News about the 2004 Presidential election and the candidates' stand on labor and employment issues.
Huge Union Decides to Endorse No One Now
Source: Rachel L. Swarns, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Howard Dean, Richard Gephardt & John Edwards
Date: September 11, 2003
Torn between the longtime favorite and two fresh faces, the largest union in the A.F.L.-C.I.O. decided today
not to endorse any of the nine Democratic hopefuls for the presidency for now. Officials at the union, the
Service Employees International, said the 1,500 members at a convention here ranked former Gov. Howard Dean of
Vermont; Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, a longtime labor supporter; and Senator John Edwards
of North Carolina as the top three contenders. The decision reflected uncertainty about Mr. Gephardt, whom many
union members consider as having the best record on labor issues but who has struggled to raise campaign money.
It also reflects growing support for Dr. Dean, who was mobbed by enthusiastic union members.
In Iowa, Gephardt Struggles to Keep a Key Constituency
Source: Terry Neal, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Richard Gephardt
Date: September 17, 2003
One by one, Iowa's labor unions lined up behind Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.). The
machinists. The steelworkers. The Teamsters, among others. In Iowa, where stress over America's shrinking
manufacturing base runs high, they all said Gephardt was the guy who could best represent their interests in
the White House. But then something surprising happened. Polls started showing that former Vermont governor
Howard Dean had moved ahead of Gephardt in Iowa. Even more shocking was this: One poll showed Gephardt trailing
Dean in union households. How could it be that a virtual unknown from a tiny New England state could be leading
the well-known pol from nearby St. Louis, who has led his party in Washington for years and stood up to both a
Democratic and a Republican president on a host of trade of issues?
Firefighters Union Will Throw Support to Kerry, Officials Say
Source: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: John Kerry
Date: September 19, 2003
The International Association of Fire Fighters will endorse Senator John Kerry
for president next week, union officials said yesterday, making it the first union to endorse a Democratic
presidential candidate other than Representative Richard A. Gephardt. Harold Schaitberger, the firefighters'
president, declined to discuss his union's plans, but labor leaders who have talked with him said the union
would back Mr. Kerry because its leaders thought the senator was the most electable Democrat. The
firefighters' endorsement, which is expected to be announced on Wednesday in Washington, is bound to hurt Mr.
Gephardt's efforts to win the coveted endorsement of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., union leaders said.
Text: Democratic Candidates Debate
Source: Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: all ten Democratic candidates
Date: September 25, 2003
Contains the full
text of the Democratic Candidates Debate held in New York on Sept. 25, hosted by Brian Williams.
Unions Put Democratic Endorsement Plans on Hold
Source: Leigh Strope (AP), FindLaw Legal News
Candidate/Organization: multiple Democratic candidates
Date: September 29, 2003
Organized labor has yet to organize when it comes to choosing a Democrat to challenge President Bush.
Late entrant Wesley Clark is shaking up the process even further, with some key unions delaying endorsement
plans to see if he energizes voters. Many unions had expected to endorse a 2004 choice this month or next, but
they became wary about getting tied to a loser in a volatile contest with a crowded field that has seen the
early front-runner trip and a once-afterthought soar. Enter Clark - and intrigue for several unions whose
rank-and-file have failed to coalesce around one candidate. Will the retired four-star general be the savior
leading Democrats back to the White House? Or will he flame out? Some unions are taking time to find out.
AFL-CIO Not Ready to Make White House Endorsement
Source: John Whitesides (Reuters), Forbes.com
Candidate/Organization: Democratic candidates
Date: September 30, 2003
The nation's largest labor organization said Tuesday it was not ready to make an endorsement in
the Democratic presidential primary race, dealing a setback to Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt. AFL-CIO
President John Sweeney said he would not call a general board meeting for mid-October, where leaders of the
federation would have considered endorsing a candidate.
Gephardt Won?t Get Early Backing of Labor
Source: Steven Greenhouse & Rachel L. Swarns, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt
Date: October 1, 2003
The A.F.L.-C.I.O. announced yesterday that it would not endorse a Democratic
presidential candidate this month, dealing a sharp setback to the campaign of Representative Richard A.
Gephardt of Missouri. After meeting with other union leaders in Washington, John J. Sweeney, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
president, said he was canceling an endorsement meeting planned for Oct. 14 because he could not muster the
two-thirds support Mr. Gephardt needed to obtain the federation's coveted backing. Nor was there a consensus
on anyone else in the crowded Democratic field. For years as House Democratic leader, Mr. Gephardt has been a
staunch ally of organized labor, and his aides hoped that an October endorsement would give him a lift going
into the winter primary season. It would have given him labor's imprimatur and provided hundreds of union
officials to work for him across the nation during the primaries and caucuses.
White House Facing Revolt Within GOP
Source: Robert Kuttner, Boston Globe
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: October 1, 2003
In just a few weeks the political tide has turned dramatically against
President Bush. His popularity ratings have dipped below 50 percent. His policies are under fire on the Iraq
war, the economy, and the budget mess. Moreover, Bush is facing an escalating revolt from within his own party.
A little-noted indicator is that Republican senators and House members are no longer willing to take unpopular
votes merely because the White House demands them. Lately the administration has lost several key votes that
were billed as Republican tests of loyalty:
Dems Blame Unemployment Woes on Bush, but Some Economists Disagree
Source: Christine Hall, Cybercast News Service
Candidate/Organization: all candidates
Date: October 1, 2003
News of layoffs and high unemployment make headlines and give Democratic
presidential candidates talking points. Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, for example, has accused the Bush
administration of presiding over "the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover." The Bureau of Labor and
Statistics reported last week that 134,000 workers were laid off last month in 1,258 mass layoffs (of more than
50 workers in a single month). Meanwhile, unemployment is 6.1 percent, according to the BLS, compared to 4.5
percent five years ago. But economists like Robert D. Reischauer of the Urban Institute, a former CBO director,
say the president isn't to blame.
Gephardt's Labor Roots Run Deep
Source: Ed Tibbetts, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
Candidate/Organization: Richard Gephardt
Date: October 6, 2003
Now, with this likely to be his last stab at politics' biggest
prize, Richard Gephardt is melding his familiarity with the byways of America's politics with a hefty health
care plan to try to seize the party's presidential nomination. It's not easy. The field is crowded. A guy few
heard of a year ago --- Howard Dean --- is setting fire to the grass roots. Gephardt's second quarter
fund-raising totals were disappointing. But, the Missouri man who first won elected office as a St. Louis
alderman in 1970 by going door-to-door --- working one side of the street while his soon-to-be wife worked the
other --- is marching forward.
Source: Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: all candidates
Date: October 4, 2003
Aides to President Bush say he is willing to make big bets on policies he believes in. When it comes to the
economy, Mr. Bush has been like a gambler, pushing through one tax cut after another despite early signs that
his policies were not stopping big losses of jobs. On Friday, Mr. Bush was finally able to point to evidence
that his approach had results. The news that the economy had added 57,000 jobs in September and that during the
summer it had not lost as many as previously estimated was the first sign since January that the so-far-jobless
recovery was giving way to a slowly improving employment situation. Still, in the time since Mr. Bush took
office and the three tax cuts were passed, the economy has lost 2.8 million jobs. That fact remains an
uncomfortable obstacle to his claims of progress in recovering from the recession, which started two months
after he moved into the White House but ended nearly two years ago.
Edwards Carries Message on Training, Employment
Source: Tim Funk, Charlotte Observer
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Edwards
Date: October 7, 2003
Sen. John Edwards
said Monday that as president he'd push to give community colleges a total of $100 million a year to retool
job retraining programs that often fail to teach laid-off workers the skills that are in demand. On day two of
his latest swing through this key early-primary state, the N.C. Democrat brought his campaign to New Hampshire
Community Technical College -- a model, he said, of how a school can have such a hand-in-glove relationship
with businesses that re-trained workers graduate into actual jobs. Its partners include Toyota and Lonza
Technologies, a biotechnology company.
Gephardt Meets with Unemployed Workers, Labor Leaders
Source: Jennifer Holland (AP), Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt
Date: October 6, 2003
Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt promised to bring jobs
back and create fair trade as he saw the many faces of South Carolina's unemployed Monday. The 62-year-old
Missouri congressman campaigned in some of the state's economically distressed areas including Fairfield
County, beset with the loss of high-paying jobs and a 14.5 percent unemployment rate in August. "This economy
is a mess," Gephardt said as his criticism of President Bush and the North American Free Trade Agreement echoed
throughout the large gymnasium at a recreational center where about two dozen gathered in a semicircle of
chairs.
Labor Union Backs Gephardt for President
Source: Sam Hananel (AP), Newsday
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt
Date: October 10, 2003
One of the nation's largest labor unions will back Dick Gephardt in the
Democratic presidential race, giving the candidate more foot soldiers in his White House bid. The United Food
and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents about 1 million workers in the United States,
plans to endorse Gephardt based on his broad plan for universal health care. Gephardt's proposal is "the best
plan for preserving the employer-based health care system in this country," union spokeswoman Jill Cashen said
Friday. The UFCW includes workers in the retail food, meatpacking, poultry and health care industries.
Gephardt Builds on Already Solid Ties to Labor
Source: Mike Glover (AP), San Francisco Chronicle
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt
Date: October 11, 2003
Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt nurtured his already solid
ties to organized labor Saturday, building on a constituency that could make the difference in Iowa's leadoff
precinct caucuses. Gephardt rallied with Teamsters president James Hoffa, collected the endorsement of the
United Food and Commercial Workers Union and said his close ties with labor are crucial to Iowa's
organization-driven caucuses.
Rhetoric Vies With Reality on a Hot Topic: Jobs
Source: David Leonhardt, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: all candidates
Date: October 12, 2003
Jobs
-- the loss of them over the past three years and plans for creating them in coming years - have moved quickly
to the center stage of the young presidential campaign. President Bush and his aides refer to the recent tax
cut, almost without exception, as the "jobs and growth" package. Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor
seeking the Democratic nomination, said on Wednesday that he expected jobs to be the race's biggest issue.
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, another Democratic candidate, interrupted himself in a recent
debate to announce, "This is all about jobs." With the attention has come an escalating battle between the
parties to define the terms of the debate and the numbers used in it. To no one's surprise, that battle
includes some hyperbole.
New Labor Alliance Looks to Help Gephardt
Source: Brian C. Mooney, Boston Globe
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt
Date: October 17, 2003
More than a dozen national labor unions supporting Representative
Richard A. Gephardt announced yesterday they are banding together to form a group that will promote his
candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. At a news conference in Washington, the labor leaders
said the new group, called the Alliance for Economic Justice, will seek special status under the Internal
Revenue Service code to spend union money to communicate with members and promote key labor issues and
political candidates. Donald J. Kaniewski, legislative and political director of the Laborers' International
Union, said later the group will support Gephardt's candidacy in the short term but also has a long-term
agenda of emphasizing job preservation, foreign trade safeguards, and affordable health care.
With Health Insurance, Democratic Candidates Have Got It Covered
Source: Ceci Connolly, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Democratic presidential candidates
Date: October 20, 2003
In the end, when it comes to health care, all things are personal. At an AARP
forum last week, six of the nine Democratic presidential candidates filled the better part of two hours talking
health policy minutiae with several hundred Iowa seniors. They had no trouble tossing around
multibillion-dollar projections and Medicare reimbursement rates. But a few appeared to have been caught off
guard when Hotline Editor Chuck Todd asked what health insurance each had.
A Bright Economy? Only the Voters Know for Sure
Source: Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: October 19, 2003
Lucky is the president who gets his recession out of the way early. Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan
presided over sharp economic downturns in their first terms, but could point to a year or two of declines in
unemployment by the time they faced the voters again. Both coasted to re-election. Jimmy Carter in 1980 and
George H. W. Bush in 1992 were saddled with jobless rates that peaked only months before Election Day, and were
tossed out of the White House, even though, in Mr. Bush's case, the overall economy was recovering nicely. For
the current President Bush, a keen student of what happened to his father, the prospects for re-election may
rest to a substantial degree on whether the economic woes of his first three years in office give way fairly
quickly to a palpable sense that prosperity has returned, or soon will.
