[Olpc-open] Fwd: Media Advisory: House Members Introduce Res. 1078 in support of the Global Marshall Plan

[Edward Cherlin]

Another initiative that we need to inform. Education at home and
abroad is central to this plan.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Will Pasley <Tikkun at mail.democracyinaction.org>
Date: Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Subject: Media Advisory: House Members Introduce Res. 1078 in support
of the Global Marshall Plan
To: echerlin at gmail.com

 Tikkun  to heal, repair and transform the world

 A note from Rabbi Michael Lerner

 Media Advisory: Global Marshall Plan resolution introduced in
Congress-H.Res. 1078 by Congressmen Keith Ellison, Emanuel Cleaver and
Jim Moran  March 10, 2008

 H.Res. 1078 calls for a return of the Marshall Plan. That plan was
used by the U.S. in the post World War II years to rebuild Europe. It
was celebrated as America's most successful foreign policy program
because it convinced Europeans that the U.S. was a reliable ally and
friend.

  This time, however, the target is both domestic and global. H. Res.
1078 calls for the U.S. to provide enough funding to eliminate global
poverty,  homelessness, hunger, inadequate education, inadequate
health care, and repair of the environment.

   Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the resolution's sponsor,
explained his introduction of the measure as a natural outgrowth of
his concern for peace, prosperity for working families, environmental
sustainability, and human rights.

  "I believe a Global Marshall Plan offers a compelling framework for
the Congress to consider reform and revitalization of our
international public diplomacy and foreign aid," Ellison said.
"America is at its best when it demonstrates its generosity.

 "When we see reminders everywhere of the costs of spending $12
billion per month on war in Iraq, I look forward to the conversations
about changes in principles and priorities that this resolution will
bring," Ellison concluded.

  "At a moment when General Petraeus is asking for another $110
billion for a deeply unpopular war, the Global Marshall Plan provides
an alternative strategy for homeland security," said Rabbi Michael
Lerner, editor of Tikkun and chair of the Network of Spiritual
Progressives, an organization that developed the Global Marshall Plan
and which will now be launching a nationwide campaign to get the
presidential candidates to support the idea.

 "In the 21st century," Rabbi Lerner pointed out,  "our security and
well-being depend on the well-being of everyone else on this planet,
and on the well-being of the planet itself."

 "Our caring for all people can be manifested through a Global
Marshall Plan that would dedicate 1-2% of our annual Gross Domestic
Product each year for the next twenty years to eliminate once and for
all domestic and global poverty, homelessness, hunger, inadequate
education, and inadequate health care and to repair damage done to the
environment."

 Such a program needs the participation of the other advanced
industrial countries and the recipient countries' most talented
leaders, as well as local communities representing the poor and
outstanding figures in the ethical, cultural, religious and non-profit
sectors of the relevant societies who can ensure the best use of the
resources, as well as to ensure that the monies are used in
environmentally sustainable and culturally sensitive ways, and to
guarantee that the monies are not siphoned off by governments or local
elites but actually reach the people in need. This program, initiated
by the Network of Spiritual Progressives also calls for amending all
existing and future trade agreements to ensure that they serve the
economic well-being of the poor and not just the interests of the
wealthy nations or local elites in countries with high levels of
poverty. We want the United States to take the leadership in starting
this effort.

 "We approach this initiative with a spirit of humility," said Rabbi
Lerner, "not only because of the legacy of colonialism, but because we
can learn much from societies whose economic poverty does not signify
a poverty of wisdom. Generosity of spirit as well as financial
generosity are an integral part of our Global Marshall Plan, which we
affirm not only because it is a central component in any plan to
achieve "homeland security," but also because it reflects our
commitment to recognize every human being on this planet as equally
valuable and deserving of care."  HR 1078 expresses the need for a
similar humility in delivering support for the world's poor.


 Rabbi Lerner has called upon religious liberals and progressives
(what the media calls "the Religious Left") to call their
Congressional representatives to explain why they should support the
ideas behind the Global Marshall Plan.

 The full text of H.Res. 1078 is available through the website of
Congressman Keith Ellison, http://ellison.house.gov, and further
comment can be obtained by calling 202-225-4755.   Congressmen
Ellison, Cleaver and Moran are all available for interviews on this
topic. Rabbi Michael Lerner, who is directing the Network of Spiritual
Progressives' nation-wide campaign for the Global Marshall Plan, is
also available for interviews. Call 1 510 644 1200 during business
hours Pacific Daylight Time. Or by email: His scheduler Will Pasley:
Will at Tikkun.org. You can also email RabbiLerner at Tikkun.org for media
interviews, and David Hart for information about how churches,
synagogues, mosques, ashrams, colleges, NGOs, civic organizations,
social change movements, professional organizations and elected
officials can be involved in this campaign:
David at SpiritualProgressives.org. And you can endorse the GMP on line
at www.tikkun.org (left-hand column) or read the full version at that
same website, by clicking the GMP button in the Current Thinking
section of the Home Page.


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-- 
Edward Cherlin
End Poverty at a Profit by teaching children business
http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay