Topic: Economy
Economic woe spurs Democrats in U.S. heartland
Reuters
Billie Jo Reese works full time, is raising two children alone and is trying to go back to school.
Her wage at a nursing home is $8.25 (4.41 pounds) an hour, putting her family near the poverty line. She can't afford health insurance and isn't sure she'll have enough money for heat all winter.
While Washington is aflame with corruption and sex scandals and the Iraq war, in heartland America voters like Reese are more preoccupied with the struggle to get by.
Ohio pushed President George W. Bush's reelection over the top in 2004, but in congressional elections next month economic hardship in the rust belt could turn the tide against incumbents from Bush's Republican Party.
"It's getting worse," said Reese. "My mother used to help me a lot, but now that she doesn't have her job we just get by as best we can."
...Reese, 31, has neither time nor money to spare, but on a cold October night she came out to confront politicians here and pay a small fee to join a liberal lobby group for working families.
She and her mother, Donna, 50, a locked-out autoworker whose unemployment benefits are about to expire, fired questions about health insurance and job security at Zack Space, a Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives, and a representative of Senate Democratic hopeful Sherrod Brown.
Reese said Democrats care more than Republicans about working families, and she wants change at the midterm elections on November 7, when control of Congress is at stake.
Three weeks before the ballot, both Space and Brown were leading incumbent Republicans in opinion polls.
New TV Spot: DeWine Voted To Eliminate “Countless” Jobs
AMHERST, OH -- The Sherrod Brown for Senate Campaign today announced a new television advertisement highlighting Senator DeWine's record of voting to eliminate countless jobs and keep wages low. Since DeWine began his second term in office, Ohio lost more than 200,000 manufacturing jobs, wages stagnated, and the cost-of-living skyrocketed. DeWine supported the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), voted for every trade pact offered by the Bush administration, and voted against overtime pay protection and raising the minimum wage. DeWine accepted more than $1 million from companies that outsource U.S. jobs.
The spot can be viewed here: http://sherrodbrown.com/pages/countless
"While he rewarded special interests with subsidies and the rich with tax breaks, Senator DeWine voted for policies that eliminated countless jobs and kept workers' pay low," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH). "Mike DeWine turned his back on Ohio workers when times got tough, and instead sided with multinational corporations that sent jobs overseas. Sherrod Brown introduced legislation to reward patriot corporations that create jobs in the United States, and fought to lower costs and raise pay for middle class families."
After 6 Years of Bush and DeWine, Ohioans are Worse Off
CINCINNATI, OH -- President George W. Bush is scheduled to campaign for Republican incumbent Senator Mike DeWine today in Cincinnati in an effort to help the two-term incumbent's failing bid for re-election.
DeWine is running against Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who introduced plans to create jobs, provide affordable health care, education, and tax cuts to middle class families, and refocus our efforts on the war on terror.
Down in the polls since early summer, DeWine recently launched a series of attack ads in order to try to gain traction six weeks before Election Day. Despite outspending Brown and using misleading ads that distort the truth and attempt to hide DeWine's record, support for his campaign continues to falter.
DeWine and Bush are expected to discuss how their tax cuts for the rich have affected the economy. Middle class families don't remember receiving the more than $1 trillion in tax cuts, because they were overwhelmingly targeted to the top 1% and the cost-of-living for most Ohioans skyrocketed.
What Can Sherrod Brown Do for the Democrats?
The Nation
Brown does not give up on blue-collar voters in forgotten cities like his hometown of Mansfield. With his Kennedyesque looks and Clintonesque memory for facts and figures--not just on hot-button issues but on projects like his successful fight to dramatically increase US support for international programs to combat tuberculosis--he moves easily through the political and social scenes of New York and Los Angeles, where he must raise money for a campaign that could cost $20 million. But he is, first and foremost, an Ohio boy. The son of a small-town doctor who grew up working summers on a family farm, he has spent his adult life representing automaking towns like Mansfield. Elected to the state legislature at 22 and as Secretary of State at 29, Brown in the early 1980s seemed destined to replace one of Ohio's Democratic senators, Howard Metzenbaum or John Glenn. Instead, his political career was derailed in 1990, when he lost the state post to Republican Bob Taft--now Ohio's scandal-plagued lame-duck governor--in a brutal election that saw state and national GOP operatives pour millions into an attack campaign intended to stop Brown in his tracks.
