Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Van Jones: The 'American Dream' Movement, General Strike in Madison

At last..., halleluiah. And thnks to those who sent old/new subscribers.
Keep 'em coming.
Ed

From: Cort Greene

http://www.gsmlaborcouncil.org/node/7005

*MADISON AREA AFL CIO VOTES TO PREPARE FOR GENERAL STRIKE:*

By Mike Elk
michealmoore.com: February 22, 2011

*This evening in a press release from IBEW Local 2304 President Dave
Pokilinski*, I received word that the 45,000 member Southern Central
Federation of Labor, the local chapter of the AFL-CIO for the
Madisonand Southern Central Wisconsin area, has voted to make
preparations for a general strike.

*The press release reads as follows:

Around 10:50PM Wisconsin Time on February 21st the South Central
Federation of Labor endorsed the following motions:

Motion 1: The SCFL endorses a general strike, possibly for the day
Walker signs his .budget repair bill,. and requests the Education
Committee immediately begin educating affiliates and members on the
organization and function of a general strike.

Motion 2: The SCFL goes on record as opposing all provisions
contained in Walker.s .budget repair bill,. including but not limited
to, curtailed bargaining rights and reduced wages, benefits, pensions,
funding for public education, changes to medical assistance programs,
and politicization of state government agencies.

It.s important to note that this is just a threat and not actually
going out on a general strike. Under the Taft-Hartley Act a general
strike in support of other workers is illegal; therefore the key word
is the phrase .begin educating affiliates and members on the
organization and function of a general strike.. In addition, only
individual unions, not the central labor federation has the ability to
call a strike.

Many private sector unions would not go out on a general strike out of
fear of being of sued by their employers. However, local labor
observers say many public sector unions and some of the construction
unions would go out on a strike. Threatening a general strike creates
even more pressure for Scott Walker in the business community. The
business community in Wisconsin already appears to bucking under the
intense pressure of the mass labor mobilization as I noted here last
week.*

Mike Elk is a third-generation union organizer and labor journalist
based in Washington, D.C.

***

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/22-7

Introducing The 'American Dream' Movement

"This Is Our 'Tea Party' Moment -- In a Positive Sense"

by Van Jones
Huffington Post : February 22, 2011

In the past 24 months, those of us who longed for positive change have gone
from hope to heartbreak. But hope is returning to America -- at last --
thanks largely to the courageous stand of the heroes and heroines of
Wisconsin.

Reinvigorated by the idealism and fighting spirit on display right now in
America's heartland, the movement for "hope and change" has a rare, second
chance. It can renew itself and become again a national force with which to
be reckoned.

Over the next hours and days, all who love this country need to do
everything possible to spread the "spirit of Madison" to all 50 states. This
does not mean we need to occupy 50 state capitol buildings; things elsewhere
are not yet that dire. But this weekend, the best of America should rally on
the steps of every statehouse in the union.

Moveon.org and others have issued just this kind of call to action; everyone
should prioritize responding and turning out in large numbers.

On Saturday, the powers-that-be (in both parties) should see a rainbow force
coming together: organized workers, business leaders, veterans, students and
youth, faith leaders, civil rights fighters, women's rights champions,
immigrant rights defenders, LGBTQ stalwarts, environmentalists, academics,
artists, celebrities, community activists, elected officials and more -- all
standing up for what's right.

Take Movement to a Higher Plane: Defending the American Dream

And we should announce that our renewed movement is more than just a
mobilization to back unions or oppose illegitimate power grabs (as important
as those agenda items are). Something more vital is at stake: our country
needs a national movement to defend the American Dream itself. And the fight
in Wisconsin creates the opportunity to build one.

After all, it is the American Dream that the GOP's "slash and burn" agenda
is killing off. We need a movement dedicated to renewing the idea that hard
work pays in our country; that you can make it if you try; that America
remains a land committed to dignity, justice and opportunity for all. Right
now, this very idea is on the GOP chopping block. And we must rescue it
now -- or risk losing it forever.

America will not make it through this crisis healthy and whole if -- at the
first sign of trouble -- we are willing to
throw away millions of our everyday heroes. Our teachers, police officers,
firefighters, nurses and others make our communities and country strong.
Their daily work is essential to the smooth functioning and long-term
success of our nation. An attack on them is an attack on the backbone of
America.
Nobody objects to politicians cutting budgetary fat. But the GOP program
everywhere is so reckless that it would actually cut muscle, bone and
marrow, too. This approach is both shortsighted and immoral. We should rise
up against it -- in our millions.

GOP Cuts Muscle, Fat and Bone -- Republicans Attack American Way

Both parties should be taking steps to solve the country's problems in a
balanced, fair and rational way. If deficits are truly the issue, then
raising taxes and cutting spending both should be on the table, as tools.
But Wisconsin's governor recently handed out massive corporate tax breaks,
reducing the state's revenues. That move greatly added to the problem he now
wants to fix by attacking essential services with a meat axe. A slew of GOP
governors in places like Ohio are gearing up to take similar approaches.
If a foreign power conspired to inflict this much damage on America's first
responders and essential infrastructure, we would see it as an act of war.

