Richard Trumka: President Obama Has To Be ‘Bold’ With Jobs Program
AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka appeared on ” Political Capital with Al Hunt ” (embed is coded incorrectly, so I’m substituting Trumka’s Labor Day message) to state unilaterally that the miserable state of the economy demands “bold” solutions and strong leadership from President Obama: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said he wants President Barack Obama to propose a multitrillion- dollar job-creation program in his speech to Congress next week and that the president needs “another course” to boost his skills in negotiating with Republicans. “I’m hoping that he’ll be very bold,” Trumka said on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. “He’ll stand up for the American worker and say, ‘This is what needs to be done to fix the problem, and I’m going to fight for it.’” Trumka, head of the largest U.S. union federation, has warned of waning enthusiasm for Obama from the labor movement, a critical part of his political base, ahead of next year’s re-election bid. Labor unions are disappointed in Obama’s tax-reduction agreement with Republicans last December that extended Bush-era tax cuts for even the richest Americans, and in continuing efforts to cut federal spending by $2.4 trillion amid the nation’s 9.1 percent unemployment rate. “I’d say he needs to take another course in bargaining to help out,” Trumka said in the interview. In the face of a net zero job growth report and such high unemployment rates, I don’t think you’ll find any argument among sentient beings that a bold plan is needed. But the problem lies with the GOP determining the needs and welfare of the country being secondary to any partisan advantage. Trumka’s fear of Obama’s negotiating skills are well based, with the opposing party not operating in good faith.
Richard Trumka: President Obama Has To Be ‘Bold’ With Jobs Program
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on September 6, 2011. Filed under