Impeachment Crisis and American Imperialism -- World Socialist

It's the economics, stupid.

Do we think Bolton (don't forget who Fiona Hill worked for and with), who is the classic case for being Dr. Strangelove, is now our friend? Or the FBI, CIA, NSA are suddenly the good guys?

I've been trying to listen to all sides and of course the Republicans are a joke -- admit Trump did a quid quo pro and then fight on the grounds it is not impeachable. Actually, why didn't Trump just announce there should be an investigation of Biden - why seek phony cover from Ukrainians? You actually don't need to do an investigation - you cast the shade on Biden.

There are historians who believe that economics has been the driving force in all historical movements. While I haven't studied Marx very much, he seems to be a leading proponent and many even right wing economists give him some kudos for his analysis of historical movements and the economic basis of capitalism, which includes imperialism - but of course so do the so-called socialist states which have their own version -- see China with its fingers in every pie.

While I signed on to the fundamental narrative from the Democrats on the Trump impeachment, I always am open to alternate interpretations, especially when they come from the left which has been skeptical for 100 years of the FBI, CIA, NSA and general anti-Soviet, not Russia views.

[Read the other side - Stevens is a conservative: The United States Is Starting to Look Like Ukraine

Why the president must be impeached and removed.

By Bret Stephens]

The left was under attack for most of the history by these same forces and that the right is feeling attacked now makes for delicious irony. But many areas of the left (as opposed to the liberals) are still skeptical and in another irony are buying into some of the Trump defense narrative. In the next few posts I am going to share some of those views - not because I buy all of them but to show that we should not jump automatically because we hate Trump. For Bernie people if you listen carefully you will find some elements of careful disagreement by him on the attacks on Trump for wanting to talk to the enemies list put forth by the Democratic Party which the Republicans used to be aligned with. (Trump people rarely attack Bernie because he is considered a maverick and possibly because he is a missile ultimately aimed at the Democratic Party.)

Articles have been floating in from some of the leftists associated with the ICEUFT caucus over the years that throw some shade on the Dem narrative. Some big name skeptics are out there like Matt Taibbi and Glen Greenwald.

Below is an article from the World Socialist web site which I don't always trust - so read through the lines here to filter out what makes sense and what doesn't - a lot of this makes sense to me because when the fall of the Soviet Union occurred, supposedly Bush 1 assured Yeltsin that we would not try to bring Ukraine into NATO which would allow it even as an independent to be a buffer for Russia. But the old cold warriors wanted to align Ukraine with the US and Europe and the crisis began in 2014 with the overthrow of the Russian vassal president. Not we viewed that as a good thing but remember that imperialist battles are always over resources and Ukraine has major resources which this article points out.

Note on Bolivia -- a big resource is lithium for all those batteries - and Morales wasn't going to allow major corps to get control of that resource. And Venezuela- oil, oil, oil. And socialist-type governments no matter how bad maintain control of their resources if they can while your standard dictator will allow multinationals to bribe them to get control. That is one reason that any state that even touches on socialism with its major tenet of state control of resources is viewed as such a danger to the economic interests of the few.

Opinion -The impeachment crisis and American imperialism

informationclearinghouse.info/52591.htm

By Patrick Martin

Memo from the RTC: A Weekend of Mirth and Merriment

The WAVE - Nov. 22, 2019

Memo from the RTC: A Weekend of Mirth and Merriment
By Norm Scott

Are you having trouble finding reasons to laugh in today’s troubled world? Then get yourself down to the Rockaway Theatre Company this weekend for the final performances of the hysterical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” I hadn’t intended to write about the show due to the superb weekly coverage, Backstage With the RTC, by Fionnuala O’Leary which has given us so many insights into the performers and other movers and shakers at the theater.

As one of the videographers, I taped opening night. But looking through a camera and not having the best location to hear everything well I don’t always get the nuances and subtleties of a show. So I always go back as a regular audience member and I did so last Saturday night, accompanied by my wife and four friends. We joined the rest of the audience in laughing our heads off. With the cold and dark days we have entered, being able to laugh so freely for a couple of hours put me in a great mood for the entire weekend.

Actually, the weekend began early Saturday morning on a great note with a yoga class with Barry at Burn Fitness followed by a group of us going out for great breakfast at The Last Stop. So I was very relaxed and ready to laugh Saturday night when we hit the theater after dinner at Tiberios. I was still smiling Sunday morning for a 7:30 hot yoga class with Missy at Hot Yoga Rockaway Beach. And the smiles turned to wild laughter later that afternoon when we went to Symphony Space in the city to see the political review and hilarious song parodies of The Capitol Steps. We especially love the enormously talented leader of the group, Mike Thornton, who is a friend of a family member. (We got to meet him last summer when he emceed a memorial tribute to a family member who died). He and his troop wowed us for an hour and a half with songs such as “Oops I Tweeted Again”, “Fiscal Shades of Gray” and “Impeachable You.” Following a seafood dinner on Amsterdam Avenue I returned to Rockaway as a very happy fella and feeling I had to share some of the joy.

But the linchpin of the weekend was Spelling Bee (wish I could share some of the funny lines but I don’t want to ruin it for you) and I had to come back to this space to rave about the show, especially the nine performers and the enormously talented Catherine Leib in her first time directing and multiple time choreographing. Catherine has delighted us on stage for thirteen years, so seeing the outcome of her work behind the scenes is wonderful.

Now I don’t have room here to talk about the nine cast members and Fionnuala has been giving them space in her weekly profiles but I do want to make a general point about how the actors playing children manage to pull it off to an extraordinary extent. And of course the three adults in the room are also extraordinary. Having seen most of these performers in other roles that are so different from these only emphasizes what great actors they are.

One more point that I gather every week from Fionnoula’s reporting is how these actors emphasize the supportive environment the RTC provides. Seeing them look so confident on stage you might not realize that actors are often insecure and need a cocoon of sorts to make them brave enough to take on greater challenges than they might have thought they were capable of. This comes through time and again. So the real star of the RTC is the RTC itself.

This show ends the RTC season and Monday Tony Homsey and crew will take down the fabulous set that mimics a real school gym and start building sets for the upcoming children’s shows in January and February. See you next year unless there is some new RTC news to report.

Norm posts writes on politics, education and whatever pops into his head on his blog https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

A Brokered Convention Opening for Bloomberg, Obama People Hate Warren, Clinton People Hate Bernie - Analysis from New Republic

Democratic Party elders are making plans.

I loved this insight from Alex Pareene at New Republic. Hillary people can live with Warren but never Sanders. Obama people will do what they can to stop Warren - which he doesn't explain the reasons for but the bad blood from Obama abandoning her and her response still stings. And both camps have given up on Biden. (That there are even competing center camps and competing leftist camps in the Party bodes well for Trump.)

