   
Gephardt Joins
Appalachian
Bus Tour at
Ohio University;
Rally in Charleston,
WV
Congressman
Richard Gephardt
(D-Missouri)
joined the “Reinvest
in America:
Put America
Back to Work!” Appalachian
Bus Tour
Tuesday morning
at Ohio University
in Athens,
Ohio where,
along with
Rev. Jesse
Jackson,
United Mine
Workers of
America President
Cecil Roberts,
American
Federation
of State,
County and
Municipal
Employees
(AFSCME)
Executive
Assistant
to the President
Lee Saunders,
and other
labor and
public interest
leaders,
he ignited
a group of
university
students
and workers
from around
southeastern
Ohio.
Under sunshine
and leafy
trees, the
Carpenter
Ants band
performed
a high energy
rhythm and
blues set
before tour
participants
turned the
crowd’s
attention
to the purpose
of the tour:
to focus
on the critical
issues of
jobs, healthcare,
and education
and to encourage
people to
vote their
interests.
“I’m
glad to be
here today
with these
leaders and
with Jesse
Jackson who’s
been fighting
this fight
better than
anyone in
this country
for as many
years as
I’ve
known him,” said
Gephardt.
Then Gephardt
held up a
copy of The
Columbus
Dispatch
to call attention
to a series
they are
running on
the working
poor. He
pointed to
an article
about a husband
and wife
in Coolville,
Ohio who
work six
jobs between
them and
who still
find themselves
at the food
pantries.
“They
talk about
the shame
they feel,” he
said. “These
are responsible
people who
just want
the American
dream to
be real again.
We’re
here today
to say that
we all want
the American
dream to
be real again.”
On the subject
of healthcare
Gephardt
observed, “Healthcare
is a moral
right. 46
million people
in this country
are without
health insurance.
For people
who say we
can’t
afford to
do it, I’m
here to tell
you we can’t
afford not
to.”
Walking
to the Ohio
University
Green before
the rally
Gephardt
said, “I
think this
message is
crucial to
the election
campaign.
It affects
so many different
types of
people. The
ground zero
states will
be Ohio,
West Virginia
and Pennsylvania.
In Ohio 37
percent of
the people
live below
the poverty
line. Millions
have lost
their healthcare.”
John Flynn,
President
of the International
Union of
Bricklayers
and Allied
Craftworkers,
said that
his members
have healthcare
but must
set aside
wage increases
in order
to accommodate
the 15 percent
annual healthcare
cost hikes. “It
won’t
be long before
those who
are working
won’t
be able to
afford to
keep putting
their pay
into those
increases
in health
insurance
costs,” said
Flynn.
Coming out
swinging,
UMWA President
Cecil Roberts
asked the
crowd, “Who
pays for
the family
of a Congressman
when they
get sick?”
“We
do,” responded
the crowd.
“Whatever
they’ve
got there
that pays
for their
healthcare,
well, I’m
here to tell
you, we’ll
take what
they’ve
got right
here at Ohio
University,” exclaimed
Roberts.
Lee Saunders,
Executive
Assistant
to the President
of the American
Federation
of State,
County, and
Municipal
Employees
(AFSCME)
and an Ohio
University
alumnus,
addressed
the crowd.
He remembered
the confrontational
climate on
campus during
Vietnam when
the Kent
State and
Ohio University
riots took
place in
1970.
“I
remember
the riots
that occurred
right here,” he
said to the
crowd of
more than
one thousand. “There
was a clear
division
of positions,” he
recalled. “Just
as today,
opinions
about the
war and many
domestic
policies
are divided.
Americans
must change
public policy
to include
people, not
divide them.”
Terry Anderson,
a longtime
friend of
Jackson’s,
hosted him
in his home
outside of
Athens, Ohio,
Monday night.
Anderson
is a veteran
Associated
Press reporter
who was held
hostage for
seven years
in Lebanon.
He is currently
running for
the Ohio
State Senate.
He told the
College Green
crowd that
people used
to believe
if we just
worked hard,
we would
be alright.
“Do
you think
they believe
that today
down the
road in Coolville?” he
asked. “Southeastern
Ohio deserves
better than
it’s
getting.
We have families
of soldiers
fighting
in Iraq standing
in food lines
in Ohio.”
Holding
the hand
of Eloise
Woods, 81,
Jackson told
the crowd
that were
it not for
the UMWA,
she would
not have
health benefits.
At 59, Woods’ husband
died from
black lung
disease after
years of
inhaling
dust from
the mines.
She made
a difficult
journey to
come to Athens
Tuesday to
thank Jackson
personally
for the work
he has done
throughout
his life
to improve
miners’ access
to health
benefits.
Doug Brooks
was listening
carefully
for plans
to improve
education
in the region.
Brooks, 36,
is a special
education
teacher in
Coolville,
Ohio, where
50 percent
of the students
qualify for
free or reduced
lunch. He
is one of
the lowest
paid teachers
in the state.
“A
lot of my
kids come
to school
hungry, poor,
and troubled
by unfortunate
family situations.”
Brooks said
that he would
rather be
working with
regular people
in this area
than double
or triple
his salary
by moving
to a suburb
of Columbus.
When asked
how he would
reinvest
in the region,
Ohio University
sophomore
Corey Logan
said, “Cut
tuition.” What
else? “Cut
tuition.
Cut tuition.”
At the Monday
night rally
in Charleston,
W.Va., Carlo
Tarley, secretary-treasurer
of the UMWA,
reminded
people that
the biggest
American
employer
is Wal-Mart,
where people
are denied
health benefits
and a 40-hour
work week
as part of
a corporate
strategy.
“Let’s
start focusing
on the issues
that count,” he
said to the
audience
in the overflowing
Holiday Inn
ballroom. “We
have too
much to lose
not to.”
With down-home
flair, Roberts
and Jackson
energized
the room
one more
time Tuesday
night.
During his
speech Jackson
noted, “We
don’t
offer a tax
cut to the
people of
Iraq, we
offer an
investment
plan. Yet,
we don’t
have a reinvestment
plan for
America.”
He concluded, “People
find that
when we invest
in each other,
everybody
wins.”
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