Interview with Anna Burger re EFCA

Here's a recent interview with SEIU's Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger about what's going on right now with EFCA, and how various groups are organizing for and against it:

A message from Lawrence Lessig

As you probably know, insurance giant AIG sparked national outrage by paying $165 million in executive bonuses after receiving a $170 billion taxpayer bailout.

What fewer people know is that AIG gave more than $9 million in campaign contributions to Congress. AIG split its money between those in both parties who could help them the most.

Will just recouping $165 million solve the AIG problem? No. We need to solve the underlying problem of special interests investing millions of dollars in political campaigns to reap billions in rewards from taxpayers.

You joined the Change Congress donor strike--now, can you help bring others into this critical movement for reform?

If you're on Facebook, can you "share" my Huffington Post piece from today about this issue? Here's a link: http://twurl.nl/a0l8ik

If you're on Twitter, can you Tweet something like, "Want to help solve the AIG problem? Check this out: http://twurl.nl/ze0t32 #aig #change #reform #congress"

Or, you can just email your friends and ask them to join the strike at www.Change-Congress.org

Now's the time to push hard for this reform. In the midst of national debates over how to regulate Wall Street, members of Congress should not be begging special interests for $2,400 checks.

Together, we can Change Congress.

--Lawrence Lessig

Get back the money AIG stole

Click here to tell Congress to follow Obama's lead and get the bonus money back from AIG and into taxpayers' hands.

Poll shows Americans support EFCA

A new Gallup Poll finds just over half of Americans, 53%, favoring a new law that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers; 39% oppose it. This is a key issue at stake with the Employee Free Choice Act now being considered in Congress.

... The Employee Free Choice Act is a complex piece of legislation with numerous components, making it difficult to assess overall support for the bill among a population that is largely unaware of it. General support for the idea of "making it easier for unions to organize" as measured in the current poll is telling, but not necessarily indicative of public reaction to the bill if and when the political debate spills over into news headlines ...

Read the entire Gallup report here.

Obama enlists campaign army in budget fight

From today's WaPo:

President Obama will kick off an all-out grass-roots effort today urging Congress to pass his $3.55 trillion budget, activating the extensive campaign apparatus he built during his successful 2008 candidacy for the first time since taking office.

Read the whole shebang at this link.

And then get involved!

Participate in P4C's Mar. 21st Pledge Project table at our Spring into Action Volunteer Recruitment Fair.

Create your own Pledge Project and let us know so that we can promote it among our group.

This is no time to wait for others to rally support for President Obama's budget. While we dally, the GOP is racking up on-air hours in its organized media blitz to repeat false talking points about the 2010 budget over and over and over again.

Send a thank-you note to Woolsey!

Lynn Woolsey is one of the co-sponsors of EFCA, introduced on Tuesday, Mar. 10th, into both houses of Congress. Once again, our 6th district congressional representative is standing up for us, this time in opposition to the multi-million dollar campaign by corporate lobbyists to defeat EFCA.

Please tell Rep. Woolsey how proud we are of her!

Click on this link to sign a petition letter to her. Or send your own letter by clicking on her congressional link on the right-hand side of this blog.

EFCA issue heatin' up

Who woulda thunk that a piece of legislation pronounced "eff-kuh" for EFCA or the Employee Free Choice Act or the "card check" bill would become the first legislative hot-potato on Capitol Hill? It was introduced into both houses of Congress this past week and, boy-oh-boy, the gang war has begun between anti-EFCA and pro-EFCA factions.

Basically, EFCA "would make it much easier for workers to organize." Anti-union forces, euphemistically referred to by the so-called liberal press as pro-business groups, are playing up the outright lie that "it would eliminate secret ballots in union elections." It would not do this, but the truth has never stopped anti-union front groups in the past from making stuff up to protect so-called pro-business interests that we are told would suffer unfairly under a system that would grant US workers greater rights.

These so-called pro-business front groups call themselves names like the Workforce Fairness Institute and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. Kinda reminds us of promoting the corporate testing of America's schoolkids under the banner of No Child Left Behind.

Another misperception being played up by the anti-union gang is that America's small business employers would go under if EFCA is passed. This misperception does have some traction, but that traction is not based in reality. What's really going on here is that America's large corporate employers are using small employers as their Trojan Horse to get inside the hallowed gates of pro-small business interests. EFCA would absolutely result in highly successful US corporations having to broadly share in the fruits of our economic growth, which would cut into CEO compensation and decrease shareholder benefits. We can all decide for ourselves if we think this greater sharing of our economic wealth is good or bad for America.

Here's the truth:

"Under the Employee Free Choice Act, if a majority of employees signed a card requesting a union, the union would be validated without a secret ballot election. A majority of employees could choose to request a secret-ballot election."

So in other words, EFCA would not eliminate secret ballots in union elections. It reinstates that choice for workers, and takes away an employer's legal right to prevent workers from forming unions using only a secret ballot process. EFCA would simply take away an employer's veto power over how its workers choose to sign up for a union.

