Laborfest and Barack Obama

Today @ the Summerfest grounds - Noon

Sep. 01, 2008

midnight

As always, the Milwaukee County Labor Council AFL-CIO goes all out in celebration of its favorite holiday, Labor Day, staging their parade through downtown Milwaukee at 11 a.m. and hosting a family-oriented gathering at the Summerfest grounds from noon to 5 p.m. With the election in full swing, there should be plenty of political chatter this year. Last-minute addition Barack Obama is scheduled to close out the day with a 6 p.m. speech at the Marcus Amphitheater.

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A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

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A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

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The president has signaled loudly and clearly that he and education secretary Arne Duncan have a “'final solution” for public education. Like Ronald Reagan, Obama is portraying the unions as a threat to the national welfare. “The fundamental logic of Obama’s so-called Race to the Top program, is to break the teaches unions.”

Obama Acts Like Reagan 1981, the Union-Buster
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
“Obama is is going after the teachers unions with a hatchet – just like Reagan went after the air traffic controllers.”
President Obama’s endorsement of the firing of the entire faculty and staff of a Rhode Island public school is reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s crushing of the air traffic controllers union, nearly three decades ago. Back then, President Reagan made an example of a union that had supported his presidential candidacy, firing its members and ultimately decertifying the union when it went on strike. The move sent a signal to the bosses in all sectors of the U.S. economy: the president – the U.S. government – is on management’s side, and unions are a considered a threat to the general economic welfare.
Last week, President Obama sent the same kind of signal to teachers unions, when he cited the Central Falls, Rhode Island, school shutdown as an example of the “accountability” he is demanding of poorly performing schools – which invariably means poor, non-white schools. Teachers union leaders appeared to be shocked by Obama’s language and tone – but they shouldn’t have been. The Rhode Island mass firing was not substantively different than the wholesale sacking of teachers and abrogation of their union contracts elsewhere in the country. The fundamental logic of Obama’s so-called Race to the Top program – a multi-billion dollar competition to show which states are most willing to fire teachers, shut down classrooms and replace them with charter schools – is to break the teachers union. If the teachers want to save their union, their dignity, their contracts, and the institution of public education, they will have to break with Obama. Because he is going after them with a hatchet – just like Reagan went after the air traffic controllers, despite their having supported his 1980 candidacy.
“Obama takes Bush's No Child Left Behind scheme to its logical, blood on the floor conclusion.”
Obama's hatchet man and basketball buddy is Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who envisions waves of school closings, teacher firings and charter school openings for the next “five or six years.” That sounds like a kind of “final solution” for teachers unions – and for public education.
Obama's plans for America's classrooms are even more aggressive than George Bush's policies. Obama takes Bush's No Child Left Behind scheme to its logical, blood on the floor conclusion: corporate education without the encumbrances of organized teachers. Obama's anti-union vision is more ambitious than that of the old arch-reactionary, Ronald Reagan, who destroyed a union of only 13,000 members. The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have combined memberships of over 4 million. They have the capacity to fight back, to make this president back off. But, like so many others who drank the Obama Kool Aid, they are in denial, refusing to believe that they backed a union-buster who is making teachers the scapegoat for America's historical failure to serve the educational needs of all its children.
Private teacher training outfits are turning out young and hungry replacements for todays teachers, anticipating a huge turnover in public schools as Obama swings his hatchet. Teachers need to revolt against this administration while they still have a union to fight for them.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford. On the web, go to www.BlackAgendaReport.com.

Anonymous more than 14 years ago

Be sure to check out this article on the World Soc...

Be sure to check out this article on the World Socialist Website
Obama spearheads nationwide assault on public schools

Anonymous more than 14 years ago

I don't think people are satisfied on Obama's perf...

I don't think people are satisfied on Obama's performance for the previous year. There had been lots of different issues and until now, none of these are totally accomplished. Hopefully, everything will went well and for him to meet all of his promises back when he was still asking for people's support during his campaign.Steven from school grants

Anonymous more than 14 years ago

The feds are going on a deli-run of gigantic propo...

The feds are going on a deli-run of gigantic proportions using economic stimulus cash -- spending $28 million on ham and cheese alone, government documents reveal. This government spending is a hot issue among politicians recently, especially Republicans (though it's usually for not spending on what they want – but it isn't like Democrats aren't the same way) but it has hit a new low, with Clougherty Packing LLC. Clougherty Packing LLC is a meat packing company that prepares processed ham products, and they got just a shade over $5 million in stimulus money – that's some pork barrel spending, literally! That's some big unsecured loans for ham. Obama had pledged to fight earmarks and other wasteful spending, but it seems he's gone completely the other way. Unemployment is still rising, and lots of people could use payday loans – but Clougherty Packing LLC gets funding.

Finna K more than 15 years ago

To ensure that taxpayers’ dollars from the Trouble...

To ensure that taxpayers’ dollars from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) are recovered, President Barack Obama proposed today a new “financial crisis responsibility fee” on 50 of the nation’s largest financial firms.
"My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed," Obama said. "That's why I'm proposing a Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee to be imposed on major financial firms until the American people are fully compensated for the extraordinary assistance they provided to Wall Street.”
The City of Milwaukee will receive $25 million and the Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity will receive $11 million in federal stimulus funds to help deal with foreclosed homes and rehabilitate neighborhoods. Today we can buy without unitedcashloans.

Anonymous more than 14 years ago