With Congress sending to the White House a tax deal larded with tax breaks for the rich, progressives and labor supporters now find themselves facing a challenge starting in January of beating back Republican-led efforts to cut back Social Security, Medicare and other safety-net programs in a GOP-run House of Representatives. As Howard Fineman observes, the Tea Party is already running the show in the Senate, still nominally controlled by Democrats, with the result that the omnibus spending bill needed to run the government was blocked.
On Thursday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who had earlier condemned the new $850 million deficit-raiding tax package because "the gains for the middle class and jobless workers in the deal come at too high a price," sent out an email alert worth reading. An open question is whether labor and progressive groups will have the financial and organizational power to fight an ascendant GOP and outside pro-business conservative groups such as Crossroads GPS that have virtually unlimited money to spend on TV ads and organizing, abetted by an enraged Tea Party movement. This week, the Karl-Rove-linked group announced its first post-election ad buy targeting vulnerable Democrats. What will progressives be able to offer to counter that on issue after issue over the next year?
One hopeful sign for liberals is the announced formation of American Bridge, organized by David Brock of Media Matters, for a counterweight to business interest groups, looking towards the 2012 elections. Yet the potentially well-funded group, chaired by Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend also aims to help Democrats "compete dollar to dollar" with Republicans over the next two years, she told ABC News. It could serve as a communications bulwark to promote a progressive agenda alongside labor's efforts.
Read Trumka's latest appeal here.
For more on labor and reform issues, read the Working in These Times blog.
That is the purpose of labor unions. United we stand, divided we fall. We can do it together.
In order to maintain our national integrity:
1) America needs to negotiate internatioÂnal treaty & trade agreements with global corporatioÂns, and treat them just like any other foreign country. Global corporatioÂns bear allegiance to no nation, they exploit the world globally for their own profit only.
2) Global corporationÂs must be immediately stripped of their "corporate personhoodÂ" rights that SCOTUS recently gave to them. They do not serve the best interests of the American people.
Healthcare is and will be a major cause for federal budget deficits and personal bankruptcies.
Here is a link to healthcare's current issues and a comprehensive look at solutions (comments)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stanton-peele/why-do-health-care-costs-_b_797807.html
Please do not overlook comments.
Healthcare can be a major job-creator of needed and useful jobs, that cannot be exported. Besides employing those with medical skills, healthcare today is a major niche for those with computer and IT skills. So rather than carp about these jobs skills being exported; we should move with the technology and 21st century reality.
Feedback welcome.
America's current trade policy is hurting most every American that does not have a college educations ! Our trade policies is elitist and only truly benefits WALL STREET!
I'll go a step further; our current trade policies including NAFTA, WTO and now CAP&TRADE is racist!!!! !
I say racist because anything that hurts factory workers hurts the chances of black men chances of finding a job disproportionately more! Those same young black men 25-35 years ago that would be going to the factory contributing to society today are part of the criminal justice system! NAFTA - WTO - CAP&TRADE hurts young black men! Leaving them with little employment opportunities!
The only fair solutions are taxes or tariffs placed on products based on their GHG emissions for manufacturing and transportation of those products!
We do this right we can solve several problems with one approach.
The first problem and I don't care which side of the global warming fence you are on, is our consumption of imported oil. We need to reduce this to improve our balance of trade!
The second group of problems is unemployment! Take away other nations willingness to sacrifice their environment for Financial Gain!
Make the system fair for the world; the jobs will come! Don't put the burden on young black men again!
With everyone working Medicare and Social Security will be taken care of!
I challenge the AFL-CIO to make itself relevant on jobs!
Either way we are seriously, maybe even terminally, scr*w*d.
GO Richard GO !! / Go Bernie Go !!