A Ruthless Assault
From the President, Gerald W. McEntee
Emboldened by what they consider to be a clear mandate — despite the fact that the 2004 Presidential election was one of the closest in the nation's history — the Bush administration is putting the finishing touches on plans that will greatly harm working families.
We have been under attack since George W. Bush moved into the White House. But with the start of his second term, his actions have taken on a ruthlessness I have never seen during my years in the labor movement.
Dismantling Social Security is at the top of the President's second-term "to do" list. We've all heard his claims that the system will be bankrupt by the year 2042. But as this administration has done on countless occasions on countless issues, it is not telling the truth. The Congressional Budget Office projects that Social Security will be able to pay 100 percent of benefits until 2052 and at least 80 percent after that.
Clearly, the administration is creating fear — this time to frighten us into supporting the President's scheme to privatize Social Security. Privatization will put our retirement security at risk, while lining the pockets of the Wall Street investment firms. As a result, the federal budget deficit will rise higher as Wall Street grows richer.
THE REAL 'DEFICIT.' If just one of Bush's tax cuts for the rich were repealed, a post-2052 shortfall would vanish. In any case, it's not Social Security — but the federal budget — that's in serious deficit.
Worse, Bush has not included in his budget the cost of privatizing Social Security or his tax cuts or the Iraq war. To make ends meet, the President wields his ax against all kinds of critical programs everyday Americans depend on. Wealthy people get the works, while working people simply get worked over. For our union, these cuts portend the worst. They bring with them the state and local cuts that could affect millions of people and lead to the immediate loss of AFSCME members' jobs.
While George Bush has been busy protecting his tax cuts, two Republican governors have come out swinging against collective bargaining. In the first full day of his term, Indiana's Mitch Daniels canceled the state's 15-year-old collective bargaining order, leaving nearly 25,000 state employees unable to negotiate pay, benefits and work rules. Daniels also issued executive orders making existing labor contracts invalid.
Missouri's newly elected Matt Blunt rescinded the hard-won collective bargaining executive order signed by former Gov. Bob Holden (D). But Blunt didn't stop there: He is refusing to honor binding contracts already negotiated by AFSCME members. Oklahoma legislators are trying to repeal our limited collective bargaining law that went into effect in November 2004. And we are still fighting Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) over his decision to take away state employees' bargaining rights last year.
FIGHT & KEEP FIGHTING! We have worked very hard for the progress we made during the last decade, and we're tired of fighting, tired of struggling. But tired or not, we must fight back like we've never fought before.
That's why I'm asking you — right now — to go to Act Now. Sign the AFSCME petition opposing Social Security privatization and telling President Bush how you feel about his Draconian budget cuts. Then sign up your co-workers and friends to receive the petition so they, too, can set Bush straight.
But that's just the beginning. We have launched an aggressive campaign, using letters, phone calls and the media, to make sure this administration knows that when it comes to their attacks on working people, Nov. 2 didn't change a thing. We will continue to stand our ground.
