USAction

Creating Good Jobs is the Defining Issue of Our Time

Ross Wallen — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:28:49 +0000

Originally posted at Next New Deal: The Blog of the Roosevelt Institute.

By Richard Kirsch (Follow Richard on Twitter @_RichardKirsch)

On June 4th, the Roosevelt Institute will bring together leading thinkers, activists, and policymakers for A Bold Approach to the Jobs Emergency: Setting the Political Agenda for 2014 and 2016, a daylong conference in Washington, D.C. that will focus on America’s desperate need for more and better jobs. Today, Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Richard Kirsch, who will take part in a panel on “Creating Momentum for More Good Jobs,” explains why job quality is as important as job quantity.

What is the single biggest economic problem facing people early in this century? It is not the budget deficit or national debt. It is the eroding and disappearing of good jobs. People with good jobs – jobs that provide decent pay and benefits and the flexibility to be able to take care of one’s family – are the fuel of the economy and the basis for broadly shared prosperity. Good jobs, and the things that go with them – a good education, affordable health care, and a secure retirement – are the very definition of a successful economy.

The public gets it. When asked to identify “the single biggest problem facing this country today,” 40 percent answered “jobs and the economy.” Number two was “budget deficit/national debt,” at 6 percent.

Four years after the official end of the Great Recession, the real economy – not corporate profits or the stock market – remains stalled. The proportion of Americans working is the lowest in 30 years, or basically since women started entering the work force in large numbers. Most of the jobs that have been created since the recession pay low wages. Long-term unemployment also is at levels well above anything since the Great Depression. And income for all but the richest has gone down.

So why does Washington and elite discussion remain focused on the debt and deficit? And what will it take to move the politics of the nation to take on what the public correctly understands is the central economic issue?

The fundamental reason that good jobs is not the defining issue is that an economy in which some people have a lot while more and more scrape buy is working just fine for the wealthy and huge corporations that control our politics and media. Personally, the rich are doing better than ever, as their inflated pay and corporate profits are supported by the financialization of the U.S. economy, low-wage service sector jobs here. and low-wage manufacturing and importable services abroad. The middle class in the U.S. may be getting squeezed and shrinking, but it’s still broad and big enough to fuel demand for U.S. goods and services. The disasters to come from the lack of retirement savings, high student loan debt, and long-term wage stagnation are not stopping the rich from getting richer today.

The interest of the ruling elites has been powerfully popularized by the right’s highly disciplined, focused narrative on the national debt and budget deficits. While the motivation here is ideological – to shrink those government services and activities that improve social welfare or regulate the markets – the weapon has been convincing Americans that the national debt is an unconscionable burden on our children, that government deficits are as unsustainable as household deficits, and that taxes are paid to a wasteful, corrupt government. Instead, the right insists that businesses are the “job creators” and that any effort to interfere with what business thinks is best will put people out of work.

As a result, the great public concern about the lack of good jobs doesn’t translate into support for government action – or any action, other than to do your personal best and pray that things get better. People don’t believe that there are solutions for good jobs in a global economy. They certainly don’t see that government has a role in creating jobs or that tax dollars could be spent on effective job creation. And while they support regulations to improve job quality, they are very susceptible to pro-business arguments.

What do we do about it? Here’s an overview of a strategy. One, we need to make good jobs the central, driving focus of progressive discourse, just as the right has put deficits/debt/limited government at the center of their policy, politics, and communication. That requires clearly linking every issue to the need to create good jobs that will enable working- and middle-class families to have opportunity and security. In doing that, we need to be talking about good jobs in a multi-dimensional way. Good jobs are about having enough pay to support your family, flexibility to allow you to care for your family – from children to elders – and access to good, affordable education, affordable health care, and a secure retirement.

