Original article, by Alan Woods, via Socialist Appeal (UK):

The year 2009 marks the 85th anniversary of the death of the man who, together with Leon Trotsky, made a decisive contribution to the cause of socialism and the working class in this century, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. To mark the occasion, we are republishing this article which was originally written to commemorate the Lenin centenary in 1970.

Original article, by Jeff Lassahn, via World Socialist Web Site:

The inauguration festivities for Barack Obama are estimated to cost as much as $150 million. Just under a third of this tab will be covered by the influence-peddling donations of the wealthy. The bulk of the costs will fall on the general tax-paying population, which faces rapidly increasing unemployment and sharp declines in income.

Original article, by Mick Brooks, via Socialist Appeal (UK):

Stock exchanges in Britain and the USA have been on the slide over the past few days. The reason is not hard to seek. The FTSE has been spooked by bank shares collapsing. Barclays, for instance, saw 25% of its share price shaved off in one hour last Friday (16.01.09). This was the day after the bank announced 2,100 job losses.

Original article, by Mischa Gaus, via labornotes.org:

Labor activists from 31 states gathered in St. Louis last weekend, solidifying their strategies to push “Medicare for all”-and to oppose the half-hearted health care plans circulating in Washington.

Original article, by Jerry White, via World Socialist Web Site:

It has come to light that the federal bailout of General Motors and Chrysler approved last month by the Bush administration with the support of the incoming Obama administration includes a stipulation that effectively bans strikes or work stoppages by autoworkers.

Original article, an editorial, via Socialist Appeal (UK):

In 1848 The Communist Manifesto opened with the line, “A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism. ” The spectre of Marx haunts world capitalism still.

Original article, by Hamish McLaren, via Socialist Appeal (UK):

2008 makes for a sad story, and in 2009, the working class will begin really paying for it. Some of the worst to be affected will be young unskilled workers; cleaners, shop-workers and caterers, like myself. Minimum wage workers at the best of times, we have, during the period of boom (which apparently was the last 10 years, although no one told us) eked out an existence, hovering from one place to the next for as long as moral holds out. Most I have worked with were young, often migrants, demoralised but unorganised and so usually without contracts of employment and subject to very poor working conditions.

Original article, by Patrick Martin, via World Socialist Web Site:

Barack Obama took the occasion of his first press appearance in Washington as president-elect to declare his determination to impose policies of budgetary austerity, including the elimination of entire federal programs and cost-cutting in the entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that are of vital importance to tens of millions of elderly and poor people.