DPW Chair Tate's candidate for Gov supports Geobic mine, offshoring jobs and charter schools [View all]

[Scuba]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10849457

Wisconsin: Mary Burke's OK with the iron mine, just don't rush it

The only currently-declared Democratic candidate for governor says she's open to a proposed open pit iron ore mine in the Penokee Hills, but she says she would have vetoed the Republican bill passed this year that speeds up the mine permitting process.

Mary Burke was in Superior, Ashland and Bayfield over the weekend as part of her state campaign tour. She says she got an earful about mining. “People are concerned about whether we are risking the sustainability and natural resources that are such assets to the state without the needed protections,” Burke said. “People are concerned about jobs, and want to make sure we do have good paying jobs, but also want to make sure that that's balanced with protecting our resources, which are important for not only this generation but generations to come.”

Burke says she's still looking into the issue and thinks mining can happen, but only under certain circumstances, not those set by the Republican legislation. “If the conditions are right, we should be looking at opportunities that are going to create jobs, but we make sure we are protecting our natural resources.”

While in Ashland, Burke didn't meet with Bad River tribal officials, who are among the leading opponents of the mine, but she says she'd like to do that. She says it's important to meet with people who would be affected by an iron ore mine.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10849526

Mary Burke Addresses Trek Outsourcing 99.5% of Their Bikes: "Trek Does What it Can to Manufacture Bikes Here"

Trek public relations manager Eric Bjorling says that out of the appoximately 1.5 million bicycles the company produces annually, about 10,000 are made in the United States. However, according to statistics from the National Association of Bicycle Dealers (NABD), because 99% of the bicycles sold in the United States are made in either China (93%) or Taiwan (6%), Trek does the have dubious distinction of being the leading manufacturer of "Made in USA" bicycles.

And, while most don't brag about being the cream of the sour milk, Democratic candidate Mary Burke does just that:
"It is the largest manufacturer of bicycles in the United States, it employs more people than any other bicycle company in the United States, so there's nearly 1,000 employees right here in Wisconsin and over the last 20 years the payroll has nearly doubled. So I think Trek works very hard to keep employment in Wisconsin."

Burke adds, "Trek does what it can to manufacture bikes here" and that bicycles "are a very competative industry," echoing Trek's public statements that they have outsourced simply to survive as a company. She also repeats the standard line that if Americans were willing to pay more for the product, they would produce bikes in the United Staes: "If there was a greater emphasis by consumers to buy American goods, I think that would also make sure that American manufacturers' products were able to garner a higher price that would reflect the increased cost,"

For a variety of reasons, including heavy self-protection, bike shops haven't experienced the price falling trends like the non-bike shop sector. Trek and other medium to high end brands sell for the same price or more than they did before the drive to move to cheap Chinese labor. For example, Trek 520 is one of Trek's best known bikes that is been around almost as long as Trek has-- since the early '80s. In 1983, the Trek 520 sold for $318 which, adjusted for inflation to today's dollars, would be $903. Today, the Trek 520 actually sells for more than it did then, $1,490. The main difference is that in 1983, the Trek 520 was made in the USA and in 2013 it's made in China.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10849373

Mary Burke Promises She Won't Remove Walker's Statewide Voucher Program

In his manifesto, "Public Schools: Privatize Them," (Milton) Friedman hatched a plan to end public schools: vouchers. Vouchers, he said, were "a means, not an end" to privatize public schools and that by draining resources and allowing public schools to wither on the vine, students would gradually be lured out of public schools and into the private sector, paid for with vouchers.

That, in a nut shell, is why progressives and anyone who wants to pass on to their children and grandchildren the tradition of truly public schools, abhor vouchers. That is why the Democratic party opposes vouchers in our platform and the NEA has identified opposition to vouchers a "top priority."

So, yesterday, when Mary Burke finally made a promise and told the Wisconsin State Journal that, although she opposed Walker's statewide expansion of vouchers, she nonetheless would do nothing to remove the statewide voucher program, jaws dropped throughout Wisconsin's progressive community:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke said Monday she wouldn’t have expanded private school vouchers statewide, which Gov. Scott Walker did in this year’s state budget. However, Burke said if elected she would keep the statewide program in place with a cap of 1,000 students and seek accountability for private schools receiving public funds in Milwaukee.

Mike Tate thinks that backing a candidate that is for everything we are against is the way to win. More on Mike Tate's sellout to the Republicans here: http://bloggingblue.com/2013/11/senator-vinehout-versus-mike-tate/