Democrats pledge to reverse unions' decline

[Gan]

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) -- Six Democratic presidential contenders, courting one of the party's most crucial interest groups, pledged Wednesday to work to reverse decades of decline in the nation's union movement.

Sens. Joe Biden, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chris Dodd and Barack Obama, former Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said they would support labor-backed issues, such as expanding health care and toughening trade rules.

However, they contended that the biggest problem facing unions was the steady drop in membership, and all vowed to make it easier for unions to organize.

"It is not rich people that made this country great," Clinton (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/hillary.clinton.html) said. "We would not have had a middle class without the American labor movement."
Edwards (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/john.edwards.html) sounded a similar theme: "If we want to grow and strengthen the middle class, we have to grow the union movement."

Labor leaders grilled each of the candidates at the annual convention of the Iowa Federation of Labor, a key player in the state's Democratic politics. Each candidate had a half-hour session, and they were often dragged through the arcane details of policies backed by labor.

The umbrella labor group is unlikely to formally endorse a candidate for Iowa's leadoff precinct caucuses, but the more than 250 activists who listened to the candidates are all local political leaders. The federation represents roughly 55,000 workers, and it's likely that about 100,000 Democrats will settle next winter's caucuses.

"As long as I'm alive and breathing, I will be standing with you," said Edwards, who joined Obama (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/barack.obama.html) in pledging to walk a picket line if elected.

"Think about a president of the United States walking a picket line," Edwards said. "You're looking at one."

All the candidates noted their long ties to unions.
"The AFL-CIO in New York has dubbed me their favorite sister," Clinton said. "I will use the bully pulpit as president."

If elected, Obama promised to include organized labor when he shapes his new administration.

"You have to have a president (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/u_s_presidential_election) who is willing to talk about unions," he said. "I'd make sure the AFL-CIO was involved in the transition process."
Biden (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/joe.biden.html) called for easing restrictions on union organizing and noted the decline in membership from the 1950s, when roughly one in four workers belonged to a union.

"You are the middle class," he said. "If you want to grow the middle class, you have to grow the union movement."

All agreed that a series of trade deals has given competitors an unfair advantage and shifted jobs overseas.

"There ain't no such thing as free trade unless its fair trade, and that's not what's happening now," Biden said.

Dodd (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/chris.dodd.html) called for new restrictions on toys and food imported into the U.S. from China, pointing to reports of contaminated food and recalls of dangerous toys.

"This is an issue of safety," he said. "Parents should be confident that the toys they give their children have been inspected and are safe."

Richardson (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/bill.richardson.html) said he would set concrete goals for increasing union membership from its current 12 percent of the work force, pushing for a level as high as 20 percent.

"My secretary of Labor would be a union member," he said. "All of those union-busting attorneys would be gone."


http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/16/democrats.labor.ap/index.html

__________________________________________________ ____

Wow, just wow.

[serra7965]

Vote whores....they (the dem candidates) see their votes dropping because membership in unions are dropping.

I know there was a time for unions...but that time is long passed. It's basically only for the union bosses and the people who want and need the union votes.

[Atlanteax]

and is also only for those who need the job security (by making it so hard to be fired) so that they are not out of their jobs for being dumb lazy shits (ie the bums at the Big 3 "JobBanks" and those scandals of horrible teachers staying on b/ of tenure).

[Stanley Burrell]

Iowa just needs to have a less retarded population. The dems need to use such blatantly wanton lures just to get their points across, I'm sure.

My personal take on it is that the expected I.Q. for your possible rednecked horsefuckers needs babytalk whoring at the podium that could actually serve as being decent bait for the Democratic ballot just due to the stupidity of the people who, sadly, vote in Boondocks, U.S.A.

I guess an over-indulgence in politics and voting actually seems like a good idea when you live in Buttfuck, Cedar Rapids and want to take a break from cow-tipping. :shrug: Whatever. Obama should just bust out into a Televangelist-style sermon when in Rome, paired with a "Kill the Middle East" slogan, and he'll be running stronger.

2008, please vote, people. Please. I don't care if you're a first semester Freshman college student. Do eet. Please.

[TheEschaton]

Richardson continually seems to say absolutely retarded things.

