2005 CONSERVATIVE RIGHT WING STRATEGY IS DESTROY SOCIAL PROGRAMS!

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) delivers the Keynote Speech to over 700 Delegates assembled in the Grand Ballroom at the National Alliance for Retired Americans Legislative Conference held in the Washington Hilton & Towers, 1919 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009 (the Hotel of the American Presidents) on Wed., Sept. 7, 2005. (Photo taken with a Kodak Flash Camera by President Jack Gose, APWU of Florida State Retiree Chapter, AFL-CIO)

CONSERVATIVE RIGHT WING STRATEGY IS TO DESTROY SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, PRESCRIPTION DRUGS & MIDDLE WORKING CLASS IN AMERICA

I have just returned from the National Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA) Legislative Conference, held from Sept. 7th thru 9th, 2005 at the Hilton Hotel and Towers, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. As a delegate representing the APWU of Florida State Retiree Chapter’s 3,000 dues paying members in Florida, we listened to impassioned speakers from the U.S. Congress, international labor unions, federal government, health and insurance executives, media consultants, and reporters who are national leaders or live and work in our nation’s Capitol metropolis. Phone Jack Gose at 727-343-2998 for more info.

Everything is rosy in a mammoth ballroom seating over 700 delegates, until you leave the Conference scene to go out into the Real World of Politics as Usual! This is my 3rd legislative trip to Capitol Hill in the last four years as a Florida Alliance for Retired Americans (FLARA) elected Executive Board member, also lobbying in 2002 and 2003. We attended a national ARA Southern Region Legislative Conference, held in Jacksonville, FL in 2004, with Southern Regional delegates from Texas to Virginia, including Florida.

Jack Gose was born on Dec. 18, 1928 and I am 76 years young, believe it or not. When I was a child growing up in rural, blue grass Tazewell County, Virginia near the West Virginia border coal mining camps, there were only two (2) classes of Americans, the RICH AND THE POOR. When an elderly person could not be cared for by their family for whatever reason, that older person was shipped to the POOR HOUSE OR THE POOR FARM, for Society to care for them. When an underage child could not be cared for by their family for whatever reason, that child was transported to the ORPHANAGE, for Society to take care of them. NO MIDDLE CLASS EXISTED IN AMERICA in 1928! E-mail Jak.Gose@Excite.com with your comments.

As America awakened from the Great Depression, Social Justice began in Washington with the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States of America. The Democratic controlled Congress sent a Social Security bill to President Roosevelt and he signed it, and SOCIAL SECURITY began in 1935 helping the creation of the middle class in America, for the elderly, the underage, and the handicapped. It would take many actions of Congress with amendments to the original Social Security bill passed to cover 58 million Americans.

The aftermath of World War II with all the new construction of buildings, businesses, homes, and job opportunities in America helped to further create the MIDDLE WORKING CLASS IN AMERICA, along with Social Security. The Great Society began with a bang when a Democratic controlled Congress sent a Medicare bill to President Lyndon B. Johnson and he signed it, and MEDICARE began in 1965 helping the further creation of the MIDDLE CLASS IN AMERICA, for the elderly, the underage, and the handicapped. Write a Letter to the Editor with your personal experiences!

Not one Conservative Right Wing Congressman voted for Social Security or Medicare in Congressional Committee meetings or on the Floor of Congress when the final voting took place in 1935 and 1965. NOW HEAR THIS: You don’t think that the Conservative Right Wing Congress doesn’t want to DESTROY Social Security, Medicare, Prescription Drugs, and the U.S. Postal Service today! I’ve talked to a few of them, and they feel basically that people should be on their own and invest their money in the stock market to secure their future, and not have to depend on the Federal, State, County, and Local Governments to care for them in their old age, young age, or handicapped age.

Visit your Senator’s office as we Alliance members did in Washington, D.C., or phone Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), and your Congressional Representative to let them know how you feel about the PRIVATIZATION of Social Security, Medicare, and the U.S. Postal Service!

TWENTY (20) FREE LUNCHEONS & $25.00 CASH DOOR PRIZE TO ONE RETIREE MEMBER ATTENDING CHAPTER LUNCHEON IN JAX ON WED., NOV. 2, 2005

The first twenty (20) APWU of Florida State Retiree Chapter union dues paying members and spouse or family member who sign in and attend the APWU of Florida State Retiree Chapter luncheon scheduled to be held on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 at the APWU of Florida State Educational Seminar hotel, Radisson Riverwalk Hotel, 1515 Prudential Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32207 will be awarded a free luncheon, limited to two (2) free luncheons per Chapter Retiree family. The Retirees luncheon is scheduled from 11:45 am to 1:15 pm in the Hotel River’s Edge Café restaurant at the Fall Seminar.

In addition, a $25.00 CASH DOOR PRIZE will be awarded to one lucky APWU of Florida State Retiree Chapter dues paying member who pays $24.00 year or $2.00 monthly Retiree union dues to the National APWU Retirees Department in Washington, D.C. Our APWU of Florida State Retiree Chapter has a membership of 3,000 APWU retirees who have chosen this attractive option to continue to receive the many benefits of staying alive with the National APWU, shoulder to shoulder with the active APWU members. Chapter Happy Folders filled with interesting news articles will be distributed free to all in attendance at the luncheon.

APWU three-day Retirement Planning classes will be led by Douglas C. Holbrook, National APWU Retirees Director, and staff on November 3rd to 5th, 2005. The Retirement classes will start promptly at 1:30 pm and end at 4:30 pm on Thursday, Nov. 3, and are scheduled from 9 am to 4:30 pm on Friday, Nov. 4, and from 9 am to 12 noon on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005. We look forward to Standing Room only class attendance, as half of the U. S. Postal Service workforce will retire by 2012! The Fall Seminar general morning session from 9 am to 12:30 pm on Thursday, Nov. 3 will feature National APWU Officers, including National APWU President Bill Burrus.

The APWU of Florida Special Group hotel rate is $109.00 per night, plus 13 % taxes, from Nov. 1-5, 2005, and you may make your Radisson Jacksonville room reservations by calling 904-396-5100 Group Reservations, and for more reservation information on the Hotel go online to www.radisson.com or phone 1-800-333-3333. Go to www.apwuflorida.org for more info on the classes and instructors! We look forward to meeting everyone after we arrive at the Radisson Jacksonville Hotel on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 1, 2005. All roads lead to Jacksonville!