Daily Dave*

Mejias Press Secretary Gabby Adler sent me this dispatch via email on Labor Day:

FARMINGDALE - Dave Mejias, Democratic candidate for Congress in New York's 3rd Congressional District, observes Labor Day by calling for a national commitment to working families. As a Nassau County Legislator, Dave Mejias has championed labor issues; his record is in sharp contrast to his opponent Peter King's record. Mejias believes a national commitment to labor in this country is necessary for a national minimum wage increase, continued workplace safety and the protection of Social Security.

"I have stood up for hard working families, and it's time Washington does the same," said Mejias. "Peter King and George Bush have turned their backs on hard working people. Instead of increasing the minimum wage, making health care affordable, maintaining workplace safety codes and securing social security they have given tax cuts to the wealthiest and special breaks to corporations making it harder for working families to make ends meet."

Peter King's voting record proves he has turned his back on working families:

• King voted YES on HR 653, which resulted in nearly $40 billion in spending cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, student aid, child support enforcement and other working family programs.

• King votes YES on HR 3010, which would have cut critical funds for job training and employment services, college aid, elementary and secondary education programs and rural health funding.

• King voted YES on HR 525, which would exempt health plans from state consumer protection rules and offer minimal health plans to younger workers.

• King and the Republican controlled Congress have prevented an increase in the minimum wage for over 9 years. Under current law, a full time worker earning minimum wage in the United States makes $10,700 a year, almost $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three.

• King supports of the Bush plan to privatize Social Security (The New York Sun, 3/14/05)

Dave Mejias has the voting record to match his rhetoric. Mejias authored legislation to protect the rights of domestic workers, voted for the living wage bill that increased the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour for workers doing business with Nassau County, and fought to eliminate gender based pay inequity for 911 operators in Nassau County. Mejias earned the State AFL-CIO endorsement last month in the 3^rd Congressional race; it was the first the AFL-CIO had ever endorsed King's opponent.

And the Wall Street Journal, can you believe it, thinks Eliot Spitzer's presumed gubernatorial win and Hillary's efforts can soften up traditionally Rethug seats like Peter King's in NY-03.

Vote for Dave Mejias in November. Do you live in NY-03?

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*Not so daily lately because my offline life has been nuts.