What Labor Day Means: Has It Been Forgotten? Sadly, Yes! :(
Today is Labor Day, a holiday first developed in the 1880s to honor the contributions of American workers to the development of our economy!
Workers then were in the process, a long struggle, to develop labor union organizations to represent the interest of workers, something bitterly fought by corporations and government, as a "conspiracy in restraint of trade!"
Only slowly, starting with the administration of Theodore Roosevelt at the beginning of the 20th century, did labor begin to be treated with dignity and respect, but still with many setbacks during the conservative 1920s!
During the Great Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, labor union organizations finally gained acceptance as partners in collective bargaining, but remained the "enemy" in the South and in many interior states across the nation!
Labor unions at one point had one third of all workers, and their influence led to state and federal legislation that made life better for union workers, as well as non union workers! Their peak could be said to be in the 1960s and early 1970s, followed by a long period of rapid decline in influence, particularly due to the administration of Ronald Reagan, ironically a labor leader himself (the Screen Actors Guild)!
Today, organized labor has only about 12 percent of the labor force as members, and workers in general have seen backwards steps in relations with their employers, particularly in these difficult economic times of the Great Recession! 
Labor is now struggling to be more significant, and to help promote the agenda of the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party, but ironically, many workers continue to avoid voting, or find the emotional appeal of the Republican party on issues such as gay rights, abortion, illegal immigration, and Islamophobia as their major motivation, a sad development!
So the work of the labor movement, which is always bad mouthed by conservatives and Republicans, remains a challenge for the future!
An Important Step Long Overdue! Massive Public Works Programs Promoted To Accomplish Economic Revival!
President Obama, belatedly, is coming out for a massive investment in public works projects, to expand and renovate the infrastructure of the United States!
He will announce on Wednesday the promotion of $50 billion investment on long term construction projects on roads, rail lines, and airport runways!
The projects would be over six years, with the goal being 150,000 miles of roads, 4,000 miles of railways, and 150 miles of airport runways. The investment would be over six years, with more funding as the years went by!
The problem is to gain Congressional backing, which means, unfortunately, it is unlikely any action will be taken this year, and should the Republicans win control of Congress, maybe they will refuse to support such legislation at all!
So the future of public works is debatable, just at a time when it is so urgent!
The New Deal concept of Franklin D. Roosevelt to promote public works improvement programs is essential for a long term revival from the Great Recession!
The Tea Party: Right Wing Billionaire Bankrollers! :(
Many average Americans wish to believe that the Tea Party Movement is just a group of ordinary Americans who "want their country back"!
What these people do not realize is that they are being exploited and stirred into action by billionaires who have no concern for anything, but their own wealth and power!
As an article in the New Yorker by Jane Mayer demonstrated last week, and as further explained by Frank Rich of the New York Times, the real manipulators behind the Tea Party Movement are Rupert Murdoch of Fox News Channel, and two brothers, David and Charles Koch, with the two brothers wealthier than any Americans except Bill Gates and Warren Buffett!
The Koch brothers' father helped to finance and promote the John Birch Society, born in the late 1950s, and the idea of corporate interests fighting government "interference" goes back to the American Liberty League, which opposed Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal as "socialism"!
The American Prosperity Foundation is bankrolled by the Koch brothers, and they are against taxes, corporate regulations, organized labor, and government "handouts" to the poor, unemployed, ill, and elderly!
They are behind the uproar about the so called "Ground Zero" mosque, and sponsored the Glenn Beck rally at the Washington mall this past weekend!
David Koch ran for Vice President on the Libertarian line in 1980, and he came out against Social Security, federal regulatory agencies, "welfare" programs, the FBI, the CIA, and public schools! The brothers are promoting denial of global warming, and work against the Environmental Protection Agency!
Republicans in office and running for office have picked up much of the agenda of the Koch brothers and Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch! Apologies for BP having to pay a so called "slush fund" for the damage it has wrought, and willingness to run up deficits to cut taxes for the rich, but not provide extended unemployment compensation or other programs for the average American who is suffering through this Great Recession, are examples of the agenda of these billionaires affecting our politics!
It is essential that Barack Obama and the Democrats fight these interests by making average Americans realize how they are being bamboozled by extremely wealthy people who look down upon them with disdain!
