Democratic Party Progressive Insurgency threatens to Get Real
Progressives around the country have been shaking up the Democratic Party and most Democratic voters support them.
However, this grassroots movement is still viewed as just an embarrassing annoyance, rather than a real threat to the establishment's power (i.e. 'overblown hype').
That might be about to change.
“The time has passed when we can passively settle for the lesser of two evils,” reads the main political resolution passed Tuesday by the AFL-CIO convention delegates. Lee Saunders, chair of the AFL-CIO’s political committee and president of AFSCME, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, introduced the resolution. They lead the labor federation’s two largest unions. Convention managers yoked the resolution to another measure it also approved discussing a labor party, though not by name.“For decades the political system has failed working people,” Weingarten said. “Acting on behalf of corporations and the rich and powerful, the political system has been taking away, one after another, the pillars that support working people’s right to good jobs and secure benefits.”
The two measures, adopted October 24, followed a late Monday-evening meeting of supporters of reviving the Labor Party idea. It attracted about 50 delegates to an upstairs meeting room at the convention’s lead hotel. Their contention: Both the Democrats and the Republicans are under corporate domination.
There was a time when labor unions could force the Democratic Party to bend to its will, but that was more than a generation ago.
Nevertheless, unions still have the ability to be the difference in close elections all over the country, not to mention being important sources of donations. Without unions the Dems have no chance of retaking Congress.
It's unlikely that the AFL-CIO is about to split from the Democrats and form their own party, but by officially registering their unhappiness with the status quo it's only a matter of time before they align themselves with the progressive insurgency against the Democratic establishment.
And then anything is possible.
“We had a vision to build a party of the working class. You have to have the labor movement at the table from the beginning,” of the effort, “or you’re building sand castles,” Dudzic explained. He was a leader in the original Labor Party effort of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Participants in the meeting agreed. “We cannot build a party of labor when the working class is in retreat,” he added. The question was how to move forward.
...Velasquez contended pro-Labor Party members should participate in electoral politics, but starting at the local and state levels. But all agreed, as he put it, the Democrats “are not doing us any favors, never have and never will.”
This is Joe Lieberman's nightmare, but the establishment Democrats have been daring the progressive wing to make it come true.
Just look at the recent DNC purge.
In 2016, reporting from The Intercept and the Sunlight Foundation (where I worked at the time) noted that dozens of these superdelegates were registered lobbyists. Many more were “shadow lobbyists,” who advocate on an issue but avoid disclosing this work under lobbying laws.
... The new members-at-large of the Democratic National Committee will vote on party rules and in 2020 will be convention delegates free to vote for a primary candidate of their choice. They include lobbyists for Venezuela’s national petroleum company and for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., according to a list obtained by Bloomberg News.
Two other lobbyists who disclosed corporate clients in their most recent public reports are Clinton White House veteran Harold Ickes and Manuel Ortiz. Ortiz’s clients this year include CITGO Petroleum Corp, owned by the Venezuelan government, and Citigroup Management Corp. Ortiz also lobbies for Puerto Rican interests.
Does this sound like a party of the working class? Or a party that laughs in the face of labor unions?
Comments
Anything that pisses off Joe makes me happy.
I believe I'll go play some pornographic video games, ignore Israel completely, and preach about anti-war.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bch1_Ep5M1s]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
As a one time regional VP for AFSCME/AFL-CIO
I can say that this would be an amazing change in direction.
They probably are getting a lot more push from their membership.
The membership and the leadership often had vastly different opinions on who to back, with the Union surprisingly enough always backing the more corporate candidate.
I butted heads with, and voted in opposition to, the unions pick virtually every time I went to the polls.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
My brother has the same problem with the SEIU
They're pretty corrupt at the top.
Randi is an ass kisser to rich pigs
it is too late and I don't care enough to verify her quote - she was such a grovelling toady to Hillary & she's been a great sell out on ed deform crap - she's on the side of the little people?
HA HA HA
But then I sigh; and, with a piece of scripture,
Tell them that God bids us do good for evil:
And thus I clothe my naked villany
With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ;
Thought the same. If this is Progressive opposition we're in
trouble.
Wasn't the Amer Fed of Teachers president a $hills 2008 superdelegate? And the person behind this Common Dream headline, "Teachers Say No Freaking Way to AFT Endorsement of Hillary Clinton." Article reads like most of HRC's union "endorsements" in 2016. The rank and file were way in the majority for Bernie; but the union heads were bought and paid for by Clinton blood money and overruled them.
Also believe she's for Common Core testing and charter schools, though I can't confirm.
Seems like just another example of Neoliberal flunkies hoping to rehabilitate their odious RW leanings by mouthing the right words in hopes that they appear less worse than Trump, which seems like all it takes these days.
