SEIU chief says Dems lack fresh ideas

[IndianaGreen]

Here is the David Broder's Washington Post article posted with the correct headline, per LBN rules. Notice the difference in the message when the key portions of Stern's comments are highlighted:

SEIU chief says Dems lack fresh ideas
Stern Asserts That a Kerry Win Could Set Back Efforts to Reform the Party
By David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 27, 2004; Page A13

BOSTON, July 26 -- Breaking sharply with the enforced harmony of the Democratic National Convention, the president of the largest AFL-CIO union said Monday that both organized labor and the Democratic Party might be better off in the long run if Sen. John F. Kerry loses the election.

<snip>

Stern argued that Kerry's election might stifle needed reform within the party and the labor movement. He said he still believes that Kerry overall would make a better president than President Bush, and his union has poured huge resources into that effort. But he contends that Kerry's election would have the effect of slowing the "evolution" of the dialogue within the party.

<snip>

Stern said the SEIU has put about $65 million in union resources into efforts to elect Kerry and other worker-friendly Democrats, the bulk of it directly aimed at labor efforts in behalf of the senator from Massachusetts.

But Stern complained that motivating blue-collar families who have not voted in the past is being impeded because Kerry and the Democrats have declined to address what he calls "the Wal-Mart economy," a system in which he says employers deliberately keep wages so low and hours so short that workers are forced to turn to state Medicaid programs for their families' health care.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16387-2004Jul26.html

[thebigidea]

1. You'd think NO DICK CHENEY would be a fresh enough idea

I love hearing the "they've got no fresh ideas!" call from RW types... coming from self-described CONSERVATIVES? Who yearn for a mythical 50s?

That's supposed to be fresh?

[IndianaGreen]

2. There are some systemic problems in Labor

David Broder is putting an anti-Kerry spin on candid comments made by Stern. When you read the article you realize that Stern is referring to systemic problems in American labor. While Stern doesn't say this, those of us on the Socialist side of the spectrum will quickly rattle off 3 things: the merger of AFL with CIO, Taft-Hartley, and a reactionary bureaucracy in many unions.

Stern and SEIU are working hard to defeat Bush. Stern, like many of us that have worked on labor issues, is speaking aloud about the systemic problems and challenges that the labor movement is facing. These problems predate the Kerry/Edwards ticket, and are going to be with us even if Kerry is elected.

[izzie]

3. I would say that our leaders in both parties are not up to date.

I just can not put that into words as I am not sure just what I mean. It is like time has moved on and we need some new thinkers in our govt. Look at what Europe is doing. They are thinking out of the book. These wasteful war must stop and the building of newer and bigger bombs are not new.Some thing is off and I do not know what.

[bleedingheart]

5. but some of those systemic problems occurred when

Democrats got elected with Labor money and then didn't do shit to help Labor add that to the fact that the most recent generation of voters have been raised on anti-labor reaganism pap.

[bleedingheart]

4. I blame the centrists in the Democratic party who bought into Reaganism

for this problem.

He is right. What will the solution be for the Wal-Martization of the economy?

Even if the minimum wage is raised to $7 an hour how the hell will it matter if you can only get 20 hours at Wal-Mart when you really want full-time...and even $7 an hour is not a leap because it isn't enough to own a home, buy a used car and raise a family?

I really hope that Kerry will get elected in November and fix the real problem which is the choking of the middle class.

ps...and please I don't want to hear how the answer to all of this is for everyone to go to college...I know plenty of college graduates who work low wage paying jobs in doctor's offices and the like who can't get enough hours...they work three jobs and they barely see their kids because of the scattering of their hours..

[sendero]

9. Exactly....

>>>ps...and please I don't want to hear how the answer to all of this is for everyone to go to college...


I agree. What the Repug "economists" fail to recognize is that everyone cannot be a doctor, lawyer, professor, etc. There are only so many people needed in those occupations. And you cannot "insource" jobs in those fields (i.e. work for Indians).

We are heading for a real train wreck here and the theorists keep blathering about their theories while reality takes a dark turn.

[Khephra]

6. This article just hurts to read

Stern can go FU*K himself if he thinks labor will do better under another Bush term.

[0007]

7. Getting rid of a sick corrupt administration is about as refreshing

as it can get. What the hell is this guy talking about?

Maybe we don't have enough Abu Ghraib's to suit this clown?

[GOPFighter]

8. Superb article!

What Stern is saying is that while he and his union are working hard to elect Kerry, he is very worried that the labor movement will probably be same-o, same-o, under his administration. He understands that the American workforce has changed dramatically since the 50s but labor unions haven't. He understands that the ONLY way American workers will ever be able to demand decent wages is if the vast majority of the workforce organizes somehow.

Another four years of Bush would be a disaster for this country, but, like an alcoholic, sometimes a nation has to hit bottom before they realize they've got to clean up their act. In the long run, it might be the best thing that could happen to America, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to work my ass off to beat Bush, and I'm sure Stern will do the same.

I don't know much about Stern, but I agreed with what he said in this article, especially about the "Wal-Mart" economy.

[dryan]

10. I'm dissappointed

that the president of a labor union feels this way, especially a union that is made up of public employees. The majority of his members work in the lowest paid jobs in the public sector (hospital orderlies and other such positions). I am hoping he was misquoted.

[Krupskaya]

11. I said this in the other thread...

...but again, he is right on, as far as reforms being needed in both the labor movement and the party.

Democrats have been taking labor for granted for far too long, and labor hasn't stood on its own for years. Whoever said labor needs to "hit bottom" is, I think right.

My SO and I are union members and labor is our "first issue" -- it's how we vote, it's how we spend our money, it's how we spend our free time. But some unions have become so frustratingly reactionary it's infuriating to see.

[AndyTiedye]

12. The Labor Movement is Dead Unless They Address Outsourcing