Farmers and Labor Press Global Trade as a Campaign Issue
Source: Elizabeth Becker, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Sen.Joseph I. Lieberman; Rep. Richard A. Gephardt and Howard Dean
Date: October 21, 2003
When unions go on strike here, local farmers usually
show up at picket lines with hogs and fresh produce to make sure the workers' families have food on their
tables. And when farmers were suffering through the 1980 agricultural crisis, union members rolled up their
sleeves to help raise pressure for higher crop prices. But it has taken a shared fury about international trade
rules to bring together farmers and unions in a rare coalition over a single issue, one they are elevating to
the top of the agendas of both the Republican president and his Democratic challengers as they court voters in
the runup to the Jan. 19 caucuses here. Unions and farmers who are members of the new Iowa Fair Trade Coalition
object to rules that they say are weighted to favor large corporations. They criticize changes in the trade
rules for going beyond merely lowering tariffs to include protections for corporations that threaten national
laws covering the environment, access to inexpensive medicine and labor standards.
Labor Unions Back Dean, Gephardt
Source: Jonathan Roos, Des Moines Register
Candidate/Organization: Howard Dean; Richard Gephardt
Date: October 28, 2003
Democratic presidential rivals Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt, who are competing for the support of organized
labor, announced endorsements from separate labor unions Monday. Dean, a former Vermont governor, received the
endorsement of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which has 140,000 members. It is the
first international union to declare its support for Dean, who is vying with eight other candidates to become
the Democratic nominee for president. Gephardt, a Missouri congressman, was endorsed by 2,300-member Iowa Local
234 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. He reported that 20 international unions have given
their endorsements as well, giving him a total combined membership of over 54,000 members of unions that
support his candidacy. Last week, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry received the endorsement of the Utility Workers
Union of America, which represents about 50,000 members.
Blow to Gephardt: Major Union May Endorse 'Dean or No One'
Source: Jill Lawrence, USA Today
Candidate/Organization: Howard Dean
Date: October 30, 2003
The largest union in the AFL-CIO will endorse Democrat Howard Dean for president or no
one at all when its board meets Nov. 6. Either way, says Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees
International Union, "the passion of the members lies with Howard Dean." A formal endorsement for Dean would be
bad news for the rest of the Democratic field, especially Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt. A labor stalwart, he
is counting on unions to carry him to victory in important states such as Iowa, which starts the nomination
process with caucuses Jan. 19. Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi, cautioned in an e-mail that the SEIU
endorsement process is not complete. But he added that backing from the union "would be a tremendous
development for the Dean campaign."
Gephardt's Presidential Hopes Lie With Labor, Midwest Region
Source: Kevin Diaz, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt
Date: November 9, 2003
Standing on Bob Bell's farm on the outskirts of town, Dick Gephardt found himself wedged between a pair of
teleprompters and a field of golden corn, mingling with large men in seed caps and union jackets. Gephardt's
idea of heaven? Yes, it's Iowa. Voters here will make or break the Missouri Democrat's presidential hopes
come the first-in-the-nation January caucuses, which he won 15 years ago in his first White House bid.
Longtime Labor Friend Passed Over for Endorsements
Source: Chris Christoff, Detroit Free Press
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt
Date: November 8, 2003
Dick
Gephardt must feel like a faithful boyfriend watching his girl go to the prom with the new kid in school. No
presidential candidate has been more closely aligned with labor than the longtime congressman from Missouri.
He's been a stalwart on such causes as opposing unfair foreign trade and supporting broad health care for
everyone. So, what does Gephardt get in return? Thursday, the national Service Employees International Union
endorsed Democratic rival Howard Dean. Next week, Dean is expected to get the endorsement of the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. So two of the nation's biggest unions are coming out for
Dean. And Friday, the UAW's international board voted to make no recommendation in the presidential race.
It's another national endorsement Gephardt banked on, but which slipped away.
Old Loyalist and New Face Divide Backing of Unions
Source: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Howard Dean, Richard Gephardt
Date: November 12, 2003
Gerald W. McEntee, the president of the nation's largest public-sector union, has long been looking for a
Democratic presidential contender who can be a winner, and two months ago he was leaning toward the candidacy
of Gen. Wesley K. Clark. Mr. McEntee, whose 1.4 million union members are a formidable political force, even
asked Harold M. Ickes, the deputy White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, to run the Clark
campaign, several Democrats said. But over time Mr. McEntee soured on General Clark, and today he plans to
announce that his union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is endorsing Howard
Dean.
Big Labor: What Its Seal of Approval Means
Source: Liz Marlantes, Christian Science Monitor
Candidate/Organization: Howard Dean, Richard Gephardt
Date: November 12, 2003
Howard Dean's expected endorsement Wednesday by two large and politically influential unions - the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME) - will give the former Vermont governor added organizational support and a more diverse look to his
campaign. More important, it lends the anti-establishment candidate his first significant stamp of approval
from the Democratic establishment - which could make it a pivotal moment in the race. Certainly, labor has
proven a decisive force in past Democratic primaries. The two times the AFL-CIO has endorsed a candidate, in
2000 and 1984, it helped Al Gore and Walter Mondale crush challenges from Bill Bradley and Gary Hart. In other
years, individual unions breaking from the pack have played kingmaker - as when AFSCME expressed early support
for Bill Clinton in 1992.
High-Unemployment Areas May Be Politically Treacherous for Bush
Source: Ron Hutcheson (Knight Ridder), Biloxi Sun Herald
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: November 7, 2003
President Bush came to North Carolina to talk about the improving economy
Friday, but the silver lining in his message was obscured in parts of the state by the dark cloud of
unemployment. The anger and frustration left behind by a wave of layoffs has soured even some of Bush's most
ardent supporters in a state that he carried handily in 2000. North Carolina has lost more than 100,000 jobs
since Bush took office, including 51,000 in the state's textile industry. While the economy appears to be
rebounding, Friday's report that national unemployment dipped and payrolls expanded is not enough to
compensate for the past three years when roughly 3 million jobs were lost. The lingering sour mood in high
unemployment areas such as this one underscores the political risks that lie ahead for Bush if job growth
continues to lag.
Source: Michael Tackett and Jeff Zeleny, Chicago Tribune
Candidate/Organization: Howard Dean
Date: November 13, 2003
Howard Dean took another step on his long walk from being the "who's he?"
candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination to becoming the choice of party insiders Wednesday when he
picked up the formal endorsement of two of the nation's most politically savvy and powerful labor unions. The
Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
joined forces to back Dean, arguing that he is best positioned--financially and organizationally--to defeat
President Bush in 2004. The choice reflected a union decision that was more pragmatic than sentimental. Dean
does not have the same history of supporting labor as one of his rivals for the nomination, Rep. Richard
Gephardt (D-Mo.), but union leadership became convinced that Dean's chances were far better than Gephardt's
to win the nomination.
Gephardt Downplays Dean's Labor Coup
Source: Steve LeBlanc (AP), San Jose Mercury News
Candidate/Organization: Richard Gephardt, Howard Dean
Date: November 13, 2003
Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt vowed to defeat rival Howard Dean in Iowa and seize the
nomination despite Dean's recent endorsement by two major labor unions. "I don't see him as a runaway train.
He was ahead in Iowa and now he's behind. If this was a runaway train that couldn't be stopped, he wouldn't
have fallen back," Gephardt said Thursday. "He's a worthy and tough competitor, but I'm going to defeat him."
Gephardt made the comments during a swing through fellow candidate John Kerry's hometown to attend a
fundraiser. On Wednesday, Dean scored a political coup when the presidents of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union issued a joint statement endorsing
him.
Labor Support Could Impact Early Contests in Race for US
Source: Jim Malone, Voice of America
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: November 14, 2003
Presidential hopeful Howard Dean took what could be a major step toward winning the
Democratic Party's presidential nomination this week. But even as Mr. Dean moves ahead, some Democrats are
still pushing New York Senator Hillary Clinton to join the Democratic field. Former Vermont Governor Howard
Dean got a major boost when he won the endorsements of two influential labor unions representing service
workers and government employees. Together, the unions represent three million workers around the country.
Their support could have an impact in the early presidential contest states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Public
opinion polls indicate Mr. Dean is currently leading in New Hampshire, and is close to the lead in Iowa.
They Support Free Trade, Except in the Case of . . .
Source: David E. Rosenbaum, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: November 16, 2003
Political candidates who stand on the ideological scale between Ralph Nader on the left and
Patrick J. Buchanan on the right tend to accept, in the abstract, the conventional view of economists:
International trade helps many more people than it hurts. But on the campaign trail, politicians cannot help
but be swayed by the fact that people who are harmed by trade expansion have names and faces ? and votes ? and
that the people who benefit often do not even know it. This is leading many politicians, including most of the
main Democratic candidates for president, to abandon the emphasis on globalization that was a cornerstone of
the Clinton presidency.
Ackerman Mobilizes Labor Unions to Put a Democrat in the White House
Source: Mary Leonard, Boston Globe
Candidate/Organization: AFL-CIO
Date: November 17, 2003
Labor-intensive. That's an apt description of the life and
work of Karen Ackerman, who for 30 years -- from her days as a student organizer at Temple University in her
native Philadephia to her current post as the AFL-CIO's political director -- has been passionate in bringing
about change through the labor movement. The stakes have never been higher nor has the responsibility been
greater, said Ackerman, commander of a 20-month, $35-million union campaign committed to setting the country on
a different course and replacing George W. Bush with a Democratic president in 2004. "We are very focused on
the presidential election," said Ackerman, 56, who has an unobstructed view of the White House from her
seventh-floor office at AFL-CIO headquarters near Lafayette Park. "This is the most antiworker, antiunion
administration we have ever seen, and workers' selfinterest depends on changing who is in the White House."
Dean Calls For New Controls on Business
Source: Jim VandeHei, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Howard Dean
Date: November 19, 2003
After years of government deregulation of energy markets, telecommunications, the airlines
and other major industries, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean is proposing a significant reversal:
a comprehensive "re-regulation" of U.S. businesses. The former Vermont governor said he would reverse the trend
toward deregulation pursued by recent presidents -- including, in some respects, Bill Clinton -- to help
restore faith in scandal-plagued U.S. corporations and better protect U.S. workers. He also said a Dean
administration would require new workers' standards, a much broader right to unionize and new "transparency"
requirements for corporations that go beyond the recently enacted Sarbanes-Oxley law. "In order to make
capitalism work for ordinary human beings, you have to have regulation," Dean said. "Right now, workers are
getting screwed."
Gephardt Secures 21st Labor Endorsement
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Candidate/Organization: Richard Gephardt
Date: November 20, 2003
Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt won the backing of his 21st international
labor union Thursday, bolstering his grass-roots support in two states that hold early primaries. The Transport
Workers Union of America, which represents about 125,000 workers, said it is supporting the Missouri
congressman because of the loyalty he has shown to the labor movement during nearly three decades in Congress.
The union, which represents workers in the mass transit, airline, railroad and utility industries, has about
9,000 members in Oklahoma -- more than any other union -- and 5,000 members in Arizona. Both states are among
those holding primaries Feb. 3.
Democratic Race Sows Labor Disunion
Source: John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times
Candidate/Organization: Richard Gephardt & Howard Dean
Date: November 29, 2003
John Campbell is a blue-collar philosopher who routinely steps off the
factory floor at the Firestone tire plant here to marshal fellow foot soldiers in the United Steelworkers Union
on causes close to their hearts, minds and wallets. The 47-year-old high school dropout often joins forces with
Judy Lowe ? a no-nonsense single mother and an organizer for white-collar government workers ? to knock on
doors, dial telephones and stage cold-weather rallies to get out the vote for politicians sympathetic to
working families. For years, Iowa's industrial and service unions have generally acted as one clan, one
unified political force. But the effort to choose a Democratic candidate to oppose President Bush in the 2004
election has caused fissures in this traditionally ironclad solidarity.
