Health Care Reform-Now or Never?

It has been a while since I have posted here and I apologize for that. Now, with the discussion of Health Care Reform, is the time to speak up. The President has outlined, in my opinion, a good plan. I would have liked a universal system personally but with the climate and the resurection of Joe McCarthy and the John Birch society; that seems to be a non-starter.
I think the fight has to be about the plan the President outlined. All of us, whether in the Labor Movement or not have needed to get insurance reined in for years. It may not be all we want but it is a sizable step in the correct direction. I believe there is a strong and viable public option avaialble and it will help those who have nothing. We must get this passed and the way to do that is to explain our postion clearly and with out stooping to the tactics of the insurance lobby and the groups that want this admisnistration to fail.
Let me be clear, the groups that organized the shouters at the town halls in August have been on the record that they want Obama and the Democrats to fail. It makes perfect sense because this is one of those "FDR" moments for the Democrats. FDR gave us Social Security and the National Labor Relations Act among many other things. Those acts changed the landscape of society in this country from that point to today. The Republicans have suffered defeats in the last two election cycles so they have pulled out the "oppose anything from the other side" playbook.
This may make you angry but hold on a minute. The issues confronting us as a nation are not unlike the ones facing the nation during FDR's first term or even second term. WE have people briddled with staggering debt, lose of pensions, job loss and bankruptcy. Compound those issues with high medical bills and you have a toxic situation that is terminal. The President and the Democrats are trying to address those issues not as a politcal party but as a neighbor helping a neighbor. The Republicans want to oppose that?
The issues we face are not the ones you play politics with unless you have some hidden agenda. If there is such a hidden agenda then it is one that will destroy the fabric of this nation and will leads us to ruin. We must stop all of this nonsense and in the words of the President, "Put away these childish things." We need to stand up and say to the insurance companies that you had a good run but your time is passing. You can adapt or get left behind.

Update: Wal Mart and the Election

I do not normally look to articles to re-enforce my own opinions after I have put them out there to be discussed. I usually have already done some reading and form my opinion and pass it along. However, this time I came across and article by Daniel Gross in Newsweek about 3 days after I posted my opinion on Wal Mart's indoctrination of its' employees during this election cycle. I have put the link to the article at the bottom. It does say that we are having issues in the labor movement with membership and that we do not carry as much weight as we used to in the past. Albeit I disagree with his summation on our situation but we still wield a great deal of power. I would ask him to attend the labor Caucasus at the State and National Democratic Conventions and he might have a different view. With that being said, he hit it right on the nose with what Wal Mart is doing. I do not write this as a vindication of my opinion but to provide evidence that Wal Mart Executives are, for lack of a better term, evil for what they are trying to do to their workers. It is because of this evil we, as labor, need to humble them. Those workers deserve better for all of the profits they have made. On the discussion of profits, I found it almost hysterical if not completely ironic that Wal Mart had the best profits while a Democrat resided in White House. I will leave it to you read the article and draw your own conclusions.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/150945

If you have an issue with getting to the link because they do expire, go to www.newsweek.com and type in Unions in the search window.

New Polling Data

Last night I was watching Countdown with Keith Oberlmann and I saw a segment he did, I want to say it was the number one or two story, about this individual that has a different way of looking at poll data. This man, and I do not mean to leave out his name, does baseball analysis and has been very successful doing it. He said that the Chicago Cubs would finish in a certain place but also that they would be 72-90. He hit both of them. In the baseball world, a number of people look to this guy to give them insight on how teams will do. He has brought that type of insight and knowledge into political polling. He indicates that the election will come down to a 296.3 for Obama and 241.7 for McCain in the electoral college. Now, we all know that you can not have a person that is .3 or .7 but this is an average of a number of polls and some complicated math. I invite you to go and look at the research at the link below. I have been looking at polling data for some time but this is like nothing I have ever seen.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

Tough Race for Noriega

I have done some research on the latest polls for the US Senate Race in Texas. Rick Noriega is starting to fall behind John Cornyn by about 13 points in the latest Rasmussen Poll. Now, this was taken on Jume 25th out of a cample of 500 people. It is not clear if this was likely or registered voters. The prospect of unseating a sitting US Senator is a tough prospect in any state but in Texas it is even tougher. There is a glimmer of hope for the Democratic challenger. He has the overwhelming support of Labor and the Texas AFL-CIO. His opponent has voted against many of the items that would help Texas families and working families. Noriega also has the good fortune that George Bush is not at the top of the ticket. We will see if Cornyn can win a race without the help of a Bush being at the top of a ticket. It will be the first time he has run for state wide public office with out Bush on the ballot.

