There are early signs that progressives are truly fed up with being treated like free piggy banks to the Blue Dogs. There are two articles that indicate things could be shifting under the Blue Dogs’ feet.
The first comes from the union side of things. The Sheet Metal Workers International Association is the first union to have suspended all campaign donations to every Democratic candidate until the Employee Free Choice Act and true health care reform have been passed. Now that’s letting the money talk! Further, AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka puts a shot right across the ConservaDems’ bow:
And then there’s that other group: those fair weather friends who can’t seem to decide which side they’re on. I’m talking about politicians who love to have our help come election time, but, always seem to forget us after the votes are counted.
He continues with language that allows for no misunderstanding:
we need to send them a special message: it’s that you may have forgotten what the labor movement did to get you elected; but, by God, we never will! And if you stab us in the back on health care this year don’t you dare ask us for our support next year!
PaulVA points out that labor has contributed more in this cycle than the health care industry, financial services or any other interest group to the Blue Dogs. More importantly, labor supporters have provided the greatest difference in field operations for Democrats than any other group for a long, long time. These ConservaDems, by and large, represent relatively right-leaning districts. If the troops don’t show up in 2010, it will be much, much harder for these clowns to win their re-election campaigns.
Rep. Salazar is one of the folks, representing CO-03. If substantial numbers of real Democrats don’t show up, Rep. Salazar, do you think you can power yourself to victory? Will you really take the chance to find out?
The Democratic-led Congress continues to push for an auto industry bailout of at least $25 billion. When this was first proposed, little was mentioned about executive pay or ensuring American automakers would change how they do business. The original $25 billion offer was a giveaway, just as much as Bush’s Bailout has been a giveaway to banks. Remember, the portion of the $700 billion given away so far hasn’t been used to buy bad assets, it’s been used to buy other banks. Actions taken in countries around the globe has done more to thaw the frozen credit markets than the obscene corporate welfare check Bush’s government wrote. So the original $25 billion corporate welfare check everybody in Washington wanted was as immoral as Bush’s Bailout.
A few more things about this auto bailout. I don’t care as much as most other people do how bad it would be for a company like GM to fail. I am keenly aware that thousands of jobs would be lost in multiple industries across the nation. I have a two-part response to the “too big to fail” argument.
First, GM made this bed. They did so deliberately, with full knowledge that foreign car makers were shifting their approach in America. GM and others have fought against universal health care for decades, which has only multiplied the amount they are forced to spend on their own employees health coverage each year. Their operating expenses are higher because of their actions. GM and others also fought against increasing CAFE standards for decades. They worshipped at the free-market altar, convinced some magical hand would take care of everything. Obviously, they were wrong. Meanwhile, GM has been making cars with better fuel efficiency in every other market across the world because foreign governments were adult enough to mandate those efficiencies. GM squashed every technology that would wean the industry off fossil-fuels. So when GM says they need billions of taxpayer dollars to retool everything in America, I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy. They made business decisions to build inefficient vehicles so they could maximize their profits. Did they pass those profits along to their workers or to America as a whole? No, the profits were privatized, as was their right. Now that GM is in trouble, what do they do? They ask for a handout from the government they spurned for decades. They ran a bad business model and want their losses socialized. Did they make their request with an offer to change their business model? No. It’s only being discussed because millions of Americans correctly viewed GM’s request as the stinking pile of manure it is. Here’s where the politics comes in: the auto industry has spent millions of dollars on lobbying Congress for decades (instead of using the money for improved technologies). That wallet padding has corrupted a number of elected officials, Democrats and Republicans alike. Instead of making more objective decisions, lawmakers are willing to bend the American taxpayer over the table for GM’s sake. That’s immoral.
Which leads to my second point. Thousands of jobs will be lost if GM fails. That’s beyond dispute. But what about the millions of jobs already lost this year? And more to the point – what about Americans? Where is our bailout? Industries across the board have constructed unfair playing fields Americans are forced to play on. Where is our bailout? Where is our relief? Why don’t we have living wages? Why don’t we have universal health care? Why don’t we have the most technologically advanced vehicles on Earth? Why has American ingenuity been kicked to the curb time and time again? Where is the talk of capping executive compensation, of closing the loopholes corporations have generated to get around what little control there is? Where is the talk of splitting the Big 3 automakers up to increase competition? Both parties are too willing to give corporations whatever they damn well please and every time they do, it’s living, breathing Americans that suffer because of it.
News came this morning that House Speaker Pelosi wants some of the appropriated $700 billion to go to the auto corporations. Not surprisingly, Bush is pushing back, saying that if Democrats want money for the autos, they need to do it in a brand new appropriation. This makes sense for two reasons. Bush’s cronies want all the $700 billion to go to themselves. There has been zero oversight or transparency that the money is actually going to where Congress authorized it to go (I don’t see much mention of oversight or transparency with respect to the auto bailout either, surprise, surprise_. That’s a scandal by itself, but I think Americans are incredibly scandal-fatigued by this “administration”. That $700 billion is sitting on top of an already large pile of debt America possesses. Bush’s cronies are going to walk away with most or all of it and the rest of us will be left holding the bill. Bush and the Cons also want to destroy more unions. They’ve been very efficient at doing so over the past 8 years, neatly continuing what St. Ronnie started in the 1980′s. The longer the automakers go without any assistance, conditional or not, the more likely they are to fail. If they fail, thousands of union jobs will be lost. It will be harder to get those back than it will be to create new jobs period. That’s another big reason why Pelosi’s crew is working so hard to hand the auto corporations cash quick. Unions will be rightfully upset that not enough was done to save their employers. I definitely support those unions, but I don’t see a viable long-term solution being discussed in Washington.