Must be ever vigilant of this scenario now.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Wouldn't it be interesting to find a study . . .
comparing the % change in average compensation of members in various unions since 1980 or so with the % change of the top officers of the respective unions?
That would be a study I would love to read.
and publicize the hell out of...
Not a doubt in my mind what the results of such a study would be though...
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Crushing any progressive
movement is Dems' #1 goal - it comes even before beating Republicans.
The recent DNC purge is a real shot across the bow. My guess is they wanted this to be widely seen as a rejection of anyone left of Hillary. They want us to be outraged by it.
The plan, I think, is to make it very clear that they want nothing to do with the progressive wing of the party, let us rage about it, let us cry foul and #DemExit, and then win without us.
That's what was supposed to happen with Hillary. They rejected us, told us we weren't needed, and then after Hillary won they would get to throw it in our faces: "See? We won and we did it without you, our way is the right way and you're irrelevant."
But Hillary didn't win. So did they reassess and change course? Hell no. They doubled down.
What they are counting on is such a strong backlash against Trump that they will get enough moderate conservative votes to eek out a win. They're seeing Trump's approval rating plummet and Dems winning generic Dem vs. Repub polls and they're sure it will work this time.
And they may be right. It might work. Even under normal non-Trump circumstances the party that wins the presidency is expected to take a hit in the next midterms.
Even if they don't win the House back, as long as they make some gains they will able to claim victory. And if they don't get the House back guess whose fault it will be. That's right - yours!
I think that's why we saw the DNC purge and the bonus slap in the face of appointing Donna fucking Brazile to the rules & bylaws committee.
They don't care if they lose to Republicans. Losing to Republicans doesn't slow the gravy train. The Republicans don't present a threat to their personal livelihood like the progressive faction of their own party does. In the end that's all that really matters to them.
It's a good strategy...
...if we get tired, frustrated and give up.
Under normal circumstances they are using the correct strategy.
But these aren't normal times.
The corporate Dems have been underestimating the frustration of the progressive base/working class since 2011. They keep expecting people to give up, while the grassroots keeps getting more angry and motivated.
they say that us leftists would rather be
right and lose.
well, they would rather be paid and lose.
which position is preferable?
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
I see a lot of hoping
but I don't see any changing. I think maybe the D Party hasn't hit bottom yet.
native
bing! Exactly. Which is
why a Hillary run was So important to Establishment Dems. And progressives! As Dopeman says, a Hillary win would have solidified the Establishment wing as uncontested Kings of the party, and rendered a Yuuuge hit to the dirty hippie progressive wing. One more hit like that (in 2020) would kill the progressive wing for a generation. Likewise, the Hillary run was just as important to progressives. For the same reason. Losing to Hillary would have been a near fatal blow. The Nov. HRC loss, consequently, was a Yuuuge loss for the Establishment wing. And, a yuuuge loss for Hillary, too, becuz she had this thing won, in everybody's mind (including Hers), from the day she announced. Was a gut wrenching stunning defeat. One that takes one months to get off the matt, recover from. Thank the electoral gods! They saved our ass - and put us in this position (which many of us saw coming 18, 20 months ago) of being able to Finally move Left! With or without the party. This is Finally the moment we've been looking for. Rejoice!
The question now is, what do we do now? What do we do about it? And, can we please not fuck it up. Not so easy to do. But, congrats! We did it! We slayed the (Hilde)beast!
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Yeah, but they still bitch about us not voting for Her
Sigh. They can't make up their minds about us.
Remember this?
This certainly fits her supporters.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
I had some fun with them last night
This was in one of the maannyy diaries yesterday about the DNC purges that really weren't purges or something.
I wish I had written that Hillary was the only candidate in history that didn't think she would have to work to get people to vote for her. She thought she would just be able to waltz up to her coronation and then easily beat Jeb or Marco and become president.
She certainly learned how many people despised her
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
Well, about the last sentence.
I don't find Her despicable, but I do find Her to be repulsive. Is that a difference without a distinction?
"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey
HER is both
repulsive and despicable.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
@Socialprogressive
Thanks for saving me a comment saying that! President Billary would have been a twofer in more ways than one.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
The first time twofer was no fun.
After 25+ years we're still paying for that. We sure as hell don't need another twofer of Billary.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
@Socialprogressive
Dear gawd, no! Apart from all else, I still think we'd all have been radioactive slag well before now if The Mad Bomber had got in.