[Keller]

Iowa just needs to have a less retarded population. The dems need to use such blatantly wanton lures just to get their points across, I'm sure.

My personal take on it is that the expected I.Q. for your possible rednecked horsefuckers needs babytalk whoring at the podium that could actually serve as being decent bait for the Democratic ballot just due to the stupidity of the people who, sadly, vote in Boondocks, U.S.A.

I guess an over-indulgence in politics and voting actually seems like a good idea when you live in Buttfuck, Cedar Rapids and want to take a break from cow-tipping. :shrug: Whatever. Obama should just bust out into a Televangelist-style sermon when in Rome, paired with a "Kill the Middle East" slogan, and he'll be running stronger.

2008, please vote, people. Please. I don't care if you're a first semester Freshman college student. Do eet. Please.

Uhhhhh, I don't know what to say.

People in the midwest have different values, but they're not dumb.

[Some Rogue]

Uhhhhh, I don't know what to say.

People in the midwest have different values, but they're not dumb.


I know what to say....just consider the source.

[Xaerve]

Iowa just needs to have a less retarded population. The dems need to use such blatantly wanton lures just to get their points across, I'm sure.

My personal take on it is that the expected I.Q. for your possible rednecked horsefuckers needs babytalk whoring at the podium that could actually serve as being decent bait for the Democratic ballot just due to the stupidity of the people who, sadly, vote in Boondocks, U.S.A.

I guess an over-indulgence in politics and voting actually seems like a good idea when you live in Buttfuck, Cedar Rapids and want to take a break from cow-tipping. :shrug: Whatever. Obama should just bust out into a Televangelist-style sermon when in Rome, paired with a "Kill the Middle East" slogan, and he'll be running stronger.

2008, please vote, people. Please. I don't care if you're a first semester Freshman college student. Do eet. Please.

Labeling individuals from a portion of the country as "inadequate" is nothing short of the same sentiments that fuel racism. You might want to re-read what you posted... and see how it makes you look like an ignorant bigot.

Also, when did you start posting 100% incoherently? You used to post normal based upon message in the archive on these forums. Is that the new cool thing to do? Use a thesaurus and insert random appositives and metaphors in every statement you make?

[Some Rogue]

Labeling individuals from a portion of the country as "inadequate" is nothing short of the same sentiments that fuel racism. You might want to re-read what you posted... and see how it makes you look like an ignorant bigot.

Also, when did you start posting 100% incoherently? You used to post normal based upon message in the archive on these forums. Is that the new cool thing to do? Use a thesaurus and insert random appositives and metaphors in every statement you make?


Apparently you haven't read any of his posts in the last two years or so. He hasn't posted many coherent thoughts since his "incident".

[Jorddyn]

Iowa just needs to have a less retarded population. The dems need to use such blatantly wanton lures just to get their points across, I'm sure.

My personal take on it is that the expected I.Q. for your possible rednecked horsefuckers needs babytalk whoring at the podium that could actually serve as being decent bait for the Democratic ballot just due to the stupidity of the people who, sadly, vote in Boondocks, U.S.A.

I guess an over-indulgence in politics and voting actually seems like a good idea when you live in Buttfuck, Cedar Rapids and want to take a break from cow-tipping. :shrug: Whatever. Obama should just bust out into a Televangelist-style sermon when in Rome, paired with a "Kill the Middle East" slogan, and he'll be running stronger.


You've obviously never been to Iowa. There's a reason Iowa is used for the straw poll and the first caucuses. We're the epitome of middle America. We're pretty much 50/50 Democrat/Republican. We have a few decent size cities, and a ton of little towns.

We're the nicest damn people you'll ever meet, we care about our neighbors, our farms, and our state. The vast majority of the state lives in the eastern half, and are hardly rednecks.

Oh, and for retarded? We have some of the best primary and secondary education in the country, along with one of the highest graduation rates. We're below average for college grads, due in large part to the high amount of jobs in agriculture that do not require degrees.

We work hard. We play hard. And we're sick of assholes like you who feel that because we don't choose to live close to a large body of salt water, and squashed into 50 square miles with 3 million of our closest friends that we don't count.

In short: bite me.

On topic, though, I'm not a fan of unions as they are today. I think OSHA and wage and hour do a fine job of keeping things safe and fair, which is what unions were started for. Now, they just seem to like strong-arming companies into meeting their demands, and making us much less competitive in a world market.

