|
Of the twenty-five total Senate races in this cycle, ten of them are up for grabs. Six of these races are truly competitive: Alaska, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, South Dakota and Washington. And IAM members can have a real impact. Ever since Republicans gained power, America has been spiraling downward. Unemployment rates are too high and layoffs are epidemic across the country. Since 2001, the economy has shed 2.9 million manufacturing jobs. Consumer prices are rising and wage growth is less than the inflation rate. Yet the Bush Administration claims average weekly earnings have increased 2.5 percent in the past year. In reality, after adjusting for inflation, earnings have actually fallen 0.5 percent. More and more jobs are being outsourced to countries like India and China. Experts set the loss rate at approximately 250,000 jobs each year. While President Bush promotes his tax breaks that supposedly put more money in our pockets, he also supports tax cuts to businesses that encourage outsourcing, which take our jobs away from us. Budget cuts in each state reflect the economic downturn. Critical funding for education has been slashed, resulting in steep tuition increases at universities and fewer resources for academic scholarships. With no jobs and no scholarships, how can our children afford to go to college or get the skills they need to compete? We need United States Senators who will get this country back on the right track. The current Senate leadership turned their backs on American workers. They have answered the question “who cares” with a loud “not us.” Machinists need to support candidates who say, “I care about working families.”
Races to Watch These three Senate races can determine which party controls the Senate. All the Democrats need is a pick up of two seats. These candidates need your support. Every single vote is crucial.
When Boeing announced it would sell its plant in Spokane and eliminate 400 jobs, Murray worked hard to avoid the shutdown. In the end the plant was sold, but the new buyer committed to keeping the jobs in Spokane. Senator Murray believes the high-wage, high-skill jobs of the aerospace industry are critical to the economy and the security of the United States. Senator Murray believes it is irresponsible to let our country surrender our aerospace leadership. “Once our plants shut down, once our skilled workers move to other fields, once our infrastructure is gone — you can’t recreate that overnight,” declared Murray, a tireless advocate for aerospace jobs. The European-made Airbus, the direct competitor of Boeing, is heavily subsidized at nearly every stage of aircraft development. Bribes and strong-arm tactics have long been a part of Airbus’ standard operating procedure to get other countries to buy their airplanes: access to landing rights at Europe’s busiest airports, steep discounts on the purchase price of its planes, often at the last minute and often below the cost of production and late, and final offers to an airline after Boeing has made its best offer are all standard operating procedures for Airbus. Patty Murray will fight Airbus, and will not allow it to ruin an aerospace industry built so proudly over the years here in the United States of America.
Illinois: Obama vs Keyes Sounding a warning for those seeking to divide America, Senator Obama said, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.” Initially facing Republican Jack Ryan who dropped out of the race over a sex scandal, Obama spent a few weeks unopposed. But GOP officials asked former Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka and then Alan Keyes, a former presidential candidate who lives in Maryland and has absolutely no ties to Illinois, to enter the race. Only Keyes agreed. After two losing bids for Senate in Maryland, Keyes must now move to Illinois by election day. On August 4th after being interviewed by the Illinois Republican Party, the Washington Post asked Keyes about running for office in a state where he has never lived. “As a matter of principle, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Keyes. Alan Keyes accepted the GOP nomination on August 8th. Obama, 42, is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Serving as a civil rights lawyer and community activist, he was elected to the Illinois State Senate from a South Side district in 1996. He teaches constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.
|
Illinois Senate candidate Barack
Obama at a rally for Local 2063 members at Maytag in Galesburg, IL whose
jobs are being shipped to a plant in Reynosa, Mexico.
Senator Patty Murray of
Washington listens to retired District 751 member Carl Schwartz at an
Alliance for Retired Americans meeting. Murray has been a tireless
advocate for Boeing workers in the Puget Sound area.
Florida Democratic Senate Candidate Betty Castor, left,
favors action to preserve high-wage jobs in the U.S. She faces
Republican Mel Martinez in a close race to succeed retiring Senator Bob
Graham.