Two, we need to center our discourse on good jobs in a powerful, values-based story about how we create an America that works for all of us. This story starts with a vision of an America that provides liberty, justice, and prosperity for all. It reinforces the notion that people believe but rarely hear: working families and the middle class are the real engines of the economy. It provides examples from American history of how decisions we have made together built the great American middle class. And it follows those with a vision and example of how we can make decisions together in the 21st century to create good jobs for everyone in America. It clearly identifies who is responsible for the mess we’re in – the super-rich and corporations who game the system at our expense and buy off our government. And finally, the story empowers people as the heroes who can take action for change.

Third, we need to champion a program of policies that will work to create good jobs. We have policies and innovative ideas that will work today, many of which will be discussed on June 4th in Washington when the Roosevelt Institute holds a daylong conference on A Bold Approach to the Jobs Emergency. Certainly, we will need to continue to develop policy solutions that address major challenges like globalization and technology. But we should be clear that it is in our power now to redirect economic policy to dramatically improve the quality of the jobs Americans now hold and to create millions of new good jobs for people who are out of work.

Fourth, we need to organize campaigns for good jobs, starting with a focus at the local and state level. Even though municipalities and states don’t have as many resources as the federal government, there are policies that can be taken locally to create a new economic paradigm. The success of those policies will be more immediately visible to people. The lessons learned in building popular support for these policies will be transferable to other places and to the federal level.

Finally, we need to make good jobs a defining issue of the 2016 election. To reach that goal, we will need to do all of the above, with a strategy that brings the work together for the 2016 election. In 2014, we should focus on a few U.S. Senate and congressional elections to experiment with the best approaches. We can take a page from specific strategies used from 2007-2008, which made health care the central issue of the 2008 election.

American’s historical optimism is being deeply challenged by the squeezing, and indeed crushing, of the middle class. Our job is to rekindle that optimism and make it a powerful force for change. We can build an America that works for all of us by building a movement to demand good jobs for everyone.

Richard Kirsch is a Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, a Senior Adviser to USAction, and the author of Fighting for Our Health. He was National Campaign Manager of Health Care for America Now during the legislative battle to pass reform.

This is bad.

Ross Wallen — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:46:44 +0000

This is bad.

Ed Markey, the Democratic nominee to fill former Sen. John Kerry’s Senate seat, holds just a single digit lead over his opponent Gabriel Gomez.¹ In the very blue state of Massachusetts, this is very worrying.

Election Day is June 25th and we’re trying to decide if we should jump into this race. There’s a lot of other priority races in 2013 and 2014, so we need to hear from you. If we raise $3,000 to fund a calling program, we’ll do it. Will you donate $10 so we can run phonebanks into Massachusetts?

Our calling program to elect Ed Markey in the primary was a huge success. We were able to call all the targeted voters on our list just in time for Markey to win the nomination. But since then his poll numbers have been lower than we anticipated and we are starting to get worried. Should we jump in this race? Donate $10 today.

Just $6 funds a two-hour volunteer call shift
$35 funds a trained organizer to oversee volunteer phone bankers.
$100 funds a night of online-powered call technology for our online members to connect to voters in Massachusetts.
$1,000 allows us to make personal, one-on-one phone calls by volunteers to 1,000 voters on behalf of Ed Markey.

Right now, Markey holds a 7 point lead over his Republican opponent. To give you perspective — Martha Coakley, who lost in an upset Senate election to Republican Scott Brown in 2010, held a 20 point lead over her conservative opponent at this point in the race.²

Luckily, most voters still haven’t formed an opinion about the two candidates — which means we have an opportunity to reach out to voters and tell them just how great Ed Markey will be for Massachusetts.

Remember: No one thought Scott Brown would get elected. We can’t afford to make the samemistake again.

Election Day is just a little over a month away and we need to determine if this race is important enough for our members to get involved. Help us reach our goal of $3,000 and donate $10 today.

PS – Can’t donate? There will be an opportunity to volunteer your time instead. Stay tuned for details and be sure to spread the word!

