Daley Again. US capitalist politics. Union leaders crawl on their knees.

The appointment of a new Chief of Staff by Obama is so important in what it says about this regime and how US capitalist politics work that we would like to look at it further. The New York Times calls the Chief of Staff position the "gate keeper to the President", controlling who gets talking and visiting with him and who has the best chance to influence his policies. This is a crucial position.

So let us look further at who he is. Daley comes out of the Chicago thug family with the traditions of racism, criminality, police violence and murder and political corruption. The Chicago machine is what it is called. Chicago is the most racially segregated large city in America. This is his pedigree. Do not be fooled by any fancy suits or any smooth talk.

Daley was was until this appointment the main organizer of lobbying for the second biggest bank in the US, J. P. Morgan Chase. Do not be fooled by this either. This means he was the main organizer for bribing politicians to pass laws which suited this bank and not to pass laws which did not suit this bank. He also worked for Boeing and Abbott Labs. In other words he was a bag man for these outfits. Transferring money from them to politicians. In other words still, a crook.

This blog believes that all lobbying/bribing should be illegal. It is fundamentally undemocratic. Unless there is an organized mass workers political movement the outfit with the most money and the best connections with politicians controls the political process. This is what exists at the moment and the machine of which Daley is a cog. This blog believes that anybody or any organization that persists in this bribing should be charged with a criminal offense and dealt with. The bribers/lobbyists should be in solitary confinement not Bradley Manning. All this talk by the capitalist propaganda machine about democracy when their whole political system is based on open bribery of elected representatives is allowed, is pure hypocrisy. Daley was one of the top men, earning about $5 million a year for this, that is for bribing politicians. Now he is Obama's chief of staff.

Let us look a bit further. Daley has held the following positions. He has been a lawyer in private practice, a bank president, a telecommunications company executive, a lobbyist for foreign corporations, (Nestle and a Canadian petroleum company). So Obama has placed as gate keeper to his regime a front man for the corporations. No qualifications, a creature, a mouthpiece, a hired gun, a front man for the corporations. Not only that but for the right wing of the corporations. He led the struggle against more regulations on capital after the collapse of 2008 and even more indicative of how right wing he is he led the struggle against consumer protection legislation. That is he led the struggle against laws that would have helped protect credit card holders from being ripped off by the credit card companies. As we say Obama has hired a thug of the corporations as his chief of staff. Daley by being on the board of Boeings is also intimately involved with the military industrial complex. He is also on the board of Abbott Labs so he is intimately involved with the drugs industry which blocked the public option in the recent debate over health care. And he is also on the US-China Business council. He has been the President of SBC Communications, on the board of Evercore Capital Partners, of Boston Properties and of Merck. Yes he will keep the interests of the working people whose $200 million was handed over in mind alright.

Have you been watching the catastrophe that is developing in Mexico at the moment. The epidemic of violence, the mass unemployment, the desperation of people with nothing forced to try and cross the border to the US to work to get something to live on. This is caused by many things. One is the huge demand for drugs in the US and the high price for drugs due to them being illegal. Without this demand there would not be the massive drug industry in Mexico. In passing it should be noted that 90% of the guns used in the drugs war slaughter in Mexico originate in the US.

But at the root of the crisis in Mexico is mass unemployment and poverty and starvation. A major factor in this is the North American Free Trade Agreement. This was negotiated by the capitalists in the US, Canada and Mexico with the driving force being the US capitalist class. They wanted access to the entire Mexican market, both its consumers and its labor, with no restrictions. At the same time they wanted to keep the extremely high subsidies that the US tax payer pays to the US agribusiness. The result was what the US capitalists wanted. Mexican subsistence agriculture is just about being wiped out and the market for agriculture products in Mexico was increasingly filled by US exports. So millions of Mexicans had nothing to do and nothing to eat. So we have mass recruits for the drug war in Mexico, the threatened collapse of the Mexican state and the millions of Mexican working people forced to try and come to the US to seek work.

