Losing Track of Time

Indiana is the laughing stock of the country thanks to our Governor, Mitch Daniels, and his Lapdog, State Representative Steve Heim, who chose to spit in the faces of the majority of Hoosiers by instituting the nuttiest, craziest time zone mess ever.
When our representatives fail to follow up on their promises, and instead, just follow the leader, it's time for them to be fired.
We can make sure that at least one of these guys hit the road next month.

Here is a song that tells it like it is:

Losing Track of Time

George Schricker: Lead Vocal & Rhythm Guitar
Steve DeFord: Keyboards & Backup Vocals
Bruce Bartlett: Bass & Tamborine
Produced by Bruce Bartlett
West Wind Studios
Elkhart, Indiana
for AFSCME

Spending the Social Security Surplus

Social Security is the most popular government program in history, providing monthly benefits to 43 million Americans. Forty percent of seniors would fall below the poverty line without their Social Security check. In 2001, there were an estimated 3.4 workers paying Social Security payroll taxes for the benefit of each retiree; by 2030, the ratio will fall to an estimated 2.1 workers per retiree. Last year, Congress approved a budget agreement that would spend the Social Security surplus. According to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly, “the agreement projects declining deficits over the succeeding four years, reaching $210.9 billion in FY 2010. However, all of these deficits count Social Security surpluses. If Social Security surpluses are not counted, the FY 2010 deficit would be $470.8 billion.” Both the House and Senate approved the measure.
"NO" was the pro-middle class vote.

Chris Chocola voted YES
It's Time for a Change!

Don't Cut Social Security

A Message to Union Retirees

by George J. Kourpias

I joined a union – the Machinists union – in 1952. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I’ve been fortunate to serve in a number of different positions in labor and government over the years, but there is no title that has ever meant more to me than being called “brother.”

The labor movement built the middle class in this country. We have made great strides toward justice on the job and in our communities. We have so much to be proud of.

But unfortunately, the story hasn’t been that good lately.

Union retirees are seeing what we built begin to crumble. Good jobs sent overseas.
Pensions and health care vanish in the blink of an eye. Big corporations walk away from their commitments to workers and retirees – knowing that the government won’t stand in their way.

As retirees, we worry about what we are leaving behind for our children and grandchildren.

On November 7, we can begin to change this. The entire U.S. House of Representatives, one-third of the United States Senate, and 36 of our governors must go before the voters.

November 7 shouldn’t be just Election Day. It should be Judgment Day.

It was the politicians who got us into a lot of these messes, and now we need some new ones to get us out of them.

Here are two reasons why each and every union retiree should vote on November 7:

First, we need to save Social Security. President Bush and Republicans in Congress say they want to “reform” Social Security next year.

But here’s the problem: their privatization scheme would gamble your Social Security on the whims of the stock market. For you, it would be big risk. For those on Wall Street, it would be big profit.

And second, we need to fix Medicare. Seven million seniors are falling into what is known as the “donut hole” – where they pay full price for their prescriptions, at the same time they pay full monthly premiums. And meanwhile, the big drug companies and insurers keep making record profits from this new Medicare law.

Congress created this Medicare mess, but they refuse to fix it. We need leaders in Washington who will fill in the “donut hole” and force Medicare to negotiate bulk discounts with the drug companies so your prescriptions cost less and we save taxpayer dollars.

I realize I’ve painted a pretty bleak picture of where we are today. But why do I have hope? What do I think we should do?

The answer, my brothers and sisters, is a four-letter word.

VOTE.

On November 7, a retiree’s place is in the voting booth.


George J. Kourpias, a former International President of the International Association of Machinists, is currently serving his second term as President of the Alliance for Retired Americans, an advocacy organization representing over three million retirees from labor and community groups. For more information, visit www.retiredamericans.org or call 1-888-633-4435.

Chocola, NO to bonus for troops, YES to raise for himself

Click here to see the video clip.

Chocola's answer to Universal Healthcare

USW Announces Intent to Terminate Goodyear Contract

Notice Delivered; Extension Agreement ends in 72 Hours; Likelihood of a Strike Increases

For Immediate Release October 2, 2006

(Pittsburgh, PA) -- The United Steelworkers (USW) announced today that it delivered the required notice to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and that unless a tentative agreement is reached; the contract will terminate on October 5, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. EST.

