HCMC – The Ministry of Finance has announced on its website a list of more than 150 companies that are required to register prices for their products in compliance with a circular on price stabilization. The listed companies must register with the authorities the prices of their products, including imports in accordance with Circular No.122/2010/TT-BTC issued on August 12, and are obliged to stick to the registered prices. In the list, there are seven companies providing dairy products for children under six, including FrieslandCampina Vietnam, Nestlé Vietnam Ltd., Mead Johnson Nutrition Vietnam and Meiji Vietnam. The list also comprises many manufacturers of cement, steel, liquefied petroleum gas, chemical fertilizer, plant protection chemical, veterinary medicine, salt, and sugar, and service providers like seaports and aviation. The ministry said it had made the list of the companies and sent announcements to them before the circular took effect on October 1. The full list is available on the ministry’s website athttp://www.mof.gov.vn/portal/pls/portal/docs/1080266.DOC. Earlier, Nguyen Tien Thoa, director of the ministry’s Price Management Department, was quoted on the Government’s website in September as saying that the circular did not contradict the country’s commitments to the World Trade Organization. The comment was made after foreign-invested companies and some ambassadors to Vietnam complained that the price management regulations would discourage investors. |
Friday, October 8, 2010
Hundreds of companies told to register prices
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Obama sends foreclosure docs bill back to Congress
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has rejected a bill that the White House fears could worsen the mounting problems caused by flawed or misleading documents used by banks in home foreclosures.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that Obama is sending a newly passed bill back to Congress to be fixed because the current version has "unintended consequences on consumer protections." The bill would loosen the process for providing a notary's seal to documents and allow them to be done electronically.
Obama will not sign a bill that would allow foreclosure and other documents to be accepted among multiple states. Consumer advocates and state officials had argued the legislation would make it difficult for homeowners to challenge foreclosure documents prepared in other states.
The White House said Thursday it is sending the bill back to Congress for revisions, and that the administration would work with lawmakers on it.
O. Max Gardner, a consumer lawyer in Shelby, N.C., said the bill would have made the problems with foreclosure documents worse. That's because mortgage companies would have been able to mass-produce documents and affix a digital version of a notary's seal rather than one on paper.
"They could process more foreclosure cases with improper and invalid documents and make it more difficult for consumers to try to fight," he said.
Obama used a rare "pocket veto" — a tactic for killing a bill that can be used only when Congress is not in session. It essentially takes effect when the president fails to sign a bill within 10 days. Obama has yet to issue a traditional veto during his presidency; he has used a pocket veto once before, in December 2009, to address what amounted to a technicality on a defense spending bill.
A furor has been growing as mounting evidence has surfaced that mortgage lenders have been evicting homeowners using flawed court papers. State and federal officials have been ramping up pressure on the mortgage industry over concerns about potential legal violations.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that Obama is sending a newly passed bill back to Congress to be fixed because the current version has "unintended consequences on consumer protections." The bill would loosen the process for providing a notary's seal to documents and allow them to be done electronically.
 |
| President Barack Obama walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington |
Obama will not sign a bill that would allow foreclosure and other documents to be accepted among multiple states. Consumer advocates and state officials had argued the legislation would make it difficult for homeowners to challenge foreclosure documents prepared in other states.
The White House said Thursday it is sending the bill back to Congress for revisions, and that the administration would work with lawmakers on it.
O. Max Gardner, a consumer lawyer in Shelby, N.C., said the bill would have made the problems with foreclosure documents worse. That's because mortgage companies would have been able to mass-produce documents and affix a digital version of a notary's seal rather than one on paper.
"They could process more foreclosure cases with improper and invalid documents and make it more difficult for consumers to try to fight," he said.
Obama used a rare "pocket veto" — a tactic for killing a bill that can be used only when Congress is not in session. It essentially takes effect when the president fails to sign a bill within 10 days. Obama has yet to issue a traditional veto during his presidency; he has used a pocket veto once before, in December 2009, to address what amounted to a technicality on a defense spending bill.
A furor has been growing as mounting evidence has surfaced that mortgage lenders have been evicting homeowners using flawed court papers. State and federal officials have been ramping up pressure on the mortgage industry over concerns about potential legal violations.
By ALAN ZIBEL and BEN FELLER
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
US cherry growers eye Vietnam
Vietnam’s expanding middle-class has prompted moves by US cherry growers to target this emerging South East Asian market.