1 – “Poll: Democrat Ed Markey holds single-digit lead over Gabriel Gomez in special U.S. Senate race,” Masslive.com, May 16, 2013

2 – “Republican Scott Brown’s upset of Martha Coakley in Massachusetts’ historic Senate election,” Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2010

#WelcomeFred Azcarate, New USAction Executive Director!

Ross Wallen — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:23:59 +0000

HuffPo: Fred Azcarate Leaves AFL-CIO To Head Community Organizing Network USAction

Ross Wallen — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:31:40 +0000

Originally posted at the Huffington Post by Dave Jamieson:

Fred Azcarate Leaves AFL-CIO To Head Community Organizing Network USAction

In a sign of how organized labor is trying to spread its roots more broadly in the progressive movement, Fred Azcarate, a longtime labor leader who’s been heading the AFL-CIO’s jobs campaign, is leaving the union federation to take the helm at USAction, a 21-state federation of community organizing groups.

Azcarate was the longtime director of Jobs with Justice, a national network of groups that advocates for low-wage workers, before leading the AFL-CIO’s campaign on the ill-fated Employee Free Choice Act. At USAction, he’ll build campaigns on some of the issues where organized labor is trying to find more progressive allies, like health care, Social Security, taxes, immigration and voting rights.

“I think our future, not just for labor but for progressives, is around building alliances between labor and community groups,” said Azcarate, 48.

Labor groups could certainly use some help on the local and state levels.

Unions have spent the last several years trying to beat back GOP-sponsored state legislation aimed at curbing collective bargaining rights or weakening organized labor. Wisconsin Republicans passed a state law in 2011 that stripped collective bargaining from most public-sector employees, and late last year Michigan Republicans fast-tracked bills making the cradle of the U.S. auto industry a right-to-work state. The AFL-CIO, in turn, has tried to broaden its reach with non-union workers and families.

Azcarate said it’s clear that organized labor can no longer fight such battles on its own, particularly as union density has dropped to a historic low in the U.S., with just 6.6 percent of private-sector workers belonging to a union last year.

“The labor movement can’t win the fights they’re engaged in without making alliances in communities,” said Azcarate, the son of a union nurse. “I think we’re in a crisis. It’s a decades-long attack on working families and their organizations and their unions, and it’s put us in a pretty big hole, but I see hope there.”

At the 14-year-old USAction, Azcarate will replace founding director Jeff Blum.

Meet Fred Azcarate, USAction’s New Executive Director

Ross Wallen — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:30 +0000

I’m humbled and honored to have been named Executive Director of USAction. My experiences – as President of the United States Student Association, building Jobs with Justice and working with the Labor Movement – have given me the right set of skills and strategic thinking to build on the many successes of USAction. I want to thank Jeff Blum and the staff and board of USAction for all they have done to forge a solid foundation. I also want to thank the AFL-CIO, its leaders, staff, members and the affiliate unions that I was able to work with over the years.

Today most Americans believe that the economic opportunities available for our children will be far worse than what we enjoyed. In fact, this has been the rallying cry for our progressive movement – we must expect more for our children and we must organize for that change.

We expect more because we believe in the promise of America. We believe that everyone who wants to work should be able to find a job that can support themselves and their families. We believe that our children should be well cared for and well educated and our seniors should be able to retire with security and dignity. We believe that what matters as Dr. King said, is the “content of one’s character – not the color of their skin.”

We organize to influence our elected officials to protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and enact the Affordable Health Care Act – all of which help poor and working families. We organize to build unions to protect working families, and provide health and safety benefits, and empower workers through collective bargaining. We organize to build our movement – to build powerful organizations, broad and deep that can lift the voices of ordinary Americans.

The issues we work on reflect our values as a movement. We are fighting the politics of austerity, realigning our domestic priorities, investing in jobs and infrastructure – all of which are core to our mission as an organization and a movement. No less important – we are progressives fighting for comprehensive immigration reform, marriage equality, democracy in our workplaces and our nation.

