John Edwards and ACORN

On Monday, I was in Philadelphia to see John Edwards speak at both the NEA annual meeting and the ACORN presidential forum. Yesterday, I posted a diary on his speech about education to the NEA. Today's diary covers his speech at the ACORN presidential forum. I can't think of anything more patriotic I could do for the fourth of July than publish a diary about John Edwards's and ACORN's efforts to help working Americans.

ACORN is a community organization that works to support the needs of low and moderate income families and promote social justice. They are well acquainted with John Edwards, who traveled around the country with ACORN President Maude Hurd, long before he announced his campaign for the presidency, trying to get the minimum wage raised in various states. They were successful in six states. When the New York Times recently smeared John Edwards with nasty innuendo about his poverty work, in an article where they refused to talk to any of the beneficiaries of that work, ACORN president Maude Hurd stood up strongly for John Edwards. This is her statement:

Press stories that question Senator John Edwards’ commitment to ending poverty require a strong response from those of us who spend our lives in that fight. ACORN is the nation’s largest grassroots community organization working to eliminate poverty in America.

As ACORN’s president, I can personally attest that Senator Edwards has been a steadfast ally in this struggle – from raising wages to rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

One of the best ways to end poverty is to pay workers fair wages. In the summer of 2005, I traveled with Senator Edwards to cities and states across the country, launching ballot initiative campaigns to raise the minimum wage above the shamefully low $5.15 an hour.

While Senator Edwards could have chosen to do anything else with his time, he chose to spend it on the road with low-wage workers and their allies who were fighting to lift workers out of poverty. Edwards worked directly with grassroots community-faith-labor coalitions on the ground, leading rallies and press conferences to galvanize public support and working outside the spotlight to help organize support and raise funds to bring wage increase proposals to the ballot.

Last November, voters rewarded the efforts of Edwards, ACORN and our allies by resoundingly approving six state ballot measures to raise the minimum wage. As a result, more than 1.5 million of the country’s lowest-paid workers will get a raise. The ballot measures were just the most high-profile victories in a year that saw an unprecedented 17 states raise their minimum wage – many for the first time – including Edwards’ home state of North Carolina.

This movement in the states helped create the public pressure for a long-overdue increase in the federal minimum wage, which was passed last month and will help another 12.5 million low-income workers make ends meet. In addition to his work to raise wages, Senator Edwards has made an ongoing commitment to work with ACORN and others in the struggle to rebuild the

Gulf Coast and help Katrina Survivors return home.
In making poverty the defining theme of his campaign, Senator Edwards has shown his true colors. It is a sad statement that someone working not only to raise the issue of poverty, but to offer ambitious solutions and his put his feet on the ground to end it -- is attacked rather than applauded.

Alicia Russell, the chairperson of Arizona ACORN, also lauded Edwards for his work with ACORN when she introduced him. Her state, Arizona, is one of the states where Edwards helped ACORN to get the minimum wage raised. It should be no surprise then that Edwards got an enthusiastic reception from ACORN members, who know his work well.

I want to thank Machka, who recorded the webcast and made the videos available on YouTube.

Edwards praised the Congress for recently raising the minimum wage nationwide, but said we have a lot more work to do. He announced that when he is president, he will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, and index it for inflation.

"I have a very simple view about this. I think that anybody working full time in the United States of America should not live in poverty. Period."

Just as ACORN has praised John Edwards, John Edwards praised them during his speech:

I have to be honest with you about something. I met with your board a few weeks ago. I was on the way over here looking for your agenda seeing if there's anything I -- there's nothing I need to study because your agenda is basically my agenda, and the things that I care about are the things that you care about. But I want to say one thing to all of you who are out there active, organizing, working. Sometimes people say to me, they say "ACORN: they get in your face, man!" And I say "GOOD! I hope they keep getting in your face. I hope they keep speaking out. I hope they keep standing up with backbone and courage for people in need someone to speak for them."

