Statement by Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez on President Obama's State of the Union Address

Statement by Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez
on President Obama’s State of the Union Address

SAN DIEGO – (Thursday, January 28, 2010) – Lorena Gonzalez, the secretary-treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO, made the following statement today about President Obama's State of the Union address last night:

As we approach the second year of Barack Obama’s presidency, working people are clear about what we want: We want jobs, jobs, jobs.

San Diego’s middle class still wants health care reform. We want an economy that works for everyone—and we want Wall Street and the big banks to pay to create jobs and fix the economic mess they made.

San Diego’s middle class needs the President and Congress to invest to create jobs -- to rebuild our crumbling bridges, aging sewer and water systems, and schools; to lead in green technology; and to lift us up out of an economic crisis that will take longer than a year to fix.

San Diego’s middle class needs the President and Congress to invest to create jobs, and they should tax Wall Street to pay for it. We need a government that can repair the damage of the last eight years and do it on the scale required to revive the real economy.

San Diego’s middle class wants fewer excuses and more action.

President Obama spoke directly to those concerns of working families last night.

He called for a jobs bill that will put people to work.

He called for the United States to take its place as a world leader by investing in our economic foundation – our schools, infrastructure and energy technology.

He demanded tough financial reform to keep Wall Street in check.

He called for curbing the influence of big corporations and their shell groups, stopping tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas, and enforcing trade rules.

He committed to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

And he said we must finish the job of reforming health care.

San Diego’s middle class wants change that makes life better for all working families. That is our charge to Congress, to the White House, and to us in the labor movement.

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