A message from the Emergency Labor Network:
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are in great jeopardy. We call on the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, National Education Association, and other independent unions — together with our community allies — to organize emergency protests in the streets across the country in front of Congressional offices, federal buildings or Social Security facilities to demand “Hands Off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid! No Cuts in Other Social Programs!”
The labor movement cannot be silent at this crucial time. We will not be taken seriously unless and until we mobilize our members and our allies so that we can play a crucial role in deciding the outcome of this historic struggle between Wall Street and the great majority of the American people.
With only days to go before the August 2 deadline for raising the country’s debt ceiling, the Obama administration — under growing pressure from Wall Street and the credit-rating agencies — has been holding emergency talks with Congressional leaders at the White House to break the deadlock in the negotiations. As of this writing, President Barack Obama, House Majority Speaker John Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have all pledged that come what may, there will be a deal by week’s end.
A number of fallback proposals have been discussed in recent days. Some involve a two-stage approach toward debt-reduction — with a short-term agreement on $1 trillion in spending cuts only through 2012, followed by a longer-term agreement with larger cuts and some tax revenue. Other proposals, the ones preferred by Wall Street, involve a more comprehensive agreement incorporating many, if not most, of Obama’s “Grand Deal” of $3 trillion in spending cuts, coupled with $1 trillion in tax revenue.
Aides to both the Democratic and Republican leaders involved in the 11th-hour negotiations have reported that the main proposals under discussion include cutting at least $250 billion in Medicare, raising the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67 for future beneficiaries, and making any increase in cost-of-living raises in Social Security checks more difficult in the future.
None of the proposals before Congress calls for creating a federal public works program paid for by taxing Wall Street to create jobs for the 27 million unemployed and underemployed people in this country. To the contrary, the main deals in the works are aimed at resolving the deficit issue on the backs of the working class and the poor. But we can still stop this assault if we act quickly and decisively and bring all of labor’s power to bear. There is not a moment to lose in making this happen!
In solidarity,
Donna Dewitt,
President,South Carolina AFL-CIO, On behalf of the ELN Coordinating Committee
[Please visit our website at www.laborfightback.org or write emergencylabor@aol.com or call 216-736-4715 or write ELN, PO Box 21004, Cleveland, OH 44121 for more information.]
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Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 