Edwards then went quickly through some of his proposals for ending poverty, including College for Everyone, supporting the right to organize and allowing workers to join unions by signing their name to a card, helping families to save, passing a national predatory lending law, true universal health care, and expanding the section 8 housing voucher program to provide more affordable housing. These are just some of his many excellent proposals, which he has laid out in detail on his website.

Edwards explains his College for Everyone program as follows:

"We say to every young person in America, graduate from high school, qualify to go to college, commit to work at least 10 hours a week your first year, we pay for your tuition and books. Very simple."

I find it disgusting that the mainstream media continues to smear John Edwards's dedication to fighting poverty. I have heard him speak on it many times, and I have seen what he has done on it, and I know he walks the walk. You can feel the depth of his passion for this issue when he says:

"This is the cause of my life. It always will be. You know, when we talk about these various policy ideas that all of us care so much about, and that you all have worked so hard on, and in some cases I've been able to work with you on, you know, it's a great thing to have policy ideas -- it is. But we need a President of the United States who wakes up every single morning and in their gut cares deeply about this cause. There are lots of issues facing the president. For example, ending this war in Iraq, which desperately needs to be done. But we need a president who wakes up every morning gnawing inside about ending poverty in America. You are looking at the candidate who has laid out a specific set of ideas and agenda to end poverty in America -- not to reduce it, to end it in the next 30 years, which I completely am convinced is achievable. We need a president who will go out on the White House lawn and say to America, to the entire country, that this is a huge moral cause for our country. It says something about the character of America what we're willing to do about the issue of poverty. It says something about America what we're willing to do about 37 million of our own people who wake up every single day worried about feeding and clothing their children. And I have to say to all of you, and I mean this, you know, Elizabeth and I had to make a decision a few months ago about what we're going to spend our lives doing. And we, like all of you, we've all faced these kind of challenges, we're faced with some serious challenges in our own family, but these causes, the plight of the poor, the disabled, the disenfranchised, all those who desperately need a voice in this country -- this is the cause of my life. It's the cause of Elizabeth's life. And I'm here to tell you, as long as I'm alive and breathing, I will stand up for that cause."

After a relatively brief speech, Edwards was asked a number of specific questions by ACORN leaders. The question-and-answer period was at least as important as the speech itself, and was a part of the program where people already familiar with Edwards's many proposals might gain new information.

The first question asked about the patchwork quality of government services, and the problem of people who are eligible for those services often not knowing about them. Edwards was asked if he would work with community groups like ACORN to reach out to and enroll everyone in the services that they are entitled to.

To paraphrase his answer, it doesn't do any good to have programs that people don't know about them. The responsibility for educating people about these programs should not just be left up to community groups like ACORN, but is the responsibility of the president of the United States.

The second question asked about protecting people's assets and stopping predatory lending practices.

Edwards said he would support federal predatory lending laws and would create a new consumer commission responsible for regulating and monitoring lenders. He said that beyond counseling for families in debt, we need a national home fund for families in danger of losing their homes.

Next, Maria Blanco from New York ACORN asked him about what provisions he would support for immigrants to become citizens.

He said he would consider it his responsibility as president to move the immigration reform issue forward. He considers it a moral issue, because we can't have a first-class group of citizens and a second-class group of laborers. He spoke of America as a nation of immigrants and proposed creating a realistic path to citizenship. He said it's not doable for prospective citizens to have to pay $10,000. He said there should not be a touchback provision, where immigrants have to return to their country of origin in the process of applying for citizenship, because this is not realistic for many. He would support having illegal immigrants pay a fine for having broken the law and require that immigrants who want to become citizens learn to speak English. He also would require better policing of our southern border.

Sonia Mercer Jones from Baltimore city asked him about rebuilding American cities. There were three parts to her question:

1. Would he support a requirement for community impact statements?

2. What would he do to expand affordable housing?

3. What would he do to expand public school programs?

Edwards said he would absolutely support community impact statements and that programs for cities need help everyone in the cities. He pointed out that, just like we have two Americas, most American cities also have two cities, where some residents are neglected.

