SEIU District 1199 New Connections Network

100 Hour Agenda/CAN Campaign Fact Sheet

• On November 7th, the American people, at polling booths across the nation, sent a clear, unmistakable message to the powers that be in Washington: ‘We - want - change!’ Americans voiced their opposition to the misguided leadership of President Bush and his conservative allies in Congress.  They called for not only an end to the culture of corruption in Washington and for a new direction in Iraq -- but also for new direction for America. 
  
  
• After twelve years of conservative rule during which public policy was dictated largely by those corporate and individual interests with the deepest pockets, Americans have soured on Washington as a force for positive change in their lives.   Under the leadership of President Bush and a conservative Congress, a reverse Robin Hood effect has dramatically shifted the distribution of wealth and power in America from the poor and the middle class to the wealthiest of Americans and corporate America.
  
  
• While the appetite for a change in course for our nation is undeniable -- a clear, alternative direction to take has yet to be defined in the public eye.  Polls show that while Americans know quite well what conservatives stand for, they have little idea what progressives stand for or hope to achieve on behalf of the America people.  That’s what brings us here today.  We believe all boats ought to rise with the tide, not just the yachts – and with the changing tide in Washington, the time has come to reverse those policies which have harmed the poor and the middle-class and to advance new initiatives to return the nation to the type of broad economic prosperity that gave rise to the concept of the ‘American Dream.’
  
  
• ‘Change America Now!’ is a massive, national campaign effort being mounted by nearly forty organizations, including the Service Employees International Union, thirty-one states to pass through Congress the economic elements of the 100 Hour legislative agenda as outlined by the incoming leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives.
   
• Change America Now is supporting legislation known as the CAN 100 Hour Agenda to be considered during the first 100 legislative hours in the House of Representatives in early January which would increase the minimum wage, lift the prohibition on Medicare negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for lower prescription drug prices as part of the Part D prescription drug plan, cut the interest rate on student loans in half to make college more affordable and end tax breaks for big oil companies investing the savings into alternative sources of energy.
  
  
• Change America Now will utilize high intensity grassroots and public relations campaign tactics to convince Members of Congress across the country to support the CAN 100 Hour Agenda – the middle-class agenda.  We will be aggressively calling on legislative leaders to support the middle class agenda, because it’s not just what we support – it’s what the people of Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky support.   Talk is very cheap on the campaign trail – but the time has come for our Representatives to demonstrate where their priorities really lie and whose interests they really represent.  The people of Ohio deserve to know where their Representatives stand as we engage in this legislative fight for a fair wage, affordable education for our children, and affordable medicine for our seniors.
• The CAN 100 Hour Agenda includes the following four economic initiatives:

1) Increasing the Minimum Wage:

The Problem

• Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage is at its lowest level in 50 years.[i]
• Workers earning the minimum wage will only make $10,700 over the next year, $4,367 under the poverty threshold for a family of three.[ii]
• Real family income has steadily dropped since 2001.[iii]
• Minimum wage workers have not received a raise in nearly a decade, making this the longest span without a minimum wage increase since the wage was first implemented in the 1930’s.

The People

• A Newsweek poll found 68% of Americans believed “Increasing the minimum wage” should be one of the top priorities for the new Democratic Congress over the next two years.[iv]
• According to the Economic Policy Institute, at least 14.9 million workers will receive a raise and 7.3 million children will benefit as well.[v]
• 29 states and the District of Columbia have a higher minimum wage than nationally mandated.[vi]
  6 out of 6 states with ballot initiatives on minimum wages voted to increase their state’s minimum wage in the 2006 midterm elections.

The Down Payment

The CAN Campaign supports legislation “to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25” over two years.[vii] 

2) Eliminating the Prohibition on Medicare Negotiating with Drug Companies for Lower Prices:

The Problem

• The Bush Medicare Part D prescription drug plan puts pharmaceutical and insurance interests above the needs of American seniors. Part D was written with a provision that specifically forbids the government from negotiating lower prices. The Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense have been successfully negotiating for cheaper drug prices for years.  For the 20 most commonly used drugs, the VA’s lowest price was 46 percent cheaper than the lowest price by any competing Part D plan.[viii] 
  
  
• Traditional Medicare has successfully negotiated prices with doctors and hospitals for years, saving taxpayers money while ensuring that our seniors get good care.

