"President-elect Barack Obama pledged yesterday to shape a new Social Security and Medicare "bargain" with the American people, saying that the nation's long-term economic recovery cannot be attained unless the government finally gets control over its most costly entitlement programs.
When will this happen? The Post answers: "[the] administration will begin confronting the issues of entitlement reform and long-term budget deficits soon after it jump-starts job growth and the stock market. (January 16, 2009). The upward swing in the stock market gave Geithner the green light to begin his anti-entitlement public relations campaign.
By choosing not to drastically reduce military spending and not to greatly increase taxes for the super rich and corporations, Obama will have few other options: the federal deficit is too high, especially after the Bush/Obama bank bailouts.
These bailouts, combined with decades of reduced taxes for the very wealthy, created the conditions that led to our "deficit crisis. The solution that Obama is proposing will further devastate millions already suffering from unemployment, unlivable wages, and little hope for the future.
It can be further presumed that, while Obama is getting the U.S. "financial house in order, the Federal Reserve will assist by increasing interest rates " something demanded by U.S. foreign creditors " thereby significantly risking cutting into Wall Street's most recent profits and opening up the possibility of transforming our Great Recession into another full-blown depression.
This is not a matter of "if, but "when. The imbalances in the U.S. economy are too massive; a giant "restructuring must take place. The bank bailouts merely intensified the already enormous economic contradictions. Who pays for this restructuring will shape the future for years to come. As Obama implements his anti-worker plan, he will encounter tremendous resistance. The once-loved President will leave office more hated than Bush.
Once the
Obama illusion is completely shattered, workers can begin to act
independently. We must demand that the corporate elite pay for the crisis
they created. Their efforts to push this crisis onto us must be fought at
every step. This can be done by clearly articulating our solutions to the
crisis " taxing the super-rich and the corporations, a massive public works
campaign, and ending foreign wars (for starters) " and promoting these ideas
through local and national coalitions of labor unions, community groups,
students, the unemployed, etc. If we are united and fighting for a clear
vision of the future, we will win. If we rely on the Democrats to solve this
problem our fate is sealed.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org). He can be reached at shamuscook@yahoo.com
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