Northwest Cherry Growers has announced plans to increase its presence in Vietnam through a programme to promote cherries, and educate retailers on keeping fruit fresh, following a recent trade mission to the region.
Northwest Cherry Growers’ president BJ Thurlby told the Capital Press that Vietnam has a larger middle-class than numbers show, and imports into the region increased 10-fold in the previous year.
“With no training or promotions, Northwest cherry exports to Vietnam increased from 1,000 to 10,000 20-pound (9.1kg) cartons from 2009 to 2010,” he said. “With training and promotions, and Vietnam's buying power, the number could be 100,000 cartons in five or six years,” he added.
China and Vietnam are viewed as great potential markets because of their large populations and expanding middle classes that have buying power and want quality US produce.
“Every market helps when the Northwest is producing cherry crops of up to 20.5m cartons,” said Mr Thurlby
Speaking to Asia Fruit Magazine earlier this year Mr Thurlby said Asia continues to be the shining star in Northwest Cherry Growers’ export programme.
“This year we will ship close to 1.9m 20Ib-equivalent cartons to Asia,” he said in August. “Shipments to China and Hong Kong have been strong relative to the reduced crop, with shipments to the mainland increasing significantly during the last part of July and into August.”
Mr Thurlby took part in a two-week trade mission that ended 23 September and included 100 delegates from Washington agricultural and non-agricultural industries.
Northwest Cherry Growers has announced plans to increase its presence in Vietnam through a programme to promote cherries, and educate retailers on keeping fruit fresh, following a recent trade mission to the region.Northwest Cherry Growers’ president BJ Thurlby told the Capital Press that Vietnam has a larger middle-class than numbers show, and imports into the region increased 10-fold in the previous year.
“With no training or promotions, Northwest cherry exports to Vietnam increased from 1,000 to 10,000 20-pound (9.1kg) cartons from 2009 to 2010,” he said. “With training and promotions, and Vietnam's buying power, the number could be 100,000 cartons in five or six years,” he added.
China and Vietnam are viewed as great potential markets because of their large populations and expanding middle classes that have buying power and want quality US produce.
“Every market helps when the Northwest is producing cherry crops of up to 20.5m cartons,” said Mr Thurlby
Speaking to Asia Fruit Magazine earlier this year Mr Thurlby said Asia continues to be the shining star in Northwest Cherry Growers’ export programme.
“This year we will ship close to 1.9m 20Ib-equivalent cartons to Asia,” he said in August. “Shipments to China and Hong Kong have been strong relative to the reduced crop, with shipments to the mainland increasing significantly during the last part of July and into August.”
Mr Thurlby took part in a two-week trade mission that ended 23 September and included 100 delegates from Washington agricultural and non-agricultural industries.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
IT firms fail to invest in R&D
Staff at an information technology company work at the Da Nang Software Park, which opened earlier this year. Most Vietnamese IT firms have failed to make adequate investment in research and development. (Photo: VNS)
Most Vietnamese IT firms have failed to make adequate investment in research and development due to limited financial capacity and a lack of skilled personnel, said HCM City Computer Association chairman Chu Tien Dung.
In the past 10 years, firms focused on creating IT products to meet short-term market demands rather than properly investing in research and development (R&D), Dung said.
Domestic IT businesses that took on outsourcing work from foreign partners found it difficult to make sufficient investment in R&D because most of them were small and medium-sized, said Vietsoftware chairman of the board Tran Luong Son.
Some of the companies realised the importance of R&D but due to insufficient financial capacity, their R&D investment had yet to bring satisfactory results, he said.
While investing in R&D seems to be difficult for small IT firms, several larger enterprises have invested in R&D, resulting in new production technologies and unique products that have played a decisive factor in sharpening their competitiveness.
TMA Solutions, a large software outsourcing company, recently opened its first R&D centre in the Quang Trung Software Park in HCM City to expand its business in training, mobile service and business solutions.
Chairman of TMA Solutions Nguyen Huu Le said the company accepted outsourcing contracts from foreign companies over the past 12 years and also executed R&D projects under contracts with foreign partners.
“To date, TMA has accumulated good experience in innovation technologies from these projects and we can produce many items in Viet Nam,” he said.
Mobile provider Viettel also established an R&D centre to develop new telecommunication equipment. The company has developed a USB with integrated 3G, the VT1000-3G, and plans to put it on the market by the end of the year.
CMC Group has also announced that it will set aside US$2 million to research or acquire new technology.
