age memoir about a queer Black man.

New Jersey -is the third state to sign a law prohibiting the banning of books at public schools and libraries, following Illinois and Minnesota.

The new law is set to take effect in a year from the governor’s signing. However, the state education commissioner and the New Jersey state librarian are permitted to start implementing it immediately “as may be necessary,” the law states.

“Through this legislation, we are protecting the integrity of our libraries that are curated by dedicated professionals and making those resources available to help every student to grow as a critical thinker,” New Jersey acting Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said in a statement.

Peace & Justice History for 12/9

December 9, 1917
British troops, known as the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and under the command of General Edmund Allenby, entered Jerusalem, ending 700 years of Muslim rule of the city, 400 under the Ottoman Turks.
The Turkish army withdrew, the city surrendered without a battle.
Thus began 30 years of British control over Palestine.
December 9, 1949
U.S. Representative John Parnell Thomas, former chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was sentenced to 6 to 18 months in federal prison for “padding” Congressional payrolls and using the money himself (embezzlement).
He had pled no contest to the charges, and was pardoned by President Harry Truman shortly before the end of his presidency.


John Parnell Thomas
December 9, 1961
Members of the National Committee of 100, a movement of non-violent resistance to nuclear war and to the manufacture and use of all weapons of mass extermination, joined with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and held demonstrations at various U.S. air and nuclear bases in Britain. 

Bertrand Russell and the “Committee of 100″at an earlier action in 1961.
Members of the Committee of 100, including Bertrand Russell, considered civil disobedience a legitimate means in their struggle. The CND avoided all illegal activities.
The CND is still active today 
December 9, 1990
Solidarity trade union founder and leader Lech Walesa won Poland’s presidential runoff election in a 3-1 landslide. He thus became the first directly elected Polish leader. Poland only became an independent country at the end of World War I.

About Lech Walesa 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december9

Peace & Justice History for 12/7

December 8, 1886

Samuel Gompers, a founder and leader of the American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded at a convention of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio. It was an alliance of autonomous unions, each typically made up of workers within a particular craft.
Samuel Gompers, a leader in the Cigarmakers’ union, was a key person in creating the AFL, was elected its first president, and served as such virtually continuously for nearly 40 years.

On Samuel Gompers from the AFL-CIO 

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December 8, 1941

Jeanette Rankin (R-Montana), the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1916, cast the only vote (she was among eight women in the Congress at the time) opposing declaration of war against Japan, despite their attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day . She had also voted against the U.S. entering World War I (at the time called the war to end all wars). Rankin served served just two single terms in the House. She spent her early career working for women’s suffrage, later very active in several peace and justice organizations.

Jeannette Rankin in 1940
Jeanette Rankin timeline 
Chronology and oral history transcript of interview of Jeanette Rankin 
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December 8, 1953

U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower addressed the United Nations General Assembly, proposing the creation of a new U.N. atomic energy agency which would receive contributions of uranium from the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries “principally concerned,” and would put this material to peaceful use.
The speech, known later as Atoms for Peace, included: “My country wants to be constructive, not destructive. It wants agreement, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom, and in the confidence that the people of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life.”

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December 8, 1987

U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers. The Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty eliminated and banned all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers (300-3,400 miles). By May 1991, all intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, launchers, and related support had been physically dismantled.

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December 8, 1988

On the first anniversary of the INF (Intermediate Nuclear Force) Treaty, twelve Dutch peace activists, calling themselves “INF Ploughshares,” cut through fences to enter the Woensdrecht Air Force base in The Netherlands.
They made their way to cruise missile bunkers where they hammered on the missiles, carrying out the first disarmament action in Holland.

Read more about this action 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december8

And you wonder why people in this country are angry?

This is a must watch very short video.  Over 50 trillion dollars moved from the lower 90% to the top 1%.  Think of that as people became more productive and were driven by managers to do more with less, as those workers wages stagnated and did not keep up with costs, the upper top level of society raked in all the profit and benefits while providing nothing to the people that produced it for their effort.  Hugs

Peace & Justice History 12/7

December 7, 1964

A leader of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, Mario Savio, was arrested. One-third of the 27,000 students at the University of California campus, along with faculty, were on strike to protect their first amendment right to distribute political literature and to organize on campus. A faculty resolution passed 824-115, supporting the rapidly growing Free Speech Movement.
“There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you’ve got to make it stop.” – Mario Savio
Mario Savio as remembered by journalist Robert Scheer 
——————————————————————————–
December 7, 1993


The arrested: Phil Berrigan, John Dear, Lynn Fredriksson,
and Bruce Friedrich
Four Plowshares activists were arrested for disarming an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
Pax Christi-Spirit of Life Plowshares newspaper article 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december7

Target must face shareholder lawsuit over Pride backlash, US judge rules

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/target-must-face-shareholder-lawsuit-over-pride-backlash-us-judge-rules/ar-AA1vkxN5

This paragraph says it all.   They want the LGBTQ+ removed from society.  They are willing to be violent and obnoxious, hurting people, property, and staff.   They attack other customers demanding to know if they support the LGBTQ+ and they then badger the customer. 

