Edwards Vows to Reverse Trade Policies

[Bluebear]

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Democrat John Edwards vowed Wednesday to labor leaders that if elected president he will reverse trade and tax policies — some of them dating from Bill Clinton's administration — that he said are designed to wipe out middle-class working families.

He introduced his mother and father — Wallace and Bobbie Edwards — to underscore his argument that as the son of a mill worker he understands union issues best among the candidates.

"I grew up in a Carolina mill town and I've seen firsthand how people's lives are devastated when factories close down and those manufacturing jobs are lost," said Edwards. "Manufacturing has suffered more than any other sector of the economy because of currency manipulation, illegal foreign subsidies, bad trade deals and rising energy and health costs."

The former North Carolina senator capped three days of appearances by Democratic candidates before a regional conference of the United Auto Workers, a union that has a heavy influence on Democratic politics in Iowa's leadoff precinct caucuses.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iq7b7Abnxla6a3NamBPUcID9KzYgD8STL2Q02

[MichDem10]

1. Is the Iowa UAW expected to endorse any candidate?

That would be huge endorsement for Edwards!

[Texas_Kat]

2. Except for his proposed increase in H-1B visas

I guess factory workers are the only ones who count.

[Bluebear]

3. The only citation I find of that in the news is the "eweek" blog story.

I would like to hear confirmation from the campaign.

[brentspeak]

4. Here's what Edwards actually says about H-1B visas:

http://www.ifpte.org/Downloads/Archives/Outlook/JulSept07_final.pdf

Question: Will you support legislative and regulatory efforts aimed at protecting American high-tech workers from the importation of low cost high tech labor through guest worker visa programs such as H-1B and L-1?

Answer: Businesses should not be allowed to misuse the H-1B and L-1 guest worker programs to hire foreign workers who will just work for less when American workers are capable of doing the work. In the H-1B program, labor law violations grew by 133% between 2000 and 2005. And there has been wide publicity about abuses of the L-1 program to outsource U.S. jobs. Guest workers may be necessary to America's economy where there are worker shortages, but I will eliminate abuses of the program by strengthening labor law enforcement, and requiring employers to demonstrate that they could not recruit American workers and that they pay the prevailing wage. I will also increase the employer fee in the H-1B visa program, with the resources continuing to support science and math education because we must prepare more Americans for high-paying jobs of the future.

The key here is requiring employers to pay the prevailing wage; not many companies are going to be too happy with being unable to pay their H-1Bs peanuts. Edwards' proposal is fundamentally different from all other candidates', and one that essentially prevents companies from replacing American workers with foreign workers.

[waiting for hope]

5. Thanks for that - why don't you do

an OP with it? But wait, there are some here that are disturbed by facts so maybe not...;)

[Clanfear]

6. Oh no, another "I grew up in a mill town" story.

Give it a break already. Everyone already knows your Pappy was a manager of the mill. You didn't lead a poor life!

[waiting for hope]

7. Define "poor" =

and while you are at it, take a long look around you, how many people do you know that have lost their jobs, their homes (there are three houses in my neighborhood now that have been foreclosed) and have no health insurance and are just one illness or one paycheck away from becoming "poor" ... Edwards is speaking to far more people then you would ever realize and it resonates with them. So, how is the Peru FREE Trade yes vote working out for "Audacity of Hope" Obama?

[Clanfear]

8. I'm talking about Edwards.

Edwards was not poor growing up. Yes, he was from a mill town, but his daddy managed the mill and was one of the highest wage earners there. Far above poor. What is more telling is that when Edwards did make his money he did not decide to live in a mill town he chose to lead an extravagant lifestyle. He had no choice in being born in a mill town, but when he did have a choice later on, he lived as high on the hog as he could. You know there are many people that make good money but choose to live in communities filled with diversity, not exclude themselves to an elite status by living in exorbitant palaces. If he wants to portay himself a hero of the poor then he needs to be a man of the poor, not just feed lip service.

[asdjrocky]

10. Even if everything you say is true,

And much of it is opinion, which you certainly have a right to, and I'll do my best to respect that right. But, even if you say Edwards wasn't poor, that he grew up with money, he is still the only candidate I hear speaking to the issues of the poor, and working people. (Which in America today, is just about always the same thing.)

