President Trumka Responds to Last Night's State of the Union Address

The following is a statement by national AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

President Obama was exactly right when he spoke of the stubborn resilience of the American people in the face of adversity.  Despite daily insecurity and the deep hurt of not being able to find jobs, working people’s goodness, decency and hard work have kept our country going.

But Americans are also deeply frustrated and angry.  We want to see elected leaders who’ll fight for us and bring real change. We want jobs—President Obama is absolutely right that jobs must be our number one focus in 2010.  And we must act on a scale that will be meaningful:  We need more than 10 million jobs just to get out of the hole we’re in.  We want health care fixed.  We want our leaders to break the stranglehold of Wall Street and the big banks and make them pay to repair the economic damage they created.     

President Obama spoke directly to those concerns tonight.  He called for a jobs bill and putting people to work.  He called for America to take its place as a world leader by investing in our economic foundation, education, infrastructure and energy technology.  He demanded tough financial reform.  He called for curbing corporate influence, stopping tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas and enforcing trade rules.  He committed to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.  And he said we must finish the job of reforming health care.    

The President was right to call out Republicans for obstructing change and putting politics ahead of progress. 

Now it’s time for all of us to get busy and work together to bring the big changes that are essential—starting with enacting a jobs bill that is big enough to create jobs for the millions of people who want to work and can’t find jobs.  The time for small change is long gone.  We were pleased to see that the President embraced two of the job creation proposals we have made – investing in infrastructure and helping small businesses get credit through TARP funds. 

We’re ready to fight for the President’s vision – and we’re going to insist that it be done right.  That includes restoring the freedom of workers to bargain to make jobs into good jobs by passing the Employee Free Choice Act. 

We will not agree with every aspect of every proposal.  We will continue to be an independent voice for middle class Americans and fight for the change working families need—and we are ready to do more.  This is the time for a broad movement of Americans demanding jobs and an economy that works for all, and we’re ready to put our energy and leadership into building that movement—taking the fight to the doorstep of the banks that are exploiting struggling homeowners, of corporations that are running away from communities and of lawmakers who choose to back them up.

We hope elected leaders at every level will choose instead to lead with action.  Working America is watching to see what they do.  We are in a “show me” kind of mood and we are ready to see results.

Comments

[Tony Brunno]

I listened to the SOTU speech myself last evening. Guess what? Talk is cheap! That's all we've been hearing. Talk, talk, talk and more talk! From President Obama to Speaker Pelosi to Harry Reid to Dick Durbin to Steny Hoyer. Only talk! Nothing more. C-SPAN has a Health Care Hub page that has not changed its headline in two weeks. News reports tell us that the Senate version of health care reform, as watered down as it might be, is sitting at Speaker Pelosi's doorstep. Yet, what do we hear from Nancy Pelosi? Nothing! After 12 months of heated debate and rhetoric, Congress is now moving on health care reform like molasses in January. Meanwhile, our members keep getting abused by the private insurance companies. The working men and women of America keep getting screwed and you keep telling us, don't worry, health care reform is coming. If you ask me, it's all BS! If you ask me, the GOP didn't kill health care reform. Obama and Pelosi and Reid did! The one thing you must admire about the GOP in Congress, when they get a majority, they never let Democrats speak. The GOP knows how to win. The GOP knows how to stifle the opposition and not let them up for air. The GOP does everything in their power and uses all of the tools they have to pass their agenda. The are efficient and effective and they are determined to win at all costs. Democrats, on the other had, are wimps. They don't know how to lock arms and march together. They are spineless and they lack courage to fight for themselves. Right now they are all worried about their jobs. They should be! In November 2010, even if we get health care reform, many Democrats will lose their seat in Congress. Many are going home. I've had enough! I worked hard to get Obama elected and to give him a majority in both houses of Congress and he wasted his opportunity to health his signature legislation passed, health care reform. He wimped out! He's a one term President and he didn't even go down swinging. He's spineless!

[Union Gal]

I share your frustration, Tony. Talk is cheap. But it has only been a year, and it is possible that Dems could finally spring into action if we turn up the pressure. Here's one article that gave me some hope:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/trumka-to-senate-dems-pas_n_437729.html

[TaterSalad]

The "wants & needs" of a Union.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/27825

Obama Unions & Microcosm of Liberalism: Parasites
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/34369

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