| Let's Put America Back to Work
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The Primary Election is March 6th.
The General Election is November 6th.
We are in the midst of a Great Recession, and the odds are that 20% of working age Americans face a frightening future of being unemployed or underemployed
Our economy is in trouble and every U.S. citizen faces trouble.
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Please help me to fight for the middle class and working families of our country. Please consider making the largest possible contribution you can to my campaign today. Your help is absolutely necessary to win this election.
I have no opponent in the primary, therefore we can raise funding during the primary election stage and concentrate on the November General Election.
I am eager to serve you. I need your help and our country needs your help. Our economy is in trouble and that means every citizen faces trouble. We are in the midst of a jobless recovery and the odds are that 20% of working age Americans face a frightening future of being unemployed or underemployed.
I want to change that. I’m running for Congress so that I can put people back to work. It’s my belief that people have the right to earn a living for themselves and their family. I’m committed to work for you to accomplish that goal.
We need to turn this unwholesome situation around.
For this campaign to be a success, it is essential for us to raise funds to get the message out.
With your financial help, we can run an aggressive campaign that will take us to victory in November.
Please donate $2400 (max per election), $1,500, $1,000, $500, $250, $100 or whatever is appropriate for you.
Donate online or send check or money order to:
Citizens for Tom Berry
P.O. Box 180037
Dallas TX 75218-0037
Your support in early 2012 will help us meet and exceed our challenges.
You can send an early signal that this campaign has strong backing. This will empower us to build a winning
2012 campaign.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and support. I look forward to working with you to Keep Texas in the Union and Put America Back to Work.
Tom Berry
Your Fifth District Congressional Candidate, and Advocate
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Rep. Hensarling sides with Wall Street after receiving more than $1 million in campaign cash from the
industry.
(read full article) |
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Tom's Issues
Economy
Today in America 25 million people are either unemployed or underemployed, wages are declining, one in four mortgages is underwater, and four people are looking for every available job.
-see more-
Campaign Finance Reform
We also need to reduce the influence of money on members of Congress by having Congress act to instruct the Federal Communications Commission to require the media to provide sufficient free air time (the air waves are free), counterbalanced against paid political advertising time, for all federal candidates in general elections to air their views.
-see more-
Balanced Taxation
At the state level and in Washington, vicious attacks are being launched by right wing politicians and their corporate backers against working families, children, the sick, the elderly and the poor. Republican Congressmen (including my entrenched opponent) want more tax breaks for millionaires while they balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable.
-see more-
Social Security
We have to oppose every effort to destroy Social Security, which is entirely self funded, has not contributed a single penny to the deficit, and is not responsible for U.S. budget problems.
-see more-
Medicare for All - Single Payer
One of our National goals, as expressed by President Roosevelt on January 11, 1944 in his State of the Union Address was “the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health”. Yet today, 67 years later, we still have a national tragedy of over 50 million Americans without health insurance.
-see more-
Crumbling Infrastructure
We also have to invest in our crumbling infrastructure by rebuilding our roads, bridges, water systems, school and public transportation systems. This can help towards a goal of drastically cutting unemployment to make sure our kids do not have a lower standard of living than their parents. This can create millions of good paying jobs in short order.
Trade Policy
We have to work to make effective changes in our disastrous trade policies, which have resulted in the loss of millions of jobs as corporations shut down here and move to China and other low wage countries.
-see more- |
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IN THE NEWS:
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Press Release: Dallas, November 29, 2011:
Tom Berry of Dallas filed today to run in the Democratic Primary for U.S. Representative, Texas 5th Congressional District. The current incumbent is Republican Jeb Hensarling, who sees everything as a spending problem. Tom issued the following statement:
“Today in America 25 million people are either unemployed or underemployed, wages are declining, one in four mortgages is underwater, and four people are looking for every available job.
Moreover, U.S. Job losses in the last decade are worse than any decade since the 1890‘s. One third of our unemployed have been out of work over a year, with nearly half over six months. This is even higher than at any time in the 1930’s great depression.
We need to amend the Adamson Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act to have a six-hour-day, thirty-hour workweek, without cuts in basic daily wages, and increase overtime rates to outweigh the cost of fringe benefits. These federal laws would only affect corporations engaged in Interstate Commerce. If corporations get in trouble with implementation, we can always lower corporate tax rates after we receive a two-fold benefit of increased individual tax revenue with lower unemployment expense. In the meantime , middle class purchasing power will strengthen us into a full and sustainable recovery.
Unemployment is worldwide. The U.S. can lead in effective recovery and achieve economic justice. We can restrict access to our market for those who do not follow. We can concentrate on effectively using every method to balance our trade, and only raise tariffs as a last resort to get our economy back on track.
We also need to reduce the influence of money on members of Congress by having Congress act to instruct the Federal Communications Commission to require the media to provide sufficient free air time (the air waves are free), counterbalanced against paid political advertising time, for all federal candidates in general elections to air their views.
We can accomplish these and other goals. No one will achieve them for us.” |
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October 3, 2011 - From: Tom Berry
To: President Barack Obama
RE: Putting Our Nation Back to Work
I ran for Congress in 1994 and 2002 as the Democratic Nominee in Illinois 6th Dist, against Henry Hyde. In 2010 I ran for Congress as the Democratic nominee in Texas 5th District against Jeb Hensarling, who today is the co-chair of the twelve person Super Congress, and sees everything as a spending problem, with huge cuts and loss of employment as his solution, which won't work.
Today I heard that the U.S. House scuttled your Jobs Program. This is Republican entrenchment. With 25 million people unemployed or underemployed, we have to take effective action to put our nation back to work and restore purchasing power to the middle class.
In 1938, Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, handed President Roosevelt what was to become the Fair Labor Standards Act. It reduced the workweek from 60 to 40 hours, and the work day from 10 to 8 hours in Interstate Commerce without a pay cut in basic daily wages. Overtime was increased to time-and-one half. The stimulus of WPA Projects and CCC camps had run out. The economy was again starting to tank.
This Act only affected interstate commerce. Within five years big business and labor went hand in hand to each state legislature to establish eight hour days in state law, because misery loved company, and they wanted to reduce their competition. That’s how we got the nationwide eight hour day.
Today we face the same situation. U.S. job losses in the last decade are worse than any decade since before the last century. One third of our unemployed have been out of work over a year, with nearly half over six months. This is even higher than at any time in the 1930’s great depression.
Samuel Gompers, first president of the American Federation of Labor, said: “As long as one man is out of work, the hours of labor are too long.”
The only way a society can possibly share in the wealth of its capacity to produce is in working hours. It’s the only way it can be done. Higher productivity is both a cause and a cure to our economic dilemma.
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We can amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to have a six-hour-day, thirty-hour-workweek, without pay cuts, and increase the overtime rate to outweigh the cost of fringe benefits. This federal law would only affect corporations in Interstate Commerce. If the corporations get in trouble with implementation, we can always lower corporate tax rates after we receive a two-fold benefit of increased individual income tax revenue with lower unemployment expense. In the meantime, middle class purchasing power will strengthen us into a full and sustainable recovery.
Unemployment is worldwide. The U.S. can lead in effective recovery and achieve economic justice. We can restrict access to our market for those who do not follow. We can concentrate on effectively using every method to balance our trade, and only raise tariffs as a last resort to get our economy back on track.
We need to work together to accomplish these goals. No one is going to do it for us.
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A Six-Hour-Day,
Thirty-Hour-Workweek,
May Solve Our Economic Problems
(read
full article) |
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