Newsmaker

Erie, Pennsylvania 10:59 just fed the car some much needed oil. It is extremely windy. I guess when it’s not cold enough it’s just lake effect wind. I am lamenting the fact that it is night because I am sure we are traveling through some beautiful rolling hills.

So far I have not met any racists.

It is funny to think that it is places like this that decide the

fate of our election and some might say that of

the whole world. I don't say it is funny because

these are backwards parts of our country, but

because they aren't really all that different

from anywhere else. A rural gas station in Erie

is much like a rural gas station in New York,

Massachusetts, or Wisconsin. People are people;

we all want to be safe and healthy.

We had an amazing dinner in Almond, NY. Not

dressed in native garb, we did stick out like

sore thumbs. When we entered the restaurant heads

clearly turned in our direction. The menu said it

all though. They had a special “Inflation

Busting” section, a Burger for only 4.95. We live

in an increasingly connected world, one where we

find people with sources and streams of

information that just a few years ago were

unavailable. People are surprisingly informed.

I suppose it is important to discuss unions. We

will be working with the United Steel Workers.

Unions represent at best 12% of the American workforce

down from a high in the early 50's of around 33%. 

More importantly, unions in the private sector 

account for only 7% of all workers. The decline 

of unions has many causes be it unfair laws, 

aggressive management, poor union leadership, 

and globalization. What is more important 

are the effects of the decline. The

middle class has shrunk over the last three

decades, pensions are a foreign concept to my

generation, and for most families their

children’s lives will not be better than theirs.

Simply, the American dream is moving further and further away from a reality.

Ronald Reagan once said “Government is not the

solution it is the problem.” It is funny because

I couldn't agree more. Our laws are getting in

the way of the American dream. Unionization is a

near impossible task for most workers. That is

what is at stake in this election.

Barack Obama Supports EFCA (the Employee Free

Choice Act), a measure that would legalize and

mandate the process of workers signing cards

asking for a union, if over 50% sign a card…

blamo…there is a union. It should not be too hard

to see why employers would hate this. The GOP has

claimed this is an assault on democracy and the

sanctity of the secret ballot. A claim anyone who

has ever witnessed or read about a unionization

election would brush off as hog wash. More

importantly this is the process most unions

already use. Obama just wants to give it further legal legitimacy.

Bruce Raynor, President of UNITE-HERE a union of

textile, hotel, and service employees, claims

that if EFCA is passed there will be 5 million

new union members in two years. For unions this

election is about far more than Obama.

That’s what we hope to explore on our journey.

For unions this is about EFCA. Getting back to

Reagan, what is so interesting is that if the

government made is easier to unionize many of the

nation's problems would correct themselves. Unions

mean higher wages, more insured, more job

security, fewer people on food stamps, fewer people

showing up to the emergency room with a cold,

fewer people living off the tax payer dollar, and

more tax dollars to be collected.

It strikes me as we travel through the state

where McCain is supposedly pitching his last

stand that we live in an artificially polarized

country. Though one thing is clear: when menus

in Almond, NY mock the financial crisis something has got to give.