PE Obama says the workers at the Chicago plant

[malaise]

are absolutely right. If they have earned their benefits and their pay, then the company needs to deliver.

GObama!!

[saltpoint]

1. Recommended.

This post is recommended.

Those workers' rights are recommended.

That new president guy is recommended.

[malaise]

2. That will be the talk of the press conference

A fabulous signal to workers. Bank of America got the money - deliver to the company so that they get their money.

Discussion on GEM$NBC right now.

[saltpoint]

6. That would be great. To have this event on the lips of

people as they gather on Monday for their business days.

Obama has really come thru big on this one.

[malaise]

8. I am beyond impressed

and he linked it to Wall Street v Main Street and the housing woes and unemployment of ordinary people.
:fistbump:

[saltpoint]

11. Exactly. And just imagine how Bush would have handled it when

he was president.

O wait. He IS the president!

[Tutonic]

10. Bank of America is the financial sector's equivalent of General Motors.

They created a bloated house of smoke of mirrors and now that its time to deliver they can't. So they'll collapse. They are an awful corrupt organization.

[sandnsea]

16. He said that? BofA should deliver??

Really? Because that is the exact problem with this particular company.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[YvonneCa]

15. "That new president guy is recommended." When you're right...

...OC...you are right! :7

[saltpoint]

18. Hi, YvonneCa! Good to see ya. Yep. I'm countin' the days

until that little weasel Bush is out of the Oval Office!

[YvonneCa]

51. I'm counting right along with ...

...you. Good to 'see' you, too. :)

[lunatica]

3. That's my President

My President.... sigh... I've waited so long to say that again...

:patriot: :loveya:

I'm proud to be an American again.

[Enrique]

4. i bet a big cheer just went up at that plant

:bounce:

[madrchsod]

7. jessie jackson is/was meeting with them today....

[madrchsod]

5. it`s grand to actually have a president....45 more days?

[malaise]

9. Isn't that 44

We can't lose a day -not now. :D

[pinto]

12. Kudos.

K&R.

:kick:

[YvonneCa]

13. Just heard that. Obama was just asked ...

...about this in his press conference/announcement of Shinseki and he TOTALLY supported the workers to get their severance and benefits to which they are entitled (YAaaaY!). He also broadened his comment to say (paraphrasing) that what these workers are experiencing is what many others around the country have been experiencing...and that his administration will be one that tries to make things better for workers in such circumstances.

[sandnsea]

14. Awesome!

This will be the first President in my life who ever believed that "We The People" meant the majority, the working people.

[babydollhead]

17. how to contact their field organizer to show your support...

Mailing Address:
UE Local 1159
c/o UE District 11
Attn: Field Org. Leah Fried
37 South Ashland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60607

Phone:
312-829-8300

Email:
[e-mail]

[saltpoint]

19. Thank you for posting this. I'm in will-do mode on it.

[babydollhead]

20. I called and emailed my support

I said, "I stand with you. Tell me how to help"

[saltpoint]

21. Thank you for doing it.

I will email a group of like-minded folks this evening and add to your effort.

[Peace Patriot]

46. Your email link got bounced back to me. It's not working.

Maybe they're getting too much email?

Do you have an alternative?

[GinaMaria]

62. wish we could all join the same union

that would be powerful wouldn't it? What if there was one union for all American workers?

[suffragette]

22. This is wonderful news

Very glad that PE Obama is addressing this.

Hope this makes BofA fulfill its obligation of freeing the credit which the company needs so the workers can receive their due and maybe even better, keep the company and the workers in business. Keeping your job for Christmas - what a great gift that would be.

[tekisui]

23. Thank you workers, and thank you PE Obama!

[Odin2005]

24. YES!!!

:woohoo:

Given that Obama's read Alinsky I'm sure he would approve of this! The Pukes are gonna regret dissing Community Organizers.

As the French would say, Vive la Revolution!!!

[kentuck]

25. BOO-Yah!

:-)

[maryf]

26. Write a letter of protest to Bank of America here:

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/bankofamerica/

[Patchuli]

27. K&R!

:fistbump: :loveya:

[Bluenorthwest]

28. That's fantastic!

Glad to hear him spell it out.

