The forum was hosted Feb. 21 in Carson City, Nev., by AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Participating were New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack -- who has since dropped out of the race.
The forum reflected Nevada\'s new status as the second caucus state next year, just before the New Hampshire primary. The absentee, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, campaigned in Iowa, the first caucus state.
Since AFSCME organized the forum, and since Nevada is one of the more-unionized states in the U.S., the session featured questions and comments on pro-worker issues and causes.
All the hopefuls blasted the war in Iraq -- and all but Clinton said voting for it was wrong. Kucinich reminded the crowd he was the only one on stage who voted against the war when GOP President George W. Bush proposed it.
Five of the candidates -- Clinton, Kucinich, Edwards, Richardson and Vilsack -- pledged to achieve universal health care in some form. Only Edwards and Kucinich went into detail on health care, with Edwards outlining a comprehensive plan he released and Kucinich campaigning for universal, single-payer health care and elimination of the insurance companies.
And on workers\' rights, only Edwards got into details -- even though AFSCME warned in advance that worker-oriented questions would be on the table.
Repeating language of his prior "Two Americas" speeches, Edwards told the crowd "the most important anti-poverty movement is the organized labor movement.
"We need to make it easier to join unions," he declared. "If a Republican can join the party by signing their name, someone should be able to join a union by signing their name," he added. Majority signup is a key element in the Employee Free Choice Act passed Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives; President Bush has said he will veto it.
Edwards also wants to ban companies from permanently replacing striking workers, a tactic employers have frequently used for the last 25 years.
This article contains information from Press Associates, Inc., news service and the AFSCME website, www.afscme.org
For more information
View video from the forum and read a transcript at this link on the AFSCME website:
http://www.afscme.org/nevadaforum.cfm
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The forum was hosted Feb. 21 in Carson City, Nev., by AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Participating were New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack — who has since dropped out of the race.
The forum reflected Nevada\’s new status as the second caucus state next year, just before the New Hampshire primary. The absentee, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, campaigned in Iowa, the first caucus state.
Since AFSCME organized the forum, and since Nevada is one of the more-unionized states in the U.S., the session featured questions and comments on pro-worker issues and causes.
All the hopefuls blasted the war in Iraq — and all but Clinton said voting for it was wrong. Kucinich reminded the crowd he was the only one on stage who voted against the war when GOP President George W. Bush proposed it.
Five of the candidates — Clinton, Kucinich, Edwards, Richardson and Vilsack — pledged to achieve universal health care in some form. Only Edwards and Kucinich went into detail on health care, with Edwards outlining a comprehensive plan he released and Kucinich campaigning for universal, single-payer health care and elimination of the insurance companies.
And on workers\’ rights, only Edwards got into details — even though AFSCME warned in advance that worker-oriented questions would be on the table.
Repeating language of his prior "Two Americas" speeches, Edwards told the crowd "the most important anti-poverty movement is the organized labor movement.
"We need to make it easier to join unions," he declared. "If a Republican can join the party by signing their name, someone should be able to join a union by signing their name," he added. Majority signup is a key element in the Employee Free Choice Act passed Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives; President Bush has said he will veto it.
Edwards also wants to ban companies from permanently replacing striking workers, a tactic employers have frequently used for the last 25 years.
This article contains information from Press Associates, Inc., news service and the AFSCME website, www.afscme.org
For more information
View video from the forum and read a transcript at this link on the AFSCME website:
http://www.afscme.org/nevadaforum.cfm