Obama is off to a great start according the Communist Party USA (CPUSA).
A new New Deal
Given this situation, the Obama administration faces daunting challenges. Nevertheless, the new President, in my view, is off to a quick start. In less than two weeks he has:
Issued an order to close Guantanamo prison and end torture - a practice that stains our image, violates our constitution, and endangers our troops in the field.
Signed the Lilly Ledbetter bill that would give much greater scope to workers’ discrimination claims as well as a bill that would extend health care to millions of children.
Released funds to clinics that serve women’s heath care needs in developing countries.
Expressed support for higher fuel efficiency standards for motor vehicles—something the United Autoworkers Union (UAW) also supports.
Opened up a greatly needed dialogue with the Muslim and Arab world.
Dispatched George Mitchell to the Middle East in hopes of mediating the Palestinian-Israeli conflict—a conflict that cannot be solved by military means, but only by negotiation between the Israeli government and the representatives of the Palestinian people with aim of establishing an independent and viable Palestinian state and the right of both states live peacefully and within secure borders.
The President met with military generals to map out a withdrawal plan for Iraq.
And Obama has so much more goody goodness already in the works for us.
If this is the case, the Obama administration and the broad coalition that supports him will almost inevitably have to consider—and they already are—the following measures:
Public ownership of the financial system and the elimination of the shadow banking system and exotic derivatives.
Public control of the Federal Reserve Bank.
Counter-crisis spending of a bigger size and scope to invigorate and sustain a full recovery and meet human needs—something that the New Deal never accomplished.
Strengthening of union rights in order to rebalance the power between labor and capital in the economic and political arenas.
Trade agreements that have at their core the protection and advancement of international working-class interests.
Equality in conditions of life for racial minorities and women.
Democratic public takeover of the energy complex as well as a readiness to consider the takeover of other basic industries whose future is problematic in private hands.
Turning education, childcare, and healthcare into “no profit” zones.
Rerouting investment capital from unproductive investment (military, finance and so forth) to productive investment in a green economy and public infrastructure.
Changing direction of our nation’s foreign policy toward cooperation, disarmament, and diplomacy. We can’t have threats, guns and military occupations on the one hand and butter, democracy, goodwill, and peace on the other.
Full-scale assault on global warming.
Serious and sustained commitment to assisting the developing countries, which are locked in poverty and misery.
Just to make their marching orders clear to Obama the CPUSA wrapped up with this:
Staring us in the face are some immediate challenges
First, we have to support the passage of the President's stimulus bill in the Senate.
Second, we have to block any Republican efforts to derail the nomination of Hilda Solis, the nominee for the Secretary of Labor. This is the first round in the battle to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which will dramatically expand the right to join a union in this country. Some may think this is a struggle of only the labor movement. But nothing could be further from the truth. A bigger labor movement in this country would strengthen the struggle on every front. No one expressed this point better than Martin Luther King toward the end of his life.
Third, we have to join others in resisting evictions and foreclosures—not to mention cutbacks and layoffs at the state and city level.
Fourth, the wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan have to be brought to a close. As former President Lyndon Johnson realized too late, wars of occupation (in his case, Vietnam) can quickly ruin a presidency that has great promise.
In any case, we have our work cut out for us. But I think we can confidently say that change is coming. And we will build a more perfect union.
Yes, we can.
Why would a group such as CPUSA or individuals around the country believe for a second that Socialism, National Socialism and Communism will work in this country when it has failed every where it has ever been tried? For power. That power always used unions as the sledge hammer to beat citizens into line.
Most of the time, that failure included the murder and death of tens of millions, the poverty of hundreds of millions, but most importantly of all, the poverty of the soul of all that led, joined or that were subjugated.
Welcome to the Obama future if you aren't ready to fight it.
