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The New Home of
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO (AFSCME) Council 52
Welcome to our site which contains valuable information for AFSCME
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Executive Director Gollin Speaks about the 2008 Election
Eight years ago we were here and we spoke of
the dangers that would lie ahead if Bush was elected, but in spite
of our warnings and the majority of voters the Supreme Court
selected him as President.
Four years ago we were here and we spoke of the
dangers that lie ahead if we allowed Bush to become President
again—and again despite our hard work he was elected.
Now after 8 years of Republican leadership we
are here again-Today we find our country at war—Taken there by the
lies of the Republican Administration, our economy is in shambles,
our infrastructure is crumbling, our jobs are being sold to the
lowest bidder overseas, Bush has left a legacy of greed and
corruption that we and generations to come will have to pay for.
We can not allow our members to become
confused or misled.
In every election the Republicans have created
issues to distract the voters, whether it be guns, of abortion, or
gay marriage, that is all that we read about, that is all that TV
talks about.
This time it appears to be Sarah Palin, the Governor
of Alaska- the issues in this election are not the pregnancy of her
daughter, they are not the health of her baby, it is not about her,
it is about the policies that she and McCain support, the same
policies that have brought us to where we are today.
The issues could not be clearer.
It has been written that those who do not
learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
In 1936 during the great depression, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt said; “PRIVATE ENTERPRISE BECAME TOO PRIVATE. IT BECAME
PRIVILEGED ENTERPRISE NOT FREE ENTERPRISE.” The same greed and lack
of controls that brought us into the depression are responsible for
the situation we now face.
Then, like now we were led by a Republican
President, one who saw his obligations to the rich and not to the
working people of this country.
Senator Obama promises change while McCain
speaks of change, he supports the policies that brought us to where
we are today—He supports more tax cuts for the rich, tax breaks for
the oil companies.
McCain is trying to redefine himself in this
election as someone who will fight for workers.
But he has a 26 year record of placing the interests
of corporations and Big Business over the needs of working families.
America’s working men and women have lost 600,000
jobs this year alone and the end is not is sight.
In addition to worrying about rising gas and food
prices and paying precarious mortgages, working families are now
uncertain whether their savings and retirement plans are safe.
John McCain maintains that the fundamentals of our
economy are strong, yet in his campaign, he surrounds himself with
corporate lobbyists and the very people who deregulated banking and
exploited loopholes to make this financial meltdown possible.
It is interesting to note that the Republicans
are always saying that Government is too big—That Government should
stay out of the market place, but when they get into trouble, where
do they turn, the government, for loans to bail them out, loans paid
for by the taxes paid by working families-the same families who
could lose their homes and are not able to afford health care or
education
How much longer will we allow the American People to be fooled into voting against their own self interest? Given the record of the Republican Party over the last 8 years you would think that this election would not even be close, but it is. It is close because once again the people of this country are distracted by an issue that should have no bearing on this election. The issue of race. Race and religion and gender have been used by politicians for hundreds of years as a means of dividing the people and distracting them from what is in their self interest. We must work to inform and to educate our members and the public about the real issues in this election. In terms of our membership just look at the voting records, Obama has a 100% AFSCME voting record, McCain 16%, Biden has a 86% voting record, Palin has no voting record. These records were not built on issues of race or gender they were built on issues that affect our lives as workers. Think about it, if you were voting in your local union election, and one candidate was there for you 100% of the time and one was not there 84% of time who would you vote for? And yet we have members who might vote for McCain.
McCain would privatize Social Security, Obama
would not, Obama would pass legislation that would allow workers
free choice to join a Union, McCain would not, McCain wants to tax
our health care Obama does not.
How much more do you need to know? We have a job to do and not much time to do it-You
and your membership will be asked to work and to help in this
campaign; a campaign that we not only as a Union but as a Nation can
not afford to lose.
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