Lieberman Proposes Paid Leave for Workers
Source: Diane Cardwell, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Sen. Joseph Lieberman
Date: December 3, 2003
Seeking to
appeal to parents caught between the pressures of work and family, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman is proposing a
new payroll deduction to finance a program that would allow workers to take paid leave to care for themselves
or family members, his advisers said. The proposal, which Mr. Lieberman, of Connecticut, plans to announce on
Wednesday, would expand on the Family and Medical Leave Act, a hallmark of President Bill Clinton that
guarantees employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family medical emergencies. By offering a plan for paid
leave, Mr. Lieberman, one of nine candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, is taking a page
from Mr. Clinton's efforts to stake out an agenda on family issues as a way to reach out to moderates. "I'm
presenting an agenda that values families, and makes it easier for parents to give children the values they
want to give them," the senator said in an interview on Monday.
In Heart of Steel Country, Bush Talks of Economy, Not Tariffs
Source: Brian Knowlton (International Herald Tribune), New York Times
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: December 2, 2003
At a speech in Pittsburgh, the president said little about
what everyone was thinking about: the looming decision on steel tariffs. The nagging question of steel tariffs
hung in the Pittsburgh air today like a billowing gray cloud over an old-fashioned steel mill. But neither
President Bush nor his decidedly steel-minded hosts at a fund-raising luncheon mentioned it, at least not
publicly. The president is expected to drop the tariffs that have been protecting the steel industry in states
like Pennsylvania and infuriating steelmakers abroad. But instead of talking about that, he focused his
comments on the signs of vibrant economic recovery that have recently emerged. "The American economy is strong
and it is getting stronger," Mr. Bush told donors to his re-election campaign. "This administration has laid
the foundation for greater prosperity and more jobs across America so every single citizen has a chance to
realize the American dream." Steel is traditionally a backbone of Pennsylvania employment, particularly in the
western part of the state around Pittsburgh.
Union Leaders Want Gephardt Aide Fired: Labor Chiefs Allege Retaliation Threats
Source: Dan Balz, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt
Date: December 4, 2003
The presidents of the nation's two largest unions angrily demanded that Rep. Richard A. Gephardt
(D-Mo.) dismiss one of his senior advisers yesterday, charging that she threatened to try to retaliate if their
unions campaigned for former Vermont governor Howard Dean in Missouri. Gerald McEntee, president of the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and Andrew Stern, president of the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU), whose unions have endorsed Dean, charged that, at a meeting
Monday that included Missouri Gov. Bob Holden (D), Joyce Aboussie, the vice chair of Gephardt's presidential
campaign, issued an "ultimatum" to representatives of the two unions.
Gephardt Joins Pickets in Show of Worker Support
Source: Susannah Rosenblatt and Melinda Fulmer, Los Angeles Times
Candidate/Organization: Rep Richard Gephardt
Date: December 4, 2003
Democratic presidential candidate Richard A. Gephardt joined striking grocery workers on
a West Hollywood picket line Wednesday, calling them heroes who were making sacrifices to protect their
families' rights. "These folks have been out here for two months, fighting for health care for their
families," Rep. Gephardt, of Missouri, said. "I believe that what they're fighting for is a moral issue."
Workers struck Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Pavilions stores Oct. 11 after talks on a new contract broke down,
largely over the issue of employee contributions to health insurance. Albertsons Inc. and Kroger Co.'s Ralphs,
which bargain jointly with Safeway, locked out their workers the next day. The labor dispute affects 70,000
union workers in Southern and Central California.
Unemployment Drop Not Good Enough for Dean
Source: Charles Mahaleris (Talon News), Men's News Daily
Candidate/Organization: Dr. Howard Dean; President George W. Bush
Date: December 8, 2003
Howard Dean, front-runner among the Democrat field seeking to replace President
George W. Bush, downplayed the significance of increases in employment figures and continued to bash Bush's
economic track record. Dean, while campaigning in Iowa on Friday, said, "Today's job announcement is another
link in the chain of President Bush's broken promises. When he proposed his program of tax cuts for the rich,
he said they would create 306,000 jobs a month. November's 57,000 job record puts the administration even
further behind its promise -- and puts the American worker further behind the eight-ball." Dean, who has been
surprisingly strong among blue-collar Democrat caucus voters in Iowa, continued his attack.
Party, Labor Officials in Iowa Divided Over Impact of Gore ...
Source: Mike Glover (AP), San Francisco Chronicle
Candidate/Organization: Dr. Howard Dean
Date: December 10, 2003
Now that Al Gore has endorsed Howard Dean, party and labor
leaders in Iowa are divided about the announcement's impact on the closely contested race -- and just as many
Iowans remain undecided about which candidate they'll support on caucus night Jan. 19. "Certainly, the
endorsement is a nice thing to have and a feather in the cap for Governor Dean," said Mark Daley, spokesman for
the Iowa Democratic Party. "It's 40 days away and there's a large number of undecided. It will be interesting
to see how they break and whether the Gore endorsement sways them or not." The Dean campaign and its backers in
Iowa viewed the endorsement as a boost for the former Vermont governor as he tries to sway Democrats in a state
famous for independent minds. Those backing Rep. Dick Gephardt, who won Iowa in his unsuccessful White House
bid in 1988 with strong support from labor, dismissed the Gore factor and remained focused on the neck-and-neck
race in the state.
Union vs. Union on Iowa Campaign Battleground
Source: Rachel L. Swarns, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Rep. Richard Gephardt; Dr. Howard Dean
Date: December 14, 2003
It was 9 degrees, and the shivering, stomping union members were pressing political fliers into the
gloved hands of scores of steelworkers outside the Firestone plant here. "Support Dick Gephardt!" shouted John
Campbell, 47, this week as he mingled with the men starting their shift. But across the state, in the snowy
town of Glenwood, workers from a government employees union were promoting a different presidential candidate
and a different message. "Howard Dean is for working families," said Jenny Mitchell, 39, as she distributed
leaflets to her colleagues during lunch. In ordinary times, these two groups would be allies, but these days
they stand on opposite sides of a political divide. Ms. Mitchell's union is battling to send Howard Dean to
the White House; Mr. Campbell's union is trying to stop him from snaring an electoral victory here that might
start his steady march toward the Democratic nomination.
Two Unions Criticize Ads for Attacks Against Dean
Source: Jim Rutenberg, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Dr. Howard Dean
Date: December 17, 2003
Two labor unions that provided financing for a shadowy Democratic political
group running tough commercials against former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont criticized the advertising campaign
yesterday, and one said it might ask for its money back. Both unions, the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Laborers\' International Union of North America, have endorsed
Representative Richard A. Gephardt, who said yesterday that he knew nothing about the group running the
commercials. Rick Sloan, a spokesman for the machinists, said the union donated $50,000 to the group, Americans
for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values.
Dean Attacks Bush's Stance on Unemployment Benefits
Source: Associated Press, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Dr. Howard Dean
Date: December 22, 2003
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean criticized the Bush administration Monday for what he
called a "callous" refusal to press Congress for another extension of unemployment benefits. "I think it's a
pretty big issue," Dean said. "It underlines the mean-spiritedness of this administration." Bush should call
Congress into special session, Dean said, and keep lawmakers at work until the extension of benefits is
approved. The looming holiday season and the potential that thousands could lose benefits at precisely the time
they are most needed underscores the urgency, he said. "It is incredible callousness" to refuse to consider the
issue, Dean said.
Democrats Agree Bush Taking Wrong Economic Path
Source: Tim Ahmann, Forbes.com
Candidate/Organization: multiple candidates
Date: January 4, 2004
The improving economy
may undercut the ability of Democrats to take on President George W. Bush over a lack of jobs, forcing a
crowded field of White House hopefuls to rely more on arguments that growing budget deficits pose a future
risk. "FDR ran on the New Deal, Harry Truman promised a Fair Deal," retired Gen. Wesley Clark said in outlining
his economic plan a few months ago. "George W. Bush ran on the free lunch. The free lunch it turned out was a
bunch of baloney." For months the candidates have hammered Bush over the millions of U.S. jobs lost under his
watch.
Bush Seeks Ways to Create Jobs, and Fast
Source: Edmund L. Andrews, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: January 10, 2004
The stage had
been set to celebrate the revival of jobs. With a phalanx of women entrepreneurs at his side and a billboard
covered with the word "Jobs!" behind him, President Bush proclaimed his confidence about the economy here on
Friday. But he made only passing reference to the latest news about employment. The reason was clear: Friday's
report on unemployment in December was much weaker than either the administration or most independent
economists had predicted. Job creation was virtually nil, and the unemployment rate declined only because the
labor force shrank by 309,000 workers. Many of those were people who had simply become too discouraged to keep
looking for work. The problem confronting Mr. Bush is that there is little he can do between now and the
elections except wait and hope that the employment picture improves. And the administration is not likely to
get much more help from the Federal Reserve, which has already reduced short-term interest rates to just 1
percent.
For Labor, a Day to Ask What Went Wrong
Source: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: January 21, 2004
The
labor unions that backed Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Howard Dean, the former Vermont
governor, were embarrassed yesterday and searching for answers why their candidates -- and the unions
themselves -- fared so poorly in the Iowa caucuses. Officials from the unions that supported Dr. Dean, who
placed third, and Mr. Gephardt, who dropped out of the presidential race after placing fourth, said the pair
had been weakened by the flurry of negative charges they directed at each other. They said this helped Senator
John Kerry of Massachusetts, who won the caucuses, and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who came in
second, pick up support because they ran more positive campaigns. Strategists from the two major unions that
backed Dr. Dean -- the service employees and the state, county and municipal employees -- said they would
redouble their efforts to lift him to victory in next Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire.
Source: Thomas B. Edsall, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: January 22, 2004
Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) was not the only loser in the Iowa caucuses. Organized
labor, especially the nation's manufacturing and industrial unions, which poured huge resources into Iowa to
support their longtime ally, suffered an equally embarrassing defeat. In addition, the public-sector unions
that broke ranks and supported former Vermont governor Howard Dean saw their candidate finish behind Sens. John
F. Kerry (Mass.) and John Edwards (N.C.), who had little official union support. Labor organizations backing
Gephardt and Dean brought hundreds of organizers into Iowa, where about 50,000 union members are registered
Democrats eligible to vote in the caucuses. Despite that effort, a plurality of union members, 29 percent,
backed Kerry. Dean and Edwards tied for second place with 22 percent each, and Gephardt got only 19 percent,
according to surveys of caucus-goers.
Union Spends $1.6 Million to Help Dean
Source: Associated Press, CNN.com
Candidate/Organization: Dr. Howard Dean
Date: January 27, 2004
A government employees union is spending at least $1.6 million to try to get nonunion members out
to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean in several of the nation's early primaries. Most of
that -- $1.3 million -- has been spent by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees'
political action committee over the past few weeks on ads, polling, phone banks, mailings and other primary
activities. Activities of the AFSCME's People Qualified PAC so far have focused on Iowa, which held its
presidential caucuses last week; South Carolina, New Mexico and Arizona, which vote February 3; Michigan, which
has its primary February 7; and Wisconsin, which votes February 17. The PAC is spending the money independently
of Dean's campaign, which means it can spend as much as it wants to recruit Dean voters.
A Politically Confusing Economy
Source: David Leonhardt, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: all candidates
Date: February 1, 2004
Nobody
doubts that many Americans will vote their pocketbooks in this year's presidential election. The puzzle is
figuring out which party those pocketbooks will favor. The Democratic candidates, traveling around Arizona,
Missouri and other states holding primaries this week, are talking about the millions of layoffs and millions
of people who have lost health insurance under President Bush. Senator John Kerry, whose fortunes have risen as
the war in Iraq as receded as an issue, has dismissed the recent surge of economic growth as a "Wall Street
Bush-league recovery." Mr. Bush, on the other hand, is showing new confidence that the economy will in fact
help his chances come November. His State of the Union address offered a laundry list of Reaganesque optimism
that he is likely to repeat in coming months: home ownership, exports and employment are up; inflation and
interest rates are down. Mr. Bush even dropped a common refrain from last year in which he had vowed not to be
satisfied until everyone looking for work could find it.
