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AFL-CIO and Chamber Agree on Obama’s Call for Infrastructure Rebuild
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Today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue issued a rare joint statement supporting “Obama’s call to create jobs and grow the U.S. economy through investment in our nation’s infrastructure.” Trumka and Donohue said:
Whether it is building roads, bridges, high-speed broadband, energy systems and schools, these projects not only create jobs and demand for businesses, they are an investment in building the modern infrastructure our country needs to compete in a global economy.
With the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO standing together to support job creation, we hope that Democrats and Republicans in Congress will also join together to build America’s infrastructure.
Last night, Trumka said that many of the economic plans President Obama outlined in his State of the Union message showed he “was heading in the right direction” to restoring the health of the economy and the middle class.
Here are some other reactions. Click here to read Trumka’s full statement.
Obama’s call to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure—which Obama described as at the core of “winning the future”—upped the ante in the debate about investing in the nation’s crumbling transportation system and infrastructure, says AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Edward C. Wytkind.
President Obama is in complete agreement with transportation labor in saying that America can no longer afford to fall behind China—with its “faster trains and newer airports”—and the rest of the world in investing in the movement of people, goods and information. He said our infrastructure used to be the best—”but our lead has slipped.” And he talked about the need to “redouble” our efforts to use strategically significant investments to create good jobs. Needless to say, we agree.
Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), says Obama’s focus on innovation, infrastructure and education, as well as his commitment to create the jobs of the future, is the right path. Obama said it’s time for the same kind American innovation that was launched after the Soviet Union beat the United States into space with Sputnik, but the United States eventually won the space race. Says Paul:
This is, indeed, a new Sputnik moment for America, as we have argued. But 50 years ago, America had a trade surplus, a healthy manufacturing base and virtually no global business competition. Our challenge today is as much about rebuilding as it is about innovating.
Obama also called for a long-term investment in children and schools. AFT President Randi Weingarten says those investments “are essential to strengthen our nation, maintain a healthy democracy and help future generations succeed.”
While making these critical investments in our future, we also have to protect those who are less fortunate and support those who are struggling mightily to lead a middle-class life, stay healthy, send their children to college and retire with dignity.
In his call his call for improving the nation’s education system, Obama pointed to students “excelling in our schools who are not American citizens.”
Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet live every day with the threat of deportation.
Let’s stop expelling talented, responsible young people who can staff our research labs, start new businesses and further enrich this nation.
He also called for comprehensive immigration reform and said he was prepared to “to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows.”
The president also urged bipartisanship in strengthening Social Security,
without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans’ guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who delivered the Republican response, has a far different message on Social Security in his so-called “Road Map for America’s Future.” The Ryan road map calls for cuts in Social Security, raising the retirement age and privatization. In his response, Ryan ducked the Social Security question, but he outlined what the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) called “fear mongering politics of the national debt.”
Bill Merrow (see video above), an Alliance for Retired Americans member from West Deering, N.H., watched Ryan’s response at one of the Alliance’s 46 State of the Union watch parties in 21 states last night. He said Ryan “seemed to have the same old mantra.”
It’s the same lies and B.S. that it seems like the Republicans have been going with all along. They don’t see what it’s going to do to the people, the average people.
EPI said the two speeches offered “quite a contrast of visions for balancing economic recovery and fiscal responsibility.”
We have tried the path of cutting taxes for the wealthy, deregulating the economy and underfunding key long-term investments—all while running up deficits—as Paul Ryan has proposed; it led to economic meltdown and massive job losses. It is time for a new path that balances job creation, new public investments and long-term fiscal responsibility.
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11 Comments
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The AFL-CIO and Change to Win need to organize massive demonstrations in major cities across the country in defense of social services, public education, and public workers, for job-creation programs to put 25 million people back to work, for Hands Off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, by demanding TAX THE RICH! Let’s complete Martin Luther King’s call for a oor People’s March on Washington
If you tax the rich 90% you would still not have enough money. If you cut the military more you give encouragement to our enemies. The way to do it is to cut taxes and regulations. Its cutting time or we will end up like Greece.
Tax the rich? Ha ha . You do not have enough rich to fund all that. You can raise taxes on everybody and it still would not fund all of it. What you do is shrink government and all those high paying jobs in Washington and that would do it.
