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Two political events on February 9 in the Dallas area indicated that 2008 will not be an ordinary election year. State Representative Roberto Alonzo, faced with a challenger in the March 4 election, called on some of his union friends for an old fashioned day of block walking and door knocking in Dallas. He had held his first event two weeks before, and was pleased to get 15 volunteers; but the crowd quadrupled to 60 or more on February 9!
On the same day, a political training session featuring ex-Firefighter Ken Bailey took place at UAW 848 in Grand Prairie. The last such educational drew 20-25 people, according to veteran observers. But the February 9 crowd was close to 100!. In both of these events, the turnout had quadrupled three weeks before the primary election! Click here for more info
Texas AFL-CIO organizations are making their state and local endorsements. For a quick snapshot of the ones endorsed so far, click here.
At the national level, turnouts in primary elections are setting new records. Union leaders have been proud to point out that 1 in 4 votes (25%) in recent elections have come from union households, but the "Super Tuesday" results show even more voting participation from union households. This is particularly impressive when one realizes that neither the AFL-CIO nor most union leaders have expressed a presidential choice.
The AFL-CIO reports: "According to exit polls in California, union households made up 32 percent of the vote in the nation's most populous state. Union voters made up 33 percent of the vote in Connecticut, 30 percent in Delaware, 38 percent in Illinois, 27 percent in Massachusetts, 27 percent in Missouri, 35 percent in New Jersey and 40 percent in New York."
From the point of view of senior voters, it is easy to see why voter turnout is so high. The current government keeps dishing out bad news for older Americans. The latest weekly news report from the Alliance for Retired Americans, http://www.retiredamericans.org, includes this typical news announcement:
PRESIDENT BUSH PROPOSES MEANS-TESTING FOR MEDICARE PART D
As part of his final budget proposal, released Monday, President Bush revealed
his plan to begin means-testing for the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.
The change would be very similar to the means-testing implemented for Part B
by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), which determines
beneficiaries' premium levels based on their previous year's income. Health
care advocates argue that making these programs more expensive for wealthier
beneficiaries, who tend to be younger and in better health, undercuts their
social insurance nature. They expect many higher-income recipients to ultimately
opt out. In turn, costs will rise for the millions of middle and lower-income
seniors who rely on the affordable coverage Medicare provides. Additionally,
if income thresholds for increased premiums are not scheduled to rise with inflation,
means-testing could apply to middle-income seniors over time.
"This is another attempt by this Administration to privatize
Medicare," said Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance. "Means-testing
Part D is the next step down a slippery slope that undermines our social insurance
programs."
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