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Sam Garchik - Mon 02 Jun 2008 10:10 AM CDT
atomburke - Fri 23 May 2008 03:49 PM CDT
salman - Fri 23 May 2008 06:28 AM CDT
megelso - Sun 11 May 2008 09:10 AM CDT
no4gman - Tue 29 Apr 2008 01:07 AM CDT
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Thursday, January 3
We Must TAKE Our Country Back!
by
Caroline Vernon
on Thu 03 Jan 2008 03:12 PM CST
We Must TAKE Our Country Back!
By Caroline Vernon
Whether it’s health care,
the cost of education, our environment or global trade, Corporate America is holding
us all hostage to the almighty dollar. Greed continues to trump need as corporations
make record profits while more and more Americans fall into poverty every year.
Congress allows industry to write policy, and legislators don’t even read the
bills they enact. The average person would lose their job for gross negligence.
The pharmaceutical/insurance lobbies make billions on the grief of others, systematically
denying people essential treatment or drugs in order to save a buck. Half of
our taxpayer money goes to the Pentagon who “loses” over a trillion dollars and
“it’s nothing but a thing” yet we
have to beg to fund health care for our children. Agri-Business dominates at the
expense of our environment and health as 85% of our food is now genetically
modified, our meat is ridden with hormones and antibiotics, and pesticides have
permeated the water table. Global trade agreements allow corporations to
exploit for profit with no safeguards in place for workers or the environment.
It is our moral imperative
to stand up and say no more! John Edwards seems to be the only candidate that
understands that we have to make an aggressive push to take our country back –
the key word being “take”. While it is important to be able to bring everyone
to the table, we can’t continue to allow Corporate America to eat all the food.
Which comes down to,
follow the money…
Edwards and Obama are my
two top picks but there are some important distinctions to be made here. I think
Obama is awesome and I will support him whole
heartedly if he gets the Democratic nod, but as an activist, and more
importantly as a mother and your sister, there is way too much at stake in this election, not
only for our country but for the planet. Corporate America
will never give up their stranglehold on America or the rest of the world so
we must TAKE IT from them! There is no negotiating a moral standard… and frankly, that’s
what this election is about.
There are two main issues
that concern me about Obama; the fact that he voted for the Peru Trade
agreement (more of the same of what ails us), and more egregiously, the fact that he is promoting nuclear energy. Coincidentally,
Obama has accepted a lot of money from Exelon Nuclear and only stopped taking
corporate monies this past year once he decided to run for President. I commend
him for that recent decision but I am horrified that he is promoting nuclear power.
The current energy bill before Congress may have 10 billion dollars allocated
toward renewable energy, and that rocks, but if you look at the whole pie, it’s
too little too late! 25 billion is allocated for guaranteed loans to build new
nuclear sites and billions more for coal fired plants. I mean, this is what I
am talking about people… Corporate America writing OUR policy! Do ya’ll
remember all the hoopla about storing the nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain?
Do you want that in your backyard? Is it OK as long as it’s stored in someone
else’s backyard (out of sight, out of mind)? Do you really think our Earth Mother will be served by that? We need to save Her in order to save ourselves. Almost everything we do generates some
form of waste by-product. Instead of adding to it, especially nuclear waste, we need to use our
considerable ingenuity to invent our way out of this mess. It is our only true
hope. What we absolutely cannot afford
is more of the same… business as usual.
Corporate America has had the resources and the necessary information to create new technologies for decades. Rather than doing the right thing, and truly be leaders of innovation, much of their resources have been spent preventing said technologies from entering the marketplace because, God forbid, that could hurt their bottom line. If their shareholders weren't so blinded by their own greed, they would be able to recognize the incredible opportunity that is presenting itself NOW. Corporate America and our elected officials could simply CHOOSE to lead this necessary technological revolution, but it remains to be seen.... so it's up to us.
We must TAKE our
country back!
