Some letters in the WSJ replying to the SEIU support of the Occupy Wall Street demands

In "Why Labor Backs 'Occupy Wall Street'"(op-ed, Oct. 8), Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union writes, "We have an entire generation of young people who were promised good jobs if they worked hard, played by the rules and attended college." Who, may I ask, made this promise of good jobs? When did "they" promise it, and how did "they" intend to keep this promise? This is lunacy to think anyone is promised a job, much less a good job.

Life is not fair, and the sooner people stop depending on others or the government to carry them through life, the better off they will be. I might add for those out of work that the unemployment rate in North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska averaged 4.1% in August. Go West, young man!

It was the Democrats who voted almost three to one in the House for the TARP bill to bail out the banks. The Republicans in the House voted against it.

Dan Agan

Houston

Ms. Henry's comments about Republican politicians holding the country hostage fail to mention that the Senate, led by a Democratic Party majority, hasn't passed a budget in almost 900 days, as it is required by the Constitution to do. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the Senate, has been reluctant to bring President Obama's so-called jobs bill up for a vote because he knows it will be voted down.

Ms. Henry's remarks are to be expected from a union that spends so much of its members' dues in contributions to the Democratic Party. From what I've seen in the coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement, it's the same bunch that regularly protests at the meetings of the G8 and which generally doesn't have a clue what the problem is or how to fix it.

Lee Walters

Warrenton, Va.

Mary Kay Henry and I certainly remember facts differently.

She blames Wall Street for bringing down the nation, when it was Congress which promoted the easy money for mortgages and supported Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even after their losses were exposed.

She praises the auto workers in Flint, Michigan, who "forever changed American industry." Yes, the industry has changed forever after the mergers, bankruptcies and government bailouts and its loss of business to foreign auto manufacturers. Thousands of jobs in Flint have been lost.

Robert B. Roper

Duncanville, Texas

There clearly were villains on Wall Street who abused the financial system and who have not been punished. But Ms. Henry, and one assumes many Occupy Wall Street protesters, seem ready to brand the majority of corporate executives as enemies of the state and lay claim to their assets.

Perhaps Ms. Henry can sympathize a bit with the vast majority of Americans who didn't borrow more than they could afford and continue to make mortgage payments, but are being crushed by federal, state and local income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes.

A primary villain in that story of malfeasance is none other than the SEIU. Take New York, for example. The Journal has been reporting that the Cuomo administration recently agreed to a $50 million bailout of an 1199SEIU (local union) health-insurance fund and needed to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates to pay for it. The union has been a strong backer of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget.

When push comes to shove, Americans must have banks, but they don't really need public-employee labor unions, particularly those that arrange sweetheart deals with elected officials.

Richard Davis

Fredericksburg, Va.

It is really a shame that Mary Kay Henry didn't have a chance to read the editorial "103,000 vs. 1.1 Million" that appeared the same day as her op-ed. Perhaps she would realize what the real problem is unemployment and recovery following a recession. What President Reagan did to create jobs and an economic boom was the total opposite of what is being done by this administration. Obviously the results are also the total opposite.

David Powell