“Well, here it is,” the President said this morning, holding up the text of the American Jobs Act that he introduced in a speech to a Joint Session of Congress last Thursday.
The Jobs Act contains $60 billion in investments in infrastructure, $85 billion in much needed aid to state and local governments, and $175 billion in an extension of the payroll tax cut passed last year. As millions of unemployed Americans watch and struggle, the official future of the Jobs Act is in the hands of a bitterly divided Congress, which has focused more on manufactured crises than the very real jobs crisis since the beginning of this year.
While Members of Congress now have the ball in their court, the President is taking his plan to the people. He will be talking about the bill tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio, and in Raleigh-Durham on Wednesday.
Reactions are mixed among Republicans. Several members of Congress, such as Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC) and Rep. Joe Walsh (R-SC), didn’t even attend the speech. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) told reporters he would be attending a football watch party instead. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) suggested that he wanted to peel off different sections of the bill and pass them separately.
Even before the speech, many Republicans were lining up to actually oppose the employee Payroll Tax Cut, which would lower the amount deducted from paychecks to go towards Social Security to 3.1 percent. Even though inaction would essentially lead to a tax increase on working Americans, usually fanatically anti-tax politicians are identifying it as a piece of the Jobs Act that’s unacceptable.
Unlike Members of Congress, Working America members are more concerned with taking care of their families and keeping their heads above water than political maneuvers. Curtis P., a member from Sandusky, Ohio, told us he’s been unemployed for nine months, and that he’s having trouble providing for his wife and kids. Ohio would get $4 billion under the Jobs Act, including a healthy chunk for job-creating infrastructure projects.
Curtis’s representative, Bob Latta (R-OH), said of the Jobs Act that he’s concerned it isn’t paid for, and that he believes Americans want less taxes and the “elimination” of the Affordable Care Act. We’re not sure who he’s talking to, but we’re pretty sure it isn’t Curtis.
Stephanie Harig – Cleveland, Ohio
Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, and I could make endless jokes about Cleveland weather and how cold it already is here on Lake Erie. But that would overshadow one of the great things about Cleveland: our resolve. Just look at the throngs of fans piling into Cleveland Browns stadium on Sunday afternoons no matter how cold it gets or how dismal our record, and you will understand this city’s passion and fighting spirit.
When talking to folks in the community about the efforts to repeal SB 5 – the bill that restricts the collective bargaining rights of Ohio’s public employees, I sense the same determination, grit, and willingness to be in it for the long haul. This Cleveland spirit was clear once again over the holiday weekend at three awesome events: the North Shore AFL-CIO parade, the Lorain County Labor Day Family Celebration and the Cleveland Peace Show.
The parade, organized by the North Shore AFL-CIO, was very well-attended, with many different locals marching together for the working people of Ohio. In addition, our Field Director, Dan O’Malley, represented the Cleveland office of Working America and educated people about the work we are doing around the campaign to repeal SB 5.
The Lorain County event was chock full of union members who were thrilled to see Working America there! Indeed, despite the spurt of heavy rain we experienced midway through the afternoon, the crowd was large and enthusiastic. Three Working America members were on hand to talk to the attendees, and many people we spoke with unequivocally called for SB 5 to be repealed and repeatedly expressed that they are ready to stand up for working families across all sectors of the economy. Even Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga voiced his appreciation for Working America’s presence at the event and for our efforts.
On Monday, the Cleveland Working America team attended the Cleveland Peace Show, an event with more non-union than union workers. We did our share of education around SB 5, which included urging people to Vote No on Issue 2 in order to repeal this bill. Yet, plenty of non-union attendees made it clear that they are already aware of – and against – this assault on Ohio’s middle class. Some of these folks even volunteered to phone bank with Working America!
Just as fans of the Cleveland Browns follow the team with a sometimes-frustrated eye on the distant future (there’s always next year!), standing up for working families in Ohio may, at times, feel like a tough slog, especially as the pro-SB 5 side ramps up their campaign. But, as Working America member Sylvia Bly said of her experience volunteering this weekend, “The atmosphere was so upbeat and positive…What I loved even more than the camaraderie was the realization that there are so many wonderful people who strive to make sure workers in America have a strong and resilient voice.”
