Back in January 2009, here's one of the economic solutions my opponent Virginia Foxx (NC-5) signed on to:
Assistance for the Unemployed: Incredibly, the Federal Government actually imposes income taxes on an individual receiving unemployment benefits. House Republicans propose to make unemployment benefits tax free so that those individuals between jobs can focus on providing for their families. The plan would also extend unemployment benefits for a full year.
This is the same Virginia Foxx who just three months earlier voted against extending unemployment benefits and who just this month voted yet again against an unemployment benefits extension.
It's pretty clear what Foxx's message to the people of western North Carolina is:
"I'll vote against extending your unemployment benefits every time, but if I supported extending unemployment benefits, I'd make them tax free.
That's some pretty fancy footwork, don't you think?
You all know where Virginia Foxx stands on helping out working families in these tough times, right? She's voted no to any stimulus spending; voted no on modifying bankruptcy laws to help folks avoid mortgage foreclosures; voted no to assisting workers whose jobs were lost due to globalization; voted no on restricting employer interference in union organizing; voted no on a minimum wage increase; and voted no on regulating the subprime mortgage industry. Of course that's just the tip of the iceberg....
Now we can all decide to just roll our eyes when Virginia Foxx gets so fired up about the poor getting a bite of the pie that she proposes an amendment to a homeland-security appropriations bill that says Katrina victims can't use government-issued debit cards to purchase Louis Vuitton handbags or we can decide to get off the porch and actually do something about it.
I've chosen the latter. That's why I'm running hard to beat Virginia Foxx this November. The future of North Carolina's Fifth Congressional district is at stake, but so is the future of all American workers.
Norma Sherry of Florida is one of those activist writers who has been warning us for some years now about the steep downward slope America was facing on the jobs front. In 2003, she wrote about the inevitable fallout of corporations slowly taking control of our livelihoods and our economic futures:
Today, dear reader, we have mammoth, gargantuan, giant, mega corporations that rule our country. They rule our legislature. They rule our government. They rule the workers. They are ruthless behemoths conspicuously without conscience. They are led by their greed and their allegiance is to no one; their drive for profit has no national loyalty.
How else could one explain the avalanche of wealth built on the sweat and tears and broken backs of its workforce? After years of promising job security and pay commensurate with their work; healthcare for their families; decent working hours; equal pay for equal work to its American workers and its Canadian workers; corporations are leaving them high and dry in the midst of their departure to lands and new workers far from our shores. They’re leaving for only one reason: money. The gold that lines their despicable pockets.
They care not that in their departure they leave our lands stripped, our forests barren, our water undrinkable, our earth diseased, our resources diminished. They care not that they have polluted our air, destroyed our farmlands, infected our cattle, poisoned our children.
Norma Sherry was right. So now here we are, reaping what corporate America and those who have done their bidding have sown.
And just look at what this "departure to lands and new workers far from our shores" has brought to the good people of the 5th district and to other hard-working American families.
Back in March of this year, the Economic Policy Institute published a study titled "Unfair China Trade Costs Local Jobs." Among other things, the study found that from 2001-2008, 2.4 million American jobs were lost or displaced--91,400 in 2008 alone.
Five congressional districts in North Carolina ranked among the top 50 congressional districts nationwide most affected by unfair trade policies with China. The 5th district of North Carolina, currently represented by the likes of Rep. Virginia Foxx, was #18 nationally, losing 9,300 jobs.
But the jobs impact of the China trade deficit is not restricted to job loss and displacement. Competition with low-wage workers from less-developed countries has also driven down wages for other workers in manufacturing and reduced the wages and bargaining power of similar workers throughout the economy. The impact has affected essentially all production workers with less than a four-year college degree—roughly 70% of the private-sector workforce, or about 100 million workers. For a typical full-time median-wage earner in 2006, these indirect losses totaled approximately $1,400 per worker.
America, the land of promise and success for those who would work hard and play by the rules, is now scrambling to keep the lights on. Well, some are scrambling. Others in Washington are perfectly willing--after bailing out corporate interests and after eagerly accepting corporate money to fund their next elections--to refuse to do so much as extend unemployment benefits for desperate Americans. Americans who instead of getting the opportunity to climb towards a brighter future for their children, now have to concentrate on finding quarters under the couch cushions.
My opponent has a "better" idea: gut any and all government safety nets and reward those who brought us where we are today with more tax cuts:
Virginia Foxx supports big monied interests (including her own) over the critical needs of working Americans. She still insists that if we'll hand over what little money remains in the penny jar to the rich, we'll eventually get even more pennies back. She warns us that a government that makes it hard on corporate profits is detrimental to the American way of life. She continues to rely on untruths and Republican talking points to win elections. She pits good people against each other with hate and fear instead of bringing us together to aim our sights squarely where the real problem is:
Virginia Foxx has been corrupted by a system that enriches those with the most power and influence by sacrificing the essential needs and hopes of Americans who are just barely hanging on in these tough times.
Our campaign is determined to beat Virginia Foxx, and we are hard at it. We are focused and energetic. We have an excellent strategic plan, dedicated staff and volunteers, and we are working hard every single day on every single level to achieve that plan.
I'm off the porch because there is no other choice but to stop Virginia Foxx before she steals the last penny. You can get off the porch too by helping my campaign through a contribution at ActBlue or by volunteering your time. I'd really appreciate it.
(Good morning, everyone. I'll be here about an hour to take your questions and comments.)