IN JUST TEN MONTHS
President Barack Obama is "likeable enough." But is that the
measure of any presidency? I think not.
Presidents are judged by what they did to address the crisis the
country faced during their term of office. The classic contrasts
are between Presidents
James Buchanan and
Abraham Lincoln and Presidents
Herbert Hoover and
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Good intentions weren't nearly good enough as the storm clouds of
the Civil War gathered. Platitudes proved inadequate as the Great
Depression deepened. Only the persistent application of
presidential power would have made a difference. Unfortunately,
that did not happen.
Inaction exacerbated those crises. Instead of being vexing yet
manageable, the crises became so toxic they threatened the
foundations of our Democracy. In each instance, a predecessor's
inability to avert or end the crisis drove his successor to take
far more drastic actions.
Presidential elections served as inflection points. The American
people fired Buchanan and Hoover because they did not DO enough.
They hired Lincoln and Roosevelt to DO much, much more.
Not everything Lincoln and Roosevelt tried worked. But both men
kept experimenting, pushing the envelope, searching for
solutions. Even in the darkest days, most Americans felt their
president was doing everything that could be done and then some.
In just ten months, 40 million voters from unemployed households
will decide if President Obama has done enough to resolve this
jobs crisis. With thumbs up, his re-election becomes a slam dunk.
If they go thumbs down, no campaign stratagem can save him.
But ten months is a century in American politics.
In just ten months - from the shelling of Fort Sumter in April,
1861 until January, 1862 when the USS Monitor was launched -
Lincoln recruited 527,000 troops to active duty.
In just ten months - from signing the bill creating the Works
Progress Administration in April, 1935 until March, 1936 -
Roosevelt put 3,400,000 Americans to work.
That's why our Facebook ads say, "We
did it once. Let's do it now!"
A BUNCH OF ZEROS
ZERO is how many times the words "jobless" or "unemployed" were used in the 2012 State of the Union Speech. ZERO is the number of times those words were used in the 2011 State of the Union Speech.
So how many voters will turn out from "unemployed" households in November, households where someone has been "jobless" in the last three years? The answer is:
40,000,000
Put so graphically, a bunch of zeros becomes impossible to ignore. They represent the kinetic power of the “jobless” and the “unemployed” as they and their family members prepare to go vote.
WE WIN. THEY LOSE.
As you may know, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has underwritten the phenomenal growth of UCubed. The IAM has assigned staff, funded our Facebook campaigns and paid for our TV ads.
And for much of the last year, GOP politicians created a cottage industry attacking the IAM in South Carolina. So as the SC primary draws to a close, the IAM is running an ad I thought you should see.
Called "Scales", the IAM ad makes a simple observation: When unionized workers stick together, we tip the scales for ALL workers. We win; they lose.
The IAM negotiated an exceptional, four-year deal for its Boeing members with increases in wages, benefits, pensions and job security. And workers in their communities will benefit when they cash their paychecks.
What happened to the GOP politicians in SC? All but one of them has lost (or soon will).
Still, after so much political hyperbole, 28 seconds of truth-telling seems long overdue.
Please watch "Scales". Then forward this email or hit the "Like" button.
After all they've done for UCubed, it is the least we can do for the IAM.
Welcome Back, Congress!
The 112th Congress comes back today from its three week recess. Let's welcome them back in style!
Is it just me? Or are you incredulous, too, when they "talk, talk, talk" about jobs? To me, this Congress seems incapable of enacting a bill that creates even a single job, let alone the 18 million needed to get back to full employment.
Extending the 2 percent payroll tax cut doesn't. It benefits those with jobs, not the jobless. And its stimulus effect, if any, was used up last year.
Extending unemployment benefits helps those who are receiving UI now or may qualify for UI later this year. It doesn't help the two-thirds of the jobless who exhausted their benefits or never qualified in the first place. Important as it is, it doesn't create jobs.
So, if this Congress cannot create even a single job, should they keep theirs next November? It’s your call.
In fact, call your Member of Congress today, and let them know you're prepared to vote on the single issue of JOBS. The number for the Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121.
My New Year's resolution
My New Year's resolution is to be brief. So the salutation to this letter is shorter. It conveys what I expect will happen this year: You will lead this country in a new direction.
The Union of Unemployed starts 2012 with 904 cubes ... 4,626 activists ... and 55,933 UCubed Facebook fans. We now have 61,463 leaders, and hope to triple that number by Election Day.
Each time you hit the "like" button - or comment on a post - you let your friends and families know how you feel about 29.3 million jobless Americans and what you think should be done to get them back to work.
If that's not leadership, I don't know what is. I only wish those actually running for public office would follow your lead!
In Unity -- Strength,
Rick
Rick Sloan
Executive Director
OUR TURF
Dear UCubed Leaders:
Now the presidential campaign moves onto our turf -- states with
high concentrations of joblessness. In the next month, primaries
and caucuses will be held in eight states with 2,014,400
"officially" unemployed.
On January 10th, New Hampshire votes; it has 38,700 "officially" unemployed - more jobless residents than the number of caucus attendees won by any GOP candidate in Iowa!
Next up is South Carolina. It is a dead zone with an "official" unemployment rate of 9.9%. The Palmetto State has more "officially" unemployed citizens - 213,500 in November - than all the caucus goers in Iowa … in both parties combined!
Florida votes on January 31st. It has 925,800 "officially" unemployed and an "official" unemployment rate of 10.0%.
On February 4th, Nevada and Maine hold caucuses. With 171,800 and 49,000 "officially" unemployed, their residents are dying to hear the candidates talk about the jobs crisis. So are the "officially" jobless in Colorado (216,200), Minnesota (176,100) and Missouri (250,300).
So let's get real, Mssrs. Obama, Romney, Paul, Perry, Huntsman, Santorum and Gingrich. Show us your best stuff.
Tell us -- no, tell the jobless in those eight states -- how you intend to get them back to work. And explain how soon you will do so?
America's jobless are listening carefully. They're looking for real, actionable plans to put Americans back to work. And they intend to vote this year come hell or high water.
