Hillary Rollout Flips The Bird To Unions - More Of The Same Can Be expected For Rich Vs. Rest

[WillTwain]

Last edited Mon Apr 13, 2015, 10:06 AM - Edit history (3)

If Hillary's initial ad is any indication of where her interests are, the death spiral the middle-class is in will continue.

She presented a comprehensive list of every group within the Democratic party. She hit them all, even our pets, but absent was big labor. Not a single tip of the hat to unions was in the ad. The only group that can break Wall Street and the Walmarting of America were excluded from her platform. A group that has been loyal to Democrats to a fault appears to be no longer included in the future of the Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) party.

This is a dire indication of how serious Hillary is about tackling the biggest challenge of our time - wealth inequality. If she does not clear up this "oversight" fast, proceed with caution.

The following is a DU piece posted a few weeks back. It looks more accurate today than ever:


Hillary could be the final nail in the middle-class coffin.

Her plan: She is testing her popularity with women and minorities. If she feels social issues can get her elected, she will ignore labor other than some patronizing blather. She is testing her support now, if she calculates it is strong enough and feels she can win without labor, unions will be deftly brushed aside. If this works out for her, she can win the election and not make promises to the economic-minded left - dooming the middle-class.

What many need to realize is the Republicans and New Democrats (Third Way) have the same economic goal in mind - recreate the U.S. with a tiny middle-class. Social issues are decoys used to fight for and decide who gains the White House. This explains why social issues are moving forward while labor issues are going backward.

The bottom line is Paul Ryan (Milton Friedman disciple) is pushing devastating policy for the working classes. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, advancing policy for the democrats is Larry Summers. There is very little daylight between these two multi-nationalists. They both view the middle-class as an inefficient relic from a bygone past with huge legacy issues. They aim to correct this "problem" by slashing wages, Social Security, Medicare, etc. What about infrastructure spending? Hell no, that would assume the U.S. has a future. They view a strong middle-class as a major mistake, an historic aberration that needs to be returned to its rightful place. Remember, neo-liberals and neo-cons believe in Thomas Friedman's the flat earth philosophy - we must level the global playing field. In other words, Americans make too much money. That said, we have not hit bottom, yet.

In ten years the cake will be baked. Members of the “extreme left” will gain no satisfaction in saying, “We told you so.”

[treestar]

1. How long do you want the video to be?

and a factory worker was shown.

FFS. Until there is a real challenger, trashing her makes no sense on a board for liberals.

[WillTwain]

3. She could have shortened the video and still put an AFL-CIO T-shirt on somebody.

This is bad.

I am giving her a chance but this must be corrected, soon.

[okaawhatever]

58. I disagree. Unless the AFL-CIO officially supports her, she should not use them in her advertisingnt

[WillTwain]

65. IS she sure that every ither group represented will support her? Unions will, they always do.

[okaawhatever]

70. AFL-CIO may endorse another Democrat. An endorsement isn't guaranteed. nt

[WillTwain]

75. They are reluctant and this will not help.

[RobinA]

239. This Union Member

will not be supporting Hillary. And no, I'm not a hater. I supported her over Obama, but I'm done. I will not vote for another Republican running as a Democrat. I will vote for Congress, but not for President unless there's an actual liberal on the ticket.

[WillTwain]

241. This is what Hillary needs to hear.

She may have already calculated how many RobinA's are out there and thinks she is safe without them.

[Enthusiast]

99. If Hillary supports the TPP the AFL-CIO should with hold support.

[WillTwain]

113. They are not a guarantee for the first time in history. Obama screwed them over too much.

[merrily]

178. Fine. Have the shirt say "UNION" not AFL CIO.

[WillTwain]

185. How about a scene from Wisconsin. There is a group that needs help from Hillary.

Where was Obama during that carnage?

[merrily]

188. Sure. a Wisconsin shirt. As I said, I'm flexible.

[WillTwain]

193. Hillary and the world at large need us.

[Warren DeMontague]

84. I wanted to see someone wearing a grateful dead t-shirt, or a tie-dye.

Is this indicative of the hostility we can expect from the Clinton campaign, towards states that have legalized marijuana?

[WillTwain]

88. Woody Guthrie not the Dead.

[Warren DeMontague]

92. I like Woody, yes sir

but his 35 minute dark star jams don't compare to Jerry's. Sorry.

[WillTwain]

114. Is Jerry a union man?

[Enthusiast]

115. Jerry was more of a music man.

[WillTwain]

117. Woody was more of a man man. Jerry is cooler, though.

[OldRedneck]

102. Also, she could have had someone on camera wearing T-shirts for:

-- Black Lives Matter
-- Native American Lives Matter
-- Save the Whales
-- Save the Redwoods
-- Save the (fill in the blank)
-- Stop Mountaintop Removal
-- Save the Spotted Owl
-- Don't Frack the Northern Neck
-- Medicaid Expansion NOW
-- These Colors Don't Run
-- and about a zillion other causes

It's a LONG campaign. Labor will be on board big-time.

[WillTwain]

107. It is inexcusable to omit the most important group of the last eighty years. Inexcusable.

How much money, votes and how many activists does your list total?

Z

[whathehell]

149. Yup...Before they started tapping Wall St, Unions funded their campaigns.

[Surya Gayatri]

170. Damn it, yes...the missing 'owl lobby' was very telling.

Obviously, she risks loosing the Green/Environmental vote because of this glaring omission.

Who were the idiots who wrote and filmed this?

[merrily]

182. Could these responses to the OP be anymore beside the point?

Chandler Bing wants to know.

[WillTwain]

212. Is it any wonder why Rome is burning.

[merrily]

213. Again?

Fuck Nero.

Twice.