He explains why the Deval Patrick entry - combined with the Obama attack on the left -  makes sense only in a certain context. He theorizes they want to hurt Warren in the New England states and also offer another Black alternative in Nevada and South Carolina to drain from Warren who is making some inroads now. Obama people aren't worried about Bernie because they don't take him seriously. Then he explains the Bloomberg entry too.

Both candidates have a hope in a brokered convention where no one can win on the first ballot. Last week I was at an event where Randi spoke and she said she played a major role in the rule that super delegates can't vote on the first round but then can -- so there is a strategy here --- aim for no one on first round and then broker who they want in round two or three.
Should be fun.

There’s Only One Way the Patrick and Bloomberg Campaigns Make Sense:  Democratic Party elders are making plans.
By Alex Pareene
November 20, 2019

https://newrepublic.com/article/155789/theres-one-way-patrick-bloomberg-campaigns-make-sense

I’m going to write something annoying. I’m going to write some horse-race campaign analysis. I’m going to write very broadly and subjectively about trends in the race without using hard data or discussing policy. I’m doing so because I think what I am describing has a possibility of happening, and I think people who are invested in this presidential election should be prepared for it.

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To be very overly broad (I am, I am aware, describing the beliefs and motives of a large and diverse set of individuals), “Clinton World” detests Bernie Sanders, is largely on board with Kamala Harris, but has no real problem with Elizabeth Warren and would greet her nomination without much rancor.

“Obama World” doesn’t share this perspective. It doesn’t take Sanders seriously, and thinks of him—even with some affection—as a harmless crank. It, however, strongly dislikes Warren. I don’t want to say it would stop at nothing to prevent her from winning the nomination, but there are a lot of ancient tensions between the two camps that are far from settled.

If it is the growing consensus among many top Democrats in those two worlds that Joe Biden does not have it in him to win the nomination (or the general election), there are a couple of obvious paths forward: Boost the prospects of the “mainstream” candidate most likely to win if Biden fades or Option B, which we will get to in a minute.

In Clinton World, it seems obvious to continue to offer support to Kamala Harris, or to hope for Amy Klobuchar to surge, or perhaps get behind Warren. It would be smarter for anyone in the anybody-but-Sanders camp to throw in with Warren now, given the fact that the Harris and Klobuchar campaigns have entered a decaying orbit. But for many, those two senators still “make sense on paper,” so seemingly smart people are still convinced something might come of them.

But what should Obama World do if it sees Harris (or Cory Booker, or Julián Castro, both of whom are viewed with favor by this camp) struggling to gain traction? Many of this cohort seem to like Mayor Pete Buttigieg and would find his nomination acceptable. Nevertheless, they surely originally envisioned him as, perhaps, a future Senate candidate, or a running mate at best. It can’t be lost on them that the primary calendar after New Hampshire and Iowa becomes rough sledding for a candidate whose entire base of support is white. Still, they can’t back Warren; Sanders is an unserious option; Biden has perhaps lost it.

So: Enter Deval Patrick. But not to actually win the nomination in the primary process. No, this is Option B.

Labor for Bernie UFT members call for a democratic presidential endorsement process

[Addendum Nov.  21 - I watched the MORE people promoting this idea and getting people to sign for this democratic process - and many did - but since the idea is to get the union to support Bernie - which will never happen - why not just get UFTers on board who are for Bernie and promote a Bernie campaign inside the UFT because these halfway measures go nowhere other than when the reso is brought up in December for the January meeting the DA will shoot it down. In the NY State primary getting people to vote for Bernie is a goal and I can see using every UFT event as an organizing tool for Bernie.]

I wrote this article for the Nov/Dec print edition of Ed Notes, distributed at the Nov UFT Delegate Assembly. (There's also an article on health care reprinted from Under Assault: The public option needs to go on the “ash heap of history".

I'm for Bernie but I also have some doubts - about his program and the way it would be implemented - if at all.

We probably need transformational change but I fear it could as easily go right rather than left if it gets screwed up. Imagine an economic crash under Bernie or any Democrat - and this is what I fear - whatever Dem wins the economy crashes and a competent right winger comes into power.

Anyway, this is about democracy at the UFT over the presidential nomination process and there's a lot of irony in that it is being pushed by people in the MORE Caucus which certainly didn't poll the members when they suspended me and others over trivialities.

But while I still support the idea of any democratic process in the UFT though I wonder why a referendum on this issue over all others? I'd love to see one on class size. I also call into question exactly how democratic the process was in Los Angeles which basically had a Bernie up or down discussion and never went to referendum. I point out that the UFT will never go for a democratic process. Randi will decide and then we will have a series of events to endorse her choice - and that AFT choice will be the UFT choice despite Randi giving locals permission to make their own choices.

And exactly how would this process work in the UFT? And what if Biden get the most support -- what would MORE and Bernie for Labor do? No way they would be bound for Biden. So in some ways this is a way to charge the UFT with not being democratic and try to make some hay out of this in a future electoral campaign. Also an organizing tool to get people to sign the petition and use that list for future contacts and organizing opportunities. But no one ever said MORE was not opportunistic.

By the way - Labor 4 Bernie is having a debate watch tonight at Versa Books, 2 Jay Street in Brooklyn.

Labor for Bernie UFT members call for a democratic presidential endorsement process -- by Norm Scott

Let me state right up front. I support Bernie Sanders for president, but I am not Bernie or Bust, meaning I would support most (but not all – Bloomberg, Booker, Bennet) Democratic Party candidates. I have joined national and local Labor for Bernie groups, designed to gather union support for Bernie, who has been the most consistent supporter of labor unions and worker rights over his entire career of any politician in either party. 

Bernie's education and labor plans are the most supportive for our members of any candidate. [A Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education - berniesanders.com/en/issues/reinvest-in-public-education and The Workplace Democracy Plan –berniesanders.com/en/issues/workplace-democracy.] It should, theoretically at least, be a no-brainer for us here in the UFT to join with our colleagues in Los Angeles – the UTLA – which endorsed Bernie with an 80% vote of the UTLA DA equivalent in his favor. UTLA president Alex Caputo-Pearl said: “Sanders is shaping up to be the candidate with the best chance not just to win the White House, but to actually change the conditions of massive inequality and underfunding of public education.” I pretty much agree, though I feel Bernie has a better chance to defeat Trump than he has in getting the nomination. We know the party big-wigs hate him and when push comes to shove I wonder if they wouldn’t prefer Trump to an avowed socialist.