The question that pro-EFCA groups would be well-served to focus on is:

Why is it that anti-union front groups are so heavily invested in preventing US workers from getting back their right to sign cards as a way to form unions?

An answer to that question would reveal much about the true intent of the anti-EFCA movement.

Meanwhile, well-financed anti-EFCA front groups (union-opposing industry lobbyists) are "trying to influence" national legislative opinion, targeting pro-EFCA representatives like George Miller, Barbara Lee, Pete Stark, Zoe Lofgren, Barney Frank, and Dennis Kucinich.

So, where do our representatives stand on EFCA? Barbara Boxer is an original co-sponsor and remains supportive. Dianne Feinstein is waffling. She used to support it but has suddenly developed "concerns about this extraordinarily difficult economy." She is withholding her position until the best possible politically-expedient moment, like always. Lynn Woolsey is a co-sponsor.

Read "'card check' labor bill stirs controversy."

President Obama, get over the fear of even mentioning single-payer concepts!

From Bloomberg News columnist John F. Wasik:

It’s time to stop kicking sand in the face of single-payer health care. It may be the strongest solution around to insure every American at a lower cost.

After decades of industry campaigns against this model -- dubbed by its critics as “socialized” medicine -- it’s important to stop whining and evaluate the many economic benefits. Health care is a fundamental human right.

If President Barack Obama wants real change in American health care, he will have to get over the fear of even mentioning single-payer concepts. At his health-care summit last week, only the threat of a demonstration garnered late invitations for Oliver Fein and Congressman John Conyers, two leading proponents of the single-payer plan.

Keep reading this commentary at this link.

Rachel Maddow & SEIU President Andy Stern on EFCA

It's worth the nine minutes it takes to watch this video of Rachel Maddow and Andy Stern discuss the Employee Free Choice Act, and why it's not going to destroy America for our workers to have the right, the free choice, to decide for themselves whether they use a card check system or a secret ballot system in the union-forming process.



Should American workers be able to freely form unions, without having to follow silly rules set up by our largest corporate employers to their own benefit, or not? That is the question.

For the political nitty-gritty on who's for/against passage of this bill on Capitol Hill, as well as a short, recent history of the path EFCA has been on to get to its current point, click on this link and read away.

No more dough till we know where it goes

They won't reveal to us the names of the banks that have received $1.2 trillion of our money since September 2008.

Despite all that money, last week, AIG posted $61 billion in losses for the 4th quarter of 2008.

Where did the money go?

No one will tell us.

And now we're getting ready to hand over another humongoid chunk of our money to the tune of $750 billion to the same people.

If you're not happy with this scenario, please sign a Firedoglake petition at this link to let them know.

Here's what the petition says:

"Dear Members of Congress: The public needs to know where all our money has gone. Restoring public trust is critical in getting our economy back on its feet. We ask that you move swiftly to re-regulate and bring transparency to a financial system whose rules have been written by bank lobbyists for their own benefit. No additional bank bailout funds should be approved until that happens."

Sign petition letter to support Employee Free Choice Act

Today, March 10, the EFCA was introduced in both houses of Congress.

Right now is a terrific time for all of us to urge our national legislators to hear our opinions before they co-debate this bill. It would be a huge disappointment to us for them to make their decisions on this bill before we weigh in, leaving us in the pathetic position of simply expressing our disappointment in either their votes or their ineffectiveness securing passage of this bill.

Front groups for anti-labor interests are busy, busy, busy, spending millions on misleading ads, spreading lies and propaganda.

Do the simplest, easiest thing you have at your fingertips to secure passage of the EFCA. Click on this link and add your name to the petition letter.

Thank-you!

P4C member comment re Obama's health-care summit

Last night, we received the following message from P4C member Rachel, who wrote:

i am sure you heard that obama has not invited one advocate for single payer health care to his health care summit convening tomorrow

aargh

who do we contact to register our protest, futile as it may be?

so much for transparency and the will of the people, eh?

Here is how we responded to her legitimate frustrations about today's important health-care discussion:

Oh yeah?

Really?

Sign every single petition that comes your way. Here. Here. Here. And here.

And keep yellin' and passin' the word. The insurance industry and Big Pharma are countin' on us givin' up!

And here is her back-at-ya:

thanks for the info

i feel a bit relieved

signed whatever i could

Are you feeling the same frustrations? Do you share the concerns of so many others that single-payer is unfairly gettin' the short shrift by the Obama White House? Then take a couple of moments out of your busy day to click on those links and sign some petitions that will make a difference. It may be your signature that elevates single-payer to the stature of entree, instead of it being a last-minute hors d'oeuvre that arrives too late and so goes uneaten, even when it may be the best food item presented at the party!

And then pass along this message to your friends, family members, and co-workers (if you still have a job). We are gettin' this job done, brick-by-brick!

And thank-you for your time and your effort!

Rejoice! Two single-payer advocates invited by WH to join 118 health-care industry lobbyists for Thursday's health-care summit!

