Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140701 :

CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings July 1, 2014

Made important contributions. At the time, first as a College Student mna worker at chop stewart, c. Observed as leader of the party in his native maine distinction. So in the 1970s, the parties urging sam and his family moved to detroit when they add a mobile industry was still king. Understands leadership, the party in michigan ably contributed to the fresh winds that were reenergizing the Labor Movement, and the process resulting in todays progressive trends. In the 1980s after his meteoric, sam went on to become secretary of the Partys National labour commission. During subsequent years, sam and not to take nationalist assignments, becoming an effective troubleshooter, a major front of the party were. After the soviet union and the socialist camp in Eastern Europe imploded, sam played a pivotal role in helping lead the party out of one of the most challenging periods, bringing unity, stability, continuity and renewal to the party. It was a united party enthusiastically elect to Tennis National chairman in 2000. And it is this threat, continuity and renewal. Continuity can we know that our National Chairman has taught us to pass through the eye of the needle, resulting in the sound policies and forwardlooking project jury that characterizes our party today. In todays world, when the contradictions have never been greater in our life time, the 1 in the 19 kind to gather come and see them again with other highly capable comrades in the leadership could the body together with comrades at all levels, together with our close coalition partners, we are molding a modern 21st century communist party. [applause] through the course of the next three days, we will have the opportunity to review our parties can measurable accomplishment. Those where we excel in why we fell short. With fresh minds together, this weekend we chart a course that will build on the Great Strides weve made since i left tension. Sam has brought outstanding qualities worth mentioning because of the impact they have on our party and through our party carryover in to the mass arena. A deep understanding of the science and art we call marxism. Marxism, not fixed in stone for all time, but one very much alive masterfully applied to her circumstances in developing with everchanging reality. A keen appreciation for the sent abilities and aspirations of our nations working class in people, not least for members of our own party. His style of leadership utterly collect his come and be a quick disarming humility at the same time realitybased bold initiative. Leadership by example as well as persuasion. Being aware that sam is not one for personal enticement, nevertheless i thought applies to bring his qualities out because they represent much of the best in our parties collect it experience. And so it is, with our mindset on continuity and renewal that we set out as we said leading to a National Convention not to perform some radical takeover of our programs, policy and party, but rather to make some adjustments, due sometime to meet and discuss and agree on some exciting new initiatives. Without further ado, i present to you my dear friend and comrade, sam webb. [applause] [cheers and applause] thank you, juan for your overly generous introduction and i accept it and i collect us. That is so we tried to function over the past 14 years and biologic weve done a pretty good job at it. I expect untreated expected in the collective spirit. Its great to see all of you here in a special thank you the convention organized community who did johnsburg, john judy, joe, joe out, galena, herschel and tony. Lets have a hand. [applause] good afternoon, everybody in the special good afternoon to our international guests. Thank you for coming so far. Seems like everybody is raring to go, so i hope i can get this off and running well. Every convention has some particular mission. So it is the mission of this 30th convention. In addition to catching up with old friends in meeting new and, breaking bread together and generally having a good time, our mission is to take a fresh and sober look at todays realities and challenges. This includes making adjustments to the strategic and tactical nature to new conditions. And entails taking better care of the future of the struggles of the president. Over the next three days will turn our attention to the social and such are critical to recasting our countrys politics, economics and popular thinking. While we look ahead, we also keep the safety media challenge of this falls election. Of course whatever attention decided building of a party for the 21st century. Such a party should be modern, mature, militant en masse. In my world, a foreign party. They must utilize the collective and penetrating voice of the peoples world, far more effectively than a half ton of it now. Now im going to turn my attention to the main challenges that the leadership of the party would like you that delegates to discuss, debate, decided in the next three days. I present them one by one for the purposes of clarity. The real a few sinter at the other countless ways. Challenge one, people search. Seems like everyday somebody new is raising how, rattling the cages of the powers that be. When they are dreamers, the next it the moms of walmart and fast food workers in the moral monday movement the day after that. Then there is seemingly unless action to increase the minimum wage. To start deportations and militarization of the border. Todays we have to at the mobilization against Voter Suppression along with Ongoing Campaign to register the vote. Nor can we forget the struggles to start mass incarceration and overhaul a judicial system that is punitive with racial and class bias. Of great significance are the efforts to protect Womens Health and abortion clinics which