The Chicago TU coming off a major strike may soon follow. Two of the three largest teacher unions endorsing Bernie is not insignificant. Yet long-time chapter leader and union activist (now retired) James Eterno at the ICEUFT blog stated, “there is a one in a billion chance of the UFT endorsing Bernie.” (My odds would be more like one in a million.) How can that be? Getting into the politics of why is beyond the scope of this article other than stating that our union leaders here in the UFT and AFT have been firmly planted in the center wing of the Democratic Party.

Randi Weingarten has acknowledged that the 2016 nomination process was flawed, saying in a recent statement “we have enabled locals and state federations, if they choose, prior to any national endorsement, to endorse a candidate for the purpose of their state primary or caucus.” So we are freed in the UFT to take action without waiting for Randi to decide.

You may have seen petitions being circulated by Labor for Bernie pointing to the UTLA endorsement of Bernie and urging support for a Resolution for Union Democracy in the 2020 Election. The reso states: The campaigns have started, but it will take a while for most busy educators to educate ourselves about the candidates, their records, and their visions for the country. Once we have had time to research, discuss, and deliberate, nobody knows better what is best for our union than the members ourselves.

An interesting contrast to what happened in LA where they didn’t wait for people to research or even offer them a choice other than Bernie. Here is their process:

Sept. 11 – UTLA Board of Directors votes 35-1 to begin exploring an endorsement process for Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Sept. 18 – UTLA House of Representatives votes 135-46 to confirm the process to explore endorsing Sanders.

Oct. 2 – School site leaders discuss and review endorsement materials.

Oct. 2 – Nov. 12 — School site leaders engage members on consideration of a UTLA endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Nov. 13 –  Membership advisory up or down vote at 9 regional area meetings. 72.5% of voters, representing more than 500 LAUSD schools, say yes to endorsing Sanders.

Nov. 14 — House of Representatives votes 80% to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The reso for the UFT goes in a very different direction than LA:

Resolved that 1) The UFT will wait to endorse a presidential candidate until after members have had a chance to learn about the candidates through the first six DNC debates through December 2019. 2) The UFT will hold forums for members to discuss the endorsements, and invite as many candidates to speak at such forums as possible. 3) The UFT will decide which candidate to endorse through a citywide, binding, one-member, one-vote poll of our members.

I am trying to parse what a binding one-vote poll of our members might mean for us in the UFT considering the politics of our union leadership and where our own membership might stand with so many candidates (yes, even Trumpers). 

So this petition is very different than the process in LA by calling for a referendum of sorts where all members of the UFT would get to vote for their candidate of choice. What if the UFT membership splits along the lines of the candidates with “the winner” getting, say, 25% of the votes. Thus, Bernie or Biden could “win” with a minority of votes. Would that be binding? Or democratic? The process being called for seems flawed, especially coming from a group billed as “Labor for Bernie.” Would a Biden endorsement by a clear minority of voters in the UFT be acceptable when they clearly have a preferred candidate in Bernie? Where do people in your schools stand at this point?

The reso being circulated in the UFT seems to recognize the realities of the control the leadership has over the Exec Bd, the DA and most of the schools, and never mentions Bernie. To go around that process, the sponsors are pushing for chapters to endorse the reso and hope that in schools where they have people, they can come to the DA with some chapter endorsements. The main group pushing this reso in the schools would be the MORE Caucus, whose leadership is prominent in Labor for Bernie. 

If a real referendum went against what the UFT leadership or even L4Bwants, that would put both of them in a box. So this reso has zero chance of passing, but putting it forth offers an opportunity to charge the leadership and Unity Caucus with not being democratic. And gathering signatures is an organizing opportunity for MORE. They’re certainly not interested in organizing me. But I will sign it anyway. Calling for democracy is good, I say, with some sense of irony (that’s an inside joke).

-->

Leonie Haimson: Are charter schools the boogeymen of progressive Democrats?

After googling the terms, I discovered that in recent years, the term boogeyman or boogeymen has been used literally thousands of times by charter school advocates in dismissing the arguments of critics..... Leonie Haimson

When I read the Corey Booker oped defending charter schools my "never Booker" credentials were firmed up. Here Leonie take a deep dive on the use of the boogeyman talking point by ed deformers. She points to Booker's lagging finances and I see his oped as a plea to charter billionaires to jump in with some bucks to stop the growing Dem anti-charter candidates.

And I love it when she exposes the press when she says:

One has to wonder when there is a growing recognition among many progressive Democrats of the negative consequences of the unchecked growth of charter schools, why political reporters who are supposed to be objective observers of this debate are adopting this patronizing and essentially incorrect term.

Wonder indeed.

Is it accurate to say that charter schools are the "boogeymen" of progressive Democrats, as Corey Booker and some reporters claim?

https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2019/11/is-it-accurate-to-say-that-charter.html

The Chicago Teachers Strike Was a Lesson in 21st-Century Organizing - The Nation

Before the Chicago teachers first struck, teacher strikes were almost always cast—by politicians, the media, this or that administration—as “care-offs,” with administrators clutching their pearls and worrying to the press that the teachers simply didn’t care enough about the students. Even self-identified progressive commentators had gotten used to dismissing teachers’ unions as selfish. This language was echoed in popular myths like that of the “rubber room,” where supposedly lazy, bad teachers who couldn’t be fired were sent to hang out for years on end, getting fat on the taxpayer dime.

Now, in 2019, that conversation has been flipped. There is no longer any question that teachers love their students and their work; indeed, the CTU fought Lightfoot after an agreement had been reached, demanding to make up the 11 days lost to the strike, while the mayor insisted on just five make-up days.

Again and again, Chicago’s teachers have successfully made the point that it is they who care about the students, the schools, and the city as a whole. They have fought for a revitalized public sector, for an understanding that no issue is outside their purview.

This article makes some important points about changing the tone of the conversation. Look at today's NYT - Cory freakn Booker has yet another op ed supporting charter schools. We must be relentless in going after these people. The Chicago and LA strikes along with the red state teacher rebellions are changing the dialogue and any Democrat wanting to be president better take this into account. It is not only big industry and the wealthy who are nervous about Bernie and Warren - the charter industrial complex is very nervous.

https://www.thenation.com/article/chicago-ctu-strike-win/

The Chicago Teachers Strike Was a Lesson in 21st-Century Organizing

Despite the Janus decision and years of labor losses, the Chicago Teachers Union has figured out how to organize—and win.

By Sarah Jaffe

November 16, 2019

Los Angeles Teachers Endorse Bernie, Chicago May Follow, Wither the UFT?