Wal Mart and The Election

People often ask me why I do not shop in Wal Mart and some even give me a hard time because one happened to be partially Union built. I always tell them the same thing, "I will not do business with people that want to act like the "landlord" over their employees and violate their rights." Now, the Wall Street Journal has given me more evidence of the absolute tyrannical way Wal Mart will operate with regards to its' employees. I read that Wal Mart and SEIU were working "together" to push congress for a a national health care plan. I wonder if Wal Mart knows that the person they are fearful of getting president might actually be the one to get them a national health care plan? I would imagine they do which brings me to may next point. Why would anyone want to do business with a company that is willing to destroy itself in order to keep a Union out? I have wonder if the leadership of that company is either sane or has any moral fiber in its collective body. Now the article said that the company did not completely break the law but witnesses state that it was clear to get the interpretation. I wonder what Wal Mart will do next? They have already had tapes of top executives acting out to prove their repeated thoughts on the disparagement of women employees, they are repeatedly being called down for violating child labor laws and it was proven they were and continuing to do business with sweat shops in South Pacific Territories of the United States. I hear a number of people that say they can not shop any where else. I say that is wrong. In my own house hold we decided to test it out and after a month it was cheaper to by groceries at a local grocery store (United) than Wal Mart by about 50-60 dollars over that month. I feel that some form of action is needed against Wal Mart other than just picketing or e-mailing their corporate office. I think a large amount of Union Members from Locals of different Unions should all show up at a Wal Mart wearing their Unions t-shirt or shirt of some kind and enter the Wal Mart and spread out. Walk around for 10-15 minutes and all meet back outside with out buying one thing. This should continue for about the next month. Then the letter campaigns could start showing how really stupid Wal Mart executives really can be. I do not say stupid to cause some issue with name calling. Stupid is having the knowledge and not doing better with it.
The Moral of this-Union Members need to REALLY boycott Wal Mart and cause them as much grief as possible. They do not have the right to tell their employees how to vote.

100 Days Out-What are the Numbers?!?!?!?!

We have been hearing a lot about the numbers and then see McCain camp go completely negative. I believe the race card was actually played by McCain because he brought a meaning, or their meaning, to what Obama said. I started to wonder why the "straight talk" express the guy who was going to run a campaign that discussed the issue was starting this so early. I looked around and found some polls and I can see why now. I have reviewed the four pols that normally report. They are the combination of the state-by state polls, Survey USA, Rasmussen and Quinnipiac. The purpose of the poll was to determine the electoral college on November 4th. Obama leads McCain 352-186. Lest we forget, that is the only number that matters in presidential races on November 4th. I have put the link below for your own review. While this would not be the 480 to 57 margin FDR received in 1932 it is substantial considering the last 2 election cycles. Obama confirmed last week with Union Activists on a conference call that it will be his goal to get the Employee Free Choice Act passed. That lead Wal Mart to make sure there employees knew the "dangers" of Obama becoming president. I will have more on that later. I am nervous personally about the election because I can see a great deal of the things that the labor movement has fought to get on the horizon; so I can see what we can lose-FOREVER. Please get out and vote and take a friend with you. While you are at it, with such high gas prices, as them to get a friend and so on and car pool.

http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/general-election/electoral-college-results.html

The passing of Tim Russert

I was not around when "Meet the Press" first aired 61 years ago I am not as familiar with the previous hosts as some of my older friends. However, when I was starting to pay attention to politics I would see Tim Russert every Sunday morning. He was, in my opinion, a class act. I remember the interview with David Duke, the reputed leader of the Klu Klux Klan in Louisiana, and how Tim Russert put him on the spot. That was a great interview because he cut through all of the stuff and got to the meat of the matter. I think he asked the question every one, except maybe the Klan, want to ask and that to me was the Tim Russert I saw every Sunday after that. He asked hard yet fair questions of those he interviewed and gave them time to answer the questions. His ability of looking at the political landscape was remarkable. I sometimes felt he must have been reading my mind when he asked questions.
With his passing I feel there is a void because I feel I lost the person that asked my questions. I, like many of his peers, feel somewhat cheated that he will not be here to see this generations Kennedy/Nixon election. I will miss his insightful musings of the election and his ability to keep me tuned in to the process. While I might not need the latter I did need the former.
I, along with the rest of the country, send my most heartfelt condolences to his family. I was especially impressed with the way his son, Luke, came out on the Today show and showed such poise. Luke is an oak to steal a line from Tombstone. Tim Russert and his wife have raised a remarkable son which I only hope to copy. Regardless of the accolades bestowed on Tim Russert for his work, I seem to think he must be the most proud of the son he helped raise. I know if I were him and either of my boys had shown such poise I would be proud. God speed Tim Russert and may you rest in peace. We will miss you.