Saturday, October 28, 2017

Protecting the rich

Let me ask you a question.
How many rich people do you know that are struggling?

OK, you don’t know many or even any rich people.
But how many rich people do you believe are struggling?
How many do you here or read stories of them struggling?

Exactly.

So, why is our president and our congress intent on giving them a tax break?
Why are they intent on cutting healthcare for the working class?
Why, in my state of Connecticut, after getting contract concessions from working class state employees (for the third time in 8 years), after raising taxes on working class teachers, and after eliminating tax deductions for the poor, was the legislature unwilling to ask the rich of Connecticut to pay a little more?

There was a time in this country not so long ago when both political parties believed that just as a CEO has an employment contract, every worker had the right to join together and collectively bargain.
Now only the democrats believe this, and not all of them.
There was a time when “shared sacrifice” meant all shared, not just the poor and working class.

The wealth divide is wider than it has every been.
The difference between CEOs and top management compensation and the working class is at an all time high and it is worse in this country than in any other country in the world.

It’s easy to get frustrated and think there is no way to reverse this trend.
Please don’t do that.

Municipal elections come in just over a week in Connecticut and other states and in some states there are elections for other offices.

Take a look at the candidates.
Look at what they stand for, what they vote for.
And support those that support us, the poor and working class.

In Connecticut, 35 members of AFT Connecticut and others from other unions are running for municipal positions, some as democrats, some under Working Families Party, some cross endorsed. These people deserve our support.
Consider this a step in the right direction.

It’s not about party affiliation, but parties have platforms that state what they stand for, and when every single Connecticut republican (and a handful of Democrats) passed a republican budget that hurt the working class and the poor, they stated clearly what they stood for.
Yes, it was vetoed, but now we have been forced to accept a compromise budget that continues to ask nothing of the rich.

Then again, maybe you know some rich people that are hurting.

Elections have consequences.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Let's make it great!

There have been 2 good things that have come out of the assault on healthcare that began January 20th.
First and foremost, the activism of millions of activists who pushed back against several plans that would have stripped healthcare access from up to 30 million Americans.
Second, the same people pushing repeal and replace, also want to “reform” the tax code, and they were too busy with one horrible piece of legislation to begin work on the second.

Now that they know that even their own supporters think taking healthcare from 30 million Americans is a bad thing, they have decided to leave the dismantling of healthcare up to the president by bankrupting the system through the very process he so, so often criticized President Obama for, executive action.
This gives them time to turn to “tax reform.”
They passed a bill in the senate this week that paves the way for their plan to decrease taxes for the top 1%, increase taxes for working families, and raise the deficits a trillion dollars to do it.
Remember when deficient were considered a problem?
Welcome to the Republican Party of 2017.

Back home in the state of Connecticut, so called moderate democrats voted for and passed a republican budget (also not balanced) that would have taxed teachers, bankrupted Hartford, cut vital services,  and raised taxes on working families,
It was vetoed.
Thank you governor.

Now they must come up with a compromise or our towns will be in a fiscal crisis.
The compromise will not be good.

Such a mess.
What are we to do.
First, as Jimmy says, remember this:
Elections have consequences.

Then remember that against incredible odds, we pushed back on repeal and replace.
We did that because we organized.

We must all be registered to vote.
We must all educate ourselves to vote wisely.
We must step up and run for office.
We must change the makeup of town councils, state legislatures, Congress, and the White House.
Or, we must live with the consequences.

It’s really up to us.

It is possible.
Angie, who became involved in East Hartford because of Bernie Sanders, is now on town boards.
Cindy, who was involved in Plainfield politics is becoming involved in AFT Connecticut’s Legislative Committee.
And across the state, 17 AFT CT members and many others from other unions and progressive organizations, are running for municipal office this year.

T Reed says this will be the last generation of the movement, or the greatest.

Let’s make it great!

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Crossroads

Last week, while our president tweeted that we could not stay in Puerto Rico “forever,” a planeload of union members from various AFL-CIO unions flew to the island in a relief effort.  In that group were 30 or so AFT nurses and doctors.  
The reports back our horrifying. 
People unable to get needed medicines, clean water, food, and shelter.
Our union sisters and brothers are clearing roads, providing medical care, restoring power and communications the best they can, but it is difficult at best.
The working conditions are difficult, with heat and humidity.
These unionists gave up their time, using vacation pay, to volunteer for this assignment.
A big thank you to them.

Back home in Connecticut, we still have no state budget.
Some “Democratic” legislators crossed the isle to help pass a republican budget that would gut collective bargaining for state employees and bankrupt the city of Hartford.
After the governor vetoed it, republicans asked for a special “override session” of the house.  Not one of the majority who voted for the budget would make a motion to call a second vote, not one.

