The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is ask people to comment about what the legacy of the 1963 March on Washington and the commemorative events and March on August 24 should be. This is my response:
The legacy of this March should be to build the struggle for full employment which means it is time that the Full Employment Act of 1945 finally gets passed making it a legislative mandate that the president and Congress must attain and maintain full employment. It is the epitome of hypocrisy to have these Democrats running arounf the country at election time talking about "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" and we have tens of million of people in this country without jobs and tens of millions more working at poverty wage jobs because these Democrats refuse to legislatively tie the Minimum Wage to all cost of living factors.
As election day draws closer, we will be hearing how we need to elect Democrats because we can't allow these dirty Republicans into office.
Well, here in Minnesota Democrats have a super-majority and they left the Minimum Wage at $6.25 and hour and these same Democrats have two billion-dollar public works projects underway and they refuse to enforce Affirmative Action.
We need a new working class-based progressive people's party to break free from Wall Street's two-party trap.
AFSCME talks about "progressive groups gathering" to commemorate the 1963 March On Washington yet liberals, progressives and leftists who comprise the majority of the working class have no party that speaks for us.
We have no progressive health care system. Obamacare should be called what it is: the Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical Bailout and Profit Maximization Act of 2010--- what we need in this country is a National Public Health Care System which would create some fifteen-million new jobs providing the American people with free health care. Instead of 800 U.S. military bases dotting the globe protecting Wall Street's assets and profits, we could have health care centers in every neighborhood and community.
We can't accomplish anything in this country that needs doing unless we stop this insane run-away militarism and these dirty wars--- the legacy of the 1963 March On Washington and the August 24 and August 28 commemorating events should be that this country gets its priorities in order and labor should be taking the lead in build the kind of real grassroots and rank-and-file movements capable of bringing this about instead of holding up the Dumb Donkey's tail.
You asked.
I spoke.
I hope others will join this discussion.