Gerald McEntee

The Senate Finance Committee is getting ready to debate a health care bill that does not come close to meeting the needs of America’s working families. Nor does it meet the standards President Obama laid out in his address last week to Congress. There is no employer mandate, no public option, no help for retirees. The bill imposes substantial costs on the states, weakens state insurance regulations and taxes health plans that provide benefits for many middle class families. This bill fails to provide good, affordable coverage and does not protect families from medical bankruptcy. It is unacceptable.

On Labor Day 2009, we honor the tremendous contributions and sacrifices of workers who built this great nation. We must never forget that workers organized, marched, went on strike, and even gave their lives in the struggles that resulted in the 40-hour workweek, safe working conditions, secure retirement benefits and the right to a voice on the job. Workers are the bedrock of this economy and we have been at the heart of every movement for social justice and civil rights in our country.

In nearly 47 years spent serving the American people, Ted Kennedy never stepped away from a fight, never stopped being a champion of the middle class, never ceased being a friend to labor and working families.

All across the country, the opponents of health care reform are spreading misinformation about President Barack Obama proposals to improve health care coverage for all Americans. We shouldn't be surprised about that. The insurance companies, the right-wing radio hosts, the K-Street lobbyists and the Republican leadership who are spreading the misinformation have a vested interest in keeping the status quo.

AFSCME filed the first shareholder "say-on-pay" proposals in 2005. In the four years since then, we've put together a broad coalition of investors fighting to get shareholders a voice on executive compensation. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected later today to vote on "say-on-pay" legislation crafted by Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA). In this morning's issue of the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill, AFSCME President Gerald McEntee urges Congress to pass this bill as an important step in the effort to hold corporations accountable to shareholders.

Earlier this month, we saw new evidence that our country has entered a real era of change when President Barack Obama issued a proclamation calling on all Americans to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. “As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected,” the President’s proclamation states. “If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit.”

In recent days, two generally progressive commentators have written in favor of taxing all or part of the value of employer provided health benefits as a way of paying for some of the costs of health care reform. They’ve suggested that AFSCME might “kill” health care reform because of our opposition to taxing the value of benefits. Of course we reject that characterization of our efforts.

Every day, more Americans get a pink slip, more stores shutter their doors and more families find the American Dream growing dimmer and farther from their grasp. Our 1.6 million members are on the frontlines of this crisis. The vital services they provide are taking huge hits – which means communities are suffering.

America’s top CEOs — the clueless millionaires whose greed, ignorance and arrogance drove our economy off a cliff — have declared their top legislative priority for 2009. It isn’t the president’s budget. It’s not promoting jobs or health care for their workers. And it’s certainly not limits on CEO pay. Instead, they’ve launched an all out campaign to scuttle bi-partisan legislation that would restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.

On Tuesday night, President Obama spoke to the nation about how we will rebuild our economy. Like many Americans, I was heartened to hear him renew his commitment to pursue health care reform and to do it THIS YEAR. He told us that the "cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough." And he is right.