The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of GroundReport.
ALF-CIO recently spoke to Bill Press, author of New York Times bestseller Train Wreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (And Not a Moment Too Soon)
This upcoming election is the most important one of our lifetime because there is so much at stake for working families.
Americans will make a historic decision on Nov. 4. It’s about much more than choosing between Barack Obama and John McCain. That’s a no-brainer. McCain’s the most anti-worker candidate Republicans could possibly nominate.
The real decision Americans must make is whether we go in a new direction or whether we remain stuck in the failed policies of the past. For all the issues we care about—for health care, workers’ rights, a living wage, employee free choice, fair trade, environmental and worker protection—we must embark in an entirely new direction.
We’ve seen the failures of conservative policies. We’ve seen them, and we’ve suffered from them. We’ve seen how badly conservatives screwed up, as I detail in my new book: Train Wreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too Soon).
Here’s what happened. Starting with Ronald Reagan, conservatives came to power. For years, they controlled everything: the House, the Senate, the White House and the Supreme Court. And everything they touched, they trashed. Why? Because, when it comes to governing, conservatives have a genetic defect. If you start off hating government, you can’t make government work. It’s a non-starter.
Think about it. What are conservatives supposed to stand for? They say their governing philosophy is based on five basic principles: smaller government, fiscal responsibility, a non-interventionist foreign policy, a constitutionally limited chief executive and states’ rights. Yet, when they had a chance to deliver, what did we get? Just the opposite, on every front.
As union members well know, this has been the most anti-union administration we’ve ever faced. Wages are down, unemployment is up, and millions of jobs have been shipped overseas. New trade deals have been proposed, with no protection for America’s workers. Republicans have blocked every attempt to deliver basic, adequate health care to working families. They also killed proposals to invest in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, as a way to make Americans safer, create new construction jobs and kick-start an ailing economy. Instead, they stubbornly cling to tax cuts for the rich as their sole economic agenda. George W. Bush is not only waging a so-called “war on terror,” he’s also waging a very real and painful war on working men and women.
So how about smaller government? Where is it? Today, we have the biggest federal government, the most intrusive federal presence and the biggest federal budget ever. Fiscal responsibility? Forget it. Today, we have the biggest federal deficits ever, the biggest national debt ever—more than $9 trillion—and the biggest trade deficit ever. Conservatives took this country from A-OK to I.O.U.
Non-interventionist foreign policy? Instead, we’ve got the most reckless, out-of-control foreign policy the world’s ever seen. Bush believes the United States has the right to go anywhere in the world, at anytime, start any war and topple any regime we want to. Not because they’re a threat to the United States, but because he believes that someday, they might become a threat to the United States. And he started with the long war in Iraq that has already cost more than 4,000 American lives and nearly $1 trillion. His cowboy foreign policy has generated more enemies, cost us friends and made us less safe as a nation, not more.
Constitutionally limited chief executive? Not this gang. Especially since Sept. 11, George Bush and Dick Cheney actually believe they’re above the law and have governed accordingly. They tapped our phones, without getting a court order. They tortured prisoners, in violation of U.S. and international law. They still won’t reveal the names of oil executives Cheney met with in formulating a new, pro-oil energy policy.
States’ rights? They no longer exist, under this administration. Bush, Cheney and the Bush Supreme Court have crushed states’ rights, starting with their refusal to let Florida count all the votes in 2000 and leading right up to their attempts to block California from taking the lead on fighting global warming.
For all those reasons, brothers and sisters, we must work harder than ever this year to take back America: by increasing our Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, making Barack Obama the next president of the United States and launching this country in a new direction with a new set of policies that will lift all Americans up.
Conservatives had their chance to govern, and they failed. Therefore, they must never be trusted with power again. We can’t afford another TRAIN WRECK!
Bill Press, former co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire,” is host of the nationally syndicated “The Bill Press Show” on talk stations across the country. He’s also a proud, 28-year member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). His new book, TRAIN WRECK: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too Soon), is available at www.billpressshow.com.