Post by Joshua Roll
Last Wednesday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka gave a passionate speech on the state of our Nation and the choices we have going forward. Using real life examples, of a 9/11 firefighter and child care provider, he called attention to the ever growing inequality in American society, and demonstrated the need to combat it.
Expounding upon Obama’s Tucson speech last week, in which the President urged us, as a nation, to build a future that "lives up to our children's expectations" Trumka outlined a way for our nation to become great again. Trumka criticized both political elites and the ruling class for failing to act while people remain jobless and wages remain stagnant, saying, “we are falling behind because we are governing from fear, not from confidence. And we have let our transnational business titans convince our politicians that our national strength lies in their profits, not our jobs”.
While Trumka paints a bleak picture of America in its current form, he see’s brighter days ahead, an America that makes things again, leads the world in infrastructure, educates it’s citizens, has a booming middle class, cares for the elderly, and provides Jobs for the masses. While achieving these goals in the short term may seem impossible, Trumka highlights a few possible solutions: ending the political bickering, investing heavily in infrastructure and education, and ending tax cuts for the wealthy.
While these solutions offered by Trumka are all common-sense, many politicians do not get elected by standing for common sense issues, they get elected by playing into fear and greed.
This upcoming election in 2012, voters need to take a stand, choose the America they want, a prosperous America that provides Job security and can compete globally or an America that is a “winner-take-all society, a faded casino that pays a big jackpot now, an intolerable future of scant job security, inequality.” It’s truly our choice, we have the power to choose our future and we must make the right decision.
Joshua Roll is a Junior at American University
[Photo from previous Press Club event 7.29.2010]
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