But Brown proved resilient. When a northern Ohio Congressional seat opened in 1992, he beat a well-funded Republican foe by running far ahead of the national Democratic ticket and arrived in Congress in time to vote against NAFTA. Representing a blue-collar district that was home to thousands of auto- and steelworkers, the Yale-educated Brown became their champion--not just in the House but in the streets of Seattle, where he marched in 1999 with Ohio unionists protesting the World Trade Organization. With Brown, workers come first, says John Ryan, longtime head of Cleveland's North Shore Federation of Labor, who recalls the Democrat's willingness "to take on the President of his own party by denying President Clinton fast-track authority" to negotiate trade agreements. Brown's tactical skills and his knowledge of the issues, which were recognized by House minority leaders Dick Gephardt and Nancy Pelosi when they made him point man in trade-policy fights with Democratic and Republican administrations, guaranteed that he would emerge in the Senate as one of his party's most effective spokesmen on economic issues.
Click here to read the full article.
09/15/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Sherrod Press, (all tags)
DeWine, Brown make local stops as campaign for Senate keeps busy pace
From Dayton Daily News:
The U.S. Senate campaign came to Dayton on Wednesday, with incumbent Republican Mike DeWine and Democrat Sherrod Brown both visiting the area.
With recent polls giving Brown, a U.S. representative from Avon, a five- to eight-point lead, both candidates said they understand the importance of the next two months.
"It's a close race. We've known all along that it was going to be a close race," said DeWine, who began his day in Cleveland before heading south to the Montgomery County GOP's Annual Family Dinner at Polen Farm in Kettering. "But I love to campaign. This is very much a grass roots effort."
Brown spent most of the morning focusing on alternative energy with small-business owners and other entrepreneurs at the 2nd Street Market in Dayton.
"We want to make Ohio the Silicon Valley of alternative energy," Brown said. "We all know what high gas prices are doing to our businesses and other individuals."
One of those people is Rahn Keucher of Rahn's Artisan Breads, a local baker who serves more than 40 independent restaurants in the Dayton region.
Keucher said he hopes for "a peaceful regime change" that contributes to a drop in fuel prices for his business, which has taken a $5,000 hit on gas costs in the past year.
"It affects my bottom line," Keucher said. "And it affects whether I can attempt an expansion or hire new employees. I've been holding the line for awhile, hoping things would abate."
The increase will eventually force Keucher into charging for his deliveries, just as his vendors have done in recent months, he said.
Brown supports investment in alternative energy and renewable fuels, and research for new energy sources such as hydrogen, wind, solar, and biomass, his campaign said.
Click here to read full article.
Sherrod Brown focuses on energy
Standing along a busy downtown street in the doorway of a flower shop Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, shared his rosy vision of the future for both Akron and Ohio.
He said the state ``has the capacity to become the Silicon Valley of alternative energy.''
``From a hydrogen plant in Akron to a biorefinery in Lima,'' Brown said, ``Ohio can be at the center of our fight to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil.''
Backed by a large red, white, and blue quilted banner announcing his claim to the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Mike DeWine, Brown spoke of the need to address the nation's energy crisis by greatly expanding the use of alternative energy.
Noting that area gas prices are hovering in the $3-per-gallon range, Brown said the average two-car family in Ohio will pay about $1,500 more for gas this year than in ``2001 when President Bush came to office.''
Speaking to about two dozen people gathered in front of the Wildflower florist shop on East Market Street, Brown accused Bush, DeWine and the GOP Congress of passing legislation that not only continues but also increases America's addiction to oil. ``Mike DeWine voted for an energy bill that gave billions to oil companies while Ohio drivers were left to foot the bill,'' said Brown, who is giving up his 13th District seat to make a run at DeWine. ``We must protect consumers from price gouging and eliminate the billion-dollar taxpayer subsidies to big oil companies,'' he said.
Click here to read the full article.
08/16/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Environment, Northeast Ohio, (all tags)
As Dewine Provides Giveaways To Oil Companies, Brown Announces Plan To Lower Energy Prices
"Ohio could be Silicon Valley of alternative energy"AKRON - While Mike DeWine and the GOP Congress continue to pass legislation that increases the nation's addiction to oil, U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) met today with small business owners to discuss solutions to the nation's energy crisis. In July 2005, Mike DeWine voted for a Republican energy bill that provided billions of dollars in giveaways to the oil and gas companies. That month, the price of a gallon of regular gasoline in Ohio was $2.23. Today, that price is more than $3.00.
"Mike DeWine voted for an energy bill that gave billions to oil companies while Ohio drivers were left to foot the bill," said Brown. "Small businesses are feeling the burn of rising energy prices as a greater share of their budget is dedicated to fuel and heat. This year, Mike DeWine again voted to reward his big oil buddies by supporting increased drilling instead of providing Ohio consumers and businesses with the relief they deserve."
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08/15/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Environment, gas, (all tags)
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