As union endorsements for Bernie come in he gains momentum. If CTU in Chicago joins UTLA then the second and third largest teacher unions endorse Bernie. James Eterno says it's a billion to one chance the UFT endorses Bernie and I somewhat agree. Maybe a million to one. I think they may settle on Warren if Biden falters. Imagine being faced with Bloomberg - thank goodness he has no chance - see my recent post: Bloomberg as President Would Be More Undemocratic than Trump.

I'm going to address the petition being put up by Labor for Bernie UFTers - pretty much MORE Caucus calling for a democratic poll - where I will point out that if they do actually hold a poll and it turns out not to be Bernie they will scream bloody murder and won't support the winner. But that's a story for another day.

Ravitch had a report on the LA endorsement (Los Angeles: UTLA Endorses Bernie Sanders) with a full statement on the process used 

timeline of UTLA’s endorsement.

• Sept. 11 – UTLA Board of Directors votes 35-1 to begin exploring an endorsement process for Sen. Bernie Sanders.
• Sept. 18 – UTLA House of Representatives votes 135-46 to confirm the process to explore endorsing Sanders.
• Oct. 2 – School site leaders discuss and review endorsement materials.
• Oct. 2-Nov. 12 — School site leaders engage members on consideration of a UTLA endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders.
• Nov. 13— Membership advisory up or down vote at 9 regional area meetings. 72.5% of voters, representing more than 500 LAUSD schools, say yes to endorsing Sanders.
• Nov. 14 — House of Representatives votes 80% to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Note the process was not a poll to see which candidate members wanted but an up and down on Bernie. But it looks like Bernie was pretty up. But if the numbers were say 50-50 it might be sticky.

James reported at the ICE Blog and James seems to be pretty open to Bernie - and James is a progressive but no open lefty which is interesting. I find pretty much all the ICEUFT people are pro-Bernie.

UNITED TEACHERS OF LOS ANGELES ENDORSES BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT

Teacher union news from Los Angeles, California:

LOS ANGELES — United Teachers Los Angeles, the second-largest teachers’ local in the country, is proud to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for US President in the 2020 Primary Election, making UTLA the first teachers’ union in the country to endorse a presidential candidate.

Tonight, the UTLA House of Representatives – the elected leadership body of the 34,000-member union — voted 80% in favor of endorsing Sen. Sanders, capping the most comprehensive member engagement process that UTLA has ever conducted for a political candidate.

Thursday’s House vote followed a six-week discussion at school sites. Following that member engagement, on Wednesday at nine regional meetings, more than 500 elected site representatives voted 72.5% yes to the presidential endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders. Wednesday’s vote was opened up to allow any member who attended to vote alongside elected chapter leaders.

UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl said: “Why now, and why Bernie? Because we want him to win in the primary election and because we need an unapologetic, longstanding ally of progressive policies to make public education a priority in the White House. Sanders is the first viable major candidate in 25 years in the Democratic Party to stand up against privatization, the charter billionaires, and high-stakes testing and to stand up for a massive redistribution of wealth to schools and social services. Critically, like UTLA, Sen. Sanders believes in building a national movement for real, lasting change.”

Alex led a successful strike in LA earlier this year.  I take this union out in LA seriously. We can only dream that our Union will follow.

Do you see a process like UTLA had before endorsing Sanders going on in the UFT?

For anyone who has not seen Bernie's education and labor plans, please read them. They are worth your time.

Diane Ravitch covered the story and there are some interesting comments there.

The largest nurse's  union also endorsed Bernie this week. We will see where labor goes. 

 ======
I'm including this report from September from the right wing critic Mike Antonucci who does make some interesting points:

UTLA Begins Process to Endorse Bernie Sanders

United Teachers Los Angeles isn’t waiting around for the field of Democratic presidential candidates to be winnowed down. The union’s representative bodies took steps last week to endorse Bernie Sanders.
It’s unclear who introduced the motion, but the UTLA board of directors voted 35-1 on September 11 to “initiate a process of exploration to endorse Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in the Democratic Party primary.” On September 19 the union’s house of representatives concurred by a vote of 135-46.
The process involves “engaging” chapter leaders in a discussion of Sanders’ qualities that will culminate in an advisory vote for or against an endorsement of Sanders on November 13. The UTLA house of representatives will then take up a formal endorsement vote on November 14.
It’s not unusual for state and local teacher unions to endorse primary candidates on their own when a clear front-runner hasn’t emerged. But even UTLA calls this process “unique.”
What isn’t unique, judging by the evidence so far, is that the process isn’t really about determining whom chapter leaders (or rank-and-file members) want to endorse, but about selling them on Bernie Sanders.
“Sanders is shaping up to be the candidate with the best chance not just to win the White House, but to actually change the conditions of massive inequality and underfunding of public education,” said UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl.
We’ll see how this approach plays with those in UTLA who support one of the other dozen or so Democratic presidential candidates. The desires of Republican UTLA members can safely be ignored.

Chicago Teachers Didn’t Win Everything, But They’ve Transformed the City—And the Labor Movement -- Portside

Chicago Teachers Didn’t Win Everything, But They’ve Transformed the City—And the Labor Movement

Rebecca Burns
November 1, 2019
Working In These Times 

https://portside.org/2019-11-05/chicago-teachers-didnt-win-everything-theyve-transformed-city-and-labor-movement 

Chicago Teachers Ratify Contract by 80%

The second and third largest cities, social justice leftist oriented unions, in contrast to the UFT, have some interesting news to report.

Despite some controversy in Chicago over what was won by the recent strike and some questions raised about how democratic the process was, the 25,000 membership ratified by 80%. Not too shabby and not far below the numbers here last year.

Read: Chicago Teachers Didn’t Win Everything, But They’ve Transformed the City—And the Labor Movement

Rebecca Burns
November 1, 2019
Working In These Times 

https://portside.org/2019-11-05/chicago-teachers-didnt-win-everything-theyve-transformed-city-and-labor-movement

Class size was a premium issue and some gains were made. Some gains were made in terms of enforcement here in NYC but the numbers remain the same here as they were in 1970. The last time the UFT went on strike over class size was in 1967 - I was on that strike - my first days on the job and I didn't have a clue what it was all about. The class size wins in Chicago seem limited but made some progress. The UFT is also lauding the progress. You know I am a critic of the UFT over class size and I think more can be done but when pro-Unity people point out a comparison of contracts by our so-called "business union" vs the CTU "social justice" union, I don't have an easy answer. But I do point out how the Chicago people used community ties and made a case of pointing out where the money was while here we never hear a word about the outrageous real estate and corporate deals -- like let's give Amazon and Hudson Yards funders enormous tax breaks while arguing there is not enough money to at the very least reduce class size in the early grades as was done in the early 90s but reversed by Bloomberg.