[cali]

29. day after day a certain faction of DUers run around proclaiming

that Obama is a corporate stooge. You will not see those dishonest Counterpunch drones on this or any other thread that provides evidence to the contrary.

they make me sick. And no, I'm decidedly not saying people shouldn't criticize Obama. I'm saying right out front that the kind of rhetoric I'm calling out, is NOT criticism, it's sleazy ass smearing with an ugly agenda.

[malaise]

30. Very good point

This is a great signal to the workers of America and to corporate America. You cannot lock shop and deprive workers of their pay or benefits.

[Radical Activist]

31. Yep.

It will only take one strong sign from the President that the right to organize will be protected and then getting one bill through Congress. Then we'll see change.

[Peace Patriot]

37. Some quotes, some links, Cali?

"And no, I'm decidedly not saying people shouldn't criticize Obama.

Uh-huh. If not, then you can quote or give us links to these "sleazy ass smearing" DUers.

As for Counterpunch, I used to read it quite often during the darkest hours of the Bush Junta. It was comforting and informative. But I grew impatient with the lack of solutions. That's my criticism of Counterpunch. Great analysis, great, invaluable facts and viewpoints. But what do we DO? Maybe it's too much to ask for analysis to produce solutions. Good analysis and reporting is hard enough to do, as it is. But that's why I don't read it so much any more. I became very interested in the issue of the 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines that were fast-tracked all over the country between 2002 and 2004. This, to me, is the sort of practical, strategic, people-power issue that needs to be addressed, that CAN be addressed. We cannot do much about the U.S. military/police-state machine--often a subject at Counterpunch--until we restore transparent vote counting. And we cannot know what the American people would do, with a truly democratic election system, until we have achieved one. This is the lesson of the vast, peaceful, leftist, democracy movement that has swept South America, it seems to me. The South Americans did the long hard work of achieving transparent vote counting, and work on other democratic institutions, and that provides the people with the actual power mechanism to change things.

Counterpunch is well worth reading. It provides a wide spectrum of leftist and alternative opinion--often well-written, well-sourced and very informative. But beware of starting to get depressed, and feeling powerless, when you read too much of it. Think practically and strategically, is my advice.

[cali]

40. oh, please. you have to blind not to see those posts. However

since you insist.

They've been all over for at least a couple of weeks now. And counterpunch is no more valuable than worldnutdaily. The so-called analysis is invariably a jumble of the puerile and the shallow. Oh, and I think you romanticize what's happening in South America, though I certainly support the changes in some SA countries.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7959915&mesg_id=7960423

[Peace Patriot]

48. You cite one comment, as follows...

leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sun Dec-07-08 11:17 AM
Response to Original message

78. He's a free market true believer and a die-hard supporter of corporations.

He's basically a supply-side kind of guy, so this mumbo-jumbo made sense to him.

His top economic advisors would not be out of place in a bush administration (except for their competence).

I am disappointed though that he exhibited the same kind of gullibility that the "democrats" in Congress exhibited toward king george for the last seven years. That gullibility is so head-scratchingly inexplicable that one's thoughts inevitably stray toward the word "accomplice."

-----

The comment was in response to this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7959915

Why do you think Obama was in favor of the Bush/Paulson BAILOUT SCAM??

Most of the country saw right through all the Henny Penny stuff and knew better than to trust Paulson or anyone else in the Bush administration ~ and yet Obama was all for it. Sure, he listed a few protections that should be included ~ but supported the bill even though those protections were not included, in spite of endless emails and calls from wise voters.

The bailout amounted to yet another pillaging of this country by a band of criminals ~ an early October Surprise.

It makes no sense to me that someone as intelligent as Obama would fall for this scam. Why do you think he supported it??