Establishing R&D centres in Viet Nam, however, still faced tax barriers and difficulties with equipment testing procedures, Le said, adding that it took his company three years to complete all relevant procedures.
Le suggested the Government should offer incentives for R&D projects.
Dung agreed. He said that Vietnamese ICT companies were seeing big opportunities in technology transfer from global IT companies as they move their R&D centres to Viet Nam to cut costs.
Several local outsourcing companies have seen a chance to receive R&D centres from foreign partners. The centres brought comprehensive technology and increased profits for local outsourcing companies, he noted.
To encourage more enterprises to shift to R&D, Dung suggested the Government rethink its tax policy for ICT companies that invested in R&D projects or R&D labs.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Apple may surpass Exxon as most valuable company
By DAVID K. RANDALL
While Apple CEO Steve Jobs will no doubt be happy about his new perch atop the business world, there's more at stake here than mere bragging rights. As soon as the total value of the company's shares edges above Exxon's, Apple will take over the top spot in the Standard and Poor's 500, the market index used by most professional money managers.
That means that billions of dollars invested in funds that track the index will have to shift their holdings to reflect Apple's new weighting. Exxon, meanwhile, may see its share price fall from the same effect. That slide could be accelerated by hedge funds and technical traders who make bets based on the rebalancing of major indexes and would be primed to short the shares of Exxon.
Just as important as the day-to-day flow of dollars among investors, the move will also reflect how the market, and the overall economy, continues to evolve. The list of companies that have sat atop the S&P 500 is short. For years, the top spot rotated among stalwart industrials like General Electric Co., General Motors, and AT&T Inc., before that company was broken up as a result of an antitrust suit in 1984. Twenty years ago, IBM Corp. held the No. 1 position, narrowly beating out Exxon.
Apple's move to the top would be a strong signal that the market is no longer placing as high a value on industrial companies that depend on traditional manufacturing, business spending or natural resources for revenue. Instead, investors are now expecting growth to be driven by spending from average consumers on technology and entertainment.
If Apple becomes more valuable than Exxon, it will be only the second time that a growing technology company which doesn't pay dividends will make up the greatest share of the S&P 500. The first, Microsoft Corp., held the position for two years in the late 1990s during the boom that made personal computers a staple in households around the world.
Today, Apple dominates the business of putting the Internet in your pocket. That's quite a feat for a company that was worth only $7 dollars a share 10 years ago. It closed Friday at $282.52.
Apple still has some catching up to do before it takes the lead, of course. As of now, there is a $60 billion difference in the two companies' market capitalization. If the price of Exxon stays flat, Apple's stock will need to rise 12 percent to move ahead of the oil giant, according to Brian Marshall, an analyst at Gleacher & Company. Exxon doesn't seem likely to surge ahead in value anytime soon, according to research by Morgan Stanley analyst Evan Calio. Exxon "will likely lag in a continued recovery, particularly one driven by oil rather than gas," Calio recently wrote in a note to clients.
For most companies, a 12 percent jump in a year would be fantastic, let alone in a few months. But Apple has proven that it's not a normal company. In May, it leapfrogged ahead of Microsoft to take the No. 2 spot on the S&P 500 list. Gleacher's Marshall expects Apple to pull off a similar feat with Exxon not long after it reports its earnings on Oct. 18.
What sets Apple apart? For one thing, it's one of the few gigantic companies that is still growing like a startup. Its revenue is expected to jump 50 percent by the end of this year and an additional 20 percent next year, Marshall says. Much of that comes from its line of iPads and iPhones, which account for half of its revenue.
The fact that all of this growth comes in the midst of an economy that, until recently, was thought to be toeing the line of another recession is all the more impressive. While consumers have been putting off big-ticket items like new cars or homes and downsizing their vacations, they seem to have convinced themselves that they may as well buy devices to make all that time spent at home more exciting.
That helps Apple in another way, too. Because users of iPads and iPhones are tapped into Apple's iTunes store, where the company rents and sells movies and television shows, you could easily consider Apple a cable company as well. If you look at it that way, its base of 200 million customers makes it five times larger than Comcast Corp., the largest cable company in the United States.
Sales through iTunes now account for 8 percent of Apple's revenue, but will likely increase as the company gets a bigger share of the consumer's living room with its updated Apple TV device that streams entertainment to television sets. Any small increase in iTunes sales pumps up the company's bottom line, considering that it gets 30 cents for every dollar spent on a song or book purchased through its online store.
