The Party Line

Howard Zinn, hero to historians and progressives, has died. He’ll long be remembered for his unwavering commitment to justice and equality. I’m certainly not the only one whose life was changed as a highschool student by a brush with his “A People’s History.” Just two months ago, a documentary based on “A People’s History” premiered on the History Channel. After his death, I felt the need to spend a while reading what others had to say about him, and I thought I’d share some of the most interesting reads.

First, here’s a touching account from Alica Walker, author of the Color Purple, who was a student of Zinn’s at Spelman college in Atlanta in the 60s, published in the Boston Globe. Please take a few minutes and read it.

Here’s another account by a student of his, published in the San Francisco Chronicle, telling the story of how Zinn chose principle over tenue.

Lastly here’s an an article Zinn publish in The Nation in 1960 about the civil rights movement at the Spelman that shows what Zinn believed at his core.

As Bob Herbert shares in the New York Times, Zinn was

“chagrined by the present state of affairs, but undaunted. “If there is going to be change, real change,” he said, “it will have to work its way from the bottom up, from the people themselves. That’s how change happens.”

That’s a lesson from Zinn that’s always worth holding on to.

The Obama administration announced that tomorrow’s State of the Union address will include a call for a freeze on all discretionary spending (almost all, military spending is of course still fair game). Funny I distinctly remember voting against the candidate who supported an across the board spending freeze back in 2008. And this wasn’t a subtle policy difference buried deep in some position paper. We all remember the famous “Hatchet Vs. Scalpel” debate, but in case you don’t, here’s the money shot.

Obama’s impersonation of Reagan (impersonating Hoover) is appropriately getting criticism from some respected sources.

Here’s Robert Reich calling it “another win for Wall Street, another loss for Main Street.”

Paul Krugman calls it “appalling on every level.”

And Rachel Maddow interviews the administration’s token lefty economist, Jared Bernstein, who offers a pretty unconvincing nudge-nudge, wink-wink defense of something we all know he can’t really support.

So, just to review, in the past week: a pathetically lame Democratic candidate loses what should have been a layup election in Massachusetts (which her campaign managed to misspell in a TV ad), the Supreme Court decided it was OK to insert “and corporations” as words four and five of the preamble to the Constitution, and Barack Obama publicly abandoned his campaign to rehabilitate John Maynard Keynes just as it was beginning work.

Which brings me to “The Simpsons.” There’s a moment in the Simpsons movie when Bart says to Homer “This is the worst day of my life.” Homer replies “You mean ‘worst day of your life so far…’”

If the possibility of losing any hope of healthcare reform – even piecemeal and imperfect healthcare reform – isn’t bad enough, the though of listening to CT Republican party chair Chris Healey’s pompous and exaggerated bombast is even worse. Healey’s words (through a press release) to Connecticut Democrats:

“We are coming to take you on every step of the way to protect our country from your confiscation of our freedom.”

Look, to the victors go the spoils, and I guess the right to say basically whatever floats your boat. And if anyone wants to share with me which of their freedoms has been “confiscated” and by whom, I’m willing to listen.

But the analysis, putting sharp ideological differences aside, is dead wrong. The lesson Republican spin doctors will try to glean from Massachusetts is that the Democrats are of course too far to the left, too ambitious, and so on. They’ll conclude that the Massachusetts election shows that people don’t really want healthcare reform or economic stimulus or anything that they could conceivable label “big government.”

Here’s a different view: give the base of your party something to fight for. A healthcare reform bill without a public option, without medicare expansion, and with an excise tax on the insurance policies of middle class families isn’t going to motivate anyone to go knock on doors.

At Working Families, we’re fortunate enough to have a Massachusetts native as our Communications Director, and in a moment I’ll yield the balance of my time to the right honorable gentleman from City of Beverley, MA (est. 1626). But first, here are my two pieces of advice:

1. Spell the name of the state for which you are running correctly. Look, I’m far from immune to typographical error. But if someone ever gave us million bucks for an ad buy when the future of the country was at stake, I’d make sure we spell check our TV spots before they air.

