Previously on WMD, I
posted a press release in which Teamsters kingpin Jimmy the Younger Hoffa calls for divestment in Iran.
Jill Miller Zimon (JMZ) of
Writes Like She Talks has been a vocal opponent of Ohio's bill to do just that, so I called her out to get her view on this latest development. Jill responded in the comments with this:
Matt - Thanks for the shout-out. I received a copy of this statement sometime last week.
No problem at all, Jill...
This effort targets action at the federal level. Many folks who've written about the divestment efforts, including me, have stressed that if Rep. Mandel and Jones were congressional legislators, they would receive a great deal more support and have far more legitimacy to their push.
I fail to understand what the significance of where the Reps are currently serving makes on the argument that Americans/Ohioans ought not be supporting these regimes. I take it from this statement that your argument isn't with the idea of divesting in Iran and Sudan, but that it's the state of Ohio that is proposing to do it. Perhaps the Mandel/Jones Bill will put a spotlight on the issue and then Congress might pick it up...
Missouri's fund has been examined by the Wall Street Journal, among other entities. From what I've read, and I have not done independent research on it, the fund is extremely tiny and experimental.
I'd imagine it wouldn't take much to increase Sudan's value...
There are many social fund options out there, no question about it.
This is true...
But divestment from foreign nations is not for state legislatures to decide. It's a matter of foreign policy, to be decided at the level of the U.S. Congress.
If the State of Ohio is responsible for the money, then the state legislature is entirely within their rights to dictate where the money goes. If the situation were such where the federal government had imposed a divestment order and Ohio wanted to invest in these countries, then I would agree with you; but that is not the case here. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I think that "The Heart of It All" was a stupid slogan for Ohio, but it sure beats this: Let's do the socially responsible thing...until it's inconvenient...or a nuisance.
As always, I look forward to continued conversation...