[sabrina 1]

140. What an odd response to question on a Democratic Forum, about Unions. Please stop trying to silence

people from expressing their views on politics that AFFECT THEIR LIVES. If this is going to be the future of DU, that no one DARE express an opinion about something as important as WHO represents them, then let the Admins make that announcement and this forum will be a very lonely place for the next two years.

This is a DISCUSSION forum. The OP did not attack Hillary, he questioned her policies on Unions. The day that becomes forbidden on this forum and it becomes a campaign headquarters for ONE candidate, I can see a huge exodus happening.

So far, to my knowledge, this OP is well within the rules of this forum.

[treestar]

148. It was about the video

which, given the American Attention Span, could only be so long and only include so much. And there is no way Hillary is against Unions.

[sabrina 1]

151. Unions are a huge issue for Democrats, though from what I am seeing wrt to Unions, they have issued

a warning to the Dem Party, before the last election, that their traditional support for the party may not continue if things don't change.

They contribute millions of dollars to the Dem Party. Leaving the out of a campaign for president speech, is only going to make them less inclined to support the party.

There is simply no excuse for not even taking 5 seconds to support Unions.

But then if you are FOR the TPP you are automatically against Unions.

[WillTwain]

220. The Clinton's are not saying, "Oh Shit, we forgot Union." This is planned.

[sabrina 1]

234. I think you are right. Can't be FOR the TPP AND Unions at the same time.

[WillTwain]

236. This is so obvious. I fear of a trojan horse. I want her to make a fool of me.

[cui bono]

257. +1

[merrily]

177. Length of video? That's your answer?

[WillTwain]

183. Isn't that hilarious.

[merrily]

184. I might have chosen another word, but, sure, I'll go with hilarious.

I'm flexible.

[WillTwain]

186. I have learned to contain myself.

[merrily]

215. You must be an expert contortionist.

Double jointed, too, I'm guessing.

[WillTwain]

221. 600 straight posts without a hide. I am proud. I welcome their hatred.

[merrily]

222. Don't tempt fate.

[WillTwain]

224. 601 and counting.

[merrily]

226. 601 was way too easy, though. I don't alert much.

[William769]

2. ROFLMGAO!

[WillTwain]

4. Crying MAO in eight years

[JI7]

7. yup

[WillTwain]

8. This in incredible.

[Thinkingabout]

5. Since you brought up Walmart, do you have any idea what she did while on the board?

[WillTwain]

6. Tell me.

[Thinkingabout]

10. Since you brought it up in a negative way I was thinking Hillary pushing Buy America

was negative, no it was not, after she left the board this trend changed. I guess you think it is negative for advocate for women to get promotions, explain why you think these are negative points.

[tazkcmo]

31. Was this the ad campaign?

Are you talking about Walmart's Buy American ad campaign they blitzed the airwaves with while the were filling their stores with cheap foreign imports?

[Thinkingabout]

49. Are you familiar with Walmart practices during the time she was on the board?

[tazkcmo]

79. Yes.

Was boycotting them by 1987.

[Marr]

12. I'm more interested in what *Wal-Mart* did while she was on it's board, than what

she says she did while on it's board.

[WillTwain]

16. Did she try a military coup to overthrow the company? News to me.

[Thinkingabout]

50. Do you remember the Walmart ads "Buy America"?

[WillTwain]

55. They've come a long way baby since the 70s and Sam Walton, haven't they.

[Thinkingabout]

81. Maybe cogitive dissonance has some confused to the facts, huh.

[merrily]

192. I'd love to see a fucking fact. There's a shortage.

Lots of denial, lots of rationalizations, not too many facts.

[WillTwain]

196. They cherry pick and ignore the very facts they claim are missing.

[PrefersaPension]

80. I do. Then the father Sam died, the kids took over, and now look!

Back in the day, you could actually buy quite a few things made in the USA. Not anymore.

[LeFleur1]

97. Right on.

Old Sam is probably rolling in his grave at what his store has become.

[WillTwain]

101. Hill will fix it.

[Major Hogwash]

163. When did Sam die? When did the kids take over?

We didn't have any Walmart stores here until the late 90s.
Now they are everywhere.

[Thinkingabout]

181. They have put out they are supposed to be on a campaign to buy Made in USA again in 2013.

[Major Hogwash]

162. Since you brought them up, when did Walmart stop running those ads?

Was it before Hillary was on their board, or after?

[Thinkingabout]

179. Hillary was appointed to the board in 1986 and served six years.

Sam Walton passed away in 1992 and the Buy America stopped in 1992. We can speculate the kids stopped the project and perhaps Hillary would not be able to continue her advocacy, this is something we will never know.

[WillTwain]

187. Possible, maybe she was trying to unionize and gave up.

[Thinkingabout]

191. Is this how unions are started in companies? Didn't know board of directors organized the

unions.

[WillTwain]

197. Just for thought, she quit when Bill started campaigning. Like Jeb quit bad companies last year.

Food for thought. If Bill did not run would she have stayed on?

[Thinkingabout]

198. Pure speculation of what would have happened.

[WillTwain]

201. True, yet interesting timing.

I am not sure who, but I believe Obama brought up her position at Walmart in 2008.

[Thinkingabout]

204. It's over, I am out of here.

[WillTwain]

210. Have a good one. I like Hillary, but she needs to fix this..

[Thinkingabout]

195. She advocated for Buy America and pushed for promotions for women, two things impotant to me.

[WillTwain]

200. We are talking Walmart. And how did the buy America thing go for her?

[Thinkingabout]

202. Get over it, she was on the board, she pushed for Buy America and promotion of women,

these may not be issues which are important to you but others thinks they are important.

[WillTwain]

208. I am not sure if you are implying I do not care about your issues, which is an insult.

and the "get over it" comment is not so nice. Plus, it sounds like you are saying my issues are something to get over. Who is not concerned about others?