This weekend was a great example of how Working America facilitates the creation of a cohesive labor movement by bringing together union and non-union workers. It is clear from conversations with people at these two events and elsewhere that plenty of Ohioans believe SB 5 has to go. By continuing to raise our voices in support of working families, we can and will make sure the bill is defeated. This weekend, surely, was evidence of our fighting spirit.
Ohio Governor John Kasich came into office swinging against teachers, police officers, and other public employees. Alongside his allies in the legislature, he pushed through Senate Bill 5, which would strip away collective bargaining rights for 360,000 Ohio workers. Even when pro-worker groups collected 1.5 million signatures to put the repeal of Senate Bill 5 to a referendum, Kasich remained unapologetic.
However, after seeing the results of the Wisconsin recall elections, during which working families rose up and took away Gov. Scott Walker’s working majority in the state senate, something changed. Not 24 hours after the polls had closed in Wisconsin, Gov. Kasich held a press conference and proposed a compromise:
Gov. John Kasich pleaded with organized labor leaders today to compromise on Senate Bill 5 and cancel a fall referendum on the controversial bill that peels back public employee collective bargaining rights.
Kasich said avoiding a fight over state Issue 2 is in “best interest of everyone, including public employee unions.” He asked the unions to “set aside political agendas and past offenses.
Hmm. Avoiding a fight? Set aside past offenses? This is John Kasich, the same man who:
• Described his political agenda like this just three days after his election: “If you think you’re going to stop us, you’re crazy. You will not stop us. We will beat you…If you’re not on the bus, we’ll run over you with the bus. And I’m not kidding.”
• Demanded that Ohio teachers unions take out a full page ad apologizing for not supporting his campaign.
• Repeatedly and publicly called a police officer who gave him a moving violation an “idiot” – shortly before pushing legislation that would take away bargaining rights from all Ohio police officers.
Yet, here is Governor Kasich – “pleading” in the words of the Columbus Dispatch – that opponents of Senate Bill 5 compromise instead of going ahead with the repeal effort.
What changed?
Make no mistake: John Kasich is spooked by what happened in nearby Wisconsin. The Wisconsin elections ousted two entrenched Republican Senators from office, and the GOP’s attempts to recall three members of the Democratic “Wisconsin 14” were defeated with embarrassingly-high margins.
In his own state, working families collected six times the number of signatures needed to get SB 5 repeal on the ballot, and polling shows it would go down hard if they election was held today. Due in part to SB 5 and his personal intransigence, Kasich himself has approval numbers that one blogger called “eye poppingly horrible.”
After all his talk and bluster, Ohioans know the truth: Kasich’s anti-worker, corporate-backed policies are bad for Ohio, bad for the economy, and bad for working families.
Moreover, those policies are bad for the very people who voted him into office last fall, who responded to his promises for job creation and economic growth that have gone unfulfilled.
Catherine Balsamo – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A recent article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Ann Belser noted that, after processing July’s job stats, we are now at 9.1% unemployment. The article goes on to explain: “[July’s] jobs report would have been better if governments had not cut so many workers.” Unfortunately, states across the country, including Pennsylvania, have lost a painful amount of jobs at the hands of their own elected officials.
Under the new state budget here in Pennsylvania – a budget that doesn’t even include all the cuts to education that Governor Corbett wanted – we lost or will lose a total of 10,000 jobs in education alone.
Think about that: because of decisions made by our elected officials ten thousand jobs will be gone within the field of education in the state of Pennsylvania. Wow.
As painful or shocking as these statistics are, the on-the-ground impacts of this continuing jobs crisis (exacerbated by anti-government politicians) are more staggering than any unemployment statistic could be.
