Commentary

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; This summer we’ve seen wild swings in the stock market, a last-minute debt deal, and even a rocking east coast earthquake. But one thing we haven’t seen – from Memorial Day to Labor Day – is any improvement in the economy.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; In the cut-throat property services industry, building contracts turn over quickly.&nbsp; A janitor like Maria Trujillo might find out at the end of her shift in the hospital where she works that the contractor that employs her has been replaced—something that’s happened to her three times in six years.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; I have lived in Shelltown my whole life, 60 years. I was a part of the disgraceful history that this community has suffered, when it was split by CalTrans in the 70’s and then again by SEDC redevelopment renaming part of Shelltown to Southcrest in mid-80’s. Because of our unity efforts in organizing Shelltown, with the help of SDOP (San Diego Organizing Project) www.sdop.net, our dream of restoring our community is almost fulfilled.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Women’s Equality Day, August 26, is both a celebration of women’s progress and a reminder that equality remains a goal, not a reality.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; On this day in 1920, women gained the right to vote under the 19th Amendment. Today, over 90 years later, the struggle to advance women’s rights is concentrated on the economic front — with an end to discrimination against women in the labor force a critical, and hotly-debated, objective.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; I love America, and have proudly invested in America. I have invested by building successful businesses employing thousands of American workers. And I have invested in our country by paying taxes.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; But our nation loses $100 billion a year to tax dodging by some of our largest corporations and wealthiest people. That’s a trillion dollar hole in our national treasury over the next decade unless we act now to plug it.</p>

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<p>Texas Gov. Rick Perry wants to be the next president of the United States. He announced his candidacy on Saturday and has since campaigned like an angry bull cornered by a Matador, no-holds barred–even going so far as to seem to threaten bodily harm to the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Ben Bernanke. This approach may help win him the nomination, but it also will help lose him the White House.</p>