For the first time in more than four decades, Republicans control the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

This is not good news for working families. The Republican Party historically has tilted heavily towards the upper classes and the corporate sector.

Their legislative priorities include tax cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers and a lengthy list of favors for Corporate America.

"There's nothing there for working men and women," noted IAM President Tom Buffenbarger. "In the last Congress, President Bush and his allies on Capitol Hill passed a trillion-dollar tax cut for the rich, turned the budget surplus into a record deficit and sent the economy into a tail spin.

"The Bush administration's proposal to erase the tax on dividends won't create a single new job nor will it slow down the growing export of our jobs, capital and technology to low-wage countries around the globe," Buffenbarger declared.

With all branches of government firmly in GOP hands, working families have few allies.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert's support for working family issues is lackluster, at best. He has voted against worker issues, including retirement security for the nation's senior citizens, prescription drugs under Medicare and fair tax policies for all citizens.

Hastert helped ram through Fast Track trade legislation that has eroded America's industrial base.

New House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, a fire-breathing and unapologetic conservative, drew blistering criticism for his ill-tempered attack on union members in a fundraising letter for the National Right-to-Work Legal Defense Fund.

DeLay blamed a staff aide for the letter, which went out over DeLay's signature and on his Majority Leader stationary.

That off-the-wall effort had congressional Republicans scurrying for cover just as the House had begun debate on an Omnibus-spending bill.

On the Senate side, Majority Leader Bill Frist takes on the top job with little concern for working families. He voted against extending jobless benefits for unemployed workers and joined a Republican filibuster that killed tax rebates for low-income workers, as well as increased Medicaid funds for states.

Frist supported Fast Track trade bills and endorsed repeal of the estate tax, a measure that pays hefty dividends to the richest one percent of taxpayers.

The current law exempts estates worth up to $1 million meaning few workers ever have to worry about this tax.

Working families need a different set of legislative priorities. The fairest and most effective way to reverse the 22 months of lay-offs and industrial decline is with an economic expansion program designed to help those hardest hit by the downturn, create good jobs and improve wages and benefits for all working families.

Workers are not without political allies on Capitol Hill. Despite the more anti-worker tilt in this Congress, there are those who stand with working families and fight attempts to weaken hard-won worker protections such as job safety and health measures.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, D-MA, sharply criticized the White House agenda and warned that his fellow Democrats "must stand up and speak out" for their core principals. He pointed out that "not one of the Democratic senators who opposed" Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut lost re-election bids.