A WORD FROM PRESIDENT JACQUES LOVEALL
It was an incredibly cold morning in Washington, D.C., as I stood with two million of my fellow Americans to watch history unfold.
We had gathered in front of the Capitol steps and on the National Mall to see Barack Obama take the oath of office as 44th President of the United States. We stood elbow to elbow for two miles, as far as the eye could see.
In spite of the freezing temperatures and the enormous size of the crowd, people were happy and neighborly. There was not a single injury, not a single arrest.
There were tears, of course. They streamed down the faces of people of all races and all ages. Many of advanced age who struggled on walkers to be there for history. For here at last we’d come to Martin Luther King’s mountaintop, where a nation has judged a man by the content of his character instead of the color of his skin.
America has done well in choosing Barack Obama as its leader in these perilous times. He is a true leader because he possesses the purest quality of leadership: an ability to make other people want to be better.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: Twenty-four hours before taking the oath, Obama observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day by painting an entire wall in a shelter for homeless and disconnected youth.
Meanwhile, Vice President-elect Joe Biden worked with Habitat for Humanity to help build homes for families in need.
At the same time, Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha Obama, Dr. Jill Biden and Ashley Biden were at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, helping to make more than 85,000 care packages for American servicemen and women stationed around the globe.
Following the morning’s activities, Barack Obama thanked the volunteers for their dedication to service and called on all Americans to commit to serving others in their communities throughout the year.
As I watched coverage of this event, I was amazed. This was how Obama chose to spend his day before becoming President of the United States!
He could have been rehearsing his inaugural speech or meeting with leaders of Congress, but here he was in paint-spattered blue jeans, helping provide a safe and comfortable refuge for troubled kids. He finished painting the wall and then imparted words of motivation, discipline and, of course, hope to the teenagers in his presence.
This is the best kind of leadership: leadership by example!
Obama demonstrated leadership again as he spoke on the Capitol steps, where he acknowledged the challenges of the present and explained how Americans must rise to address them.
“Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began,” he said. “Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year.
“Our capacity remains undiminished… Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”
Obama went on to salute the working heroes who made our country great — “the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated,but more often men and women obscure in their labor… “For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.”
As a Union leader, I am grateful whenever working people are celebrated. Obama’s speech makes me more than grateful — it gives me hope that America’s laws and policies will address the long neglected needs of folks who earn their paychecks.
I also felt inspired by the words of Joe Biden, one of Labor’s great heroes in the United States Senate, when he spoke about the working people who built the great buildings and monuments of the nation’s capital. I thought about how good it is for America to have leaders who can give our most productive citizens the respect they deserve.
I return from Washington with a sense of optimism for our country’s future.
Our Union backbone is our commitment to the concept of strength through unity, and now we have a president who has declared our mantra as his national policy.
Solidarity forever — it is the Union which makes us strong.
UFCW 8-Golden State
A real 'ownership society', Americans need real guarantees, ‘stock for taxes’ strategy may be the answer
A WORD FROM PRESIDENT JACQUES LOVEALL
Our elected officials panicked and hastily passed an ill-conceived bill that could have painful consequenses.
The devastation of our financial system paints a tragic picture of unregulated greed and its effects.
I am sickened so many of our elected officials once again awarded the multi-millionaires whose reckless, self-enriching behavior caused this crisis in the first place.
Where’s the accountability? Where is the “bailout” for the millions of Americans who are hurting?
For decades, we’ve been told that we can’t afford to help children in poverty or make decent care available to the 50 million Americans who don’t have health insurance. Money couldn’t be found to fix our schools and our Social Security system. It’s too expensive to provide adequate assistance to veterans and victims of natural disasters.
And yet we’re able to find $700 billion to bail out Wall Street!
As Investment Chair of the UFCW Northern California Pension Trust Fund, I understand the importance of stable and growing markets. I also understand that important decisions on complicated issues must be made with care, based on thoughtful research and analysis.
I didn’t see much care and thoughtfulness in the days preceding the House and Senate votes on the bailout. After the House’s initial rejection of the bill, the legislation was reworked and passed within four days.
What we’ve gotten is a hodgepodge. It is hardly a blueprint for sound economic policy.
On Sept. 30, I wrote a letter on behalf of our members to the House and Senate, urging them to consider letting the next President — someone who has a fresh mandate from the American people — guide our nation out of the mess that was left by the current administration.
I told them that any bailout of Wall Street should be part of a comprehensive plan to assist our struggling middle and lower classes.
One notion I submitted for consideration is a United States Real Estate Corporation (USREC), in which taxpayers would receive stock in bailed-out corporations. The amount of stock would be proportionate to their families’ tax burdens in connection with the bailout.
This plan would create an open market in which those who would like to invest further in America’s future can do so easily. It would give Americans a greater voice in exchange for their contributions and sacrifices.
And it would help assure taxpayers that they could eventually see a return on their investment.
For too long, the concept of an “ownership society” has been abused to promote the interests of the wealthy over the needs of everyone else. It’s time to give all Americans a greater chance to own a piece of their country’s future.
I pledge to use the energies of this office to ensure our membership and all taxpayers are shown the consideration they deserve as this process moves forward.
Solidarity works!
UFCW 8-Golden State
Our elected officials panicked and hastily passed an ill-conceived bill that could have painful consequenses.
The devastation of our financial system paints a tragic picture of unregulated greed and its effects.
I am sickened so many of our elected officials once again awarded the multi-millionaires whose reckless, self-enriching behavior caused this crisis in the first place.
Where’s the accountability? Where is the “bailout” for the millions of Americans who are hurting?
For decades, we’ve been told that we can’t afford to help children in poverty or make decent care available to the 50 million Americans who don’t have health insurance. Money couldn’t be found to fix our schools and our Social Security system. It’s too expensive to provide adequate assistance to veterans and victims of natural disasters.
And yet we’re able to find $700 billion to bail out Wall Street!
As Investment Chair of the UFCW Northern California Pension Trust Fund, I understand the importance of stable and growing markets. I also understand that important decisions on complicated issues must be made with care, based on thoughtful research and analysis.
I didn’t see much care and thoughtfulness in the days preceding the House and Senate votes on the bailout. After the House’s initial rejection of the bill, the legislation was reworked and passed within four days.
What we’ve gotten is a hodgepodge. It is hardly a blueprint for sound economic policy.
On Sept. 30, I wrote a letter on behalf of our members to the House and Senate, urging them to consider letting the next President — someone who has a fresh mandate from the American people — guide our nation out of the mess that was left by the current administration.
I told them that any bailout of Wall Street should be part of a comprehensive plan to assist our struggling middle and lower classes.
One notion I submitted for consideration is a United States Real Estate Corporation (USREC), in which taxpayers would receive stock in bailed-out corporations. The amount of stock would be proportionate to their families’ tax burdens in connection with the bailout.
This plan would create an open market in which those who would like to invest further in America’s future can do so easily. It would give Americans a greater voice in exchange for their contributions and sacrifices.
And it would help assure taxpayers that they could eventually see a return on their investment.
For too long, the concept of an “ownership society” has been abused to promote the interests of the wealthy over the needs of everyone else. It’s time to give all Americans a greater chance to own a piece of their country’s future.
I pledge to use the energies of this office to ensure our membership and all taxpayers are shown the consideration they deserve as this process moves forward.
Solidarity works!
UFCW 8-Golden State
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