Business as Usual: The Assault on American Workers
Who says Republicans don't have socialistic tendencies? They're actually big on the redsitribution of wealth. The problem, of course, is that the wealth being redistributed is coming from the wallets of working men and women and being funneled into the wallets of those who need it the least: Big Business.
[T]he House passed a spending bill that could cut overtime benefits for nearly 8 million Americans. The newest scheme devised by President Bush and his Congressional Republicans reclassifies workers in relatively low paying jobs who have supervisory roles, as being exempt from overtime pay. According to the AFL-CIO, the measure could affect the pocketbooks of our police officers, nurses, retail workers, medical therapists and insurance claims adjusters – cutting into the paychecks of working families. Such a reclassification would allow employers to shift new burdens onto these workers without compensating them for their extra efforts on the job.
This latest action flies in the face of the will of congress, and the desires of most Americans. Earlier this session, both the House of Representatives and the Senate – in bipartisan majorities – passed bills to protect overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). But the Republican leadership in the House ignored the voices of the American people and stripped workers of this basic protection anyway. The Republican move not only disregards the majority of both houses of congress, but it also ignores the hundreds of thousands of American workers who have made their voices heard by speaking out to President Bush and their elected representatives over recent months.
This holiday season more than 8.7 million Americans are without work – for the unemployed, a jobless economic recovery is no recovery at all. "Compassionate" conservatives have responded by blocking efforts to extend benefits to the unemployed, offering millionaires tax cuts instead of real economic stimulus, and now, by slashing overtime pay protections for those who remain employed.
Big Business, of course, is more than happy with this turn of affairs. This means that they can require more and more of their employees at no extra cost to themselves. I can attest to this from my own experience, although I, for reasons of self-preservation, cannot go into great detail. While I could hardly be classified among the working poor, I am not unaware of their plight. The same could hardly be said for most Republicans.
It's the age-old story, of course- the richer get the coal mine, and the working poor get the shaft. Well, most of them either don't vote or they vote Democratic, so what's the problem? There is a fundamental disconnect here between Republicans and the working men and women the profess to represent. Just as GOP leaders have made noises about becoming the "big tent party" by trying to attract minorities, they are trying to paint these slaps at working Americans as somehow good for the economy. If they can screw Grandpa and paint it as good for seniors, they're on a roll, right??
The fact of the matter is that the Republican leadership knows little and cares less about minorities and the working poor. As long as they are able to keep the money rolling in from their rich friends, they know they stand a good chance of being able to maintain power. In the final analysis, that is really what it's all about.
Until and unless Democrats are able to shine the light on this dirty little Republican (not-so) secret, government will continue to take from the poor and give to the rich. In the end, Republican politics really is all about the Benjamins and nothing BUT the Benjamins.