2. Pick a fight. People are suffering and our side keeps caving in to insurance companies and Wall Street. Let the public watch Mitch McConnell read from a phonebook on the floor of the Senate while millions of Americans have no health insurance. Let Wall Street CEO’s cry about having their usurious predatory products regulated by a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. People will have a better idea which side their on when the battle lines are clearly drawn.

Now, for a little more local anecdotal evidence, Joe:

I grew up in Massachusetts. I’ve still got a bunch of friends there. They all voted enthusiastically for Barack Obama — and many volunteered and gave money. But this year enthusiasm for Coakley was almost non-existent. Some voted for her, grudgingly — some not at all. What’s the difference? They were disappointed with the healthcare reform bill in the Senate. Some called it an ‘insurance company give-away.’ And they felt that Democrats hadn’t delivered enough to deserve their votes.

I don’t agree with the logic at work here. It seems to me that with only 59 Democrats in the Senate, they’re likely to only pass what they can get Olympia Snowe and Joe Lieberman to agree to. But it’s hard to argue with the sentiment.

If Dems want to hold seats in 2010 — and they want to win votes from people like my friends in Massachusetts — it’s time to stand up and pick a fight, and to put what are still very large majorities in both houses to work.

Using words like “betrayal” and “broken promises,” union leaders shared their opposition to the “excise tax” in the Senate’s version of healthcare reform with President Obama yesterday.

In fact, the excise tax provision has left progressives and unions feeling deeply conflicted about whether or not the reform legislation could even be called a step in the right direction at all.

While proponents refer to the excise tax as a tax on “Cadillac plans,” union leaders point out that the tax would end up applying to many working class and middle class individuals. The tax applies to health plans that cost more than $8,500 for individuals or more than $23,000 for a family.

The problem is that in our current healthcare system, $8,500 doesn’t necessarily buy you a “Cadillac” plan. The fact that this is pretty much why healthcare reform is needed in the first place seems to be lost on some people. For starters, a small employer pays a lot more than a larger business for the same healthcare plan. Furthermore, overtime, if health insurance costs continue to skyrocket (and under the current Senate plan, there’s no guarantee that they won’t), more and more people would find that their insurance was suddenly over the threshold and would be subject to the tax. (Congratulations! That used Ford Focus you bought three years ago… it’s a Cadillac now!)

Rep. Joe Courtney is waging a courageous battle against the excise tax. He’s gathered some very persuasive data that shows that the tax revenue expected from the excise tax certainly doesn’t come from people who actually drive Cadillacs (except maybe chauffeurs). According to the Congressional Joint Committee on taxation, federal tax receipts from filers earning between $50,000 and $100,000 would increase by $4 billion in 2013. By 2011, the excise tax would amount to an $11 billion tax on families making between $50,000 and $100,000. How much of the excise tax would be paid from people with more than $1 million in income: zilch.

See the data yourself here.

Promises, Promises. Yup, that was the B side to the hit single “Always Something There to Remind Me” by Naked Eyes. It’s also the unofficial theme song of the Working Families AIG Bus Tour.

We all remember the promise that was made: Ok, we’ll give back the money. Sure it took a justly outraged public, news cameras on their lawn, and yes, a bus tour to focus national shame on senior AIG executives who received millions on bonuses after U.S. taxpayers had to rescue their company from ruin.

When we did our bus tour last March, we got plenty of encouragement and an equal amount of criticism (if criticism is what you call it when people threaten to burn down your house). Let’s just say it was met with strong feelings on both sides. Fair enough, it was pretty “out there.” Much of the push back involved some form of the line “they’ve agreed to pay back their bonuses.”

Turns out, to paraphrase the Wojahn Brothers song, (which is an eerily precise allegory): “Oh No They Didn’t!”

Well, most of them didn’t, according to the Washington Post.