As a three-year master contract approached its July 22, 2006 termination date, both sides entered into a day-to-day extension agreement that provided both the company and the USW the option of terminating the agreement upon delivering a 72-hour notice.

"We've been telling the company that we would stay at the bargaining table as long as progress was being made," said USW executive vice president Ron Hoover. "There's no sense continuing these talks if Goodyear is intent on gutting our contract and closing our plants."

"It's a sad situation and a poor reflection on this company that we are forced to take this action after all we have done for them," Hoover added.

In 2003, the union agreed to a contract that provided the company with much needed financial flexibility by agreeing to wage, pension and health care concessions. In addition, each local union worked closely with local plant management to increase productivity and enhance efficiencies.

The master contract between the USW and Goodyear covers 14,000 workers at 12 U.S. plants in Akron, Ohio; Gadsden, Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y., St. Marys, Ohio; Lincoln, Neb.; Topeka, Kan.; Tyler, Texas; Danville, Va.; Marysville, Ohio; Union City, Tenn.; Sun Prairie, Wis.; and Fayetteville, N. C.

The USW represents more than 850,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada. Some 70,000 are employed in the tire and rubber industry.

Listen to the Goodyear workers radio spot here.

Contact: Wayne Ranick (412) 562-2444

Bush and Torture

Drug Companies Love Chris Chocola

More States Losing Jobs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) August jobs data for the 50 states and Washington, D.C. shows that the recent slowdown in job growth is spreading through more states even as growth remains strong in others.

Fourteen states lost jobs in August and nine states lost jobs over the two months of July and August. States losing jobs over the past two months include Nebraska, Michigan, Oklahoma, Kansas, Rhode Island, Alabama, New Jersey, Ohio and Wisconsin. Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina and Connecticut also faced near stagnation in their jobs market as a total of 20 states had less than 0.15% job growth over the two-month period.

At the same time, several Mountain and Southwest states – and a rebuilding Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi – enjoy strong job growth.

Louisiana and Michigan continue to have fewer jobs yr/yr and a total of 20 states – from Kansas and Rhode Island to Oklahoma and Illinois have added less that 1.1% to their job market over the past 12 months. (Despite losing –9.0% of its jobs over the past year, the “un-employment” rate in Louisiana is only 3.4% -- one of the lowest in the country – illustrating just how misleading is the overemphasis on “un-employment” rates.)

Job losses in Information Technology services and in Manufacturing have slowed job growth in many states for the past six years and continue to do so. Job growth in Construction, Finance/Real Estate and other services that have benefited from the recent, exuberant housing boom is weakening but continued in most states through August.

A recent Census report on median household incomes in all 50 states and DC also shows that the purchasing power of median household incomes in 29 states and D.C. fell over the five years 2000 to 2005. Some of the declines are severe. For the US as a whole, real median household incomes fell –2.7% during the period.

This long period of declining household incomes explains much of the current weakness in the jobs market in many states.
Source: USW Alert

Chris Chocola for Big Oil, Not YOU!

A Washington Love Affair

The Truth About Right to Work

by David Chlebek, Vice President USW Local 12775

To most people, right to work sounds like something that we should all be in support of. In a perfect world everyone should have a right to a job. However, right to work is far from that. Simply put, right to work legislation are laws at the state level that legally ban workers who by a majority vote decided to form a union in their workplace. The truth is that no one has the inherent right to work for a living or the right to a job. By Federal law unions must represent all workers-members and nonmembers-in contract negotiations and other workplace issues. This means that your dues dollars pay for helping nonmembers get the same contract benefits that you have.

Currently there are 22 states that have right to work laws. Oklahoma is the most recent. A right to work law would allow nonmember workers to get all of the benefits of a union membership and pay nothing while forcing unions and their members to foot the bill for those not willing to pay their fair share. Non-union workers in right to work states are only required to pay a "fair share" for union representation. How would you like to wait in line behind a non-union worker, waiting to have your grievance heard, while your griever is off representing a nonmember?

