The First 100 Days: No Laughing Matter
With his continued assaults on the interests of working families, President Bush has proved that even if his language is garbled, his politics are all too clear.
By Janet Rivera
Contemptively. It's a "word" that George W. Bush might very well use to describe how he's approached the concerns of America's working families in his first 100 days as President.
Though his twisted syntax and poor grammar may be worth a chuckle or two, Bush's policies are no laughing matter. From rescinding a strict ergonomic standard to pleasing pro-business forces with anti-union organizing tactics to abolishing labor/management partnerships at the federal level, the first 50 days of the Bush Presidency — as reported in the last issue of Public Employee — were loaded with assaults on working families. Union brothers and sisters from across the country could only hope that the blows would soften and the civility of which Bush so often spoke would become a reality.
Alas, that did not happen. The attacks were unrelenting over the subsequent 50 days. From the Bush budget to his huge and millionaire-friendly tax cut to the formation of a privatization-prone Social Security Commission, it was clear that "compassionate" had been dropped from the campaign call for "compassionate conservatism."
COLD CUTS. The President's priorities were showcased in the budget he submitted to Congress. The centerpiece of the Bush budget, of course, is his $1.35 trillion tax cut. But as egregious as that giveaway is, it's not the only part of the budget that places the health, wealth and safety of working families in jeopardy.
Not surprisingly, under the President's plan, $600 million would be slashed from the Labor Department, arguably the federal agency most important to working families. The department's assistance to local job training programs has been earmarked for a 10 percent cut.
A number of popular, effective, worker-friendly programs — from children's and minority health efforts to educational and environmental endeavors — are slated for major cuts under the Bush plan. Such progressive Clinton-backed initiatives as putting more teachers in the classroom and more police on the street were particularly vulnerable to the ax.
President Bush's misplaced priorities are not lost on AFSCME members. Doug Moore, president of Local 1632 (Ohio Council 8), sees it this way: "From his huge tax cut that would benefit millionaires to his strange budget priorities, Bush makes it clear who his friends are. Working Americans and like-minded members of the U.S. Congress must stop the administration from going forward with dangerous policies."
RISKY BUSINESS. One such policy vehicle that seems to be on a collision course is Social Security. The peril lies in Bush's propensity for privatization. To further it, he recently formed a blue ribbon commission charged explicitly with developing a plan to replace Social Security's guaranteed benefits with individual investment accounts.
If such a plan were implemented, it would bring with it huge changeover costs. An individual investment-account plan funded with just two percentage points of the payroll-contribution tax would take more than $1 trillion away from the Social Security Trust Fund in the first decade alone — a reduction that would only worsen the system's financing and, unless additional resources were committed, would require deep cuts in benefits.
Even under the rosiest of circumstances, the Bush proposal could require program benefits to be cut by an average of 41 percent, and it could open the door to raising the retirement age to 70 or higher. (Bush declared that he would consider that drastic move.)
"For those of us living on a fixed income, the plan to privatize Social Security poses a serious threat to retirement security," says Alma C. Osborne, the president of the New York City Retiree Chapter 37. "Social Security is far too important to today's retirees and to America's working families to propose changes that will surely put it at risk."
In fact, President Bush's first 100 days in office suggest that much is at risk — now and over the next three and a half years. But as AFSCME has proved throughout its history, its members can make a difference. To start, union members must make a clear distinction between words and actions because, as the nation has learned, the President frequently has problems saying what he means. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what words he uses or misuses; the only thing that really matters is what he does.
