Remembering unions on Labor Day

And, why not? Here’s a short list of what they were instrumental in achieving: An end to child labor, especially preteens in the mines. Establishment of the eight-hour work day and paid overtime. Workers compensation benefits for those injured on the job. Unemployment insurance for workers who lose their jobs. A guaranteed minimum wage (that Bachmann wants to wipe out). Improvement of workplace safety and reduction of job fatalities. Pensions and health care insurance for workers. Crucial support for the Civil Right Acts and Title VII which outlaws job discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

But, most important of all, it enlarged a struggling, low-income working class into the greatest and most expansive middle class in the world.

***

It was actually Lenin who said that if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes accepted as a truth.

So let’s examine the big lie, by implication, that’s being told to the American voters by the conservatives and the FOXLimbaugh "spin machines” about President Obama and the $14.3 trillion deficit.

According to the Department of the Treasury, Financial Management Service, Bureau of the Public Debt, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Office of Management and Budget, published April 10: The $2.4 trillion added during President Obama’s term (2009-11) has been due mostly to unfunded wars, stimulus programs and tax cuts for the rich initiated during the George W. Bush administration and the effects of the 2007 recession. Spending had increased dramatically under Bush and Obama has not really added much new. If there is possibly, new unfunded costs due to spending on the Health Care Reform Bill, it would not show up until 2014, if it survives.

But what the heck? So many conservatives, and those who believe them, hate Obama so much, it’s an unchallenged "slam dunk” upon him.

From 2001-09, George W. Bush was the biggest spender, ever, with $6.1 trillion due to those tax cuts for the rich and unfunded wars he and Vice President Dick Cheney dropped on the unsuspecting taxpayers, as well as the economic downturn in 2001 and the "Great Recession” that began on their watch in 2007.

But, the word from Republican National Committee: Conceal all that and have the "spin boys” blame it all on Obama.

Poor Bill Clinton (1993-2001). Despite two years of his on-budget surpluses, deficit spending from the previous years dropped a $1.4 trillion deficit on his term.

George Bush, the father (1989-93), added $1.5 trillion more with the unfunded first Gulf War and lower revenue from a recession during his term, for which he was not responsible.

Ronald Reagan (1981-89) gave us $1.9 trillion with his unfunded peacetime defense spending and the permanent tax cuts he hoped would force reductions in social spending.

Before 1980, there was a $1 trillion deficit from spending on past wars and economic downturns.

But there’s more: What happened to jobs under the policies of Bush? We were losing lots of jobs every month, and it was getting worse and worse. But what happened to jobs when the Obama stimulus went into effect? We stopped losing jobs and started gaining jobs, and it was getting better and better, until the stimulus started to wind down and job creation leveled off, as honest economists warned would happen because it was at too low a level in the first place, due to the Republicans in the Congress stunting full efforts, politically.

There are other fantasies the conservatives and the lie machines want you to believe: Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts. Well, Obama went along with that myth and what happened? There is no denial that these alleged "job creators” are not only still exporting American jobs, but are, yet, holding hostage $2.5 trillion they have "not” used to create American jobs. If the conservatives have tricked you into thinking that Obama has made things worse, go back to what they were doing before Obama — tax cuts for the rich, deregulation of the important industries and giving Wall Street all that it wants, the problem creators in the first place. But what the heck! We all know he’s a foreign born, Muslim, commie-socialist, so dump it all on him. George W. has had enough criticism, already, poor thing!

I’m not going to reproduce the charts. Anyone who is fair-minded can easily look up the truth on the Internet. But, the political "spin machines” don’t want you to do that. They want you to be persuaded by their talking points and bumper stickers. So, I’m alerting my editor to expect a number of attack letters for my telling of the truth.