Barack Obama

1. Why should working people support you for president?
   

   I share the labor movement’s faith in working people. Throughout my career, I have been a consistent champion of the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain. And I believe we are all better off when workers exercise that right. I strongly support your fight to improve the lives of working families.
   
   I began my career as a community organizer in neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side that were devastated by steel mill closings. I worked shoulder to shoulder with local unions to build coalitions of residents, workers and churches to bring job training and economic development to the plighted area. Like you, I believe that all levels of government must provide a fair and constructive environment for addressing workplace challenges and meeting the demands of global competition. Like you, I believe that organizing workers and organized communities will hold government accountable and assure that it fulfills its obligations.
   
   I have proven my willingness to stand up and fight for working families in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate when a strong and distinctive voice for the rights of working people has been needed. And, working with you, I will continue that fight. I will fight to modernize our government’s policies and practices to secure and expand the middle class in an era of decentralizing workplaces, a changing workforce, and global labor markets. I will fight to assure that incomes rise and inequality narrows; that workers are prepared to compete in global competition but do not suffer from undue risk shifting; that workers have the flexibility to navigate work and family; that workplaces are fair and safe and welcome every worker’s contributions; and that international labor rights are strong and enforced. I will fight to guarantee that all Americans have affordable access to health care, to protect workers’ pensions, to expand retirement security, and to assure that our children receive a quality public school education.
   
   As President, I will work to assure that every worker has access to the skills and knowledge they need. And as the needs of working people continue to evolve because of globalization, I am committed to trade policies that include protections for workers and changes to our laws that ensure workers get the support they need when transitioning from job to job.
   
   Ultimately, I believe that we must value the labor of every American. Employers must respect workers. Workers and unions must contribute to their employers’ competitive efforts. Communities and workers must organize for the future. But most importantly, our next President must set our goals, gather us together across traditional ideological and economic boundaries, and lead us into the future. This is what I intend to do. I am committed to respecting America’s workers and rewarding them with basic guarantees – wages that can support their families, affordable health care if they get sick, working conditions that are safe, time off the job without penalty to take care of sick loved ones, and a retirement that leaves them with financial security and dignity.

2. How will you work to create good jobs and lift living standards in the United States and around the world?
   

   Our economy is only as strong as the middle class that is its backbone. For this reason, workers must have a free choice to organize and collectively bargain and a President who is willing to say that unions and organizing raise wages, assures health insurance and pensions, and guarantees a measure of fairness in the workplace. I will say those things when I am President, just as I have during this campaign and through my strong co-sponsorship of the Employee Free Choice Act. As workers organize, they will improve their jobs and raise their living standards.
   
   I also believe we need an aggressive strategy to create good, middle-class jobs. We must expand federal funding for basic research, expand the deployment of broadband technology, and make the research and development tax credit permanent so that businesses can invest in innovation and create high-paying, secure jobs. I will make long-term investments in education, training, and workforce development so that Americans can leverage our strengths – our ingenuity and entrepreneurialism – to create new, high-wage jobs and prosper in a world economy. And I will invest in making college education affordable for working families so that every child can reach the limits of his or her capacity.
   
   The world economy is changing, so an important part of our challenge is to assist workers in transition. I would modernize the existing system of trade adjustment assistance by improving and extending such help to service industries, creating flexible education accounts that workers could use to retrain, and providing retraining assistance for workers in sectors of the economy vulnerable to dislocation before they lose their jobs. Perhaps most importantly, I would stop our government’s practice of enriching companies with billions of dollars in tax giveaways when they move their operations overseas. I will fight to ensure that public contracts are awarded to companies that are committed to American workers.

3. What are your ideas for solving the U.S. health care crisis and guaranteeing affordable, quality health care to all?

   The United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet approximately 45 million Americans have no health insurance. The United States spends more on health care than any other country, nearly $2 trillion, yet ranks 19th in life expectancy at birth and 28th in infant mortality. As President, I will sign a universal health care bill by the end of my first term. My plan will lower costs for the typical family by $2,500, cover the uninsured and lower costs to families and businesses. I will allow people who do not have access to group coverage through their employers or public programs (such as Medicaid, SCHIP, and Medicare) to buy into a national pool, which will offer a new public plan similar to the one I have as a member of Congress. My plan will also allow people to buy private plans that offer comprehensive benefits and meet quality standards. Federal subsidies will be made available to those who need it to make coverage more affordable. And employers will have access to reinsurance to protect them from volatile and high increases in the cost of insurance. Finally, my plan will mandate health insurance coverage for every child in America.
   