The Mayor is a liberal -and probably a neo-liberal who wanted to hold the line on the ed budget but seems to have no qualms about giving breaks to certain corporate or real estate interests. By the way, de Blasio is no different despite claiming to be left of liberal.

I want honest reports not ideologically tainted reporting. I trust Fred Klonsky's analysis. He is a retired union leader in the Chicago area and does not fawn over the CTU even if he is a big supporter.  So here is his report listing some of the gains and why they are important.  Chicago’s teachers approve their contract. -  

Here is most of Fred's report:

The vote came two weeks after an eleven day strike that put thousands of teachers on the picket lines and in the streets for nearly daily mass protests.
Late Friday night, with 80% of the vote counted from 80% of the schools, votes for approval were running at 81%.
I found no information on what schools the vote was coming from or whether that information will be made available later.
79% approved the deal after the seven-day 2012 strike. The 2016 CBA received a 72% vote of approval.
Teachers have reason to be proud of their unity and militancy during the bargaining.
Members will receive a 16 percent hike over the five year length of the agreement. That is a long time compared to most contracts, and to the 3-year deal that the CTU wanted.
There will be no increases in health care costs for the first three years, a quarter-percent increase in the fourth year and a half-percent increase in the fifth year.
A disappointment for many was the failure to add to elementary teachers prep time and the dispersal of veteran pay must still be negotiated.
The contractual numbers of students in a class – a central demand of the CTU – seems limited.  A teacher may appeal for a remedy to a newly constituted Joint Class Size Assessment Council, consisting of six members appointed by the district and six by the union. The council will determine if, and what, action is to be taken.
Class size and staffing were huge issues in the strike. The union demanded that class sizes and staffing numbers be put in writing in the contract.
What was important for the union was that the numbers and the procedures for remedy be written into the contract which would allow them to be grieved if the numbers and process for remediation were violated.
Now the numbers and remedy are in writing in the collective bargaining agreement.
Still, the numbers themselves remain high.
As for staffing, the union won 209 additional social workers and 250 additional nurses over the duration of the contract.
CPS must now add an additional 44 social workers and 55 nurses next year above what the district had already budgeted. 
There was no agreement to add school librarians.

The new contract designates funds to hire community representatives at schools with large numbers of homeless students.

A stipend will also be available for some schools to hire a Students in Temporary Living Situation (STLS) Liaison. Together, the representative and liaison will ensure homeless students are attending class, have transit passes, and are aware of neighborhood resources.
There were other improvements for teachers in the agreement as well.
Some will continue to argue over who won, the CTU or Mayor Lightfoot. Or whether an 11-day strike significantly improved the agreement over what Mayor Lightfoot and the CPS board offered before the walkout.
As someone who has some experience in bargaining teacher union contracts, I think the fundamental issue is whether this contract is an improvement over the previous one. In this case, it appears the members believe it is and their vote is the one that matters most.
What I am most pleased about is that unlike in a growing number of right to work states, Chicago public school union teachers had the right to bargain it and to vote on their agreement.
That is no small thing.

• 
  

Bloomberg as President Would Be More Undemocratic Than Trump

Bloomberg inspires much fear and loathing from those of us who knew him close up from his takeover of the NYC school system. The very arrogance of his entry into the presidential race speaks volumes. I think I might prefer an often inept clown like Trump to a high end technocrat like Bloomberg who would know how to pull the levers of power without anyone being willing to challenge him. Bloomberg should have been impeached for the lies and misinformation when he ran the city.

I am laughing out loud at the idea of Bloomberg challenging Trump. How often have we heard that Trump would refuse to leave office if he lost or even if he won a 2nd term? He even joked about that.

I know where he got the idea - from former mayor of NYC Bloomberg who defied term limits to demand a third term here in NYC. Bloomberg was as undemocratic a mayor as we've had, punishing critics or buying them off. Community groups suddenly went silent, bought off with Bloomberg donations.

We saw that first hand in his takeover of the education department just how dictatorial were he and his henchman, Joel Klein and Dennis Walcott (see my post the other day, Former Bloomberg Hit Man Dennis Walcott as Queens Library Head Absolves Himself of Responsibilty for Errors - What Else is New?)

And how about that Cathy Black appointment as chancellor?

He called the rising test scores "a  great victory," but they were bogus all along

https://nypost.com/2011/02/20/new-yorks-school-testing-con/

And those school cheating scandals stem directly from Bloomberg policy.

And remember the wasted time and money over building a stadium on the west side? Imagine traffic in the city.

As for racism, Bloomberg is certainly in Trump territory, just smoother. Stop and frisk is exhibit number one. Since it's been cut down, the crime rate still dropped.

How about those gentrification real estate deals? Bloomberg is way more responsible for the homeless crisis because he refused to build housing - he wanted to push poor and even middle class people out of the city. I taught in Williamsburg and saw what his policies did to that neighborhood which is so crowded and dense and overbuilt with awful architecture too. Are there some good outcomes? Of course but anyone who allows what happened without thinking through the consequences is bad news.

How about the transportation issues? Billions for a few fancy subway stations with no concept of expanding service to more areas that needed it.  Just see that Hudson Yards #7 train station as an example.

And sexism - the guy who told pregnant women who worked for him to "get rid of it?" Oh, I could go on.

Bloomberg is not running against Trump but to stop Bernie or Warren.

He and fellow billionaires are terrified at the thought of high tax rates and cutting into their wealth which is used to give them inordinate power over everyone else.

Bloomberg inspires fear to members of the press who might one day be looking for a job -- I remember getting that feeling from some reporters over their weak, fawning coverage of the Bloomberg years.

We already saw that act here in NYC.

Former Bloomberg Hit Man Dennis Walcott as Queens Library Head Absolves Himself of Responsibilty for Errors - What Else is New?

When Dennis M. Walcott, a former New York City schools chancellor, took over the helm of the Queens Library system in 2016, the branch was just an empty shell on the Long Island City waterfront. By that point, Mr. Walcott said in an interview, the focus was on finishing the building, not in rethinking its details... NYT

Right. The very same guy who was Bloomberg's hit man on the schools for a dozen years making another excuse.  Ahhh, I remember him defending the appointment of Cathy Black as chancellor to succeed Joel Klein and then took over for her after she was dumped.

The congestion is compounded by the placement of the main stroller parking area on a second floor landing, which is insufficient for the dozens of strollers sometimes seeking a spot.