Target pulled some LGBTQ-themed merchandise linked to Pride Month last year, citing increased confrontations between shoppers and employees and incidents of products being thrown on the floor.

The goal is being driven by this guy.  He feels the idea of anyone not a white straight cis male shouldn’t be in any position of authority or corporate rank.  His view is that women and the LGBTQ+ shouldn’t be in the work force or seen and the non-white males should be in menial jobs with little or no authority.  Just be base workers.   He and his ilk see great dangers to the white “race” people if they can not maintain a super majority of a male dominated white straight cis society.  Notice in the quote below, his calling DEI and ESG programs a risk implying some nefarious harm.  Hugs

America First Legal, the conservative group that filed the lawsuit last year, in a statement on Wednesday called the court ruling a “warning to publicly traded corporations’ boards and management.” The group said the risk of DEI programs and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives “cannot be whitewashed with boilerplate language or ignored.”

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Story by Mike Scarcella
 • 1d • 2 min read
 
FILE PHOTO: People exit a Target store on Black Friday in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 29, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo© Thomson Reuters
 

By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) -Target has failed to persuade a judge in Florida to dismiss a lawsuit that accused the retailer of deceiving shareholders after its sales of LGBTQ-themed merchandise for Pride Month sparked a backlash and a customer boycott.

U.S. District Judge John Badalamenti in Fort Myers ruled that the plaintiffs had presented enough information for now to pursue claims that Target misled investors about its efforts to guard against social and political risks.

 

The lawsuit from investor Brian Craig claims that Target’s board focused only on activist groups’ calls for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) measures and overlooked potential negative responses to the Pride campaign in May 2023.

Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

America First Legal, the conservative group that filed the lawsuit last year, in a statement on Wednesday called the court ruling a “warning to publicly traded corporations’ boards and management.” The group said the risk of DEI programs and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives “cannot be whitewashed with boilerplate language or ignored.”

Target had urged Badalamenti to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that there was no evidence backing the allegations, that it had warned investors about a potential DEI backlash, and that the complaint was based merely on Craig’s disagreement with the company’s business decisions.

 

America First filed the lawsuit in Florida federal court in August 2023. The nonprofit group is headed by Stephen Miller, a close adviser to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

America First and other conservative groups have accused some major U.S. companies of undertaking diversity and inclusion efforts at the expense of shareholders.

Target pulled some LGBTQ-themed merchandise linked to Pride Month last year, citing increased confrontations between shoppers and employees and incidents of products being thrown on the floor.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario, Mark Porter and Diane Craft)

More stories from Joe My God abuse and harm from republicans. In truth I don’t know how to label it.

What he really means in the story below is that many people surging into the work force will depress wages and make workers even more desperate to get and keep a job no matter how bad or low wage it is.  Hugs

Megan Kelly who made her fame by writing a book about the sexual harassment / abuse at Fox Is trying to give a boost to a man who paid a woman he sexually abused and harassed.  Everything Hegseth is accused or from adultery, sexual assault, and his excesses alcohol problem are all court-martial offenses.  He would be in charge of people that if they did what he did they would face demotion, jail time, loss of money, and more.  How he can be in that position if republicans really respect and care about the military they wouldn’t even let this guy near the job.  Hugs 

In the below story notice two things.   He is picking Fox entertainment rage TV people to be in his cabinet because he is a media made billionaire personality and he loves the showmanship.  That is what made him a great con man and politician is his love of the camera and the attention, he glories in it.   

Read the full article. In 2017, Crowley registered as a foreign agent for a pro-Putin Ukrainian billionaire after withdrawing from consideration from a national security post when her book and PhD thesis were hit with accusations of plagiarism. She first appeared here when she spread claims that Barack Obama is secretly Muslim. Crowley is a Project 2025 contributor.