   I will go after runaway health care costs by investing in information technology, focusing on preventive care, increasing health care quality, reducing medical errors, and stopping price-gouging by drug and insurance companies. Together, these changes would mean a reduction in premiums of up to a thousand dollars a year for the average family.
   
   I have a proven record on expanding access to affordable health care. In the Illinois State Senate, I spearheaded successful legislation to extend health care coverage under KidCare and FamilyCare to 20,000 additional children and 65,000 additional parents.
   
   We are not short on ideas to address the problem, but what we have lacked is consensus and political will. Solving our health care crisis depends on transforming our politics.

4. Do you believe corporate interests have too much power today and, if so, how will you work to restore workers’ rights, re-balance power between corporations and working families and ensure that our nation’s prosperity is shared?

   I believe we must hold corporate America responsible. I have introduced legislation to ensure that shareholders have a right to vote against excessive CEO pay. And I have joined union efforts to get Wal-Mart to improve working conditions, wages, and health coverage. I have co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act to assure that workers have a free choice about whether they will join a union. I fought to defend the Davis-Bacon Act and transit employee collective bargaining protections. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when the administration tried to take them away, I fought to ensure that Davis-Bacon Act protections were preserved for response personnel. As President, I will fight to strengthen whistleblower protections and increase funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to provide for more inspections and grants for safety and health training programs serving small employers and employees in high-risk jobs like construction. And I oppose so-called “comp time” proposals that would deprive workers of their hard-earned overtime pay.
   
   Throughout my public life, I’ve fought to make the tax system fair for workers, an important tool in ensuring that our nation’s prosperity is shared. As President, I would refocus our tax code on helping and expanding the middle class, end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, and increase the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. I would also raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. Together, these basic reforms will ensure that all full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs.

5. What role do you believe unions play in our economy and society, and what will you do to restore the freedom of all working people to join together in unions to bargain for a better life? Do you support the Employee Free Choice Act that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on March 1 and is being considered in the U.S. Senate, and will you make it law?

   Unions give workers a voice in the workplace, our political process, and our public policy debates. Simply, unions give workers a voice in deciding their future. For these reasons, they are essential to our democracy and our economy.
   
   I co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act because I firmly believe that workers should choose whether they want to join a union without fear of intimidation, coercion, or threats to their livelihoods. I am convinced that millions of Americans would join a union if given a fair opportunity, but the National Labor Relations Act in its current form too often allows employers to violate workers’ rights with impunity. The Employee Free Choice Act is a bipartisan effort to make the process of organizing less vulnerable to employer lawbreaking by requiring card-check recognition and increasing penalties on employers that violate the law. I support it, will continue to advocate for it, will vote for it as a Senator, and would sign it as President.
   
   EFCA is a starting point, but there is more to do. I will use the bully pulpit of the presidency to educate our country about the important role of unions. And I will use my power to appoint members of the National Labor Relations Board who understand the situation of working families and respect their desire to organize.
   
   I have staunchly opposed a national “right to work” bill that would limit union membership. I also oppose so-called “Paycheck Protection” legislation that would put burdensome and unnecessary administrative regulations on unions.

6. How will you approach helping low-income individuals and families secure living wage jobs, health care, housing and other basic needs to escape the trap of poverty?

   There are 37 million Americans living below the poverty line. And nearly 13 million children are living in poverty, a rise of 1.3 million since 2000. I am committed to a renewed effort to tackle the underlying problems that cause poverty.
   
   As with so many other issues, low-wage workers organizing and empowering themselves to fight for better wages, health care, and pensions is a first step toward fighting poverty. But the government must create a ladder which low-wage workers can climb to get into the middle class. The rungs on this ladder include a living wage strategy, health care for all, and affordable housing.
   