“It’s crazy right now,” said Nikki Rheaume, one of three children’s librarians, as she tried to navigate a crush of strollers around the second floor elevator last Wednesday, when dozens of strollers descended on the building. “It’s chaos.”... NYT on $41 million library mess

Update: A comment from a reader points to Walcott's history - and by the way he replaced a corrupt Queens library head before him - and to the role played by Melinda Katz as borough pres in getting Walcott the job.

Walcott lacks any qualifications for the job. He and the entire board should be removed for this fiasco. He has been on public welfare for so long. The politicians in Albany keep finding him jobs. He is one reason why I did not vote for the female Dem candidate for DA. She has proven bad judgement year after year but the public has not paid attention to her incompetence.
Most professional employees at the library system are ignored and marginalized. DW has no idea who they are or what they can really do for our residents nor do the idiot architects. No one spends the time, money, and effort to becomes a highly skilled library professional in the digital age only to be assigned carrying books up and down stadium stairs. Watch the career of the person who spoke out. She is marked for extinction.
This is just a repeat of the similar debacles he left with us all over the school system. (Not qualified there either.)

Yes - his role alone in closing so many NYC schools and supporting charters should have resulted in intervention by the UFT when Walcott was appointed.

You can see this library from the Manhattan side of the east river from the 34st ferry terminal. I had to check it out and took a 5 minute ferry to Hunters Point - I also wanted to talk to the librarian about dropping off copies of the Indypendent every month. I loved the design - outside and the views from inside. But it did not seem to be as good an idea functionally. I shlepped up stairs and down stairs and it was just weird the way the books were placed and where they were placed -- with a few desks on each level.

A week ago reports surfaced over leaks and cracks. And then this from our old NYT ed reporter Sharon Otterman who should be well acquainted with the squirmy Walcott.

New Library Is a $41.5 Million Masterpiece. But About Those Stairs.

“It’s chaos,” said one of the children’s librarians. 

 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/nyregion/long-island-city-library.html

Jim Vail - The Chicago Teacher Strike - A View from the Inside - Part 2

So the strike helped expose the lies of politicians, and the fight between the people 99% and the billionaires 1% who supported Lightfoot's campaign. It was an eye opener to teachers who voted for Lightfoot based on her lies.

The union leadership organized and ran a very successful strike to fight for better schools. They are to be commended for that. 

But the union leadership also plays a dirty political game that they say they have to in order to get anything in this system. 

this strike won't change the ugly reality we live in today - where over the past 30 years or so the 1% have accumulated 21 trillion dollars, while the rest of us have lost 900 billion dollars. 

.... Jim Vail

In the continuing search for truth and justice, on the Chicago teacher strike I've been looking for articles that come from different directions - examining all sides of the cube to see through the chaff. Like you know you can expect a glowing victory article from Labor Notes and an attack from the World Socialists on the far left. The liberal press will support the liberal mayor and the right wing will attack her for caving. It is a spin zone.

In every one of these posts on other teacher unions, keep in mind how our union operates here in NYC and compare it to the others. Despite the different political views of the UFT leadership (center Democrat - Biden type politician) and the CTU leadership (social democrat - Bernie  like), they operate on some levels in the same way -- with the CTU being more top-down that one would expect.

Yesterday I presented an insider view from someone I trust who is not in the leadership but close to it. Assessing The Chicago Teacher Strike - A View from...

Today I am presenting the views of Jim Vail, not loved by the CTU leadership if I remember correctly, an original CORE member from a decade ago but who became a left critic of the leadership. I got to hang out a bit with him at the AFT convention in Detroit in 2012 when he was still a delegate and we did agree on some of the critical issues. Here is his report republished from Substance and first published on Jim Vail's website Second City Teachers, which may be accessed here. Jim exposes the Lori Lightfoot sham which was predictable based on her supporters. (But it is funny to see the left Jacobins attacking Elizabeth Warren on similar grounds despite the fact that Wall St hates her guts.

Strike ends! Was it a win for teachers?

Jim Vail - November 01, 2019


The Chicago Teachers Strike finally came to a crashing end after a historic 11-day walkout, the longest teachers strike since 1987.


The union and its supporters are going to say it was a win. The opposition and those with high hopes will say it was not.


And that was reflected in the vote - 364 - 242 to end the strike.

So the union was a bit divided when they voted on ratifying the tentative agreement.

Chicago Teachers Union CTU President Jesse Sharkey stated that the delegates vote on the contract, that he is not here to sell the contract.

But he then went on to sell the contract - saying repeatedly it would be a risk to strike for another week or so with no guarantee we would get more in the contract. But he didn't sell it hard, he knew people would be disappointed.


CTU Vice President Stacy Gates played politics – putting a tweet on the board for the delegates to show that the Speaker and the Governor have agreed to support an Elected School Board.

Another political promise?


Mayor Lori Lightfoot campaigned on empty promises of supporting the neighborhood schools and adding more social workers and nurses, straight from the CTU playbook. When it came down to putting her pledges in writing - she refused until the union and the strike forced her to put some things in writing (about $400 million in extra staffing and support for the schools).


She promised to invest in the South and West Sides that have been neglected, and now in office she is fighting against activists who sued the Lincoln Yards $1.2 billion TIF where tax money to help those "blighted" areas is instead going to a wealthy development company called Sterling Bay. She gave these guys everything they wanted in writing.


She also campaigned for an elected school board and then immediately stopped it. The union has a right to be furious with her.


So the strike helped expose the lies of politicians, and the fight between the people 99% and the billionaires 1% who supported Lightfoot's campaign. It was an eye opener to teachers who voted for Lightfoot based on her lies.

The union leadership organized and ran a very successful strike to fight for better schools. They are to be commended for that.


But the union leadership also plays a dirty political game that they say they have to in order to get anything in this system.


So it was disappointing to hear our leaders say Mayor Lightfoot was fanatical, or religious, a true believer - who wanted a five-year contract (crazy for that long since she can do a lot of damage by closing a lot more schools in her alliance with development), no extra prep time for elementary school teachers (this preserved the 'longer school day' that she they say has led to higher graduation rates) and no change to the Reach teacher evaluation system used to fire lots of teachers at a time of extreme teacher shortages.


What was the union zealous about? What exactly were we all willing to not go back to school until we got it?


The union framed it as a cap on class sizes - we got some good stuff in writing, far from perfect, a nurse in every school, every day (look close at the contract wording!), veteran pay (not that much considering $25 million over five years) and extra pay for Para Professionals (a definite win the union and teachers can be proud of). They forced CPS to increased the sports budget by 35%, adding $5 million to a meager $15 million was a win for city athletics.


It was very inspiring to hear many high school delegates say that their schools still wanted to strike to support of the elementary schools getting a 30 minute prep period each day, to ensure a better school day. Solidarity!

