Deputies bought with amendments avoid investigation of Temer!

Out with Temer! Out with all of them!
On Wednesday 2, the Deputies Chamber was, once again, the stage of a horror show that exposed the core of this rotten, corrupt bourgeois regime.
After Temer’s “garage sale” with a bunch of deputies in exchange of the liberation of parliamentary amendments, the Chamber ended up voting against the continuation of the investigation of the denounce for corruption against Temer in the Supreme Federal Court [STF]. 342 votes were necessary to proceed with the denounce made by the General Prosecutor of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot. The result was already decided when we were finishing this article.
By Editorial Team PSTU – Brazil
 
The vote was a true scandal of mockery and hypocrisy. The bribe of deputies did not end during the session: according to the Folha de São Paulo, the Secretary of Government, Antonio Imbassahy, was seen with the deputy Beto Mansur (PRB-SP) holding a list of amendments.
Other deputies, like the leader Efraim Filho (DEM-PB) and Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB) were talking about “Paraíba matters” and hugging each other happily. A wonderful fair in midst of the Chamber plenary, shamelessly, in front of everyone.
According to information gathered by the Agencia Lupa, since the denounce against Temer came to the surface the government released R$2,34 billion for parliamentary amendments. This represents 75% of the total released on 2017 so far. Just the “folkloric” Wladimir Costa (SD-PA), famous for having tattooed Temer’s name on his shoulder, received nothing less than R$7 million, according to the portal Contas Abertas. An open-doors deputy purchase to obstruct justice, save Temer, and end the Operation Lava Jato.
While releasing budget to buy parliamentarians, Temer was also announcing a cut of R$5,9 billion on the National Budget and the increase in gas prices, which will raise the cost of living of workers and the poorest population.
But it was not only through parliamentary amendments that Temer bought his impunity: the day before the voting in the Chamber, he edited an Interim Measure [MP] that establishes the Refis (Tax Recovery Program to parcel tax liabilities) for the big landowners in debt with the Funrural [Rural Workers’ Assistance Fund]. Besides parceling the debts of the landowners, the agreement with the rural caucus envisages the reduction of the Funrural aliquot. With this, the government resigns R$5,4 billion in debts from 2018 to 2020. Temer destroys our health, education, and wages, to go buying deputies to save his term.
The role of the PT and the Federations’ leaderships
It was not only the bribe of deputies and the millionaire exemption to big landowners and to the rural caucus that guaranteed Temer’s impunity: the PT is also responsible. First, they stalled the General Strike on June 30, through the CUT and its Unions, to concentrate forces in the campaign for “Direct Elections Now,” which is a cover up for the real campaign “Lula 2018.” Now, Bahia’s governor, Rui Costa (PT), exonerated two of his secretaries so they could resume their Federal Deputies mandates to vote in favor of Temer.
This made evident that the PT is not in favor of removing Temer but it wants to keep him there, wearing down, to channel next year election in favor of Lula. Also, the story of the “coup” against Dilma is each time more demoralized because of this.
We also have to “charge the bill” to the leaderships of Federations like Força Sindical and UGT, who also boycotted the General Strike on June 30. The corrupt Paulinho da Força, from Solidariedade –government’s base- voted in favor of Temer, a few days after Temer passed the labor reform that cut historic workers’ rights. It is not only that the leaders of those Federations sold out the strike to negotiate with the government, but that the policy they defend does not differ from the one that Temer is implementing.
If they wouldn’t have betrayed the General Strike on June 30, the labor reform would not have passed, and most probably Temer, who already faces a historic rejection, would no longer be sitting in the Presidential Chair.
However, Temer might pay a high price for the horror show we witnessed on August 2. And not precisely with the millions, he distributed among the parliamentarians, no: the hate by the population and workers might increase even more, creating a situation of instability that might explode at any time.
The solution to overthrow this government and this corrupt National Congress and its reforms are the organization on the rank and file of the different workers’ sectors, and the organization of committees/councils. Let’s unify the struggles of workers and the poor people on the base, and let’s confront the leaderships of the pro-government Federations, towards a mobilization and General Strike to take Temer down together with his Congress, to revoke the labor reform, and to bury once and for all the Social Security reform demanded by the bankers.
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Translation: Sofía Ballack.