By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

On Election Day, November 7, control of Congress will be in the hands of the voters, who want real change in Washington, D.C.

With one-third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives up for election, working people have a lot at stake. The vote will determine whether President Bush commands Congressional majorities large enough to keep ramming through his tax cuts for the wealthy, his budget cuts in health and education for the rest of us, his attacks on retirement security, his anti-labor and anti-women’s rights judges, and his disastrous war in Iraq.

This election is so important that I am asking every member to get involved in DC 37’s political action program and to consider contributing or raising your contribution to PEOPLE, the political action committee of AFSCME, our national union. Through PEOPLE, we in New York City can apply our strength nationwide to turn Congress around and stop George Bush. Nearby, AFSCME has targeted three Republican seats in upstate New York, three in Connecticut and two in New Jersey — among many more nationwide — as vulnerable to Democratic challengers. For more information on how you can help, just call 212-815-1550.

I am very hopeful about our ability to narrow Bush’s right-wing, anti-labor legislative majorities. One sign that he is already in trouble occurred in the U.S. Senate last month. Despite an 11-vote Republican majority, the senators voted overwhelmingly to restore $7 billion of the president’s proposed cuts in health, education and social services. The Senate approved the overall 2007 budget resolution, but only by a paper-thin 51-49 majority, with five Republicans voting no.

When the Senate and House versions of the budget are reconciled, probably this month, there will still be record deficits, continuing tax breaks for the rich, and deep cuts in Head Start, school and college aid, Medicaid, Medicare, Food Stamps, child nutrition and housing. But it looks like the Republicans in Congress are feeling a cold wind on their backs — the wind of change.

Bush is losing his clout. His approval rating has fallen to 34 percent among the public, which has seen his administration — mired in corruption, cronyism and incompetence — losing U.S. jobs and income to China and the rest of the world.

Many members of his own party joined the opposition in challenging his domestic wiretapping, pressing to change the Patriot Act and rejecting his deal to hand U.S. ports to a company from Dubai. At the same time, labor and the Democrats are mounting their strongest challenge yet to the Republican domination of Congress.

The Democrats need to gain seven seats in the Senate and 17 in the House to win majorities. Because entrenched incumbents hold so many Republican seats, it would be a stretch for the Democrats to reach a majority in either house. But it could happen if they crystallize the need for change and project a vision of how Democrats would stimulate job creation, improve health care and the economy, and tackle corruption in the capital.

A Democratic majority in either house would put the conservative agenda on ice for the next two years. Even narrowing Bush’s majorities could enable the Democrats to block far-right court nominees, stop the meanest of the budget cuts and prevent privatizing health benefits with health savings accounts that would take money from our pay without protecting us from soaring medical and drug costs. We are painfully aware that rising costs can absorb whatever raises we win in bargaining.

We are fighting hard because we know Bush’s cuts in Medicare and Medicaid impact the state budget and take money from vital services that our members provide. We understand that the federal programs Bush is cutting and closing provide services working people depend on, such as road repairs, public hospitals, elder care and school programs for our children to get a fair start in life. And we can see that the Bush plan — closing programs and cutting services — means eliminating jobs.

Save lives, save money, join April 29 war protest
We know that Bush’s war in Iraq, based on lies about weapons of mass destruction, is sending more brave young men and women home in body bags. It has become a civil war that we should have no part in, and it costs billions of dollars that we need to fund the services our members provide and to meet the needs of poor and working families.

With our reserves bogged down in Iraq, we don’t have the personnel or equipment we need for future natural disasters, and I am concerned that the president’s next move could be a new draft. Our union and many others have endorsed the peaceful anti-war demonstration here in New York City on April 29, and I personally urge members to participate.