Democrats, Labor Rally for Jobs
Source: Reuters, CNN.com
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 3, 2004
Labor and
Democratic congressional leaders vowed Tuesday to keep the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs during
President Bush's watch on the front burner through the November elections. Outlining his party's agenda to
restore manufacturing jobs, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle blamed Bush's policies for the disappearance
and migration to other countries of 2,600 such jobs since he took office in January 2001. The truth is George
Bush can't run on his jobs record," the South Dakota Democrat told 3,000 representatives of 14 industrial
unions who applauded every speaker's call for Bush's ouster this fall. "George Bush says the economy is
creating jobs," Daschle continued. "But let me tell you, China is one long commute." The loss of typically
well-paying manufacturing jobs has touched 49 of the 50 states in the past three years and pushed U.S.
manufacturing employment to a 45-year low.
Politics, Survivors and the Economy
Source: Mark Gongloff, CNN.com
Candidate/Organization: President Bush, John Kerry, John Edwards
Date: February 4, 2004
In
thinking about the implications of the 2004 presidential election, economists and analysts on Wall Street have
been handicapping President Bush against Senator John Kerry, his most likely Democratic opponent. But at least
one other Democratic candidate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, is still given a decent chance by many
political analysts to take his party's nomination, and his economic policies differ somewhat from Kerry's.
Two other candidates, retired Gen. Wesley Clark and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, are still breathing in the
campaign, but their chances of winning the Democratic nomination seem, for now at least, much slimmer than
Kerry's or Edwards'. In any event, there are clear differences between Bush and the two front-running
Democrats.
Struggling 'Other Memphis' Skeptical of Candidates
Source: Evelyn Nieves, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Democratic presidential candidates
Date: February 9, 2004
Roger Barnes lives in the Memphis untouched by the 600,000 tourists who flock here each
year. His Memphis is the one where people are used to working with their hands, on their feet, the third shift,
on Sundays and holidays, for barely enough to pay the rent. Yet, they constantly have to worry about losing
those jobs. This Memphis is part of "The Other America" that Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), campaigning fiercely
here and in the rest of Tennessee for Tuesday's presidential primary, talks about on the stump: the one where
35 million Americans live in poverty and, even working full time, can't afford to do anything beyond just
getting by. Memphis is a handsome historic place, but, like most big cities, it struggles with people who are
desperately poor.
White House Forecasts 2.6 Million New Jobs
Source: Reuters, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 9, 2004
The U.S. economy should shed its jobless label this year with the creation of about 2.6 million new
positions, the White House forecast Monday. If realized, the jobs turnaround could help President Bush's
re-election prospects. Bush has faced withering fire from Democrats over the lack of new jobs. In the annual
Economic Report of the President, the White House said the number of workers on U.S. non-farm payrolls was
likely to rise to an average to 132.7 million this year from a 2003 average it thought would come in at 130.1
million. According to the latest jobs figures released by the Labor Department Friday, which incorporated data
revisions, payroll employment averaged just 129.9 million last year.
Sharp Policy Divisions Absent as Race Narrows
Source: David S. Broder, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Democratic candidates
Date: February 9, 2004
The Democratic voter who wants to pick a presidential candidate on the basis of issues faces a big challenge
this year. The problem, said several Washington policy wonks, is that the contradictions in the records of
individual candidates outnumber the differences among the leading contenders remaining in the race. "If you
clip off the people on the fringe," said Maureen Steinbrunner of the Democratic-leaning Center for National
Policy, "there's a pretty strong agreement on what should be done. . . . They are past the point of wanting to
fight with each other on ideological questions." Michael Franc of the conservative Heritage Foundation agreed
that "there's very little big-issue debate among those left in the primaries. . . . They're all comfortably
left of center, and voters know they will have a bright-line choice in November, so the Democrats are basically
deciding who's best to send into that debate with President Bush."
Transforming Tech Woes Into Votes
Source: Griff Witte, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: various candidates
Date: February 7, 2004
For Myra Bronstein, the news that she had been laid off from the best job she ever had came on a Friday
last May. The following week, she was back at work, having been told that if she wanted to receive her full
severance package, she would have to train her replacements. They had flown in from India just for the
occasion. In a tense meeting called by management at telecommunications firm WatchMark Corp., the Indian
workers sat across the table from the approximately 20 Seattle-area employees they would replace. "The quality
assurance manager stood up and in a very perky way said, " 'This is my old staff, and this is my new staff,'
" said Bronstein, who spent three years at WatchMark testing software. "The old staff was just trying not to
cry." Bronstein has been out of work ever since, and that reality will shape her pick for president this
morning when she participates in Washington state's Democratic caucuses.
Major Union Plans to Pull Its Support for Dean
Source: Jodi Wilgoren, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Dr. Howard Dean
Date: February 8, 2004
The
largest of three international unions that had endorsed Howard Dean's bid for the Democratic presidential
nomination plans to withdraw its support, union officials and Dean aides said Saturday. Gerald W. McEntee, the
president of the union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, spent an hour meeting
over lunch here on Saturday with Dr. Dean and his new campaign chief, Roy Neel. Aides to Dr. Dean, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said that at the meeting Mr. McEntee expressed concern about Dr. Dean's viability and
the prospect that continuing his campaign could weaken the eventual Democratic nominee.
Bush Report Offers Positive Outlook on Jobs
Source: Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 10, 2004
Wading into an election-year debate, President Bush's top economist yesterday said the
outsourcing of U.S. service jobs to workers overseas is good for the nation's economy. Shipping jobs to
low-cost countries is the "latest manifestation of the gains from trade that economists have talked about" for
centuries, said N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Just as U.S.
consumers have enjoyed lower prices from foreign manufacturers, so too should they benefit from services being
offered by overseas companies that have lower labor costs, he said. Mankiw's comments come as the president
struggles to shore up support in manufacturing states that have lost millions of jobs and Democratic rivals
make economic nationalism a centerpiece of their attacks on the administration.
Source: Richard Benedetto and Peronet Despeignes, USA Today
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 10, 2004
The Bush administration predicted Monday that the U.S. economy will create
2.6 million jobs this year, despite sluggish growth so far. The upbeat forecast came in the annual "Economic
Report of the President," presented to Congress on Monday. It predicted 4% growth in the economy overall.
President Bush said in an attached statement, "As 2004 begins, America's economy is strong and getting
stronger." His jobs prediction is politically risky. If most of the jobs materialize before the November
election, Bush would be able to point to the marked improvement in making his case for re-election. But if they
don't, that will provide ammunition to Democrats who say the president's economic stewardship is a failure.
During Bush's tenure, 2.2 million jobs have been lost, according to the Labor Department.
With Gephardt Gone, Kerry Is Lining Up Labor Backing
Source: David M. Halbfinger, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: February 10, 2004
Senator John Kerry is poised to win a string of crucial labor endorsements
before the Wisconsin primary next Tuesday, labor officials say. The Building and Construction Trades Department
of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. is likely to throw its weight behind Mr. Kerry after a meeting on Tuesday, labor and
campaign officials said. The Alliance for Economic Justice, a coalition of 18 unions that had endorsed
Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, is to hold a conference call on Wednesday and could endorse Mr.
Kerry as early as this weekend.
Bush, Adviser Assailed for Stance on 'Offshoring' Jobs
Source: Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: February 11, 2004
Democrats from Capitol Hill to the presidential campaign trail lit into President
Bush's chief economist yesterday for his laudatory statements on the movement of U.S. jobs abroad, seizing on
the comments to paint Bush as out of touch with struggling workers. "They've delivered a double blow to
America's workers, 3 million jobs destroyed on their watch, and now they want to export more of our jobs
overseas," said John F. Kerry, the Massachusetts senator and front-runner for the Democratic presidential
nomination. "What in the world are they thinking?" Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.) called for the resignation of
N. Gregory Mankiw, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and a prominent Harvard
University economist. Manzullo said industrial state Republicans are furious. "I know the president cannot
believe what this man has said," Manzullo said. "He ought to walk away, and return to his ivy-covered office at
Harvard."
Bush Acts to Ease the Furor Over Jobs Shipped Abroad
Source: Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 13, 2004
President Bush on Thursday sought to quell a ruckus over remarks by one of his top economic advisers, assuring
a crowd that he was concerned about the loss of American jobs to other countries, an increasingly potent issue
in the 2004 campaign. "There are people looking for work because jobs have gone overseas," Mr. Bush told a
gymnasium full of supporters and students at Central Dauphin High School here. "And we need to act in this
country. We need to act to make sure there are more jobs at home, and people are more likely to retain a job."
On Monday, N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters that
"outsourcing" -- companies' practice of taking work done by Americans and moving it to low-wage countries
abroad -- was "probably a plus for the economy in the long run" because it reflected an expansion of free trade
benefiting all nations, including the United States. Mr. Mankiw has since recanted, saying in a letter to the
top House Republican, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, that "my lack of clarity left the wrong impression
that I praised the loss of U.S. jobs."
Parties Clash Over Job Migration
Source: Andrew Mollison, Atlanta Journal Constitution
Candidate/Organization: various candidates
Date: February 13, 2004
Republicans defending free trade and Democrats defending displaced workers split sharply Thursday over the
benefits and drawbacks of moving jobs out of the United States. Their debate comes in the wake of recent polls
which show that the economy and especially jobs are the voters' top concern in this election year.
"Particularly in the Middle West and the Southeast, I think this is going to be the No. 1 issue," said Sen.
Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). "The Midwest is probably where the presidential race is going to be determined, and
the Southeast may be where the Senate control is determined," Schumer said. Commerce Secretary Don Evans struck
first, appearing Thursday morning on the CNBC channel to defend the Bush administration's position that the
offshoring of U.S. jobs benefits the economy in the long run. Criticism of offshoring threatens principles of
"free and open trade" that have been endorsed by every American president since Herbert Hoover, Evans said.
Hoover, who served from 1929 to 1933, was the last president to have a net loss of U.S. jobs during his term of
office. "Yes, American companies invest in other countries," Evans said. "But guess what? Foreign companies
invest here and hire American workers, which means higher standards of living and better paying jobs, and it
also means the consumers pay less for what they purchase." That ignores the pain of displaced workers,
contended Senate Democrats.
A.F.L. Backing of Kerry Is Called Near
Source: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: February 14, 2004
After labor unions have skirmished for months over which Democratic candidate to support for president, the
A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s executive board will vote next Thursday to endorse Senator John Kerry, several union leaders
said Friday. This will give Mr. Kerry, of Massachusetts, the backing of a federation that has 13 million
members and what is often called the nation's most effective get-out-the-vote operation. Several union leaders
said John J. Sweeney, the federation's president, decided to call Thursday's meeting as soon as he saw that a
labor consensus was forming behind Mr. Kerry. "Everyone is ready to be unified around a candidate that they are
confident can defeat President Bush," said Karen Ackerman, the federation's political director. Mr. Sweeney's
letter inviting union leaders to the meeting said he was recommending they endorse Mr. Kerry. Mr. Sweeney wrote
in bold letters that Mr. Kerry would speak to the board at the end of the vote. This, several union leaders
said, signaled that the endorsement was a done deal.
Source: CNN.com
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: February 13, 2004
Sen. John Kerry has
won the backing of the AFL-CIO, a spokesman for the nation's biggest labor group told CNN Friday. Kerry will
be endorsed by the organization, which encompasses 13 million people in 64 member unions, at a meeting of the
general board Thursday, the spokesman said. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney scheduled the meeting in a memo to
leaders of the member unions.
Jobs Take Center Stage in Wisconsin Primary
Source: Sue Kirchhoff, USA Today
Candidate/Organization: various candidates
Date: February 15, 2004
This town got its name from the Chippewa word for "place of the good spirit." To Mayor Kevin Crawford, it now
signifies something else. "You know what 'Manitowoc' means? It means, 'We're all getting laid off,' " says
Crawford, blaming the local 9.2% unemployment rate on trade policies that he says encourage companies to wander
the world for cheap labor and land. One example: Mirro cookware moved to Mexico in September, closing a factory
that has been in this northeast Wisconsin town for more than 100 years and eliminating nearly 900 jobs. "We're
the victims of Congress' abandonment of the American family," Crawford says. As Wisconsin's Tuesday
presidential primary nears, towns like this are a symbol of problems lingering in the economy, despite recent
signs of growth.
Source: Mike Allen, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 18, 2004
President
Bush's reelection campaign moved deeper into its general-election playbook yesterday and launched a preemptive
defense of his economic record in Ohio ahead of a visit by his likely opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).