are under fierce attack. Then there are the inspiring Student Campaign against Global Energy corporations, student debt and the keystone pipeline. We shouldnt forget the flood of phone calls that nearly overwhelmed the congress, switch ports to protest but looks like a minute u. S. Voluntary action. Spirit also of great significance as a transformative aflcio can mention last fall. Still another impressive example of the surge with landslide when of buildable osseo of mayor of new york right baraka in another impressive victory was elect newarks mayor. [applause] finally, an aspect of the search that is so a diary and it brings tears to my eyes has been the passage of Marriage Equality ledges nation state after state. [applause] is the trees have become so common that it is easy to lose sight of the enormous change that this represents and thanks go to the courage and tenacity of the lb gt movement. From this podium, let me never has been suburbia to the late harry hay, as well as to the pioneering stonewall generation that includes our own Carrie Donovan and you bet gordon. Stand up. Crop act [applause] the stonewall generation came out when i was eerie difficult to do so. They battled a mosque love one to the aids epidemic in the navigate image to ignorance and hate. As i could sum up the surge in a few words, i might say that things are breaking good, not breaking god. Ill be the first to say that the surge of struggle doesnt have the capacity resolving crisis of capitalism in a consistently democratic can classmen are. But does it have transformative potential . Yes. I believe it contains the seeds it contains a seasick that could have properly cared for sprout and bring a new burst of freedom, Economic Security and peace to our land. Of course the devils advocate would put the reminder to make any progress malevolent social transformation unlikely. And you know what, the obstacles are familiar. The task is daunting. Though we should lower our site or lose this precious gifts called hope and desire or give up on the American People. The present surge is real and it can evolve into a movement of the majority in the interest of the immense majority. Which means that it reaches into small towns and suburbs as well as ditties into lovick as well a san francisco. Into the south as well as in north. Into the heartland as well as the coast. Into the red states as well as blue state. But to put it differently, only a movement thats when progressive analysts wrote that includes the desperately poor and the insecure metaclass has any chance of success. That is not exactly a marxist formulation to frame you might then encourages big universe of the an expansive tack ticks, both of which are something lacking on the last hand of the party at times. Which brings me to challenge two. An economy that works for working people. The 99 are faring too well. Are you . The economic recovery is anemic if things dont look good going forward. The phrase economic stagnation has to enter the conversation after a long absence. Paul krugman, the nobel prizewinning economist and New York Times columnist wrote a while back, and i quote, but what if the world we have been living in for the past five years is the new normal . Would have depression like conditions are on track to persist not for one year, but two years, but for decades. Wow, that is big stuff. Presentday capitalism of being governed by the same underlying laws of motion and dynamics theres little resemblance to u. S. Capitalism in the year stretching from the end of world war ii to the mid70s. During that era between 1945 and 1975, sometimes called capitalisms golden age, the economy grew steadily and dynamically. But this change in the mid1970s when the commission assisting capitalisms de minimis expansion over 25 years. Largely disappear in the way to what is called stagflation. High inflation, slow growth and profitability. Happy with this turn of events and especially the prophet, the moneybags the corporate do two things. First they declared war in this bitter class which we know cocoa in the sphere of material production and said to it you are free. Go wherever you want. Multiplied many times over and make me rich. The desserts are audited. Establish connection everywhere. But they made plays to the entire financial murch. In fact the flow is so massive it became the main factor shaping the contours and evolution of the National Global economy. As we know too well over the overwhelming parasitic money into the financial sphere while pumping life in an underperforming economy was anything but a nonmixed blessing. Sure, few people on wall street are connected to wall street got rich. Rotten rich. Lived in unconscionable luxury and accumulated enormous power. Most of us got big. We got piled up debt so we could get by and did nothing but worry about the future for our families and communities. When the financial feeding frenzy finally unraveled in the whole economic edifice came down into that in the comment if we didnt get again. To think that not one, not even one of these fees of high finance spent a day in jail. To make matters worse, sightseers later things are no better for as. Nearly all of the income gains during this time have gone to the 1 . The prognosis for the economy is by the same period of slow growth mounting contradictions. The course of this type nation pressures in the fast changes that have occurred in the Global Economy since 1980. On one hand at the apex of the economy only huge banks and on the other hand works its reserve are in the template and informally doubled in size during that time. The scale of the subscription to workers as radically relapse rate the relative positions of capital, labor in favor of the capitalist class. What is more is this disparity of wealth and power at the core of the economy cant dictate a new and powerful source of downward pressure on the u. S. And Global