Personal incomes fell in July by 0.7%. Remember, inflation in June was over 9%. Americans had 10% less buying power than they did before. Republican economics at work!
FAA computer practices leave quite a bit to be desired. Two computer centers are supposed to operate for the entire country?! Similar systems in different industries require multiple redundancies. The FAA has also had many problems with adequately staffing properly trained air traffic controllers. That’s a trend that started under St. Ronnie Reagan’s union busting days. Republicans argue that investing in new technologies would require (gasp!) raising taxes. Because crashing planes and a crippled air system are so much more desirable.
Union members make more and have better health insurance. Their wages and benefits are part of the reason why corporations and their Republican lackeys have always attacked unions so viciously.
The Arctic becomes an island. For the first time in recorded history, the Arctic ice sheet can be circumnavigated. This year’s 2nd lowest ice extent (so far) on record means it will take quite different conditions to build the pack back up to the 1979-2000 average. What’s left is thinner and weaker than before.
EPA emission limits are rejected by a federal appeals court. It is absurd to think that the EPA should be able to limit what emission targets states can set for themselves, as long as they aren’t higher than the federal standard. This decision is yet another slap in the face to the Bush-friendly EPA managerial appointments. Not that that will stop them from continuing to act like a-holes for the next 120 days.
Marilyn Musgrave wants more debate time with challenger Betsy Markey, who has led in polls since May for the CO-04 seat. This is a direct reversal of the 2006 race when Musgrave refused to debate challenger Angie Paccione as she led in polls all the way to election day. Don’t give her any chance, Betsy!
The Space Shuttle program could be extended past the currently planned retirement date of 2010. NASA is rightfully concerned that the U.S. would then have no platform to get astronauts to the ISS and Low Earth Orbit until the Orion capsule’s planned 2015 service entry. One of the things Iraq has shown us is that projects and policies aren’t about available money, they’re about political will. There is no reason for NASA to be beholden to an increasingly contentious Russia for passage to a space station that American taxpayers mostly paid for.
Stocks slumped more than $7 a barrel Tuesday morning as investors bet that the damage from Gustav was not as bad as had been feared. Prices also dropped due to the stronger dollar, which makes dollar-traded commodities cheaper for overseas investors. Additionally, investors continued to bet that global demand for oil is waning.
Isn’t it nice to know that we’re getting gouged at the pump while Wall Streeters bet on this and that and the other thing? Also note that oil prices have fallen 25% off their high of $147.20 on July 11. Has American demand fallen by 25% this year? Has American supply risen by 25% this year? Nope. More importantly, global demand has in no way fallen this year. Neither has global supply. Republicans keep talking about the “free market” and how it will lower oil prices. Those prices weren’t supported by market fundamentals. They were propped up by speculators that have been scared off by the threat of regulation introduction by the Democratic Congress. The lesson: Republicans cause oil and gas prices to rise; Democrats cause oil and gas prices to fall.
Will future Gulf landfalling hurricanes weaken like Katrina & Gustav? Joe Romm argues that with much warmer future oceans (based on a business as usual approach), hurricanes moving across the Gulf may not have to contend with cooler sea surface temperatures closer to land. That would mean more devastating storm damage as storms would maintain some or much of their open-water potency. Also of concern: warmer Mississippi waters and warmer delta waters that would allow stronger hurricanes to affect more areas inland from the Gulf.
One of my Random Hits from June 14th dealt with the Denver Chamber of Commerce’s decision to oppose Amendment 47, an initiative that attacks workers’ already limited rights in Colorado. In a very much related vein, Al Lewis at the Denver Post asks perhaps the most relevant question that voters should answer before voting on the Amendment:
Are you being forced to pay union dues? Are they taking your hard-earned money against your will?
Way to get after it, Al! The backers of Amendment 47 would like voters to believe that nearly every worker in Colorado is being fleeced by evil unions. So, are you one of those victims? Do you know one of them? Because here’s what Al wants you to do:
Please call me at the phone number at the end of my column. I would like to write about you.
Why?
Trouble is, I have yet to find anybody in this situation.
Hmm, that’s interesting. As Al points out, about 8% of Colorado’s workers belong to unions. Unions aren’t forcing millions of workers to join or pay dues or any other action right-wingers are claiming. But just like other right-wing pet projects, Amendment 47 would “fix a problem” that doesn’t exist. That won’t stop people like Jonathon Coors (yes, of the Coors family) from organizing support for this Constitutional Amendment. According to them, the sky is falling down and the rest of us are just too … something … to not notice it.
Yes, those evil unions are so stealthy and under-handed that only 8% of workers belong to them. So surely you are or you know somebody who is being forced against your will by unions to do things you don’t want to do. Please contact Al and share your horror stories.
The rest of us will concentrate on real issues: climate change, the occupation of Iraq, a broken health care system or an incredibly weak economy, among many others.