One Working America member here in Western Pennsylvania went from making a solid professional wage as a computer information services technician to being unable to support himself after he was laid-off. He is a single dad, and he and his daughter recently moved back in with his parents. This member can no longer access the sort of medical care he could when he was employed. Even though this member is exceptionally brilliant and hard working, he still can’t find work. The jobs simply aren’t there.
Another member is desperate for her and her housemate to find employment. Their lives may depend on it, because she has health issues that demand a diet she can’t afford, and because her housemate has no access to healthcare and consequently relies on her to be his “medical personnel.”
Our governor may have run on a “jobs campaign,” but he has put jobs – and consequently us – last. The new state budget will put thousands more families in situations like the ones such as those just described.
Governor Corbett and job-killing elected officials across the country need to know what their constituents main priority is – getting back to work – and that we are holding them accountable for upholding their campaign pledges of focusing on job creation.
Working America members know that elected officials who claim to be promoting job growth by adding corporate tax loopholes are not really focusing on reducing unemployment. We all see that those extra corporate profits are going to the top, instead of being used for investments that put Americans back to work.
Despite the obstacles that unemployed Pennsylvanians face while officials like Governor Corbett fail to get it right, workers have done anything but give up. The computer technician mentioned above is organizing his friends and neighbors to take action. He also spoke at a jobs town hall and interviewed with the employment reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The second member mentioned wrote a letter to the editor published in the Post-Gazette, sharing her unemployment situation and calling on Governor Corbett to “balance the budget responsibly.” Working America members are attending events, signing petitions, writing letters to elected officials and to the papers, and getting their friends and family members involved. Actions like these are some of the things that we need to do to hold our elected officials accountable for promoting job growth.
With more and more folks doing their part to hold our politicians accountable, we’ll be less and less likely to open the newspaper and read that “the jobs report would have been better if governments had not cut so many workers.”
Jihad Seifullah – Columbus, Ohio
In the midst of a heat wave that has swept the country working families and constituency groups across Ohio have also continued to turn up the heat to stand up for the rights of many.
We have seen working families’ rights being threatened. Since Governor Kasich signed SB 5 into law – the bill that limits collective bargaining rights for over 350,000 workers in Ohio – Ohioans across the state worked diligently to collect about 1.3 million signatures to get the repeal of the law to a statewide vote.
On Thursday July 21 in Columbus, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga met with representatives from allied organizations from around the state for a round table discussion about the campaign and how SB 5 will hurt working families. Organizations and allies that were represented included the NAACP, Alliance of Retired Americans, Center for Community Change, IUPAT, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Shawnee Central Labor Council, North Shore Central Labor Council, Phi Beta Sigma, Delta Sigma Theta, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, as well as Pastor Rousseau O’Neal, Rev. Susan Ritchie, and former State Senator Gene Branstool, the author of the original collective bargaining law in 1983. Also taking part in this discussion was Working America member Shonda Sneed, who has been unemployed for over a year and a half.
Shonda had a compelling perspective to add to the discussion as she has faced firsthand what so many others in this recession are going through. Shonda had worked in the engineering field for over 20 years. She was a hard working and very dedicated employee to the company she worked for.
At the round table Shonda shared her story, “On December 11, 2009 my supervisor came to my cubical and told me to follow him.” Shonda was totally shocked as she was being told that she was being laid off. “My supervisor walked me back to my cubicle; I packed my stuff and was escorted to my car.”
Others at the round table shared similar stories of the struggles that many families are facing in these tough economic times. This has been the scenario that has been played out over and over again for hard working families across the country.
Shonda also shared her father’s experience with unions, highlighting their importance: “My Dad shared with me how one of his friends was on the job, in a ditch digging, when it caved in on him and crushed him to death.” After he gained union representation, he didn’t have to live the fear of dying simply because he showed up to work at a dangerous site.
As Shonda reminds us all, the fight to defeat SB 5 and retain collective bargaining rights is about the safety of working families across the state. It is about the principle that no one should have to die just because their boss chose to risk their life needlessly, and we can’t let our government drag even more working people and their communities down to lower standards of safety, security and dignity. That’s something anyone can agree to, whether or not they have a union on the job.