[merrily]

189. WTF? Walmart was the poster child for a lousy employer. She gave that the imprimatur of

the wife of the Democratic Governor of the state where it had its corporate headquarter.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/31/clinton-remained-silent-a_n_84246.html

Buy America campaign, my ass.

[liberal_at_heart]

9. Every Democratic Presidential nominee has waived the middle class banner and yet the

middle class keeps getting smaller and smaller. What will the banner say when there is no middle class anymore? Will they waive a below poverty line banner? Will they waive a low income banner? Because that is what we are all becoming.

[WillTwain]

13. Bill, Barack and Hillary - Three Strikes Wea Are Out

[babylonsister]

21. Why so negative so soon?

You need to lighten up, see what she has to say. Today is day one; she'll have plenty of time to clarify her positions. At least let her do that.

[WillTwain]

116. My radar is on about union support.

It is incredible the way democrats brush unions aside. This was her big rollout and she did not miss a single sizeable interest group - except the only one that can counter wealth inequality in a big way. Unions are the big piece of the puzzle missing for the last 30 years. Hillary knows this, which scares the hell out of me. She knows what they can do. Her deliberate omission is a red flag.

She knows they are the answer to saving the middle-class - yet flipped them off. This is right out if the Third Way playbook.

I hope she fixes this soon and Trumka endorses her. This is just a bad indicator. We need a real pro-union president.

[arely staircase]

23. three successful progressive democrats

kickers of republican ass.

[liberal_at_heart]

32. and none of them have helped the middle class and no they were not progressive.

[arely staircase]

66. both Clintons and Obama are true champions of the middle class

Ignore the haters and neo-cons.

[WillTwain]

69. Where are you getting that, their web sites?

[arely staircase]

259. I am a democrat and I support Democrats

You?

[WillTwain]

265. I am a Democratic Socialist.

I have always voted Democratic. Ralph was the closest non-dem.

[arely staircase]

266. cool

Well hopefully she can earn your vote. If not, work to elect progressives to congress

[WillTwain]

267. Absolutely, and maybe the presidency - Bernie has my vote, if he runs.

long shot but he is perfect on the economy.

[liberal_at_heart]

89. Obama and the Clintons champions of the middle class. Thanks for the laugh.

[closeupready]

145. LOL - yeah, right.

[L0oniX]

227. LMFAO ...champions of banksters and Wall Street.

[arely staircase]

258. haters gonna hate

Winners gonna win.

[L0oniX]

260. Greed is going to win. Enjoy.

[WillTwain]

261. Champions, Champions yes Champions of the middle-class.

We have not had a champion of the middle class for 50 years. The republicans are by comparison so bad, now Bill and Barack are champions. Oy.

[L0oniX]

262. The 1% are laughing at us all. This is all just entertainment for them.

[WillTwain]

263. They must love it. Progressive ideas cannot even make it out of the progressive party.

we are a long way from political health. They never thought it would get this good again after the New Deal gave nearly everyone a nice life.

[WillTwain]

118. You were close. Three successive kickers of unions ass.

[L0oniX]

219. Banksters and Wall Street ARE the new middle class. The old one is gone.

[WillTwain]

223. If we can ignore the rich, we are all equally poor - that is democracy.

[RealityAdvocate]

11. Hillary is banking on winning without us.

[WillTwain]

14. This was my biggest fear and it appears to be validated.

Can she correct this?

[RealityAdvocate]

15. Even if she tries to win labor, who amongst us will believe she is sincere?

[WillTwain]

17. Ya, but she is not even faking it.

[RealityAdvocate]

20. TPP and Wall Street. Yay.

Go Hillary.

[WillTwain]

24. Is there any political reason for this dissing of unions? Do they have a plan that includes

labor that they are hiding?

[RealityAdvocate]

26. She's going to try to let us fade away into antiquity.

[Jackpine Radical]

91. The unions are becoming increasingly powerless & irrelevant.

Much of the working class has been trained into resenting the unions. By trashing unions, she would have little to lose, while sending signals to Wall St. that she's not about to let those nasty unions and their greedy little workers do anything to damage corporate profits.

[WillTwain]

98. That looks like her calculation.

Lip service to unions. This will seal the middle-class demise.

[Nay]

205. If she didn't even have a union shirt on anybody, that sure leaves a bad taste

in my mouth, too. My heart sinks to get even more proof that we are gonna be going down the drain. Maybe not quite as fast as with one of the clown car presidents, but just as surely.

[WillTwain]

209. This was deliberate. She featured every group important to her except labor. Pretty straight forward

[Jackpine Radical]

268. A mild edit--

Scratch "except labor."

[arely staircase]

25. you have a mouse in your pocket? nt

[RealityAdvocate]

27. What flavor?

[Doctor_J]

123. And she will, validating the turd way strategy

Let us eat cake

[WillTwain]

126. It rots teeth and healthcare is too expensive.

[CrispyQ]

230. lol - nice play on words there.

There are some on DU who claim she can win without the left, too, but if she loses, they will point their fingers & blame us for it.

[WillTwain]

232. They dismiss the left, Republicans capitulate to the right.

[Maedhros]

254. Not at all!

She's going to use her impressive war chest to buy propaganda to convince us she cares, and we'll believe it.

"People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."

- Lewis Rothschild, The American President (1995)

[WillTwain]

264. When will she get labor's endorsement?

[Starry Messenger]

18. That must be why Randi Weingarten praised Hillary's video on FB.

[WillTwain]

19. I hope she knows something the video did not indicate.

[Starry Messenger]

22. Well being President of one of the largest unions in the U.S. probably helps.

[WillTwain]

28. I agree, but it is hard to understand the omission of unions. It does not look right.

Starry, I hope you are correct.

[liberal_at_heart]

37. And how have the unions faired over the last few decades? Maybe today's union leaders are not that

effective?

[Starry Messenger]

39. Mine's doing great.

We added several new members in our local.

