For those who live in PA, VA, or OH

[soxfan22]

oh, and soxfan,
don't you think that given what you posted that it is rather ironic that the UMWA (yes, the cola miners union, big union infact)
has endorsed Obama???

http://www.mineworkers.org/index.php?q= ... -president

Uh-oh. They're starting to make their voices heard...

http://www.wvrecord.com/news/215679-coa ... believable

[jmq]

More research. John McCain agrees with John Murtha that people from Western PA are racist. Bad enough Murtha said it, but then for McCain to publicly agree with it??? Does he not say it??? His true colors shine through on this loud and clear. PA voters, remember this when you go to the polls.

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[Lulu76]

I talked to my mother this morning (who lives in Southern Ohio), and she said that this story is not getting any airplay on either OH or WV news. So, I guess it's not the huge issue people would like for you to believe.

And before you say it's the "liberal media," I went to journalism school with lots of the people working at those TV stations, and liberal is not a word I would use to describe them.

[jmq]

Just to be clear, I think we need a tongue-in-cheek emoticon (would work better than the ) and also, the clip is from the Daily Show. Just trying to make a point about using video clip "research" out of context. But Lulu, I am glad that this gaffe didnt get any traction out there. And Murtha saying what he said, it aint right, but maybe on some level sorta like Chris Rock using the N word?

[soxfan22]

I talked to my mother this morning (who lives in Southern Ohio), and she said that this story is not getting any airplay on either OH or WV news. So, I guess it's not the huge issue people would like for you to believe.

And before you say it's the "liberal media," I went to journalism school with lots of the people working at those TV stations, and liberal is not a word I would use to describe them.

The Ohio Coal Association has chimed in:

"Regardless of the timing or method of the release of these remarks, the message from the Democratic candidate for President could not be clearer: the Obama-Biden ticket spells disaster for America's coal industry and the tens of thousands of Americans who work in it.
"These undisputed, audio-taped remarks, which include comments from Senator Obama like 'I haven't been some coal booster' and 'if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them' are extraordinarily misguided.
"It's evident that this campaign has been pandering in states like Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania to attempt to generate votes from coal supporters, while keeping his true agenda hidden from the state's voters.
"Senator Obama has revealed himself to be nothing more than a short- sighted, inexperienced politician willing to say anything to get a vote. But today, the nation's coal industry and those who support it have a better understanding of his true mission, to 'bankrupt' our industry, put tens of thousands out of work and cause unprecedented increases in electricity prices.

Wowzers. They sound happy.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/O ... BD7D93D%7D

[Lulu76]

Oh, you're getting quotes from the coal industry. That's a lot different than the United Mine Workers.

The reason Obama would be disaster for the people who own coal mines is because I'm sure he would make them have safety equipment for their workers. And, of course, he's going to make it easy for workers to unionize. Lots of industries hate him, but that's because they are capitalists and scared of that big, dirty s-word.

Trust me, this isn't a blip on the radar screens of your average Ohioans.

[soxfan22]

Again, we'll agree to disagree on how important this is on Ohioans.

Like I said though, I'm more interested in what the rank and file have to say as opposed to the union. This is an indication of where they sit.

Also, I just heard the man quoted in the article I posted reference a study done by Penn State that showed for every 1 coal job, there are 11 spinoffs directly related.

[Lulu76]

Well, I am an Ohioan, as is every single person in my family. It has not swayed their vote. They didn't even know about it. The coal industry is pretty much played out in Ohio anyway. The mines they have in Ohio are not union mines and don't actually employ local people, so most people have moved on to other things.

As far as the rank and file, in my experience working in Ohio politics (which I did for about 10 years), they generally go with whomever the union endorses. Not all of them, but most of them. The UMW looks out for its people, and not all of them are coal miners.

[jmq]

What in the world would The Ohio Coal Association say but that? It is a trade association dedicated and paid to represent Ohio’ s coal industry, akin to a PAC or lobbyist.

[loria]

this sort of reminds me of what the textile industry was saying before the implementation of the cotton dust standard--it was all 'the industry will be ruined' etc, etc...in actuality the standard caused technology forcing which led to cost savings and efficiencies in the industry.

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[KatieH]

Well said SJ.

[loria]

this sort of reminds me of what the textile industry was saying before the implementation of the cotton dust standard--it was all 'the industry will be ruined' etc, etc...in actuality the standard caused technology forcing which led to cost savings and efficiencies in the industry.

The textile industry is a bad example. There is very little textile (clothes, carpet) made here in America. I did find some white sox made in Wisconson. The textile and dye industry was sent to China many many years ago. It is cheeper to send the raw material to China, have it dyed and made into finished product and sent back to the USA. Why, because China has low environmental standards for dye manufaturing, which is a very dirty chemiacl industry. They dont pay their workers and they use child labor. The workers are forced to live near the factories where they work which are very contaminated with toxic waste which is dumped directly in rivers and streams where the people get their fish to eat. So when you but that $5 t shirt at Wal Mart or even at the higher end retailers like LL Bean, Lands End, Or Eddie Bauer, think about China and how they don't even attempt to protect the environment or its workers. Then get back to me about what America is doing in that regard.

the standard was promulgated 30 years ago--this was the run up to that--

i guess that the 100,000 + workers that were impaacted by the standard are meaningless to you.

i stand by my analogy.

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[loria]

there you are wrong. I do care about workers in china, i will agree that cheaper manufacturing there andin other places has made competition impossible --
however, i do think that if we are going to deal with these places (buy their shirts or their soccer balls or whatever) then we have a responsiblity to ensure that workers are working in a safe environment.
this is slowly happeneing in some sectors--though not at all as it should be

and I still stand by my analogy.