It’s official: the rights-stripping, anti-working families, extreme Senate Bill 5 will be put before Ohio voters for a Citizen Veto in November:
Ohio voters will have the chance this November to decide whether the state’s contentious new collective bargaining law should be repealed.
The state’s elections chief said Thursday that opponents had gathered enough valid signatures to put the question before voters. The measure is now suspended from taking effect until voters have their say.
Secretary of State John Husted certified 915,456 valid signatures, out of the 231,147 that were needed. Not only that, but these signatures came from every corner of the state:
As part of the total number of signatures needed to place the measure on the ballot, petitioners also needed to collect signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and within each of those counties, to collect enough signatures equal to three percent of the total vote cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, 2010. Senate Bill 5 petitioners met this requirement in all 88 counties.
Meanwhile, Governor John Kasich is pulling ahead in the contest to be the nation’s least popular statewide executive. A new poll from Quinnipiac shows that 50 percent of Ohioans disapprove of Kasich’s performance has governor, while a measly 35 percent approve. This is down from a 49-38 spread in May 2011, and it isn’t just traditional Democrats who are turning against him:
Kasich’s job performance gets a 66 – 19 percent approval from Republicans, but disapproval is 76 – 12 percent among Democrats and 48 – 34 percent among independent voters. The depth of his problem is evidenced by his split 43 – 42 percent rating among white evangelical Christians, typically a very pro-Republican group.
As for his signature legislative achievement, voters oppose Senate Bill 5 56 percent to 32 percent. That sentiment showed up very clearly when We Are Ohio announced that they had gathered 1.3 million signatures to repeal SB 5 – that’s roughly six times the margin Kasich won by in the 2010 election.
Purely based on the numbers, things are looking up for Ohio working families, but not so good for Kasich and his corporate, radical allies.
Good morning everyone, hope you got some time to relax this weekend. Here’s what you need to be reading today:
Rick Ungar at Forbes.com blogs about how last week’s “fake Democrat” primaries in Wisconsin reveal just how little Scott Walker and Co. care about the state’s finances:
We can also recall Walker statements like “I don’t have anything to negotiate. We are broke in this state. We have been broke for years.” and ” We’re broke. We don’t have any more money.”
Apparently, he did have a spare $400,000 laying around after all and chose to spend it on a purely political gambit that stood only to benefit his own party.
I can’t think of a better reason for Wisconsin voters to question the true purpose of the Walker agenda in the coming recall elections.
While there has long been a dispute over whether or not the Wisconsin budget crisis was anywhere near as dire as the Governor has suggested, Walker’s willingness to blow taxpayer money in so cynical a fashion– money sent to the Wisconsin treasury by Wisconsinites of all political stripes and beliefs – speaks far more to Mr. Walker’s true character and convictions than this writer could ever hope to reveal.
We’ve got some bright news out of Ohio – it’s looking increasingly likely that the anti-working families Senate Bill 5 will be put to a statewide vote. From the Columbus Dispatch:
Based on preliminary numbers provided to The Dispatch by county boards of elections, the petition to place the referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot has enough valid statewide signatures from just two counties, Cuyahoga and Franklin.
Collectively, these two counties have validated more than 235,000 signatures. Fewer than 232,000 signatures are needed to place the item on the ballot.
Finally, an incredibly honest and poignant column about the lives of working folks in the South from New York Times’ Charles M. Blow:
Last week I spent a few days in the Deep South — a thousand miles from the moneyed canyons of Manhattan and the prattle of Washington politics — talking to everyday people, blue-collar workers, people not trying to win the future so much as survive the present.
They do hard jobs and odd jobs — any work they can find to keep the lights on and the children fed.
No one mentioned the asinine argument about the debt ceiling. No one.
Life is pressing down on them so hard that they can barely breathe. They just want Washington to work, the way they do.
