Richard Trumka (AP)
UNIONIZED: President Obama met with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka yesterday at the White House. (
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WASHINGTON — Tax the rich!
Labor union bosses vowed yesterday to join forces with President Obama to push for the wealthy to pay higher taxes as part of a “balanced” deficit-reduction plan to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.
Union leaders said they had the president’s back after meeting with Obama at the White House yesterday.
And Big Labor also vowed yesterday to fight to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, although Obama has not ruled out some changes to those budget-busting programs as part of a deal with Congress.
“We are very, very committed to making sure the middle class and workers don’t end up paying for the tab for a party that we didn’t get to go to and the president is committed to that as well,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters after the White House meeting.
Obama will also likely back extending unemployment benefits that will expire without action after the new year, Trumka said.
“I can’t imagine him not because it’s such an important part of the country,” Trumka said.
Labor leaders met with Obama yesterday as part of a series of meetings he’s holding this week to discuss the fiscal cliff — a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that would automatically kick in January if the White House and Congress failed to reach a deal on an alternative debt-reduction plan.
Analysts predict implementing the fiscal cliff would wreck the economy and cause a recession.
Mary Kay Henry, president of the Services Employees International Union, said the unions will be “as engaged as we were in the election throughout the rest of the year to make sure we get the Republican House to say yes to tax cuts for the middle class.”
Obama, who benefitted from strong labor support in his re-election last week, is calling for Bush-era tax breaks for those earning more than $250,000 a year to expire — also a foundation of the union plan.
Unions also held more than 100 rallies last week pressing Congress to hold off on cuts to the entitlement programs.
The White House yesterday stood by the president’s plan for $1.1 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade along with $1.6 trillion in new revenue. The president said he will find $340 billion in “savings” in the Medicare and Medicaid portions of the entitlement programs.
Obama will hear from 12 national business executives at the White House today to get their take on the impending fiscal calamity.
So far, Obama isn’t backing off his demand to raise taxes on high-income earners. But House Speaker John Boehner said that’s a deal breaker for Republicans, although they are willing to consider new revenues through the elimination of tax deductions and loopholes.