5. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords Shot in the Head and Survives: On January 8, at a constituent event in Tucson, Arizona, 6 were shot and killed, and a dozen others were injured including Giffords, who had been shot in the head at point blank range by an individual later identified as Jared Lee Loughner.
Loughner was 22 years old at the time of the shooting and has been found not competent enough to stand trial. Speculation abounds over Loughner’s motive, which analysts have tried to determine via social media material he created, but he hasn’t offered anything coherent or substantial enough to explain why Giffords in particular was his target.
Giffords’ cognitive abilities remain intact, but she continues to struggle with her speech. She has made great strides in the past year and plans to resume her duties with Congress once she is able.
4. Fallout from Citizens United vs. FEC: The video inset to the left illustrates the history of corporate personhood as embodied in the 2010 Supreme Court decision, which ruled that corporations have a first amendment right to free speech that allows them to spend an unlimited amount of cash to influence political elections.
The decision encouraged Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report to file a request with the FEC for a limited media exemption that would enable him to discuss his Super PAC on one of his broadcasts. The FEC granted the exemption and Colbert Super PAC was born - Americans for a better tomorrow, tomorrow. Colbert then created a 501(c)(4) organization similar to Karl Rove’s American Crossroads in which Colbert names himself the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, as well as the new organization’s stated purpose to educate the public. Since the FEC does not require full disclosure of donors to these types of organizations, Colbert’s new organization can receive unlimited contributions from anonymous donors that it may then funnel to Colbert Super PAC to participate in and influence political elections…anonymously. Colbert’s actions have no doubt been controversial, but he is taking on one of the most important issues of the year that most of the mainstream media has ignored.
3. Government Shutdowns: The Tea Party didn’t enter Congress without expecting some concessions for their 2010 election efforts and nowhere was this more striking than in House Speaker Boehner’s inability to corral republicans around his own deficit-reduction proposals.
A government shutdown was narrowly averted in April after democrats squabbled for months with Republican leaders who demanded cutting the deficit by defunding Planned Parenthood. (See #8) Fifty-nine republicans defected when learning there would only be $350 million in immediate deficit savings rather than the $38 billion advertised. The bill would have failed without democratic support.
This summer, the federal government’s debt was due to exceed the amount legally allowed by Congress requiring a routine vote to raise the debt ceiling. While often used as a political football by the opposition, Congress pushed the U.S. exceptionally close to the deadline, as well as contributing to the downgrade in America’s AAA-credit rating by S&P. A deal was reached that cut $900 billion over 10 years and created a ‘super committee’ that would recommend budget balancing proposals that if not enacted would trigger automatic cuts across the board, including cuts to Medicare and Defense spending. The bipartisan group failed to reach any agreement before the deadline.
Most recently, the House passed nine bundled appropriations bills to avert another government shutdown. Initially, republicans were again demanding that Planned Parenthood be defunded, as well as heating assistance for poor people, and public broadcasting – you know, the big line items in the budget (sarcasm). They abandoned these efforts to push for the Keystone Pipeline while democrats campaigned for an extension of the payroll tax cuts and job benefits for poor and middle-class individuals. Ultimately, these issues were separated to pass the so-called mega-bus. If the Occupy Wall street movement had not been born, you can be assured this most recent budget battle wouldn’t have played out so quietly.
2. Occupy Wall Street: The movement was spurred by Canadian activists Adbusters via a campaign encouraging individuals to peacefully Occupy Wall Street to protest growing inequality, corporate influence on democracy, as well as corporate accountability. Harnessing the accountability gap generated by the Citizens United case, sponsors proposed ‘one simple demand – a presidential commission to separate money from politics.’ From there, the movement took on a life of its own as Occupy camps sprouted all over the U.S. and around the world.
For all the criticism it has received, the Occupy movement has won at least one battle in that it succeeded in changing the national dialogue from one focused entirely around cutting deficits and taxes for the wealthy to one that recognizes the growing inequality between the wealthy and everyone else.
Like the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street emerged as a representation of the deep-seeded and widely distributed sense that equality and opportunity are particularly elusive for most people in America today. Unlike the Tea Party, their discontent is directed toward banks and monied interests rather than government. Also unlike the Tea Party, the Occupy movement has attempted to practice what it preaches – it has formed its own self-governing institutions to act on behalf of its leaderless organization.
Although they were evicted from Zuccotti Park, as well as various other locations around the globe, the movement lives on and activists continue to highlight the need for corporate accountability. Its most recent efforts include Occupy Our Homes, an initiative that moves homeless families into foreclosed, empty homes, as well as attempts to halt foreclosures before they occur. As activists say, ‘you can’t evict an idea.’ Just ask Leo.
1. Osama bin Laden is killed: Obama fulfilled one of his most significant campaign promises when he brought to justice the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and one of the world’s most wanted terrorists who had eluded authorities for nearly a decade. Obama ordered Navy Seals to storm bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, who ultimately shot him dead and buried the body at sea. Republicans still won’t give Obama any foreign affairs love, but the world hasn't forgotten since this story tops many news lists for 2011.
In addition to the circus that often surrounds political gamesmanship, a number of significant events occurred this year - too many to list in their entirety, but we seem to be witnessing the transition into a world much different than what we know today. Leaps and bounds made in technology have resulted in a new labor order that the world is trying to figure out how to adjust to when there are more people, but fewer jobs. On the other hand, the same strides have allowed individuals to organize and mobilize in opposition to the injustices and inequalities they are subjected to. People are going to continue demanding more control over their lives until some semblance of equilibrium in our hyper-globalized world is achieved. In this respect at least, 2012 should be just as exciting as 2011.
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