Friday, December 14
Iowa Groups Call on Candidates to Reject Failed NAFTA Trade Model
by
Sam Garchik
on Fri 14 Dec 2007 08:06 AM CST
Iowa Groups Call on Candidates to Reject Failed NAFTA Trade Model
Organizations Demand Candidates Specify What U.S. Trade Policy Will Look Like During their Presidency
Over two dozen labor, faith, family farm and consumer groups are calling on Presidential candidates to reject the current NAFTA/WTO trade model and make public their agendas for global trade under the next administration. The groups specifically are calling for candidates to reject corporate trade deals that permit challenges to domestic food safety and environmental laws, encourage the offshoring of millions of good jobs throughout America and devastate family farm income.
The diverse groups today released the Iowa Fair Trade Statement, a comprehensive model to ensure the next generation of trade deals don’t have the devastating impact of current trade deals based on the NAFTA/WTO model.
“Sure it’s about jobs but it also about democracy and the public good”, said Mark Smith, President of the Iowa AFL-CIO. “Unfair trade laws stop us from enacting policies like ‘Buy America’, or other practices that could address the jobs issue and restrict our options in making policy in the interest of working people.”
Corporate trade agreements like NAFTA have also had a devastating impact on family farm income, which fell over 16% during the first eights years of the agreement, which has led to the loss of over 300,000 American family farms since 1993.
“NAFTA and the WTO have benefited factory farms and agribusiness at the expense of small farmers throughout Iowa. Their profits have gone sky high while normal Iowa farmers struggle and lose out”, says Chris Peterson, President of the Iowa Farmer’s Union, also a signatory. “We’ve lost tens of thousands of family farms since NAFTA while agribusiness, with their unsustainable and unhealthy practices, can use these kinds of trade rules to challenge efforts to create safe food systems and to increase inspections of unsafe imports.”
Chief among the groups’ concerns are mechanisms in current trade deals that allow companies to challenge democratically determined public interest policies if corporations feel the laws interfere with company profits. Pending cases include challenges to laws banning a cancer-causing gasoline additive and a U.S. effort to block imported beef potentially infected with mad cow disease.
As part of the Iowa Fair Trade Statement, the groups called on candidates to enact policies that:
Increase transparency and accountability in the trade negotiations process, for vigorous enforcement of current trade deals to protect American workers and manufacturers, and immediate action to balance our severely lopsided trade deficit.
“Caucus goers deserve to know where the candidates stand on this issue today,” says Jenny Mitchell, President of the Southwest Iowa Labor Council. “Its time we got past all rhetoric and the finger pointing and hear what the candidates will do today to make sure Iowans and all Americans benefit from future trade deals.”
* Link to Full Letter: & Signatory List
Wednesday, December 6
People Party vs. Money Party: Who's Who Among the Democrats
by
Caroline Vernon
on Wed 06 Dec 2006 07:51 AM CST
People Party vs. Money Party: Who's Who Among the Democrats
By David Sirota, AlterNet
The fact that our nation's politics is divided not between Democrats
and Republicans but between the People Party and the Money Party is
obvious to anyone who looks at the political system honestly (which is
to say, not most journalists or Washington political hacks). Calls for
"bipartisanship" and faux "centrism" that has nothing to do with the
actual center of American public opinion are most often moves to prevent the political debate from analyzing the People vs. Money divide
that actually fuels our politics. We already have plenty of
"bipartisanship" -- Republicans and a faction of Democrats who
regularly join hands to screw over the vast majority of Americans.Many
people ask me who? Who are the leading members of both sides of the
actual divide? The answer is that there is no official list because no
one is forced to formally declare their allegiance to the People Party
or the Money Party. But it is fairly obvious which lawmakers in the new
majority have specifically defined themselves on economic justice
issues. Though this is by no means a comprehensive list, here are the ones to watch in the coming Congress: People Party Leaders Freshman Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Jim Webb (D-VA):
This is the core group of economic populists who defined the larger
populist trend in the 2006 election. Brown has a long record in the