Right to Work-For-Less

Union contract negotiations are extremely difficult in right to work states. Non-union workers in right to work states earn on average about $5,333 less than a union member. This statistic comes from the Bureau of Labor. In 1986, Idaho became the 21st state to pass right to work. After it was passed, the average annual wage of carpenters dropped from $33,000 to $22,000. Hispanic union members earn 45 percent more per week than a non-union Hispanic. Women and African-Americans earn 30 percent more if they belong to a union. The rate of on the job fatalities in right to work states is a staggering 51 percent higher, according to the Bureau of Labor.

Right to work laws don't just affect our workplace, they devastate our communities as well. In right to work states, 21 percent more people are without health insurance compared with workers in free-bargaining states. Right to work states spend $1,699 less per elementary and secondary pupils than other states. The infant mortality rate in right to work states is an alarming 17 percent higher than in other states, and the poverty rate is 12.5 percent of the population compared to 10.2 percent in other states. This information comes from the Current Population Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau.

When the poverty level is higher, a state has to pay more in welfare benefits to support these families. The same goes for people that don't have any health insurance coverage. This means that less tax money is available for other things like roads and public development projects (infrastructure).

When workers make less money ($5,333 less), they pay less in state income taxes. Workers can't afford to buy better homes, which mean that they pay less in property taxes that go to fund public education.

Where Does Indiana Stand?

Currently, House Bill 1050-Employees Right to Work, which was authored by Rep. Gerald Torr R-Carmel, has been referred to the Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedures. There are not enough votes in favor of right to work to bring it out of committee. However, that could change in the future. There is a Indiana Committee For The Right to Work based in Speedway, IN that is soliciting support for the bill.

HELP WANTED

Seeking a political candidate who will do something about the 44,900 manufacturing jobs American workers are losing every month. A candidate who will get our government to start enforcing the trade laws it refuses to enforce now, so we can stop countries like China, India and Brazil from stealing American jobs.

Send resume to: the voters

Chocola no friend of Seniors

Trial Lawyers Get the Word Out on High Prescription Drug Costs…

The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) on Tuesday launched a $500,000 television and radio ad campaign in five congressional districts blaming GOP lawmakers for not seeking lower prices for Medicare’s prescription drug program. The ads accuse the lawmakers of blocking provisions that would have required Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for the best prescription cost. Members of Congress singled out by the ads are Reps. Heather Wilson of New Mexico, Deborah Pryce of Ohio, Chris Chocola of Indiana, Charles Taylor of North Carolina and Don Sherwood of Pennsylvania. “An ATLA spokeswoman has accused these lawmakers of ‘voting repeatedly to restrict access to justice,’ and she is absolutely correct,” said George J. Kourpias, President of the Alliance. The trial lawyers' ads will run through Sept. 7, and air as the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows 49 percent of seniors favoring the Democrat in their congressional district, with 41 percent favoring the Republican.

Source: Friday Alert, September 1, 2006 Alliance for Retired Americans

Toll Road pact a mistake

by Nancy Dembowski

The failures associated with decisions made in the Indiana General Assembly affect each of us dramatically. We have learned this the hard way in the past two years, when the majority in the legislature, including my opponent, stopped listening to us. This was very evident in the passage of daylight-saving time, a plan that has caused confusion, frustration and disruption across the state.

Our Toll Road was sold as the only way that Indiana would be able to pay for 10 years worth of road construction. The meager $3 billion payoff we received does not match the $130 billion foreign investors will receive during the remaining 65 years of the lease. Our Toll Road, once promised to be free by Gov. Harold W. Handley, has now been pledged for 75 more years of tolling taxation. Further, investors may raise tolls by 6.2 percent each year of the plan.

This so-called lease will not see its end in most of our lifetimes, or for that matter, the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren who will inherit this mistake. Even worse, much of this funding from the terrible deal is promised to build I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville as an additional toll road with increasing tolls. For this reason, not all projects in northern Indiana will be funded.

The elected leaders of Harris County, Texas, unanimously rejected a nearly $20 billion privatization bid of their own last June. What was their reasoning? County officials had implemented an independent study that demonstrated they would be able to match any profit the private firm generated. The Texans knew that there was nothing a private firm could do that they could not do just as well.