The company is also poised to expand its share of the global personal computer market, which accounts for 300 million units sold each year. "As people buy the iPad and get accustomed to it, it may become their primary PC device," said Toan Tran, an analyst at Morningstar.
For lay investors, Apple's move to the top of the S&P 500 won't bring drastic changes. Even though Apple doesn't pay a dividend like Exxon, its new positioning wouldn't affect the yield of the index, said
Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst at Standard and Poor's.
And Apple shareholders will still have something to complain about: the approximately $50 billion in cash sitting on the company's balance sheet.
"Apple needs to do something with all of that capital," Tran said. "I could understand wanting to have something in reserve, but $50 billion is such a ridiculous number that they should seriously consider returning some of it to shareholders in the form of share buybacks."
NEW YORK – Here's something to think about the next time you pick up a call on your iPhone: the device you're holding may soon be the signature product of the most valuable company in the world.
Thanks to its line of gadgets that combine the ability to make calls, send email, read books, watch movies and listen to music, Apple Inc. is on a path to overtake Exxon Mobil Corp. as the largest company by market capitalization.
While Apple CEO Steve Jobs will no doubt be happy about his new perch atop the business world, there's more at stake here than mere bragging rights. As soon as the total value of the company's shares edges above Exxon's, Apple will take over the top spot in the Standard and Poor's 500, the market index used by most professional money managers.
That means that billions of dollars invested in funds that track the index will have to shift their holdings to reflect Apple's new weighting. Exxon, meanwhile, may see its share price fall from the same effect. That slide could be accelerated by hedge funds and technical traders who make bets based on the rebalancing of major indexes and would be primed to short the shares of Exxon.
Just as important as the day-to-day flow of dollars among investors, the move will also reflect how the market, and the overall economy, continues to evolve. The list of companies that have sat atop the S&P 500 is short. For years, the top spot rotated among stalwart industrials like General Electric Co., General Motors, and AT&T Inc., before that company was broken up as a result of an antitrust suit in 1984. Twenty years ago, IBM Corp. held the No. 1 position, narrowly beating out Exxon.
Apple's move to the top would be a strong signal that the market is no longer placing as high a value on industrial companies that depend on traditional manufacturing, business spending or natural resources for revenue. Instead, investors are now expecting growth to be driven by spending from average consumers on technology and entertainment.
If Apple becomes more valuable than Exxon, it will be only the second time that a growing technology company which doesn't pay dividends will make up the greatest share of the S&P 500. The first, Microsoft Corp., held the position for two years in the late 1990s during the boom that made personal computers a staple in households around the world.
Today, Apple dominates the business of putting the Internet in your pocket. That's quite a feat for a company that was worth only $7 dollars a share 10 years ago. It closed Friday at $282.52.
Apple still has some catching up to do before it takes the lead, of course. As of now, there is a $60 billion difference in the two companies' market capitalization. If the price of Exxon stays flat, Apple's stock will need to rise 12 percent to move ahead of the oil giant, according to Brian Marshall, an analyst at Gleacher & Company. Exxon doesn't seem likely to surge ahead in value anytime soon, according to research by Morgan Stanley analyst Evan Calio. Exxon "will likely lag in a continued recovery, particularly one driven by oil rather than gas," Calio recently wrote in a note to clients.
For most companies, a 12 percent jump in a year would be fantastic, let alone in a few months. But Apple has proven that it's not a normal company. In May, it leapfrogged ahead of Microsoft to take the No. 2 spot on the S&P 500 list. Gleacher's Marshall expects Apple to pull off a similar feat with Exxon not long after it reports its earnings on Oct. 18.
What sets Apple apart? For one thing, it's one of the few gigantic companies that is still growing like a startup. Its revenue is expected to jump 50 percent by the end of this year and an additional 20 percent next year, Marshall says. Much of that comes from its line of iPads and iPhones, which account for half of its revenue.
The fact that all of this growth comes in the midst of an economy that, until recently, was thought to be toeing the line of another recession is all the more impressive. While consumers have been putting off big-ticket items like new cars or homes and downsizing their vacations, they seem to have convinced themselves that they may as well buy devices to make all that time spent at home more exciting.
That helps Apple in another way, too. Because users of iPads and iPhones are tapped into Apple's iTunes store, where the company rents and sells movies and television shows, you could easily consider Apple a cable company as well. If you look at it that way, its base of 200 million customers makes it five times larger than Comcast Corp., the largest cable company in the United States.