House as an economic justice champion, as has Sanders (who I worked for
years ago). Tester (pictured above from an event he did here in Helena
last night) made his campaign about cleaning up K Street corruption,
and Webb has declared that his top issue is going to be addressing the
taboo issue of economic inequality. Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL): Dorgan has been one of the strongest voices against profiteering by the energy and pharmaceutical companies, and has recently written a book called "Take This Job and Ship It,"
which is one of the strongest declarations against lobbyist-written
trade deals from any sitting Senator in recent memory. Similarly, Feingold has voted against every major lobbyist-written trade deal
that has come through the Senate, even airing campaign ads on the issue
well before that kind of message became more popular. Kennedy, as the
incoming chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
(HELP) Committee is expected to continue his rabid support for the
People Party on nearly every economic issue. And Durbin, now the number
two Democrat in the Senate, has also had a solid record on trade, and
is additionally talking about pushing public financing of elections --
the most effective way to cut off K Street's ability to manipulate
Congress. House Chairpeople George Miller (D-CA), David Obey (D-WI), John Conyers (D-MI), Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Henry Waxman (D-CA):
Miller will now head the Education and Workforce Committee where he is
expected to turn his longtime leadership on pension security, wage
protection and union organizing rights into legislative action. Obey,
who will head the Appropriations Committee (and who I worked for a few
years back), will make sure that any budget submitted by the White
House that slashes health care, education and labor law enforcement
will be dead on arrival, and replaced with a real spending plan that
protects people (Obey was the guy who famously authored amendments to
slash tax cuts for millionaires in order to better fund these
priorities). Conyers will head the Judiciary Committee, which oversees
all sorts of regulatory affairs where his pro-consumer record will
finally have a chance to shine. Slaughter will chair the powerful Rules
Committee -- the panel that governs how the entire chamber operates.
She has been an outspoken leader against media consolidation -- one of
the toughest issues to champion because the broadcasting industry is so
powerful. And finally Waxman will head the Government Reform Committee,
where we will now have a chairman who is serious about rooting out the
waste, fraud and corruption that has plagued the no-bid Iraq contracts
given to President Bush's cronies. Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Nancy Boyda (D-KS), and Bruce Braley (D-IA):
Ohio's trio of Kaptur, Ryan and Kucinich have been among the staunchest
critics of lobbyist-written trade pacts and advocates for the
middle-class agenda in the House. Freshmen Boyda and Braley both ran
their campaigns almost exclusively on the trade issue. In Braley's
case, the Wall Street Journal noted
that he made opposition to the Bush administration's free-trade agenda
a centerpiece of his campaign" urging "more focus on labor rights in
national trade policy and talked of using economic sanctions to keep
America competitive." Money Party Leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD):
All three of these men, now in leadership positions, have made very
little effort to conceal that they answer to Big Money interests.
Schumer, for instance, recently trumpeted a new report calling for post-Enron corporate reforms to be gutted. Emanuel was the architect of NAFTA who used the prospect of his being in the majority on the Ways and Means Committee to suck corporate cash out of Wall Street. Hoyer bragged on his website about starting his own K Street Project, and, as I documented in Hostile Takeover,
one of his top legislative staffers serves simultaneously as an
official for his corporate fundraising operation -- 'nuff said. To read the rest of this article, click here:
Friday, November 17
Fair Trade Election Roundup
by
Sam Garchik
on Fri 17 Nov 2006 05:10 PM CST
Fair Trade Election Roundup
By Katie Russell, Public Citizen (and Global Trade Watch)
Global Trade Watch Did an analysis of the Election in Iowa. Here are their results..
Governor
OPEN SEAT vacated by fair trader Tom Vilsack (D), who had taken his state off of international trade pacts’ harmful procurement rules.
• GOP Representative Jim Nussle is anti-fair trade. “A reliable supporter of Bush’s trade policy” according to The Des Moines Register.
a Chet Culver’s (D) views on trade are unknown.
