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A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware wasted no time going on the offensive at the Teamsters Local 238 headquarters in Cedar Rapids. “We’re tired of being pushed around, I’m tired of us losing, and I’m tired of us being under the gun,” Biden told the crowd of 150 gathered inside the Teamsters’ hall. “Since President Bush has come in to office, he has waged two different wars. The first war he waged is an unnecessary war in Iraq. He sent us unprepared, sent our troops without sufficient equipment and protection, and he brought our troops home without sufficient care. The price we’re paying for his obstinance and stubbornness has exceeded the bounds that the nation should tolerate.”
Known for his foreign policy experience and plan for ending the war in Iraq, Biden shifted gears to the war being waged in America’s own back yard. “There’s another war that this president has been waging since he took office. He’s been waging a war on labor’s house,” Biden said, while working the room during his speech. “This administration has not taken its eye off the ball in what it wants to do since the day it took office.”
Biden proceeded to lay out the Bush administration’s three-pronged attack waged against labor unions, citing three institutions which stand between the working class and the very powerful from owning everything. The first front under siege is the courts, which have stood in the way of the most powerful from grabbing every single piece of power the can, Biden asserts.“The courts up to now have been the thing that have enforced that contract made back in the thirties between labor and business, where labor was put into the position of being put on a fair playing field,” Biden said. “They call it court reform, which translated means: putting right-wing judges on the federal court, so they call the plays differently. They’re supposed to wear striped shirts like referees, but the deal has been tilted against labor. Too many of these court-appointed judges have been ruling against labor rights.”
The second attack comes in the guise of tort reform, which Biden said is just another way of saying: keep the powerful from being sued, keep the corporations from being sued, and keep them from being held accountable.
The third line-of-attack mounted by the Bush administration has been against organized labor, Biden claimed. “They’ve never taken the ball off what they call labor reform, and that’s all about knocking down labor,” Biden said. “Labor’s the only organization keeping the barbarians from the gate and the powerful from owning it all.”
To illustrate his point, Biden used the aftermath of Katrina to highlight the Bush administration’s war on labor. “As Katrina blew away two states and the world wondered what this administration will do, what was the first executive order this president issued?” Biden asked. “He said flatly that no government rebuilding program will provide the prevailing wage. He brought Halliburton in, who reportedly had 5000 illegal immigrants lined up to take union jobs away from laborers without paying the prevailing wage.”
As Biden delivered his stump speech, he navigated his way through the crowd and connected with audience members, often times talking directly to people, while accosting entities opposing the labor movement. “The Department of Labor should be called the Chamber of Commerce,” Biden said. “It’s not about labor, it’s about power. Bush’s folks think you stand in the way of progress, and they actually believe the neoconservative, right-wing intellectuals who suggest this notion.”
Shifting to union bargaining agents, Biden told stories about the role of labor unions when he was growing up in a union-enriched Delaware neighborhood. “It used to be that 25 years ago, when you sat down at the negotiations table, you at least knew that the guy across from you may not agree with you, but he respected you,” Biden said. “This is a war we must win as well, but not with an exit strategy, but with an attack strategy. We must draw a line in the dust accumulating around our past achievements and say we’ve had enough and we’re going to fight back. The first thing in fighting back is we need to elect a president who can pronounce the word `union.’”
Michael Ciabattoni (left), vice president of Delaware’s Local Union 326 and Gary Dunham (right), secretary treasurer of Iowa’s Teamsters Local 238, flank Sen. Biden as he calls for a union surge in th labor movement
Sensing the audience was with him, Biden focused on a new target he perceives to be a viable threat to the labor movement: his GOP presidential rivals. “The Republicans are having a values convention this weekend. Give me a break,” Biden exclaimed. “I can hardly wait to debate Romney or Giuliani about values, either personally or publicly.” Once again, Biden used this as a platform to delve into his personal life, namely how his brother-in-law, who retired from United Airlines at age 63, saw his pension get wiped out – while CEOs received a $100 million in bonuses.
“Tell me if that’s an American value. Tell me whether or not this tax code that gives people, who are making over an average of $1.4 million a year, an $85 billion tax cut this year, yet 400,000 kids who qualify to go to college can’t get there,” Biden said. “Tell me about values. My father always had an expression: `Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I will tell you what you value.’”
Biden brought the values debate closer to home, using the recent incident involving Iowa National Guard members who recently returned from a 22-month deployment, only to be shortchanged on their GI educational benefits. “What these folks, who call themselves `compassionate conservatives,’ did is immoral, and I let the president know this two days ago,” Biden said. “The truth is they’re not American values. If I’m your nominee, I promise, unlike the last two presidential elections, that I’m not going to remain silent. To borrow the words of our president: Bring on the values!”
Before ending his stump speech, Biden made his final pitch to the audience as to why they should elect him as the Democratic nominee. “The Democrats have to clearly state what they stand for. I promise you, when I’m your president I will not merely defend you, I will make the compelling case that the economic stability and growth of America rests upon a growing, vibrant union movement,” Biden said. “We should use 2008 as a springboard to rebuild the unions. There would be no middle class in America without the union movement. I’m not going to just stop the slide of labor, I’m going to turn it around.”
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