Why does the president tweet storm against Puerto Rico?
Why do legislators want to gut collective bargaining?
Why do we refuse to give our inner cities (Detroit, Fall River, Hartford, etc) the help they need to stay solvent?
Why do we continue to see executive actions intended to destroy healthcare?

We bailed out Wall Street and the Big Banks.
We provide help to rebuild homes along the coast when they are destroyed by hurricanes.
We provide tax breaks for Big Corporations.
We allow loopholes like the Carried Interest Loophole for the Rich.

But we attack Puerto Rico, Hartford, healthcare and collective bargaining.
Why?
Could it be a class thing?
Could it be a race thing?

Saying we are at a crossroads is probably overused.
But just maybe we are.
It’s a crossroads of ethics.
We need to decide, are we all sisters and brothers, or are we not.

Are the children of the inner city, the children of Puerto Rico, are they MY children?
Are the rights of the rich more important than the rights of the workers?
Do only those who can afford healthcare deserve it?
Do we have an moral obligation to give back to society according to our means?

You see, there are enough resources in this world to share.
No one need go hungry, thirsty, without shelter, or without healthcare.

It’s about priorities. 

Saturday, October 7, 2017

I'm Home!

I got home Friday from a two week road trip.

The first week was a wonderful and much needed vacation with Michelle.
With work and other obligations, the chances to break away like this are infrequent and appreciated. (I may have posted a few pictures on Facebook)
I was home less than 24 hours when I left for DC for a couple of days of AFT Healthcare meetings, and when I returned I attended the Connecticut AFL-CIO convention.

2 weeks isn't a long time, but it's good to be back in my own bed. (People were starting to tell me I looked tired)

The remarkable thing is how much happened in those 2 weeks!

Just to name a few:
ACA repeal was defeated and healthcare for 26 million Americans will continue

The republican budget, which passed the Connecticut house and senate, and which would have imposed a 2% teacher's tax, decimated public sector collective bargaining rights, underfunded social programs, and increased the Connecticut deficit, was vetoed by Governor Malloy. (Thank you) When it came up for an override vote, not one person made a motion to override.
Not one.
Not one republican (who all voted for it)
Not one of democrat who voted for it. (Doyle, Slossberg, Hartley, Boyd, Reed, Rovero, Hampton, Rose, McCarthy)
No one.
Silence.
Crickets.

The relief effort in Puerto Rico continued, despite the fact that its an island in the middle of a very big ocean, as our President reminded us.
He did get to Puerto Rico and play some "paper towel football" with the residents.
I guess they can soak up the water from that "very big ocean" with them.
I am very grateful for organized labor stepping up to help our sisters and brothers in Puerto Rico.
On Wednesday, a planeload of trade unionist from the AFL-CIO headed there for a 2 week commitment in a relief effort, most using their own vacation time.
Among them were 30 AFT nurses and doctors.
Other unionists have contributed richly with financial donations.
I am grateful and proud to be their brother.

In Connecticut, Anthem Insurance and Hartford Healthcare are unable to come to an agreement, leaving thousands in limbo over whether they can continue to see their provider.
These are Connecticut's largest insurance company and healthcare system, and their inability to put patients before profits is leaving their patients unsure if they will be able to seek treatment, all while they seek excessive profits and grossly over the top salaries (in the millions of dollars for many executives)
Both Anthem and HHC are at fault.
And people like my good friend Jan suffer the consequences of not knowing if her chemo treatments will be covered.

This is just a sampling of what occurred in the past 2 weeks.
What does it tell us?
It tells us that we have a lot of work to do to make this world what it should be.
We need to elect representatives who represent the values of the working class and believe in our rights.
We need to aide our sisters and brothers regardless if their native language is English and regardless of the color of their skin.
We need to accept that healthcare is a right for all and that making a profit off the illness of another is performing an unethical act.

But there is hope.
Although there will be more battles on this, we defeated ACA repeal, which was truly just a tax cut for the rich, and more and more people see the devastating effects of excessive profits and salaries in healthcare corporations, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical corporations, and are saying, NO this is not right, healthcare is a right.

Although Connecticut passed a shameless budget, our governor vetoed it, members spoke out against those who voted for it, and when the override vote came up their was silence.

Although some still do not believe climate change is real and leading to more and stronger storms, many more a coming to believe.
Although the relief effort for our Spanish speaking, brown skinned citizens was slow, labor pushed the issue and even sent some of our own to aide our sisters and brothers.

And there is hope in the words spoken at our state AFL-CIO convention, by speakers from other states and by members from Connecticut.
Union density, although still low, grew by 4% in Connecticut, as people gain the courage and see the value of standing together.

The battle for fairness and equality is never easy, but it is right.
Good to be home.
Good to be in this battle.