This contract is a reflection of the ruling class attack on public education that was at the apex when President Barack Obama took office in 2008 and implemented the Race to the Top.


The teachers unions supported President Obama (the newly elected CORE leadership was able to abstain from an endorsement, though former CTU President Karen Lewis pushed for it).


Like one of the many colorful signs said during the teachers protests - Unlike Burger King, you can't have it both ways!


But ultimately politics played a very big role here. It almost became a pissing match between the Mayor and the CTU. Nobody wanted to lose - within the box they were playing.


As the great political philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky says, in the American system you put everything within a box - and within that box you can have some very rigorous debate and free speech. But in this system you are not allowed to go outside that box.


So this strike won't change the ugly reality we live in today - where over the past 30 years or so the 1% have accumulated 21 trillion dollars, while the rest of us have lost 900 billion dollars.


It is a fight not only for teachers, but all of us!

Assessing The Chicago Teacher Strike - A View from the Inside - Part 1

Using the strike weapon is why we won those items, and I want all members to understand the true power of withholding our labor. This strike mattered....now is a time for celebrating what we DID win. I want our members to feel the power of collective action. That those 11 days on the pickets and in the streets got us wins we were told were unwinnable. How we forced items like class sizes and staffing into this contract. Not at the levels we need, but it is now there forever more.... We used more democracy than probably any other union, though often imperfect and rushed. I’ll take a small piece of the credit for that, too, as I believe that I, alongside my other fighter friends, helped push for more transparency and rank & file input. Not claiming we did it alone, by any means, but advocating from below is a powerful force to push us towards justice....

Chicago teacher, member of bargaining team and Ex Bd. 

with my teaching income pretty much stagnant for 13 years while expenses keep growing, I figure I probably should be focusing on savings rather than on education reform.... Another CTU  teacher and original member of CORE

This is part of a series of commentary and reposts from fans and critics of

the CTU strike. It is not always easy to compare what happens in the CTU with the UFT - apples and oranges in many ways. But in a series of posts I'm working on about the recent strike and some of the issues that have boiled to the surface with attacks coming at the CTU from the left and of course the right. Remember, the mayor is considered a liberal "progressive" by the press and the right wing. But that puts her in the Joel Klein/Bloomberg territory and she showed it during the strike.

One of the differences between the UFT(Unity Caucus) and the CTU (CORE Caucus) is the willingness to take on the financial world and liberal elites while here the UFT is part of that world.

I was lucky in that I met many of the future leaders of the CTU over 10 years ago at a meeting in Los Angeles and over the years have learned which people can be trusted to give honest assessments instead of spin.

Here is an eloquent report on FB from a member of the bargaining team and an Ex Bd member of the CTU who was somewhat critical over the last contract in 2016.  I met her a few times when we were in Chicago and what passion as a teacher and activist. A hero to many. Following that is one of her pals, another wonderful guy I met, who respects with her but is voting NO. She does one of the best explanations of the power of a strike. My former MORE colleagues should take a page from her book when they push the idea here.

Over the years she has always been open about the problems inside the CTU and CORE, but if there were never problems we would be in a perfect world. She doesn't judge people as evidenced by this comment:

I will not tolerate folks belittling or “calling out” those who have made a rational appraisal of the wins/losses and decided that we must win more. I also respect members who are expressing gratitude for what we did win. This was an immensely difficult fight. Both sides can be right at the same time. This is a complicated and nuanced decision.

And important to me was that she respected the views of the late George Schmidt who was an internal critic of the leadership and was made to pay for it.

The key is to face disagreements and not bury them and this is something acolytes of the CTU and CORE on the left all too often do. Raise them up as a social justice union to some ideal standard in comparison to the so-called business unionism like they claim the UFT is -- see my recent post where I define some of the differences in the bargaining process where even some fans of our Unity Caucus agree that the UFT would have taken the originally offered 16% and run without even the thought of a strike: Bargaining for the Common Good: The UFT and the Chicago Teachers Union - A Sharp Contrast

From a CTU teacher, member of the bargaining team and ex bd:

After some time to reflect and process, I am left with a feeling of pride for the work we did as a united group of 35,000 workers standing up for justice.

We engaged in an open-ended strike with an unknown outcome, demanding BIG demands. This was not 2012, where the act of striking itself was the main objective. This was not a one day 2016 deal either. We spent over a year collecting proposals from our rank and file, processing them, and developing a list of truly transformational demands. We threw out the playbook of engaging in a 5-7 day demonstrative strike action and did a real, uncertain, terrifying strike against power and money. We went on the offensive to force those powerful and monied interests in this city to invest in our schools. After decades of disinvestment and sabotage.

Now, there were moments internally that were hard and nasty. This was a hard and nasty fight against a hard and nasty ruling class in this city. I won’t ignore those abuses. 

But now is a time for celebrating what we DID win. I want our members to feel the power of collective action. That those 11 days on the pickets and in the streets got us wins we were told were unwinnable. How we forced items like class sizes and staffing into this contract. Not at the levels we need, but it is now there forever more. This won’t be immediate, but we will have a nurse and social worker in every school. That’s not nothing. We won serious raises for our PSRPs, as well as our SECAs and bus aides, some of the lowest paid workers in our district. We won money for sports programs. We won guaranteed nap time and enforceable 10:1 staffing ratios for our Pre-K students. We fixed some of the main drivers of the sub crisis, including allowing banking of 200+ more sick days. We have paved the way for the fight on Student Based Budgeting and the School Quality Rating Policy, though I wish we’d gotten more. It looks like the 4.5 law, which restricts our bargaining rights, will finally be repealed. Using the strike weapon is why we won those items, and I want all members to understand the true power of withholding our labor. This strike mattered.

We did not win everything we needed. I am disappointed in the weak case manager allocations, the large class size caps (especially for middle school), and the fact that we were not able to win the kind of time/workload relief our members desperately need. I do believe we should have waged a more comprehensive and coordinated campaign on the morning prep time issue. Members in our elementary schools have been especially disrespected for too long. I believe those of us who fought for collaborative prep time were right to advocate for it. And I will keep fighting for equity for our 18,000 majority female elementary teachers and staff, time to fulfill the legal collaboration requirements of our IEPs, safety for our students, and respect for the complex work we do educating young children after this contract is ratified.

We pushed the boundaries of what is possible through a strike. We struck, side by side with our sister union SEIU 73, for the first time in our union’s history. And I will take some small piece of the credit for that victory of solidarity. I helped push that early on, and I believe it made our fight stronger. Though I was certainly not the only one that helped make this happen. So many others helped make that red & purple solidarity a thing!

