Endorsing Obama, SEIU says president for 99%

[NNN0LHI]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/16/endorsing-obama-seiu-says-president-for-99/

Posted by

CNN's Kevin Liptak and Paul Courson

(CNN) - One of the nation's largest labor unions gave an early endorsement to Pres. Barack Obama Wednesday, using lingo from the Occupy movement to describe the incumbent president as standing with the 99%, rather than millionaires and corporations in the 1%.

"As Americans we face stark choice," Service Employees International Union president Mary Kay Henry said Wednesday. "Do we want leaders who side with rich corporations, the 1% who are prospering, or leaders who side with us, the 99 percent?"

The SEIU, which represents 2.1 million workers in a wide swath of American service industries, has long endorsed Democrats in political races. The union endorsed Obama in February 2008, when he was still locked in competition with fellow candidate Hillary Clinton. snip

"The early endorsement is to make crystal clear what kind of country we want and that we think President Barack Obama is the leader that will help make that a reality in this country," Henry said.

[Skittles]

1. LOL

:rofl:

[catgirl]

7. Apparently you know more than the unions? LOL

[Skittles]

13. apparently YES

it's OK to know repukes are FAR WORSE but don't fucking say this prez is "STANDING WITH THE 99%" - that if fucking BULLSHIT

[catgirl]

19. Yeah right, he's AGAINST the 99%!

He personally caused the crackdowns. THAT is bullshit, my friend.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BOG PERSON]

62. two words:

"NICE STRAWMAN"

[csziggy]

46. Maybe it's the same idea as giving Obama the Nobel Peace Prize?

That once he has the endorsement with that codicil, Obama will feel obligated to live up to it?

Yeah, it's not fully convincing to me, either. But the reality is that Obama is our best bet to hold off the crap that a GOP president will inflict on this country and the world.

[BOG PERSON]

63. all the peace prizes and union endorsements in the world

obv. don't mean as much as to the president as the confidence of the haute bourgeoisie, whose interests he treats as his own. thats not to say the so-called 99% - among them the voters and volunteers who have put their faith in him at one point or another - can be brushed off; the president will even try to accomodate their interests inasmuch as they are harmonious w/ those of monopoly capital. but in the final analysis, the basic imperative of continued expansion of monopoly capital is the #1 priority.

[WillyT]

61. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said !!!

:yourock:

:loveya:

:hi:

:kick:

[Edweird]

31. Uh, the SEIU isn't "the unions", LOL.

[Xicano]

43. You do realize that it is standard procedure for union officials to announce support for incumbent

Democratic politicians?

But apparently you don't realize that Obama bails out the 1% and gives them tax breaks off the backs of the 99%.

Go ahead and vote for the 1%/Obama. Its a free country and I'm sure we can continue to extend Bush's tax cuts for the 1%, continue endless wars - who's next, Iran? I'm sure that'll work out just fine (*sarcasm*), continue attacking medical marijuana, continue without habeas corpus protections, continue warrantless wiretaps. And I'm sure the Asian Free Trade agreement will work out just as good as NAFTA (*sarcasm*).

Enjoy your pea soup...

[lamp_shade]

12. Pissed, eh?

[Skittles]

14. OWS BABY

I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO IS PISSED

[LWolf]

37. .

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. Skittles you rock!

:thumbsup:

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

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[DainBramaged]

2. Where's Barack, is he standing here? Over there? Maybe over there.

He certainly doesn't stand with us......

[gkhouston]

4. His comfortable shoes make him invisible, so no one can tell where he's standing. n/t

[DainBramaged]

5. It amazes me that the SEIU would stoop to this KNOWING he isn't one of us

infinate facepalm

[catgirl]

9. Speak for yourself

[DainBramaged]

11. If he's one of YOU we're in trouble.....

Have a nice life

[catgirl]

23. You don't know me

so spew elsewhere. Why not lay the blame where it belongs... with the f'ing republicans- the party of NO. But to pounce
on the "blame Obama" train is disgusting.

