For Trumka and the Campaign for America's Future, the objective is to keep electing Democrats like Barack Obama whose loyalty is to Wall Street, not working people.
This "coalition" has forgotten a few things... and apparently, neither the AFL-CIO or the Campaign for America's Future, wants to hear what they forgot to include in their "Five Point Program for Jobs" because they have had their webmasters constantly deleting these comments below.
I ask Richard Trumka and Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey:
What is it that you find so offensive in my comments below that you stoop to censorship after saying you welcome all opinions?
Your "Five Point Program for Jobs" is short a few "points"...
By Alan Maki
January 30, 2010 - 10:43am GMT
...Beginning with the need to enforce affirmative action.
That this "coalition," which is really nothing more than a press conference get-to-gether, has refused to demand "jobs, not Obama's wars" is all telling because we cannot possibly turn this country and the economy around as long as these expensive and costly wars are going on.
What happened to "America needs a raise?" What good are millions of poverty wage jobs?
What about saving existing jobs like at the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant? How do you save jobs so you don't have to talk about creating more jobs? How much longer before the labor movement in this country confronts the "ownership issue" and the "right" of corporations to make all the decisions? The time has come to consider public ownership and nationalization of plants and industries as the way to SAVE and CREATE jobs.
These five points make for nice sound bites at press conferences but do little as far as taking a campaign for jobs out into working class communities and into the mines, mills and factories in this country.
Here is a further concrete proposal for Jobs and health care, not wars--- the time has come for some specifics and real solutions and not just these nice progressive sounding policy directives:
How can anyone even have the nerve to suggest that it is possible to have a jobs creating program capable of tackling the massive unemployment this country is experiencing at this time without ending Obama's wars?
We need this money being spent on these wars to finance the creation of jobs.
The best jobs program would be the creation of a public health care system:
- No-fee/no-premium
- comprehensive
- all-inclusive
- prenatal to grave
- universal
- public health system
- publicly financed
- publicly administered
- publicly delivered
What we need are 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States instead of financing and funding over 800 U.S. military bases dotting the globe.
Such a public health care program built upon the VA, Indian Health Service and the National Public Health Service models would create hundreds of thousands of decent, good-paying jobs while providing the kind of world-class health care the American people are entitled to.
Tell Barack Obama and the Democrats:
- No peace; no votes.
- No public healthcare system; no votes.
- No jobs; no votes.
To get America working is going to take a real fight!
You better think about adding a few points and providing some real specifics if you are serious about mobilizing working people for real change.
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