House
Iowa 1: OPEN SEAT vacated by anti-fair trade GOP Rep. Jim Nussle
• GOP Mike Whalen is anti-fair trade: “Rolling back NAFTA and CAFTA [would be a] retreat back to some fantasy Fortress America that never existed. Free trade is adding jobs to Iowa.”
Democrat Bruce Braley is a fair trader. PAID TRADE ADS. Citizens Trade Campaign PAC questionnaire response: “I will oppose any legislation that expands the scope or authority of the WTO without repairing the many flaws in the existing WTO rules. I agree that the profits of transnational corporations should not take priority over the needs of workers, families, health, and the environment. Trade agreements should protect rather than endanger our way of life.” Braley’s ads attack NAFTA, CAFTA etc. Focus on issue as wedge between him and Whalen.
Iowa 2: Incumbent GOP Rep. Jim Leach
• Leach is 100% anti-fair trade. He voted against fair trade 18/18 times.
Dave Loebsack (D) is a fair trader. Loebsack writes, “It is time for fair trade agreements that help open markets abroad and guarantee labor and environmental protections in other countries. The second district of Iowa has suffered dramatically over the years as a result of Republican policies. We know that globalization has led to companies abandoning many communities in this part of the state. Republicans, including the incumbent, have championed free trade pacts that have only made this problem worse. It is time to take stock of the effects of previous free trade agreements and place a moratorium on more such pacts that do not include the necessary labor and environmental provisions.”
Iowa 3: Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell incumbent• GOP Jeffrey Lamberti is anti-fair trade. “I think a vote against free trade is a vote against the interests of most Iowans.”
Boswell is a reformed bad trade voter who now votes for fair trade. In first terms, voted for China PNTR/other bad trade deals. Opposed Fast Track in 2001 & 2002, CAFTA, Oman FTA. Calls for improved policy to give U.S. farmers fair shake, promote labor standards for workers.
Thursday, September 21
Change is in the Air - 29th Annual Harkin Steak Fry
by
Caroline Vernon
on Thu 21 Sep 2006 12:39 PM CDT
 Change is in the Air - 29th Annual Harkin Steak Fry
By Caroline Vernon
I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally be able to attend a Harkin Steak Fry. For the past two years, since I became politically active, I was never able to make the trip. Traditionally, the Scott County Democrats always fill an entire bus with eager democratic activists, hungry to hear the voice of strong leadership (as well as a sizzling steak or two). This year was no exception. Since there was no room on the bus, an extra dozen of us pooled our resources and rented a passenger van to make the trip. It rained the entire time we were on the road -- we just knew we would end up getting drenched From what I gathered from some of our Steak Fry veterans, rain has also been a part of the annual tradition so we expected it, but as soon as we were about 20 miles outside Indianola, the sky opened up, the clouds dispersed, and the sun smiled down upon us the rest of the day. This was a very good omen
Many of us were there to represent the Wake-Up Walmart campaign, so we met up with the national team, donned our new t-shirts and headed for the food. It was very good, although, at first, I was wondering how I was going to cut my steak with a plastic butter knife but it was surprisingly tender and succulent There were so many folks at the tables, we had to split up to find a seat. No sooner I sat down, Tom Harkin, Barack Obama, and Chet Culver walked up and sat down at the reserved table nearby. What I witnessed from that point on is hard to describe. Folks were squeezing in all around them. They hardly had any elbow room to eat. Everyone was eager to get up close and personal. The Press Corps had at least 2 dozen microphones hanging over their food -- I guess they wanted to listen to them chew or something. I was dumbfounded by the fact that folks would not just let them eat their food in peace since there was plenty of opportunity to speak to them afterward. The day had just begun.
