| Eric's Position on Jobs |
I know first-hand how critically important a good job is. I moved to Corning in 2001, and four months later I lost my job. I know exactly what it means to get sick, lose your job, and have bills you can't pay. We've had some pockets of success in the 29th District, but the reality is that over the last 3-1/2 years we've lost more than 10,000 jobs. By any measure we're in serious trouble, and two or three addictive Washington pork-barrel hand-outs aren't going to be enough. We need major change, now. We need more good, living wage jobs -- and lots of them.
For six years, the Republican Congress gave away enormous tax cuts to multi-millionaires and corporations, and funded them with cuts in areas like Veteran's programs and Medicare, and by running us deep into debt. It's no accident that we've got businesses exporting mass numbers of jobs to low-wage countries. Priorities in Congress are upside-down. We need to get back to traditional American values, and to reinvest in our communities.
A sane, healthy approach to economic development will include major investment in health care, energy independence, and homeland security. For the 29th District, it will spur development in cutting edge technology, build on the strong base of tourism in the region, and slow the "brain drain" of talented young people from the district. Here's how we can get our economy back on sound footing and bring jobs back:
- Use the tax code. We can use tax policy to provide incentives for companies to stay in the U.S., and in New York. The 29th District is positioned for global leadership in a number of new emerging fields and markets, cutting-edge fields like biotech and alternative fuel cell technology. We have the best work force in the country. To create more 21st century jobs, we need a responsive government that works as a partner with business and sound tax policy. As a strong, effective Representative in Congress I will work to make New York State, and the 29th, 29th, a better place to do business because I will listen to both business and labor leaders.
- Create fair trade policy. Trade with China has been a disaster for American workers. Like much of the country, this district has seen a steady exodus of jobs overseas, exported to countries with worse labor and environmental practices than ours. Our trade agreements need to be overhauled, to promote fair trade, not free trade, and ensure our American workers are protected.
- Focus investment in strategic areas. Tourism, alternative fuel cell technology, optics/imaging, and biotechnology are four key areas where the 29th district is poised for growth and for global leadership status. Investment and development efforts should be concentrated in these strategic areas, and all levels of government should be working together here. If we want more high-quality, 21st century jobs, we need a responsive government that's a facilitator, not a barrier, to business.
- Connecting education with opportunity. On my first day in Congress, I will call on all of the area business leadership and the presidents of every university and college in our district along with our Albany and county representatives and we will gather to start the process of building a true partnership. We are going to educate our work force to the economy that we strive to create with scholarships and loans -- some private some from the public sector, for specific jobs that offer a minimum of four years of guaranteed employment in return for core course completion and academic performance and a four year commitment with the private sector sponsor. It's as simple as that, if we can train our youth to work in living wage jobs that are attracted to the area by the large number of vocational, Community Colleges and four year University programs in the area, we will be able to break the bond of additive Washington DC handouts after 20 years of neglect. The key is a true partnership with leadership to form a Western New York state educational priority and then make it a priority for Washington as well.
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| Articles |
Midwest Towns Sour on War as Their Tolls Mount from The Washington Post on July 14
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 14, 2007; A01
TIPTON, Iowa -- This farming town in Cedar County buried Army Spec. Aaron Sissel during the Iraq war's ninth month. It buried Army Spec. David W. Behrle during the 51st. Along the way, as a peaceable community's heart sank, its attitude toward President Bush and his Iraq strategy turned more personal and more negative.
Sissel and Behrle were popular young sons of Tipton, a community of 3,100 where anonymity is an impossibility. Sissel bagged groceries at the supermarket and often bowled at Cedar Lanes. Behrle served, just two years ago, as Tipton High's senior class president and commencement speaker.
The town, by all accounts, once gave Bush the benefit of the doubt for a war he said would make America safer and a mission he said was accomplished four years before Behrle died. But funeral by funeral, faith in the president and his project to remake Iraq is ebbing away.