That also might be the unofficial theme song of Ken Feinberg, the Obama Administration’s “Special Master” for Executive Compensation, aka, the Pay Czar. Feinberg recently wrapped up his determination for senior executive compensation at the “TARP Seven” – the companies the U.S. Government partly owns as a result of hundreds of billions in taxpayer funds.

Feinberg ultimately couldn’t compel AIG’s senior managers at the notorious financial products division to give back their bonuses. But he did exact what might pass for a pound of flesh on Wall Street in limiting their cash compensation to less than $500,000.

You can read about it in Steven Brill’s piece in the New York Times Magazine.

It’s long, but smart and well worth a read if you want to understand the magnitude of the gap between Wall Street executives and, well, basically everyone else. (e.g. one banker complains about taking compensation in deferred stock payments rather than cash, saying ““A lot of our folks have second and third homes and alimony payments and other obligations that require substantial current cash”).

The piece raises important questions about why we really need to reward (or retain) executives who are such catastrophic failures that they share significant responsibility for ruining the economy. And is there any way to really prevent the “Take The Money And Run” attitude that pervades these big firms. Oh yeah, that is, in fact, the unofficial theme song of the AIG Financial Products Division. But it might be far better to leave the task of “winding down” AIG to a bunch of hungry young MBAs who might do it for pennies on the AIG bonus dollar. The theme song could instead be AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap.”

When I saw Linda McMahon’s latest ad for her U.S. Senate campaign, I was worried that she could put Connecticut progressives in a serious half-nelson. The ad touts McMahon as someone who understands how to create jobs. Her website boasts that she created a company that went from 13 employees to 500.

But it turns out “employees” might be a bit of a stretch. Politico reports that several former wrestlers have come forward with serious charges against McMahon for exploitative business practices, including classifying most wrestlers as “independent contractors” to avoid paying healthcare and social security.

First into the ring: Bruno “The Living Legend” Sammartino. Performing a verbal suplex on McMahon, Sammartino says “I would not vote for her because I know what she contributed to the wrestling world with her husband. The vulgarity, the nudity, the profanity, all that kind of crap — it bothers me.”

The Living Legend then tags 90s female wrestling legend “Chyna” who jumps in with a flying clothesline saying “If there is a race to Capitol Hill, I hope she gets knocked off before she even starts.”

She then tags “Superstar” Billy Graham, who does a nasty pile driver, saying “This campaign is the height of hypocrisy. I believe the voters and citizens in Connecticut deserve to be told the truth. In no way does she have a rightful place in the U.S. Senate. The fact that we were out there experiencing trauma and drawing in untold millions for the company [means] we should have at least had some sort of health insurance.”

Then Brian Heffron (who wrestled for McMahon as the Blue Meanie in the late 90s) lands the final knockout with a diving leg drop bulldog, saying: “We’re the guys out there sacrificing ourselves. You’d think they’d throw us a bone. Sometimes you wondered if they saw their employees as humans or farm animals… It was like being in the circus. You’re shipped here, perform there; it’s almost like you’re disposable.”

So there you have it. Linda McMahon sure knows how to create jobs. Circus jobs. Farm animal jobs.

McMahon’s defenders say that disgruntled wrestlers are hardly a reputable source of criticism (even if one of them is also a former Governor). If nothing else it’s a reminder to all of us about just what kind of business she ran, and what kind of jobs she’s really “created.”

Still, we can’t count her out. With an estimated campaign budget of $30 million, she can afford fill the airwaves with slick TV commercials – and still have money left over for some folding chairs.

I’m not sure why this isn’t making major headlines across the country or at least in Connecticut. But according to the newsletter of the American Medical Association Aetna is planning to hike premiums in 2010 and expects some between 600,000 and 650,000 members covered in employer-based health plans will drop coverage because it is too expensive.

“They’re running a business, and their obligation is a very singular one: to increase shareholder profits,” said David Gibbs, an insurance industry consultant.

It’s moves like this that make it increasingly impossible for defenders of the status quo to pretend that our health insurance system isn’t broken.