The decision reflects the Bush campaign's growing concern about Ohio, a state he won by 4 percentage points in
2000 but is among the hardest hit by job losses. The move is the latest of near-daily signs Bush's campaign is
engaging Kerry as if he were the Democratic nominee. Labor Department figures show that in 2003, Ohio was
second only to another swing state -- Michigan -- in number of jobs lost. In January, Michigan was first and
Ohio second in the number of jobs lost in the previous month. Ohio reporters jammed a conference call that the
Bush-Cheney campaign set up yesterday with Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who began by saying he wanted to "set the
record straight" about how Bush's economic policies have benefited the state.
White House Under Fire for Projections on Jobs
Source: David Stout, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: February 18, 2004
The White House
found itself under fire on the economy today, one day after two members of President Bush's cabinet seemed to
back away from the administration's earlier prediction that 2.6 million jobs would be created this year. The
president himself declined to answer directly today when he was asked whether he thought the economy would
indeed add that many jobs, as the White House Council of Economic Advisers predicted in its annual report just
last week. "I think the economy's growing, and I think it's going to get stronger," Mr. Bush replied at a
brief question-answer session with reporters. He called again for permanent tax cuts and for changes in the tax
code that he said would stimulate business and general spending.
Administration Backs Off Specific Forecast on Jobs
Source: Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 19, 2004
The Bush
administration backed away on Wednesday from a forecast it made public only last week predicting average job
gains of more than 300,000 a month for 2004 but said it remained confident of robust though unspecified job
growth for the year. In two news briefings, the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, repeatedly
declined to endorse the forecast, which was in the Economic Report of the President, a 417-page book sent to
Congress last week under Mr. Bush's signature. "The president is not a statistician," Mr. McClellan said at
one point. Asked why he would not stand behind the forecast, Mr. McClellan replied: "I think what the president
stands behind is the policies that he is implementing, the policies that he is advocating. That's what's
important." The shift opened the door to an attack by Democrats, who said that as the presidential campaign
heated up the administration was being forced to acknowledge that its economic prescription of tax cuts and
free trade had failed to generate the jobs Mr. Bush had promised.
Kerry, Edwards Spar Over Trade: Democratic Rivals Begin Key Push For Delegates
Source: Jim VandeHei and Dan Balz, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry & Sen. John Edwards
Date: February 19, 2004
With the battle for the Democratic nomination reduced to a two-man race,
front-runner John F. Kerry and underdog John Edwards jabbed at each other over trade and electability Wednesday
as they pointed to a potentially decisive 10-state showdown on March 2 that includes New York, California,
Maryland and Ohio. Edwards's closing surge brought him a strong second-place finish in Tuesday's Wisconsin
primary. On Wednesday, he pressed to sharpen his differences with Kerry over international trade, with the
senator from North Carolina contending that Kerry has wrongly supported key free-trade pacts that Edwards
opposed. "I think it's clear that Senator Kerry and I have very different records on trade," he told reporters
in an afternoon conference call. Kerry, campaigning in Ohio, dismissed Edwards's argument. He said he and his
rival have virtually identical views on the future of trade and the outsourcing of U.S. jobs overseas. "We have
the same policy on trade -- exactly the same policy," the senator from Massachusetts told reporters before
speaking at a rally at a United Auto Workers hall in Dayton. With former Vermont governor Howard Dean now on
the sidelines, the candidates' dueling words over trade underscored competing strategies as the two senators
head toward the biggest primary day of the 2004 nominating season.
White House Tries to Defuse Criticism on Jobs Report
Source: CNN.com
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: February 20, 2004
The White House sought Thursday to defuse criticism of its economic policies in the wake of its
apparent retreat from a report on jobs projections, an issue that Democrats have seized on this election year.
On the campaign trail, Democratic presidential hopefuls hammered the president over the flap generated by the
report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers. And House Democratic leaders Thursday called on the
president to explain his policies on job creation and the deficit. President Bush, meanwhile, touted his
stewardship of the economy, and he tried to focus the debate on taxes as he delivered a speech in Washington.
"When you hear them say, 'We're going to repeal the Bush tax cuts,' that means tax increase. That's what
that is," Bush said. " 'I'm gonna raise your taxes' is what they're saying."
Kerry and Edwards Square Off as Dean Abandons Campaign
Source: Adam Nagourney and David M. Halbfinger, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Kerry and Edwards
Date: February 19, 2004
Howard Dean ended his bid for the presidency on
Wednesday, leaving John Kerry and John Edwards battling over free trade and jobs as the Democratic presidential
contest veered into a more combative two-man struggle. As Dr. Dean announced that he was abandoning his
campaign after losing his 17th state contest with a devastating third-place finish in the Wisconsin primary,
Senators Kerry and Edwards moved aggressively to fill the space. They picked the states they would compete in
over the next two weeks and argued over Mr. Kerry's support of free trade agreements and his contributions
from lobbyists. "As Senator Kerry himself has pointed out many times during this campaign, records matter," Mr.
Edwards said in a noisy afternoon conference call with 100 reporters, the number a clear indication of how his
status has changed after a strong second-place showing in Wisconsin. "I think there is a significant difference
between us on this issue."
A.F.L.-C.I.O., Calling for Unity, Gives Backing to Kerry
Source: David M. Halbfinger and Rick Lyman, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: February 20, 2004
Senator John Kerry won the endorsement of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. on Thursday as Senator
John Edwards called trade and job losses a "moral issue" and repeatedly pressed for debates with Mr. Kerry. The
leaders of the federation of 13 million labor union members endorsed Mr. Kerry as the Democratic primary
struggle largely narrowed to a two-man race and focused on the economy and trade. "We've had four years to see
who George Bush fights for in this country," Mr. Kerry said in front of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. headquarters, two
blocks from the White House. "And we're here to say to working people across this country, 'In November,
it's going to be your turn.' " Mr. Kerry's strategists hope that the endorsement will further establish him
as the likely presidential nominee and extinguish the spark that Mr. Edwards's campaign received from a
surprisingly strong second-place finish on Tuesday in the Wisconsin primary. Outside the headquarters of the
federation, its president, John J. Sweeney, made clear labor's view that the time for contested primaries was
over.
Labor Supporter Says Dean Ignored His Entreaties to Quit
Source: Adam Nagourney, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Howard Dean
Date: February 20, 2004
One of Howard Dean's most powerful labor supporters, Gerald W. McEntee, said on Thursday that he had
decided that Dr. Dean was "nuts" shortly before he withdrew his support for Dr. Dean's candidacy and begged
him to quit the race to avoid a humiliating defeat. Mr. McEntee, the president of the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, defended his decision to abandon the campaign, saying he told Dr. Dean
that he did not want to spend another $1 million of his union's money "in order to get him a couple of extra
points in Wisconsin." "I have to vent," Mr. McEntee, the often blunt leader of the nation's largest public
service union, said in a leisurely interview in his office here. "I think he's nuts." Mr. McEntee said he
reached his assessment of Dr. Dean after watching what he described as a series of halting appearances in Iowa,
leading up to his shouted concession speech. He said that he did not believe Dr. Dean, the former governor of
Vermont, understood how substantial his decline was after that, and that he was stunned when Dr. Dean did not
bow to pressure from labor unions to pull out earlier this month.
Battleground States Focus on Pocketbook
Source: David S. Broder, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: February 25, 2004
Battleground-state governors of both parties see the presidential election as an extremely
close battle, likely to be dominated by economic issues. Interviews with a number of those attending the annual
midwinter meeting in Washington of the National Governors Association found agreement that the pocketbook
issues of jobs and taxes are likely to determine whether President Bush can win a second term.
Kerry, Edwards Target Labor, Attack Bush
Source: Associated Press, USA Today
Candidate/Organization: Kerry, Edwards, Bush
Date: February 23, 2004
President Bush will "run away from his own record," Sen. John Kerry said Monday, as both
major remaining Democratic candidates courted labor interests in New York. "We have George Bush on the run
because he's going to go out here and start this campaign officially tonight before we even have a nominee of
the Democratic Party," the Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential front-runner told supporters at a
rally in Harlem. "And he's going to lay out what he calls his vision, and I think it's extraordinary that
four years into this administration we're finally going to get what this president calls his vision for the
nation. He certainly has to call something a vision because he can't run on his record." Kerry's remaining
major challenger, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, also focused on labor issues. At a meeting with union
workers in New York, Edwards emphasized his Southern mill-worker background, telling garment workers who have
lost their jobs to overseas factories that "I take this personally."
Bush: Jobless Rate 'A Good Number'
Source: Reuters, CNN/Money
Candidate/Organization: various
Date: February 23, 2004
President Bush, brushing aside criticism from Democrats, called the nation's 5.6 percent unemployment rate on
Monday "a good number" given recent shocks to the economy. "The 5.6 percent unemployment (rate) is a good
national number. It's not good enough, but it's a good number, particularly since what we've been through,
which has been a recession and emergency and corporate scandal and war," the president told governors at a
White House meeting. Unemployment has emerged as a hot-button issue in this year's presidential campaign.
Nearly 2.8 million factory jobs have been lost since Bush took office and Democrats say the Republican White
House has been insensitive to their plight.
Kerry and Edwards Focus on Jobs and the Economy
Source: Carl Hulse, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Kerry, Edwards
Date: February 25, 2004
Since John
Edwards and John Kerry are out trolling for a new job, they must figure other people are interested in
employment as well. Trying to stir up support for next Tuesday's critical primaries, both Democratic
presidential candidates put the focus on jobs and economic issues today, unveiling new plans that they think
will appeal to people worried about their companies moving overseas or where their next paycheck is coming
from. The policy proposals appeared to have a double aim. Not only are they intended to win votes in areas that
have experienced job loss, but they allow the candidates to counter President Bush's criticism earlier this
week that his opponents are only carping, not offering alternative plans.
Kerry, Edwards Attack Bush on Workers' Woes
Source: Dan Balz and Paul Farhi, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Kerry, Edwards
Date: February 26, 2004
Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry accused the Bush administration Wednesday
of indifference to the plight of U.S. workers who have seen their jobs shipped overseas and offered steps to
deal with a problem that has dominated this year's Democratic campaign. The senator from Massachusetts also
vowed not to cut Social Security benefits to help reduce the federal budget deficit, a direct repudiation of a
recommendation offered Wednesday on Capitol Hill by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. Kerry was
joined in this by his major rival, Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), who lauded the attention the Fed chairman shined
on deficits during the Bush administration but said in a statement, "it is an outrage for him to suggest that
we should extend George Bush's tax cuts on unearned wealth while cutting Social Security benefits that working
people earn." With Edwards and Kerry sprinting in the remaining days before next week's 10-state Super Tuesday
primaries, new polls suggested the task Edwards faces to keep his candidacy viable. The Field Poll in
California, where Edwards spent the day, showed him trailing Kerry by 41 percentage points.
Kerry Donors Include 'Benedict Arnolds'
Source: Jim VandeHei, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Kerry
Date: February 26, 2004
Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination,
frequently calls companies and chief executives "Benedict Arnolds" if they move jobs and operations overseas to
avoid paying U.S. taxes. But Kerry has accepted money and fundraising assistance from top executives at
companies that fit the candidate's description of a notorious traitor of the American Revolution. Executives
and employees at such companies have contributed more than $140,000 to Kerry's presidential campaign, a review
of his donor records shows. Additionally, two of Kerry's biggest fundraisers, who together have raised more
than $400,000 for the candidate, are top executives at investment firms that helped set up companies in the
world's best-known offshore tax havens, federal records show. Kerry has raised nearly $30 million overall for
his White House run.
Source: Joseph Gerth, Louisville Courier-Journal
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 27, 2004
In all her 67 years, Ann Hall has never protested anything -- until President
Bush came to Louisville yesterday. Fed up with the president's positions on education, the economy and a host
of other issues, she went downtown with a couple of friends to voice her displeasure. "He cares nothing about
the common person," said Hall, of Louisville. "We decided we're just tired of it, and we needed to do
something." So, carrying a sign that referred to the president as an "idiot," she; Lori Eisenbeis, 68; and
Midge Ostendorf, 72, took their place among 1,000 or more protesters who gathered half a block from the Galt
House. Sprinkled among the crowd was a handful supporting Bush. "The older I get, the more liberal I get," Hall
said. "I feel the country is going fast downhill. (Bush) cares too much about corporations and not enough about
people."
