[Peace-discuss] Obama and Labor !

[Jenifer Cartwright]

Soooo... you think Romney et al would be BETTER????  

--- On Sun, 9/2/12, David Johnson <dlj725 at hughes.net> wrote:

From: David Johnson <dlj725 at hughes.net>
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Obama and Labor !
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;@mail0.frost.chambana.net
Date: Sunday, September 2, 2012, 5:39 PM



 
 




" Obama likewise promised organized labor the Employee Free Choice Act 
(EFCA), as well as a more pro-labor policy. EFCA was then betrayed and 
Obama presided over the most anti-labor environment since Ronald Reagan.
When he campaigned, he voiced support for single-payer health care. He 
promised to renegotiate NAFTA. When he was elected, he declared single-payer 
health care “off the table” and did nothing about NAFTA. When he campaigned, he 
denounced Bush’s tax cuts for the rich; as president he extended them.
Let’s not forget Obama’s bank bailouts, Afghan “surge,” free trade deals, 
domestic spying, pro-corporate “race to the top” education program, 
etc. When the Wisconsin uprising happened Obama did not even visit the 
state; when the Occupy movement was being repressed nationally, Obama’s silence 
implied support for the anti-democratic police actions.
The point is that Obama and the Republicans are in general agreement about 
the trajectory of this country and strive through various social policies to 
create a difference that is largely fictional."
Anyone in Organized Labor NEEDS to read the below entire article !
August 14, 2012 The Final Lesser-Evil 
Election?

Why Voting for Democrats Doesn’t Help Working 
People
by SHAMUS COOKE

Just when the Obama campaign couldn’t appear any less inspiring, Paul Ryan 
was put forth as the Republican vice presidential candidate. Suddenly team 
Obama was supplied with enough political munitions to scare every last American 
over the possible destruction of Medicare, Medicaid, cuts to Social Security and 
the various other evils inherent in Ryan’s proposed national 
budget. Consequently, many Liberals and Leftists across the spectrum are 
now focused on preaching the horrors of a Republican presidential victory and 
thus the necessity of re-electing Obama.
But critical thinkers are immune to scare tactics. It’s no coincidence 
that the Obama campaign is not running on its own merits, but the lack of merit 
of its opponents.  Many Obama supporters, such as leftists Bill Fletcher 
Jr. and Carl Davidson, argue that 
Obama’s record doesn’t matter, because this election is about defeating 
the right wing’s “white supremacy and political misogynism.”
For progressive economist and former Labor Secretary under President Clinton 
Robert Reich, Ryan’s budget represents the nightmare of “social 
Darwinism”, and therefore Obama must be elected.
This writer will not argue with the above points about the far right, since 
there obviously exists deep elements of racism and misogynism in its 
camp. But voting for Obama is no way to fight these evils; quite the 
contrary.
Voting for the Democrats does not empower working people to fight against 
right-wing extremism. Instead, working people are forced to give away their 
power to a political party that is in no way beholden to them, since the 
Democrats have a corporate agenda divorced from the needs of the vast majority 
of working people. There is no way to hold Democrats accountable once they’re in 
office, especially when they’ve all but stopped making campaign promises to 
working people.
By now it should be clear to most Americans that the Democrats and 
Republicans are corporate-owned parties, and as such they are free to act as 
they wish, regardless of the political rhetoric they spew.
For example, in 2008 Obama promised Latinos a more humane immigration policy, 
and then proceeded to deport people more than Bush Jr. did. Obama likewise 
promised organized labor the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as a more 
pro-labor policy. EFCA was then betrayed and Obama presided over the most 
anti-labor environment since Ronald Reagan.
When he campaigned, he voiced support for single-payer health care. He 
promised to renegotiate NAFTA. When he was elected, he declared single-payer 
health care “off the table” and did nothing about NAFTA. When he campaigned, he 
denounced Bush’s tax cuts for the rich; as president he extended them.
Let’s not forget Obama’s bank bailouts, Afghan “surge,” free trade deals, 
domestic spying, pro-corporate “race to the top” education program, 
etc. When the Wisconsin uprising happened Obama did not even visit the 
state; when the Occupy movement was being repressed nationally, Obama’s silence 
implied support for the anti-democratic police actions.
The point is that Obama and the Republicans are in general agreement about 
the trajectory of this country and strive through various social policies to 
create a difference that is largely fictional.
But is not voting for Obama a bulwark against racism? In reality, ethnic 
minorities in the U.S. suffer directly as a result of Obama’s foreign 
policy. By continuing Bush’s wars in the Middle East and North Africa, 
Obama is re-enforcing racism at home.  Foreign wars for conquest and 
occupations are fueled by racism, since they lack the inspirational purpose that 
would otherwise enhance combat morale.
When U.S. troops return home, many bring back the racist beliefs supplied to 
them as their fighting fuel, which can sometimes result in the kind of massacre 
that recently occurred at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. The broader 
population too is subjected to the type of unconscious racism that must result 
from passive support of foreign wars across the globe, the victims of which want 
nothing more than U.S. bombs and military bases out of their 
countries. It’s obvious that if Obama were bombing England — and not 
Afghanistan — Americans would feel more inclined to protest.
Obama, like Bush, is a war criminal. His drone assassinations in 
Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia — and likely others — are in obvious violations of the 
Geneva Convention.
Former President Jimmy Carter said 
of Obama’s foreign policy:

  “It is disturbing that, instead of strengthening these principles [of the 
  Universal Declaration of Human Rights], our government’s counter-terrorism 
  policies are now clearly violating at least 10 of the declaration’s 30 
  articles, including the prohibition against ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading 
  treatment or punishment’.”
When it comes to the domestic economic policies of the right wing, the 
Democrats have proved an important ally in implementing the corporate 
agenda. Obama himself has been instrumental in pushing Congress to 
implement “entitlement reform” — cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and other 
social programs, opening the political door that Paul Ryan exploited in his 
anti-entitlement budget proposal.
The only force capable of putting up a true fight against the far right is 
the power of organized working people, who, by putting faith and resources in 
the Democratic Party, are squandering their own independence and power.
Arguing that voting Democrat is a “lesser of two evils” is not an argument at 
all, but rather a statement about the fundamental political problem that is the 
two party system.
Liberals, Leftists, and working people in general cannot simply accept the 
lesser of two evils argument as meaningful, but must actively fight to change 
the absurdity that is the two party, corporate owned political system. This 
change cannot happen when labor and liberal groups funnel energy back into team 
Obama as they overlook the destruction his administration is causing at home and 
abroad.
The final philosophical barrier against breaking with the Democrats is again 
put forward by Bill Fletcher Jr. and Carl Davidson, who essentially argue that 
the failure of the last four years was due to the progressive social movement 
that failed to “put significant pressure on the Obama administration” through an 
“independent progressive strategy.”
In short, this means that the “social movement” created by Obama’s 2008 
campaign did not maintain its independence and organization adequately to hold 
Obama accountable.
This is patently nonsense.
For one, the activists who campaigned for Obama did so under his 
organizational umbrella. There never existed an independent pro-Obama 
“movement.” More importantly, when average people are inspired enough to 
become active in politics, they do so with the expectation that “their” 
candidate will serve “them.” When their candidate betrays them, the natural 
response is demoralization, not organized protest and sustained action. Any 
average person who understands what Obama really stands for would not actively 
campaign for him, and thus will be unable to “hold him accountable” once he’s in 
office.
Anyone who believes that there exists anything near a social movement to 
campaign for Obama in 2012 is deluding themselves in embarrassing fashion. Many 
working people will hold their nose and vote for Obama, but this motivation does 
not include phone banking, door knocking, or financial contributions. The 
passion that Obama inspired by his demagoguery in 2008 has been crushed by 
reality, leaving an election that will be determined by the “big donors” and 
consequently, the number of TV commercials that can be purchased by the 
rich.
And because the rank and file of labor and liberal groups will not campaign 
for Obama in a significant way, he will be even less likely to reward them 
politically, thus ensuring an even deeper slide into the corporate abyss if he 
is elected.
Also, average working people are pushed into the camp of the right wing by 
Obama’s anti-worker policies, since the far right offers “solutions” to the two 
party system, while labor and community groups only offer more corporate 
Democrats.
The only thing that the Democratic and Republican parties respect is power, 
which they also fear. The Wisconsin and Occupy movements inspired people across 
the country, while striking fear into the heart of the two party system. And 
while the Democrats did their best to co-opt both movements, the potential for 
independent political action still exists.
Scaring the two party system to pass pro-working class policies requires 
mass, independent mobilizations for demands that address the real needs of 
working people, such as a massive federal jobs program, Medicare For All, saving 
and expanding Social Security, providing full funding for public education and 
social services, all to be paid for by taxing the rich and 
corporations. The Democrats cannot be scared by groups that are donating 
their time and resources into electing Democrats, while tricking their 
constituents into believing that Obama is a “pro-worker” candidate.
Ultimately, the only way out of the irrationality of the two party system is 
for working people to organize independently. In dozens of other countries this 
task was completed decades ago when labor unions broke with the traditional 
parties and used their own organizational and financial resources to build their 
own political party to represent all working people.
This remains the task of the day in the United States. Organized labor 
is the only social force among working people at this time with the resources 
capable of building a party able to compete with the two parties of big 
business. If unions broke with the anti-union Democrats and raised their own 
pro-worker demands, tens of millions of Americans would happily leave both the 
Democrat and Republican parties.  The Democrats cannot be reformed; their 
“progressive caucus” has proven unwilling to inspire working people with bold 
action, and serves only to give political cover to the corporate soul of the 
Democratic Party. Working people are overdue for change, and won’t be 
fooled again by fake promises of hope.
Shamus Cooke is a social worker, trade unionist, and 
writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org) He can be 
reached at shamuscooke at gmail.com

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