The Coming Year: A Time for Progressives to Unify, Build and Win
A Statement of the CCDS National Executive Committee
January 5, 2007
The electoral defeat of the right wing and the unambiguous rejection of the neo-conservative agenda by a vast majority of voters in 2006 are fresh starting points in 2007 for building and strengthening the unity of progressives across the entire political spectrum.The voters gave the incoming Congress a mandate for charting a qualitatively new direction in the nation’s domestic and foreign policies. Voters were resolute in their desire for a speedy withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. Large majorities supported a raise in the minimum wage and restoration of labor’s right to organize. There was strong support for candidates who advocated universal health insurance, an end to outrageous corporate welfare, immediate action to prevent a global environmental catastrophe, an end to violations of constitutional rights, and an end to corruption that has befouled politics.
As the Congress is about to get to work, temporizing politicians abetted by compliant media are trying to lower expectations of the new 110th Congress and to demoralize the progressive majority with claims that ambitions for a new political direction will be thwarted by gridlock, presidential vetoes, and diluting compromises in the name of “bipartisanship.” “Centrists” like Rep. Rahm Emanuel and others affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council are seeking to drive a wedge in the progressive camp by fanning fear and distrust based upon class, race and gender. They warn of “irreconcilable differences” between “moderate and independent [read predominantly white male] voters” and “strikingly liberal African Americans” who are ascending to the leadership of key congressional committees. They talk about “labor, minority advocacy organizations, reproductive rights” organizations being dangerously out of step with the centrist inclinations of the majority.
Such divide-and-conquer tactics must be rejected. The claims upon which they are built wither in the face of the reality that “moderates and independents” of all backgrounds are hurting, no less than other sectors from stagnating wages, the lack of affordable health care and the burdens of an illegal, brutal war. Voters on the center and left did not cast their ballots for a refashioned, discredited Republican right wing agenda. Retreat in the name catering to “moderation” constitutes a fatal misreading of the political climate and grievously overlooks the power of a growing convergence of center and left voices demanding a new direction in the nation’s priorities.
First and foremost, a majority antiwar sentiment demands an end to the US occupation of Iraq. That sentiment extends also to a growing desire for a new international stance, away from the ruinous, interventionist policies of the neo-conservatives. That should be underscored with undeniable force by a massive turnout January 27-29 in Washington for the demonstration and lobbying for withdrawal from Iraq. A historically large attendance will remind the new Congress of the breadth and magnitude of the antiwar feeling that fueled the change in the composition of that body.
In the realm of foreign policy also, progressives should reject the widespread belief in Washington that a solution to the Palestine-Israeli conflict is out of reach. Progressives should also call upon political leaders to end the Bush policy of fomenting, exploiting and choosing sides in religious and sectarian conflicts in pursuit of Washington’s foreign policy objectives. Right now the opportunity exists to move decisively in the direction of a general Middle East agreement that would greatly reduce tensions and the danger of further armed conflict in the region. The new Congress must be pressed to raise its voice to demand that the Administration move decisively in that direction.
Every effort must be made by progressives to drive home to the broader public the dangerous and perverse role of the military-industrial complex as well as oil and other energy industries in driving policies geared to aggression as well as seriously undermining the nation’s domestic needs. With a military establishment many times more powerful than all the armed forces in the world combined, fear among politicians about being tagged as “soft on defense” is not worthy of sympathy. It is past time to educate and organize against the malign influence of the military industrial complex and its allies.
The legislative goals stated by the Democratic congressional leadership in its “first 100 hours” of control are worthy of support, especially raising the minimum wage, negotiating lower prices on prescription drugs, and cutting interest on student loans.
But this is just a beginning. It is time to end the assault upon the economic needs of working people. Progressives should demand meaningful labor law reform that removes the numerous obstacles constructed in recent years to organizing workers and building unions.
Fair trade should be established as a principle that protects all working people around the world over “free trade” that victimizes labor in all corners of the globe. Immigration reform should acknowledge that the flow of immigrants over our borders is the result of a system of corporate globalization that has enriched the corporate elite while victimizing labor, especially in the Global South. Such reform should be grounded in respect for the humanity of all working people and should protect the rights of workers regardless of legal status.
The recent elections have boosted the prestige and moral authority of organized labor. Now is the time to strengthen the alliance of all progressives and the labor movement in the interest of all working people.
Health care is emerging as the decisive domestic battleground in the coming period. The vast majority has indicated repeatedly that it wants fundamental change, not the insufficient palliatives regularly being put forward. The Conyers Bill (HR 676) for Universal Single-Payer Health Insurance is of utmost importance. But in the face of the opposition of powerful healthcare and insurance industries, a broadly based and massive campaign is required.
The ravage of Katrina upon New Orleans and the Gulf Coast remains an unconscionable blot on the nation and continues to be one of the most important challenges to progressives. In the days following the devastating flood, talk of a “Marshall Plan” for renewal abounded – and was then soon forgotten. An extensive federal, state and local effort is required to make it possible for the largely African American displaced population of tens of thousands to return home and participate in the rebuilding of a safe and livable environment.
The nation and world are waking up to the catastrophic danger to planetary survival due to global warming and to the urgent need to begin to reduce greenhouse gases before it is too late. Another aspect of the environmental crisis is the undermining of the nation’s health, especially the health of workers in various industries, in agriculture and in food production due to the erosion of safety standards on the job. Progressives need to respond to the environmental crisis with the urgency that it demands. The intention of the new Democratic-controlled Congress to cut oil industry subsidies and invest in safe, clean energy is commendable – but only a first step. The United States must reengage with the international community in a massive effort to cut greenhouse gases and generate safe energy alternatives.
The change in political leadership in Congress should be a powerful signal to progressives to demand an end to unconstitutional Administration practices such as widespread domestic wiretapping and surveillance, illegal rendition, military commissions with nearly unlimited powers, torture of prisoners, etc. A portion of those actions, not to speak of the lies propagated to draw the country into an illegal disastrous war, would be enough to warrant impeachment of the entire Bush administration. Despite the claims of some politicians that impeachment should be off the table, defense of the Constitution and of democratic principles in general require that such a demand and prospect remains a vital part of the political dialogue in 2007.
There are many important issues not addressed in this statement and they should be addressed as part of a dynamic progressive program for the coming year. Of primary importance however is strengthening the unity of left and broadly progressive forces around the most pressing and essential demands. As the new Congress convenes, it is feeling the pressure of progressives as never before. The congressional majority needs to hear repeatedly that retreat from the issues that brought it to power will have consequences. For the first time in recent memory, attention is being paid to vast segments of the public that want no temporizing or diluting on the need to withdraw US forces from Iraq and to set the country’s global and domestic policies on a peaceful, constructive course. With greater consultation and coordinated action among the broadest of progressive forces, with local and regional meetings to pinpoint issues and concentrate efforts, with mobilization of constituencies in communities, in union halls, churches, on campuses and in the streets -- we can move forward steadily and steadfastly to fulfill the promise of a country and world that nourishes humanity and assures peace, justice and equality to all. January 5, 2007.
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