Workers’ Rights Board Members Visit Representative Hensarling’s Office

Last Tuesday Isabel Docampo, Ed Middleton, Annika Rieger, Helen Rieger, and Rosemarie Rieger visited the office of Representative Jeb Hensarling in Congressional District 5. All are constituents of the district and members of the North Texas Jobs with Justice’s Workers’ Rights Board. The group met with District Director Michael Garcia and presented him with the findings of the Board’s past two years of investigations on the economic and jobs crisis. These investigations based on testimony from unemployed and employed workers, worker rights advocates, union organizers, community activists, and others lead to the following conclusions:

-There is no such thing as a jobless recovery.

-Unemployment/underemployment is not a personal problem.

-The wealthy and the corporations are benefitting from this crisis.

-There is something we can do.

Therefore, the group asked District Director Garcia to pass on five items that the Workers’ Rights Board would like to see Representative Hensarling support, namely:

-The creation of good jobs with living wages, green jobs while rebuilding and modernizing America and its infrastructure;

-the implementation of fairer tax rates (such as taxing the wealthy), ending tax breaks for corporations, and introducing a Wall Street speculation tax;

-the termination of the wars;

-the protection of social security;

-and investments in public education.

Mr. Garcia listened patiently to the presentation, but he reiterated Hensarling’s stance on not supporting any new jobs legislation until its payments are secured without increasing taxes. In Hensarling’s view, this can be achieved by closing corporate tax loopholes and cutting corporate taxes to stimulate economy. According to our research, however, cutting corporate taxes has not led to the production of jobs and has not brought significant stimulation to the economy. On the contrary, the yield for every Dollar spent is only 20 cents.

Representative Hensarling is co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, which is in charge of reducing the federal deficit by an additional $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. For this reason the delegation felt that it was extremely important to pass on the findings of the Workers’ Rights Board.

Two days earlier a delegation sent by the Alliance for Retired Americans met with the same office to deliver a similar message. Seven members of the Alliance for Retired Americans, six of whom live in District 5, talked about their concerns that the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction would have negative effects on seniors and others. Cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits would greatly increase poverty among seniors and other recipients.

Later this week Move-On.org has called for a rally to fight for the American Jobs Bill outside of Representative Hensarling’s Dallas office. The motto is: Jobs not cuts!—Make them pay!

By Rosemarie Rieger 10/11/11