Economy. Now this turn of events and we cant duchenne of capitalism could not have happened without a major assist from the government and the political class. Of crucial importance was the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 in the ascendancy of the right wing that followed. But to be fair, the democrats, especially the Clinton Administration were not bystanders either. They also had a hand in transforming the economy to the advantage of the 1 . So the question before the house is how do we get out of this mess . Here is my 2 cents. What is needed is not a minus the restructuring of the economy and consistently in deeply affect was to and eventually socialist direction. First [applause] first the conversion of a fossil fuel driven in a militarized economy into peaceful, sustainable one based on developing Renewable Energy source is. Saturday, major Infrastructure Construction and renewal. Third, you will like this, it guaranteed and livable income for olive the reduction of the work week with no cut in pay. [applause] is worth a major expansion of every aspect of the Public Sector education, housing, recreation and child care, retirement security, health care, elder care and so forth. Yes, strengthening of workers rights and peoples rights generally. , too big to fail banks in the Energy Industry into public utilities. [applause] southend, measures to overcome longstanding inequality and rebuild hardhit communities. [applause] finally, controllers and capitalist ability to abandon communities and move around the world. [applause] of course, of course such reforms weve met with the refrain there is no money. But that is perhaps the biggest of all lies. In the past two decades, trillions of dollars of unearned wealth has been en masse by 1 . This should be transferred into public hands, our hand. [applause] and another another huge source of funds is ordering up government priorities away from military spending. And finally, taxing of the financial flows to transactions should get a radical Economic Program often rending. [applause] let me add this. The purpose of such a Reform Program isnt to level the Playing Field were to ensure that everyone who plays by the rules and works hard gets a fair shot at the american dream. To the contrary, the purpose is to decisively changed the rules and tilt the Playing Field in favor of the underpaid, the underemployed committee unemployed, the discriminated against, the struggling family comedy and david didnt come in the underwater homeowner, the economy underfinanced school, every victim of capitalism crisis. [cheers and applause] so where do we begin . My answer is that we begin where we are. That is the case is in the vincent struggles and there are so many. Starting with the growing movement against economic inequality, the lowwage economy and extremism. One native afo ceo president Richard Trumka passionately speaking about the growth of inequality. The next day as president obama making a speech on the same subject. The book of Thomas Pickett and Elizabeth Warren both on the subject of glaring unjustified equality in the New York Times bestsellers list. A progressive bloc in Congress Stand firm behind economic justice. The minimum Wage Movement is really kicking up the latest tape very on the city council, to lift the minimum wage to 15 an hour. [applause] meanwhile around the world, powerful movements in some cases even government are demanding economic justice. And before we move on his a former altar boy, i got to bring the pope into the conversation. [applause] who said in i have to quote him, while the earnings of the minority are growing exponentially, so to is a gap separating the majority from across. He enjoyed by those happy few. The imbalances to resolve the ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and the speculation, a new tyranny of us born. Invisible and often virtual. A new tyranny which imposes it on good old. A thirst for power and possibilities there is no limit knows no limit. In this system which tends to divide everything that stands in the way the priest prophet. Whatever his fragile like the environment is defenseless before the interest of the deified market which becomes the only role, end of quote. Powerful stuff. [applause] like lebron james, the pope sky game. [applause] one of the most compelling struggles against economic inequality, maybe the most compelling is the lowwage worker organizing campaign. Who are these workers . Irs. They are young as well as old, black and brown as well as weight, women in, immigrant as well as native grown. Suburban and rural as well as urban and im sure and straight. They also come from red states as well as blue state. And mark warner are important sections of the u. S. Labor movement. We had many, many others are supporters of the struggle. But at this convention, we should agree to up the ante. I say lets decide here, right now at the 30th convention of the communist party to make the struggle a strategic focus. Can we agree to that . [applause] i thought youd agree. Which moves to challenge three, insisting labours growth and revitalization of overriding turkey shaped house. The Labor Movement is an essential cornerstone of transformative politics. Though not everyone in the left and Progressive Community is the spine. Some assigns the Labor Movement no part in the process of change. Some a big part and still others include labor and a very long list of other political actors. Contrast reception on the left to occupy can or to the recent convention of the aflcio that was gaga in one case at all home in the other. This obviously is in our attitude. When marketers have united and equipped with the class and democratic vision, the working class and its organized sector possess transformative power. Of course this isnt the case today. Labors membership is not as lowest le

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