Aetna’s own CEO has been pretty blunt about his opposition to a public option. He says he doesn’t want his company to have to compete against the government because the government also makes the rules. But maybe what he really doesn’t want is competitor that doesn’t need to satisfy Wall Street investors hungry for a profit (Aetna’s profit last year was $1.7 billion). Or perhaps he doesn’t want a competitor that doesn’t have to pay a CEO $54 million dollars.

Williams has been clear about his position (and the industry’s) on healthcare reform. According to Forbes.com :

“He’s against a government-run plan but favors universal coverage and forcing insurers to take all comers. He advocates cutting costs by standardizing payments among insurers, doctors and hospitals. ‘I don’t meet anyone who doesn’t think we should get more people covered,’ he says.”

Right. That’s why you’re raising premiums and dropping 600,000 members from coverage. At what point does it become totally impossible to take these people seriously?

Yesterday’s elections were a mixed bag for progressives. But in local races in Connecticut, the Working Families Party actually had a pretty good day.

First the bad news…

Tim O’Brien, whom we cross-endorsed for New Britain mayor, was narrowly defeated by incumbent Republican Tim Stewart. The unofficial numbers have O’Brien down by about 170 votes, making it the closes mayoral election in New Britain in several years.

I won’t know until later today or tomorrow how many of O’Brien’s votes came on the Working Families line (Row C), but I do know that we worked very hard, knocked on close to 2,000 doors, sent mail, and made phone calls. Having said that, we certainly could have done and wanted to do more. Unfortunately, financial constraints required us to scale back our efforts (more on that later).

The good news…

In Hartford and Bridgeport, the WFP is becoming a real powerhouse. Four out of our five WFP Board of Education candidates won election in these two cities (the fifth will get a re-count, trailing by just 12 votes.)

In Bridgeport, WFP candidates Maria Pereira and Sauda Baraka went up against three Republicans and blew them out of the water. The WFP has now replaced the Republican Party as the “minority party” on the Board of Education.

Congratulations to Maria Pereira and Sauda Baraka for a terrific campaign.

Hartford also has “minority representation” rules and four years ago the WFP used that to win a seat on the Board of Education. This year, however, we tried something a bit different - becoming the majority party. We ran three candidates, head-to-head against three Democrats. When we launched this effort, most of the political insiders in Hartford said we had no chance. They were wrong. WFP candidates Elizabeth Brad Noel and Robert Cotto finished in 2nd and 3rd place - ahead of two of the Democrats. Sharon Patterson Stallings, our third candidate, trails a Democrat by just 12 votes (prompting a recount). Even if the results do not change, the WFP will still have won 2 of 4 seats on the Board of Education.

The real story is that in Hartford, the WFP is no longer just a “minority party.” In fact, the three WFP candidates (combined) received 101 more votes than the three Democratic candidates. That’s pretty amazing.

For years, urban school districts have been struggling to close the achievement gap. It’s not an easy problem to solve, but leaders like Sauda Baraka, Maria Pereira, Brad Noel and Robert Cotto have the experience and the passion to fight harder than ever for the children of Bridgeport and Hartford.

Honorable Mention…

In the honorable mention category, Mike Johnson, the Working Families Party candidate for planning and zoning alternate in Middletown ran an incredible grassroots campaign and garnered over 2,000 votes city-wide. Not enough to win, but a truly impressive showing.

Finally, a short but important note about money. Like a lot of grassroots organizations, the Working Families Party is struggling financially. Despite those constraints, we managed to do some pretty impressive things this election. But we need your support.

When we endorse candidates it typically means much more than just a line on the ballot; it means hard working canvassers who pound the pavement every day, it means top-quality in-house direct mail, phonebanking, election day operations, and anything else we can think of. We do it all on a shoe-string budget.

But we cannot do it for free. Unfortunately, we ended this election cycle with bills that must be paid. We want to raise $5,000 in the next week from individual supporters like you. That sounds like a lot of money, but I’m pretty sure there are at least 100 individual Working Families supporters who can each contribute $50.