The People

·        90 percent of registered voters favor reducing the cost of prescription drugs by requiring Medicare to negotiate lower prices from drug companies.[ix]

·        78 percent of registered voters favor allowing seniors the choice of a prescription drug plan directly from Medicare — instead of a private insurance company.[x]

The Down Payment

The CAN Campaign supports legislation that would require Medicare to use its purchasing power to negotiate lower prices with the big drug companies, just as the VA has done successfully for years. 

3) Repealing Tax Breaks for Big Oil and Investing in Alternative Energy:

The Problem

• America’s dependence on oil has become a threat to our nation’s economic and national security, and a burden on working families.

• Half of low-income households could not afford last year’s heating bills, 1/3 reported that they sacrificed on medicine to pay for heat, 1/5 gave up food for a day or more.
• Gas prices have sky rocketed; the cost of regular unleaded gasoline grew by 58 percent from 2000 to 2005[xi] and families are squeezed at the pump.[xii]
• 65% of oil we consume is imported from abroad, a percentage that rises each year.

The People

Public opinion research by Yale University found that 92% of Americans are worried about dependence on foreign oil and 93% want the government to develop new energy alternatives and require the auto industry to make more efficient cars and trucks.

The Down Payment

The CAN Campaign supports legislation to roll back the multi-billion dollar subsides to the Big Oil companies and reinvest them into homegrown energy alternatives that will reduce oil consumption, improve efficiency and reliability, and make energy environmentally friendly.

4) Cutting the Interest Rates on Student Loans in Half:

The Problem

• Tuition costs are rising far faster than inflation while real wages have been stagnant. The average cost of tuition at a public college has increased 42 percent,[xiii] but median household income has fallen 2 percent.[xiv]
• Federal assistance to students and parents has been shrinking and states have been cutting back institutional support.[xv] 
• Congress recently raised interest rates on student loans and cut $12 billion from the Federal Student Aid program.
• The maximum Pell Grant Award is worth less, in real dollars, than it was 30 years ago.[xvi]
• In July 2006, interest rates increased from a variable 6.1% to a fixed 6.8%. The new fixed interest rates result in huge profits for the banks.

The People

• A survey by the American Association of University Professors finds 81% of Americans say that the high cost of tuition is a “very serious problem.”
• A survey by the American Association of University Professors finds 42.8% of Americans surveyed believed “the high cost of college” was the “biggest problem facing higher education.”[xvii]

The Down Payment

The CAN Campaign supports legislation to cut interest rates on college loans in half, to 3.4% for middle class students.

CONCLUSION

• The Change America Now campaign is seeking to pass these priorities with large bipartisan majorities in the House of Representatives in an effort to build momentum for passage in a closely divided U.S. Senate and to apply sufficient pressure to have President Bush sign them into law. 
• In addition, the Change America Now campaign is uniting progressive voices from across America to champion these issues and pass them into law as a down payment on advancing a broader agenda for American families in a number of areas including jobs and wages, healthcare, the environment and education.  The Service Employees International Union and CAN will utilize high intensity ‘grassroots’ campaign tactics to convince Members of Congress to support the CAN 100 Hour Agenda, including: aggressive press events at Members’ offices, town hall meetings, demonstrations, petition drives, phone banking, and Op-Eds/Letters to the Editor in local markets.
• To learn more about how you can help, visit www.CANCampaign.org.  We’re asking people to visit the CAN website and send, what we’re calling, a ‘CAN Gram’ to your legislative leaders.  With just a few simple key strokes, you can send a message to their Representatives in Washington calling on them to support the CAN 100 Agenda. REMEMBER: if we stand together --- we CAN Change America Now and forever.