Bush’s Economic Plan and Bargaining Rights

President Bush gave a rallying speech (Nov. 9), but his call for bipartisanship followed by his call to enact his programs shows he does not know the meaning of the word. Why should Congress pass his stimulus package? While no one can deny that Sept. 11 exacerbated the economic downturn, the economy was tanking before--even after passing the tax break, which Bush told us was the exact right amount to stimulate the economy.

Jack Seidman

Long Beach

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As Bush spoke to the faces of hundreds of cheering police officers and firefighters at his recent address on terrorism, he was slipping a knife into the backs of those same men and women who work in the 27 states where they have few or no rights to collectively bargain for their wages, hours and working conditions. As the president was preparing his speech and extolling the bravery of those in his audience who are the first line of defense against terrorism, his people were circulating a memo in the Senate describing the Democrat-sponsored measure to guarantee them collective bargaining rights as “a clear and avoidable danger” that “could lead to firefighter and police strikes during a terrorist attack,” despite the fact that the measure prohibited all strikes or work stoppages by safety personnel (Nov. 7).

As always, Bush and Republican legislators love and admire those brave police and fire personnel but prefer they perform their acts of heroism for minimum wage.

Patrick J. Thistle

Los Angeles