Democrats Criticize Exported Manufacturing Jobs
Source: Associated Press, CNN.com
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: February 28, 2004
The Bush
administration lacks economic leadership at a time when states like Ohio are hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs,
Rep. Tim Ryan said Saturday in the Democrats' weekly radio address. Ryan, who represents a highly unionized,
blue-collar district in northeastern Ohio, cited a recent criticism of President Bush's economic policy: The
assertion by a top White House economist that "outsourcing" American jobs overseas was good for the U.S.
economy in the long run. "The constituents in my district whose jobs were just outsourced do not agree. They
and the more than one million other workers nationwide who lost their jobs to overseas labor during the past
three years find this statement outrageous," Ryan said.
Job Data Provides Ammunition for Two Sides in Presidential Race
Source: Robin Toner, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: March 6, 2004
The latest unemployment statistics escalated the political war over the economy on Friday, with
Democrats asserting that lackluster job growth underscored the failures of the Bush administration's economic
policy while Republicans countered that a tax-raising Democratic president would only make it worse. On Capitol
Hill and on the campaign trail, Democrats ridiculed the administration for falling far short of its promises to
restore a healthy job market. Senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, told a cheering rally of workers
protesting the migration of jobs overseas: "President Bush has said the economy is growing, that there are jobs
out there. But you know, it's a long commute to China to get those jobs." Senator John Kerry, the
all-but-official Democratic nominee, said that Mr. Bush had "overpromised and underdelivered," saying that at
the current rate of job growth, it would take almost a decade to replace the more than two million jobs lost
under this administration. Later, at a rally in New Orleans, Mr. Kerry attacked the administration's economic
policies, responding to Vice President Dick Cheney's claim that Democratic proposals for higher taxes on the
rich would harm the economy.
Fly High Above the Battlefield
Source: Stanley B. Greenberg, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Kerry and Bush
Date: March 7, 2004
While John
Kerry was vanquishing his Democratic opponents and rising in the national polls, the Republican Party was
arming for battle. The president's campaign broadcast its first television advertisements last week, and they
depicted George Bush as a steady leader. Mr. Kerry and the Democrats, meanwhile, will be deciding in the next
few weeks which issues to embrace in the coming campaign. Republicans have already begun fighting a culture
war; Democrats have begun fighting a class war. One party is talking about gay marriage, the other about
corporate greed. But Mr. Kerry should not settle for a campaign waged on such narrow terms. In 2004, Americans
are eager to be engaged in matters of greater significance both to the nation and to their everyday lives. This
election will be decided by those voters who care about more than just this debate -- those who do not like
either Rosie O'Donnell or Kenneth Lay. To break the current political impasse and appeal to these voters, Mr.
Kerry should portray this election as a choice between different visions of America. His campaign will surely
reflect Democrats' middle-class sensibilities, and be aligned with them, but Mr. Kerry should also take up the
public's yearning for opportunity, community, loyalty and patriotism.
Campaign Tug-of-War on Wall Street
Source: Reuters, CNN
Candidate/Organization: Bush and Kerry
Date: March 5, 2004
The lack of
new jobs has grabbed center stage in the race for the White House, but disappointing employment figures, such
as Friday's Labor Department report, may prove to be little more than a noisy sideshow for stock investors.
Make no mistake. The stock market is sure to be buffeted by the battle between President George W. Bush, the
Republican incumbent, and Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, which got going in earnest this week. The
twists and turns of the campaign will probably add to market volatility until November, when voters go to the
polls. "It is going to be a tug of war between the president portraying the economy as great and the Democrats
saying 'Look at how he has messed it up,"' said Robert Brusca, chief economist for Fact and Opinion
Economics. But stock market bulls say investors should tune out the political static and focus on what they say
is an economy that is showing signs of strength despite the still murky labor picture. That should lead to
better corporate profits and higher stock prices, they say.
Organized Labor Fights for Survival
Source: Associated Press, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Kerry
Date: March 10, 2004
Organized
labor is in the fight of its life to remain relevant to workers as it struggles to rebound from setbacks in
organizing and politics. Labor leaders meeting this week at a luxury seaside resort are revving up for the
largest multimillion dollar effort to mobilize their members to defeat President Bush. John Kerry, the
Democrats' presumptive nominee, addressed the AFL-CIO meeting by satellite Wednesday. "George Bush is running
on the same-old Republican tactics of fear -- and they're already getting tired,'' Kerry said. "But we have
something better than attacks. We have the facts. And here they are: under George Bush's policies, middle
class families are paying more. America's middle class can't afford a tax increase. That's why were going to
give the middle class a tax cut.'' The Massachusetts senator won the labor federation's endorsement last
month and hopes to use labor's organizational muscle and money to boost his campaign.
Increasingly, American-Made Doesn't Mean in the U.S.A.
Source: Louis Uchitelle, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: March 19, 2004
Anthony F. Raimondo, a Nebraska business executive, was all set to become President Bush's
manufacturing czar until he was caught in a political firestorm last week after John Kerry's campaign
suggested that Mr. Raimondo was a "Benedict Arnold C.E.O." for moving jobs from the United States to China. But
it's not that simple. What Mr. Raimondo's company did, experts of all stripes say, has become standard
business practice in response to domestic and international pressures. Hundreds of American companies, among
them Mr. Raimondo's Behlen Manufacturing of Columbus, Neb., own facilities abroad that produce goods and
services for overseas customers rather than for shipment back home. Indeed, these overseas sales, which have
risen to more than $2.2 trillion annually in recent years, dwarf the nation's exports of roughly $1 trillion.
Should American companies turn so quickly to production abroad, rather than export from the United States -
particularly in China, where sales are growing at two or three times the rate in any other country?
At Florida Rally, Bush Attacks Kerry on Economy
Source: Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: March 21, 2004
President Bush on Saturday came to the state that delivered him the White House in 2000 for his first
full-scale campaign rally of 2004 and opened a new line of attack on Senator John Kerry, saying his Democratic
rival would raise taxes and choke off the economic recovery. Before thousands of enthusiastic supporters in a
city that could determine whether he can keep Florida in his column this time around, Mr. Bush said Mr. Kerry
had voted 350 times to raise taxes in his nearly two decades in the Senate and was now setting out plans that
would inevitably mean higher taxes. Clearly pumped up by the reception he received and obviously relishing
being in the thick of the political give-and-take, Mr. Bush ticked off popular components of the tax cuts he
has signed into law, including an increase in the child credit, a tax break for many married couples, an
expansion of the lowest tax bracket and a cut in the tax on dividends. Mr. Kerry, he said, opposed them all.
"He also supported a 50-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline," Mr. Bush added, referring to a proposed increase in the
federal gasoline tax that Mr. Kerry backed in 1994. "He wanted you to pay all that money at the pump, and
wouldn't even throw in a free car wash."
Above-Average Economy in the Swing States Has Few Rejoicing
Source: David Leonhardt, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Bush and Kerry
Date: March 23, 2004
Little about the suburbs of Minnesota's Twin Cities fits the popular image of a struggling Midwestern
swing state in this election year. Downtown Maple Grove, filled with shops and brick sidewalks, has sprung from
virgin fields in just the last five years, and the medical-device maker that is the city's largest employer
continues to add dozens of new workers. On the outskirts of the metropolitan area, some old farms are now worth
$1 million, thanks to commuters looking for new places to live. Here in Minnesota and in many other swing
states, the economy is a good bit healthier than it might seem when the spotlight in the 2004 presidential
campaign focuses on the plight of industrial states like Ohio and West Virginia. With the help of military
spending in New Mexico, housing booms in Florida and Nevada and the growth of white-collar work in Minnesota
and Iowa, the 17 swing states where President Bush and Senator John Kerry have aimed their early advertising
have actually added 80,000 jobs over the last year. The rest of the country has shed 60,000 in the same time,
according to an analysis by Economy.com, a research company, for The New York Times. Incomes in the swing
states are growing a little faster than they are elsewhere.
It's Jobs, Stupid, and Tax Cuts, Too
Source: John Mercurio, CNN
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: March 26, 2004
With his party $11 million
richer from last night's unity dinner, John Kerry travels to Michigan today to take a whack at the soft spot
in President Bush's economic recovery -- jobs. In the first major policy address since he clinched his
party's nod, Kerry hits back at new Bush ads that claim Kerry has backed some 350 tax hikes in the Senate,
while he offers a plan to create 10 million jobs by 2009. In the first of three speeches he'll deliver in
coming weeks, Kerry today appears at Wayne University in Detroit to outline a tax reform plan designed to
encourage job creation. In the second speech, which sources say is scheduled for sometime early next month,
Kerry will unveil his plan to give Americans the education and training and skills they need to fill and create
21st century jobs. In the third speech, Kerry will outline his plan to restore fiscal discipline and confidence
in the American economy.
Kerry to Offer Cut in Corporate Taxes
Source: Jim VandeHei, The Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: March 26, 2004
John F. Kerry today will propose cutting the corporate tax rate as part of an economic plan
designed to create 10 million jobs by 2009 and discourage companies from sheltering taxable income overseas,
his economic advisers said yesterday. In essence, Kerry will offer a trade: He would cut taxes on U.S.
corporations in exchange for forfeiting current tax benefits for moving money and jobs overseas. Kerry, fresh
from a week-long vacation, is planning to use his first domestic policy address of the general election
campaign to call for this carrot-and-stick approach to prod U.S. companies to do more business and create more
jobs at home. The speech is billed as the first of three presenting the candidate's detailed balanced budget
plan, which will include several new tax cuts.
In Wisconsin, Bush Offers a Hopeful Assessment of the Economy
Source: Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: President George W. Bush
Date: March 31, 2004
President Bush campaigned in Wisconsin on Tuesday, saying he was optimistic about the economy and
urging Americans to have faith in their ability to compete with the rest of the world rather than taking refuge
behind what he called "economic isolationism." Visiting a state he lost by fewer than 6,000 votes in 2000, Mr.
Bush, in a speech sponsored by the local chamber of commerce, ticked off statistics that he said showed how the
tax cuts he championed had helped the economy overcome the recession, the terrorist attacks, two wars and
corporate scandals. "Wisconsin is helping lead the growth of this nation," he said, noting that the state's
unemployment rate had fallen substantially over the past year, to 5 percent from 5.8 percent. "Farms, factories
and offices are shipping high-quality goods all across America, and all throughout the world." Mr. Bush did not
mention some of the state's grimmer statistics. Nonfarm employment in Wisconsin has fallen by 42,000 jobs, to
2.79 million, since he took office, and the state has lost 84,000 manufacturing jobs.
Bush Promoting Job Plan in West Virginia
Source: CNN
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: April 2, 2004
President Bush is promoting
his message of an improving economy in West Virginia, a state he narrowly won in 2000 and where Democrats are
taking him to task for lost jobs. Bush visits Friday, the same day the government releases national
unemployment data for March. He is to appear on a college campus for the second time in the past
week-and-a-half to promote his "Jobs for the 21st Century" program. Among Bush's proposals is $250 million in
grants for community colleges that partner with employers seeking higher-skilled workers. Unveiled in Bush's
State of the Union speech, the overall jobs program would spend $500 million on job training and education
programs.
President Makes His Pitch, on Jobs and at Ballgame
Source: Neil A. Lewis, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: April 6, 2004
President Bush
focused his campaign Monday on job creation, celebrating employment figures for March that surpassed all but
the most optimistic expectations before exercising that quintessentially presidential prerogative of throwing
out the first ball on opening day at a field of his choosing. Mr. Bush chose to do so here in Missouri, an
important tossup state in the presidential race. When he sprinted out of the home-team dugout at Busch Stadium
here wearing a Cardinals jacket, he drew a cheer from the stands exceeding even that given a few minutes
earlier to Stan Musial, perhaps St. Louis's most revered Hall of Famer. The president then threw an arguable
strike to Mike Matheny, the Cardinals' catcher. But for most of the day, his campaign and that of his presumed
Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, tangled over jobs and fiscal responsibility.
