August 5, 2004
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Chords for Change
By BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

A nation's artists and musicians have a particular place in its social and political life. Over the years I've tried to think long and hard about what it means to be American: about the distinctive identity and position we have in the world, and how that position is best carried. I've tried to write songs that speak to our pride and criticize our failures.

These questions are at the heart of this election: who we are, what we stand for, why we fight. Personally, for the last 25 years I have always stayed one step away from partisan politics. Instead, I have been partisan about a set of ideals: economic justice, civil rights, a humane foreign policy, freedom and a decent life for all of our citizens. This year, however, for many of us the stakes have risen too high to sit this election out.

Through my work, I've always tried to ask hard questions. Why is it that the wealthiest nation in the world finds it so hard to keep its promise and faith with its weakest citizens? Why do we continue to find it so difficult to see beyond the veil of race? How do we conduct ourselves during difficult times without killing the things we hold dear? Why does the fulfillment of our promise as a people always seem to be just within grasp yet forever out of reach?

I don't think John Kerry and John Edwards have all the answers. I do believe they are sincerely interested in asking the right questions and working their way toward honest solutions. They understand that we need an administration that places a priority on fairness, curiosity, openness, humility, concern for all America's citizens, courage and faith.

People have different notions of these values, and they live them out in different ways. I've tried to sing about some of them in my songs. But I have my own ideas about what they mean, too. That is why I plan to join with many fellow artists, including the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks, Jurassic 5, James Taylor and Jackson Browne, in touring the country this October. We will be performing under the umbrella of a new group called Vote for Change. Our goal is to change the direction of the government and change the current administration come November.

Like many others, in the aftermath of 9/11, I felt the country's unity. I don't remember anything quite like it. I supported the decision to enter Afghanistan and I hoped that the seriousness of the times would bring forth strength, humility and wisdom in our leaders. Instead, we dived headlong into an unnecessary war in Iraq, offering up the lives of our young men and women under circumstances that are now discredited. We ran record deficits, while simultaneously cutting and squeezing services like afterschool programs. We granted tax cuts to the richest 1 percent (corporate bigwigs, well-to-do guitar players), increasing the division of wealth that threatens to destroy our social contract with one another and render mute the promise of "one nation indivisible."

It is through the truthful exercising of the best of human qualities - respect for others, honesty about ourselves, faith in our ideals - that we come to life in God's eyes. It is how our soul, as a nation and as individuals, is revealed. Our American government has strayed too far from American values. It is time to move forward. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting.


Bruce Springsteen is a writer and performer. From The New York Times

Straslers Lies:

The Big Liar Nehemia Strasler
ww w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 02:26 20/08/2004
The Bottom Line / Yes, the statistics do lie
By Nehemia Strasler
The most recent data published by the Government Employment Service wiped the smiles off faces at the Finance Ministry. It turns out that the number of job-seekers registered with the service rose 2.2 percent in July, to 233,000.
There was also a sharp increase in the number of hard-core unemployed, people who have been jobless for nine months or more, to 69,000. In response to this grim data, MK Ran Cohen (Yahad) declared: "The rise in the number of job-seekers demonstrates the government's complete failure to create jobs."
And indeed, there is a problem here. The Central Bureau of Statistics' unemployment figures are not declining, and neither are those of the Employment Service. On the other hand, data has been published showing that the economy is growing at a rate of 4 percent a year, and that in the last 12 months, 70,000 Israelis have joined the labor market. So how does all this fit together?
I checked into the matter by speaking with a number of small contractors, who told me of a new development in the construction industry: Due to the expulsion of foreign workers, Arab Israelis, and even Jews, have returned to the renovation business. However, all of them insist on being paid under the table. None of them is willing to accept a legal pay slip. There is also one day a week on which they do not show up for work. That is the day on which they go to the Employment Service to declare themselves unemployed. Some of the Israeli house cleaners who have replaced the foreign workers are also only willing to work under the table, for the same reason.
I am not trying to say that the unemployment problem has been solved. It obviously has not - and it remains a serious and pressing one. But it is also worth checking to see whether all those who currently receive unemployment compensation (some 100,000 people) or guaranteed income (some 150,000 people) are in fact not working.
To date, this has been investigated only by the National Insurance Institute itself. At first, eight investigators were employed on this matter; later, their number increased to 32. And they did indeed discover that many people submit false claims.
One examination of 100 new claims for unemployment or guaranteed income in the Be'er Sheva region found that fully 92 were fake. Some of the claimants were working; others had a car; some "single parents" lived with their spouses; and three people lived overseas.
Therefore, the finance minister ought to allocate funds to the police (and not the NII) to set up a unit to investigate all recipients of unemployment and guaranteed income - not on a random basis, but all 250,000 of them. They all have names and addresses.
This is a justified social policy, because it is inappropriate for the NII to be financing false claims. With the money that is saved, it would be possible to help the genuine unemployed through professional training and increased assistance. But beyond that, anyone who is "caught" working ought to be congratulated, since he is a diligent person who is trying to improve his situation through work.
Therefore, he should be given special assistance, such as an income tax exemption for a certain period, to get him used to a life of work without welfare. After all, why should only Osem get tax breaks?
The Above article is a poor translation of the Hebrew as some things are not easy
to translate. (S.C.)
הטבלה כן משקרת
מאת נחמיה שטרסלר
הנתונים האחרונים של שירות התעסוקה מחקו את החיוכים באוצר. מתברר שביולי נרשמה עלייה של 2.2% במספר דורשי העבודה, לרמה של 233 אלף. נרשמה גם עלייה בולטת בגרעין הקשה של המובטלים, אלה שמובטלים כבר 9 חודשים ומעלה, ומספרם מגיע ל-69 אלף איש. בתגובה לנתונים קשים אלה, אמר ח"כ רן כהן כי "העלייה במספר דורשי העבודה מצביעה על כישלונה החרוץ של הממשלה ביצירת מקומות עבודה".
ואמנם יש כאן בעיה. נתוני האבטלה של הלשכה המרכזית לססטיסטיקה לא יורדים, וכך גם נתוני שירות התעסוקה. מצד שני מתפרסמים נתונים המלמדים שהמשק עבר לצמיחה של 4% לשנה, ושב-12 החודשים האחרונים נוספו 70 אלף ישראלים לשוק העבודה. אז איך כל זה מסתדר?
בדקתי את הנושא עם כמה קבלנים קטנים שסיפרו על תופעה חדשה בענף הבנייה. עקב גירוש העובדים הזרים, חזרו העובדים הערבים-ישראלים, וגם יהודים חזרו לשיפוצים. אבל התנאי של כולם הוא שהתשלום ייעשה "בשחור". אף אחד לא מוכן לקבל תלוש משכורת מסודר. יש גם יום בשבוע שבו הם לא מגיעים לעבודה. זה היום בו הם מתייצבים בלשכה, לחתום על אבטלה. גם חלק מעוזרות הבית הישראליות שהחליפו את הזרות מוכנות לעבוד רק ב"שחור" - מאותה סיבה ממש.
אין אני בא לטעון כאן שבעיית האבטלה נפתרה. זה כמובן לא קרה, והבעיה קשה ומציקה. אך ראוי גם לבדוק אם כל מי שמקבל כיום דמי אבטלה (כ-100 אלף איש) וכל מי שמקבל הבטחת הכנסה (כ-150 אלף איש) - באמת לא עובדים.
עד כה, מי שבדק וחקר את הנושא היה הביטוח הלאומי עצמו. בתחילה עבדו בתחום שמונה חוקרים, אחר כך עלה מספרם ל-32, והם אמנם מצאו שרבים מגישים תביעות שקריות. בבדיקה של 100 תביעות חשודות לקבלת הבטחת הכנסה ודמי אבטלה באזור באר שבע, התגלו 92 (!) ככוזבות: חלק מהתובעים עבדו, חלקם החזיקו כלי רכב, חלק מה"חד הוריות" חיו עם בעליהן, ושלושה גרו בכלל בחו"ל (!).
לכן ראוי ששר האוצר יקצה תקציב מיוחד למשטרה (לא לביטוח הלאומי) להקמת יחידה לבדיקת כל מקבלי הקצבאות להבטחת הכנסה ודמי אבטלה, לא באופן מדגמי ולא באופן מקרי, אלא שכל 250 אלף האיש יבדקו. יש להם שם וכתובת.
זו מדיניות חברתית צודקת, כי לא ראוי שהביטוח הלאומי יממן קצבאות שווא. עם הכסף שייחסך ניתן יהיה לסייע למובטלים האמיתיים בהכשרה לעבודה ובהגדלת הסיוע. ויותר מכך, מי "שייתפס" עובד, ראוי בעצם לברכה, כי הוא איש חרוץ, שמנסה לשפר את מצבו בעזרת עבודה. לכן ראוי לתת לו עידוד מיוחד, בדמות פטור ממס הכנסה לתקופה מסוימת, כדי שיתרגל לחיי עבודה בלי קצבאות - מה יש, רק לאסם מותר לקבל פטור ממס?