Marxists, Czars & Thieves

E-Mail from AFL-CIO's Trumka RE: Current Political Climate & Scott Brown Election

My husband is a firefighter, and a member of the IAFF (firefighters union). The IAFF is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Below is an e-mail my husband received yesterday from Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO president regarding the current change in the political climate after the Scott Brown win in Massachusetts.  

 
--- On Thu, 1/21/10, Richard L. Trumka, President, AFL-CIO <peoplepower@aflcio.org> wrote:

From: Richard L. Trumka, President, AFL-CIO <peoplepower@aflcio.org>
Subject: A Wake-Up Call
To: "XXXX X XXXXXXXX (XXXXXXXXXXX@XXXXX.com
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 2:35 PM


 	
Pledge Now:
Work Harder, Faster, Smarter

The wake-up call sent by Tuesday’s special election in Massachusetts for the U.S. Senate couldn’t be clearer.

Working people are fed up with inaction in Washington and expect real results.

We can’t leave it to any political party to protect the interests of working families—it’s up to us to organize and mobilize harder, faster and smarter than ever before.

Please pledge to do your part. Recommit now to push harder to win jobs, health care and an economy that works for all of us. Click here:


 	 
Dear XXXX,

What happened Tuesday in Massachusetts was a wake-up call to all of us.
It was a working class revolt—a signal that in this economic crisis, the American people demand jobs, health care and an economy that works for them now—not political business as usual.

It was a loud and clear message that our elected leaders—and our labor movement—must do more for working people, do it fast and do it smarter.
An AFL-CIO poll taken Tuesday night shows without doubt:
Voters are fed up that elected leaders have done too little to help working families.

They said Democrats have NOT overreached on jobs, the economy and health care—they have underreached.
Voters have seen too much help for Wall Street and not nearly enough help for Main Street.

Unless Democrats demonstrate that fixing the economy is their overriding priority, and begin to create more jobs for working Americans NOW, we’re going to see more results this November like the Massachusetts election.
For the union movement and activists, the message was also clear: It’s not time to leave it to any political party to take care of us once we put them in office. It’s time to organize and mobilize as never before to make every elected or aspiring leader PROVE he or she will create the jobs we need in an economy we need with the health care we need. 
 
I am not discouraged by Tuesday’s election results. Actually, I’m energized and I want you to be, too. Working America is demanding major change NOW—not timid, go-slow, partial solutions.
I know we are the people who can mobilize a massive army to force elected leaders to deliver.

Let’s do it—starting NOW.

P.S. I’m sending this same message in a YouTube video. Please take a look and share it with other fighters for working families.
In solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

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The Message of Massachusetts A crisis is a terrible thing to exploit.

The Message of Massachusetts - WSJ.com

Barney Frank's statement on Scott Brown Win in Massachusetts

Rep. Barney Frank is not a wobbly moderate in a marginal district, but a liberal Democrat who has been supportive of the health care push. And that's why this statement below, which essentially rules out all of the options being discussed for pushing through Obamacare, deals a potentially fatal to the legislation:

“I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democratic majority in Congress must respect the process and make no effort to bypass the electoral results. If Martha Coakley had won, I believe we could have worked out a reasonable compromise between the House and Senate health care bills. But since Scott Brown has won and the Republicans now have 41 votes in the Senate, that approach is no longer appropriate. I am hopeful that some Republican Senators will be willing to discuss a revised version of health care reform because I do not think that the country would be well-served by the health care status quo. But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a health care bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened. Going forward, I hope there will be a serious effort to change the Senate rule which means that 59 votes are not enough to pass major legislation, but those are the rules by which the health care bill was considered, and it would be wrong to change them in the middle of the process.”

via spectator.org

The Message of Massachusetts - WSJ.com

Whether or not Republican Scott Brown wins today in Massachusetts, the special Senate election has already shaken up American politics. The close race to replace Ted Kennedy, liberalism's patron saint, shows that voters are rebelling even in the bluest of states against the last year's unbridled pursuit of partisan liberal governance.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of President Obama's Inaugural, and it's worth recalling the extraordinary political opportunity he had a year ago. An anxious country was looking for leadership amid a recession, and Democrats had huge majorities and faced a dispirited, unpopular GOP. With monetary policy stimulus already flowing, Democrats were poised to get the political credit for the inevitable economic recovery.

via online.wsj.com

Republicans, Democrats Step Up Campaigning in Massachusetts - WSJ.com

MEDFORD, Mass.—Voters headed to the polls across Massachusetts Tuesday in a closely watched special election that threatened to tip the Senate's balance of power and undermine President Barack Obama's policy agenda.

With much at stake, indications were that turnout was going to be high in Tuesday's balloting. Long lines were reported at polls across the state. Brian McNiff, spokesman for the secretary of commonwealth, said as many as 2.2 million voters were expected to go to the polls today, close to the number in 2006 when the state elected Democrat Deval Patrick as governor. As of noon, some 55,000 voters had cast ballots in Boston. By comparison, some 58,000 Boston voters had cast ballots by noon in 2006.

via online.wsj.com