Bush to Promote Training in Arkansas
Source: Associated Press, CNN.com
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: April 6, 2004
Visiting a
southern Arkansas town with persistently high unemployment, President Bush is promoting his solutions for
improving the economy and gaining the upper hand in the war in Iraq, two issues that form the foundation of his
re-election campaign. Bush on Tuesday was making his fourth trip to a college campus in less than two weeks,
spelling out his plans to match job training programs with the needs of local employers in a changing economy.
The president was speaking at South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado, a town of 21,000 people in a
region where plant closings and near double-digit unemployment plague the oil, timber and manufacturing
economy. El Dorado's jobless rate was 9.1 percent in February. The latest national unemployment rate is 5.7
percent for March.
Bush Links More Rigorous Schooling to Getting Jobs
Source: Edwin Chen and Erika Hayasaki, Los Angeles Times
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: April 8, 2004
President Bush on Tuesday proposed new requirements for vocational training
and for science and math education that he said would help Americans acquire needed skills for jobs in the
fast-changing economy. "We want every citizen in this country to be able to get the skills necessary to fill
the jobs of the 21st century. There are new jobs being created," the president said at South Arkansas Community
College. Bush's appearance was part of a recent drive to highlight his efforts on job creation -- an issue
that looms large in his reelection bid. During an hourlong event that the White House billed as a
"conversation" on job training and the economy, Bush pronounced the economy to be in solid recovery, citing in
part Friday's Labor Department report that 308,000 jobs were created in March.
Unions Take Note of Kerry's Vow On Deficit
Source: Christopher Lee, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: April 9, 2004
Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign pledge this week to deflate the ballooning federal budget deficit contains
several provisions that could affect the federal workforce. The presumptive Democratic nominee said he would
cut 100,000 federal contractor jobs, cap federal travel budgets, and streamline federal agencies and
commissions to rein in administrative costs by 5 percent, among other moves. "And when we're done, the federal
government will be smaller, but smarter, more effective and less expensive," Kerry said Wednesday in a speech
at Georgetown University. Jason Furman, Kerry's economic policy director, said yesterday that the government
could save $60 billion over 10 years by cutting contractors and freezing the federal travel budget at $8
billion annually.
Kerry Measures 'Middle-Class Misery'
Source: CNN
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: April 12, 2004
Seeking to show that
millions of American families are being "squeezed" by rising costs and shrinking incomes, John Kerry's
presidential campaign announced Monday that it has created a "Middle-Class Misery Index." The index "puts
together the kitchen table economic issues that determine whether working families are feeling economic anxiety
or economic optimism under President Bush," said Gene Sperling, a former economic adviser for President Clinton
who helped put together the report for the Kerry campaign. Unlike the traditional misery index, which combines
unemployment and inflation rates, the new index looks at median family income, college tuition, health costs,
gasoline cost, bankruptcies, home ownership rate, and private-sector job growth. Each of the seven factors had
an equal contribution to the index figure, said economic policy director Jason Furman. The report concludes
that the Middle-Class Misery Index "worsened 13 points in the last three years -- the largest three-year fall
on record and the worst record of any president ever."
Tough Issues, Awaiting Their Turn
Source: Edmund L. Andrews, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Bush and Kerry
Date: April 13, 2004
Though they have surfaced only fleetingly in the opening rounds of the presidential campaign, some of the
deepest and most explosive divisions between George W. Bush and John F. Kerry are over the future of
retirement. The issues are so politically treacherous and abstract that both candidates have shied away from
them in public -- an easy thing to do when the headlines have been dominated by Iraq, the 9/11 commission and
jobs. But make no mistake: a philosophical and intensely partisan war is raging just below the surface, and
strategists on both sides expect that retirement issues will come into play before the campaign comes to a
close. The fissures between Republicans and Democrats are deep. Trillions of dollars are potentially at stake,
and powerful interest groups are already marshaling forces. The issues range from Social Security and Medicare
to the stability of private pension plans, but much of the war boils down to a basic question: should Americans
save for old age collectively as a nation, or as individuals through private savings and investments?
Kerry Wants $30 Billion for Teachers
Source: David M. Halbfinger, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: May 7, 2004
Senator John Kerry called Thursday for a "new bargain" with teachers, proposing to spend $30 billion over 10
years to recruit, coach and reward better teachers. In return, he said, he would require stiffer testing of new
teachers and swifter ways to remove poor ones from the classroom. Fleshing out the details of his education
plan as he wrapped up a three-day West Coast swing, Mr. Kerry told an audience at a high school here, near San
Bernardino, that he would attract, or keep from quitting, 500,000 teachers over four years in what aides said
would be the biggest federal expenditure of money for teacher salaries yet. A major part of his plan, and one
that could face opposition from teachers' unions, is to set aside $9 billion to get school districts to raise
teacher salaries across the board but also to reward teachers for demonstrating excellence, using measurements
including their students' improvement on standardized tests.
Bush Focuses on Good Jobs News as the Bad News on Iraq Looms
Source: Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: President Bush
Date: May 8, 2004
President Bush carried the burden of the Iraqi prisoner abuse case on a campaign swing through
Iowa and Wisconsin on Friday, but he used new job-creation figures to leaven his acknowledgment of national
shame with a dose of economic optimism. As he campaigned by bus through two states that he lost in 2000 but is
making a concerted push to win this time around, Mr. Bush used the news that the economy had created 288,000
jobs in April, the eighth-straight month of gains, to bolster his case that his tax cuts are helping bring
about a return to prosperity. "I can't tell you how optimistic I am about the economy," Mr. Bush told an
audience in Prairie du Chien, Wis. But images of American military personnel abusing Iraqi prisoners, and
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's testimony on Friday that there are more such pictures, loomed over his
campaign stops.
Kerry Addresses Health Care Costs
Source: Jim VandeHei, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: May 11, 2004
Sen. John F. Kerry charged Monday that President Bush was ignoring soaring health care
costs, as the Democratic presidential candidate launched a week-long campaign to highlight his plan to reduce
insurance premiums and extend coverage to 27 million uninsured Americans. U.S. health care spending has
increased by about 10 percent a year since President Bush took office, and the number of people without health
care insurance has risen to 43 million. Kerry is promoting a plan designed to cut costs largely by retooling or
expanding existing government programs. Under the Kerry approach, the federal government would pay for the most
expensive health expenses, known as catastrophic costs. The plan would also provide tax credits and other
benefits to businesses to provide lower-cost coverage to employees and would permit the reimportation of
prescription drugs from Canada, among other things. The idea is to push prices down by easing pressure in
several areas, from business to bureaucracy, simultaneously.
Senate Rejects Unemployment Benefit Extension
Source: Mary Dalrymple, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Kerry
Date: May 11, 2004
The Senate by a single vote rejected an election-year effort Tuesday to extend federal unemployment benefits.
Democrats tried to attach the benefit to a corporate tax bill. On a 59-40 vote in the GOP-controlled Senate,
they fell just shy of the 60 votes needed to overcome objections that extending the benefits violated last
year's budget agreement. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, was
the only senator who missed the vote. Kerry was campaigning Tuesday in Kentucky. The amendment would have
offered emergency federal unemployment benefits for six months, temporarily giving 13 weeks of extra assistance
to people who exhaust their state benefits -- typically 26 weeks.
Kerry Describes Health Proposal
Source: Jim VandeHei, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Sen. John Kerry
Date: May 12, 2004
In a dusty warehouse of Louisville Stoneware Co., a small clay pottery company established
here in 1815, Sen. John F. Kerry on Tuesday detailed his plan to reduce the cost of health coverage for
small-business owners and their employees. Health insurance premiums have shot up by nearly 50 percent over the
past three years for small firms, forcing many owners to scale back or scuttle coverage for employees, studies
show. Under the Kerry plan, small-business owners would get a tax credit to cover as much as 50 percent of the
cost of providing coverage to employees with incomes that are not more than 300 percent of the poverty level.
House Blocks Overtime Vote Sought by Democrats
Source: Associated Press
Candidate/Organization: Bush
Date: May 12, 2004
House
Republicans rebuffed a Democratic attempt Wednesday to force an election-year vote on overtime pay that would
require the new Bush administration regulations to retain eligibility for all workers who currently qualify.
Election-year shuffle on the minimum wage
Source: New York Times
Date: May 16, 2004
Few proposals are more popular than raising the minimum wage. But what voters want rarely
translates into a higher minimum, even though Congress does pay extra attention in presidential election years.
That happened in 2000, and it's happening again. The Republicans are dead set against raising the minimum
wage. But in presidential election years they give the appearance of favoring an increase. The catalyst in this
game is Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat. His latest proposal, introduced in the Senate on
April 29 and in the House a week later, would raise the minimum to $7 an hour in three steps over 26 months.
Proposed US overtime rules come under fire
Source: Tim Fawcett, BBC News Online
Candidate/Organization: Bush
Date: May 17, 2004
[A] US government plan to
help more people earn extra cash from working overtime has run into trouble after critics said it would make
life worse, not better, for thousands of American workers. The spat has highlighted how labour rights could
become an important issue ahead of the US Presidential election.
Candidates offer very different health care plans
Source: Molly M. Ginty, Women's eNews
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: May 18, 2004
As Republican President
George W. Bush and Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry vie for votes in November, they are
recommending very different ways to insure the 42 million Americans who lack health care coverage. It's a
problem that affects 18 percent of women between the ages 18 to 65 and costs the economy an annual $130 billion
in lost wages and other expenses. Alina Salganicoff, director of Women's Health Policy for The Henry J. Kaiser
Family Foundation in Menlo Park, Calif., says "Bush plans to spend one tenth as much money, while Kerry plans
to insure seven times as many people."
Employment rebounds in states that could decide next president
Source: Peronet Despeignes, USA Today
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: May 23, 2004
The latest Labor Department figures on state jobs show that 10 of the 17 states expected to be the
most tightly contested this campaign season were among the fastest-growing job markets in the country in April.
The report, out Friday, showed a marked acceleration in job gains in industrial states in and around the
Midwest defying the expectations of economists who predicted last year that those states would lag the national
recovery.
Wall Street firms funnel millions to Bush
Source: Thomas B. Edsall, Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Bush
Date: May 24, 2004
When employers of contributors to the Bush campaign are ranked, seven
out of the top 10 are major securities firms. For the securities industry, a lot has changed since 2000, and
the changes wrought by the Bush administration have produced large new profits. Those profits stand to soar
higher if Bush is reelected.
Source: Paul Krugman, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Bush
Date: May 25, 2004
Republicans are
frustrated by polls showing that the public has a poor opinion of George Bush's economic leadership. In their
view, the good news about Mr. Bush's economic triumphs is being drowned out by the bad news from Iraq. Funny,
isn't it? In 2002, Republican strategists used the impending Iraq war to distract the public from the
miserable economic news. Now they're complaining that Iraq is taking voters' focus off the economy. But is
the economic news really that good? No. While the recent economic performance is better than in the
administration's first three years, it isn't at all exceptional by historical standards. And after those
three terrible years, the economy has a lot of ground to make up.
Sick about health care: employers and politicians struggle to find solution
Source: Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: May 26, 2004
From the largest corporations to the smallest mom-and-pop shops,
business executives identify double-digit increases in health insurance costs as perhaps the biggest threat to
their bottom lines and their future. Yet beyond their vocal complaints, businesses have been strikingly absent
from the burgeoning political debate and largely unwilling to take sides. Business groups large and small say
neither political party has embraced proposals that will truly bring down spiraling costs.
U.S., Centam countries sign contentious trade pact
Source: Reuters, Forbes.com
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: May 28, 2004
The United States and
five Central American countries signed a free trade agreement on Friday, but strong opposition from labor,
environmental and other groups could keep it from becoming law. The deal essentially would extend the North
American Free Trade Agreement down most of the land bridge connecting Mexico to South America. It would bring
the Bush administration a step closer to creating a free trade zone covering every country in the Western
Hemisphere except Cuba. The fate of the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, could depend on
this year's U.S. election.