   I support increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. I would make higher education and lifelong learning affordable for low-wage workers and their families. And I would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing. I have a strong record of achievement on this issue. I wrote and passed the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor, one of the most effective tools devised to move people out of poverty.
   
   Too many working families lack access to health care. I have pledged that by the end of my first term in office, I will sign legislation that will provide all Americans with access to affordable, high-quality health care. I will implement an aggressive plan to lower health care costs and work to ensure that the savings are passed along to families and individuals, not insurance or drug companies.
   
   To increase the supply of affordable housing, I will create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund by setting aside profits from government-sponsored housing agencies to develop affordable housing. The Fund will create up to 14,000 new units of affordable housing every year in mixed-income neighborhoods and will provide a needed economic stimulus to our communities. To limit mortgage fraud, I will impose stiff penalties to deter fraud and protect consumers against abusive lending practices. I introduced the STOP FRAUD Act that would increase funding for federal law enforcement programs, create new criminal penalties for mortgage professionals found guilty of fraud, and require industry insiders to report suspicious activity.
   
   At times, families fall out of the middle class through no fault of their own, often because of health care emergencies. At a minimum, they should not be punished when they do. To protect families from exploitation in the bankruptcy system, I attempted to improve the Bankruptcy Reform bill that Congress passed in 2005 and voted against final passage. As President, I would propose revisions to our bankruptcy laws that would allow families to get back on their feet after a personal financial crisis.

7. What solutions do you propose to help workers handle their work and family responsibilities?

   Government must help assure workers the flexibility they need to navigate their work and family responsibilities. Again, I have a strong record of service on work-family issues. In the Illinois Senate, I sponsored legislation establishing grants for after-school programs. I believe in increasing federal support for after-school programs with proven records of success at helping children avoid crime and drugs and providing relief to hard-pressed working parents.
   
   I support the Healthy Families Act to guarantee workers seven days of paid sick leave per year -- a moderate proposal that will not impose an onerous burden on employers. I also worked with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-WA) to introduce legislation lowering the Child Tax Credit’s income limit so that 600,000 more families can benefit. The Child Tax Credit allows parents to receive $1,000 per child and has been an important financial resource for working families. Unfortunately, the credit is skewed so that many families who need it the most cannot get it. Our legislation will fix that problem.
   
   One critical aspect of helping workers to navigate work and family is to assure that women get equal pay in the workplace so that they can improve their families’ economic conditions. I have co-sponsored two bills to assure pay equity for women: the Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. As President, I would increase funding for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to fight both race and sex discrimination.

8. What will you do to revitalize our manufacturing sector, stop the export of our best jobs and reform our trade policy so it supports good jobs at home and contributes to a healthy environment and equitable development here and abroad?

   I am firmly convinced that American workers and employers can compete with anyone in the world if the playing field is level and our government understands that its role is to serve the interests of the American people.
   
   An aggressive strategy to create and maintain good, middle-class jobs begins with job creation. As President, I will work to create new manufacturing jobs in regions across the United States where workers and communities have specialized knowledge from decades of manufacturing experience. I would also end tax incentives that reward companies for moving jobs overseas.
   
   I would ensure that trade agreements include strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards. Companies operating overseas must not gain a competitive advantage by exploiting workers or the environment. I opposed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) because it did not satisfy this important principle. But merely adding words to the core of our trade agreements is not enough. We must enforce our agreements through the World Trade Organization and other existing mechanisms and pressure our trading partners to end unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters, non-tariff barriers on U.S. exports, and artificially devalued currency, like China’s, that puts U.S. companies at a perpetual disadvantage. As President, my trade policy will open foreign markets to create and support good American jobs.

9. What are your ideas to develop a reasonable immigration system that protects the rights of all workers and provides a path toward citizenship for hard-working, tax-paying immigrants who come to our nation seeking a better life?

   I believe extreme elements in our politics have used the immigration issue to divide the nation rather than find real solutions. I believe we must rise above divisive politics and act in the interests of our national and economic security. I have worked hard to move comprehensive immigration reform and believe that our broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting heated rhetoric aside and offering a solution that strengthens our security while reaffirming our heritage as a nation of immigrants. We need comprehensive immigration reform that is tough, fair, and practical.
   
