In the last presidential campaign, both candidates made a point of saying they would add more jobs, especially manufacturing jobs. But in the last three decades, both parties and all presidents have supported "Free Trade" agreements which have decimated American manufacturing. These agreements enable American companies to send manufacturing to other countries where there are low wages, no unions, and little or no environmental protection. These companies then bring the manufactured goods back to this country duty free.
These agreements are:
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement - Mexico, Canada) 1994, Clinton
PNTR (Permanent Normal Trade Relations) China, 2000, Clinton
Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) 2004, Bush
United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA), 2004, Bush
United States - Morocco FTA, 2004, Bush
United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, 2004, Bush
United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), 2005, Bush
United States-Bahrain FTA, 2006, Bush
United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA), 2006, Bush
United States-Oman FTA, 2009, Bush
United States-Jordan Free Trade Agreement 2010, Obama
US-Korea Trade Agreement, 2011, Obama
US-Panama Trade Agreement, 2011, Obama
US-Columbia Trade Agreement, 2011, Obama
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, (Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States) in negotiation, Obama
A United States - Israel FTA was initialized in 1985.
See: http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
We Are Entitled!
Overnight,
40000 people became citizen supporters of Congressmen Alan Grayson and
Mark Takano's letter against cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and
Medicaid benefits.
(You can also sign on as a citizen supporter here.) Thanks!
Tonight, when the president said the rich must pay their fair share, Democrats gave a standing ovation. Republicans were silent.
Republicans are demanding cuts to Social Security benefits. Tomorrow, Alan Grayson will give them an easy answer: No.
In
the morning, Grayson will ask his congressional colleagues to join him
on a letter saying, "we will vote against any and every cut to Medicare,
Medicaid, or Social Security benefits."
Just
yesterday, the White House press secretary called cutting Social
Security benefits "a technical change" that "is possible as part of a
big deal." (Unfortunately, in a speech that was fantastic on many issues
like jobs and guns, the president left the door open to these benefit
cuts.)
But
the Tea Party is so crazy that Speaker John Boehner needs Democratic
votes to pass any deal. That means Grayson's letter is crucial.
If enough congressional Democrats sign Grayson's letter, Social Security benefits will be firmly off the table.
We're
proud to be working with Democracy for America, MoveOn, CREDO Action,
Rebuild The Dream, Working Families Party, and Social Security Works on
this campaign.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
-- Adam Green, Stephanie Taylor, Michael Snook, Karissa Gerhke, and the PCCC team
P.S. If
you hear the wonky words "Chained CPI," that means cutting
cost-of-living adjustments that grandparents and veterans need. The
average Social Security beneficiary retiring at 65 would lose $28,004 of
income over the next 30 years -- the equivalent of two full years of
benefits. Help Grayson fight back.
Monday, February 11, 2013
More on the Schools
As many of you may know, I am proud to serve as President of the State Board of Education, a panel that was joined this year by two new Democrats: Michelle Fecteau and Lupe Ramos-Montigny. It is very gratifying to work with Michelle and Lupe and the rest of my colleagues on the Board as we confront troubling times for public education here in Michigan.
Last year ended with a very destructive lame duck session marked by Lansing Republicans sticking a pencil in the eye of hard-working teachers, nurses, and fellow union members with so-called "right to work" legislation. However, with your help, we managed to fight off a damaging right-wing education agenda -- for now.
During lame duck, Tea Party Republicans had planned to move House Bill 5923, authored by voucher proponent Richard McLellan, which would have created a “Wild West” of new school creation. The bill proposed unlimited online, charters, and for-profit schools with no quality control, sapping resources and likely destroying existing schools. Bills for an Education Achievement Authority (EAA) to turn around the worst-performing schools in the state were also loaded up with enablers of this new education marketplace. A proposal to finance this new school market with a voucher-like program where the foundation grant follows any and all student choices was floated by McLellan’s Oxford Foundation and was likely to be a major part of Gov. Rick Snyder's State of the State and budget message.
Fortunately, we all worked to call out these moves for what they were: "a recipe for an educational system meltdown."
House Bill 5923 never saw the light of day. Local parents, teachers, school and community members contacted their legislators, and even Republican lawmakers began to express doubts about the plan's potential damage to public education. Snyder walked back McLellan and the voucher-style school finance proposals.
But as we all remember, Snyder said "right to work" wasn't on his agenda, and then it was. So we have to remain active and vigilant in fighting for our kids' schools.
We must be prepared to respond when Snyder and Lansing Republicans introduce their new education "reform" proposals. We must insist on and participate in a vigorous debate. And we must make sure that whatever proposal moves forward, it focuses on helping, not hurting, public education.
To help to ensure a full public debate, the State Board of Education is convening public education forums across the state.
- Friday, March 1, 7:30 a.m. - Doyle Center, 7273 Wing Lake Rd., Bloomfield Hills
Women Officials Network (WON) Breakfast
Program featuring John Austin and State Board Vice President and WON President Casandra Ulbrich
Tickets can be purchased at www.womenofficialsnetwork.org or by emailing Pam Hansen
Program featuring John Austin and State Board Vice President and WON President Casandra Ulbrich
Tickets can be purchased at www.womenofficialsnetwork.org or by emailing Pam Hansen
Let’s refocus Michigan’s agenda from dismantling public schools to better supporting them and our hard-working teachers and staff that run them. It’s what the public wants as well.
