Who’s On Our Side?
By Tom Chamberlain
A
s I write this article, the presi-
dent and Congress are work-
ing to reopen government and raise
the debt ceiling. Most suspect that a
“Grand Bargain” will be reached in
the next week.
In the meantime, tens of thou-
sands of public employees have
been unpaid and sit idly at home
and wait; millions of Americans
haven’t received the federal bene-
fits they qualify for; highway funds
have dried up and construction
projects stopped, leaving thousands
more without work; federal regula-
tory agencies are working at mini-
mum staffing levels.
Whether you realize it or not,
every American has been impacted.
The shutdown was failed politi-
cal brinksmanship at the expense of
our nation, at the expense of work-
ing men and women, at the expense
of families, at the expense of the
disabled, the elderly, and poor.
Rest assured that when the
“Grand Bargain” is reached, busi-
nesses and the wealthy will be held
harmless. They may even come out
ahead, seeing their share of sup-
porting our nation reduced.
The “Grand Bargain” will tell
the rest of us — those whose jobs
and livelihoods have been affected,
that to end the shutdown we must
take on other burdens — to pay.
The 99 percent will see more prom-
ises reneged on, and a continuing
of decades of unraveling America’s
already tattered social safety net.
This is a pessimistic prediction,
for sure. It is based on three
decades of an increasingly pro-
business pro-wealth agenda based
on the premise that if you decrease
federal, state, and local funding re-
sponsibilities for the 1 percent, jobs
will be created. This agenda be-
lieves that we can build the middle
class from the top down. It is
Ronald Reagan’s trickle-down eco-
nomic strategy on steroids.
This strategy didn’t work for a
1980s America, and after three
decades of shifting more and more
funding responsibility from the 1
percent to the 99 percent, it should
be clear that this is nothing short of
a disastrous policy for our nation.
Oregon reached its own “Grand
Bargain” this month, raising much-
needed funding for public educa-
tion. Part of the funding package
included a tax increase from
wealthy seniors and some busi-
nesses. But the lion’s share of the
revenue came from state and local
retirees and future retirees — Ore-
gonians who, on average, receive
less than $30,000 per year in retire-
ment.
The Oregonian newspaper —
and almost all of the business asso-
ciations in the state — mounted
months of campaigning focusing
on the PERS $1 million Club: those
few PERS retirees, such as retired
University of Oregon football
coach Mike Bellotti, who earn over
$500,000 per year. This campaign
was designed to create political
leverage to reduce PERS benefits
far below what was agreed to in
contract.
This classic diversionary strat-
egy changed the focus to reducing
the cost of government, rather than
looking at who is paying for gov-
ernment. They were successful,
and took a Grand Bargain victory
lap across the media.
There was no mention of the
sacrifice of the hard-working Ore-
gonians who will collectively forgo
billions in promised retiree benefits
in our effort to increase funding to
state and local governments.
“Grand bargains” equate to
business give-aways and worker
take-aways. After 30 years of eco-
nomic and funding policies that
have resulted in fewer middle-class
jobs and less funding for essential
programs, while trying to appease
the 1%ers with more and more in-
centives, history has taught work-
ing families when they hear gov-
ernment is trying to reach a “Grand
Bargain,” it is time to hold onto
your wallets very tightly.
History has taught us that no
Grand Bargain is on working peo-
ples’ side.
Tom Chamberlain is president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO.
Federal shutdown hurts rank-and-file workers
Portland members of American
Federation of Government Employees
(AFGE) rallied outside the Portland
Federal Building on Oct. 1 — Day 1 of
the federal government shutdown.
In the photo right, Amanda
Schroeder, president of Portland-based
AFGE Local 2157, tells Fox News that
many federal employees are either
locked out from working or are re-
quired to work for free. Either way,
they won’t get paychecks until the U.S.
House ends its refusal to fund the gov-
ernment. Majority House Republicans
have tried to make President Barack
Obama and the Democratic-led Senate
agree to concessions — including de-
lay or repeal of Obamacare — in ex-
change for voting to continue funding
the government.
Until some agreement is reached, an
estimated 800,000 federal employees,
including 27,700 in Oregon, are going
without pay, and the public is going
without myriad services.
The shutdown entered its third week
as this issue went to press.
On Oct. 12, AFGE national Presi-
dent J. David Cox Sr. sent a letter to
PAGE 10
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