The Fight for a Change from President Bush Starts Now

Kevin Hills has been a daytime janitor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a member of SEIU 32BJ for over five years. Last night, Hills joined SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger and a group of five other SEIU members to watch the President’s last State of the Union Speech. This is his response.

President Bush talked a lot about Iraq and the fumbles in the Middle East, but he didn’t talk enough about his plans to reinvest in America. If you are not about home, how can you be about anything else?

It’s great that we’re rebuilding roads and setting up schools in Iraq and Afghanistan, but what about the roads that are falling down here at home? We’ve got higher gas prices and higher fuel bills than ever before. Our education system is falling apart. The Democratic Congress finally raised the minimum wage, but we still don’t have high enough salaries to pay our bills.

Last night, I didn’t hear President Bush say anything about giving health care to every man, woman and child. And where have all these great jobs been created that he talked about?

I’ll tell you what I did hear the President say. He talked about being fiscally responsible, but he hasn’t been. President Bush started that war in Iraq, and we’ve been spending our dwindling budget on it every month since. Now we’ve got a bigger debt than ever before, and we’re stuck in a war without an end.

It’s a shame that we have to wait a whole year to get something better than Bush, but it’s exciting that the fight for a change starts now. We need to get this message out there—from SEIU local unions and beyond—that we can make a real change in our country for 2009. If we don’t work hard—knocking on doors, talking to our fellow members, and getting out the vote— we’re going to hear the same person in office, saying the same things, eight years from now.

If you’re not in it, we’re not going to win it. So, let’s get to work. We have the numbers on our side, and lord knows the outcome is vital to our futures. It’s up to us to take advantage of this election and build a better future for our families and for our country.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future