Sure enough, after they had their fill of that USDA Iowa corn-fed beef (and all the fixins’), the three of them started working the crowd. The energy all around was electric! I knew it was going to be an incredible challenge withstanding the crowd in order to get a word with any of them, but as soon as I saw an opening I squeezed into it and found myself 2nd in line behind a reporter from CNN who was asking Senator Harkin what he thought about Obama being there, that sort of thing. Once it was my turn, I first thanked Senator Harkin for all of the good work he has done through the Americans with Disabilities Act. I then shared with him my personal experience of transitioning from disability while re-entering the workforce after a decade long bout with rheumatoid arthritis. I told him that after 10 years of being flat on my back, I finally found a drug treatment that gave me a whole new lease on life. Unfortunately, the cost of the drug is about $3,600 a month, but I was able to qualify for enrollment into the Patient Assistance Program which made it possible for me to get the drug directly from the pharmaceutical company at very little cost. Since then, I have improved steadily and as of last November, have re-entered the workforce. Here’s the catch, now that I am working, I run the risk of no longer qualifying to receive my medication. Without it, I will surely end up right back where I was 2 years ago - flat on my back. Senator Harkin was very compassionate and told me he thought the only way to address this issue is by changing the law in order to realistically assist those individuals who are transitioning. Given the make-up of our current legislature, there is obviously no hope of that happening, unless, of course, the Democrats manage to take back Congress (I hope you are all out there working hard to make this happen).
I next spoke with gubernatorial candidate, Chet Culver, asking him about the state of our environment, citing EPA emission reports which indicate that many counties in Iowa are in the top ten of the most polluted in the nation. Chet promised that once elected, he would do everything necessary to clean up our water and address corporate polluters by implementing stiffer fines and penalties. He said, “If they are going to pollute, they are going to pay.”
Unfortunately, I did not have the stamina necessary to withstand the pressure of the crowd while trying to get an audience with Obama. After being stepped on several times, I finally gave up on that idea. What a trip! It was about that time that all of the Congressional candidates took to the stage followed by Governor Vilsack who spoke on behalf of all them, before introducing Chet Culver.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day and everyone seemed to be in top form. Chet told us he wants to be the “people’s governor,” providing the people of Iowa with a positive vision for the future. He said he has a plan to make Iowa the renewable energy capitol of the world. Chet cited three keys to victory that he calls on all of us to do between now and November 7th; volunteer your time, post yard signs and bumper stickers, and get out the vote!
Chet then introduced Senator Harkin who took to the stage, welcoming everyone to the 29th Annual Harkin Steak Fry. I tell ya, it was like a crescendo from there on. Tom Harkin is the salt of the earth. I really enjoyed listening to him. I know Obama is a rock star, but as far as I’m concerned, Tom Harkin is “the rock.” He was warm, witty, enthusiastic, and yet serious – all at the same time. According to the Library of Congress, Senator Harkin holds the record for defeating more Republican incumbents than anyone else in the history of this country. That speaks volumes!
The Senator talked about moving Iowa forward and cited the single most important thing we can do as Iowans to promote progress is by electing more Democrats to the Iowa House and Senate. He thanked all of the candidates and sitting legislators for their commitment and dedication. Tom said he’s known Chet Culver since he was a little boy, joking that yes, Chet was once little. Tom mentioned he was proud to have also served with Chet’s dad and has been a close friend of the family for many years. Senator Harkin said he believes Chet has been the best Secretary of State in Iowa’s history.
The senator then directed his attention to the current administration and said, “The president just doesn’t get it, there is no virtue in staying the course if the course you are on is headed over a cliff. There is no virtue in being strong and wrong.” He spoke about how George Bush has squandered all of the good will from around the world that came as a result of 9/11. He said, “Bush has given the Iraqi government a blank check, payable with the lives of our American soldiers and marines.” He said Republicans are not only wrong about Iraq, but they’re wrong here at home. Tom said, “It’s wrong for the President to veto stem cell research that has so much promise to heal people, it’s wrong to block any increase in minimum wage for 9 years, it’s wrong to privatize social security and that’s why we need a Democratic Congress to stop them from doing it!”