He repeated his call for a million new section 8 housing vouchers and for rebuilding and restocking our affordable housing supply.

He also talked about making sure that all schools in America provide quality education, no matter where they are located, and about providing incentive pay for inner-city teachers.

Bertha Brown from Pennsylvania ACORN asked about improving income, wages, and working conditions. There were three parts to her question as well, but she noted that Senator Edwards had already answered one of them and thanked him for it.

1. She was going to ask about an increase in the minimum wage, but instead just thanked him for the promise he had already made.

2. Would he support the healthy family act, which would provide sick leave for people to take care of their family members ?

3. Would he support an increase in the earned income credit?

Edwards pointed out that he had also addressed number three already, but expanded his answer, saying that he would expand the earned income credit, get rid of the marriage penalty in it, and also expanded to single people.

He said that a healthy family act, which provides a minimum of seven days for workers to take care of sick family members was only asking for very low amount of time, and is the least that we can do.

Next, Tony from Texas ACORN asked about what he would do to rebuild New Orleans. While asking her question, she acknowledged that Edwards had already talked about this a little bit, and said they know about his commitment to this issue. In fact, several of the people asking questions indicated in one way or another that they already knew that Edwards was committed to their issues.

She asked him whether he would support the Gulf Coast housing act introduced by Senators Dodd and Landrieu, and also what he would do as president to help rebuild New Orleans?

Edwards talked about going to New Orleans with several hundred college kids, an effort in which ACORN was also involved, to work in New Orleans over spring break.

He said that nothing has changed in New Orleans except with the efforts of community groups like ACORN. He said that yes, he would support the Gulf Coast housing legislation, but he would go far beyond that.

As president, he would appoint someone to be responsible for making sure progress was made in New Orleans, and he would ask that person for their progress report every day, making sure that whatever needs to be done gets done.

He spoke of the need to make sure people's lives are restored, and said that he would put the people of New Orleans to work rebuilding it, so that residents could have jobs. He also said he would rebuild the levees.

The final question was about protecting the right to vote. Maxine Nelson from Arkansas asked the question and pointed out that there has been an organized campaign to keep people from voting, especially in minority areas. Her question also had three parts:

1. Will an Edwards Department of Justice to enforce the voter registration act?

2. Does he support the ballot integrity act introduced by Senators Feinstein and Dodd?

3. There have been false claims of voter fraud that were made in the past couple of elections as a way to suppress voting. Will John Edwards work with groups like ACORN to speak out on this?

Edwards gave a very strong answer on these questions, and it was particularly satisfying to me, because this is an issue I have been very concerned about.

He said he will work with ACORN to speak out against false claims of voter fraud. He noted that those false claims are nothing more than an excuse to keep legally registered voters from voting. He spoke of the need to make sure voter registration organizations are able to do their job, and said he would support the ballot integrity act. He spoke of the need to stop voter suppression, and added that we need to get rid of black box voting and vote on paper ballots, so that were sure that votes are getting counted. (Edwards is the first presidential candidate to call for open source voting on paper ballots, although he did not specifically mention open source in this speech.)

Hearing John Edwards speak is always delightful and refreshing, and the ACORN forum was another such experience.

Video Diary: Edwards Speaks to NEA Annual Meeting

Yesterday, I went to Philadelphia to see John Edwards speak at the NEA annual meeting, then later at the ACORN presidential candidates forum. Today's diary focuses on the NEA event. Tomorrow I will post one on ACORN.

Edwards gave a rousing speech on education that was well received by the NEA audience. Video and some key points:

Part 1 of the video:

Edwards started by making an announcement that, although Congress has recently raised the minimum wage, he would go further as president and raise it to $9.50 an hour by 2012.

