A Call for a March on Washington for Jobs, Hope and Real Change

[Better Believe It]

March on Washington for jobs, hope and real change
By Brent Budowsky
July 8, 2011

Let me renew my call in a recent column that groups and individuals concerned about the economic future of the nation should rally millions of people in Washington on Labor Day.

It is time for change. It is time for jobs. It is time to rise against Republican attacks against programs that create jobs, and rise against the apathy in Washington. It is time to state that lowering the deficit can be done without attacking the poor, the jobless and the hurting, and that lowering the deficit must not be an excuse for unfair attacks against Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

It is time for liberals, populists, progressives and the enlightened blogosphere to come to Washington and make a stand with workers, with unions, with women, with consumers, with vets, with young people, with blacks and Hispanics and environmentalists and take back America from the forces of reaction, greed and selfishness.

It is time to come to Washington on Labor Day and honor those who celebrate labor, and honor those who create the jobs, and honor those who defend the consumers and protect the planet and create the jobs that good and noble work can do.

Please read the full call at:

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-a-budget/170469-march-on-washington-for-jobs-hope-and-real-change

A very effective, powerful and well written appeal for action that needs to be implemented. BBI


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[leftstreet]

1. This does no good. March on Wall Street - shut it down

Good blog about bringing people together, but DC is a waste of time. These groups need to shut down banks and major corporations.

[Better Believe It]

4. We shouldn't let their representatives in government off the hook

This would have to be a very political mass demonstration and where better to hold it than at the seat of governmental power?

We haven't had a real mass and militant march on Washington since the 1963 civil rights march and a few student based anti-Vietnam war demonstrations in the 60's.

This would primarily be working class based with strong support from jobless bound college/high school students.

Let start a real movement for change in Washington and and spread from there to many other venues and locations.

[leftstreet]

6. We have the option of voting their corrupt asses out

...we don't have that option with the wealthy elite.

It's time to make the CEOs and rich pricks listen

(We had huge antiwar marches leading up to Iraq. Zip, nada, nothing. Waste of time)

[Better Believe It]

10. "We have the option of voting their asses out" So how did that go in 2008?

Back to the drawing board!

So did you really expect the anti-Iraq invasion march to stop it???!!!

That's not why those action were mainly called!

Unfortunately, most of the "anti-war" organizations grew tired of marching once or twice (they go sore feet after walking a few blocks) and stopped demonstrating.

Instead, some of these groups mainly campaigned for anti-war candidates like Barack Obama in 2008.

That worked out real well, a lot better than marching!

[leftstreet]

13. That was my point. Politicians/DC = waste of time

They just play good cop / bad cop as they front for the wealthy elite.

All groups, movements, unions must decouple themselves from the political parties

[socialist_n_TN]

8. You said one word that it needs to be

And that one word is militant. Politeness hasn't done ANYTHING to change things. It's time to get IMpolite.

Although, I like the idea of shutting down Wall Street too.

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. Of copurse it does good

If nothing else it gets the old blood pumping. Seriously it does, and not just physically. those huge Marchs on Washington I took part in against the Viet Nam war in the late 60's and 70's, it turns out they were as much for us as they were to influence others. They were electric and we all returned home more charged up than when we left.

We can do Wall Street also. But look around the world, in nations big and small the people always gather in the Capital during times of major protest. Labor Day in DC makes a lot of sense to me. The election campaigns will also be shifting into high gear about then. Let the candidates see the people. They will be tracking us even if the media doesn't (but I think they will).

[unkachuck]

2. K&R....n/t

[Better Believe It]

3. Cut the crap and create jobs

Cut the crap and create jobs
By Brent Budowsky
July 8, 2011


This is one of the great outrages in political history. Neither party is now proposing a major jobs program. While the Republican Party at the national and state level is doing everything it can to destroy jobs, the Democratic Party is failing to fight for jobs with the intensity that Democrats have historically done. Meanwhile, the Democratic president does photo-ops, Twitter events and mini-jobs programs of the magnitude of school uniform trivia.

It is an outrage, a crime, a sin against decency and a defamation against everything I personally believe that nobody, I repeat nobody, in the high councils of politics gives a damn about those who have been jobless for 99 weeks. This violates my faith as a Christian, where we are supposed to help those in need. It violates my values as a Democrat, where we are supposed to fight for jobs. It violates the most common-sense economics, which proves that help for 99ers provides more stimulus than tax cuts for the wealthy, but since the 99ers would have to spend the money from assistance, to live.

The president's political brain David Plouffe now suggests that voters will not vote based on the jobless rate. This is ridiculous, absurd, delusional and symptomatic of a president far out of touch with the realities of working-class Americans who is clueless in confronting Republicans who believe in firing police, firefighters, teachers and librarians.

It is time to cut the crap, create the jobs and fight like hell for what Americans want: jobs.

Read the full article at:

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-a-budget/170347-cut-the-crap-and-create-jobs?page=2#comments

[somone]

5. Scratch 'Hope' and 'Change'

two words that live in infamy

[Webster Green]

7. There will be no coverage of it in the corporate media.

Marching may make you feel good about trying to bring change, but it is pointless beyond that.

There was a time when the media whores would actually cover the events, vastly underestimate the numbers, and look to highlight young anarchist window breakers. These days, they just ignore the protests altogether.

[Better Believe It]

9. Marching is pointless? Tell that to the women's, labor, gay rights and civil rights movements.

Read the history of this nation and you will learn that the greatest progressive changes occurred when mass actions around specific demands and issues were organized. That's also true for the rest of this world.

Movements that won real political and economic power have always marched, demonstrated and built many forms of mass action.

They didn't care if the corporate media covered their actions and if they did, what they wrote.

Why should you?

Why should we?

Do you really think the purpose of mass movements and demonstrations should be to obtain support and favorable coverage in corporate media?

Here's news for you.

It won't happen!

It has never happened!

And we could give a shit!

[leftstreet]

12. Those were organized groups & social movements. We're not organized

There are no movements, people see nothing to 'join.'

You're absolutely right about the power of demonstrations, but they must spring from something.

[Webster Green]

14. But the media did cover their marches and protests in the past.

Times have changed. The media is hopeless. They are all compromised.

I've done plenty of marching and protesting, and was proud to do so. I was arrested at the Pentagon in 1967, and marched in every major anti-war protest during the Vietnam War. I spent 5 days in the streets of San Francisco at the beginning of the invasion of Iraq. I even marched against the first gulf war in the 90s.

The only point I can see to march is to call attention to your cause. If the media ignores you, then what is the fucking point?

[Better Believe It]

15. The corporate media with rare exceptions has always been hostile to progressive mass movements

People begin to sense their potential power in movements that organize mass protests of various kinds, including but not limited to marches.

And such protests are effective organizing tools for building really big movements that don't disappear the day after such protests.

Protests are a means to an end.

[Webster Green]

16. Well, have at it then. Sorry, but I'm over it.

I'm sure there will be some youngster who can take up my torch.

I'll be toking up at some music festival or something. :hippie:

[Erose999]

17. Yeah relying on the corporate media for "restoring sanity" did a fat lot of good eh? Anything we do

from here on out will have to be truly grassroots and not beholden to a corporate agenda. That means we will have to work without some of our most visible leaders.