Accepting austerity from Democrats

Hi union sisters and brothers,

The legislative session is seen by the union leaders as a major victory for "our side" (labor and the Democratic Party) because they "fended off" Republican attempts to attack our pensions in various ways.

This was the whole narrative presented. There was no discussion of the actual cuts in the budget beyond what were described as small attacks on workers covered by SEIU. They didn't seem to know or care, because SEIU only concentrates on cuts to its constituency--higher education, K-12 and home care providers.

The main way the Democrats got around the budget crisis was twofold. First, the economy has improved, so revenues were up. The $1.5 billion gap fell to a couple hundred million. This was covered by rolling forward a payment to the state schools from June 30 to July 1, technically putting it into the next biennium. This means that the budget balancing for the next biennium will be that much harder with this extra payment now due.

One good thing coming out of the session was that the Washington Mutual-Chase mortgage tax loophole was closed. When Chase bought Washington Mutual, it inherited a tax exemption for local financial institutions on home mortgage income. Obviously Chase is not local, so the tax exemption made no sense even on the flimsy ground it was originally built on.

How they got around a recent initiative banning new tax increases without a vote of the people or a two-thirds vote in the legislature, I am not sure. But if they did it for this exemption, why not for others?

Overall, there have been around $10.5 billion in cuts in state spending on social programs and education since 2009. Almost none of that has been restored. Part of the budget balancing was that the social programs have been cut so much that the costs are down even more--because fewer people have applied for them! There has been no significant tax increase on the rich or corporations.

THE CURRENT budget is a smaller step backward than in previous years, but still a step backward. Yet this is what is presented as a "victory" by union leaders.

It would be like going to the doctor with a bad wound and losing enough blood that, if it isn't stopped, you will die. The doctor says, "I can't stop the wound from bleeding, but I guarantee that I can stabilize the blood loss, so it won't be any worse than it is now. When I'm done with my treatment, you won't die any sooner than you would have before I treated you." Wouldn't most people say, "I think I better find a different doctor?"

The problem is that "Dr. Slow Death" is saying "Your choice is me or death--wouldn't you rather have me?"

Basically, SEIU has fundamentally adapted itself to whatever the position of the Democratic Party is--both on the state level and nationally. That is the line the union has drawn.

Union officials were upset at the Republican "coup" in the state Senate when the Republicans won over three conservative Democrats to back their version of the budget, but excused all the previous cuts of $10.5 billion made by the Democrats over the last few years.

The difference is that when the Democrats are in full control, they are seen as "doing the best that they can," which assumes that they are basically on the side of workers and the poor. Union officials will try to push us into campaigning for Jay Inslee (the potential Democratic candidate for governor) and Democratic legislators, rather than building an independent struggle that could put the heat on both parties.

In my view, both parties are instruments of the 1 percent--and, specifically, its austerity drive. Actions speak louder than words and the Democrats have consistently attacked state workers in every state legislature that they have been in control of. At the federal level, the Obama administration has restricted collective bargaining rights for federal workers.

The strategy that the union has been pursuing has not worked. It is time for a change!