Jorddyn, Iowegian

[Kembal]

1. Richardson's an idiot. He already torpedoed himself though in the primary by supporting a balanced budget amendment.

2. Unions still do have a place in American industrial businesses, and still need to be present. (safety issues are still a major problem, believe it or not) However, the electoral system for union representation has to be changed significantly. There's abuses on both sides (corporate and union) that wouldn't be tolerated in normal elections. And no, I don't believe card check is the answer.

As for public employee unions, I dunno. Certainly the teacher's unions needs to give in on merit-based evaluations and pay. (though tying that stuff to standardized tests seems absolutely dumb.)

[Skeeter]

How anyone would get worked up over Stainly amazes me. His drug addled brain keeps him frothing at the mouth 24/7. The stupid fucker couldn't string together a coherent thought to save his life. There's no reason to read his posts, let alone quote and respond to his babbling drivel.

He's pretty much a complete waste of space. I hope you drive into a bridge embankment stain.

Tommy Chong thinks Stainly did too many drugs.

[Jorddyn]

How anyone would get worked up over Stainly amazes me. His drug addled brain keeps him frothing at the mouth 24/7. The stupid fucker couldn't string together a coherent thought to save his life. There's no reason to read his posts, let alone quote and respond to his babbling drivel.

He's pretty much a complete waste of space. I hope you drive into a bridge embankment stain.

Tommy Chong thinks Stainly did too many drugs.

Do you have any idea how many people are spewing crap like this during election season? Seriously, I get sick of it.

Straw, camel's back, all that.

Jorddyn

[Keller]

Do you have any idea how many people are spewing crap like this during election season? Seriously, I get sick of it.

Straw, camel's back, all that.

Jorddyn

Exactly.

I have no problem with people on the coasts calling people in the middle backwards. They are.

But they're not dumb.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Jorddyn
Do you have any idea how many people are spewing crap like this during election season? Seriously, I get sick of it.

Straw, camel's back, all that.

Jorddyn

Johnston, Iowa sucks though. Centro's restaurant in Des Moines is really good. Damn those free masons who built that building!

[Drew]

These candidates should ask the airlines and the auto companies how great unions are!

[Some Rogue]

The funniest thing about Stainley's rant is union membership is twice as high in New York as it is in Iowa.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

So they may have been speaking in Iowa, but they were pandering to you stupid fucks in the northeast right?

[CrystalTears]

Hey hey hey HEY HEY! Don't lump the rest of us in the NE with some ignorant fucking thing Stainley said. Holy shit I'm gonna kick your ass.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Some Rogue
The funniest thing about Stainley's rant is union membership is twice as high in New York as it is in Iowa.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

So they may have been speaking in Iowa, but they were pandering to you stupid fucks in the northeast right?

Not really. We already know how the NE is going to vote.

[Some Rogue]

Holy shit I'm gonna kick your ass.

Hawt
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a64/lrenzo2/blndwhip.gif


Not really. We already know how the NE is going to vote.

Yeah, but when you go to the Midwest, everyone knows you kiss the farmers' asses, not the 11% who are union members.

[Sean]

I generally try and to appeal to the sunflower consortium when I'm pandering to the midwest... god damn is it boring driving through Nebraska.

[Stanley Burrell]

Alright.

[Gan]

I really dont see how anyone these days, with an objective perspective, can support unions. Especially if they aren't stuck in the early 1900's mentality.

[Sean]

If I could get paid 100k/yr to sit on a job site bench and not work on a building I'd be all over it!

[Some Rogue]

I really dont see how anyone these days, with an objective perspective, can support unions. Especially if they aren't stuck in the early 1900's mentality.


They're pretty much a legalized Mafia imo. Employees pay them protection money and they'll strong arm and extort what they want out of the companies. "Oh you won't give us a raise? Then we'll strike and shut this place down for a few weeks." It's no wonder the real Mafia was so wrapped up in the Unions and probably still are...they're birds of a feather.

[Sean of the Thread]

Mmmmm teacher's unions.

[Seran]

Teacher's unions are actually one of the largest blights on the educational system, paled in comparison only to tenure.

Unions in general are wrong.