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Sep 4, 2012
Posted by Chuck Rocha
The American worker is what makes our nation
great. The hands of the American worker build
our roads and manufacture our cars. They
prepare the food we eat, and guide the steel
that supports our buildings. It is the American
worker who teaches our children, cares for us
when we are sick, and keeps us safe from
dangers such as fires and crime. Indeed, it is
the spirit of the American worker that has
helped separate us from other nations.
Work is not a partisan issue. Pink
slips are not partisan. When a factory is shut
down or a teacher is laid off, no one is asked
what party they belong to. Work is, in fact,
the bedrock of our society. It is through work,
and support of the American worker, that we can
ensure a society that not only provides a
better life for ourselves, but for generations
to come.
When an American worker loses
his/her job, it is not only devastating for the
worker, the community as a whole feels the loss
as well. This is the reason we must fight to
protect jobs in America. Public policy, and the
entire governmental system itself, is built on
the principle of our citizens being able to
work and provide income for themselves. They
then are able to pay taxes into the system,
ensuring a government that is fair for all
Americans. When we fail to protect the American
worker, that system begins to
collapse.
As the years progress, our
system of government continues to grow
disproportionately unfair to those without
money. While the super-wealthy have seen their
incomes continue to skyrocket, the medium
income of average Americans has remained
stagnant or fallen. While there is nothing
necessarily wrong with being wealthy, or making
as much money as you can, there is something
wrong with being able to use that money to buy
political power, and, in effect, buy the
government. The recent Supreme Court decision
that essentially equates money with free speech
has made it so that those with vast wealth have
a much louder voice in our system than those
without money.
When we sit back, and
policy makers do not hear the voices of all
Americans, we end up with unfair laws that
disenfranchise large majorities of the American
people. We must hold these politicians
accountable, and demand that our government
enact policies that are fair for all Americans
– no matter what their income.
We took
the time to remember all workers this past
Labor Day – but let's remember them every other
day of the year, as well. And for the American
worker whose hands paved the roads and bridges
of yesterday, let us pay them tribute by
joining together and demanding policies that
will build a better nation for all of us
tomorrow.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Center for National Policy.
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