Left In Lowell

[JamieforCongress.com] [My ActBlue page for Jamie]

The time has come for me to endorse in the special election for the fifth Congressional district. This is my personal endorsement; as you might already know, my co-blogger Mimi has already detailed her support for another candidate.

I have watched this race since its very (unofficial) beginning. I came into the race without expectation, knowing a little about a couple of the candidates from a distance, and nothing much at all about others. It has been an active education; I have interviewed most of the Democratic candidates on my radio show (I did leave a message for Miceli but he never responded), I have attended four candidate forums (including the bloggers’ forum at the UMass Lowell media conference). I’ve listened to speeches and perused candidate websites and blog posts. I have read countless news articles (when one can find them) and evaluations from other bloggers.

So it is with confidence and pleasure that I endorse Representative Jamie Eldridge for US Congress.

On every issue that has come up, not only does Jamie line up with my admittedly progressive viewpoints. He also has the best grasp of those issues, and the core underlying problems that need to be solved. He understands what’s happening in Congress right now, what current proposals out there he would support, and what needs fixing. His ideas are bold, in an age when finger-in-the-wind politics is conventional wisdom. He has released detailed proposals on several issues thus far with more to come, also against conventional wisdom, which says that a candidate should remain as vague as possible so as not to invite attacks from opponents.

Beyond that, he is practical. He has been accused by some in the race of not facing reality on many of his proposals, including single payer health care. However, Jamie is someone who will fight passionately for his ideals but know when something is better than nothing. Even though the health care reform here in Mass is seriously flawed, still leaves out many uninsured, doesn’t address cost, and is basically corporate welfare for health insurance companies, it does provide for the least among us who do not have health care, and on that compromise, Jamie voted yes, even as he fought for a more idyllic health care amendment to the state Constitution to embody health care as a constitutional right.

I would rather send a fighter to Congress who will push for the ideal, and know when to compromise, then go to Congress already compromising. We have no chance of success for bold initiatives if we choose not to aim high.

Some issues on which Jamie’s position shows his courage in leadership:

• For single payer health care, and for restructuring our system to let go of profits, which are at complete odds with quality, affordable, universal care.
• Restructuring our trade - Fair trade, not free trade. Free trade has been a disaster for workers, for our nation, and for the countries our corporations are allowed to exploit. But we can do global trade better.
• Education - repealing the NCLB act, fully funding special ed which is crushing our schools, and increasing the quality of our education without the ineffective high stakes “standards testing” which has failed us.
• Defunding the war and getting our boys and girls home safely.
• True campaign finance reform, including publicly-funded campaigns. Jamie was the only state candidate in Mass elected on the short-lived Clean Elections law. He knows what that means - not being beholden to big money special interests but ot the people of his district.

On these issues, and many more, Jamie has grasped the real problems we face - not the pat sound bite, but the root causes - and has real solutions, which he outlines so clearly on his website. He was unequivocally a supporter, and hard worker, of Deval Patrick’s amazing grassroots campaign. And I have noticed, in all the debates and places where he speaks, he wins over the crowd with his truthful, bold, and progressive leadership.

Jamie is the best candidate for our district. I urge you to support him with your donation and your time.

Unions certainly have a bad rep these days. Whether a police, state, or teacher’s union, you don’t have to be near the editor of the Lowell Sun to hear some negative opinions on labor unions. (Though, the worst bitching comes from the Lowell Sun, unnecessarily.)

It was a blah sort of day last Sunday, the sort of day you do your laundry and play poker while watching yet another omnipresent Democratic ‘08 debate. But it sure beat working all weekend, right? If you like your weekends, thank a union.

There was a recent report that showed that Americans are not taking their full vacation time, or are bringing work with them on vacation. It seems that this might be the case because of all the pressure on our workers in this day and age…competition from H1B immigrants and a global economy where jobs are as fluid as rain and nearly as fleeting. But you still get vacation, and holidays, and long weekends…well, thank a union.

What would happen if we lost all our unions? Do you like human fingers in your ground beef or 40 kids being taught ineffectively in an elementary classroom? That’s what would happen without unions, and the right for workers to organize and ensure their workplace is safe, fair, and sane. When unions are left out of the work equation, we have Wal-Mart violating fair workplace laws, depressing wages, and doling out no benefits, sloughing those workers’ health care costs onto the state and reducing their quality of life. Thereby ensuring a class of workers who can do no more than to afford the cheap imported goods Wal-Mart sells (sort of the reverse of Henry Ford, isn’t it?).

Yeah, sometimes unions are short sighted, myopic, and stubborn. Actually, that’s sort of a union’s job, isn’t it? They demand. Sometimes they demand too much, or won’t let go of something which is unfair to taxpayers. And yet, I am pro-union despite the bumps. Why? Because the democratic right to organize and advocate and speak with one loud voice is every bit a part of our best attributes as a nation as is the voting booth.

Unions, as the moderator at last night’s AFL-CIO 5th CD debate said, are not a special interest. They work in the interest of the little guy - specifically the ones who are members, but really, for all of us who work. If we as private citizens don’t love that idea, maybe we’re just jealous that our own economic sector isn’t unionized. After all, it’s not really that we despise others for getting a little slice of the pie. Maybe we just want a little for ourselves.

Well, get organized.

Tonight I attended the 5th Congressional District AFL-CIO debate at Lowell High. It was a crowded room once again, and while there’s always a decent amount of supporters at these things, the audience was largely made up of voters, particularly of union stripe.

Notable people I saw in the audience: Marie Sweeney of GLAD, School Committeeperson Jackie Doherty, City Council candidates Curt Lemay and Kristin Ross-Sitcawich, among others.

The candidates attending were City Councilor Eileen Donoghue, Rep. Jamie Eldridge, Rep. Barry Finegold, Rep. Jim Miceli, independent candidate Patrick Murphy, and Niki Tsongas. It was interesting to finally see Patrick Murphy in person.

The following are my notes from the debate. Things are paraphrased and shortened and I’m sure I missed things here and there; these notes may not accurately reflect actual candidates’ views. I invite any corrections if that’s the case.

I used initials to label the candidates’ remarks.

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