And if a foreign dictator unilaterally announced that his nation's workers
no longer had a seat at the bargaining table in their own country, the U.S.
establishment would rightfully go bananas.

If Republicans would oppose that kind of thuggery abroad, how can they
champion it here at home? How can they accept for the American people what
they would denounce for the people of any other nation on Earth?
GOP governors in multiple states are advancing schemes to erase the
long-standing rights of American employees to choose a union and bargain
collectively. We need to call these outrageous plots what they are:
un-American and unacceptable. They are not just assaults on workers; they
are assaults on the American Way itself.

This Is Our 'Tea Party' Moment -- In a Positive Sense

It is time to draw a line in the sand -- nationally. Someone has to stand up
for common sense and fairness. It is time to use all nonviolent means to
defend the American people and our American principles from these abuses.

If we take a bold and courageous stand, over time, we can win. Make no
mistake about it: this is our "Tea Party" moment -- in a positive sense.

In fact, we can learn many important lessons from the recent achievements of
the libertarian, populist right. Don't forget: even after the Republican's
epic electoral defeat in 2008, a right-wing uprising was still able to smash
public support for "new New Deal" economics. Along the way, it revived the
political fortunes of the GOP.

A popular outcry from the left could just as easily shatter the prevailing
bipartisan consensus that America is suddenly a poor country that cannot
possibly help its people meet our basic needs.

America Is Not a Poor Country -- We Suffer From Poor Leadership

The truth is that we don't live Bangladesh or Malawi. America is not a poor
country. The public has just been hypnotized into believing that the richest
and most creative nation on Earth has only two choices in this crisis:
massive austerity (as championed by the Tea Party/Republicans) or
SEMI-massive austerity (as meekly offered by too many DC Democrats). It is
ridiculous.

Fortunately, the people in Wisconsin know that. So they are fighting
courageously. Their efforts could blossom into a compelling, national force
for the good -- offering a powerful alternative to those false choices.
And while our re-born movement needs to be as clear and bold as the Tea
Parties, we must base our efforts on a deeper set of American values.

The Tea Party attached itself to only a single American principle. And it
identifies itself with only one moment in our distant past: the Boston Tea
Party, symbolizing "no taxation without representation."

'American Dream' Movement Rooted in a Deeper Patriotism

That is an important moment and concept. But the notion of "negative
liberty" ("don't tread on me!") is only one principle among many that make
our country great. Other equally vital American values and ideals (like
justice, opportunity, fairness and democracy) have gone largely undefended
and unheralded, in this recent crisis. That ends -- now. Our rising movement
should stand for the full suite of American values and principles.

And the American ideal most in need of defense is our most essential one:
the American Dream.
The steps needed to renew and redeem the American Dream are straightforward
and simple:
Increase revenue for America's government sensibly by making Wall Street and
the super-rich pay their fair share.

Reduce spending responsibly by cutting the real fat - like corporate welfare
for military contractors, big agriculture and big oil.

Simultaneously protect the heart and soul of America - our teachers, nurses
and first responders.
Guarantee the health, safety and success of our children and communities by
leaving the muscle and bone of America's communities intact.

Maintain the American Way by treating employees with dignity and respecting
their right to a seat at the bargaining table.

Rebuild the middle class - and pathways into it - by fighting for a "made in
America" innovation and manufacturing agenda, including trade and currency
policies that honor American workers and entrepreneurs.
Stand for the idea that, in a crisis, Americans turn TO each other - and not
ON each other.

A Return to the Moral Center

These are not radical notions. They are the common sense ideas that form the
core of who we are as a nation. We can rally Americans, once again, to stand
up for these values. We can make America, once again, a land where it is
safe for everyday people to dream.

We will prevail because -- in truth -- we are not in a right-wing period of
American history, nor are we in a left-wing period. We are simply in a
volatile period.

And during times like these, we can take comfort in knowing that a great
nation will ultimately pull its answers -- not from its ideological
extremes -- but from its deep, moral center.

By standing up for dignity, equal opportunity and fair play, the Wisconsin
workers have found their way to America's great moral center. They have
shown us all, at last, the way back home. By standing with them, we reclaim
what is best in our country.

April 15, 2009, marked the beginning of the national movement to remember
the Tea Party and pull America to the ideological right.

Let Saturday, February 26, 2011, mark the beginning of the national movement
to renew the American Dream and return us to the moral center -- where
everybody counts, and everybody matters.

© 2011 Huffington Post

Van Jones is the founder and former president of Green for All and author of
The Green Collar Economy. In 2009, he served as the green jobs advisor in
the Obama White House. Van is currently a senior fellow at the Center For
American Progress, and also holds a joint appointment at Princeton
University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for
African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and
Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and
International Affairs.

1 comment:

  1. Van Jones is a self-avowed socialist. His words here are actually stolen FROM the tea-party. He is trying to "Look" All-American when in fact, he wants to dramatically change our republic and what our founding fathers stated in our Declaration of Independence.

    ReplyDelete