The senator then talked about the Bush-Nussle budget that will drop millions of kids from the Head Start program, and includes the largest cuts to education in 28 years. Tom shared a recent incident when he was talking with a gentleman about the Republican’s trickle-down economics to which the man replied, “Trickle down? Heck, I haven’t had a drop - at this point I’d settle for a heavy dew!” The senator said the budget also provides less funding for our veterans. He became solemn for a moment before saying, “I’ll tell you what folks, if you want to get your guts torn out sometime, just go out to Walter Reed hospital like Barack and I have done and visit with some of those injured service men and women out there.” He said many of them have brain injuries which are now the signature injury of the war because of the IEDs and the way they explode. Senator Harkin called the administration cold-hearted for cutting funds allocated to the Brain Injury Traumatic Center at Walter Reed Hospital. Tom said it was funded at $14 million dollars last year, the Democrats wanted to increase it this year but the Bush-Nussle budget cut it to $7 million - they cut it in half! Senator Harkin said, “We may have different ideas on the when and what about Iraq but there is one thing that we better stand four-square on, when those veterans come home they’re going to get every ounce of healthcare and support they need to fulfill their lives!” The crowd really went crazy after that comment. Right on Senator Harkin!
Our good Senator then welcomed keynote speaker and rising Rock Star of the Democratic party, Barack Obama. Barack expressed his gratitude and admiration for Senator Harkin, thanking him for his steadfast commitment to his state, his country and to the values that propelled into public office in the first place. He also thanked Governor Vilsack for his leadership - he said that folks in Illinois are watching and are proud to see what Iowa has been doing.
Barack expressed his belief that some people go to Washington with the best of intentions, but after a while they find themselves representing Washington to their constituents instead of representing their Constituents in Washington. He said it’s a hard thing to resist because it’s easy to get comfortable and become institutionalized - it’s easy to forget why you went there in the first place. He said we have a lot of work to do all across the country, citing everywhere he goes he gets a sense that people are wanting change. He said there is a certain anxiety about the future and although he found that folks still dream big dreams, they have a sense that their leaders have forgotten how. Speaking of change, during most of the speeches, I happened to notice 4 large, beautiful, Monarch butterflies that kept panning above the crowd - flying back and forth. The stage was set in front of a big red barn that had a huge American flag serving as a backdrop. Almost all of the speakers were talking about change - One of the Monarchs fluttered up on stage and became part of the scenic backdrop. I thought of this as another good omen since butterflies often represent change and total transformation. Won’t that be great!?
Previously a community organizer, a civil rights lawyer and a law professor, Obama shared an account of the first time someone asked him to run for office when a seat in the Illinois state house had opened up and he said he did what every wise man does when confronted with such a decision, “I prayed on it.... and I asked my wife. And after consulting those higher two powers I decided to get into the race!” That comment was certain to score points with all the women in the crowd!
On the night before the general election in his race for the US Senate, he was at a rally getting ready to speak when staff came up to him and asked if he would come back stage to speak with a woman who had traveled far to see him. He agreed to do so and when he went back stage the woman said she had already voted for him via absentee ballot. She told him to keep up the good work and they had a nice little chat. What was remarkable about the woman was that she was born in Louisiana in 1899 – her name was Marguerite Lewis. She was 105 years old. Barack said he thought about everything she had said to him. He thought about all the changes she has seen in her life -- how she had seen women win the right to vote, how she had seen the first world war, the great depression and then a second world war. She had seen her brothers, uncles, and cousins returning from yet another war and still sitting in the back of the bus. She had seen how FDR lifted America out of it’s fear, lifted millions out of poverty and provided millions with opportunities written through the GI bill. She saw how he made sure that seniors had security in their retirement, and that veterans were fully cared for. She saw how unions helped an entire middle class build itself throughout the heartland and saw immigrants travel from distant shores in search of the idea called America. He thought about how Marguerite Lewis, despite the circumstances of her birth, believed in the same idea - how she believed it with all of her heart and all of her soul. She had seen all this progress taking place -- Obama reflected on how she had decided at some point it’s going to be her turn; that America will one day also bring her into the blanket of it’s protection. And then she saw a glimmering light of hope on the horizon, the civil rights movement. Marguerite understands that in America, we don’t settle for quality for some, or opportunity for a few -- we don’t settle in America. Everyone has an obligation not just to ourselves but to each other -- she understood that. Barack said whenever he’s feeling cynical he thinks of Marguerite Lewis. He said if Marguerite isn’t cynical given everything she has seen, then he has no right to be cynical. He then addressed the crowd and said if any of us start feeling cynical we’ve got to remind ourselves that our parents, our grandparents, and great grandparents have overcome much greater challenges than the ones we face today, although he made it clear that we face real challenges in America today - we are truly at a crossroads in this nation.