[liberal_at_heart]

52. Well, I can tell you our local Boeing union is not, and neither are lots of other unions

across this country. Big business is destroying unions and Democrats are doing nothing to prevent it.

[Starry Messenger]

68. Republican Gov. of SC is suppressing an election for the union for Boeing workers.

This situation will not be improved by allowing Republicans to control all branches of government. And Democrats have been working on things like trying to streamline elections for unions, via the NLRB.

The Republicans are obstructing moves like this and aggressively challenging every single move in courts that are sympathetic to their anti-union aims.

[WillTwain]

71. Super-Hillary to the rescue.

[Starry Messenger]

78. Super Cruz will really help unions. See, I can do strawmen too.

I'm not sure how much organizing work you do, but many AFL-CIO members vote Republican. It's them we need to convince too. If you think they will be swayed by Saunders or Warren (both people that I love) than make the case.

Just claiming that Hillary Clinton is kryptonite to labor is not factual.

[WillTwain]

85. Cruz sucks.

[liberal_at_heart]

86. "streamlining elections". Is that anything like supporting teachers unions by taking funding away

when their students don't pass Race to the Top standards? Every school in WA state is now considered failing because our state legislators refused to tie state standardized testing to teacher evaluation. I don't trust the Democrats' attempt to streamline anything.

[Starry Messenger]

156. Union elections. NLRB. Labor reform.

http://www.peoplesworld.org/nlrb-oks-rules-to-streamline-union-election-procedures/

From last year:

WASHINGTON (PAI) - By a 3-2 party line vote on Feb. 4, the National Labor Relations Board proposed rules to change union election procedures, making elections less liable to delay and more transparent. Union leaders welcomed the NLRB's proposals. The right wing House GOP and the National Retail Federation screamed.

"The rules were needed then," when a prior NLRB first proposed them in 2011 "and they are still needed now," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.

"When workers petition for an NLRB election, they should receive a timely opportunity to vote. But the current NLRB election process is riddled with delay and provides too many opportunities for employers to manipulate and drag out the process through costly and unnecessary litigation and deny workers a vote. These rules are an important step in the right direction."

"Taken together, the rules would help stop companies from abusing the legal process to stall election votes, as many do now," Teamsters President James Hoffa added. "Workers for too long have been forced to endure unnecessary delays when they have tried to start a union. "We urge the NLRB to move forward with these changes so hard-working Americans can organize and better provide for their families."

<snip>

From this year:

http://www.bna.com/nlrb-election-rules-n17179923517/

Feb. 27 -- Congress is about to take up proposals to block the National Labor Relations Board from implementing changes in its representation case rules and procedures set to take effect April 14.

Many of the changes (see box below) have met vocal opposition from business groups and Republican legislators since they were originally proposed in 2011. A final rule approved in December 2011 was blocked by a court's ruling that the board failed to properly assemble a quorum of members when it used an electronic voting room process to finalize the rule.

But the board approved a modified version of the regulatory action in December, and the Senate and House will now consider resolutions under the Congressional Review Act to disapprove and block the rule changes.

With Republican majorities in both chambers, the resolutions are likely to win approval, but a White House veto of congressional action could clear a path for the board to proceed with implementation of its changes.

<snip>

They are pissed because the panel has Obama appointees on it. Period.

The Republican attempts to block labor reforms are doing great. I'd like to prevent more of that.

My state told Duncan to stick it, sorry things aren't going well in WA.

[justiceischeap]

29. OMG! Hillary didn't get a face lift before the video.... and she didn't whiten her teeth.

There are lots of things left out of the ANNOUNCEMENT video but a factory worker wasn't one of them. Hmm, I didn't see any Wall St. types represented in the video either but she mentions them in her message.

What the video does touch on are some very current events that I suspect resonates quite heavily with polls right now and that's equality. American's are very concerned about equality right now and I suspect that's what they're trying to tap into.

Don't worry, her union video will be out soon enough... you know, if she can find one.

[WillTwain]

33. You said it all. "resonates quite heavily with polls right now"

Lots of things left out including monarch butterflies plight but how the heck do you leave out the biggest part of the party for the last 80 years?

A-bleeping-ing mazing.

[justiceischeap]

43. You've made me curious...

I just went and looked at Obama's 2007 announcement video, not a peep on unions. But lots of stuff on the state of the nation (no mentions of monarch butterflies).

HRC not mentioning unions in her Presidential announcement video isn't the final nail in labors coffin. Cheap labor costs abroad will be the final nail in labors coffin.

[WillTwain]

119. It does not have to be. Cheap labor coupled with no unions will be the end.

Unions will mitigate the damage not fully eliminate the damage. They will help.

[justiceischeap]

121. I'm not anti-union

but to say her not specifically mentioning unions in her announcement video is the death of unions is hyperbolic at best.

There are a multitude of reasons why labor is suffering but so are small businesses, families, immigrants and LGBT people. She covered all of these things in her less than 3 minute video which included a manufacturing facility, which I think one could safely link to unions.

[WillTwain]

127. Most manufacturing is minimum wage non union. I ran a staffing company, I know.

The manufacturing jobs are union labor is a stereotype.

[justiceischeap]

130. And the one good thing about stereotypes

Is that they are so pervasive that if the average American saw a factory setting, they'd think Union.

[WillTwain]

133. Another stereotype is Democratic presidents are fighting for the working class.

Unfortunately, they are both wrong.

[WillTwain]

124. One more thing,

Nurses are not competing with labor abroad, nor are teachers, building trades or grocery stores. They are competing with Scott Walker and leaders from both parties that attack or avoid them.

You are talking about manufacturing, and our auto workers make less than most competitors already.

The labor abroad argument is only a small part of the problem. Politicians are a bigger problem.

