Demanding a More Perfect (D)Union

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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x321103

In 2003, Senator Barack Obama addressed the AFL-CIO 'CIVIL, HUMAN, and WOMEN'S RIGHTS' Conference. Obama said, “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America the wealthiest country in the history of the world … cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody … A single-payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see."

"But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we gotta take back the White House, we gotta take back the Senate, we gotta take back the House."

Now that the Senator has taken back the White House, the Senate and House, the single-payer universal health care program he was a proponent of, is off the table. This is the same table that impeachment was off of, while the candidates campaigned on the road for two years.

So these back room compromises continue, with the public out of the loop, even laughed at by senators who think the answer to the will of We The People is that they "need more police," to protect themselves from those they supposedly represent.

Who carries the banner of We The People? Who unifies common interests on behalf of working Americans? Who has been under assault since Reagan's Voodoo Economics began sucking the life out of the nation three decades ago?

Funny that. I was intrigued in the video by the sign behind Obama in his 2003 speech: "Civil, Human and Women's Rights Conference." Who has kept that flame alive since the most recent progressive era? Who kept the subgroups organized and interrelated while Reaganomics, corporate media and pop culture demographics drove them apart?

The AFL-CIO. Who knew?

The AFL-CIO has a Department of Civil, Human and Women's Rights and a Civil, Human and Women's Rights Conference every year. This year the theme is "Demanding A More Perfect Union."


Omega Rae had been advocating for recognition of interrelated issues of Civil, Human and Women's Rights for about five years on DU. Omega Rae has been "Demanding A More Perfect Union" of ideas, issues and efforts on DU and in RL, to reinvent the synergy that achieved success in the past.

For the AFL-CIO, apparently it's still current. If the AFL-CIO can do it, can DU?

Will the Women's Rights and LGBT Rights movement both benefit from synchronizing with each other. Will Gender Rights issues that affect reproductive rights be seen in synch with gender issues that affect gay marriage? Will both movements that identify with African American Civil Rights issues do so in a way that is relevant and respectful? Will the AFL-CIO be an engine and model for a new unified Civil, Human and Women's Rights Movement?

I believe we can model the unity of union pride and solidarity, understanding the benefits for all; recognizing the dangers if we don't.

Thank you.
:applause:

http://www.aflcio.org/issues/civilrights/
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/women/

Jobs * Exporting America * Manufacturing * Working Women * Working Women Speak Out! * Women in a Global Economy * Equal Pay * America Needs A Raise * Overtime Pay * Global Economy * Unemployment Help * Workers' Rights

GET INFORMED
• An Economy That Works For All
• Global Economy
• Freedom to Join a Union
• Health Care
• Retirement Security
• Safety & Health at Work
• Balancing Work & Family
• Education
• Civil, Human & Women's Rights
• Immigration

FACTS & STATS
• In 2007, women in the United States were paid 77 cents for every dollar men received for comparable work. Check out more statistics on working women, or find other info in the AFL-CIO Facts & Stats database.

AFL-CIO Constituency Groups
• The AFL-CIO's constituency groups are unions' bridge to diverse communities, creating and strengthening partnerships to enhance the standard of living for all workers and their families.

LGBT Workers
http://prideatwork.org/page.php?id=5
http://prideatwork.org/page.php?id=646
The 2009 Pride At Work Convention has been rescripted - and we are heading back to our roots- the grassroots that is, as we head to Pittsburgh, home of the United Steelworkers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention and gather, before the AFL-CIO Convention to envision a better world for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers.

http://www.artists4workerschoice.org/

http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/blog/deann-mcewen-rn/2008/06/04/a-single-payer-health-care-plan-universal-health-care-plan-thats-wha

Spring 2009 Issue of Civil Rights News
AFL-CIO Department of Human, Civil and Women's Rights
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/civilrights/upload/civilrightsnews_0409.pdf

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1. How racist and anti-abortion haters joined forces

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5795078

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2. This is actually quite funny

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3. House hearings on Single Payer June 10

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3911510&mesg_id=3911510