No substance here...

[Recursion]

:sarcasm:

Just posting a neat email from a Union organizer. And another reminder of why I like Obama's jobs and economics plans better than Clinton's...

BARACK OBAMA'S PLAN TO RAISE WORKERS' INCOMES Background: America's Workers and Pennsylvania's Workers Deserve a Raise. Most Americans haven't gotten a meaningful pay increase since President George W. Bush entered the White House.

Since 2000, men's real wages have increased only about 1 percent. Women's wages have increased barely 5 percent over the past eight years, but their wages declined slightly during the last four years. In fact, the last four years have been grim for the large majority of workers who live from paycheck to paycheck. Real wages have gone down for middle and low-wage workers, while only the very highest paid workers -- the top 5 percent -- have seen significant pay raises. As a result, working families' incomes are falling.

1- Working families in Pennsylvania also need a raise. Since 2001, Pennsylvania's workers at every wage level -- except the very highest paid -- have seen their real wages go down.
2- Workers are doing their share, but they aren't getting a fair share in return. Workers' productivity has increased almost 20 percent since 2000 and 5 percent over the last four years. Meanwhile, the economy has been growing until recently, and employers have reported record profits. American workers are getting paid less even though they are producing more.

Without a raise, working families have been forced to go deeper into debt by borrowing against their homes and their credit cards. But credit is getting tighte r and personal bankruptcies and foreclosures have skyrocketed. It's not just a personal tragedy for the families that are falling out of the middle class. Consumer spending is two-thirds of the American economy. Without money coming in, working families can't spend and keep our economy growing. America's wage stagnation is a serious threat to family economics, but it is an equally serious threat to our nation's economic well-being.

That's why we need to elect Barack Obama. We need a president who is committed to restoring the American Dream by expanding and securing the middle class. We need Barack Obama's leadership to enact a plan to raise workers' incomes.


BARACK OBAMA'S PLAN TO RAISE WORKERS' INCOME

Invest in Creating High-Paying Manufacturing Jobs: Obama will invest in America's highly-skilled manufacturing workforce and manufacturing centers to ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer the first wave of green technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world. Obama will also provide tax assistance and loan guarantees to the domestic auto industry to ensure that new fuel-efficient cars and trucks are build in the U.S. with American workers.

Create More High-Paying Construction and Green Energy Jobs: Obama will invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial scale renewable energy, invest in low emissions coal plants, and begin transition to a new digital electricity grid. Obama will also invest in rebuilding our nation's infrastructure by creating a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank with an infusion of $60 billion in federal funds over 10 years to expand and enhance, not supplant, existing federal transportation investments. Together, these investments will create millions of new jobs and stimulate economic growth.

Fight for Fair Trade: Obama's trade policy will open up foreign markets to support good American jobs and negotiate trade agreements that benefit Americans workers and spread strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards around the world. In particular, Obama will work with the leaders of Mexico and Canada to amend NAFTA. Obama will take trade enforcement seriously by making enforcement the top priority of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Office and increasing resources for USTR to carry out its responsibility to protect American interests. He will also pressure the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and nontariff barriers on U.S. exports. Obama will fight for stronger protections for U.S. intellectual property, and - in the case of China in particular - an end to an artificially devalued currency that puts U.S. companies at a perpetual disadvantage.

Change the Tax Code to Create High-Paying American Jobs: Obama will close tax loopholes that give companies billions of dollars in tax deductions for moving their operations overseas. Obama introduced the Patriot Employer Act of 2007 with Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to reward companies that create good jobs with good benefits for American workers. The legislation would provide a tax credit to companies that maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in America relative to those outside the US; maintain their corporate headquarters in America; pay decent wages; prepare workers for retirement; provide health insurance; and support employees who serve in the military.

Support Worker Organizing: Unionized workers earn more and are more likely to have pensions and health insurance than non-union workers. Obama supports and, as president will sign, the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan effort to assure that workers can exercise their right to organize and secure initial agreements with their employers. He will also fight to restore collective bargaining rights to nurses and other workers excluded as "supervisors," and to ban employers' practice of permanently replacing striking workers. Obama also supports, and as president will sign, the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act to assure public safety workers who put their lives on the line every day their right to bargain collectively.

Raise the Minimum Wage: Obama will fight to further increase the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011 and index it to inflation.

Provide Universal Health Care: Obama is committed to signing universal health legislation by the end of his first term in office that ensures all Americans have high-quality, affordable health care. His plan will save a typical American family up to $2,500 a year on medical expenditures.

Expand and Increase the Earned Income Tax Credit: Obama will reward work by increasing the number of working parents eligible for Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits, increasing the benefit available to parents who support their children through child support payments, increasing the benefit for families with three or more children and reducing the EITC marriage penalty.

Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Barack Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they deserve. Obama will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.

Expand the Child and Dependent CareTax Credit: Obama will reform the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for their child care expenses.

Increase Investments in Job Training: Obama will increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to incorporate green technologies training, such as advanced manufacturing and weatherization training, to prepare Americans for the stable, high-paying green energy jobs of the future. Obama will also expand and fund apprenticeship programs to help workers get credentials and skills in crafts with middle-class incomes and benefits.

Make College Affordable for All Americans: Obama's American Opportunity Tax Credit, a fully refundable credit, will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans and will cover two-thirds of the cost of tuition at the average public college or university. Students claiming this credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of public service a year, either during the school year or over the summer months.

Help Dislocated Workers to Stay in the Middle Class: Obama will modernize and expand trade adjustment assistance to include all affected workers -- including those in the service sector and those losing jobs going to countries with which we do not have trade agreements such as China and India. Obama also supports unemployment insurance reform that assured benefits for more unemployed workers and provides extended benefits for those who need them. Obama will create flexible education accounts that workers can use to retrain, provide retraining assistance for workers in sectors of the economy vulnerable to dislocation before they lose their jobs, and provide additional assistance for workers to afford health care. As president, he will sign an updated WARN Act that requires large employers to notify employees of a layoff 90 days before a plant closing - an increase of 30 days from today's standard.