Jobs loss may affect who wins the vote
Source: Paul Farhi, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: June 1, 2004
Of all
the places devoted to making and shaping metal in this weathered industrial city [Canton, Ohio], few are as
venerable as the Timken Roller Bearing Axle Co. factory. For more than a century, workers have cranked out
millions of industrial bearings, the steel components that make things such as oil rigs and computer disk
drives operate smoothly. Now the factory is at the heart of an unlikely but intriguing subchapter in the
presidential campaign. Timken, which has grown into a Fortune 500 giant, has declared the aging plant and two
others in Canton to be "uncompetitive." In mid-May, it announced that it would close the factories unless
workers represented by the United Steelworkers of America agreed to unspecified concessions. Timken sits in the
heart of a city that sits in the heart of Stark County, one of three critical "swing" counties in a state that
President Bush must win to defeat his Democratic rival, Sen. John F. Kerry.
Economic rebirth in Wis. may reflect U.S. trend
Source: Peronet Despeignes, USA Today
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: June 7, 2004
The U.S. economy by many measures is "back on track," rebounding sharply in 2004 and
adding more than 1 million jobs, figures released last week show. Here in Wisconsin, the 2001 recession and the
"jobless recovery" of the past two years are a fading memory. The Bush campaign is counting on the national
job-market rebound to counter the political drag of Iraq and other economic conditions, such as rising gas
prices. Its best chance may be here: Wisconsin's recovery has been stronger, longer and more consistent than
most of the 17 states considered competitive by Bush and Democrat John Kerry. The Bush and Kerry campaigns are
trying to shape public opinion of the economy. The Kerry campaign emphasizes surging costs for health care,
college tuition and gasoline. The Bush campaign argues that the economy is improving, thanks in part to the
president's tax cuts.
Source: Jonathan Tasini, TomPaine.com
Candidate/Organization: John Kerry
Date: June 15, 2004
The last
few days, I've had that queasy feeling I get when I feel more repelled by so-called "liberals" than
conservatives. The occasion: the wringing of hands and finger wagging at the local police union that has been
picketing the site of the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The police have been without a contract for
two years. The mayor, Democrat Thomas Menino, is offering a contract that the police officers don't like.
They've picketed at the site, and other unionized workers have refused to cross the picket line, delaying
work. The Democratic Party wags are worried about the message the protesting police will send to the rest of
America. If [Kerry's] campaign is truly about a "Real Deal" for Americans, he could start by telling the mayor
to negotiate in good faith with the union, and call off the Democratic party hacks who want [him] to show his
political manhood at the expense of workers.
Bush reaches out to American workers
Source: Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times, The Union Leader [New Hampshire]
Candidate/Organization: George W. Bush
Date: June 14, 2004
Bush is an unabashedly pro-business president. But he is also working to forge
an image as a friend of the American worker, part of his effort to win such battleground states as Florida,
Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, some of his policies -- including new overtime regulations and his
push to eliminate rules designed to reduce repetitive-stress injuries -- carry a risk of alienating voters who
otherwise would lean toward supporting him.
Kerry says 'can-do' U.S. needs to raise minimum wage
Source: Patricia Wilson, Reuters
Candidate/Organization: John Kerry
Date: June 18, 2004
Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry proposed on Friday raising the minimum wage to $7 by
2007, a hike he said would allow struggling families to pay for 10 months of groceries or eight months of rent.
His plan to phase in an increase of $1.85 an hour would most benefit women, an important constituency in the
Nov. 2 presidential election, his campaign said. "You put in a week's work, you ought to be able to take care
of your family," Kerry told an invited audience at Northern Virginia Community College. "You ought to be able
to pay your bills."
Kerry proposes $7 minimum wage
Source: William L. Watts, CBS/MarketWatch, Investor's Business Daily
Candidate/Organization: John Kerry
Date: June 18, 2004
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called Friday for raising the
minimum wage by $1.85 an hour to $7 by 2007, saying the move would aid America's working women and their
families. The Kerry campaign highlighted a report released by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research
group, which said working women would be the top beneficiaries of a rise in the minimum wage to $7.
Source: Reuters, CNN/Money
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: June 19, 2004
President
Bush said Saturday the U.S. economy was gaining momentum and cited a drop in the unemployment rate in 46
states, as he sparred with Democrats over whether life was getting better for ordinary Americans. But Democrats
responded by accusing Bush of failing to stem the export of jobs overseas.
Wages in U.S. lag inflation, may blunt Bush fains from new jobs
Source: Art Pine, Bloomberg
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: June 21, 2004
A 2.2 percent rise in wages in the 12 months through May has been more than offset by a 3.1
percent gain in consumer prices. It's unlikely that employees will get raises that outpace inflation over the
next five to 10 years, said William A. Niskanen, former acting chairman of the President's Council of Economic
Advisors during the Ronald Reagan administration.
"I don't see any substantial increase in average real
wages for some time,'' said Niskanen, who is now chairman of the Cato Institute, a Washington research group.
Niskanen and other economists cite global competition, which forces companies to keep costs down, shrinking
union clout and continuing slack in a labor market with an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent. The disparity
between pay and prices may keep President George W. Bush from fully capitalizing on the economy's addition of
1.2 million jobs this year as he runs for re-election, said political analysts including Thomas Mann of the
Brookings Institution in Washington.
Quality of new jobs is focus of election-year debate
Source: Jonathan Weisman, Nell Henderson, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Bush
Date: June 23, 2004
[A] MoveOn.org political ad, and a furious counteroffensive by President
Bush's reelection campaign, are crystallizing a burgeoning election-year debate over the quality of jobs being
added to the nation's payrolls. One key measure is wages. MoveOn intends the [ad] to play on worker anxiety
about the loss of relatively high-paying jobs, forcing breadwinners to accept lower-wage service jobs. The Bush
administration says that is a misleading picture. Most of the jobs created last month were in industries that
pay above-average wages, including health care, construction and financial services, the campaign says.
Democrats fear Boston police union may picket during party convention
Source: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Kerry
Date: June 30, 2004
Municipal labor disputes hardly ever have national repercussions, but the
contract dispute involving [Boston]'s main police union is different, because it has begun to bedevil the
Democratic Party and could hurt Senator John Kerry's hopes of achieving party unity in the presidential
campaign. For many Democrats, the contract dispute is raising fears that the police union will picket during
the Democratic convention to be held here next month and that thousands of delegates will have to choose
between honoring the union's picket line or attending the convention.
How does it feel in the middle?
Source: Edmund L. Andrews, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: August 1, 2004
More than in any recent presidential election, the critical economic issue this year boils down to whether
middle-income people think they are being squeezed. President Bush, having weathered a recession and a
prolonged slump in jobs, passionately argues that they are not. His tax cuts, he says, are giving middle-income
families as well as the rich more money to spend and fueling a recovery that is finally producing more jobs.
Senator John Kerry just as passionately argues that working families are being left behind. Their incomes, he
says, are failing to keep up with soaring costs for health care, college tuition and other needs. Who is right?
The answer is far from clear, but a visit to Wisconsin Dells, a sprawling collection of water parks and roller
coasters about 60 miles north of Madison, offers some clues.
Jobs and the economy at 10 paces
Source: Dan Balz, David S. Broder, Washington Post
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: August 1, 2004
President Bush and John F. Kerry dueled over the economy as they campaigned Saturday in two of the
nation's most jobs-sensitive states, intensifying their fight for control over a dozen-and-a-half
battlegrounds likely to decide the election. A mid-campaign look at those states, based on interviews with
Kerry staffers and officials of independent groups supporting his candidacy, state delegation leaders at the
Democratic National Convention, Bush campaign aides and GOP officials who set up a counter-headquarters in
Boston, as well as state polls, suggests that Campaign 2004 remains extraordinarily competitive with 93 days
left to the Nov. 2 election.
Source: Daniel Gross, Slate
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: August 11, 2004
We've got red-state and blue-state news channels, films, books, even musicians. Now
we've also got red-state, blue-state discount retailers. On the left: Costco Wholesale Corp. Last week,
Jeffrey Brotman and James Sinegal, chairman and chief executive office of Costco, respectively, joined the list
of executives who endorsed John Kerry for president. On the right: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Founded in Arkansas (a
blue-turned-red state), it grew by spreading into the adjacent South and Great Plains. Like today's Republican
Party, it focuses intensely on rural areas and generally avoids cities.
Controversial overtime rules take effect
Source: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: August 23, 2004
The Bush
administration's new overtime rules go into effect today, but the Kerry campaign has already begun attacking
the overhauled regulations, saying they will hurt millions of American workers. Urging President Bush to scrap
the rules, the Kerry campaign and organized labor say the regulations will exempt up to six million additional
workers from receiving overtime pay by redefining which workers qualify for time-and-a-half pay when they work
more than 40 hours. But the administration asserts that no more than 107,000 workers will lose their
eligibility, while 1.3 million workers will gain the right to overtime.
Bringing family values to the workplace
Source: Thomas A. Kochan, Boston Globe
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: August 29, 2004
The political debate over family values is turning to the
workplace. Whoever is in the White House must address updating America's 60-year-old employment practices to
create a flexible family-centered policy suited to the needs of the modern economy. Why? Today it takes two
working adults to make ends meet. Our workplace policies are still based on the 1930s assumption of a male
breadwinner with a wife at home. This model now fits less than one quarter of the workforce. Thus working
families and their employers have a big stake in modernizing workplace policies. Let's take a closer look at
the candidates' proposals.
It's not new jobs. It's all the jobs.
Source: Louis Uchitelle, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: August 29, 2004
Now
that the work force is growing again, President Bush and Senator John Kerry have been arguing about the quality
of the newly created jobs--whether a majority are toward the higher or lower end of the wage scale. That is the
wrong debate. The real issue is not how well the new jobs pay, but whether the incomes of workers in general
are rising or falling. On the second score, there is not much to debate. The incomes of most workers, adjusted
for inflation, are sinking.
Economic squeeze plaguing middle-class families
Source: Timothy Egan, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Bush, Kerry
Date: August 28, 2004
It is the
middle-class squeeze--rising college tuition and soaring health care premiums at a time when wages are stagnant
and job creation is sluggish--that may be the sleeper economic issue of the presidential campaign. Despite low
inflation, record home ownership and productivity, many middle-class households are close to a tipping point--a
bill or two away from losing economic control, surveys and interviews show. Even with the creation of a million
new jobs over the last year, the percentage of people who say the economy is in good shape has fallen as
Election Day approaches.
Democrats Turn to Minimum Wage as 2014 Strategy
Source: Jonathan Martin and Michael D. Shear, New York Times
Candidate/Organization: Democratic candidates
Date: December 29, 2013
Democratic Party leaders, bruised by months of attacks on the new health care program, have found an issue they believe can lift their fortunes both locally and nationally in 2014: an increase in the minimum wage.
Biden announces $775 billion plan to fund universal child care and in-home elder care
Source: Christina Wilkie, CNBC
Date: July 22, 2020
Former Vice President Joe Biden announced a sweeping new plan Tuesday that aims to fundamentally shift the way American families care for each other, both at the beginning of life and at the end.
Biden’s Disability Plan Could Close the Equal-Pay Loophole
Source: Sarah Katz, The Atlantic
Candidate/Organization: Democratic presidential candidates
Date: August 13, 2020
Although the Americans With Disabilities Act, passed 30 years ago this summer, protects people with disabilities from employment and pay discrimination, a little-known loophole allows employers that hold a special certificate to pay disabled workers less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
These companies are giving their employees the day off to vote
Source: Jordan Valinsky, CNN
Date: August 18, 2020
With an ongoing pandemic, the logistics of voting in this year's presidential election are making many Americans anxious -- even more so than in previous years.
Source: Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
Date: September 8, 2020
Friday’s jobs report makes it more likely that Washington won’t deliver another big coronavirus aid package before the November election, according to some analysts.
Federal workers will soon see Trump bump in pay -- but there's a catch
Source: Tami Luhby, CNN
Date: September 14, 2020
Many federal workers will soon see a few hundred dollars more in their paychecks, thanks to a coronavirus relief measure signed last month by President Donald Trump.
Why the Trump administration is slashing anti-discrimination training
Source: Derrick Clifton, NBC News
Date: September 15, 2020
The Trump administration announced two moves last week that target diversity training at federal agencies and public school lessons about American slavery.
Source: CBS New York, CBS New York
Date: September 16, 2020
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