By LEE SAUNDERS
Administrator, District Council 37, AFSCME

President George W. Bush has declared war on working people.

Although the majority of Americans voted against him, Mr. Bush had barely uttered the oath of office when he stopped talking about building consensus and being the president of all the people. Instead, he launched an all-out assault on working families and their unions.

His mean-spirited attacks reach into our workplaces and even endanger the air we breathe and the water we drink.

The corporate elite who backed Mr. Bush got a good return on their investment last month as he signed the death warrant for the ergonomics regulation. This vital safety protection would have prevented the crippling wrist and back injuries that hit close to one million workers each year.

In his first month in office, the president issued executive orders that will set the stage for conflict by impeding labor-management cooperation in federal agencies and weakening union and job rights for workers under federal contracts.

Mr. Bush has already renounced his campaign promise to cut power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, a key villain in the “global warming” problem that threatens us with disastrous climate changes. The administration also canceled a regulation to reduce the amount of arsenic that industry releases into our drinking water supply.

With the backing of Republican-dominated majorities in both houses of Congress, he is working to hand the wealthy a huge tax windfall.

The Bush tax plan would give 40 percent of its rewards to the richest Americans — the top 1 percent of taxpayers — while the average family would get a bonus of less than $10 a week (see page 9). The next step in the president’s tax scenario would repeal the estate tax, another move that would heap most of its benefits on the top 1 percent. But the plan includes no relief from the Social Security and Medicaid tax deducted from the paycheck of every working woman and man.

Misleading the American people
The president has deceived the American people about the true cost of this colossal giveaway. He calls it $1.6 trillion, but the bipartisan Congressional Joint Tax Commission says it’s over $2 trillion. Including the extra interest payments caused by not paying down the national debt, the real price tag approaches $3 trillion.

A $3 trillion tax cut would eat up the entire surplus that is predicted for the next 10 years, instead of using it to benefit the people who made the surplus possible through their hard work and productivity.

The president is also misleading the public by concealing the effect these massive cuts would have on the spending side of the budget. His tax giveaway is a stealth attack on the federal programs that working and middle class families need, the services that public employees provide and the safety net of Social Security and Medicaid.

For less than the cost of the Bush plan, every working family could get a much larger tax break and the nation could take advantage of a historic opportunity to meet pressing human needs:

• For $375 billion, we could add prescription drug coverage to Medicare.
  
• For $185 billion, we could provide modern computer-wired classrooms for every child in public school and better working environments for school employees.
  
• For $315 billion, we could extend Medicaid coverage to 12 million adults and children who have no medical insurance, protecting the jobs of thousands of hospital and health care workers.
  
• And there would still be plenty left over to guarantee the fiscal strength of the Social Security Trust Fund.
  

A historic battle for economic justice
Sisters and brothers, these issues add up to one of the greatest challenges we have faced. We are in a historic battle against a huge shift of the nation’s resources to those who already have more than enough.

We know how to fight back. We can win this battle, but we can only win if members take on the responsibility to educate themselves on the issues and to get involved in the struggle. Members can put their power together by contributing to PEOPLE, our voluntary political action fund. PEOPLE helps us get a fair hearing for our issues in Congress.

This year in New York City we will elect a mayor, other citywide officials and the City Council. Members who participate can send a clear message to Washington by electing candidates who are committed to meeting the needs of working families.

This will be one of our toughest fights, but it is a fight we can win if you get on board, contribute to PEOPLE and join the union’s volunteer army of activists. You can sign up by calling the DC 37 Political Action Department at (212) 815-1550.

This is a historic battle for economic justice in America. For the sake of our jobs, our families and our country, this is a fight we must win.