   First, I will preserve the integrity of our borders to reduce illegal immigration. I support additional personnel, infrastructure, and technology on the border and at our ports of entry.
   
   Second, we must recognize that enforcing our borders is only one step of comprehensive immigration reform. I will also remove incentives to enter the country illegally and crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. Last year, I championed a proposal with Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and Max Baucus (D-MT) to create a new employment eligibility verification system so employers could verify that their employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S., making the system fair to legal workers and tougher on employers.
   
   Third, I will improve legal immigration. Every year, an estimated 500,000-800,000 people enter the country illegally or illegally overstay their visa. Another million enter legally. I believe immigrant workers should have legal protections to avoid abuse and downward pressure on American wages and working conditions. I introduced the Citizenship Promotion Act of 2007 to ensure that legal immigrants pursuing citizenship face immigration application fees that are both reasonable and fair. This bill reverses large fee increases for legal immigrants seeking to become citizens and provides grants to states to help educate and promote citizenship.
   
   Lastly, I will bring people out of the shadows. For the millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules, we must encourage them to come out of hiding and get right with the law. I support a system that requires undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, not commit crimes, and go to the back of the line for citizenship. After all those conditions are met, they would be granted the opportunity to stay in the United States.

10. What will you do to make America a leader again in respecting human rights and civil rights at home and around the world?

    I am committed to improving America’s credibility in the world and that starts with protecting our civil rights at home. There is no doubt that the mistakes of the Bush Administration have made this task more difficult. America must lead by reaching out to all those living disconnected lives of despair in the world’s forgotten corners. While there will always be those who succumb to hate and strap bombs to their bodies, there are millions more who want to take another path and who want our beacon of hope to shine its light their way.
    
    Here at home, I have supported efforts to achieve civil rights for all Americans. I have worked to ensure equal pay for working women. I believe the government needs to take steps to better enforce the Equal Pay Act, fight job discrimination, and improve child care options and family medical leave to give women equal footing in the workplace. I am also a co-sponsor of the Fair Pay Act of 2007. I will work to increase funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and fight to eliminate racial and sexual discrimination. And I believe that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act should be enacted to protect against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
    
    Our challenge as a nation is to make sure that U.S. policies move the international system in the direction of greater equity, justice, and prosperity – that the rules we promote serve both our interests and the interests of a struggling world. I have taken steps to pass key legislation on Darfur, visited refugee camps on the Chad-Sudan border, and helped secure $20 million for the African Union peacekeeping mission. I have been a global leader in the fight against AIDS, taking a public HIV test in Kenya to encourage testing and reduce the stigma of the disease.
    
    Finally, we must once again make clear to the world that we are not a country that tortures; that we are not a country that supports extraordinary renditions; and that we are not a country that supports denying detainees the centuries-old right to judicial review.

11. What is your position on the U.S. involvement in Iraq?

    I publicly opposed the war in Iraq before it started, because I strongly believed that it would not accomplish the Bush Administration’s stated foreign policy goals and it would detract from our fight against Al Qaeda and terrorists. Today, our troops are caught in the middle of a civil war they can’t solve and we need to bring them home safely and soon. I have a clear plan on the way forward in Iraq and to bring our troops home.
    
    To set a new course that can bring a responsible end to the war, I introduced the Iraq War De-escalation Act in January 2007. This plan would begin redeployment of U.S. forces with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008, a date that is consistent with the expectation of the Iraq Study Group. My plan allows for a limited number of U.S. troops to remain as basic force protection, to engage in counter-terrorism, and to continue the training of Iraqi security forces. If the Iraqis are successful in meeting the thirteen benchmarks for progress laid out by the Bush Administration, this plan also allows for the temporary suspension of the redeployment, provided Congress agrees that the benchmarks have been met and that the suspension is in the national security interest of the United States.

12. Will you change our nation’s tax and budget priorities? If so, how?

    I am committed to restoring fiscal discipline and reforming our current budget and tax system. The most important first step we can take on that path is to restore pay-as-you-go spending rules so that we do not dig ourselves into deeper debt. I have been a consistent supporter of PAYGO and have voted against massive deficit-financed tax cuts, such as the estate tax repeal, which would have added to the debt.
    