Wrong again, i swear to god. There are more superrich than ever, and they are more superrich then they ever have been. They have more money than they can possibly use, much more so than they ever even imagined before. They have billions and billions that they would ever even miss if it were to be taxed, yet they fight with every means at their disposal, legal and not very, because of the principle involved, which is everything for them and screw the rest of us meaningless schlubs.
Why should they allow themselves to be taxed, anyway? They control all politics and media for what – to be taxed? No, not while there are so many anti-working class ‘workers’ like yourself preaching their inane justifications for this system of social production to profit the few.
Wrong again. That money the rich make is not the governments money. The government justs confiscates it. They do not know how to run anything right. They cannot win wars or can they keep socialists programs in the black. They are in the red all the time. The latest figure is 14 trillion and rising. Government spending is a loser as you can see from the last stimulus. Know the only way to win is through private enterprise and freedom. what you have to do is have smaller government and lower taxes and regulations. If you do not do it you lose.
Building Bridges Radio: Your Community and Labor Report
National Edition
Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
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The State of the Union
Deficit Reduction and Common Sense:
Invest in the Economy, Reduce the Military Budget & Tax the Rich
with
Joseph Stiglitz, University Professor Columbia University,
Recipient Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics
The ink was hardly dry on the massive compromise federal tax bill when Republican leaders restarted their call for spending cuts in the new Congress to close the deficit. But Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz sets the record straight in his speech before the Roosevelt Institute. He says that the main cause of the deficits is the recession which premature deficit reduction would cause to deteriorate further. He also offers us a way to rebuild our economy which would also fight the increasing mal-distribution of wealth in this country by taxing the rich,
reducing the military budget and investing in our cities, our infrastructure and new technologies to increase our productive capacities to increase economic growth.
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To Download or listen to this 27:20
minute program go to our website
http://buildingbridgesradio.blogspot.com/2011/01/stiglitz-deficits-unemployment-economic.html
The EPI says at the end that ” It is time for a new path that balances job creations, new public investments, and long-term fiscal responsibility.”
I can agree with this, I and many can agree with a lot but we need details. Does the EPI have a plan? For all the flaws Ryan’s plan has, he at least has a plan that looks out 60 some years. I’d love to see a plan with similiar detail as Ryan’s plan, not similiar content neccessarily but rather similiar depth.
What a lashup – Trumka and Donohoe. One can’t save the labor movement and the other can’t save capitalism. Until the labor movement is under revolutionary leadership determined to abolish capitalism and build a socialist America it will be dog eat dog on the ground. Of course Trumka and Donohoe will do all in their power to protect themselves and their fellow bureaucrats and corporations. Break from the Democrats! Build a fighting workers party! Fight for a Workers Government!
Wow! AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? Sounds like the “new technologies of Union & Business” changes are maybe on the horizon? Doug Frazier (UAW-1979) had it right when he negotiated the Union a seat on the Board of Directors at Chrysler! Labor is as much a opart of the manufacturing infrastructure, as any other part of it! The current definition of “capitalism”, and treating labor as a necessary evil to be eliminated at any cost is the primary reason for the de-industrialization, outsourcing, and union busting mentality we have been seeing the last several decades. It’s time for the Chamber, and the Union, to grow up, and begin identifying their common goals, and initiating action on them together!
Changing the well known phrase from a complete and utter nut job.
BUILD BABY BUILD!
There is something seriously wrong when a labor leader finds himself agreeing with the U.S.Chamber of Commerce! The only thing labor can expect from the chamber is a knife in the back. State of the union addresses are talk and talk is cheap. We have heard this same talk for how many years now? And still no improvement! Even the specifically earmarked gas tax has not improved our roads. How many times are we going to fall for the same old political lying that spouts out of these corporate front men that pose as public servants. We already have a socialist or rather communist society except it is upside down. All the fruits of the laboring Americans are being used to enrich the corporate state. It’s all about socializing the costs while privatizing the profits. The public wealth is sold for little if anything and the enormous profits go to corporations. Too much of government and business produce nothing of value yet somehow bask in fantastic wealth. It is high time for dramatic change from the top down. We need union leadership to forge a new way forward and stop waisting time trying to fix the devastating injustice our current system has lead to, crime and corruption, openly, daily and apparently without fear of prosecution.