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

First of all, I don't see any reference to CounterPunch. Nor do I see any evidence of sleaziness. The OP poses a quite good question. I have wondered about this myself. Why did Obama support the bailout? Did he feel he had no choice? Was he hemmed in? (It was just before the election.) Was this some sort of blackmail? Did he really think it was wise to give this humungous amount of money to the Bush Junta, with virtually no oversight, a few months before they are outa here? And if he disagreed with the bailout or its terms, why didn't he (or why couldn't he) say so? All legitimate questions, and, indeed, essential questions for the people of this country. What the hell was going on with this? Why did Obama so readily agree to what most Americans considered foolish and wrong? We're bailing out a pyramid scheme by the super-rich, with zillions of dollars through Bushwhack fingers?!

The commenter (#78) answers that he is thinking the word "accomplice" with regard to our Democratic Party leaders over the last seven years. That is not an unreasonable, nor even a particularly leftist (Counterpunchy), comment, considering that the American people have given our 2006 Democratic Congress a 10% approval rating. They have failed us, is the general opinion. His target is general--the Democratic leaders. He does not use this word on Obama exactly, but he does criticize him as "gullible." He says he is disappointed. I have to say I am, too. I thought Obama would at least insist on oversight, and also some "trickle down" money. My conclusion is not "gullibility," though. My conclusion is blackmail, or fear of some kind, something we can't see. Obama's position on the bailout is otherwise inexplicable to me. I think he is very intelligent, and also has a good heart and good instincts. I think he was "over a barrel" in some way.

My nagging question is: What on earth do the Bushwhacks HAVE on our Democratic leaders, what "barrel" are they holding them all over, to extract such a heavy price--basically, the total bankruptcy of the U.S. unto the 7th generation and beyond? And I felt the same way about impeachment, and about the escalation of the Iraq War, with billions and billions more dollars handed over to the Bushwhacks, by a Democratic Congress that was elected to END the war.

Real uneasiness, based on my belief that most of our Democratic leaders--though there is hardly a one of them who can prove that he or she was actually elected, given the 'TRADE SECRET' vote counting with virtually no audit/recount controls (none, in half the systems in the country)--are at least partially interested in protecting the interests of the American people, some more than others. I do not have any such belief in the Bushwhacks. I think every last Republican leader in this land is a traitor to our country and our people. The Democrats are more complicated, with mixed motives, some good, some bad. And they have been struggling with a fascist junta. Out of power, really out of power--kicked to curb by these nazis. I'm sure many have looked on with utter dismay at what the Bushwhacks have done, and have felt as powerless as the rest of us, even if they are more privileged than the most of us. Other D's have actively colluded. Where does Obama fit in? Obviously, he has been successfully vetted by the global corporate predators and war profiteers who rule over us, or he wouldn't have gotten anywhere in the 'TRADE SECRET' voting system, or with the corpo/fascist 'news' monopolies. He wouldn't be let anywhere near the White House if he hadn't passed the 'Bilderburg Group' vetting. But that doesn't mean he's one of the evildoers. I don't think he is. I think he may view his role differently than those who vetted him. They wanted someone to calm things down a bit, and distract us, while they conducted the final looting--and someone they could easily Diebold out of office in 2012, after thoroughly destroying the country and blaming it on him and "the liberals." He sees himself as the one who can let us down gently, our rescuer. I think he's hemmed in by the realities of our situation, and his own. He figured you can't do anything if you don't have power. (We should be thinking this about transparent vote counting!). He is quite right. So he's made deals and agreed to some things--some of which we know about, some of which we don't--in order to achieve power, that he might not have liked, and would never have initiated. Moving the Forever War to Afghanistan. The unaccountable bailout.

My conclusion: The Bush Cartel is extremely dangerous, and that danger is no less lethal with Bush-Cheney out of office. They cannot have done what they have done without, a) Democrats who are complicit, and b) Democrats who are fearful. Their spying maybe? Fear of nuclear holocaust? Fear of Diebold and ES&S? I don't know. I don't think it was easy to get the Bush Junta to leave, on schedule, when their term was up. I think someone had to convince them to exit the White House, when the time comes. And I think "no impeachment" (and continued immunity from a mind-boggling list of crimes) was part of that deal. But they remain the murderous, unbelievably greedy and conscienceless criminal enterprise that they have been all along. This is the circumstance in which Obama ran for president, and has offered himself as a "good emperor" to somewhat ease our pain and restore some sort of credibility to the government.

