Frozen wages, red-hot profits

President Barack Obama announced the newest attack on workers on Nov. 29 when he proposed a two-year pay freeze for federal employees. Obama stated, “The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require broad sacrifice.” (whitehouse.gov)

Seeking an empathetic tone, Obama described these workers: “They’re doctors and nurses who care for our veterans; scientists who search for better treatments and cures; men and women who care for our national parks and secure our borders and our skies; Americans who see that the Social Security checks get out on time, who make sure that scholarships come through, who devote themselves to our safety.”

While the U.S. could certainly do without the racist, anti-immigrant border patrol forces, many employees Obama mentions provide services to those who need it most. In proposing a pay freeze, Obama has asked these workers to join the ranks of those they once served, while diminishing the quality and quantity of services available.

There’s one group that Obama isn’t asking — wouldn’t dare to ask — to make any “broad sacrifice.” Just days before Obama’s remarks announcing the federal employee pay freeze, the Commerce Department released a report stating that U.S. businesses made the highest profits on record in the last quarter.

The New York Times reports, “Since their cyclical low in the fourth quarter of 2008, profits have grown for seven consecutive quarters, at some of the fastest rates in history. ... This breakneck pace can be partly attributed to strong productivity growth — which means companies have been able to make more with less — as well as the fact that some of the profits of American companies come from abroad.” (Nov. 23) Put plainly, this means that companies have not only been increasing productivity by laying off workers while making those who remain work even harder, but that they’ve gone around the globe to exploit workers at less-than-poverty wages.

The only federal employees left out of Obama’s pay freeze are those working for the military — because while social services apparently should be put on the altar of “sacrifice,” wars to ensure even more profit are not.

In the current negotiations over the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, Obama should at the very least be demanding the rich owners and executives of these companies pay their fair share of taxes. Instead he’s placing the burden on those with the heaviest load — the workers.

There’s a phrase for these kinds of actions: class war. It’s nothing new; indeed, it’s what capitalism is all about. But these days, it’s too glaring for any but the most obstinate to ignore.

Because of their all-out class war on the working class, the ruling class has been able to attain astronomical profits. As usual, the capitalists use a weak economy to heighten the attack on the workers — using the same “we all need to tighten our belts” rhetoric that Obama is using. But this time, they can’t even claim that they’re suffering.

And yet, they still cry the same tune. “Those of us who have been charged to lead,” Obama said, “will have to confront some very difficult decisions, cutting spending we don’t need in order to invest in the things that we do.” But the very thing that is needed most right now is jobs — paying jobs.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 30 Congress allowed the federal extension of unemployment insurance to expire. As we stated in a previous editorial, this means that 2 million workers will lose their federal benefits in December alone — not to mention those whose benefits have already expired. A day after the report on record-high profits was announced, the Federal Reserve forecasted that more than 10 million workers in the U.S. will remain jobless through 2012 and that unemployment will stay high for years. The Los Angeles Times noted that “some Fed policymakers ... raised the specter of a permanently higher jobless rate for the U.S. economy.” (Nov. 24)

The ruling class is ruthless, heartless and driven by just one thing: profits. Their attacks on the workers will continue until we force them to stop. An all-out offensive by the ruling class requires an all-out response by the working class. Now is the time to organize like hell — to organize to survive, and to organize to destroy the system that perpetuates class war.