We used more democracy than probably any other union, though often imperfect and rushed. I’ll take a small piece of the credit for that, too, as I believe that I, alongside my other fighter friends, helped push for more transparency and rank & file input. Not claiming we did it alone, by any means, but advocating from below is a powerful force to push us towards justice.

We didn’t drop most of our demands, even though there was certainly pressure to do so. 

I respect members who are a hard “no” on this TA. Five years is a long time to not have all that we need for better schools. And I will not tolerate folks belittling or “calling out” those who have made a rational appraisal of the wins/losses and decided that we must win more. I also respect members who are expressing gratitude for what we did win. This was an immensely difficult fight. Both sides can be right at the same time. This is a complicated and nuanced decision.

Regardless, the end of a contract fight is not the end of the overall fight. The attacks on public education are not over. The austerity project against public services has not ended. The ruling class will try to come for us. We fight on, somewhat broken and beaten up, because we must. Because our students deserve it. Because we are one of the only united forces that can stand up to the rich and their pillaging of our society’s wealth. We are truly the vanguard in the fight for justice.

Striking is a fundamentally transformative action. Seeing the creativity and the passion that our members demonstrated out there on the streets as well as the often crunchy, but I believe genuine, work inside the bargaining team, tells me we are nowhere near ready to give up.

I believe in us, our power as workers, and in continuing the push for collective struggle. Solidarity.

Below is a reply from another CORE member:

I appreciate this sentiment and I really appreciate all the work you put into this. I am a hard no, but I will not belittle those who are willing to accept this deal and I am very thankful for the work the BBT did. I’d love to make the sort of only the beginning bows we made in 2012, but I remember 2016 too well and with my teaching income pretty much stagnant for 13 years while expenses keep growing, I figure I probably should be focusing on savings rather than on education reform.

 

Parsing Randi on Health Care - From Under Assault

This is a great post from a former ICEUFT colleague who blogs as Under Assault. She exposes the details of Randi's faux Medicare for All speaking out of 5 sides of her mouth. I keep wondering about the arguments our union leaders are making in favor of private insurance and arguing for the ability to bargain on health care in contracts when it is clear removing health care from bargaining can't be anything but advantageous. And then I began to think of the UFT Welfare Fund which gives the leadership control over the machinery (and patronage) that is paid for by the city.

"The glib and oily art to speak and purpose not" (part I)

https://underassault.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-glib-and-oily-art-to-speak-and.html 

Medicare for All means restructuring the tax code to eradicate a market-driven, for-profit industry that deprives Americans of coverage, needless expense and choice.

I'd venture to say that what the 99% really wants — in addition to universal coverage, of course — is a reduction of the overall costs we pay for health. Those include taxes and the out-of-pocket amounts we're hit with in the current design of things.

Unfortunately, as the Kaiser Foundation noted earlier this month, you can't discern that widely held position from the polls. Wording of the questionnaires themselves affects the responses you get, and how successful politicians and their spokespersons "sell" the various proposals in different parts of the country also makes analysis slippery.

The true Medicare for All candidates, catching the tailwind of the two bills already introduced in the Senate and House, are very clear on the issues. We have to change the tax structure to achieve two goals: make healthcare universal and reduce the overall cost. What's in their way is Big Money, Big Pharma and a couple of the Big Unions, ours included.

That the AFT/UFT's position on Medicare for All is not progressive, even spineless and duplicitous, is clear from Weingarten's Sept. 27th letter in the Jacobin, from which I'll riff on a few things she's written.

"I am supportive of AFT members fighting for diverse viewpoints and positions"
and "the AFT has embarked on a very different process — one that puts member engagement front and center."

Silky smooth. The fact that leadership may support members "fighting for diverse viewpoints" doesn't mean that Weingarten, Mulgrew or execs actually listen to or buy into the  arguments made by the rank and file, particularly those of us who support M4A legislation. In fact, I'd argue there is a certain hostility to polling the membership, much less following its lead.

"I want that glib and oily art to speak and purpose not." (Shakespeare, King Lear, act 1)

"Everything that deceives may be said to enchant." (Plato, The Republic, book 1)

"We agree that we must make healthcare a basic, universal human right ... but ... I don’t believe there is just one way to get there."
It's way too facile to agree with Progressives that healthcare is a basic right. To suggest that there's more than one way to get it is catastrophic for any real change. Every proposal that sidelines M4A legislation buttresses the fundamentally self-serving layer of bureaucratic redundancy and greed we have now in for-profit insurance. But Weingarten supports that fluffy prose.

"We may yet go singing on our way — it makes the road less irksome." (Virgil, Eclogue 9)

"The safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." (C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters)

In fact, restructuring the tax code is the only way to kill this dragon and make healthcare truly universal and truly universally accessible.

"There is but one road that leads to Corinth" (Pater, Marius the Epicurean)

"I argued for Medicare for all as a floor, not a ceiling, with a role if people want for private insurance."

This stance is idiotic. Anyone who advocates for it condones for-profit healthcare.

"Here the boundaries meet and all contradictions exist side by side." (Dostoevski, The Brothers Karamazov)

"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable." (Mencken, Prejudices, 3rd series)

And, in fact:

"This was the most unkindest cut of all." (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, act 3)

"In concept, health insurance is supposed to lower the cost of care and expand coverage ..." That's a false premise right there. Let's be honest. The purpose of health insurance right now in this country is to limit the amount of care people can get and make money for shareholders.

"He who would distinguish the true from the false must have an adequate idea of what is true and false." (Spinoza, Ethics, pt.1)

"Truth exists, only falsehood has to be invented." (Braque, Pénseés sur l'Art)

"That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false." (Valéry, Tel quel)

... Unfortunately it hasn't worked that way. Medicare for All is one way to fix the concept, but it’s not the only way. The point is to get to universal coverage, and to stop the prohibitive costs that keep prescription drugs and healthcare out of reach for too many people."
You can't stop "prohibitive costs" when the biggest players back industry-driven out-of-pocket expenses. This argument is essentially a sham.

"A picture is something which requires as much knavery, trickery, and deceit as the perpetration of a crime." (attributed to Degas)

"If I be false, or swerve a hair from truth ...
Upbraid my falsehood!" (Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act 3)

Upbraid her falsehood indeed.



" ... the goal for us as a union remains finding a standard-bearer who fights for universal coverage."
So they want us to fight just for universal coverage? If that's all she's willing to go to the mat for, our cause is truly hopeless.

What might ills have not been done by woman!
Who was 't betrayed the Capitol? — A woman!
Who lost Mark Antony the world? — A woman!
Who was the cause of a long ten years' war,
And laid at last old Troy in ashes? — Woman!
Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman!
         (Otway, The Orphan, act 3)