Full Story
Democrats Divided Over Farm Bill Changes from The Washington Post on July 14
Despite Wish to Reduce Subsidies, Leaders Worry About Freshmen in 'Red' States
By Dan Morgan
Special to The Washington Post
When freshman Ohio Democrat Zack Space replaced veteran Republican Rep. Robert W. Ney after the 2006 elections, groups lobbying for a major revamping of farm subsidy programs were elated.
House Democrats, with their base in urban areas and coastal regions, were not beholden to programs weighted toward large commercial farmers in the grain and cotton belts. And Space's eastern Ohio district of small and medium-size farms was far down the list of those receiving government farm payments.
But, as the House Agriculture Committee prepares to take up a new five-year farm bill on Tuesday, Space, one of nine freshmen Democrats on the panel, is opposing major changes in the traditional price and income support programs that in 2006 paid farmers $19 billion.
Full Story
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| Blogs |
Globalization, the “War on Terror,” and People-Powered PoliticsApril 24 by Eric Massa
Yesterday there was quite a bit of discussion about globalization. Today I want to just share some thoughts on globalization and how that relates to people-powered politics. Thought number 1: "Free" Trade isn't working in our benefit.I've written about this before ( link) but I just want to reiterate that there is a growing consensus that we need to reevaluate the way we view free trade. You can read Paul Craig Roberts or William Greider for more thoughts on this.
Eric Massa's Weekly Diary - Middle East, Failed Trade Policy Live-BloggedJuly 23 by Eric Massa
Back to the Middle East, failed trade policy, and a crushing blow to the hopes and dreams of the 29th Congressional District of New York
Every week I try to look around the world, the Nation, and my Congressional district and see what truly hot topics there are and I get forced back into the black hole of American resources that is the Middle East. This week we watched as Lebanon and the Northern Israeli border exploded into open warfare with the unprovoked attack by Hezbollah forces into Israel's sovereign territory and the subsequent murdering of Israeli military forces and the kidnapping of two members of the Israeli Army. There was no justification for this attack and if such an event had happened here in the United States the cry for swift, complete, and total retaliation would have been overwhelming. Despite its popularity, such a cry for action would have been justified.
Fighting Dem Eric Massa's Weekly Diary: Raise the Minimum Wage - NOW!July 9 by Eric Massa
In this election the issues that are local are also national, and the grassroots and the netroots are inextricably bound together by the desire to preserve our constitution and put America back on course. So this issue like so many others affects not only my district, but Americans all across our great land.
GOP Kills Measure to Raise Minimum Wage
This week I want to talk about the minimum wage. Last year, my opponent, Randy "Rubberstamp" Kuhl, voted with President Bush 85% of the time and with the GOP Leadership 93% of the time. And to prove his devotion to his overlords, just days ago Randy Kuhl rubberstamped the GOP move to kill a Democratic measure that would have raised the minimums wage that the Republican leaders in Congress have blocked for the last nine years. The Democratic bill would have raised the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three steps over the next two years. The minimum wage, when adjusted for inflation, is actually at the lowest level in 50 years. The GOP killed the measure and Randy Kuhl agreed that our working people do not need a decent minimum wage.
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| Neighbor 2 Neighbor |
David C. Hall Sr.
6/18/2007
I have had enough of no employment.
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Eric J. Martin
6/17/2007
I do not live in Eric Massa's district, but I am in favor of his ideas on free trade.
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Dan Maloney
6/17/2007
He will stand up for American industry, creating American jobs.
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Lori Bartkovich
6/17/2007
His position on immigration, gun control, energy and environmental conservation.
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Sean D'Angelo
6/17/2007
I am against anything that ends in AFTA.
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Andrew Mueller
6/17/2007
Eric supports the right to organize, and supports working families in the city.
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Abraham Davis
6/17/2007
Massa believes in the labor movement and the survival of the middle class.
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Eileen Spence
6/17/2007
The country is in peril as is the population.
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Paul Stuart
6/11/2007 9:49:25 AM
Eric Massa's mind is a comprehension of contemporary issues.
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