The Word “Radical” And American Presidents: An Abused Term!
President Barack Obama has been called "radical" by many opponents because he had the "gall" to tackle tough issues, including Health Care Reform and Financial Reform, and to take bold stands on many other issues in his first 19 months in office!
Somehow, if a President takes leadership and tries to make life better for the citizens of this nation, he is labeled by those who want no change, and to keep an elite wealthy group in control of government, as being extreme--and the words "Socialist", "Communist", "Fascist", "Nazi", "Liberal", "Progressive", and any other term that can be thrown at him that is derogatory in nature is utilized!
So therefore, Abraham Lincoln was "radical" because he dared to challenge the South's secession from the Union, and moved to abolish slavery!
So Theodore Roosevelt was "radical" because he dared to engage the government in regulation of big business; proceeded to promote regulation of food and drugs; promoted conservation and the environment; and became the first President to see labor and working people as a group that should be considered as having basic rights!
Woodrow Wilson was "radical" because he moved to regulate corporations by anti trust legislation and the creation of the Federal Trade Commission; created a national banking system through the Federal Reserve Act; and promoted the first national labor laws!
Franklin D. Roosevelt was "radical" because he promoted government intervention and action to deal with the Great Depression through his New Deal; dared to challenge the power of big business; and promoted the first "safety net" for the poor and the middle classes!
Harry Truman was "radical" because he dared to promote civil rights in the military and in the nation's capital, and suggested the importance of health care and education on a national level!
Dwight D. Eisenhower was "radical" because he dared to intervene with federal troops at Little Rock to enforce federal court orders on school integration, and promoted federal intervention in setting education standards nationwide!
John F. Kennedy was "radical" because he promoted civil rights, federal expansion of education initiatives, and suggested a Medicare system for the elderly of our nation!
Lyndon B. Johnson was "radical" for promoting the Great Society programs in civil rights, health care, education, the environment, consumer protection, and the War on Poverty!
Richard Nixon was "radical" for promoting advancements on the environment, consumer protection, labor protections, and other domestic reforms!
If these actions are "radical", we need more of them, and more Presidents having the guts that these men and President Obama has had!
Understand, this is NOT saying that all of these Presidents did not have faults and shortcomings, and that they cannot be criticized for these areas of failure!
Lincoln violated civil liberties during the Civil War; Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were white supremacists; FDR tried to "pack" the Supreme Court, and interned Japanese Americans during World War II; Truman is blamed by many for starting the Red Scare to protect his administration; Eisenhower is judged as slow to react in the area of civil rights, before sensing a need to intervene at Little Rock to back federal court orders; Kennedy is perceived as ineffective in accomplishing much of his domestic programs; Johnson is interpreted as promoting too many reforms without careful consideration as to their long range effect; and Nixon is seen as violating civil liberties, and as crooked in using power, leading up to Watergate!
Obama has been criticized as being too moderate by many progressives and liberals, and as too slow to react against conservative attacks!
But all of these Presidents made a long range impact on America, and should be acknowledged for such "radical" change!
The 111th Congress’ Successes Are Magnificent, Greatest Since 1965-1966! The Democrats And President Obama Must Spread The Message! :)
The Democratic Party has accomplished a proud record of achievements that should be enough to keep Republican gains down during the midterm election of 2010, but they have not been able to transmit these successes adequately to the American people!
It is now the job of President Obama and all Democratic officeholders and candidates to promote, hail, endorse, and defend a record unmatched by any Congress since the 1960s! 
The only Congresses that could be seen as having accomplished MORE than the 111th Congress are the 73rd Congress under Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1934), and the 89th Congress under Lyndon B. Johnson (1965-1966)!
This Congress, under Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has enacted much pathbreaking legislation, but it will take years to feel the full impact of what they have done for the American people!
Among the accomplishments are the following (not an exhaustive list):
1. Passage of the largest stimulus package in history, which prevented a worst economic downturn, but may not have been enough to turn the economy around as quickly as many hoped for!
2. credit card consumer protection legislation.
3. landmark health care reform legislation.
4. Wall Street regulation.
5. tobacco regulation.
6. reform of contracting in the Pentagon, and the beginning of accountability on wasteful spending.
7. tax cuts for the middle class.
