It’s Not About Left v. Right. It’s About Right v. Wrong.
Geographically and politically different, these AFSCME brothers agree on re-electing Barack Obama
Corp. Joe Bailey, a police officer at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., is a member of Local 1381 (Council 28) and a member of the council’s executive board. He’s conservative and he’s supporting Pres. Barack Obama.
Joe:
I don’t agree with President Obama on everything (like U.S. intervention in foreign conflicts, or his immigration policy) but I’ll support President Obama in this election because he’s more interested in supporting public services than Mitt Romney is. It shows with his policies on health care. He’s trying to take care of the general public, making sure everybody has the ability to get proper medical coverage. Romney is clearly against that – against what he calls Obamacare.
The impression I get from Romney is that he’s a lot more interested in big business. He wants to give more tax cuts to large corporations. I understand it’s needed to keep the corporations here, but not to the detriment of our society.
Privatization
Romney also supports privatizing public services. How can you privatize a facility that is there to preserve public safety? In our state, there has been talk of privatizing prisons. Protecting the public by locking up those who break the law, and making money off of them for being locked up, is a severe conflict of interest. Are the sentences going to be fair?
Public Safety Funding
Romney also wants to cut spending for a lot of public services that Obama supports. For instance, Obama openly supported a grant program called COPS. Our small department applied for two COPS grants through the federal government back in 2000. When they got it, the money created new jobs, and I was hired.
The grant program gives smaller departments the ability to provide better enforcement by providing more police officers on the street. As a police officer, it means instead of working a shift alone, there’s another officer working with me so I have support if something gets violent. Until we were able to hire more officers, it was routine for one officer to go on a call.
Every year the COPS grants have been on the cutting board because of the recession, but it’s been cut only minimally. Romney’s into slashing a lot of these types of programs.
Retirement Security
I am also concerned that Romney wants people to invest their retirement money in private accounts. I disagree with that. Those 401(k) accounts are a lot more volatile than Social Security and pensions because they are dependent on the stock market.
One of the main reasons I went into public service is because of the guarantee of a pension. Right after my grandfather retired, the stock market dropped and he ended up losing thousands in his retirement account.
I know now what my retirement is going to be based on what my wages are now, and the way the system is set up. I feel a lot more secure about where my money is going, and how much I can count on when I do retire.
Obama is not perfect, but Romney is far worse. Romney’s policies gut public services. I know Obama supports the jobs we do.
Saul Schniderman is a registration specialist in the copyright office of the Library of Congress and president of the Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910. He is also president of AFSCME Council 26. He’s progressive, and he’s supporting Pres. Barack Obama.
Saul:
President Obama is not only the best hope for America, but he’s probably our only hope. He has a vision of America shaped by his experience as a community organizer. It’s a vision of fairness, equity and a respect for diversity and human rights.
Health Care
AFSCME has always supported the overhaul of our health care system. I support President Obama’s efforts to reduce the number of uninsured people in America. Why are we one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t establish health care as a social right?
The centerpiece of Mitt Romney’s campaign – opposing the Affordable Care Act – is so mean-spirited. If he’s against Obamacare, he’s against the effort to insure tens of millions of Americans, including children. It’s shameful! And what is it that he is against? Doing away with denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions? Extending health care to young adults until they are age 26? Reproductive health care services for women? Insuring tens of millions of people who are currently uninsured? He’s against that?
Romney and the GOP keep saying that states know better than the federal government. It’s a bogus issue. A person living in Mississippi or Massachusetts should have the same basic right to health care.
Taxes
Romney and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan want to extend the Bush tax cuts. They believe in the failed “trickle down” theory of wealth that failed under Reagan. Today America is famous, or infamous, for its economic inequality. We need a more fair taxation policy to level the playing field.
Corporations should be forced to pay their fair share. Despite the bad economic times, their profits have been astronomical. CEO pay has skyrocketed. Romney is the corporate candidate and he is not shy about saying so. He believes that what’s good for corporations is what’s good for America. Anyone who’s ever worked in the private sector for a corporation knows what their goal is: maximum profit for their shareholders. That’s what Romney represents: profit over people.
Retirement Security
I’m a federal employee and I have a decent pension. But now the federal employee retirement system, like those in the states, is under attack and we are being used as scapegoats.
A worker who spends 30 years or more of their lives at a job has a right to a decent pension. Romney is taking his cue from the Republican governors across the country who claim falsely that our pensions are the reason why the economy is suffering and somehow, by cutting our pensions, the economy is going to get better. We all need to stand our ground and protect our safety net. This election gives us a real choice to do just that.
I do not agree with President Obama on everything. But in my mind, he still represents the hope for America that he talked about four years ago when he said, ‘Yes we can!’
