Straight Facts About Our Candidates
U.S. House of Representatives, Iowa, District 1
BRUCE BRALEY WILL FIGHT FOR WORKING FAMILIES
Supports Raising Minimum Wage. Bruce Braley has vowed not to accept a congressional pay raise until Congress raises the minimum wage, and he is “embarrassed” that the national minimum wage has not been raised since 1997.
(Telegraph Herald, 6/27/06)
Will Protect Our Social Security. Bruce Braley believes Social Security “has allowed millions of older Americans to be appropriately rewarded for their lifetime of hard work” and that “today, Social Security as we know it is under attack.” (Waterloo Courier,
7/9/06)
Will Work to Keep Our Jobs in Iowa. Bruce Braley opposes trade agreements with nations that violate workers’ rights and believes “we need trade laws that are fair to
American workers.” (Braley ad, 5/16/06)
MIKE WHALEN HAS FAILED WORKING FAMILIES
Opposes Raising Minimum Wage. Mike Whalen, a wealthy hotel and restaurant owner whose company had $51.1 million in sales last year, is not in favor of raising the minimum wage, saying, “I don’t think the minimum wage really has the kind of positive impact that people claim it to be.” (Hoovers, www.hoovers.com; Iowa Press, Iowa Public Television, 5/19/2006)
Wants to Privatize Social Security. Mike Whalen called Social Security “the public housing of retirement land” and supports privatization. In 2004, he was named policy chair of the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a group advocating “free-market reforms of government,” including Social Security. (River Cities’ Reader, #508 Vol. 12, December 2004)
Will Send Jobs Overseas and Cut Our Benefits. Mike Whalen chaired the NCPA, which supports unfair trade deals like NAFTA that send our jobs overseas. Whalen also supports making tax cuts for the rich permanent while undercutting employer-based health care, Social Security and Medicare. (www.ncpa.org; Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 6/1/06)
VOTE Nov. 7
How you vote is a personal decision. Whatever you decide, please vote.
