AFSCME Launches ‘Stop the Lies' Campaign
(12/10)
This, you know: Public services — and public employees — are under attack from right-wing politicians and talking heads. Something else you need to know: Your Union is fighting back.
On Dec. 1, AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee announced the launch of “Stop the Lies,” an aggressive campaign that aims to expose right-wing lies by using social media, videos, paid advertising and ground events across the country.
Public service workers have become the scapegoats for the far right,” McEntee said. “We’re not going to sit around and let corporate CEOs define the debate. After all, it was their greed and incompetence that drove this country’s economy into the ditch."
Accordingly, your Union kicked off the campaign with the release of a Brave New Films video that contrasts the lies of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, John Stossel and others with facts and testimonials from AFSCME members.
The “Stop the Lies” campaign will respond to attacks against public service workers and the vital public services they provide, McEntee said.
“AFSCME is not going to let a group of liars with a corporate agenda get the last word,” he added. “It won’t be easy — but we are good at standing up and fighting.”
The campaign will call out right wing mistruths on issues such as Social Security, wage freezes, the deficit and tax cuts for the very wealthy.
The “Stop the Lies” campaign also will include advertising in national and local media, online actions, and ground actions in state capitals across the country.
Not surprisingly, one of the liars du jour (the aforementioned Mr. Beck), lied about AFSCME during a Dec. 9 airing of his Fox News program, telling his national audience that “the government union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFSCME, has decided to boycott, coincidentally, me, Rush and John Stossel.”
Correction: AFSCME is an independent, democratic union representing 1.6 million nurses, corrections officers, child care providers, EMTs, sanitation workers and others who work in public services.
More important: Our “Stop the Lies” campaign is not a boycott. It is a multimedia, grassroots effort to respond to right-wing lies.
To view the video and sign up to help us Stop the Lies, check out this link online: http://www.afscme.org/StopTheLies".
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