Barack shared that all across America, people are struggling because they sense that in a new globalized world we have given away our power, our communications, and changes in technology, not only to our competitors, but to those who seek to destroy our way of life. He said people are feeling anxious because they see the possibility that maybe their children won’t do as well as they did, recognizing that our children are going to have to compete with folks not only in our own communities, but with communities all over the world. He said, if we don’t make sure we’re preparing our children, we may be the first generation in a very long time in which our children inherit an America that is a little bit meaner and a little bit poorer than the one we inherited from our parents. And that’s not acceptable.
I don’t think there was an issue that he didn’t address. He said it all comes down to strong and honest leadership. Barack quoted Newt Gingrich - someone he doesn’t normally quote, but he shared an instance where folks were asking Newt, given all the problems the Republicans have had managing the country, the economy, the war in Iraq, what do you think is going to happen in this election? Newt responded, “If I was advising the Democrats in this election, I gotta admit I would just use two words to campaign; those two words are “had enough.” Barack then told the crowd, “I don’t know about you, but I think ol’ Newt is on to something, because I’ve had enough!” He then went through the litany of misplaced priorities and bad policies brought about by this administration and the Republican Congress. The crowd was on their feet the entire time!
Barack also talked about the importance of having hope. He said the challenge we have in this election raises the question, what are we going to do to be involved and be engaged in order to make sure that we have a brighter future for our kids? He asked, what are each of us going to do, not just here in Iowa, but all across the country to capture that sense of hope that has been lost over the last 6 years – and what are we going to say yes to? He said it’s not enough just to say no to Bush and this Republican Congress. He said the Democrats have to be the party of opportunity. We need to create an education system of life-long learning for every single child in America so they can compete all across the world. He said we have to say yes to the idea that we must invest in science and technology. He also said we need to stop giving tax breaks to companies that send jobs overseas and to invest in those companies that stay right here at home. I know that's right! If companies aren't going to invest in America, America shouldn't be investing in them.
In closing, Senator Obama told the crowd, "It’s time for everyone to kick off their bedroom slippers and put on their marching shoes!" After listening to all of the wonderful speeches, I felt like running out to get a trumpet and a baton to match my shoes!
Wednesday, July 5
Working Families Win
by
Sam Garchik
on Wed 05 Jul 2006 10:17 PM CDT
 Working Families Win
By Dave Leshtz
Friends,
1) 300 nurses at Finley hospital in Dubuque are about to go on strike. They have waged a difficult struggle against a management team that has gone as far as firing a 30-year nurse the day after a strike notice was filed. Management's primary goal appears to be a broken union. The nurses have tried to negotiate, but now feel that a strike is their only last-resort option. Call Anne at 319-350-1094 or 563-557-5832 if you'd like information on how to support these union health care providers, most of whom have lived and worked in Dubuque their entire lives.
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=122270
2) The Oman trade agreement (OFTA) is the latest version of NAFTA and CAFTA -- only worse. Cong. Leonard Boswell has yet to take a position on whether he supports or opposes a bill that has been negotiated in secret with a country that bans independent labor unions. Any Iowan concerned with international human rights and the damage that these kinds of trade agreements are doing to our own communities should contact Cong. Boswell's office immediately at 515- 282-1909.
http://www.citizenstrade.org/pdf/Oman_Sign-On_Letter,_6-27-06.pdf
Dave Leshtz
Working Families Win
319-621-4205 dleshtz@ia.net
www.workingfamilieswin.org
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