[justiceischeap]

128. We can go back and forth on this all night, I'm sure

yes, politicians are part of the problem but the bigger problem is your average consumer. We want decent quality items that are inexpensive (most of us, anyway).

We like are open market prices and most companies won't be able to sustain that in the USA because people won't work for the prices that enables the greedy company to make huge profits.

If the government actually gave better incentives to produce goods here, I could see some labor coming back to our shores. The government should also penalize companies that ship jobs elsewhere--but it still comes back to consumers who want to pay the prices that 10 cents an hour labor gets them.

[WillTwain]

132. I can appreciate your thoughts, but like I said most union jobs have little to do with foreign labor

We will get the cheap products regardless of the wages of American union workers that I listed. The two must be separated. We have very little manufacturing anymore. 60,000 actories have left since 2000. Many because republican politicians are actually paying them to leave - not a joke.

Consumers purchasing cheap products has no effect on nurses unions or teachers unions of trade unions and on and on. Scott Walker types are the real enemy of most American unions.

[PrefersaPension]

146. Maybe she can borrow the anti-union tape Safeway uses...

or she can put out a totally pro-union ad for all America to see (then and only then will I be convinced of her support for any other than the rich). Been around too long to expect any less...

[arely staircase]

30. This proud union member (AFT) backs Hillary

see you at the polls, then.

[leveymg]

35. Proudly?

Serious question.

[WillTwain]

36. Good Luck.

[U4ikLefty]

42. Prison Guard Union or Police Union? nt

[WillTwain]

48. I wish I said that.

[arely staircase]

56. so you could have looked foolish too? nt

[WillTwain]

67. it was so politically astute. I love that depth of understanding of the games played. Fun stuff.

[arely staircase]

53. AFT (AFL-CIO)

Thanks for asking.

[U4ikLefty]

94. “I stand behind the charter school/public school movement, because parents do deserve greater choice

within the public school system to meet the unique needs of their children. Slowly but surely, we’re beginning to create schooling opportunities through the public school charter system-raising academic standards, empowering educators.”

- Former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton

[Nay]

207. This. Makes. Me. Sick. Who the hell could actually support the fraud that is the for-profit

charter school movement?????

[WillTwain]

211. Insanity has swept the land.

[L0oniX]

218. ...that and a lot of corporate shills infesting the blogosphere.

[WillTwain]

225. Keep being a voice of reason.

It does take thick skin.

[L0oniX]

229. You can't reason with blind obedience.

[L0oniX]

217. +1

[liberal_at_heart]

59. as long as you got yours right? Who cares if other unions are being destroyed right?

[arely staircase]

64. that makes no sense

You are just lashing out and not making a coherent argument.

[liberal_at_heart]

74. Starting in 2016 Seattle Boeing Union's pension is frozen. What did they get out of their

last contract negotiation? They go to keep their job because Boeing was threatening to take their factory somewhere else. This is happening all over the country. Unions are being destroyed and the Democrats are doing nothing to stop it.

[WillTwain]

76. Hillary will fix it.

[merrily]

194. Stop. I can't take it anymore. It's too funny.

[still_one]

153. Most labor will, and not because they think that Democrats will rubber stamp everything labor wants

but because they will be able to work with Democrats verses the republican ilk

[msanthrope]

34. I didn't like her pantsuit. nt

[leveymg]

38. She needs the extra pockets for carrying a second phone. n/t

[ronnykmarshall]

41. Me too!!!

Oh it was horrid!

[WillTwain]

44. DU is no place for sexism.

[msanthrope]

46. Nor is it a place for ignorance of sarcasm and lack of appreciation for a good 90's meme. nt

[WillTwain]

51. I was being sarcastic in a place that has no place for ignorance of sarcasm.

[msanthrope]

61. Sure you were. I Believe that. nt

[NuclearDem]

106. You Better.

[one_voice]

144. +1

[WillTwain]

108. What makes you the know-all mind-reader? Unbelievable.

[ronnykmarshall]

40. No change since 2008

Good god, I see the bullshit wagon is still in full force in DU.

[TreasonousBastard]

54. Just ignore it. I still remember when a high Kerry...

campaign operative was posting here and left in disgust because DU experts claimed he didn't know what the campaign was doing.

Some of the best kitten pix on the web here, though.

[emulatorloo]

60. Fueled by high-octane hyperbole too!

[still_one]

155. Isn't that the truth

[SidDithers]

160. Yup. Same as it ever was...

Only the names have changed.

Well, some of them have.

Sid

[WillTwain]

169. Hillary instead of Barack, more of the same Union neglect.

you are on top of it.

[Surya Gayatri]

172. Nice to see you around, RKM! I was wondering the

other day if you'd be posting more often, now that Hillary is in!

[Dragonfli]

45. Also absent were the working class poor. I saw mostly middle class people

The closest thing to the working poor in the video was the young girl entering the work force, one that I might add had enough money (or scholarships) to attend college.

Only the middle class and up appear to exist in Hillary's world. No one from neighborhoods such as mine (where most people actually live I might add).

The loss of union work is a large part of the fall of the blue collar into a world of poverty, so is offshoring (another reason so few union jobs still exist).

Where did all the poor people go? Why were they scrubbed from the video? We are fucking legion and no one even sees us anymore.

[WillTwain]

63. No, but plenty of future poor people.

[Dragonfli]

72. Well, it looks like they will have to fix up some of the condemned buidings

down the street to house them all.

[WillTwain]

83. There are plenty of empty deserts owned by the government, too. Freedom, Liberty.

[leftstreet]

141. +1

[PowerToThePeople]

159. see no evil, hear no evil

They are blinded by Corporate blinders to follow the path to Oligarchy and Fascism till the end. WE do not matter to them.

[jillan]

47. I think you are reading too much into a fluffy video.

It was all about the middle class. It wasn't about policies or anything really except people talking about their goals for 2015.

Give her time.

