Labor Has Obama's Back: Support His Mandate: No Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security

[amborin]

Labor Leaders Have Obama's Back, and Are Ready to Help

Having helped President Obama win re-election, labor leaders will meet with him on Tuesday and intend to offer their robust support for what they view as his mandate: stand tough against cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and keep pushing to raise taxes on the wealthy.

Organized labor’s emphasis on broader policy, rather than union-specific legislation, is somewhat of a change from 2008, when leaders pushed for bills that would make it easier to organize workplaces.

As the administration begins talks with Congressional Republicans to modify a range of tax increases and budget cuts scheduled to go into effect next year, the unions say they will rally their forces on a broader agenda, seeking to counter business and conservative groups that are pushing for cuts in social programs and tax breaks for corporations and wealthy individuals.

“We expect to have the president’s back on the agenda that the voters just declared support for,” said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which spent $75 million in backing Mr. Obama and various Democrats this year. “The president has always said he needs a movement behind his mandate.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/us/politics/unions-offer-support-for-president-obamas-tax-plan.html?ref=us

[msongs]

1. democrats won, democratic party values won, but will the candidate honor those values? stay tuned nt