 

In this post notice the attack on immigrants along with the outright lies about no deaths.  Anything for the maga base and the authoritarian fascist government is grand.  Why?  For me the question is why does the internet troll Marge want to see the tRump proclaimed goals?  White supremacy!  She is from a deep Georgia community that has long felt that the white people were superior to others.  So white people attacked the capital and attempted to destroy democracy so what, they were white.  Not those filthy non-white people who keep coming here trying to make our white supremacy culture less supreme.  Hugs

The story below shows how desperate the right is to please donors by cutting the domestic spending part of the government.   That is the part of the government that helps the people but puts nothing in the pockets of the wealthy.  They fail to understand that the main function of the government is to promote the common good and the welfare of the people.  From the preamble itself.  … (P)romote the general Welfare …  That means the government is to help the people.   The reason the treasury is so shy of money is that the republicans when in power keep giving more of the general revenue generated in the US to the most wealthy instead of helping the general welfare with such as infrastructure, what the people need, and common defense.  Basically so people understand every time the republicans reduce the corporate tax rate, the taxes charged against realtors, the taxes charged against wealthy people, the tax rate of wealthy estates, they are robbing from the US people and public all that money to run the country and help the public.  Just like other countries of advanced incomes do.  Which is why the republicans demand they stop doing it as it makes the US look bad for being a profit is king country.   Hugs

The story below shows how fundamentalist Christians and right wing bigots attack the LGBTQ+ for being different and not following their faith … but at the same time they don’t live up to their own faiths doctrines.   Hugs.

Read the full article. Yager first appeared here in 2020 for his successful bill that forces public schools to allow kids to miss class for up to one hour each day in order to attend church. Along with raft of anti-trans legislation, most recently Yager voted for a bill allowing county clerks to refuse to officiate same-sex marriages.

“The plans could mean that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of migrants would be permanently displaced in countries where they do not know any of the people or the language and have no connection to the culture.”

The Diapered Rapist a fucking idiot, who can’t handle a task a 6 year old can manage.

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Read the full article. Boyd is now claiming that he was referring to a “bundle of sticks,” telling reporters “look it up in the dictionary.” Video of the exchange is below. Boyd, not incidentally, was named to Trump’s “South Carolina Leadership Team.”

Where are the pro left progressive big money trying to promote progressive ideals?  This is why the right so often win, their big money backs them no matter what.   Hugs

This is the woman on a crusade against the first trans person in the House of Representative also used to support the trans people. Her entire thing is being the center of attention.  That is her entire goal.  Hugs.

Remember in her mind any attention is great.  I wonder at her childhood?  Hugs

Again where are the same wealthy people on the left willing to defend democracy and decent people?

Read the full article. Roberts, who had threatened violence if Trump did not win, appeared here earlier this week when he called for seizing the endowments of public and private universities if they don’t hew to Trump’s anti-diversity edicts and end the “woke mind virus.”

Just how insecure are these republican people demanding everyone but themselves be Rambo and Chuck Norris in some super action movie.  It is a stupid throw back to the religious stereotype of men and women they want to force the country into.  The idea that men are always he-man moneymakers and women are all attractive women waiting at home to serve their man after cleaning their home and making their meals all day.  Give it up already.  The goat herders in the deserts of the Middle East may have felt that way over 2500 years ago but we know better now.   Hugs

A man from racist South Africa who feels non-white people don’t have enough authority and black people have too many rights is pushing hard to repopulate the world with his and other wealthy white men’s sperm.  Say what?  Yes Musk is on record saying that he needs to father as many children as possible to ensure the white race continues.  Similar to what Jeffery Epstein felt as he raped multiple young girls.  Look these facts up and stop admiring these trust fund wealthy kids of exploiters.  Hugs

Peace & Justice History for 12/6

December 6, 1849
Harriet Tubman, a slave in Maryland, escaped her owners.
More about Harriet Tubman  
December 6, 1865
The state of Georgia provided the final vote needed for the 13th Amendment to become part of the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery.

Slave auction  
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

first vote
Two days before, Mississippi’s legislature had voted to reject ratification; Mississippi didn’t ratify the anti-slavery amendment until 1995.
More on the ratification 
December 6, 1978
The voters of Spain approved a new constitution in a popular referendum by nearly 8-1. It proclaimed Spain to be a parliamentary monarchy and guaranteed its citizens equality before the law and a full range of individual liberties, including religious freedom. While recognizing the autonomy of seventeen regions, it stressed the indivisibility of the Spanish state.
December 6, 1998
In Venezuela, former Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez, who had staged a bloody coup attempt against the government six years earlier, was elected president.


Some perspective on some of Chavez’s actions  
Two views on what Venezuelans see in Chavez 
BBC profile of Chavez 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december6