During his Labor Day message, which was uploaded to YouTube over the weekend, President Obama reminded Americans to never lose sight of what the holiday represents:
“I wanted to take a moment to talk to you about the real meaning of Labor Day – a day we set aside every year to honor the hardworking men and women who fought for so many of the rights that we take for granted today.”
The President then enumerated some of those rights which have been won over the years by labor organizers and workers:
“The eight hour work day, 40-hour work week, weekends, overtime pay, a minimum wage, safer workplaces. health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, and retirement plans.”
But President Obama also put the GOP Congress on notice and warned about the consequences of a possible government shutdown which has been floated as a negotiating tool by right wingers such as Ted Cruz:
“As always, the deadline for Congress to pass a budget is the end of September. Every year. This is not new.And if they don’t, they’ll shut down the government for the second time in two years. At a time when the global economy faces headwinds and America’s economy is a relative bright spot in the world, a shutdown of our government would be wildly irresponsible.”
Such a shutdown doesn’t have to happen, the President said:
“If Congress wants to support working Americans and strengthen our middle class, they can pass a budget that invests in, not makes cuts to, the middle class. If they pass a budget with shortsighted sequester cuts that harm our military and our economy, I’ll veto it. If they make smart investments in our military readiness, our infrastructure, our schools, public health, and research, I’ll sign that budget – and they know that.”
And he had a very direct message to the obstructionists in Congress such as the aforementioned Senator from Texas:
“Our economy doesn’t need another round of threats and brinksmanship. Nobody gets to play games with our economy – or the middle class I grew up in, and that you grew up in. So tell Congress to pass a budget that reflects the values we honor on Labor Day. Rewarding hard work. Giving everybody a fair shot. And working together to give all of our kids a better life.”
We do indeed have much to be thankful for on this Labor Day 2015. And one of those things, in my opinion, is the man who currently resides in the White House.