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. Obama is the comfortable 1%.. He doesn't stand for us!

[catgirl]

24. No everyone in the 1% is on the wrong side

That is a simple minded deduction and a conspiracy theory that is just mind-boggling. But it's pointless
to even try to reason with the flavor of the day "outrage" at Obama.

[Scurrilous]

3. Good news!

K & R :thumbsup:

[deaniac21]

6. I think he has plans to have a beer sumitt with them at

Yankee Stadium, soon.

[fascisthunter]

8. LOL

[Upton]

10. Obama is standing with the 99%?

:rofl:

[Amonester]

60. He is standing with both the 99% and the 1%.

1% of the time with the 99% and 99% of the time with the 1%.

After all, he is the President of 100% of 'murikans.

[EFerrari]

15. Embarrassing.

[Lasher]

16. Looks like the SEIU leadership is looking for a place at the trough.

The interests of the membership and the leadership do not always coincide.

[DainBramaged]

18. Yep, too bad, we know what their leadership thinks....

[Lasher]

29. Unions are a bad thing.

But the alternative is much worse.

[DainBramaged]

34. Unions are a bad thing?

[Lasher]

35. Yes, they are.

But the alternative, which is not having them, is much worse.

[JDPriestly]

39. Lasher, have you seen this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2337714

Read it and then tell me about how unions are a bad thing.

I'm assuming the article is reporting the truth until one of the many people the author tried to call to corroborate it stands up and refutes it with facts.

[Lasher]

40. I don't think you understand. Have you ever belonged to a union?

[JDPriestly]

42. My husband helped organize a union for parti-time teachers

in an institution of higher education. The teachers improved their working conditions and pay thanks to their union.

Love unions.

[Lasher]

52. I was an elected official of CWA

So much for my creds, in case it matters. There ain't no more John L. Lewis UMW. Today's unions behave more like corporations, seeking to maximize revenue and minimize expenditures. The ultimate authority of a union is supposed to be the local membership meeting but it seldom works that way. Members of the union leadership put their own interests first.

Life would be much worse without unions. Their advantages far outweigh their disadvantages. But disadvantages do exist.

[DainBramaged]

45. Yes, UAW for 26 years, shame.

[DainBramaged]

44. Having been a UAW member since 1984, I would SERIOUSLY disagree with you

and also knowing you're on DU which supports Unions I am disappointed you would have an attitude like that.



Shameful

[Lasher]

54. Shame right back at you.

Wake up, try to understand what I'm trying to say. Do you think there is nothing at all that is bad about unions? I don't know you but I'm pretty sure I've laid my future on the line to support my union more than you have.

[Name removed]

55. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Omaha Steve]

57. I was fired illegally for union organizing in 1980

I'd love to hear what is good about your union and what is bad about unions. It doesn't sound like your doing them any good today. I was also fired illegally for filing an ADA complaint against my current employer 5 years ago. Union got me reinstated in this case too.

OS

[Lasher]

64. OK

What's good about my union: Enhanced job security, wages, working conditions, and medical benefits. Paid vacation days and holidays - not just for union members, but for management employees too.

What's bad about unions: The interests of the union leadership are often put ahead those of the membership. I'll give you an example:

One year we had a long strike. The union had collected extra dues to build up a defense fund to be distributed to us striking members who had to go several weeks without pay. But to get even a small amount of money from the fund you had to prove the wolf was at your door (nasty letters from utilities or your bank because you had fallen behind in payments). So there were few payouts from the defense fund. I and others had saved money in anticipation of the strike.

So what happened to the defense fund? Later that year the union leadership used it for their expenses while attending the international convention.

Another year the union decided we should pay dues based on the amount of money we made, instead of the flat rate we had been paying. That would be more fair, they said. When equivalency dues was imposed, the amount for the lowest paid job category went down. There were two people in that category statewide. Predictably, everybody else's dues went up.

[DainBramaged]

67. Unions are it's members

shame

[Lasher]

69. Soylent green is people.

You seem intellectually disadvantaged.