Now why go on about this other than to explain the vicious nature of US capitalism and how it goes after its own narrow interests without thought to others but also without thought to its own longer term interests. The reason to go on about this is that Daley played a leading role in pushing through votes in Washington, in bribing politicians in Washington, to get enough votes for Nafta. Now this same Daley is Obama's right hand person.

Now we on this blog are critical of the union leaders because they will not fight for their members. The union leaders were very opposed to Nafta. Now one of the main proponents of Nafta is in this top position with Obama and what do we hear? I have heard nothing. I am confident that if I do hear something it will be some pathetic bleat of protest and no action to back it up. These union leaders have nothing to say against this appointment of one of the main people who opposed them on Nafta. They are crawling on their knees in front of the democrats and Obama. There was the famous statement by a British politician who was being criticised by an opponent who was well known for being pretty mild mannered. The politician under attack responded by saying that being attached by his opponent was like "being savaged by a dead sheep." This is what we will hear from the union leaders if we hear anything. Most likely we will hear nothing. They have given their members $200 million to the Democrats, their own positions are pretty secure, their wages and benefits looked after by their members dues, so what is the problem?

These union leaders have to be put on the wage of the average member, their expenses have to be made available to all the members at any time. This is another way the Internet helps, email all expenses to all members once a week, this will help the union leaders to organize their work and the members to see what is going on. We have nothing to hide. I am in favor of a wikileaks for the union leaders too. At the same time these union leaders have to be up for reelection at any time. This will help them from getting too comfortable in their big chairs and their big cars.

Back to Daley and Obama. As in just about every other area the union leaders remain silent. The top leaders are part of this Washington clique. I see that Daley was even an adviser to the steel union workers leader at one time. Incredible. The union leaders say that we cannot be against lobbying, that is bribing politicians because they do it also, they use their members money to do it too. Then they should stop it. All bribing/lobbying should be illegal and the unions, not the tea Party should be leading the fight for this at the moment. Clear out the temple. Throw the thieves and their representatives out of the temple. Make all bribing and so called lobbying illegal.

The working class does not need this method. Our politics have to based on our power, on the fact that we are the majority in society and the workplaces. Organize in the workplaces and union locals and structures, build for workplace meetings, from these build for city and state wide mass meetings and strikes, from these build for a mass one day general strike and march on Washington. This is the way we can lobby. Tell Washington that this is our power. have a look at it. We are only started.

From this organize a mass campaign to organize the unorganized. Take the $200 million the leaders gave the Democrats and launch this campaign. This would be based on a rejection of the right wing offensive of capitalism and the Republicans and Democrats. The country is awash with cash the Wall Street Journal says. Corporations have more stashed away at present than at any time since records were first kept 60 years ago. So take this and reduce the working week and increase the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour or by $5.00 an hour increase whichever is the greater. At the same time launch a program of public works to rebuild the infrastructure, see yesterdays blog, and to build schools, hospitals, and develop our educational and health systems. This will create jobs for everybody at decent wages. This will also bring tens of millions of people on to the streets and in action in their workplaces and neighborhoods and allow the working class to put its imprint on society and end the power of the capitalist bribers.

On this basis the union and workers movement will also have the power to build a mass working peoples party which can take on the Republicans and Democrats. Capitalism has two parties, we the working class need one of our own. An independent mass union movement built on the basis explained above will provide the basis for a mass working peoples party which can replace the bosses parties and allow the working people to begin to take charge in society.

Finally on Daley again. Just a detail. But I see that the capitalist press on behalf of their owners are very pleased with his appointment and talk about all his great experience with different election campaigns and regimes. He was in charge of the Gore campaign for the Presidency. They cannot come up with one he won. So much for the fixer. Maybe that is what the right wing of the capitalists want. A chief of staff who will do what they tell him but does not win.

Sean.