From After Downing Street:

... Dr. Oliver Fein, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, has been invited to participate in [Thursday's] White House summit on health care. He will therefore be joining Rep. John Conyers in the meeting as a strong advocate for a single-payer national health program ...

... While it remains true that the number of single-payer advocates in the summit will be few in number, we feel we have won an important victory...

Please continue to urge [Woolsey, Feinstein, Boxer] and President Obama to support single-payer national health insurance, the only fundamental solution to our health care crisis.

Scheduled single-payer demonstrations outside the White House Thursday are cancelled!

Read Sam Stein's commentary on this over at HuffPo as well.

Obama vows to pass EFCA

Here's what Obama said Tuesday evening, Mar. 3rd, to an AFL-CIO crowd:

And as we confront this crisis and work to provide health care to every American, rebuild our nation’s infrastructure, move toward a clean energy economy, and pass the Employee Free Choice Act, I want you to know that you will always have a seat at the table.

You can read his full statement here.

Right-wingnut hyperbole targets the EFCA

First, we get to hear Newt Gingrich call the EFCA "a mortal threat to American freedom."

We could all snark endlessly about this were it not for the pathetic reality that there remain many Americans who fall for this c**p thrown at us by various invested front groups.

Here is more of what America's anti-labor interests are calling the EFCA:

• "the demise of a civilization ... how a civilization disappears"
• "a firestorm bordering on Armageddon"
• "nuclear war"
• "two fundamental threats to society" along with radical Islam
• "Gestapo tactic"
• "Pro-Slavery"
• "businesses are ready to riot in the street about it"
• its supporters "should be shot ... should be thrown out of their goddamn jobs"

Join the SEIU's campaign to fight back against this potentially effective national campaign to prevent America's workers from receiving some of the benefits of the wealth they are helping to create for others for whom greed is a primary motivator.

The 'Mass. model' of health reform & its implications for national health-care reform

Watch the video of the health-care reform joint forum organized by the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care, held in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 25th. This is a 1 1/2-hour video. We are not aware of a shortened version, or of a written summary of this forum. If you are, please let us know so we can pass those along to members.

Speakers include:

• David Himmelstein, MD, Cambridge Hospital Physician, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
• Sandy Eaton, RN, Massachusetts Nurses Association
• Jamie Eldridge, Massachusetts State Senator
• Mary Ford, former Mayor of Northampton and Human Services Manager
• Peter Knowlton Presentation, Vice President of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
• Arthur MacEwan, PhD, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston

National Lessons from State Health Reform: The Massachusetts Case Study from New Words on Vimeo.

"Of all the forms of inequality,
injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Campaign against Obama health plan run by notorious conservative PR firm

From TPM:

A new group called Conservatives for Patients Rights (CPR) is about to launch the opening salvo in the fight to sink President Obama's health care plan.

CPR is running TV, radio, and web ads that attempt to stoke irrational fears of "a central national board" in charge of medical decision-making, asking Americans to envision a world where "bureaucrats decide the treatments you receive, the drugs you take, even the doctors you see." Of course, that vision has nothing to do with the president's health care plan, but the truth shouldn't be an impediment to CPR's dream of killing health care reform.

After all, the group has hired Creative Response Concepts, the same PR firm that represented the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during the 2004 presidential race. The "media relations" contact number listed on CPR's website, (703) 683-5004, is the same phone number as Creative Response Concepts, as one liberal organization discovered when researching the new health care group.

Creative Response's past clients also include the Christian Coalition, the right-leaning National Taxpayers Union, and USANext, the front group that led George W. Bush's failed push to privatize Social Security. Hilariously, Politico could only bring itself to observe that CPR has hired "veteran Republican consultants" for its new anti-Obama effort.

Obama & US labor to date

From Reuters:

Within days of taking office Jan. 20, Obama signed three orders to bolster unions and workers' rights. The first will prevent taxpayer funds from being used to reimburse federal contractors who spend money to impede workers from organizing.

A second requires federal contractors to inform employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, and third was aimed at ensuring that qualified workers kept their jobs even when a federal contract changed hands.

Some EFCA updates

From TPM:

Looks like the Employee Free Choice Act could get introduced as early as next week. It'll easily pass the House when it comes up for a vote, just as it did last year, but passage in the Senate will be hard and it doesn't help that the Minnesota seat remains unresolved.

Tomorrow, Vice President Joe Biden is supposed to give a full-throated defense of the act when he speaks to top AFL officials at their meeting in Miami.

Meanwhile, in the hotly contested House race to replace New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the Republican, Jim Tedisco was endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today in no small part because his opponent is supporting EFCA.

President Obama: Please rethink Afghanistan!

President Obama has committed 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. This decision raises serious questions about troops, costs, overall mission, and exit strategy. Historically, it has been Congress' duty to ask questions in the form of oversight hearings that challenge policymakers, examine military spending, and educate the public. After witnessing the absence of oversight regarding the Iraq war, we must insist Congress hold hearings on Afghanistan.

Watch the trailer:



Watch the entire video:



Sign the petition here.