Now more than ever we need to build the progressive infrastructure in this country. Making the connections between critical issues, organizations and our members and activists is what USAction and our affiliates do every day. Our movement faces great challenges – we know that we can’t win alone. USAction’s recently announced historic partnership with the Center for Community Change is just one example of the kind of innovative collaborations necessary for all of us to build power. There’s a saying I like- ‘If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together.’ Together we will walk with our partners across the progressive movement to build an economy that works for everyone.

Press Release: RISING PROGRESSIVE LEADER TO TAKE HELM AT USAction

Ross Wallen — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:50:59 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Christy Setzer, New Heights Communications

202-506-6421 (cell) Christy@newheightscommunications.com

Thursday, May 16, 2013

RISING PROGRESSIVE LEADER TO TAKE HELM AT USAction

Fred Azcarate, founding Exec Director of Jobs with Justice, former USSA President to become new Exec Director of leading community organizing group

Hire represents strategic partnership between community organizing and labor movements

Washington, DC—USAction, a leading national community organizing network with affiliates in 21 states and nearly 350,000 members nationwide, announced today that Fred Azcarate, a rising star in the labor and progressive movement, will take over as the organization’s new Executive Director. Azcarate, the former Executive Director of Jobs with Justice and President of the US Student Association, is currently the head of the AFL-CIO’s jobs campaign asdirector of America Wants to Work. Last year, Azcarate was named one of “50 Young Progressive Activists Who Are Changing America” cited in the Huffington Post. The hire represents a significant alignment between the community organizing and labor networks.

“Fred brings an unparalleled understanding of and commitment to community organizing and feels to his core the issues that we fight for,” said Khalid Pitts, President of USAction and Director of Strategic Campaigns at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). “Fred will be a tremendous springboard to bring USAction into the future and to build on the important work Jeff Blum started. We’re extremely excited to have him leading our team, and building an even stronger bond between the labor and organizing movements.”

USAction was founded in 1999 with a goal to engage national partners and state affiliates in progressive campaigns that enrich people’s lives. Over the years, USAction has fought to protect Social Security and Medicare from privatization efforts, organized the second-largest nonpartisan voting registration effort in history, fought for affordable, quality healthcare, and campaigned to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes while providing jobless benefits for the unemployed. Currently, USAction and its 21 state affiliates employ a staff of 240 in 40 offices, has approximately 342,000 members, and a combined listserv capacity of 1.2 million supporters. Azcarate replaces outgoing and founding Executive Director Jeff Blum.

“I am so excited to build on the phenomenal work that USAction affiliates and national partners are doing every day, whether it’s to increase access to health care, right-size the Pentagon so we can invest in America’s real priorities, or create smart immigration reform policies,” said Azcarate. “We’re at a critical moment, and I’m thrilled to help lead the fight for an economy of opportunity and justice, to rebuild the middle class and ensure that all have access to it. There’s a saying I like- ‘If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together.’ Together we will walk with our partners across the progressive movement to build an economy that works for everyone.”

“As corporate interests step up their attacks on working people and the middle class struggles to get ahead, the fight for jobs and economic prosperity needs all the allies it can get,” said Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO. “I can think of no better ally than USAction with Fred Azcarate at the helm. I’ve been working side by side with Fred for the last six years to give working people a voice on the job, and a future with economic security. His passion will be key to bringing the labor and community organizing networks together to wage campaigns that create good jobs, health care, and a secure retirement.”

Azcarate has been at the AFL-CIO since 2007, when he was hired to run the AFL-CIO’s Voice@Work campaign, including the campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. From 1992 until 2007, Azcarate was the Executive Director for Jobs with Justice, growing the organization from 3 staff to an organization with 60 staff and representing more than 40 coalitions. Prior to that, Azcarate served as President of the US Student Association.

“When labor unions and community organizers come together to fight for the 99 percent, everyone benefits,” said Mary Kay Henry, SEIU’s International President. “By strengthening our partnership, we can create an economy that addresses inequities and works better for all of us.”

