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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Eddie Vale (202) 637-5018

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the Recommendation of the Deficit Commission Chairs

The chairmen of the Deficit Commission just told working Americans to
'Drop Dead.' Especially in these tough economic times, it is
unconscionable to be proposing cuts to the critical economic lifelines
for working people, Social Security and Medicare.

Some people are saying this plan is just a "starting point." Let me be clear, it is not.

This deficit talk reeks of rank hypocrisy: The very people who want
to slash Social Security and Medicare spent this week clamoring for
more unpaid Bush tax cuts for millionaires.

WASHINGTON

The chairmen of the Deficit Commission just told working Americans to
'Drop Dead.' Especially in these tough economic times, it is
unconscionable to be proposing cuts to the critical economic lifelines
for working people, Social Security and Medicare.

Some people are saying this plan is just a "starting point." Let me be clear, it is not.

This deficit talk reeks of rank hypocrisy: The very people who want
to slash Social Security and Medicare spent this week clamoring for
more unpaid Bush tax cuts for millionaires.

What we need to be focusing on now is the jobs deficit. Working
families already paid for Wall Street's party that tanked our economy.
If we actually want to address our economic problems, we need to end tax
breaks that send American jobs overseas and invest in creating jobs by
rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and green technologies.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) works tirelessly to improve the lives of working people. We are the democratic, voluntary federation of 56 national and international labor unions that represent 12.5 million working men and women.