It's time to get rid of pension offsets for educators. Teachers deserve to get Social Security too. This policy announcement was greeted with applause so loud and sustained, that I couldn't hear the next paragraph of what he said. Here is a short video of that portion of the speech from the Edwards campaign, which is easier to hear:

He made a series of points about education:

The president must listen to teachers, and should bring back the teacher in residence program.

Early childhood education needs to be expanded.

No Child Left Behind needs to be dealt with and fixed. While talking about No Child Left Behind, he held up a T-shirt that said "a child is more than a test score." This generated a lot of applause from the audience.

Edwards said that standardized tests don't work and asked what the intent of No Child Left Behind really was. He pointed out that when the president has a program called No Child Left Behind, but doesn't fund it, the real intent is probably to undermine the public schools and make room for voucher programs.

Part 2 of the video:

Edwards talked about empowering teachers, creating second chance schools for dropouts, and his College for Everyone program, which would pay for tuition and books for the first year of college for kids who are willing to work 10 hours a week while they're there.

He emphasized his support for the public schools, which all of his children have attended, and said that we should not drain resources away from them with voucher programs.

Part 3 of the video:

In the final part of his speech, he spoke of organized labor as the greatest antipoverty movement in American history. His support for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow any worker to join a union by signing a card, earned him a standing ovation.

After his speech, he was asked two questions sent in by NEA members.

The first question asked how he would close the achievement gap by breaking down racial and economic barriers.

Question on breaking down economic and racial barriers.

His answer included expanding early childhood education, incentives for teachers to teach in poor communities, and getting parents more involved, but then he went beyond that to address some of his plans for eliminating poverty.

The last question he was asked was about No Child Left Behind. His answer was hilarious. I'm not going to describe it. You have to watch the video.

Question on No Child Left Behind.

After his speech to the NEA, Edwards gave a short press conference. It was held in a corner of a noisy public area of the conference center, so even though I was standing quite close to him, it was very difficult to hear what he said. I did manage to record a short video of his announcement about his plan to raise the minimum wage.

From what I could hear of the rest of the press conference, he mentioned the following points:

He said he doesn't think anyone else has proposed College for Everyone.

On No Child Left Behind, he said major changes are needed. The tests are intrusive, and they don't take into account struggling schools. There should be SWAT teams to help struggling schools. We need tests that are more responsive to the needs of states and individual schools. They need flexibility to use their own testing methods. In many cases this would yield more accurate information on student progress.

Asked how he pays for his College for Everyone program, he said it would be paid for by changing the way we do student loans. We can save upwards of $3 billion by making loans available directly from the government to students.

As long as he's breathing: John Edwards’ commitment

John Edwards has said he'll continue to fight to lift people out of poverty and help working people, as long as he's breathing. His commitment to it runs so deep that he opened a poverty center at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, started a college for everyone program to send poor kids to college, co-edited a book of essays by poverty experts, has traveled the country to work with unions to organize workers, and last year he gave the proceeds of a book and at least 28% ($350,000) of his $1.25 million earned income to charities like Habitat for Humanity and International Rescue Committee. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty, either. On more than one occasion, he's participated in Habitat for Humanity building projects in the ninth ward of New Orleans.



Edwards is the only presidential candidate with a comprehensive universal health care plan. He’s the only candidate with a plan for fighting poverty.

In this diary, I’ll quote from just a few of the many sources around the tubes showing Edwards’ commitment to lifting people out of poverty and to helping working Americans.

Videos:

Edwards and Danny Glover in New Orleans

Edwards: "What are we going to do about at least 37 million -- that's the government's estimate -- at least 37 million of our own people, who wake up every day worried about feeding and clothing their children? Because, I don't know about you, but I think it says something about the character of our country, how we treat those among us who are literally worried just about surviving."





