On Friday, June 24, 2011, the NY State Senate voted to legalize gay marriage in New York State. This is a victory for democratic rights!  Marxists oppose all forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on sexuality and gender. The fact that marriage laws discriminate against same-sex partners is just the latest in the struggle for equality and democratic rights for the LGBT community under capitalism.

As ratings agency Moody's considers the possibility of cutting the US AAA debt rating, concerned that the US could default on its debt obligations, we publish a recent editorial statement of the US Socialist Appeal on the forthcoming wave of massive cuts in public spending in the United States. As the article points out, “the capitalists must impose a new normality on the U.S. working class. The crisis of their system means that small cuts or adjustments are no longer enough. The hatchet is out now...”

On Monday, June 20, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a massive class action sexual discrimination lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart by a group of current and former women employees. This blow against the rights of these 1.5 million workers should come as no surprise. Even a cursory review of legal history shows that the courts have a long tradition of siding with big business over workers. And no wonder: most of the supposedly “impartial” judges are very political indeed, most of them having been appointed by one of the two corporate parties!

At the end of June I had the opportunity of visiting Venezuela where I attended the national conference of “Class Struggle” (Lucha de Clases), the Venezuelan section of the International Marxist Tendency. What I witnessed is an increased polarisation between left and right, but above all an open clash between the revolutionary wing of the Bolivarian movement and the reformists and bureaucrats. In a series of articles I will attempt to illustrate this.

Many believed it wouldn’t actually happen, but the Minnesota state shutdown is here. The political game of chicken being played by the Republicans and Democrats over the budget has plunged the state into crisis.

Over 100,000 turned out for the March 12th mega rally in Madison, a city of only 230,000. The mood was incredible. It was very moving to see the once-dormant mass of the population, including all sectors (nurses, teachers, firefighters, etc.), out on the streets, many for the first time in their lives, trying with fresh breath to find their voice.