To get back to your point, this kind of criticism--which I have just written--is essential to our understanding of our government and the powers that have control of it. I may be wrong on some points--or on all points--but I am not ill-willed--neither toward Obama, nor toward my life-long political party. I think it's essential that we keep our eyes open, and fully face our situation. We cannot make good strategic decisions, as individuals (where to put our energies), or as a leftist democracy movement, or as a political party (what policies to formulate, propose and fight for), if we do not really understand what is going on in this Byzantine 'Roman Empire' that the USA has become.

I feel kinship with the comments of LeftOfDial, and of the poser of the original question in the OP you cited. Why do you think Obama was in favor of the Bush/Paulson BAILOUT SCAM?? A good question. The kind of question we need to be asking. LeftOfDial answered the question, to the point. And I don't understand your citation of that answer as an example of sleazy trashing of Obama. It just isn't. He thinks Obama is gullible and possibly complicit in the bailout, and a free-marketer. Well? Has Obama said anything to remove that impression? I don't fully agree with LeftOfDial's assessment of the situation, but I think it is a fair one. ALSO, it's something Obama should KNOW--that some people, who are inclined to be on his side, feel he's complicit.

Do you have another example of what you have described as a pervasive dissing of Obama at DU over the last few weeks? I hadn't noticed this. I see a lot of good questions being raised, and thought-provoking posts. I've seen strong criticisms of his appointments. (I've made some myself.) And I've seen A LOT of good will toward Obama. Where is your evidence that this is not a reasonable, useful and even essential discussion that we have been having about our new president?

[Hekate]

47. Yep

:thumbsup:

[superduperfarleft]

61. God, you're so angry you can't even properly capitalize.

Counterpunch's Daniel Gross wrote one of the best articles I've seen on this strike. But I guess it's all BS because he didn't devote the whole thing to how awesome it is that Obama sorta kinda mentioned that the workers may sorta kind be in the right.

[Peace Patriot]

32. K&R! Thank you, President Obama!

And thank you, upthread, for the contact info. I'm going to urge them to go for keeping the company in business. In Argentina, and other places where this sort of thing happened before it hit us here, the workers simply took over the factory or business, and kept it going, and, with good leftist governments in place (after long hard work by many people on transparent elections and other democratic institutions), their effort paid off with restored economic health.

We can do this, too. What good is a shuttered factory? What good to anybody is a hotel with its doors closed? Financial looting can create nutso situations, where the very goods and services, and hard, loyal, productive work that produces wealth, cannot occur, because some distant financial shark, or bankrupt owner's lawyer, or bought and paid for judge, says so. Everything comes to a crashing halt. People starve. People get displaced. Children, the elderly and the sick suffer. Everybody loses, including the members of the ruling class who looted and destroyed their own "golden goose."

Severance pay will keep these workers for a while. Unemployment will help. Then what? If this window company closed because of the Bushwhack looting and plundering in the mortgage industry, it can perhaps be saved, and maybe re-tooled. How about solar panels? Or something like that? A forward-looking product? Lord, if we had small solar cells in every sunny window of every house, lighting and warming that room and others, the potential market for such an enhanced window, or added device, could be very big. Time to think creatively. What could tide them over until the housing market comes back (if that's what we want), or what could they make with similar skills and tools, that might be a permanent, future, business-saving product?

These workers have already taught us a good lesson is not passively accepting the laying off and cheating of workers, and the closing of businesses by financial sharks. Cheers to them! Kudos and laurel wreaths! And to Barack Obama for his intelligent and good heart!

[malaise]

36. Great post

:yourock:

[suffragette]

33. Found a link for this

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1318766,barack-obama-republic-window-doors-120708.article

President-elect Barack Obama put himself on the side of the workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory Sunday:

“When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned, I think they are absolutely right,” Obama said Sunday at a news conference announcing his new Veterans Affairs director. “What’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy.

“When you have a financial system that is shaky, credit contracts. Businesses large and small start cutting back on their plants and equipment and their workforces. That’s why it’s so important for us to maintain a strong financial system. But it’s also important for us to make sure that the plans and programs that we design aren’t just targeted at maintaining the solvency of banks, but they are designed to get money out the doors and to help people on Main Street. So, number one, I think that these workers, if they have earned their benefits and their pay, then these companies need to follow through on those commitments.