Edwards speaking to the IAFF




Edwards: "I have been all over this country organizing workers into unions, because I believe in my heart and soul, if we want to grow the middle class in this country, if we want to strengthen the middle class, if we want to lift millions of Americans out of poverty, the most important piece of that, certainly one of the most critical pieces of it, is to grow the union movement."

Edwards at Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO (full speech):

Edwards: "I think we desperately need comprehensive labor law reform in this country. And I want to be very clear with all of you about what I believe. I think if someone can join the Republican Party by signing their name to a card, any worker in America ought to be able to join a union by doing exactly the same thing. That's democracy in the workplace." (standing ovation).

"And, before you sit down, we ought to ban the hiring of permanent replacements for strikers and make that the law of the land."

Walk A Day In My Shoes: John Edwards/Elaine Ellis

Elaine Ellis: "I will remember the Senator as a very nice person. I think that he is eager to learn the fact that health care workers need more attention from the government. It was a good day all around."

Will You Stand Up? (excerpt from speech to DNC)

Edwards: "We can not walk away from our people. We can not walk away from the heart and soul of what the Democratic Party is and should be."

John Edwards – Rural Recovery in Iowa

Edwards: "We want to help family farmers, and the best way to help family farmers, in my judgment, is to create a level playing field, and that means cracking down on and being tougher on these big conglomerate, corporate farming operations."

John Edwards – Iowa Women’s Town Hall

Edwards: "If we really want to empower women in this country, if we want to give force to the women's movement in this country, then we want women to have self-esteem, and strength, and respect, and they can't continue to not have health care coverage, or live in poverty, or get paid $.77 on the dollar for doing the same work men are doing. That's not right!"

John Edwards and the Minimum Wage

Before he announced his candidacy for president, John Edwards worked on successful campaigns to get the minimum wage raised in six states.



Danny Glover: "Somebody that cares about working people, somebody who cares about the right for working people to organize and cares for the right for working people to have a decent wage and benefits: Senator John Edwards!"

Edwards on college costs

at town hall in Newton, Iowa 3/10/2007



Edwards on his college for everyon program: "There was no government money in it. I raised the money for it, got the community involved. This is what we did. We said to every kid in the area, if you graduate from high school, and you're qualified to be in college, and you commit to work at least 10 hours a week while you're there, we pay for your tuition and books. It was pretty much that simple."

Articles:

The Post Gets It Wrong: Edwards’ Poverty Policy Is Just What’s Needed, by Jared Bernstein

Quote: Here’s what he gets. It’s not just that those baking the pie ought to get fair slices. It’s not even the simple fact that too many poor people are playing by the rules yet still struggling to make ends meet with terribly insufficient incomes. Nor is it the glaringly obvious fact that kids who grow up poor have tremendous disadvantages that it is in all of our interests to avoid.

All those are true and important. But what Edwards gets—and you really want a president who feels this in his or her bones—is that these inequities undermine America. They quietly, slowly, and perniciously erode people’s support for our system of democracy and free markets. Untreated, they lead to distrust and defunding of government, diminished participation in the political system, protectionism and nativism, and a means-spiritedness that is as divisive as it is pessimistic. And I’d argue strongly that this is exactly where we’re headed.

More Piling on the Post’s Edwards and Poverty Article, by Greg Anrig, Jr.

Quote: What’s “new” and “fresh” that Edwards should be praised for is the political courage to focus the public’s attention on this subject after decades of neglect and a set of ideas that, based on research and experience -- as opposed to focus groups and right-wing salesmanship – have the best chance of making significant progress.

John Edwards wants a new Labor Movement (Fortune)

Quote: "The difference between union and non-union is literally the difference between poverty and middle class," Edwards told Fortune. "Hotel workers, restaurant workers, home health workers, hospital workers - at last count there are some 50 million people who work in the service economy. Those jobs aren't going anywhere else. They have to be done in the United States."

Senator Edwards Walks a Day in My Shoes by Elaine Ellis

Quote: Everyday, I provide basic care for nine residents who need attention from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep. I've been doing this for eighteen years, and while it might look easy on TV, I'm sure the Senator will now be able to tell you otherwise.