Sales through iTunes now account for 8 percent of Apple's revenue, but will likely increase as the company gets a bigger share of the consumer's living room with its updated Apple TV device that streams entertainment to television sets. Any small increase in iTunes sales pumps up the company's bottom line, considering that it gets 30 cents for every dollar spent on a song or book purchased through its online store.
The company is also poised to expand its share of the global personal computer market, which accounts for 300 million units sold each year. "As people buy the iPad and get accustomed to it, it may become their primary PC device," said Toan Tran, an analyst at Morningstar.
For lay investors, Apple's move to the top of the S&P 500 won't bring drastic changes. Even though Apple doesn't pay a dividend like Exxon, its new positioning wouldn't affect the yield of the index, said
Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst at Standard and Poor's.
And Apple shareholders will still have something to complain about: the approximately $50 billion in cash sitting on the company's balance sheet.
"Apple needs to do something with all of that capital," Tran said. "I could understand wanting to have something in reserve, but $50 billion is such a ridiculous number that they should seriously consider returning some of it to shareholders in the form of share buybacks."
Saturday, October 2, 2010
DC rally shows support for struggling Democrats
By PHILIP ELLIOTT
WASHINGTON – Tapping into anger as the tea party movement has done, a coalition of progressive and civil rights groups marched Saturday on the Lincoln Memorial and pledged to support Democrats struggling to keep power on Capitol Hill.
"We are together. This march is about the power to the people," said Ed Schultz, host of "The Ed Show" on MSNBC. "It is about the people standing up to the corporations. Are you ready to fight back?"
In a fiery speech that opened the "One Nation Working Together" rally on the National Mall, Schultz blamed Republicans for shipping jobs overseas and curtailing freedoms. He borrowed some of conservative commentator Glenn Beck's rhetoric and vowed to "take back our country."
"This is a defining moment in America. Are you American?" Schultz told the raucous crowd of thousands.
"This is no time to back down. This is time to fight for America."
With a month of campaigning to go and voter unhappiness high, the Democratic-leaning organizers hope the four-hour program of speeches and entertainment energizes activists who are crucial if Democrats are to retain their majorities in the House and Senate. The national mood suggests gains for the GOP, and Republicans are hoping to ride voter anger to gain control of the House and possibly the Senate.
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka urged participants, including his union's members, to band together.
"There is nothing, and I mean nothing, we can't do when we stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder," Trumka said. "We will stand together. And we will win together. And we won't let anyone — and I mean anyone — stand in our way."
That starts as soon as the crowds get back to their homes.
"Coming out of here, we've got to go home and ask our friends to vote, ask our neighbors to vote," NAACP
President Benjamin Todd Jealous said.
"Ever forward, never backwards," he led the crowd in a cheer.
But even participants recognized the challenge.
"There may be an enthusiasm gap, but we're not going to know until we have an election," said Ken Bork, who came from Camas, Wash. "A lot of the noise from the extreme right-wing stuff, it's been well orchestrated by big money. But it's not as bad as they're making it out."
Rose Dixon, a health care worker from Pawleys Island, S.C., said she hopes the rally sends a message to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
"Stop the obstructionism. Work together," Dixon said. "Stop playing politics as usual and to put the American people first. We're tired of the politics and the posturing and the games."
The Rev. Al Sharpton, addressing the crowd that swelled through the day, warned activists against apathy.
"We've got to go home and we've got to hit the pavement. We've got to knock on doors. We've got to ring those church bells," Sharpton said, urging the crowd to go home and volunteer for candidates.
Organizers insist the rally is not partisan. They say the message is about job creation, quality education and justice. However, the largest organizations, such as the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union, tend to back Democratic candidates.
But the speakers hardly shied from criticizing Republicans.
"If Sarah Palin had a bright idea, it'd be beginners' luck," comedian Charlie Hill joked from the stage about the 2008 vice presidential nominee.
Van Jones, who last year was forced from his job as a White House energy adviser after Beck made public his comments disparaging Republicans, said during his remarks that progressives must stand with Democrats to put America back to work.
"They don't need hateful rhetoric. They need real solutions," Jones said.
More than 400 organizations — ranging from labor unions to faith, environmental and gay rights groups — partnered for the event, which comes one month after Beck packed the same space with conservatives and tea party-style activists.