“I’ve had the great privilege of working with both Fred and USAction for a number of years,” said Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America. “USAction has played a critical role in bringing together the progressive movement, and Fred is a great leader, who has led a growing movement for democracy and economic justice. Together, they’re going to do great things for all of us.”

Said Center for Community Change Executive Director, Deepak Bhargava, “Last month, USAction and Center for Community Change created an historic partnership between our two organizations, with the idea being that progressivism demands movements and coalitions whose efforts are greater than the sum of their parts. That’s exactly why Fred Azcarate is the perfect person to lead USAction and our movement.”

Azcarate comes from a labor family– his mother, a nurse, belonged to SEIU1199 in New York. He graduated from SUNY-Binghamton with a Bachelor’s degree in economics. Today, Azcarate lives in Takoma Park, MD with his wife and two young sons.

# # #

It’s time to #BEATGROVER

Ross Wallen — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:14:53 +0000

Cross-posted from the Americans for Tax Fairness Website: #BeatGrover

We’ve launched the #BeatGrover challenge on Twitter and Facebook to challenge Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform to see whether his group or our group, Americans for Tax Fairness, can generate more comments in favor of reforming our broken tax system on a new congressional tax reform website, TaxReform.gov.

Americans for Tax Fairness is pressing for a tax system that requires the wealthy and big corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. Grover Norquist is founder of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform whose “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” signed by most Republican members of Congress commits them to opposing the closing of tax loopholes unless the savings go to reducing tax rates – a sweetheart gift to tax dodging corporations and wealthy Americans.

The challenge follows the kickoff this week of TaxReform.gov by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) encouraging Americans to provide tax reform ideas to the committee chairs, including the option to Tweet ideas.

We know the American people and leading economists are with us and we’re putting as much pressure on members of Congress as we can to make sure that they end the special-interest tax loopholes. We need a tax reform that requires the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes, not one that reduces tax rates.

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON TAXREFORM.GOV

Here is some background information that will help you leave a comment that will get noticed:

• Big corporations need to pay more in taxes; we need to close those gaping tax loopholes, like the one that encourages companies to ship profits and jobs overseas.

• Many wealthy Americans are still paying a tax rate lower than their secretaries; that needs to change.

• $1 trillion in new tax revenue from the wealthy and big corporations is a good starting point – so we have the resources needed to invest in the economy and prevent cuts to critical benefits and services, such as Social Security, Medicare, rebuilding our roads and schools and researching new medical cures.

Follow Americans for Tax Fairness on Facebook and Twitter.

Tell Congress: Only people are people

Ross Wallen — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:18:18 +0000

Join CREDO in telling your senators and member of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end corporate personhood: http://j.mp/10BWGrh

When we polled our members at the beginning of the year on what issues were most important to them, an overwhelming majority said they wanted to work to get money out of politics and overturn Citizens United. And we agree!

Last fall, our affiliate West Virginia Citizen Action Group along with CREDO delivered a petition to their legislature, urging them to adopt a resolution asking Congress to pass a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United.

Now we’re working with our friends at CREDO to take this action to the next level.

Join CREDO in telling your senators and member of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end corporate personhood.

We deserve a country where our elected officials are not bought and paid for by big corporations.

But the Citizens United vs. FEC Supreme Court decision overturned over a century of precedent and opened the floodgates for unlimited amounts of corporate money to flow into our political system.

Shockingly, the court came to this decision based on the notion that a corporation is legally a “person” entitled to First Amendment rights, and by equating a corporation’s right to spend unlimited amounts of money influencing an election with our right to free speech.

Tell your senators and member of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end corporate personhood.

Even before the Citizens United decision, we too often saw the interests of Main Street subverted in favor of the interests of Wall Street.

But with the Citizens United decision now the law of the land, large corporations have the power to spend unlimited amounts of money from their general treasuries to buy elections.

What’s more, Citizens United opened loopholes that allow corporations to hide their campaign expenditures by laundering the money through non-profit advocacy organizations.