8. an anti age discrimination law.
9. approval by the Senate of two Supreme Court nominees.
10. extension of unemployment compensation after a battle in the Senate.
11. Much other legislation, including on climate change, in the House, but blocked in the Senate!
Many other initiatives were taken by President Obama outside of Congressional activity, and it should be made clear to the American people that the President and his party have worked VERY HARD to change the direction of the country, and deal with the total mess left by the Republicans and George W. Bush!
But to expect total success and a complete turnaround of years of damage in less than two years is unrealistic, so the Democrats must play hardball, and get the message out that a return to the Republican policies through an attempted repeal of the 111th Congress's accomplishments would be counterproductive, as well as destructive, of the interests and the future of the American people!
Robert Gibbs, Barack Obama, And The “Professional” Left!
President Obama's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has made a lot of enemies recently between his comment that the Democrats could lose Congress, and now his criticism of the "Professional" Left, which he says would not be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was President, and would not be happy unless there was no Pentagon budget, and we adopted the Canadian Health Care system!
It is clear that Gibbs believes in being blunt, which provokes many on the left, and some have called for him to be fired. But this is not the solution to the issue of his outspokenness!
Rather, it is important that the Obama Administration and the cable channels (particularly MSNBC) work to understand each other!
It is the job of the cable channels and others on the progressive side of the political spectrum to push and prod the administration into accomplishing as much of the progressive agenda as is humanly possible!
They are not the enemies of Barack Obama, but rather are disappointed that he has not gone further than he has on many issues, and has been too concerned much of the time with his conservative critics, often caving in on many issues to try to gain support from Republicans, who unfortunately, have no interests in any cooperation or bipartisanship! Instead, they unleash vicious, hateful rhetoric designed to divide the nation, and undermine efforts at economic recovery and international understanding!
But at the same time, Barack Obama HAS BEEN a disappointment in many areas!
Obama has not closed down Guantanamo Naval Base, as he had pledged, and moved terrorist suspects elsewhere, as he had stated he would do within one year!
He has allowed his government to deport more illegal immigrants than his predecessor, George W. Bush, most of them not in any way criminal, but here without legal documentation!
He has allowed soldiers who are valuable to the military but gay in sexual orientation to be dismissed, while the government procrastinates on ending "don't ask, don't tell"!
He compromised and gave up on a "public option" on health care, so that his health care plan is far from ideal!
His administration failed to focus on the creation of enough jobs through public works programs, the rebuilding of the infrastructure of America, and the economic stimulus has been inadequate. But Obama has refused so far to fight for another economic stimulus, which is sorely needed for economic recovery! Instead, the likelihood is a double dip recession, exactly what conservatives and the GOP want to happen so as to gain political points!
Obama has escalated our war in Afghanistan, and casualties have mounted, without any real evidence that any progress is being made in that war torn country!
He has failed to accomplish any progress on the matter of global warming and climate change, despite all the right rhetoric, and this is an essential topic that must be dealt with!
His response to the BP Oil Spill Crisis was lacking in leadership early on, and has done a lot of damage to his public opinion ratings!
He has allowed the issue of border security to be used against him by his slow response to the need for more National Guardsmen, only now signing legislation for a beefing up of troops at the border, and with the need for many more than have been provided for in the legislation!
Obama has disappointed in his diplomacy on the Middle East, antagonizing many Jews by his seemingly siding with the Palestinians, although in reality that is not the case, but perception often matters more than reality!
These are just ten issues that trouble progressives and liberals, and it is the job of the so called "Professional" Left to hold the President's "feet to the fire", in order to prod the President toward his "friends" and his own inclinations!
But the answer is not to fire Robert Gibbs, but come to the conclusion that the criticism is well meant, that the "Professional" Left wants only the best for Obama and for the nation, and that a truce needs to be declared!
Instead of sniping and infighting, what is needed is to do what Franklin D. Roosevelt did in the third year of his first term--turn to the left and accomplish his greatest goals in office, including the Social Security Act, which as said in the next earlier entry, celebrates its 75th Anniversary today!
Social Security’s 75th Anniversary: A Moment To Rejoice! :)
Social Security reached 75 years old today, and it is a time to rejoice!
Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed through this landmark legislation as part of the Second New Deal, and it is often thought to be the greatest single accomplishment of the many attributed to FDR during his 12 years plus as President!
Not only did it give dignity and a source of security to the elderly, but it also protected widows, orphans, and the handicapped, which many Americans today are not aware of!
It took us to 1935, long after Germany, France and Great Britain had developed a system of protection of the elderly and the needy, to accomplish this legislation!
It made getting older something that was not dreaded, but appreciated!
Social Security has never missed a payment to anyone, and it has been a tremendous success, and yet there are many younger Americans who are convinced that the system will disappear before they reach the age of entitlement!
That will NOT happen, but obviously, there will have to be reform of Social Security, due to the large baby boom generation now retiring, and the fact that now there are only two to three workers for every recipient, while it was more like 9-1 back then in the early years of the reform.
We have already had one extension in the age of full benefits from 65 to 66 and 67 based on birth year, and it is obvious that it will have to be extended for the long term to older ages of 68, 69, and 70, based on decade of birth.
Also, the amount of income, on which social security taxes will be assessed, will have to rise as well, to all income, as is the case with Medicare!
But this successful program cannot be allowed to disappear or collapse, so eventually, measured reform as in 1983 will be enacted!
As a scholar on FDR and the New Deal, this is a moment to hail both the program and the President who saw what was needed, and brought it about so skillfully!
So let's salute the anniversary and the President who transformed this country in so many ways, but most importantly in the area of Social Security!
Pettiness To The Extreme: Michelle Obama Vacation In Spain! :(
It seems impossible for Barack Obama to do anything that will not come under attack, no matter how petty it is!
The fact that First Lady Michelle Obama decided to have some personal vacation time with daughter Sasha, 9 years old, in Spain, and with a few friends and their children, is coming under attack!
The New York Daily News, a true "rag", compared what Michelle Obama is doing to Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France during the French Revolution, who supposedly said about the masses: "Let them eat cake!". Marie Antoinette was later executed, along with her husband, King Louis XVI!
What a preposterous, ridiculous comparison! Michelle Obama is paying her own way, as are her friends! The only expense for the government is Air Force Two and the secret service detail, but that is unavoidable anywhere the First Lady and children go !
The Daily News has exaggerated the facts and details of the trip, and supposedly, because many people are unemployed, the First Lady is not entitled to a vacation!
Well, then why is Congress taking time off, and why do any Americans take off time in the summer break? This is totally ridiculous, and NO ONE needs to apologize going on vacation, because others are unemployed and cannot go on vacation!
We have reached the point of being preposterous to the extreme, and this is not the first time a First Lady has taken vacations away from the President!
And considering the burdens the President has, more than any since Franklin D. Roosevelt, he need not apologize for any time off he takes, since it would never match the time taken by George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan!
The answer is that there should be no response to such outrageous, petty attacks, and let the critics stew in their poisonous venom!
Exactly Three Months To The Midterm Elections! The Most Crucial Midterm Since 1934!
Today marks exactly three months to the midterm Congressional elections of 2010!
Every midterm election is, of course, significant, but looking at the economic and political situation that exists now, it could be argued that this is the most important such midterm election since 1934, when Franklin D. Roosevelt had begun the New Deal to tackle the Great Depression, and the conservative and Republican opposition was bitterly attacking it as a failure, and calling for a return to the conservative economic policies which had caused the massive downturn in the early 1930s!
The future of the nation was at stake then, and it is similar to what is faced now! If the Republican party were somehow to gain control of the Congress, it would likely lead to a total meltdown of the economy, and further deterioration of the political system, leaving us in threat of total anarchy!
This is due to the fact that unlike any other Presidency, the aim of the opposition party is total destruction of the Obama programs and policies, and no willingness to accept the responsibility of shared commitment to the public good!
If we think that the economy is in sad shape now, imagine a GOP Congress declaring further war on the middle and lower classes, and using social wedges to divide American society, and appealing to the lowest common denominator of hate and prejudice!
This is not the time for anyone who cares about progressive or liberal causes to sit on their hands because the Obama Administration has not accomplished all of the goals it set for itself in the 2008 election campaign!
Perfection is not possible, but if committed people do not vote, they will bring about a scenario they will regret for many years! The need to vote is absolutely essential!