Sometimes I feel like nursing assistants like me are at the bottom of the health care debate, but we are the ones who are holding everything up. We know what's wrong, and we know what we need to do to fix things. If politicians listened to us, then we might be able to get some real changes.

Walk a Day in My Shoes by SEIU

Quote: As part of SEIU’s program to ensure that presidential candidates experience firsthand what life is like for working people in America, Sen. John Edwards on April 11th walked a day in the shoes of SEIU member Elaine Ellis.

Protecting Homeowners and Fighting Predatory Mortgages

Quote: Homeownership is the foundation of the American Dream. For most families, the equity they build up in their home is a source of security and the primary source of their wealth. But for millions of families, the dream of homeownership is slipping away. Home foreclosure filings rose to 1.2 million in 2006 — a 42 percent jump — due to rising mortgage bills and a slowing housing market. In Iowa, 3,445 families experienced foreclosure last year, up 64 percent from 2005. Nationally, as many as 2.4 million subprime borrowers have either lost their homes or could lose them in the next few years. Problems in the housing market could weigh down the economy.

Can Edwards win with an ‘us vs. them’ pitch? (USA Today) March 14, 2007

Quote: Murphy, 50, likes Sen. Barack Obama but says the Illinois freshman "hasn't been around long enough." New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is "too much of a Washington politician." Edwards, he says, "is pretty down to earth and knows what's going on with people at my income level."

David Kuo: Is John Edwards for Real? (Beliefnet)

Kuo: “I believe John Edwards. I believe his passionate statements on behalf of the poor. I believe that the faith he says animates him is real. I believe that he has made quiet and selfless trips to care for the suffering around the world. I believe he knows what poverty is like and that his faith in Jesus requires him to care for the poor. I believe that those who criticize him for living in a huge house while talking about the poor should shut up - by that standard should only the sick get to talk about health care? I really, truly, absolutely believe John Edwards.”

Rural Recovery plan

Quote: "Rural America has been ignored for too long," said Edwards. "Across America, too many small towns have turned into ghost towns. We need to help small towns and rural communities create and keep new businesses and good jobs, and we need a President who will make sure all our communities have good schools, good health care and the support systems they need. As President, I will make sure rural America is never left behind."

Working Society

Quote: Edwards has outlined a Working Society initiative to lift 12 million Americans out of poverty in a decade and beat poverty over the next 30 years. In the Working Society, everyone who is able to work hard will be expected to work and, in turn, be rewarded for it.

More Than Just Talk by Bob Herbert, New York Times

Quote: Mr. Edwards, who announced his campaign for the presidency in the Ninth Ward, has stood by his commitment to make poverty one of his big campaign issues. I mentioned that poverty has not gotten much attention from the national media, and asked why middle-class Americans should care about the issue.

"First, you should care because it's a moral issue," he said. "It tells us something about the character of our country. And, by the way, I think most people do care about it. And second, you should care because if you want to see the American economy grow and strengthen over time, the strength and breadth of the middle class is a critical factor. When we have middle-class families struggling on the edge, falling into poverty or near poverty, those things weaken the American economy."

John Edwards: ‘My Faith Came Roaring Back’

Edwards: What I intend to continue to do, though, if I can bring us full circle back to the beginning of this discussion, is no matter whether anyone asks, no matter whether any other candidate ever raises the issue, as long as I'm alive and breathing and as long as I am a presidential candidate, I will be speaking up for the little guy. And I think that a lot of that has been lost in American politics for strategic political reasons. And their voice needs to be heard--desperately needs to be heard. And if I do nothing else, their voice will be heard through me.

Think a rich guy can't care about poverty or working Americans? John Edwards cares about as much as another rich guy: FDR. That's right. I'm comparing him to the president who effectively ended poverty for millions of American families. Edwards will not rest until he does the same.