People’s Tribune: Dorothy, what do you think about the state giving the Whirlpool Corporation tax incentives for a new $87 million office building and consolidation project?
Dorothy Pinkney: The Benton Harbor City Commissioners voted 7-2 on July 19, 2010, to approve a resolution supporting negotiation of financial incentives for Whirlpool, a multi-billion dollar corporation to develop the downtown lake front property. The deal is worth $50 million. This is free money to Whirlpool. Also, Whirlpool pays no taxes and pays no water bills. This is a very sad day for Benton Harbor’s residents. The greedy bloodsucking corporation known as Whirlpool has done it again. Whirlpool always finds ways to take money from Benton Harbor, a city that is $5 million in the red. What we have here is the merging of corporate and government interests to maximize profits for the few.
PT: How will the people of Benton Harbor benefit from these tax giveaways?
DP: The community will not benefit from this tremendous tax give away. There will be no jobs for the residents. Whirlpool just keeps on taking and taking. This is the last step for the residents of Benton Harbor before being evicted.
PT: Is poverty growing in Benton Harbor?
DP: The unofficial jobless rate has increased to 75%. The poverty level is over 90%. Homelessness is growing. The people are packed in with relatives and friends.The living conditions are bad.This is a tremendous change from when I was a child living here. There were plenty of jobs. That is before industry automated or moved away.
PT: What are the people of Benton Harbor saying about Whirlpool, the developers and the local government?
DP: The residents are sick of Whirlpool stealing from them.
PT: What can be done to stop the corporations and for people to have decent lives?
DP: Whirlpool is the enemy! If anybody can say differently, they are mentally, morally and socially corrupt and may be getting paid under the table by Whirlpool. Whirlpool’s 100-year lease with the city — for the leasing of three holes for the golf course in Jean Klock Park — is ridiculous. Whirlpool is stealing the future of our children by taking this prime land. The High School will be next as the school sits right on the lake. PT: Tell us about the upcoming protest.DP: August 10 is the official opening of the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, and Tom Watson will all be there. We are planning a mass demonstration to stop Whirlpool and Harbor Shores, the evil twins, from stealing our lakefront land. The Jack Nicklaus signature golf course is for the rich only. So bring your golf clubs. (This is a metaphor for the clubbing the city of Benton Harbor is receiving from Whirlpool and Harbor Shores.) The demonstration is at 11 A.M. in front of Benton Harbor City Hall. Pllease invite everybody. All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
VOICES FROM BENTON HARBOR, MI
Corporate and Government Interests Merging, says Dorothy Pinkney
Corporate and Government Interests Merging, says Dorothy Pinkney
Rev. Edward Pinkney and Dorothy Pinkney.
PHOTO/DAYMONJHARTLEY.COM
TRUE FIGHTER FOR THE POOR PASSES
Mary Carter was in the forefront of
the fight for Jean Klock Park to belong
to the Benton Harbor community,
not Whirlpool and the developers.
PHOTO /daymonjhartley .com
Mary E. Carter (age 75) of Benton Harbor, MI died Sunday, July 11, 2010 in Grand Rapids, MI.
Mary was a true hero and warrior. She was always on the front lines, fighting to save the people of Benton Harbor from the corporations.
Mary received the People’s Champion Citation of Honor Resolution from the city of Benton Harbor for her selfless service and dedication to the city and the people. Mary served on city committees, including the Mayor’s Advisory Board and the city’s Legislative Committee and she gave her time to many city residents. Mary was also the chairman of the Right on Time Block Club. She helped set up many community food gardens and did landscaping on city-owned properties.
Mary Carter lived a life of ultimate sacrifice for GOD with much humanity and unselfish love for her family and community.
Mary was a true hero and warrior. She was always on the front lines, fighting to save the people of Benton Harbor from the corporations.
Mary received the People’s Champion Citation of Honor Resolution from the city of Benton Harbor for her selfless service and dedication to the city and the people. Mary served on city committees, including the Mayor’s Advisory Board and the city’s Legislative Committee and she gave her time to many city residents. Mary was also the chairman of the Right on Time Block Club. She helped set up many community food gardens and did landscaping on city-owned properties.
Mary Carter lived a life of ultimate sacrifice for GOD with much humanity and unselfish love for her family and community.
For Unity Of The Poor
From the Editors
The People's Tribune has been asked to write about why some, (but by no means all) of America's poor turn against their brothers and sisters and line up with corporate America.
People side with the corporations because they are confused about what the real situation is and where their real interests lie. In Benton Harbor, for example, some of the poor are siding with Whirlpool, a corporation that steals from the people. In other cities, some blame the homeless for their poverty or the immigrant for the spiraling joblessness. They don't understand the truth. That is, that jobs are lost because of capitalism's drive for maximum profit. To produce cheaper and faster, corporations automate their plants, eliminating workers permanently, or move to cheaper wage areas. Neither the corporations nor the government care about what happens to the workers who are left to fend for themselves.
We, the people, must join together — regardless of color, sex or creed — and take control of this country. To do so, the people must stand on the side of those who have nothing — not with the billionaire corporations! We must force the government to take over the giant corporations and run them in our interests. This is the path to the ultimate solution of creating a whole new society where the things that people need to survive and thrive are distributed to all based on need, not money. In such a society, corporations will be in the junk yard of history. Humanity will flourish.
ORDER COPIES OF THE
PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE TO
DISTRIBUTE CALL 800-691-6888 OR EMAIL
INFO@PEOPLESTRIBUNE.ORG
People side with the corporations because they are confused about what the real situation is and where their real interests lie. In Benton Harbor, for example, some of the poor are siding with Whirlpool, a corporation that steals from the people. In other cities, some blame the homeless for their poverty or the immigrant for the spiraling joblessness. They don't understand the truth. That is, that jobs are lost because of capitalism's drive for maximum profit. To produce cheaper and faster, corporations automate their plants, eliminating workers permanently, or move to cheaper wage areas. Neither the corporations nor the government care about what happens to the workers who are left to fend for themselves.
We, the people, must join together — regardless of color, sex or creed — and take control of this country. To do so, the people must stand on the side of those who have nothing — not with the billionaire corporations! We must force the government to take over the giant corporations and run them in our interests. This is the path to the ultimate solution of creating a whole new society where the things that people need to survive and thrive are distributed to all based on need, not money. In such a society, corporations will be in the junk yard of history. Humanity will flourish.
ORDER COPIES OF THE
PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE TO
DISTRIBUTE CALL 800-691-6888 OR EMAIL
INFO@PEOPLESTRIBUNE.ORG
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