They are honest people who do honest work — crack-the-bones work; lift-it, chop-it, empty-it, glide-it-in-smooth work; feel-the-flames-up-close work; crawl-down-in-there work — things that no one wants to do but that someone must.
Got a suggestion for a Must Read? Leave a comment here, or send us a message on Twitter at @WorkingAmerica.
Kim McMurray – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Earlier this summer, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett passed a state budget for 2011-2012 that jeopardized the economic certainty of working families and needy citizens across the Keystone State. In this political environment, those who are least able to afford cuts are forced to absorb the pain while millionaires and billion-dollar corporations are spared from making a sacrifice.
Governor Corbett’s extreme budget made drastic cuts to education, with urban school districts in places like Philadelphia and Allentown taking the hardest hits. Basic education funding was cut by over $425 million from last year. Accountability block grants (to make sure that schools are being as effective as possible) were cut by 61%, while a state-wide tutoring program and school improvement grants were cut completely. Special education funding was flat lined for the third straight year and integral early education programs like HeadStart and PreK Counts were decreased. In total, the cuts to K-12 education programs equaled added up to well over $860 million.
Then there’s higher education. Temple University announced this week that they will be forced to raise tuition by almost 10% to offset the cuts in state assistance. They won’t be the only ones. Pennsylvania State, Pittsburgh, and Bucks Community College are all raising fees to make up for the lost revenue. State funding to public universities and community colleges was cut by an average of 18%.
Health care and public welfare programs that service the state’s most vulnerable citizens also took a big hit. Funding for county child welfare (the people who protect abused children) was cut by 4%. The Medical Assistance Transportation Program, which helps sick and disabled people (mostly senior citizens) get to and from doctor’s appointments will do without $8.5 million this year.
Another major blow came to housing services. The budget cut $8.5 million in assistance to counties providing services like housing assistance, adult day-care, and home delivered meals. In a time when foreclosures are still at a record-high, the Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, which has kept scores working Keystone State families in their homes, was cut by more than 80%.
Governor Corbett’s budget is making millions of Pennsylvanians feel buyer’s remorse from the 2010 elections and Working America will continue to mobilize working class moderates from each corner of Pennsylvania to fight for a fair budget that promotes Main Street values. Already this year, Working America members attended rallies at the State Capitol, held meetings with local elected officials, wrote countless letters to their local newspapers, and reached out to friends and family to spread the word about the damage that Governor Corbett’s budget will do. We may have lost the first battle but the fight is far from over to ensure that working class Pennsylvanians get the support they need to invest in their futures, remain in their homes and support their families.
We’ve finally arrived folks. The first round of recall elections in the most important political battle of this new decade is today, Tuesday, July 12. And there are a few signs that things are looking up for the good guys.
Unfortunately, Scott Walker is making it hard to be optimistic and easy to be nauseous – but hey, it wouldn’t be a day in Wisconsin without that!
This is your Wisconsin Roundup:
• GOP challenger fails to make ballot. Scott Walker’s allies were elated when they recruited Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) to run in the recall election against Senator David Hansen (D-Green Bay). Only one problem: due to lack of enthusiasm, poor planning, bad paperwork, or a combination of all of the above, Rep. Nygren didn’t get enough valid signatures to make the ballot, according to a decision by the GAB.
In one of the more surprising twists in the exceedingly twisty Wisconsin saga, Nygren failed to make the ballot by two valid signatures (he needed 400, he got 398). That’s an hour of work at most, or a couple of door knocks. But that ship has sailed, and the math of the recall is substantially changed.
Nygren initially submitted an appeal to the GAB, but has since dropped it. Now Hansen will face a substantially weaker candidate on July 19.
• Grassroots donors make it rain. While the Nygren incident was a hit to Walker and his anti-worker allies, this next bit of news must have them really scared. Even though the Wisconsin GOP has the backing of the Koch Brothers, the Club for Growth, and a host of shadowy corporate donors, the grassroots efforts of We Are Wisconsin and the Democratic candidates have proved once again that a large number of small donations – fueled by the Internet – can pack a powerful punch.