Tell your senators and member of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end corporate personhood.

It’s very unlikely that the Supreme Court will fix the issue any time soon.

And because Congress cannot pass a law that supersedes a Supreme Court ruling, it may take a constitutional amendment to undo the worst aspects of the Citizens United decision and end corporate personhood.

Clearly, the bar to successfully amending the Constitution is very high. But with 85% of the public opposed to the Citizens United decision, there is a potential for a broad coalition of Democrats, Republicans and Independents who all want to restore our democracy.

And let’s remember, the stakes are too high to allow inaction on this issue. It’s no exaggeration to say that the Citizens United decision fundamentally threatens the integrity of our democracy.

We need a government of, for and by the people. And sadly, we might need to work really hard to re-establish the common sense and democratic view that only people are people, not corporations.

Your senators and member of Congress need to hear from you, regardless of where they stand on this issue. We need to show them that their constituents are part of a broad movement demanding action — not only to convince them that overturning Citizens United is the right thing to do, but also that it’s possible.

Today, take a step to be part of that movement.

Tell your senators and member of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and end corporate personhood.

Call your Senators: Support a Roadmap to Citizenship!

Ross Wallen — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:41:39 +0000

USAction affiliates and allies across the progressives movement rallied on May Day to support workers and commonsense immigration reform with a roadmap to citizenship.

As the Senate begins debate on the Gang of 8 bill, for the first time in years, we have the chance to create lasting change in our immigration system, to keep families together, and put 11 million aspiring Americans on a roadmap to citizenship.

It’s up to us over the next 100 days to continue the nationwide call for commonsense immigration reform and a roadmap to citizenship for 11 million aspiring Americans.

Call your Senators at 866-563-5608.

You can use the script below and report back on your call in the comments:

Hello, my name is ________ from ________and I am calling in support of commonsense immigration reform with a roadmap to citizenship.

As the Senate debates, please support reform that provides a clear, direct roadmap to citizenship for the hardworking immigrants contributing to our nation.

The time is now to make sure our immigration system reflects our values of opportunity and equality and that immigrants who have met stringent requirements should be given a chance to earn their citizenship in a timely manner.

Thank you for your time and for representing my concerns.

Ed Markey Wins!

Ross Wallen — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:31:15 +0000

We did it!

Last night, Ed Markey, with 57 percent of the vote, defeated his more conservative opponent in a primary election to replace former Sen. John Kerry’s Senate seat.¹

This is a decisive win — that couldn’t have happened without all the hard work USAction members have poured into this race to ensure the progressive won.

We want to extend an extra warm thank you to our amazing volunteers who helped us get out the vote this past week. We were able to call through all our USAction members in Massachusetts thanks to you!

And of course, a huge thank you to all the people who donated to this effort as well.

This past week, we’ve been running phonebanks into Massachusetts to urge voters to vote for Ed Markey on Election Day. And all of our hard work clearly paid off.

With Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown and now Ed Markey, this has been a great few months for USAction electing progressives to the U.S. Senate. And is further proof that when progressives stick together, we can win BIG.

Ed Markey now will face his Republican opponent Gabriel Gomez in a special general election on June 25th. A race we will certainly keep our eye on in the coming months.

As we shift our attention to other states, another Senate race on the horizon could be a great opportunity to elect a true progressive. Montana Senator Max Baucus (D) announced last week that he will not be running for re-election. Baucus, better known as the “Senator from K Street,” and who helped kill the public option during the health care debate, will not be missed.

But as he exits the stage, we have a great opportunity to replace Baucus with a real progressive who represents our values. Donate $5 or whatever you can afford now, so we can bring our calling program to Montana and ensure the best possible candidate wins the primary and general elections.

After last night’s victory, I can’t say enough how we couldn’t have done this without our amazing members.So thank you again to all who volunteered and thank you for continuing to be a part of the USAction family. We have proved that we’re a progressive force to be reckoned with.