[madrchsod]

59. my wife and i would beg to differ

she`s the secretary /treasure of afsmce local 1268 of council 31. i`ve belonged to both the united steel workers and the iam. why in the hell would you say workers union are a bad thing

[Lasher]

65. Do you think unions are perfect?

I don't. Have you noticed how the UAW is fighting to keep decent wages and benefits for current members while selling out new workers? That's bad. More to the point in the OP, consider the SEIU's attempt to give Obama undeserved credit for supporting the OWS movement.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have unions. Quite the contrary, I'm saying we're much better off with them.

[DainBramaged]

66. That's the same talking point the Right uses to disparage Unions

Shame.


Amd I thought we'd goten beyond that here. What's next, lowering the minium age so everyone has a job?

[Lasher]

68. You told me upthread in your now deleted post #55 that you were going to put me on ignore.

If you tell someone you're going to put them on ignore you should actually do it.

[Raksha]

25. Obama is NOT for the 99%.

If he is, it's one of the better-kept secrets in the world. If he were for the 99% he'd denounce the police brutality. If he doesn't, then he isn't...PERIOD! And I haven't heard a word from him on the subject so far.

[SammyWinstonJack]

26. plus+++++++

[hifiguy]

28. +1 Ain't it the truth,

Just a reminder that people are exercising their Constitutional right of freedom of assembly to petiton for redress of grievances would be a wonderful thing. If only.

[FiveGoodMen]

27. Glad I don't belong to THAT particular union

[MisterP]

30. I wonder if they know what happens to the calves in the veal pen?

[Barack_America]

32. If the 99% had true representation in DC, there would be no OWS. nt

[Skittles]

33. CORRECT

[JuniperLea]

41. Gosh... you must hate your screen name...

Or not... but your concern is duly noted.

[Barack_America]

49. You might look into my history on this website before suggesting I'm a troll.

My journal might be a good place to start.

[JuniperLea]

51. I've been here a long time...

I don't need notes. I never suggested you were a troll... just someone who did a rather abrupt about face.

[Islandlife]

36. If he keeps saying it enough times some will believe it

That's the ticket....yeah. Maybe if he keeps chanting it till next year the media will pick it up, then the OWS will believe, then congress will believe, then the 1% can be in the 99%, then 100% of us will be the new 99%. Yeah....that's the ticket.

:shrug:

[JDPriestly]

38. She's hoping, but I still have to see the proof.

Obama is at best lukewarm when it comes to the rights of the 99%.

If he were really a man of the people, we would not have Geithner and Bernanke or the head of GE making decisions about the economy. We would have Elizabeth Warren and Ralph Nader and Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich and Robert Scheer and the many, many other outspoken defenders of the people leading the way.

[Modern_Matthew]

47. Sad that one of the nation's biggest unions is this misguided and/or misleading...

Will I vote for the lesser of two evils? Of course. But this is exaggerated nonsense.

[sabrina 1]

48. I wish they would not have done that. This now plays into

the claims that the Unions are working for the WH and only joined OWS in order to hijack it for Democrats.

They really did not have a right to endorse any candidate using OWS a movement that expressly asks that people keep politics out of the movement, signs etc. and focus on issues.

Very bad decision on their part and it will make a lot of people angry. This is what they have feared. I hope they retract it and respect the rules of this movement.

[sabrina 1]

50. The media is delighted to post that also, to prove that this

movement is a WH Soros funded movement hi-jacked, like the teaparty was by Republicanws, by the Unions who are working for the WH.

Clueless whoever did this. It will definitely have a backlash and do the president more harm than good.

[SidDithers]

53. K&R...

:thumbsup:

Sid

[usregimechange]

56. I agree, hope he does more to live up to that with 4 more years.

[dameocrat67]

58. The seiu really needs to get rid of its leadership

endorsing Obama as a representitive of the 99% is outlandish!

[piratefish08]

70. if that were true, there wouldn't BE a 99%.