From the Wisconsin Democrats:
Low-dollar donations from ordinary Wisconsin citizens fed up with the extreme, divisive agenda of Scott Walker and his sock puppet senators in Madison have fueled nearly $1.6 million in contributions for Democratic challengers in the latest fundraising period for the recall elections this summer.
The numbers are pretty incredible. Nancy Nusbaum, who is running against Robert Cowles in Senate District 2, raised over $177,000. Average donation? $19.27. In fact, for five out of the six candidates, the average donation size was under $25, highly unusual in this post-Citizens United era of mega-donors and super-expensive elections.
In Wisconsin and all over the country, working families and pro-worker activists of all stripes are starting to recognize the impact that a recall victory this summer would have on the destructive agendas of Scott Walker, John Kasich, Rick Scott and the gang – and they are even willing to depart with a few hard-earned bucks to make it happen.
And if they needed some extra motivation, Scott Walker and his pal Rush Limbaugh are happy to oblige:
• Walker’s “Mission Accomplished” moment, featuring Rush Limbaugh. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining bill is now in effect, and anti-worker politicians are trying to claim that the new law caused the Appleton School District to go from a $400,000 deficit to a $1.5 million surplus. You don’t have to be an economic expert to know that’s bogus (the change is the result of concessions made by teachers far before Walker’s collective bargaining law went into effect), but it’s still been bandied about as fact by the usual reality-phobic pundits, like Rush Limbaugh.
Greg Sargent of the Washington Post wrote:
Walker’s premature declaration of victory — and the right wing echo chamber’s flacking of it — could look awfully silly when the full bill for his policies really comes due. And the notion that this one school district’s fiscal success is in any way a referendum on the most controversial aspect of Walker’s union busting proposal is laughable. This fight has never been about public employees’ unwillingness to make fiscal concessions — and always about stripping them of their rights.
He’s right. It’s never been about jobs for Scott Walker. It’s about ideology, personal prestige, and the bidding of his corporate donors.
And that’s why today, Tuesday, July 12, 2011, Wisconsin will start the process of removing Walker’s rubber stamp senators from office. Stay tuned.
Nineteen states allow the recall of elected officials, and Ohio isn’t one of them. But the disastrous reign of Governor John Kasich has prompted some lawmakers to try and change that.
Reps. Mike Foley and Bob Hagan, both Democrats, plan to introduce legislation this week to allow the recall of elected officials in Ohio, and they aren’t coy about why:
“He’s dividing the state,” Hagan said. “He’s hurting the people in this state and we think that this legislation that will be offered will go to the heart of those constituents and voters who have grown disenchanted with this governor.”
…
“We’re not going to dance around this,” Hagan told reporters at a news conference. “This is in fact about what the governor has done, what the Republicans are doing with one-party rule.”
A spokesman for Governor Kasich called the proposal “gutter politics” and “borderline absurd.” That made me want to make a quick list of other things that are “gutter politics” and “borderline absurd”:
- Governor Kasich tried to sabotage the repeal of Senate Bill 5 by messing with the ballot questions, an attempt that was rebuffed by his own Secretary of State. (Gutter politics.)
- Kasich has used “jobs” and “job creation” as his justification for everything from absurd tax cuts for corporations to Senate Bill 5 itself. Yet, in the last three months under his watch, Ohio has lost 18,000 jobs. (Borderline absurd.)
- In numerous public statements, Kasich has expressed his contempt for public workers. Most notably, he called a police officer who gave him a ticket an “idiot” several times. He followed up with Senate Bill 5, which strips the right to bargain collectively from 350,000 workers, including that police officer he didn’t like so much (Gutter politics and borderline absurd).
In any event, the recall proposal doesn’t have much of a prayer in the GOP-controlled state legislature. There is another option: Ohioans could write the power of recall into the state Constitution by collecting 400,000 signatures from registered voters. With over 714,000 signatures gathered to repeal Kasich’s signature union-busting measure, that might not be much of a stretch.