Organizers claimed they had as many participants as Beck's rally. But Saturday's crowds were less dense and didn't reach as far to the edges as they did during Beck's rally. The National Park Service stopped providing official crowd estimates in the 1990s.
Beck and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gathered near the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech to urge a vast crowd to embrace traditional values. Though also billed as nonpolitical, the rally was widely viewed as a protest against the policies of President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.
One Nation organizers said they began planning their event before learning about Beck's rally, and said Saturday's march is not in reaction to that.
"Our strength is your strength," SEIU President Mary Kay Henry led a chant from the steps where King delivered one of the nation's most
"We are one nation, coming together."
Obama was spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
WASHINGTON – Tapping into anger as the tea party movement has done, a coalition of progressive and civil rights groups marched Saturday on the Lincoln Memorial and pledged to support Democrats struggling to keep power on Capitol Hill.
"We are together. This march is about the power to the people," said Ed Schultz, host of "The Ed Show" on MSNBC. "It is about the people standing up to the corporations. Are you ready to fight back?"
 |
| AP – Activists gather at the Lincoln Memorial to participate in the 'One Nation Working Together' rally to … |
In a fiery speech that opened the "One Nation Working Together" rally on the National Mall, Schultz blamed Republicans for shipping jobs overseas and curtailing freedoms. He borrowed some of conservative commentator Glenn Beck's rhetoric and vowed to "take back our country."
"This is a defining moment in America. Are you American?" Schultz told the raucous crowd of thousands.
"This is no time to back down. This is time to fight for America."
With a month of campaigning to go and voter unhappiness high, the Democratic-leaning organizers hope the four-hour program of speeches and entertainment energizes activists who are crucial if Democrats are to retain their majorities in the House and Senate. The national mood suggests gains for the GOP, and Republicans are hoping to ride voter anger to gain control of the House and possibly the Senate.
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka urged participants, including his union's members, to band together.
"There is nothing, and I mean nothing, we can't do when we stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder," Trumka said. "We will stand together. And we will win together. And we won't let anyone — and I mean anyone — stand in our way."
That starts as soon as the crowds get back to their homes.
"Coming out of here, we've got to go home and ask our friends to vote, ask our neighbors to vote," NAACP
President Benjamin Todd Jealous said.
"Ever forward, never backwards," he led the crowd in a cheer.
But even participants recognized the challenge.
"There may be an enthusiasm gap, but we're not going to know until we have an election," said Ken Bork, who came from Camas, Wash. "A lot of the noise from the extreme right-wing stuff, it's been well orchestrated by big money. But it's not as bad as they're making it out."
Rose Dixon, a health care worker from Pawleys Island, S.C., said she hopes the rally sends a message to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
"Stop the obstructionism. Work together," Dixon said. "Stop playing politics as usual and to put the American people first. We're tired of the politics and the posturing and the games."
The Rev. Al Sharpton, addressing the crowd that swelled through the day, warned activists against apathy.
"We've got to go home and we've got to hit the pavement. We've got to knock on doors. We've got to ring those church bells," Sharpton said, urging the crowd to go home and volunteer for candidates.
Organizers insist the rally is not partisan. They say the message is about job creation, quality education and justice. However, the largest organizations, such as the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union, tend to back Democratic candidates.
But the speakers hardly shied from criticizing Republicans.
"If Sarah Palin had a bright idea, it'd be beginners' luck," comedian Charlie Hill joked from the stage about the 2008 vice presidential nominee.
Van Jones, who last year was forced from his job as a White House energy adviser after Beck made public his comments disparaging Republicans, said during his remarks that progressives must stand with Democrats to put America back to work.
"They don't need hateful rhetoric. They need real solutions," Jones said.
More than 400 organizations — ranging from labor unions to faith, environmental and gay rights groups — partnered for the event, which comes one month after Beck packed the same space with conservatives and tea party-style activists.
Organizers claimed they had as many participants as Beck's rally. But Saturday's crowds were less dense and didn't reach as far to the edges as they did during Beck's rally. The National Park Service stopped providing official crowd estimates in the 1990s.
Beck and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gathered near the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech to urge a vast crowd to embrace traditional values. Though also billed as nonpolitical, the rally was widely viewed as a protest against the policies of President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.
One Nation organizers said they began planning their event before learning about Beck's rally, and said Saturday's march is not in reaction to that.
"Our strength is your strength," SEIU President Mary Kay Henry led a chant from the steps where King delivered one of the nation's most
"We are one nation, coming together."
Obama was spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)