Good-Paying American Jobs: The Best Insurance

Good Afternoon, friends. Thank you for coming.

There was a time in our country when all the “insurance” you needed was a good paying job. Unfortunately, those days are over.

In a recent report from the New York State Department of Labor, more than 34,400 jobs were lost in the past year with the bulk of them coming from the manufacturing industry. I’ve seen all types of manufacturing plants close their doors in the last 15 years.

As the factory doors close, the doors for hard-working men and women close too. With those lost paychecks, the ability to pay bills, support a family, and pay rent or a mortgage are lost. Also lost? The ability to pay for health care and health insurance.

It should come as no surprise that of New York State has over 2 million uninsured individuals, and that more than 500,000 are unemployed. If they all had good-paying jobs, these men and women – more than half a million of them – would have health insurance.

Multinational corporations use their money to influence politicians through lobbyists and political action committees. The bought politicians then craft trade policies that make it more profitable for multinational corporations to offshore our jobs than to manufacture in the U.S.

The champions of free trade call this “progress,” I think it’s nuts. The results are millions of job losses, millions of lost pensions, millions of lost health insurance benefits, repossessed homes, gas costing 4 dollars a gallon, and milk now at more than 4 dollars a gallon.

Powerful free trade lobbyists don’t represent you. They represent multinational corporations and these policies that affect your life, the lives of your wife or husband, your children, your mothers and fathers, your friends, and neighbors.

These lobbyists pressure elected officials to pass Free Trade Agreements. This is wrong.

Our first priority is to stop these lobbyists. We have to kick the Health Care lobbyists out of the room. Already in 2008 they have contributed 93 million dollars to political campaigns. This is wrong.

I am the only candidate in this race who has joined Senator Obama in pledging not to take Special Interest or PAC Money.

Lobbyist money doesn’t impress me – I won’t take a dime. I have the independence and the toughness to stand up for YOU, solve YOUR problems, and make changes in Washington DC.

Next, we have to find commonsense solutions to the problems we face.

I have lifetime experience doing just that. At my company I Squared R in Akron, I employ 75 men and women with an average wage of 25 dollars an hour.

I contribute $4,800 per year towards each employee's healthcare and at the end of each month I share 30% of the company's profits with the employees. My employees have a fully funded profit sharing retirement plan and I consider them my extended family.

Third, we need to work toward Government Sponsored Healthcare for those individuals who need it.

The number of individuals who would need this kind of Healthcare would be dramatically reduced if we had good-paying jobs with companies who paid health insurance for their employees. That would immediately reduce the number of uninsured in New York state by over half a million.

None of the ideas I have mentioned are particularly dramatic or difficult, but when pursued together, they form a meaningful solution that can work for everyone.

I'm an optimist, but I know I cannot win this fight alone. I won't ask you for your money, but I am asking for your vote and your ideas. Join the fight to ensure that everybody in Western New York, New York State, and the United States can gain access to affordable health insurance.

Join the fight to return our government to those who need our help. Join the fight to bring moral integrity, honesty and ethics to Washington. And join the fight to save American jobs.

Thanks for listening. Let’s get to work!