I don't attack. I really try to stay away from insults. I think Obama wrote, and co-wrote a couple of great books. I think he is a brilliant man. I'm just waiting for him to say something inspiring, simply because I believe the country. after what we've been through, needs some inspiration.

Good luck to your candidate.

[Clanfear]

11. I'm sorry I got a little worked up.

And yes, everything I stated is fact regarding his growing up.

With that being said, the man has come up with many populist themes, but no matter how ambitious they are he still has the necessity of a Congress to deal with. His ideas of leaving out this elitist group and that elitist group is all well and good, but it far and away from the reality, and he knows it. It reminds me of a lawyer making a pitch to a jury. he could have the best intentions in the world but the reality of the way our system works is not going to be eliminating the power brokers from the table. He doesn't have that control over Congress. It just isn't going to happen. It may sell well, but it is not based in reality.

Again, I apologize for being a bit terse.

[waiting for hope]

12. Oh Gawd - here we go again.

Enjoy your stay - if that is considered logic then I would like to proclaim shit doesn't stink, and that would be yours. :sarcasm:

FDR was filthy wealthy, are you going to call him a phony too? John Edwards has earned everything thing he has, through hard work and dedication. This is priceless:

"If he wants to portay himself a hero of the poor then he needs to be a man of the poor, not just feed lip service."

Edwards, Miller Honored at AFL-CIO Organizing Summit
by James Parks, Dec 9, 2006

Former Sen. John Edwards (top) and Rep. George Miller receive the AFL-CIO Paul Wellstone Award from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney (bottom, right).

Last night, the AFL-CIO Organizing Summit took a break from strategy sessions to honor two men who have been stalwarts in the fight for workers’ rights: Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and former Sen. John Edwards. The two received the Paul Wellstone Award, named in honor of the late senator from Minnesota, which the AFL-CIO established to highlight elected leaders who take a strong stand for workers’ freedom to form unions and who fight for social and economic justice.



http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/12/09/edwards-miller-honored-at-afl-cio-organizing-summit/

ACORN and Edwards Team Up to Raise State Minimum Wages
03-05-05
ACORN, the nation’s largest community organization, and Sen. John Edwards, the former Senator and 2004 Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, announced today that they will be working together on initiatives in targeted states to raise the minimum wage.

"I am strongly committed to moving people out of poverty and into the middle class, and one of most important things we can do is help families earn more money at work," Edwards said. "We desperately need to raise the minimum wage – its low level today is a disgrace. Since Republicans in Congress have blocked efforts to do something about the minimum wage, I am proud to join with ACORN and everyone who is fighting poverty to start the process of raising the minimum wage at the state level."

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, led a successful ballot initiative campaign in Florida last year to raise the minimum wage by $1.00 an hour.

“We are going to spread this movement for a higher minimum wage across the country,” said Maude Hurd, President of ACORN. “In the richest country in the world, no one should work full time and live in poverty. Our members and allies are anxious to take this issue directly to the people—who we know will vote for simple fairness when given the chance.”

ACORN has already begun working with allies from the labor movement and other community organizations to place minimum wage increases in other states around the country.

Edwards highlighted the issue of poverty during his presidential campaign and as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2004. Currently, Edwards is directing the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is focusing on lifting more Americans out of poverty and moving them into the middle class. While he was in the U.S. Senate, he championed policy initiatives aimed at targeting poverty like raising the minimum wage, expanding the earned income tax credit, creating matching savings accounts for low-income families, and providing incentives for teachers to teach in low-income schools.

In the coming months, Edwards and ACORN President Maude Hurd and other coalition leaders will appear together at rallies, meetings, and fundraisers, other events in the targeted states to build support for the minimum wage campaign in these states.

http://acorn.org/index.php?id=4174&tx_ttnews=18145&tx_ttnews=8306&cHash=9487b19ffc

John Edwards Presents “Call to Public Service” Lecture at Mount Union College

Published: 01/26/2006

According to Edwards, our country was brought together by its desire for a national community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but the tragedy also showed us the face of poverty for the first time. "Many asked why people stayed in their homes before the hurricane hit," said Edwards. "When you have no car, no money, no credit cards and no way to sustain yourself elsewhere, there really is no choice.