Can you be one of them? If so, click here to contribute now.

If you prefer to send us a check, make it payable to Working Families Campaign Committee and mail it to our office:

Working Families
30 Arbor Street
Hartford, CT 06106.

Needless to say, if you can give more than $50, please do. And if you can’t afford $50 (I’m well aware that actual working families, not just the Working Families Party, are struggling in this economy) please give something.

Again, here’s the link:

http://ct-workingfamilies.org/contribute

Check our website in a couple of days for detailed election results.

For all of our volunteers, candidates, and indefatigable staff, thanks for your incredibly hard work.

Read the papers, pay your dues, and organize.

-Jon Green
Executive Director
CT Working Families Party
www.ct-workingfamilies.org

Yesterday, we were closer than ever to having real healthcare reform when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the Senate version of the healthcare overhaul would include a public option - an affordable public healthcare plan that would be there for us, even when insurance companies let us down.

Then Senator Joe Lieberman threw a wrench in the works. He announced he’d join a Republican filibuster to halt healthcare reform.¹

This is a national news story. But the only voters that Lieberman is really accountable to are in Connecticut. So let’s make ourselves heard.

Tell Joe: Don’t filibuster. Not this time.

Please help spread the word by sharing this action on Facebook.

If there’s one thing that millions of American families are counting on from the new administration, it’s healthcare reform. Especially as healthcare costs and insurance industry profits continue to grow.

We’re not asking a lot. We’re not even demanding he vote for a public option - just that he not single handedly stand in the way of allowing healthcare reform to get a fair up or down vote.

And it wasn’t that long ago that Senator Lieberman was talking like a champion of healthcare reform.

Back in July 2006 he said: “What I’m saying to the people of Connecticut, I can do more for you and your families to get something done to make health care affordable, to get universal health insurance.”²

And in October 2006, he started describing a plan that sounded a lot like the public option. “MediChoice to allow anybody in our country to buy into a national insurance pool like the health insurance pool that we federal employees and Members of Congress have.”³

Healthcare reform was a good idea when Leiberman supported in back in 2006. It’s an even better idea now. Today, there’s a public option on the table. We’re this close. Let’s shout so loud we can’t be ignored and tell Senator Lieberman not to filibuster.

Click here to take action right away:

http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/t/3873/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3034

Thanks. And please help pass the word along. Share on Facebook.

[1] From Politico. “Joe Lieberman: I’ll block vote on Harry Reid’s plan” http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28788.html

[2] and [3] Both quotes come from Lieberman-Lamont debates in 2006. Both can be seen in a DailyKos video here http://www.dailykos.com/tv/w/002298/

Living wage laws have long been a central part of the Working Families platform. The idea is pretty simple. That if a business receives taxpayer help (tax abatements, development grants, etc.) than the least they can do is provide a decent wage for their workers. If you’ve got to create poverty-wage jobs, it shouldn’t be the taxpayers responsibility to help.

New Britain past one of the first living wage laws in the state back in 2001. But now it might not be getting enforced. There are allegations that the Celebrations Food plan is paying workers below the living wage standard of 118% of the federal poverty line.

Only a few months ago, Mayor Stewart bragged: “They got tax abatements as an enterprise zone - a 40/40 split between state and the city; the state pays 40 percent; we [the city] suck up 40 percent and the company pays the remaining 20,” he said. “They’re only paying 20 percent taxes for five years while more than a hundred thousand dollars is coming into the city.”

Sounds pretty clear that Celebration is receiving taxpayer benefits. So the UFCW is asking to see the contracts.

“I’m very concerned by allegations that workers at the Celebration Foods plant are getting paid poverty wages in direct conflict with the city’s living wage ordinance,” said Brian Petronella, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 371. “As more families are living in poverty, the city has an obligation to stick up for New Britain workers.” Petronella said his organization intends to get any information on substandard wages under the Freedom of Information Act.

Congrats to the UFCW for standing up on this one and looking for the facts.