----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 4:01 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Short-Term Tactics at Odds with Medium-Term Needs
Nathan Newman wrote:
>Okay, so where are those tens of millions of dollars going to come from?
-Organized labor gave what, something like $40 million to Dems in
-2004? {No, in the hundreds of millions as your amended post noted]
-They keep contributing despite getting kicked in the head over
-& over - and losing election after election.
Okay, so you want to cut out all union spending on elections to fund single payer initiatives. Not really quite enough since initiatives are hellishly expensive, but let's say we run campaigns in a few states.
So we take out the union money and give the Republicans 60 seats in the Senate, whereupon they can then amend the NLRA and ban card check recognition, which the GOP is itching to do.
But at least we're clear that this single payer debate is the same old one about whether unions need to be involved in supporting Dems in politics. And the answer seems to be run single payer campaigns and let the GOP take over completely with filibuster-proof majorities.
Frankly, I still would rather see Dems make sure Sherrod Brown takes out Mike DeWine in Ohio.
And BTW Brown support single payer and would bolster the hard progressive wing in the Senate for more radical health care reform.
-- Nathan Newman