John Austin
President, State Board of Education
Director, Michigan Economic Center
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Rick Snyder is failing Michigan
And Snyder’s agenda of favoring corporations over middle-class families isn't helping Michigan's economic situation.
Snyder loves to note that Michigan’s unemployment rate has rebounded from its worst in the country ranking in 2009. So what’s Michigan’s unemployment ranking today? 45th. And guess what? We were ranked 41st just 12 months ago. That's right -- we've actually regressed compared to other states during Snyder's administration.
It's time for some facts to counter Snyder's spin machine.
Check out our new website, MichiganDashboard.com, now:
Please -- help us spread the word by sharing the website with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter!
Finally some good news for the poor
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder backs expanding Medicaid to Michigan’s uninsured in US health plan
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 3:40 PM
LANSING,
Mich. — Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday became the sixth Republican
governor to back the extension of Medicaid coverage under the Obama
administration’s health care overhaul, setting the stage for a potential
fight with members of his own party who control the Legislature.
“It’s a win
for all,” Snyder said at a Lansing hospital the day before he proposes
his next state budget. Snyder was flanked by doctors, nurses and health
officials who support the expansion of taxpayer-funded health insurance
to about 470,000 Michigan residents.
“This is
saving money and improving lives,” he said of the expansion when asked
about the GOP’s opposition to President Barack Obama’s signature
domestic achievement. “This improves lives at an individual level, where
these people can hopefully have a great opportunity to have employment.
... It’s a tremendous gain at the individual and family level.”
Snyder said
the chance to cover nearly half of the state’s uninsured is “huge,”
adding that he is comfortable the health care system can handle the
extra caseload.
The federal
health care law gives states the option to accept the expansion, refuse
it or postpone a decision. But there are benefits for states that choose
to expand Medicaid. The federal government will pick up the entire cost in the first three years and 90 percent over the long haul.
In
30 states led by Republican governors, six governors have now called
for enlarging Medicaid. Ohio’s John Kasich earlier this week reiterated
his opposition to what he called “Obamacare” and the requirement that
people have health insurance but said expansion makes sense for Ohio.
But Pennsylvania’s Tom Corbett said Tuesday he will not pursue an
expansion, at least for now, echoing complaints of other Republican
governors about the cost, inflexibility and inefficiency of Medicaid. Snyder is
expected to run into resistance from some Republican lawmakers opposed
to the health law. Hospitals, doctors and others in favor of Medicaid
expansion joined Snyder at his announcement. He said
Medicaid expansion would save the state $200 million a year initially
because more people who now receive mental health services and medical
care from state-funded programs will instead be covered with federal
money. He called for setting aside $100 million a year of those savings
so Michigan can kick in for new enrollees down the line. He said the
expansion would effectively cost Michigan nothing until 2035.
This is the second time in less than 18 months that Snyder has bucked some in his own party on a major health care question. His
call to implement a state-run online marketplace where the uninsured
can get taxpayer-subsidized private coverage died in the GOP-controlled
Legislature. Michigan now is on the path toward a partnership exchange
controlled primarily by the federal government. By expanding
Medicaid in 2014, Michigan could add about 470,000 people to a program
that already serves about one in five state residents. Three years
of full federal funding for newly eligible enrollees are available from
2014 through 2016, gradually phasing down to 90 percent in 2020 and
after. The match rate for existing Medicaid participants is 66 percent. To qualify, household income must be below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, about $15,000 for an individual.
Conservatives are concerned deficit-burdened Washington will renege on the 90-percent deal and also have a philosophical resistance to expanding government programs, particularly one as large as Medicaid. Rep. Joe Haveman, a Holland Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee said Synder’s proposal deserves a closer look but Republicans have questions. “The federal government has a long history of promising support for long-term government programs and then coming up well short when the time comes to honor their commitment,” Haveman said in a statement. “We are going to do what’s best for the people we serve and do our homework on this proposal before committing one way or the other. Michigan residents deserve that.”
Conservatives are concerned deficit-burdened Washington will renege on the 90-percent deal and also have a philosophical resistance to expanding government programs, particularly one as large as Medicaid. Rep. Joe Haveman, a Holland Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee said Synder’s proposal deserves a closer look but Republicans have questions. “The federal government has a long history of promising support for long-term government programs and then coming up well short when the time comes to honor their commitment,” Haveman said in a statement. “We are going to do what’s best for the people we serve and do our homework on this proposal before committing one way or the other. Michigan residents deserve that.”
No Means No!
Lansing Republicans have introduced a bill that would require Michigan women seeking an abortion to be subjected to a transvaginal ultrasound.
Remember when Lisa Brown said this?
And then we did this?
Still Lansing Republicans have continued their War on Women. So the question is, what will Rick Snyder do? Are transvaginal ultrasounds "on the agenda" for Snyder?
Here's what Rick Snyder said when asked if he would sign legislation restricting a woman's right to choose:
We can't trust Snyder to stand up for women's rights.
Call his office NOW and ask him to denounce this bill: 517.335.7858.
Help us defeat him in 2014!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Rally against the NDAA
c/o Robert Wilhelm
6635 N. Baltimore AVE, STE 230
Portland, OR 97203
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