~Snip~

"For many families living in poverty, it is necessary for 17 and 18-year-olds to work and help their families financially," said Edwards. "College is not often an option. And with parents who never went to college, they don't even know how to begin the application process or seek out financial assistance. That's why we have started a charter program in Eastern North Carolina that makes it easy to go to college. Upon high school graduation, students can go to college, and if they agree to work 10 hours a week, their tuition and book fees are paid."

http://www.muc.edu/news/john_edwards_presents_call_to_public_service_lecture_at_mount_union_college

Presidential Candidate John Edwards Details Proposal to Help Get New Orleans Back on its Feet
released on 08/28/07

New Orleans (emergingminds.org) – Yesterday, Senator John Edwards visited New Orleans to participate in Senator Mary Landrieu's "Hope & Recovery" Summit, where he announced six new proposals to strengthen recovery efforts in New Orleans and prevent another failure in federal response on the scale of what happened after Katrina and Rita hit. These proposals build on Edwards' existing plan to help the Gulf Coast rebuild.

Edwards has visited New Orleans several times to help with rebuilding efforts. He announced his candidacy for president in New Orleans in December 2006. In the spring of 2006, he took 700 college students to the area to help rebuild.

Edwards' new proposals address the health care crisis and spur economic growth in the health care sector, make the streets safe with a surge of federal resources, bring back residents by fully funding the Road Home program and addressing rental housing needs, hold government and private contractors accountable for waste, fraud and abuse, put someone in charge of federal recovery and rebuilding efforts and with "Brownie's Law," make sure political appointees at agencies like FEMA are actually qualified for the jobs to which they are appointed.

As president, Edwards will help New Orleans get back on his feet by:
* Addressing the nursing shortage and supporting the proposed biomedical corridor: Edwards will invest in nursing school capacity, offer up to full scholarships for nurses who commit to working in New Orleans and improve working conditions to keep nurses from leaving and to bring more back. Expanding nursing education programs will ensure access to health care while helping fuel development of the proposed biomedical corridor.

* Providing new resources to make the city's streets safe: Edwards will provide funding federal funding for 500 new officers, and help the local law enforcement recruit returning skilled Iraqi veterans. Edwards will pay for the new law enforcement initiatives with an aggressive prosecution initiative to recover money from private contractors that used crony connections to secure Katrina/Rita recovery contracts and then ripped off taxpayers.

* Fully funding the "Road Home": Edwards is calling on Congress and the President to keep their promises and help make up the $3 billion difference to people of the Gulf to "do what it takes" to help rebuild the region by bringing back residents while creating good renovation and home repair jobs.

* Putting someone in charge: Edwards will appoint a Chief Recovery Officer to channel presidential leadership, ensure accountability, cut red tape and deliver results for the people of the Gulf Coast.

* Appointing a Special Gulf Coast Inspector General: Edwards will appoint a Special Inspector General with subpoena power to offer the public a full accounting of recovery spending at every level of government and investigate irresponsible contractors, referring fraud for aggressive prosecution by the Justice Department.

* Passing "Brownie's Law," so agencies like FEMA get the job done: Edwards will enact a new requirement - "Brownie's Law" - ensuring that senior political appointees actually are qualified to perform the job to which they are appointed. Brownie's Law will require that heads of executive agencies and other senior officials have demonstrated qualifications in the field related to their job.

For more details on these proposals and Edwards' agenda to get New Orleans back on its feet visit http://johnedwards.com

Go find another sand box to play in -

[Clanfear]

13. While Edwards was a Senator can you point to that position?

What did he do when he HAD the power to do something about those issues? Did he start any legislation that addressed his concern for the poor? I would think the proof would be in the pudding, so to speak.

[Bluebear]

15. He never said he grew up poor. He has said he grew up in a mill town & witnessed devastation.

"I grew up in a Carolina mill town and I've seen firsthand how people's lives are devastated when factories close down and those manufacturing jobs are lost."



So. Give what a "break"?

[SaveElmer]

9. Policies he voted for you mean....

More votes to backtrack on?

Is there anything in the 6 years he was a U.S. Senator that he is not going to apologize for?

[MGKrebs]

14. If only he would take working family (union) money

he might win.

But then, he has opted for public financing instead. Alas.