Clinton Rallies Labor Leaders in Chicago

[Nambe]

CHICAGO Aug. 4 — (AP)

Former President Clinton rallied the ground troops of the Democratic Party organized labor with a pep talk to union leaders gathered Monday to draw up a political strategy they hope would take back the White House in 2004.

Speaking privately to union political directors, Clinton told them President Bush could be beaten next year. What is needed, he said, is the right emphasis on the underperforming economy, unemployment, tax cuts that have benefited the wealthy and Iraq, which has raised questions about the credibility of the Bush administration's case for war.

The AFL-CIO's executive council meeting officially opens Tuesday, with union presidents set to gauge whether Democrat Dick Gephardt, who had organized labor's endorsement in 1988, when he last ran for president, can muster enough support for a laborwide endorsement this time. Gephardt and the other eight Democratic hopefuls will participate in a presidential forum in the evening. ---

Ride Don’t Drive It’s Global Cool

[SGrande]

1. plus Chicago Teamsters endorse Kerry AND

AFSCME and AFLCIO are leaning Kerry now, instead of Gephardt

[BayCityProgressive]

2. Why Does labor care about what Clinton says?

I am a Democrat but honestly what did Clinton ever do to help labor unions? I used to support Clinton but the more I looked into his record the less I could.

[diplomats]

3. You mean the record of creating 22 million jobs?

I think labor leaders know that clearly outweighs his support for NAFTA. His economic and social policies were much more worker-friendly than Bush's.

[study_war_no_more]

14. NAFTA is biting us in the ass we are hemoraging jobs.

Beware of darkness.

[SGrande]

4. Cause instead of placating to them, he challenged them

And ask any constituency group, they admire and respect a challenge more than cow towing.

And just about all democrats are now pushing for a relook at NAFTA , especially the "fair-trade" movement.

www.oxfam.org.uk/fair_trade.html

great resource here!

Clinton is even backing several measures of Fair Trade.

Because while NAFTA hurt the teamsters and the steelworkers and some smaller unions, it plummeted the inflation rate and prices, which has helped people weather the storm of NAFTA.

Im not really defending it, but I am defending the concept. But now everyone is all for Fair-Trade, because the real problem wasn't NAFTA, it was the abuse of NAFTA by certain companies *cough* NIKE.

And the U.S has every right to step in when things get TOO bad.

[BayCityProgressive]

5. I agree

I agree that the concept isn't bad but it's not as if Clinton didn't know these corporations would do this when he signed it. Many white collar jobs are now going overseas. Also many of the measures Clinton passed such as reducing arsenic in drinking water were not signed until right before Bush took office because he knew they would be overturned. If standards like these were writen into law back in '92 Americans never would have tolerated the rollbacks by Bush. There are a lot of good Democrats but we shouldn't be apologists for their bad policies and sell outs to the GOP. Clinton heavily deregulated business while in office and we are now feeling the effects.

[SGrande]

6. yea he did

He did mess up alot, but honestly, we needed to adapt to this new world of financial capital moving throughout the world, and we needed to create a safe trading block with our neighbors, Mexico and Canada.

Just look whats happened recently, we cannot trust Europe to always be there for us...period. Eventually, its going to be us versus them, financially, and we will need all of North America, standing firm , prosperous and growing strong.

[BayCityProgressive]

7. We should be allying with Europe

rather than dividng new and old Europe agaisnt one another and slandering them in our media. The backwards policies of this country are going to make Europeans very resentful of us. I think South America is going to slowly gain more powerful as well with leaders like Lula and Chavez and they aren't going to look to kindly on the Americans who exploited them in the past. America needs to partner with the rest of the world rather than exploit them. We aren't going to be a superpower forever, just look at Russia.

[blm]

9. This can help...

look at Kerry's foreign policy speech and economic speech. It seems he's right where you are.

www.johnkerry.com

[SGrande]

10. Thats what Im saying

Fair Trade, and open trade with the Americas, FIRST and foremost.

God knows its our farm subsidies that hurt South America and our Steel subsidies that hurt S. America more than anything.

We are the #1 consumer for many of their goods and yet we put tarrifs and restrictions on their goods

[Pallas180]

15. "we cannot trust Europe to be there for us" -ahem. Whose fault is that?

Europe has been there for us the last 50 years until that
asshole took the WH
and insulted them even before 9/11. PUHLEEZ.

It is "us versus them" because of the animosity created
by Rove and bushit.