    My priorities will not increase the deficit. I will pay for each of the investments I call for by either cutting other spending or finding new revenue sources. If in the end I can’t find enough offsets to fund all of my priorities, I will choose among them. I will protect the tax cuts for the middle class, but I will repeal the unnecessary tax cuts for oil and gas companies and for the wealthiest Americans.

13. What do you propose to do to strengthen Social Security and private pensions to ensure that America’s workers can retire with a secure income?

    I believe we need to preserve Social Security by stopping any efforts to privatize it. I will work in a bipartisan way to maintain Social Security’s solvency for future generations. The focus of reform options should be on protecting the basic integrity and fairness of the Social Security program, which provides a vital safety net to millions of seniors and Americans with disabilities. Social Security is more than just a retirement plan; it is also a program of social insurance. The problems with Social Security are real but manageable. I believe everything has to be on the table that is genuinely intended to strengthen the program—insisting on only one solution, as President Bush did, is not a recipe for bipartisan cooperation.
    
    To secure pensions, I would insist that companies keep the promises they made to their employees. As a U.S. Senator, I worked closely with Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and the Association of Flight Attendants to help protect flight attendants’ pension plans during the United Airlines bankruptcy crisis. I support amending bankruptcy laws to keep companies from filing for Chapter 11 in order to shortchange workers. I supported new rules to force companies to properly fund their pension plans so taxpayers don’t end up footing the bill. I also voted to shore up the funding of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that guarantees retirees receive at least some of their pension monies if their companies go out of business.
    
    The personal saving rate is at its lowest level since the Great Depression. Only 55 percent of Americans working full-time hold a job with a retirement savings plan. The percentage is even lower for part-time workers and minorities. I want to make retirement saving easier, cheaper, and more automatic for working people. In the Senate, I co-sponsored the Save More for Retirement Act with Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). The bill provides incentives for automatic enrollment in 401(k) programs. I would also expand savings by establishing automatic enrollment in IRAs for employees who are not covered by 401(k) plans and expanding and improving the Saver’s Tax Credit to help more low and moderate income households save.

14. What do you believe are the opportunities and challenges facing public education, and how would your administration deal with each? What policies would you support to help close the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students, including making college more accessible and affordable?

    I believe we must prepare young people for the 21st century workforce. As President, I’d launch a campaign to recruit and support hundreds of thousands of new teachers across the country, because the single most important factor inside the school building for a student’s achievement is the person standing at the front of the classroom. I will treat teachers like the professionals they are, making sure they get the pay they deserve, while working with them to develop the high standards we need. We need to create real career opportunities that reward successful teachers, motivate them to stay in the profession, and take advantage of their skills to help mentor new teachers. Teachers and educators need time to plan lessons and learn. That time should be made available each week and during the summer. And teachers and principals should be paid for this additional work.
    
    I am also committed to providing quality early childhood education so that children are not left behind before they even reach elementary school. Research shows that many low-income children do not enter kindergarten ready to learn. That’s why I support increasing funding for the Head Start program to provide preschool children with critically important learning skills.
    
    The achievement gap between minority and white students is a problem across the country. One step toward closing this gap is to attract talented teachers to high-needs areas. We know that low-income and minority students are disproportionately taught by teachers who are less experienced than teachers in other schools. My plan to attract and retain high-quality teachers in high-needs districts will go a long way toward closing this gap.
    
    But government alone cannot solve all the problems facing our public education system. We need greater parent involvement with our children’s education. We need parents to turn off the TV and the video games, talk to their children’s teachers, check their homework, and make sure they get the help they need. Moreover, we must work to make college more affordable. We need to increase federal college grants to ensure that the lack of affordability does not prevent anyone who wants to from attending college. I have a proven record of calling for increasing the maximum Pell Grant and offering the grant to more poor students. The first bill I introduced in the U.S. Senate would help make college more affordable for many Americans by increasing the maximum Pell Grant to $5,100. In February 2007, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law legislation to increase federal Pell Grants to $4,310. I will continue to fight for greater Pell Grant support.
    
