The hope many had that those in American politics would move forward more cohesively following the climatic debt ceiling debate over the summer, appears to be at a standstill and perhaps faltering. Congressional leaders on the deficit “super committee” charged to find at least $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction through 2021 by November 23 are yet to make a joint recommendation as their deadline quickly approaches. The Hill now reports that liberal groups are applying pressure and threatening former Democratic presidential candidate and deficit super committee member Sen. John Kerry, as well as any other Democrats who they suspect are working with Republicans to find a middle ground on entitlement reform as a part of deficit reductions. “The Massachusetts AFL-CIO and other labor entities in the state have passed resolutions calling on Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) to publicly oppose cuts to safety-net programs,” writes The Hill. Concerns from liberal activists grew after a proposal emerged from Democrats on the super committee, which has already been rejected by the GOP, that proposed cuts to Social Security cost-of-living increases (COLA) as part of a $3 trillion deficit reduction deal that included $1.3 trillion in tax increases. The Hill writes that since the proposal, liberal groups including the AFL-CIO and National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare are outraged with Democrats willing to work with Republicans in making any reforms to Social Security: “Left-leaning activists noted that Democrats successfully united against changes to Social Security in 2005 during President George W. Bush’s second term. Bush’s plan never even got a vote at the committee level. ‘I am much more worried than I was [in 2005],’ said Max Richtman of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Greg Jefferson of the AFL-CIO said Social Security has become the ‘low hanging fruit’ in deficit talks rather than off-limits as it used to be.” Steven Tolman, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, specifically targeted his Senator in a statement, saying: “On behalf of all workers in our state and beyond, the Massachusetts labor movement urges Senator Kerry to capitalize on his historic role by preventing any cuts to the crucial safety net programs that support millions of Massachusetts families.” The Hill notes that despite comments from the President and many Democratic leaders in Congress who acknowledge that to get the nation’s fiscal house in order, entitlement programs canot be off-limits, liberal activists persist in steadfast opposition and have threatened those willing to compromise with Republicans: “Still, some activists have warned senior Democrats in private meetings to distance themselves from the party’s supercommittee proposal, or they will face voter wrath in the 2012 elections. Last week, AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka threatened to withhold critical union election support from anyone supporting the reported cuts.” The L.A. Times notes that Republican congressional leaders have been holed up with their party’s super committee members in recent days to produce a proposal raising some revenue by selling assets and growing the economy while relying primarily on budget cuts to balance the books. Republicans refuse to accept a millionaires-tax that Democrats insist is wealthier households paying “their fair share” to solve the nation’s deficit problems. Failure to reach a compromise by November 23 is expected to send shock waves through the fragile economy the way that the summer debt ceiling standoff did, ultimately leading to a downgrade in the U.S. credit rating. The Times notes that failure would also trigger automatic budget cuts that both parties want to avoid.
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Liberal Groups Threaten Sen. Kerry and Any Super Committee Democrats Willing to Work with GOP on Social Security
The Christian Science Monitor – Labor leader Richard Trumka is president of the AFL-CIO, a federation of 55 national and international unions. He was guest speaker at the Aug. 25 Monitor breakfast in Washington.
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AFl-CIO chief Trumka warns Obama on "nibbling around" jobs crisis
(The Christian Science Monitor)
-By Warner Todd Huston A few weeks ago AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka used the Civil Rights movement as a comparison for his union work. He wanted his audience to imagine that unionism is somehow just like the struggles for equality under the law that African Americans sought in the middle of the last century. This is
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Union Chief Tries to Steal Civil Rights Movement
Less than a week ago, we reported on the state of Indiana’s efforts to lure businesses from Illinois to their more tax-friendly environment. It appears that Caterpillar may be Illinnoyed enough to leave. This very large manufacturing company may have seen the benefits of such a geographic shift and is considering pulling up stakes and moving to the Hoosier state. A migrating Caterpillar would be a very interesting development as the company has been front and center in many of the President’s discussions on American manufacturing and how large industrial concerns like CAT would benefit from the passing of his stimulus plan. Remember early 2009? The economy was in free-fall and a newly-elected president, with an unstoppable majority in both the House and Senate was pushing through his $800+ billion dollar Stimulus bill, claiming that this kind of spending would stop the job losses and put the country back on the path to recovery. February 9, 2009, while on a campaign-like tour to promote his plan, President Obama even mentioned Caterpillar and the Stimulus bill together: A few short days later, and shortly after Caterpillar announced job cuts in excess of 23,000, Obama was in a Caterpillar Plant. Again, he tied his gargantuan spending plan to the future success of Caterpillar, American manufacturing, school kids, and just about anything else you could think of: Just 24 hours later, the aforementioned ‘Jim’ (CEO Jim Owens) completely contradicted the President’s claims that Caterpillar would be able to stop the layoffs and hire more people if his stimulus bill passed. A strange sidebar to all of this. . . Just three days before Obama came to the plant, Jim Owens was named to the President’s Economic Advisory Team . It is also worth noting that GEs’s Jeff Immelt, Anna Burger of SEIU, and another union honcho, Richard Trumka were also on the same economic advisory team. Back to our story of the possibly creeping Caterpillar. Current CAT president Doug Olberhelman, has reportedly sent a letter to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn basically putting the state on notice. Olberhelman also included some of the notes from other states hoping to woo his company: “I stand ready to help convince you to relocate or expand in the fiscally conservative, low-tax Lone Star State,” wrote Texas Gov. Rick Perry in a Jan. 24 letter. “I encourage you to consider South Dakota as a place for your business to grow and prosper,” noted J. Pat Costello, secretary of the South Dakota governor’s economic development office. Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman wrote in February to say, “In Nebraska, we balance our budget by controlling spending, not by raising taxes.” The fact that two of the three letters from other states mentioned taxes is not a coincidence. In January of this year, Illinois raised taxes sparking many neighboring states to start inviting their neighbors over for some lower-tax hospitality. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has not commented officially, but his spokesperson has announced a scheduled meeting between Quinn and Olberhelman on April 5th at a conference in Peoria, Il. We will monitor the situation and update this story as needed.
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Is Indiana About To Be Overrun By A Giant Caterpillar? (A Tax Exodus Story)
How hard is it for Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO, to say, “No, as much as I disagree with him, oppose his agenda, and wish he were not in office, Scott Walker is not Hitler”? It's too much to ask, apparently. From Meet the Press : MR. GREGORY: I want to, I want to get to a break.