“Number two, I think it is important for us to make sure that, moving forward, any economic plan we put in place helps businesses to meet payroll so we are not seeing these kinds of circumstances again,’’ he said. “Have we done everything that we can to make sure credit is flowing to businesses and to families, and to students who are trying to get loans? And to homeowners who have been making payments on their homes but are still finding their property values so depressed that it becomes very difficult for them to make the mortgage payments?

“That’s where the rubber hits the road and that’s going to be the central focus of my administration."

He's addressing both the responsibility of the company to pay the workers and the that of the banks to provide the credit to businesses so they can stay in business. Very, very good news.

[malaise]

35. Excellent

Super link. :D

[suffragette]

39. This is so powerful on many levels

Thanks so much for posting and calling our attention to it.

Obama is supporting the rights of the workers.

He is also appropriately connecting this to the economic plans and the relationship of the availability of credit to businesses continuing to function plus the need to ensure plans "are designed to get money out the doors and to help people on Main Street." That's pro-business in the best sense of that term and pro-accountability in respect to economic plans or assistance.

And it's congruent with his statements on conditionally assisting the auto industry.

[malaise]

41. I was watching his press conference re the Shinseki

appointment. I am delighted with that appointment but Obama's response to the question about the workers stole the show.

I'd love someone to ask the current President for his thoughts on the subject.

[suffragette]

42. I'd like that as well.

And thanks for all your wonderful posts.

[malaise]

43. Back at you

:D

[DrPresident]

34. Obama's moved onto community organizing for the whole country now.

*tears of joy*

[malaise]

50. Quite a few newspapers have picked this up

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1318766,barack-obama-republic-window-doors-120708.article

http://www.google.com.jm/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&channel=s&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=Bjq&q=Obama+defends+workers+Chicago&btnG=Search

GEM$NBC included it in this interesting report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28102581/

<snip>
Chicago workers in the third day of a sit-in on the floor of their former workplace peered through the windows of a door Sunday, amazed by a mix of supporters, politicians and journalists who packed a foyer outside.

"We never expected this," said Melvin Maclin, a factory employee and vice president of the local union that represents the workers. "We expected to go to jail."

At a news conference Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama said Republic should follow through on its commitments to its workers.

"The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they're absolutely right and understand that what's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy," Obama said.

Patrick Tyrrell, 22, of Chicago, visited the workers Saturday and returned the next day with home-cooked beans, rice, chicken and soup. Tyrrell said he felt he wanted to help, in part, because his grandfather was an electrical union member.

"This is an impressive historical event," he said.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, called it the start of a movement. "This story has resonated around the world," she said.



And so it begins. :fistbump:

delete sentence.

[crone]

60. I cried when I read this myself..

I certainly am getting to be a sappy old lady. It feels good.

[GrantDem]

38. Thank you.

Go workers! and PE Obama!

[BelgianMadCow]

44. Best news of the day, by far.

Imagine a president for the people.

[malaise]

49. It's been a long time since I heard a Western government

defending workers.

[Le Taz Hot]

45. Good for Obama.

I've been free with criticism of his cabinet picks. I'm glad to kick in with something positive.

[sarcasmo]

52. The Right President during our darkest moment.

[saltpoint]

53. malaise, you put up a real spirit lifter with this one.

I am just really likin' this.

[malaise]

55. I'm lovin' it

:D

[stlsaxman]

54. This could not be more awesomer!

"Let's Rock."

[pleah]

56. K&R!

:hi:

[Kajsa]

57. Fantastic!

It's been a long time since we've had a president
who stood up for the workers and their rights.

Things are definitely looking up!

Thanks, Malaise!

:D :hi:

[malaise]

59. The Rude Pundit has a great post on his blog today

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4609991

[Kajsa]

63. Rude Pundit got it right.

That's a great post.
The workers have spoken and people are FINALLY paying
attention!

Thanks, Malaise. :)

[Raineyb]

58. This is exactly the type of thing I want to see

:kick: and rec

Regards