    Additionally, we should free up money for student aid by reforming the federal student loan program. Currently, there are two basic federal loan programs. The Direct Loan system allows students to borrow from the government through their schools. The Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL) instead gives private banks federal subsidies to make government-backed student loans. FFEL guaranteed loans cost about $6 more per $100 loan than direct loans. As President, I will eliminate wasteful subsidies for banks under FFEL and mandate that all federal student loans be provided through the direct loan program. By switching completely to the direct lending system, we can save taxpayers billions of dollars a year – money that can and should be directed to making college more affordable for Americans.

15. How do you propose to move our nation toward energy sufficiency, stop global warming and protect our environment?

    One of the great challenges of the next president is to truly place the United States on a path to energy independence, something that has been talked about – with little success – since the first Arab oil embargo in l973. We need to improve the fuel economy of the cars we drive. I introduced a plan to break the 20-year stalemate on fuel economy standards by setting a hard target of 4 percent improvement (or about 1 mile per gallon) every year. Instead of Congress having a big brawl every 10 or 20 years to increase standards, the industry would be required to meet predictable annual targets unless government regulators determine that the default increase is technologically or economically unachievable. The New York Times said my proposal offers the best hope of raising mileage standards by offering a flexible approach that achieves real results.
    
    However, as we raise fuel economy standards to wean America off of foreign oil, we must ensure that domestic automakers have the ability to compete with foreign automakers so high-paying American manufacturing jobs stay in the U.S. I have introduced the Health Care for Hybrids legislation to help automakers pay for retiree health care benefits packages, provided that they invest at least 50% of their health care savings into producing more advanced vehicles. I have also introduced legislation to provide grants to domestic automakers to retool their plants to build these new cars.
    
    I believe that global warming is another great challenge facing our planet and combating global warming is a top priority in my campaign. As the country with the highest level of carbon dioxide emissions, the U.S. must exert its leadership, set an example for doing what is right and work with the international community to find a comprehensive solution. This issue is one that we ignore at our own peril.
    
    By the end of my first term, I also intend to pass a cap-and-trade measure that will create a market in tradable emissions permit. This cap-and-trade measure will significantly increase federal investment for the American energy industry, thereby ensuring that American workers benefit, and are not harmed, from stronger environmental protections. I have also proposed a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard. This standard would require that all transportation fuels sold in the U.S. contain 5 percent less carbon by 2015 and 10 percent less carbon by 2020. My proposal includes a banking and credit trading mechanism to allow providers of cleaner burning fuel to trade allowances to other producers or bank allowances against future reductions. According to one estimate, the National Low Carbon Fuel Standard would reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 180 million metric tons in 2020 – the equivalent of taking over 30 million cars off the road – and it would also reduce the annual consumption of gasoline derived from foreign oil imports by about 30 billion gallons in 2020.
    
    We also need to increase domestic production, distribution, and use of ethanol and other biofuels, including incentives for the manufacture of flexible fuel vehicles, development of biofuels, and a nationwide distribution infrastructure.
    
    I believe that the U.S. can and should be a global leader in the development of alternative energy sources, such as ethanol and other biofuels, as well as wind and solar. We should set benchmarks for production so that more companies will invest in ethanol production and create distribution facilities where the average consumer can access biofuels for cars designed to run on them. As president, I will place a cap on emissions and then allow industry to create a market in tradable emissions permits. A market based cap-and-trade system also allows us to target the impact, and assist communities or industries that need help transitioning to a future where they don't depend on so much fossil fuel.
    
    Finally, I only support the development of coal-to-liquid fuel technologies that would emit less lifecycle carbon than conventional gasoline. I have championed technology that would capture enough carbon for coal-to-liquid fuels to be an environmentally sound alternative to our reliance on foreign oil. I co-sponsored a bill that includes tax incentives for sequestration technology that would decrease the emissions of coal-to-liquid fuels by capturing carbon during the production process. It is not true that carbon capture technology is unavailable today; we must do more to promote it on a commercial scale, and I have provided incentives to do it. Finally, these coal-to-liquid fuels must meet the low carbon fuel standard I have proposed, which requires that vehicle fuels in the U.S. have a net 10 percent reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions by 2010.

