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This week on Uprising:

* The Romney/Ryan Economic Vision for America
* Hundreds of Thousands of Undocumented Immigrants Become Eligible to Apply for Temporary Work Permits
* Special Report: Mexican ‘Caravan for Peace’ Starts a US Tour to Draw Attention to Drug War Violence

* * *

The Romney/Ryan Economic Vision for America

Presumptive Republic Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney last Saturday announced his choice of running mate, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan. The announcement was made on-board the USS Wisconsin in front of a crowd of thousands. Romney lauded Ryan’s religious beliefs, saying he was a “good Catholic,” and “believes in the worth and dignity of every human life.”

Rep. Ryan wasted no time in transitioning into campaign mode, calling out President Obama. “Hope and change has now become attack and blame,” said Ryan. He also blamed Obama for his policies of “crony capitalism” and “corporate welfare.”

Campaigning in Iowa, President Obama yesterday called Paul Ryan “the ideological leader of the Republicans in Congress.”

Paul Ryan is Chair of the House Budget Committee and is closely affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers, via the Koch-funded organization, Americans for Prosperity. But Ryan is best known for his controversial federal budget proposal. Under his plan, Medicare in its existing form would be transformed and essentially replaced by a voucher system. Ryan’s plan would gradually increase costs on seniors who are under the program so that by 2030, they would be paying 68% of costs, compared to 25% today. Also under the Ryan budget plan, millionaires would receive a $265,000 tax break, while the nation’s poorest would see $8 billion cut from food stamp funds. Ryan also voted for a bill in May to increase annual defense spending by $8 billion to a total of $642 billion.

Rep. Paul’s budget plans, coming during the on-going economic recession, have been so controversial, that even Romney was quick to distance himself, saying “as President, he will be putting together his own plan for cutting the deficit and putting the budget on a path to balance.”

GUESTS: Adele Stan, is the Washington bureau chief for AlterNet and an Uprising Election 2012 analyst, Imara Jones, writes about economic justice for Colorlines.com

Click here to read Adele Stan’s article about Paul Ryan.

Click here to read Imara Jones’ article about Paul Ryan.

Hundreds of Thousands of Undocumented Immigrants Become Eligible to Apply for Temporary Work Permits

Tens of thousands of undocumented youths lined up around the country this week to apply for a program called The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program which President Barack Obama signed into policy on June 15. The program allows for undocumented immigrants between the ages of 15 and 31 who arrived in the United States before the age of 16 to avoid deportation and legally work in the country. The government has estimated that about 1.7 million undocumented immigrants will apply for the program which requires a $465 application fee per person. In addition to the steep fee, undocumented youth must be enrolled in or have graduated from high school, or be honorably discharged from the military and be free of any criminal charges including misdemeanors. Once having applied to the program applicants must re-register with the federal government every two years to maintain their status.

Some critics have voiced concerns about the bi-annual registration program which allows the federal government to have access to information about undocumented family members. And, while applicants would be given work permits, they would not be considered citizens and not be given the right to vote.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program is a much-watered down version of the original DREAM Act which would have given permanent residency to young undocumented immigrants.

GUEST: Erick Huerta, student activist, and coordinator of Dream Team Los Angeles’ communications.

Visit www.dreamteamla.org for more information.

Special Report: Mexican ‘Caravan for Peace’ Starts a US Tour to Draw Attention to Drug War Violence

A 20 city US tour by a group of Mexican activists began earlier this week, in Southern California. The Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity was initiated by well known Mexican novelist and poet Javier Sicilia who lost his 24 year old son to organized violence. It’s tour throughout US cities is intended to draw attention to the devastating effects of Mexico’s drug violence as well as the culpability of the Mexican and US governments in the violence. Javier Sicilia has become a symbol of this new and growing movement in Mexico that has galvanized thousands of ordinary people.

Drug-related violence on the US-Mexico border and especially in cities like Juarez has reached a tipping point. There have been over 60,000 deaths, 10,000 disappearances, and 160,000 internally displaced refugees over the past six years. Sicilia and other activists have already led two caravans within Mexico resulting in meetings with the Mexican president and legislature to discuss alternatives to current drug war policies.

The US caravan heads across the southern United States to a number of cities in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, and then head to Illinois, Ohio, New York, and finally Washington DC.

Uprising correspondent Leonardo Alannis was at the Los Angeles caravan stop and filed this report exclusively for Uprising. Special thanks to Mark Maxwell and Sara Shakir.

More information can be found online at http://www.globalexchange.org/mexico/caravan/

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

“The war is caused by puritan mentalities: like those of Calderón and Bush. In the name of abstractions—the abstraction of saving youth from drug addiction—they have brutally assassinated thousands of young people, while transforming others into delinquents.” — Javier Sicilia