[Peace-discuss] Kshama Sawant Socialist Response to the State of the Union 2015

Tue Jan 20 23:48:47 EST 2015

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<http://sawant.seattle.gov/socialist-response-to-the-state-of-the-union-2015
/> Socialist Response to the State of the Union 2015

On January 20, 2015, I gave the Socialist Response to the State of the Union
Address. Below is the transcript of my speech and the video will be added
here as soon as it is available. 

Sisters and Brothers,

Six years ago, Obama was elected on the hope that he would represent the
millions, not the millionaires.

When Obama delivered his first State of the Union address, Democrats
occupied majorities in both the House and Senate.

Today, after massive disappointment and disillusionment for the American
people, he faces Republican majorities in both branches of Congress. Six
years later, will millions of Americans finally get the president they voted
for?

Some of the proposals Obama made tonight point in the right direction:

On taxing the rich, on providing free community college education, paid sick
and maternity leave, and municipal broadband.

But how does Obama plan to overcome the inevitable Republican obstruction?

How will Obama get any serious measure to tax the wealthy or against climate
change past the entrenched and undemocratic power of Wall Street and big
business?

There is no answer to this from Obama.

He talked about the economic recovery.

But the truth is for the vast majority of us this has been a joyless
recovery.
Americans face the highest levels of inequality in almost a century.

Under Obama the gap between rich and poor has only widened.

But the last two years have seen the shaping of the kind of forces that can
reverse this stunning inequality  the historic grassroots movements for a
$15/hour minimum wage by heroic low-wage workers taking strike action.

And we won a $15 minimum wage in Seattle  the first major city to do so 
by building a movement of low-paid workers together with unions, community
organizations, 15 Now, and others.

Critical for $15 in Seattle was the election of an independent working class
candidate who boldly championed it, which forced the political and business
establishment to reluctantly make a concession on this issue.

In contrast, Republican and Democratic politicians, rather than fighting to
raise the minimum wage as we did, have instead been taking donations from
the same fast food companies that workers are striking against.

Obama is pushing international trade agreements undermining environmental
and labor standards that will further fuel inequality and environmental
destruction.

This year also saw a $15 ballot initiative passed by a huge margin in San
Francisco, and statewide ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage pass
by super-majorities, including Republican dominated states.

Our task is clear  we need to continue to build this movement and
democratic organizations like 15 Now to make 2015 the year we win 15 across
the nation.
Obama spoke about helping the middle class. He spoke about housing issues.

Yet while cities like Seattle have to deal with astronomical rent increases
and gentrification, we are simultaneously facing cuts to federal funding for
low-income housing.

Here in Seattle I along with public housing tenants and community activists
just led a successful battle to stop a 400% rent hike for low-income housing
in Seattle.

I hope this example of resistance and struggle can spread nationally where
other cities are confronted with similar attacks.

Socialist Alternative, tenants, and I are campaigning for emergency measures
like rent control to address this spiraling crisis.

But emergency measures will not be enough. The so called free market has
miserably failed to provide affordable housing.

We need urgent public investment to build new affordable housing for working
families.

I am working on a plan for the Seattle city government to build thousands of
high-quality publicly owned houses to rent at below market rates.

But to win any of this, tenants and homeowners need to build their own
housing justice movement, acting locally, but connecting nationally.

Obama´s pledge to say No to Keystone XL and to cap methane emissions are
necessary first steps.

But lets be clear: he has utterly failed to take on the power of the 90
companies who are responsible for almost two thirds of the climate emissions
in history.

Instead he brags about being the Fracking President.

As Naomi Klein said, this is about capitalism versus the climate.

We need to act here and now. But we can only deal with climate change if we
break the power of the giant oil and car companies who are determined to
extract every drop of oil from the ground.

Addressing climate change means organizing society around the interests of
the 99%, rather than around profits and fiercely competing nation states.

We need a democratic socialist society based on international cooperation.

Real progress is only won by millions stepping into action. We saw that with
the tremendous People´s Climate March which had half a million people
rallying in New York City. We need to take this forward and demand concrete
action. In Seattle, we are pushing forward to ban oil and coal trains from
passing through the city.

Last year saw the beginning of the most important movement against racial
injustice in decades.

Every 28 hours, a Black person is killed by police or vigilantes in this
country.

We live in the age of mass black incarceration.
The age of unindicted, unprosecuted, widespread police brutality against
black people.

This is the age of economic racism, where the average income of a black
person is one third less than a white person.

After hundreds of thousands of Black workers and youth campaigned to elect
Obama, he has provided no vision to address racism in our society.

Why cant Barack Obama say Black Lives Matter?

Black people, people of color, indigenous people deserve action.

They deserve action now:

*	For full prosecution of all acts of police brutality like those
against Mike Brown and Eric Garner!
*	For an end to economic racism, for a $15 / hour minimum wage
nationally.
*	To finally address the gaping income inequalities that define race
and gender in the U.S.

The Republicans elected in the mid-terms last fall would like to think they
have a public mandate.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The pro-corporate, right-wing agenda of the Republicans is being roundly
rejected in poll after poll. This was also evident with the many progressive
voter initiatives that passed in the same election that gave Republicans
their majority.

The only reason Republicans won is that working people, youth and people of
color are deeply disappointed after years of the Democrats doing the bidding
of corporations.

This is why millions stayed home with the lowest voter turnout since the 2nd
World War!

Is Obama now prepared to challenge Republicans and big business?

I fear not.

Unfortunately, the financial aristocracy that funded Obamas election
campaigns and promoted him to the presidency have their tentacles firmly
wedded in to every nook and cranny of the White House.

Let us not forget Obama has carried out unprecedented unconstitutional
spying, drone strikes, and a ferocious crackdown on brave whistleblowers
like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning.

This is why independent working class challengers will be needed.

Candidates who refuse corporate donations, who are financially and
politically independent of big business and their two parties.

We need to build our own political voice, a mass political party for working
people.
Despite Obamas speech today, bitter experience has shown we cannot rely on
him to deliver.

We must work to build independent movements of working class people, of
young people, of women and people of color, and the LGBTQ community.

To fight towards affordable cities, health care and education for all.

Towards a society based on economic justice, equal rights, compassion and an
end to racism.

To challenge the domination of the 1%.

Solidarity!

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