[Skidmore]

77. This. Exactly this. nt

[JustAnotherGen]

57. It's very early in the process

Ive not seen the video - but there is time.

Jim Webb has a Facebook meme/ ad touting his purple heart, tattoos and union cards. He started out differently. - she's got time to catch up. He has time to catch up on minority/women's issues.

Waiting - for Malloy to announce.

As an - I will vote for the person with a D after their name - it might make you happy to know I won't be contributing to Clinton - she's got a lot of big money behind her name. I've given ony to Malloy and Webb - because I think they can pull her over from Wall Street interests - and she won't be able to back off what they pull her towards IF she is the nominee.

Let's be clear - this time 2007 Obama didn't register for me - she was "inevitable".

[WillTwain]

87. You have a smart approach.

We need a president that loves and gives a full-throated endorsement of unions. This was a horrible indication. I may be wrong but it does not breed confidence.

[Octafish]

62. Walmart is the world's largest company, owned by the world's richest family.

The best is yet to come. Hoorah. Hoorah.

[WillTwain]

90. Two chickens, imported from China, in every pot.

[OKNancy]

73. Why would she abandon unions when she has always been pro-union

before and had union support. It was a 2 minute video and you are hand-wringing about union support from that?

--------------------------------------------

No salary increase for Congress until minimum wage increased. (Jul 2007)
Would accept minimum wage as president. (Jul 2007)
Stand up for unions; organize for fair wages. (Jun 2007)
Get tough with China and bring jobs back home. (Feb 2007)
Minimum wage increases haven’t kept up with Congress’ wages. (Dec 2006)
Passed 2 planks of 7-plank platform, “New Jobs for New York”. (Oct 2006)
Minimum wage should be tied to congressional salaries. (Jun 2006)
Pushed for extension of unemployment insurance. (Feb 2004)
The working poor deserve a living wage. (Oct 1999)
America can afford to raise the minimum wage. (Sep 1999)
Recently “we’re in it together” became “you’re on your own”. (Sep 1996)
Voted YES on extending unemployment benefits from 39 weeks to 59 weeks. (Nov 2008)
Voted NO on terminating legal challenges to English-only job rules. (Mar 2008)
Voted YES on restricting employer interference in union organizing. (Jun 2007)
Voted YES on increasing minimum wage to $7.25. (Feb 2007)
Voted YES on raising the minimum wage to $7.25 rather than $6.25. (Mar 2005)
Voted NO on repealing Clinton's ergonomic rules on repetitive stress. (Mar 2001)
Protect overtime pay protections. (Jun 2003)
Rated 85% by the AFL-CIO, indicating a pro-union voting record. (Dec 2003)
Allow an Air Traffic Controller's Union. (Jan 2006)
Sponsored bill linking minimum wage to Congress' pay raises. (May 2006)
Extend unemployment compensation during recession. (Jan 2008)
Ban discriminatory compensation; allow 2 years to sue. (Jan 2009)
Sponsored bill enforcing against gender pay discrimination. (Jan 2009)

http://www.ontheissues.org/hillary_clinton.htm#Jobs

[WillTwain]

96. As i have pointed out. The crisis is the wealth gap, without big increases in union membership

The game is over. This is as big a miss as she could have.

I hope she corrects this fast.

[joshcryer]

154. Yep, unions got her elected for the NY senate.

There were like 50k volunteers or something insane like that.

[WillTwain]

203. They need unions. Obama used them then stiffed them, so cynical.

[Warren DeMontague]

82. Are you talking about the video?

It was relatively content-less, that's a valid criticism, but in that case over-analyzing the content (that isn't there) is silly.

[still_one]

93. You think HRC won't be supportive of labor, then vote for someone else. I would like to remind you

That labor did that with Carter, voting for Reagan

How did that work out?

[WillTwain]

104. You are right. Voting for Obama really panned out, too. Sarcasm.

The joke is on us. At Least with Bush and Reagan we knew they were out to screw us. I actually respect their honesty about giving the money to the rich. They were open about it, unlike the Third Way Democrats.

[Cha]

125. If you don't think voting for President Obama "panned out" then

you haven't been paying attention for the last 7 years.. so what you have to say is rather useless.

[WillTwain]

129. Just for your information.

union membership declined as did real wage growth. Obama signed the CROMNIBUS bill which opened the door to pension raiding. The minimum age has become an even bigger insult than when he was elected. Oh, and if he had his way, Social Security would have been cut and TPP would devastate American workers. You may want o reconsider your insults.

With friends like that, who needs Cheney?

I dare you to list the ECONOMIC MIDDLE CLASS policy that he has done that comes close to offsetting the damage.

[still_one]

152. unions are having the issues they are have because they voted for Reagan. Yes, there is adifference

and if you can't see that then Nader all the way

If labor believes they can work with republicans verses Democrats good luck with that. Maybe Scott (Koch brothers) Walker will convince you. However, most labor today will go with Democrats because they know there is better opportunity with them. GM is alive today because of Democrats. Minimum wage is making in roads, but please let's cut our noses off to spite our face

[WillTwain]

171. Unions hate Obama for good reasons. Do you know more than they do about Obama's

dismissive attitude to them. Please.

[Major Hogwash]

164. You just fucked up. We have a Congress controlled by Republicans, yet when you said . . .

I dare you to list the ECONOMIC MIDDLE CLASS policy that he has done that comes close to offsetting the damage.

The very first bill President Obama signed in to law was the Lily Ledbetter Act, ensuring that women would be paid equal pay for the same type of work.

Something the unions never fought for!!!!!!!!!!!

[WillTwain]

173. A biscuit to a starving dog. They hate him. He did less with more than any president in history for

the working class. Unions demand that Obama's economic team are not to be withHillary or they will not endorse him - first time in history. That is how bad Obama is for workers, which I assume you are part of. I am fighting for you and you are against me. That is ok, I will do it anyway.

