An inconvenient truth regarding the current relationship between Labor and the democratic party...
For starters, Tea Party groups support mayor Emanuel's effort to throw our school teachers under the bus in the name of "smaller, cheaper government". What a load.
And buffoon Tea Party activist Andrew Marcus has bragged about working with Rahm Emanuel...
When Bill Clinton, uber corporate money raiser Rahm Emanuel, Terry McCauliffe, etc. decided in 1995-1996 to move the democratic party wayyy to the right in order to steal Gingrinch's Contract On America thunder-- which had in fact picked up significant steam.. and in order to get Clinton re-elected.. that was the beginning of the end of the long term mutually supportive relationship between Labor and the democratic party.
A few years later, while working for another democrat in the white house, Rahm Emanuel is on record stating "F*** the Unions". Why did Rahm say this.. and let's face it, many people in today's democratic party in fact agree with him. Thus I have to conclude numerous democrats are in fact anti union, anti doing something about the massive wealth INequity in our nation. that is unacceptable.
As I pointed out here months ago-- Rahm was about to pick the totally wrong fight with the totally wrong union-- the Chicago Teacher's Union.
Emanuel quickly tried to extricate himself from Romney’s embrace.
"While I appreciate his lip service, what really counts is what we are doing here, and I don't give two hoots about national comments scoring political points or trying to embarrass or whatever the president," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel at a press conference Monday. "While I appreciate Mitt Romney's statement, on behalf of the kids and the parents of the city of Chicago, if he wants to help, he can then determine that when it comes to his tax cuts, he will never cut the Department of Education and the funding that's necessary.”
It should be noted, however, that in the past, Tea Party groups have supported Emanuel in his fight with the Chicago teachers. The CTU recently released a 24-minute video, “Chicago Teachers Union Vs. Astroturf Billionaires,” that outlines the various Tea Party and Koch-funded groups that Emanuel has worked with in his battle with the CTU. Well-known Tea Party activist Andrew Marcus has boasted of working with Emanuel to take on the unions in Chicago. A film directed by Marcus, A Tale of Two Missions, features an interview with Mayor Emanuel.
Needing labor’s support to win the election, the White House has so far distanced itself from its former chief of staff and remained neutral in the matter.
“[President Obama’s] principal concern is for the students and the families who are affected by the situation. And we hope that both sides are able to come together to settle this quickly and in the best interest of Chicago's students,” said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney at a press conference today.
Uhh, nice generic sort of response.
"President Obama's leadership has led to groundbreaking reforms in our schools, earning wide bipartisan cooperation and praise," said Obama campaign spokersperson Ben LaBolt in an emailed response to Romney. "In contrast, Gov. Romney has said class size isn't a problem and he would cut taxes for millionaires by gutting education funding, leading to fewer teachers. Playing political games with local disputes won't help educate our kids, nor will fewer teachers. But President Obama's plans will lift our schools and our students."
Some in organized labor say that President Obama opened up the bipartisan attack on teachers’ unions in a speech at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in March of 2009 calling on teacher unions to allow more flexibility in their contracts. Under President Obama’s Race to the Top program, states have been rewarded with extra funding for crafting laws that spend heavily on non-union charter schools and eliminate job security provisions from teacher union contracts. In 2010, President Obama even endorsed the mass firing of unionized teachers in Central Falls, RI.
In May, Obama for America Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter tweeted a link to a Washington Post article saying, “FACT CHECK: Romney off on Obama’s relationship with teachers’ unions; it’s anything but cozy: http://wapo.st/... The article went on to describe how the Obama administration has taken on teachers unions. Cutter was later forced to backtrack on her tweets, sending out a second one hours later saying, “Pres. fights for unions/teachers b/c he believes in them-Mitt dishonest about being beholden to them.”
In a sign of its lukewarm feeling toward the Democratic administration, CTU President Karen Lewis refused to greet Vice President Joe Biden during the AFT’s July convention in Detroit. The CTU delegation also refused to wear Obama-Biden T-shirts handed out for Biden’s speech, instead opting for the red CTU shirts.
Unfortunately, the "new" democratic party totally screwed up by thinking they could play a game of attrition... and turn their back on Labor. trust me, if the economy doesn't turn around soon and get 8-10 Million people (at least) back to work-- this issue is going to blow up even more.
We're not going to stand by and do nothing while Labor is crushed by both the GOP and more than a few democrats. We're not going to allow just two classes of wealth in our nation.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/...
http://www.suntimes.com/...