It is amazing how quickly certain Republican legislators, such as my opponent, were ready to endorse this plan. With little time for debate, they said we had to embrace bold action and move ahead with a sense of urgency. They were quick to adopt a risky scheme, and they have been short on compelling justifications for their behavior. To be sure, we have heard lots of excuses and numerous statistics that seem to fly fast and loose.

My opponent says there is no rational reason to accept the projected profit that the foreign investors told their own board they would make. He does indicate, however, that we should trust the governor's projected figures of the revenues generated by the lease because we can trust those numbers.

It should be noted that there were a few Republicans who stood their ground here in northern Indiana. State Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, who was the lone Republican dissenter in the Indiana House of Representatives, was joined by state Sens. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, Joseph Zakas, R-Granger, and Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, all of whom recognized that this was a bad move for our state. They chose to represent the sentiment of their constituents, something my opponent publicly discounted.

Now we are told that there will be benefits and improvements in our community such as those proposed on U.S. 30. However, U.S. 30 was not slated as a part of Major Moves. There is no money in place for this improvement and some folks believe that there may not even be enough money in the Major Moves proceeds to cover the cost of the projects that have been committed to date.

Leadership does need to be bold, but it must first be wise. To sell a state asset to foreign interests for a quick one-time payoff was not wise. To choose to ignore the views and opinions of your constituents, especially when they have demonstrated serious concern, is simply foolish.

There is no doubt that some House Republicans will make countless pledges in the coming months in anticipation of the November election. They have a record of saying and doing whatever it takes to win. In response, all I can say is: voter beware! In the meantime, state Rep. Steve Heim, R-Culver, would do well to remember that he was elected to represent the people of District 17 on matters before the state.

Nancy Dembowski is a former state senator who is the Democratic candidate for Indiana House District 17. She lives in Knox.

When Republicans Were People

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."
- - General of the Army D.D. Eisenhower


From the address by President Dwight D. Eisenhower "The Chance for Peace" delivered before the American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 16,1953.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.
It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.
It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals.
It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.
We pay for a single fighter with a half million bushels of wheat.
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.
This, I repeat, is the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking.
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

What a great guy!
Another way of looking at it would go something like this.

Chocola Manure

Three and 1/2 inches of rain, plus the addition of a soil amendment consisting of the latest mailings from Chris Chocola has produced this gigantic corn stalk over 15 feet tall.
Surely, some entrepreneur could sell Chocola Manure. I have a hunch that shredding this stuff might be the best way to go for a quick boost to plants, but keep in mind that it does rot pretty quickly.

Chocola Corn

My wife Elaine planted and cared for this corn which today measures 13 feet 3 inches tall. I’ve been trying to find out how she did it but she won’t tell me.
Today, she went out of town and I thought I would cook myself some beets, but having never done it before, started looking for a recipe when I came across the following stuck between pages of one of her cook books:

To Grow Chocola Corn:

1. Plant corn seeds one inch deep and two feet apart.
2. When plant is three feet tall, take all of the mail received from Congressman Chris Chocola telling us how great Medicare Part D is and cut into three inch squares.
3. Gently bury these squares three inches deep encircling the plant, being careful not to let them touch the roots, and cover lightly.
4. When plant is six feet tall, bury the Chocola mail that deals with how he is “saving the nation more than $100 million annually” at the same depth, but about 1 1/2 feet from the stalk, once again encircling the plant. Surplus mailings can be placed in the compost pile.

So there you have it.

Chocola gets another "F"

If you will go to the AFL-CIO web site

Then, under "HOT FEATURES", click on "How Did Your Members of Congress Vote?"

Then, click on "2006 Interim House Voting Record"

I believe that you will discover that Chris Chocola had the worst voting record for workers than any other member of the U.S. House of Representatives. At least, that's how it appears to me.

He would have had a 100% record against labor, but he was absent for the vote on Mine Safety and so wasn't able to vote against it.

I may be all wrong about this but my eyes got blurry going over the W's and R's.

If you're a worker, or a retiree, you cannot afford to vote for this guy.