You sound like you bought into all of the propaganda put out
by faux news and the rest of the bushit ass kissing cable
cheerleaders.

[SGrande]

21. actually...

Thats a pretty nieve statement to believe we've been cozzy with all of Europe. The French were never our allies and at best tougne and cheek friends. We are the #1 weapon sells for sure, to other civilized countries...but the FRENCH are the #1 weapon sellers to murderous dictators and anyone who wants them.

Lest you forget that it was the FRENCH that was selling Machetes to the Hutus as they were massacering the Tutsis. A genocide that the rate of death was GREATER than that of the first Holocaust.1 million people died in 3 months, all from small gun fire and machetes, ALL sold to them by the FRENCH.

How did the french repay the Tutsis?

They landed at the Capitol as the massacres had gained national attention and setup "Zone Turquois" and rounded up all surviving Tutsis, and built a huge camp outside the capitol and guarded them with French Troops. The French wires estimated back to Paris that they had 70,000 Tutsi "captives". Then a band named the Interwame(sp?) approached the camp and demanded to be let in, armed with machetes. The French let them in and then sealed the gate.

ALL 70,000 TUTSIs WERE MASSACRED, while the French would not let anyone leave

You should read a book called " We Wish to Inform you that Tomorrow we will be Killed with our Families"

http://books.guardian.co.uk/specialreports/firstbook/story/0,6194,110338,00.html

Sorry, fuck the French, If i had my way, Id nuke the whole fucking country for what they did to Rwanda.

[sandnsea]

17. Deregulating business

Yeah and now Democrats can say 'we tried it their way and look what happened'. Business needs regulation and Democrats can sell it now because we've seen what happens when you don't have it. And the people in this regard are smart enough to know deregulation is Republican policy.

In fact if Democrats would just get behind Davis and harp on the fact that deregulation was Wilson's idea and the corporate scandals were caused by the same Republican deregulation policies, Davis would keep California and it would go a long way to building credibility for Democrats next year as well. I sure hope some Californians grow the kind of spine they're harping at the Democratic leaders for not having.

[SGrande]

23. Business is regulated....

Its the miniscule budget that the current Whitehouse and Congress has allocated to that function is the problem. They have too few lawayers and too few staff to even begin to crack down on business corruption.

[Ernesto]

24. It is what Clinton didn't do to unions

Check the record. Reagon & both shrubs chipped away @ labor BIG TIME. Labor recieved no big payoff for supporting Clinton. Why should they? As a life long Dem & a retired Union sheet metal worker, I can tell you what union people want. WE want social and economic justice for ALL. WE are not just interested in ourselves. WE care about what is best for the USA & the world........ Always remember this: Political preferences are defined not by what you are for, but by what you are against.

[blm]

25. I hear ya, Ernesto....

thanks for the eye opening reminder.

[blm]

8. AFSCME was always going to back Kerry...

nothing new there. I think the Chicago teamsters are responding to the advice they got from Clinton. I don't believe in coincidences.

[SGrande]

11. really? cause AFSCME is the cock of the walk in many areas

forget teamsters and farm workers... out west here in Cali, AZ and NM, AFSCME and ACORN are gods

[study_war_no_more]

13. This teamster endorses Dennis

Don't care what slick willie and his NAFTA vichy mofo say.

[Mechatanketra]

12. Psst! Bill!

The "right emphasis" on the Iraq credibility might be not telling people to ease off poor George because "Presidents make mistakes".

I mean, you know. Just thinking.

[sandnsea]

16. It might be attacking his policies

instead of making it look like a personal vendetta.

I mean, you know. Just thinking.

[blm]

18. Except Clinton actually said it backhanded....

he said that Bush did the right thing by ADMITTING a mistake was made.And that it was the PRESIDENT'S mistake when everyone had been pointing at others. Clinton was brilliant and damn few picked up on the real impact of his words.

[gully]

19. interesting take...

Thanks!

[JI7]

20. right, that's how he always does it

he does it in a way to make it hard for them to accuse him of personal attacks. and clinton also said to focus on problems in iraq now. i always wondered how doing that would help bush. focusing on iraq now only hurts bush as he is doing everything wrong.

[sandnsea]

22. And also lined out the 'chain of command'

So to speak. That the intelligence comes across the President's desk and that Iraq nuclear information most certainly would have hit the President's desk. Didn't he say that?

I'm pretty sure I heard it, but even at the time I figured the 'excusing' Bush would get more coverage than the fact that Bush should have been given any intelligence about Iraq and yellowcake, almost immediately it seems.