[Major Hogwash]

165. Nevertheless, this is what we are up against.

We're going to need Venn diagrams eventually in order to figure out who amongst the Obama haters are Hillary haters, who amongst the trolls are Hillary haters, and how much damn butter we are going to need for all the popcorn we will go through during the 2016 Presidential election!



I'm jus' saying . . .

[Cha]

166. Don't I know it and have known it for 7 years, Major. I got the machine to crank it out..

Someone else can get the butter since I use Flax oil.

[Major Hogwash]

167. Ha ha ha!!!!

No shit!!

[WillTwain]

175. Why do you laugh at poverty?

[WillTwain]

174. Popcorn machine made in China by 60 cents an hour non-Union workers.

Obama wants TPP so we can all make 60 cents an hour.

[still_one]

150. Yeah right. That is why unions are in such good shape. Brilliant view

[beaglelover]

95. Jesus Christ....it's her first ad! Give the Hillary hate a rest.

[workinclasszero]

103. No kidding

This place has turned into Freak republic lately!

I think that insane Rimjob is posting over here now.

[WillTwain]

112. Hillary did not do herself a favor with this slight of unions.

[LiberalElite]

105. Criticism does not equal hate nt

so YOU give it a rest.

[WillTwain]

111. The attack dogs are out. You cannot reason with some people.

It is always insults without any intelligent debate. Why don't they prove us wrong intellectually instead of bullying? Because they cannot.

[mythology]

147. Irony can be so ironic sometimes

Plenty of people here have given you different positions, but you reject them out of hand because you have your conclusion and won't listen to anything else.

And I find it laughable that you consider anything in this thread to be bullying. From the government's site on bullying:

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.
Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose

There's no power imbalance. Nobody is harming or controlling you or what you have to say, nobody is threatening you. The lack of agreement doesn't actually mean bullying has occurred.

[WillTwain]

109. Jesus Christ....give the blind faith a rest. Its like a restaurant forgetting to put hamburger in

the bun. Completely inexcusable. If she left women out of the ad, what would you think? No Excuse.

[L0oniX]

214. Give the middle class hate a rest too.

[brooklynite]

100. So, if Bernie Sanders doesn't SPECIFICALLY call out Unions in his first ad, you'll dump him?

[WillTwain]

110. Absolutely

[Cheese Sandwich]

134. No because he has earned some trust.

He's probably got the best labor record of any major politician, and a good policy platform on the issues.

[WillTwain]

139. I cannot imagine him not mentioning unions.

[Scuba]

120. K&R

[Doctor_J]

122. she doesn't make any bones about being a wall street water carrier. she will run

The entire campaign on social issues, on her gender, and on the extremism of the republicans. The death spiral of the working class and middle class will continue.

[WillTwain]

131. This is apparent to some, but not enough. Ditching unions is the canary in the coal mine.

[840high]

135. God knows I don't want her.

[PowerToThePeople]

136. k&r.

[lovemydog]

137. I understand where you're coming from.

Unions are extremely important and as you & many others have mentioned, they helped build and strengthen the American middle class.

My perception of what you say in your post is that I hear where you're coming from. I'm saddened by some of the other comments that are super sarcastic or obnoxious, but I guess it's just to be expected whenever someone posts something on a public forum, lol. I'm glad you have thick skin, or at least I hope you do.

I enjoyed our conversation the other evening, and hope you appreciate that I still straddle the line between being very progressive and also not wanting our progress blown away by republicans. I feel our best chance of doing so is in Congressional elections and local and state elections.

Yes, I want to wait and see more of Hillary Clinton's plans. I tend to agree with you that her advisors are hoping to skate by on social popularity alone. As we both know, that doesn't complete the picture for us progressives. We want to see real significant concrete support of unions. I'm glad you brought it up. I'm not wary of her union support from her announcement video. I thought it was pretty good. I'm wary from her previous policies, which haven't done enough for my liking to really support unions. I will wait and see.

[WillTwain]

138. I want to like Hillary, she is so talented and qualified.

if I am reading her correctly, I am forced to back someone else. Social issues are levers used to gain votes. The economy is almost completely separated from them.

I know what "straddling" means and it is reasonable. I think Hillary will benefit from straddlers and has that in the calculation.

Hillary will be a very good president, but if she does not embrace unions in a big way the death spiral continues.

Always enjoy your posts.

[leftstreet]

142. DURec

[awoke_in_2003]

143. no surprise

neither party is a friend to labor.

[still_one]

157. GM is still here because of Obama. The republicans wanted them to go through a formal

Bankruptcy. If that happened, buyers would be hesitant to buy GM vehicles. In addition, government incentives on old cars to motivate buyers to buy new cars was done by Democrats to help the auto industry. Republicans were against that also.

thee were other things also, equal pay for equal work, push to increase minimum wage, safety in the work place, and other things also

[marym625]

158. K&R

[nationalize the fed]

161. The Traitors that sold out US Manufacturing

knew that it would kill Unions. No manufacturing= No strong unions.

NPR: 50 Years Of Shrinking Union Membership, In One Map

Fifty years ago, nearly a third of U.S. workers belonged to a union. Today, it's one in 10...
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2015/02/23/385843576/50-years-of-shrinking-union-membership-in-one-map

The Democrats used to be able to get Union money. Since most unions are bust, both parties go to wall street. And people wonder why the workers are getting shafted over and over.

[onehandle]

168. As a straight white male, that video offended me.

So many brown people, homosexuals, children, and wimmen.

[WillTwain]

180. As a gut who understands pandering it offended me.

and the disrespect that democrats have for the faction that built their political careers and the middle-class is sickening.

[mn9driver]

176. We live in an oligarchy.

The successful candidate for President needs to convince all of those voting groups to support him/her. To do that he/she needs the money of the extremely wealthy and powerful.

