National Nurses United

NewsBriefs:4-8 11/20/08 11:02 PM Page 7 Yes We Did. What Next? OBAMA'S CHALLENGE: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency. By Robert Kuttner; Chelsea Green Publishing obert kuttner, cofounding editor of the progressive magazine The American Prospect and a longtime economic writer, in September published a timely book examining how President-elect Barack Obama can be the kind of great president the movement behind him hopes for, if he "first breaks free of the undertow of bad ideas." Kuttner names "transformative" Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and—in terms of his civil rights record—Lyndon Johnson, and describes how national crises and grassroots social movements pushed these presidents to enact bold programs which they did not at first intend to or which their advisors cautioned against. (He also pointedly mentions Johnson's catastrophic conduct of the Vietnam War and its impact on the planned "Great Society.") Kuttner documents Obama's "calculated moves to the center" during the campaign, but foresees that "Obama will need to be a more radical president than he was a presidential candidate." As he writes, "Despite the severe economic situation, there is an undertow of R stale thinking that discourages transformative policies. Even with increased Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress and a great deal of goodwill, progress will be far from automatic. The new president will need to inspire the American people to demand TIME TO ACT ON EFCA W ith the new Obama administration, we have a chance of passing and getting signed the most powerful tool for organizing workers to come along in a generation—the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA is a piece of national legislation that would allow workers to avoid the intense union busting that often accompanies National Labor Relations Board elections and instead form a union by simply showing a majority of signed cards. There's no time to waste. With the current economic crisis, workers can't afford not to have a union. Join with us in helping the AFL-CIO collect one million signatures in support of EFCA. Sign the online petition at: www.freechoiceact.org/page/s/petition. NOVEMBER 2008 enactment of bolder measures than either the Congress or Obama himself currently thinks necessary or possible." He believes, however, that Obama as a person can rise to the challenge, describing characteristics in the president-elect that point to the possibility that social movements can push himto the left. In chapters such as "The Financial Collapse—A Teachable Moment," the book contains policy suggestions—mainly an infusion of public spending and investment in the country's workers and physical infrastructure—on several key issues. Kuttner sharply criticizes Obama's health program up to this point as not visionary or far-reaching enough. At a time when healthcare and single-payer advocates are debating about how fast the administration should move on healthcare reform, Kuttner advises Obama to wait a year to build the political capital he will need to confront the entrenched insurance industry and enact a transformative healthcare program. "Take the time to get this right," he says. Happily, Kuttner also includes a section criticizing the reengineering of nursing and its effect on hospital care, and he suggests that the Obama administration reverse such schemes. This book is definitely a discussion starter for Nov. 5. —marilyn albert, rn

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