16. What would you do to curb outsourcing of public service jobs to the private sector, which can result in reducing the pay and benefits of workers who perform such services?

    There is honor in public service at every level. Our public servants deserve respect and fairtreatment. But over the past several years, we have seen a new "Ownership Society" philosophy in Washington that says government has no role in solving our problems and that the services provided everyday by government employees are better left to the whims of the private sector. I have been a consistent critic of this philosophy.
    
    We should not privatize public services for the sake of privatization. And we should be especially critical of what is driving the demand for privatization of any particular service. The benefits ofprivatization are often outweighed by the devastation caused to communities by a loss of jobs or health care benefits. And often, services that are contracted out were being done well and efficiently by public servants.
    
    I would use strict guidelines when determining whether to contract out any government service. I will not contract out vital government services without first considering whether the private sector can actually provide a better service and whether so-called hidden costs of privatization are fully accounted for in the cost estimate. I will also require consideration of the economic impact of every privatization proposal for the federal government.
    
    In the event that contracting out may be appropriate, it is important that the federal government attach serious conditions and provide accountability mechanisms to make sure that privatization is not used as an end-run around federal labor standards. We can mandate, for instance, that contractors continue to adhere to government hiring preferences and requirements. In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Administration waived Davis-Bacon requirements, which ensure that workers receive prevailing wages. I was an original co-sponsor of the bill to repeal this waiver; all federal contractors must be accountable to our nation's labor laws and workers must be ensured fair treatment and fair wages. In that vein, I also believe that we need to make clear that private contracts will not be awarded if minimum wage and benefit standards are not met.
    
    Finally, I will provide an opportunity for union and employee input into all contracting decisions. These decisions should be made in an open forum that provides all stakeholders the opportunity to present their analysis of the quality and cost estimates that will inform the ultimate decisions. Moreover, unions and employees should be permitted to offer their own bids in competitive bidding processes. I will make sure that they have the opportunity to do just that.

17. What would you do to improve job safety and health protections for workers? What is your view on the appropriate balance between mandatory standards/enforcement vs. voluntary approaches? How would you address the issue of ergonomic hazards, which are responsible for one-third of all workplace injuries?

    All the labor rights in the world don't matter if workers can't count on coming home to their families at the end of the day in one piece. But the Bush administration's OSHA has turned its back on America's working families. By cutting staff, dramatically reducing funds for training, promoting weak voluntary programs at the expense of proven enforcement mechanisms, and reversing key protective standards, the Bush administration has put the lives of workers at risk. The next President must make sure OSHA lives up to its calling to protect our workers and give it the resources it needs to succeed.

    As President, I would increase OSHA's funding so it can conduct more investigations and provide more health and safety training programs for small business employers as well as workers in high-risk trades like construction. I would also expand OSHA to cover all public employees; people who commit their lives to public service should not be left to fend for themselves. I would increase protections for whistleblowers and require that employers pay for the safety equipment that their workers need. And I would make sure that we no longer witness the mining tragedies of the last few years by renewing our commitment to enforcing MSHA.

    At the same time, we must recognize that even with greater resources and a strong, targeted enforcement program, OSHA will never be able to inspect every hazardous workplace. For that reason we must utilize all available tools to get employers and workers in such workplaces to find and fix hazards before someone is hurt. First, we need a straightforward safety and health programs standard so that all employers with hazardous workplaces take a systematic approach to injury and illness prevention, with the help of their employees. The evidence is strong that such programs save lives, and in many cases they save money and increase productivity as well. In addition, we must provide compliance assistance to help small businesses protect their workers, and work collaboratively with employers and workers to find innovative approaches to worker protection. Ultimately, we must convince employers that they cannot afford to lose $1 billion to workplace injuries every week if they want to compete in the global marketplace. That's money that can be used to grow our economy if we do what's right and protect our workers.

    Today's workers are particularly susceptible to debilitating musculoskeletal injuries. These injuries cost American businesses $15-20 billion each year in workers' compensation costs. Although OSHA issued a standard based on successful business practices in reducing these costly injuries, Bush and a Republican Congress negated this progress by repealing the standard. As President, I would reinstate OSHA's ergonomics rule and make sure that we create a policy that supports workers.