Unions tend to remember when promises get made, and they get pissed when they are not kept. The little people who vote based on who has the slickest campaign? Not so much.

[WillTwain]

190. Maybe a queen this time at the top

listen to union leaders for who will save the workers not idol worshipping followers.

[MineralMan]

199. No. It does nothing of the sort.

Truly.

[PrefersaPension]

231. Of what sort?

[MineralMan]

235. Of the flipping the bird sort.

Read the OP, to which my post is a reply. I was not replying to anything you wrote. I have no idea who you are and have never read any post written by you. Bye, now.

[WillTwain]

237. You chime in on my posts all the time. Call it what you want, it is an absolute snub of unions.

I am the DUer you constantly talk down to. Remember?

[MineralMan]

238. Yes, I posted in your public thread, but the post

you're replying to was not addressed to you at all. Were you trying to reply to my reply to your OP? You missed by two posts.

Are you suggesting that I not reply to your threads? Really? You needn't see my posts, you know.

As for this thread, I do not consider the video to be flipping the bird to anyone or anything. Hence my reply.

[WillTwain]

240. I welcome your posts. Simply do not pretend you are unaware of me. You have demeaned me

several times. I think it is fine, but let's be honest. Dismissive comments are not cool.

She blew off unions, what the heck does it take? Just the facts. No more excuses for this awful snub.

[MineralMan]

242. Look at the thread's post list. You're in a subthread.

The post you're talking about was a reply to a post by some DUer named "Prefersapension" not you. That is the DUer I do not know. Follow the post back to the post I replied to. It wasn't your post.

You're on the wrong track and in the wrong subthread for this line of posts. I know you. I've posted in some of your threads. You are not "Prefersapension," who has just 34 posts, the last time I looked.

[WillTwain]

243. My error. Though you have been dismissive of me. My replies to you still hold up.

Sorry for the error.

[MineralMan]

244. I simply disagree with you on some points.

Disagreement is not dismissive. It is just disagreement. Being dismissive would mean not going into your threads at all.

I had made one post in this thread. One. In most of your threads, I don't post at all. I post in thread where I am moved to post. This is DU, where any member may post in any thread he or she wishes.

You don't like my posts? Oh, well.

[WillTwain]

245. No, You have told me I am not worthy of voicing my opinion. I love that we disagree.

[MineralMan]

246. Oh, bother...

I'm out of this discussion.

[WillTwain]

247. Excellent, Check your posts, too.

[Bettie]

206. There was definitely a guy working in a factory

I figured that was a reference to union workers.

[WillTwain]

216. Not when most workers are non Union and work in poverty. Nobody thought Union man

when they saw the video the first time they watched the clip. Why can't she openly acknowledge the unions. A shot of a random worker usually means non-Union. That is America. Really, it is a reach to think that was a shout out to unions.

[Bettie]

249. Sorry, my first thought was Union Guy

but I come from a lot of union people, so factory work links strongly to union work in my head.

But, if you look for things to be unhappy about, you will find them. It was an announcement of candidacy not a full disclosure of all of her positions.

I am still hoping for someone else to enter the primary process so we can have a real discussion, but I can't bring myself to dismiss anyone simply for a two-minute video that didn't manage to show every possible permutation of humanity in the US.

[WillTwain]

252. I hope you read the thread, my positions are clearly stated.

Thanks for the conversation.

It is a big snub to the most important group in the party. Hard to imagine.

[stevenleser]

228. This OP only makes sense in bizarro world. All the Union forums I've checked loved the video.

This OP completely forces the argument. Its ridiculous.

[WillTwain]

233. Why are they not endorsing her, yet? If they are so enamored with her.

[brooklynite]

255. Are you in a hurry?

The campaign is going low key to start. I'm sure endorsements will be forthcoming when the campaign wants them. Including Elizabeth Warren...

[WillTwain]

256. I do not thinks so.

I am merely trying to slow down the coronation until we find out more about her union beliefs. This is undoubtedly one of the most important issues. Believe me, I am one big step from getting on board, but if unions do not endorse her, and they already said they are in no hurry to do that, I am holding out.

Remember, Huey Long pulled FDR to the left in 1935. We need to keep pressuring her on the big issues that will close the income inequality problem.

It is too early to get behind her. I like her a lot, but union advocacy is absolutely crucial.

[DemocraticWing]

248. All the union people I know are "Ready for Hillary"

They love both her and Bill. I'm not sure I share their enthusiasm, but I see no actual reason to believe she's preparing abandon the labor movement.

I also don't think endorsing equality for America's oppressed peoples is a minor deal. Hillary's come a long way since welfare "reform" and DOMA, and she better be working her ass off to show us she's on the right side on social issues. I won't vote for a candidate that isn't supported by labor unions for President, but I also absolutely refuse to vote for a candidate that doesn't believe in full equality for women, LGBT people, and minorities.

[WillTwain]

250. "I also don't think endorsing equality for America's oppressed peoples is a minor deal."

I could not agree more. I think Hillary is great on most issues.

The union folks I know are not as enthusiastic about Hillary as yours. They are very worried about another Obama for eight long years. Union have declined under Obama, they are worried about their families and livelihood. No more passive support of unions. The truth is Richard Trumka is still deciding who to endorse. That says everything.

[Hekate]

251. She mooned the military, too, by not having a single soldier or battleship in the ad. OFFS.

[WillTwain]

253. OK

[DemocratSinceBirth]

269. She also flipped off first responders...I didn't see any in the ad

SARCASM

[WillTwain]

270. Got me. I was ready fire.

[woo me with science]

271. kick

[Cali_Democrat]

272. I don't see this as her flipping the bird to unions

You're really reaching.

[BainsBane]

273. Must be cause she's a Leninist

Leninists being all anti-union and all.