The hubristic addition of a no-fly-zone - as an excuse to shoot down invited-in Syrian ally Russian planes to the already illegal US PTB interference in sovereign Syria, in an attempt to overthrow the government and take over the country using terrorists, would likely have triggered for-stolen-profit Armageddon in short order. Which the war-profiteering idiots apparently believe that they can survive.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
New York City's Board of Elections broke the law for Hillary
link
I want to hear Jimmy Dore talk about this.
And yet...
no one is going to prison.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
Another one of Obama's legacies
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
But WHY did they purge these voters?
I would have liked to hear an explanation of exactly how this happened. Why did they purge these voters? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know why, but most people probably think it was some clerical error. I was not purged. I live in a predominantly African-American/West Indian neighborhood in Brooklyn. Pretty sure they thought it was a Hillary stronghold, and it was. On the other hand, I was "missing" from the voter rolls for no apparent reason in 2008, and so were a few of the people waiting on the line with me.
@Iogrey
From the linked article:
This was from the Dem Primary, one of the many Clinton/DNC attacks on Bernie voters and Bernie's campaign. You know, the voters they didn't need but whose fault it was (among everyone else's, including the Corporate media and DNC - both of which having lied and cheated for Her - but especially the Russians!!! because evidence of Clinton/DNC corruption was leaked by a disgusted insider) that Her lost the general.
Those were all Bernie voters, or at least thought to be in the right demographic to be Bernie voters, by the intermingled DNC/Clinton campaign, who apparently also knocked off some would-be Clinton voters along the voter suppression way.
But it's OK, because they should have been expected to cheat their members, as the DNC claimed as justification for all of this sort of electoral cheating in court.
And why anyone would ever vote for these criminals again - unless trying to crowd them out with Progs - boggles my mind...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
@Ellen North Are we a democracy
Are we a democracy if the political party picks the candidates and not the people? No wonder people do not vote. Can you imagine the voter turnout if Sanders had been the Dem candidate?
@sandiapeach
With Bernie and no electoral interference, it would have been a landslide in both elections - and a great relief to the rest of the world as well.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
The 'Democratic' Party
is really just a donation seeking 'squid thing', not a party.
If it was like the Labour Party in the UK, with paid membership and voting rights, the entire leadership would have been swept away years ago.
It is most certainly not a 'People's Party'.
(Edited)
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
It's a Club. And, as
George Carlin said, "you ain't in it."
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
True this.
The McResistance is nothing but a marketing tool. Even the "somewhat better" Dems like Eliz. Warren are in on it. I got an unsolicited mailer from Sen. Warren a few weeks ago. On the outside on the envelope in banner letters "HELP ME STOP TRUMP!" They're all pissing through the same straw.
"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey
2016 Democratic primary
I'm an AFSCME Retirees member and most of us were for Bernie, although the leadership endorsed Clinton in the fall of 2015, before a primary vote was cast. I think labor leaders figured Clinton had the Democratic nomination all sewed up and would win the presidency. Surprise!! I bet there's a lot of buyer's remorse now. I believe Bernie would have beat Trump and now we have a Republican administration and Congress that work overtime to crush the public service sector and its unions.
I'm in AFSCME retirees too!
Hi Brother! What state/job type did you retire out of?
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
AFSCME retiree
Illinois--Dept. of Mental Health
Cool!
I was in Nevada Corrections.
So many good people in the membership with great energy and intentions.
Now we just need them in leadership instead of those that are just in it to play politics and advance their own personal agendas.
Same with every organization anymore it seems like.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Sorry, but union leadership is tied to establishment democrats.
Both the AFSCME and AFT endorsed Clinton during the primaries. There is an insurgency, and CA is the model of an insurgency where democrats stabbed progressives in the back over single payer, and the grass roots rose up. The big money unions will not lead any insurgency. That will be done by groups and people outside the corrupted institutions.
They're all tied to
Russia. Pootin owns their asses. At least according to more than one Dem I know.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
"... full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
is my take.
would love to be wrong.
Thing is, it hasn't
gone away. It may not be going guns-a-blazing like we'd like, but it hasn't gone away neither. And shows no signs of going away. That fact alone supports hope. Change comes later.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Seniors of all stripes better jump on this:
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
The allure is too much isn't it.
People are running back to the democratic party, all it took was a little trump.
I give up. Going up the country where the radicals live.
You know, Big Al,
I've resigned myself to the fact that America is done. At least the America of, say, 1940-1981. I'll keep slugging. But it's over.
"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey
Too big, too many differences, too many people, all
trapped in a political system they don't care to extricate themselves from. Ya, we're done.
but...
So, “Mission Accomplished” for Her “Pied Piper” plan, after all?
Just a little speed bump on the way, as in an unplanned four-year interregnum . . . ?
Maybe so.
No one could have predicted.