Doesn't the Democratic party need to get away from such Unioncentric organizations? I thought unions and special interest groups were polluting the blue waters too much.

Katie:

With all due respect, the juxtaposition of the terms, "unions," and "polluting the blue waters," for the Democratic Party is both false and pejorative.

Like it or not, the rise of the American middle-class, steady economic progress for working families and increasing social justice for all Americans were in great measure due to the adroit application of the Mother of all Union principles - Solidarity in the union halls, streets and polling places of this country through much of the 20th Century.

No less a Republican icon than Ronald Reagan recognized the value of union solidarity, first as President of the Screen Actors Guild and then as chief American booster of that great Polish Labor Leader, Lech Walesa, and his Solidarnosc union. In fact, the standing joke at the time was, "It's not true that Ronald Reagan is anti-union. Next to SAG, his favorite labor union is Solidarsnosc!.."

Harken back to the end of the 1980's. At that time there were three major world leaders principally responsible for the collapse of Communism and the end of the Cold War. Namely, Pope John Paul II, Lech Walesa and Ronald Reagan.

And to a man, all three actively supported Solidarnosc, by words, deeds and dollars. That is because as students of history, all three understood that solidarity amongst the Polish working class was the motive force behind its unprecedented successful effort to remove the crushing weight of Godless Communism from the backs of the Polish nation, and ultimately Soviet domination from Eastern Europe.

Now having said that, my strong support for the foundational union principle of solidarity does not mean I agree with the policy and political positions taken by all unions at all times.

In fact, given the rise of globalism, the gentrification and aging of the elite government-class of professionals, the loss of hundreds of thousands of construction trade jobs due to Wall-Street greed and Washington incompetence, and the outsourcing of highly-skilled, high-paying American manufacturing to third-world countries, there are huge divisions within the American labor movement which require truthful introspection, a redefinition of union solidarity for the benefit of the entire American nation, and fundamental reforms in union governance and political direction.

For example, take the ongoing California State Budget fiasco. Virtually every Democratic State Legislator, particularly those that during election cycles, likes to rap themselves in the flag of political solidarity with unions, particularly public employee unions. Yet to a person, they all voted to balance the State budget on the backs of working class families in California through increased income and sales taxes and Rube-Goldberg fees. And to add insult to injury, at the same time, these so-called Democratic friends of labor, voted to give Hollywood and Silicon-valley corporate elites nearly $1 Billion in unnecessary, unsound and unsavory tax-breaks.

Got cognitive dissonance Bass and Steinberg??? You can’t squeeze public employee salary tax-blood out of the private sector, construction trade and manufacturing working class stone. You can’t promote solidarity amongst all working class families in this State by supporting public employee union jobs at the cost of private sector construction trade and manufacturing jobs. And you sure as hell can’t ask all average working class (both private and public sector) families to fork-out an extra $1,000 to $1,200 in State income and sales taxes and fees while you give rich Hollywood and Silicon-Valley politically-contributing, buddies $1 Billion in tax breaks..

Regrettably, with such ill-conceived, balanced-budget policy actions taken by these so-called Democratic leaders, not to mention the tacitly-gleeful complicit Republicans, Abraham Lincoln’s prescient warning to us all seems to be coming true with a vengeance, at least here in California..

Lincoln warned, “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in High Places will follow, and the Money Power of the Country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the People, until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed."

NostraDemus

Katie, GS,

I know I have said it before but thanks for reading and commenting on my blog.

Beg to differ - do an internet search on the subject.

State's budget crisis opens rift between unions and Democrats
Labor wants to offset some cuts with new or higher taxes; legislators don't.
By Shane Goldmacher and Evan Halper
June 8, 2009
Reporting from Sacramento -- The Capitol's usual political alliances are being tested by the state's severe financial problems as interest groups scramble to hold onto as much as possible of the state's shrinking coffers.

The relationship between Democratic leaders and some of their labor benefactors has turned particularly frosty: Many of the programs union members rely on for paychecks -- and the unions rely on for dues -- have been slated for deep cuts.

Somehow, when union members demand things from govt it's a bad thing yet when free market capitalist, like Goldman-Sachs, does it....its for the good of the country. Compared to the several TRILLION $$$ the NY financial communities have bamboozled out of US taxpayers, union demands help the economy much more effectively and don't really amount to much more than a fraction of a percent.

Take time to read Matt Taibbi's broad overview of where our taxpayer dollars are REALLY going. It's not the last word on our financial problems but it makes for a good lay man's primer and should encourage other journalists to dig deeper. Anyone with reason would demand that those involved be detained and interrogated under the terms of the Patriot Act, as suspected terrorists.

Katie:

You miss my main point..

There is no doubt that right now in California there are serious political fractures amongst core Democratic constituencies, labor included.

This was dramatically demonstrated during the May 19th election, when two of the biggest labor giants, CTA and SEIU, were deathly opposed to each other’s positions regarding the so-called budget balancing initiatives. They each spent millions of dollars contributed by their dues-paying members (probably involuntarily for some and against their own perceived self-interests for others) cancelling each other's political clout..

By those very actions, they knowingly or unknowingly violated the bedrock principle of Solidarity.. And for that fundamental reason, they dissipated their own collective strength. As Lincoln aptly put it, "...A house divided against itself cannot stand..."

But then again, what do you expect when so-called Democratic leaders in the State Legislature put on the ballot a series of initiatives which were complex, chock-full of loopholes and which divided public-employee working class family interests from the private sector construction trade and manufacturing working class family interests..

The problem is not that Unions pollute the Democratic blue waters.. It's that so-called Democratic leaders are paying more attention to their rich political contributtin, corporate shark buddies, than they are to ALL the hard-working class fishes in the political sea.

What we need are smart, swift, bold, strong, and hard-swimming dolphins, leading the way to sound public policy choices that, as JFK said, "...result in a rising economic tide lifting all working family boats.."

NostraDemus