Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Kagen Watch, How Much More Can The 8th District Take.

From JS Online News Watch

More lost jobs in the 8th district.

"WEDNESDAY, July 30, 2008, 11:43 a.m.
By Joel Dresang
NewPage to close Kimberly mill

NewPage Corp. said this morning that it plans to close its paper mill in Kimberly, displacing 475 workers there.

The Miamisburg, Ohio-based leader in coated paper used in magazines and catalogs blamed a reduction in print advertising for lower paper demand at the same time that costs for fuel and raw material have risen.

The company plans to close the mill at the end of next month. In May, it shut down one of three of the mill's machines, costing 125 jobs.

NewPage bought the Kimberly mill as part of its $2.6 billion buyout of Stora Enso North America, formerly known as Consolidated Papers Inc. NewPage also is closing a mill in Niagara and has other Wisconsin operations in Wisconsin Rapids, Biron, Stevens Point and Whiting." JS Online: NewsWatch


From the Appleton Post Crescent.

"Kimberly's NewPage to close; 470 jobs will be lost" Kimberly's NewPage to close; 470 jobs will be lost | Postcrescent.com | Appleton Post-Crescent


The Post crescent at the time of this post had 47 comments on the mill closing. Not one mention of Steve Kagen!

Last time I checked Kimberly is just down the road from Appleton where Steve Kagen says he lives.. Where is Steve Kagen for the people of Kimberly and employees of NewPage? This is a tough time for these hard working people.

How many more people in 8th district ( Niagara and Kimberly), have to lose their jobs. We do not need talk and promises. We need to get the economic future of our state going forward, not backwards. We don't need tax increases, we need tax cuts to spur business and jobs. We need to bring more jobs to Wisconsin, not lose jobs.

Since Steve Kagen took office in 2007, we have had $4.00 gasoline, food price increases and countless jobs lost.

Besides talk, what specifically has Steve Kagen done for the 8th district? What has he done except brought higher prices on everything we touch.

Steve Kagen has had a year and a half to help the people of Wisconsin and has failed!

He has given us day after day of economic misery.

How much more can the people of the 8th district take.

Can you imagine people standing in the unemployment line or in line to find a job? Can you imagine yourself trying to buy bread and milk and cannot afford the high prices? Can you imagine $5.00 gasoline? I can imagine all those things and more with Steve Kagen in office in 09!

Steve Kagen had his chance in congress and failed us. How much more of Steve Kagen can we afford? It's time to change.

P.S. What spin will you see from Steve Kagen in the next couple of days.

Just spin, just talk , just empty promises.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are plenty of things Dr. Kagen has done for our community since he took office. Not to mention he is on the side of us Steelworkers, and those employees who work at New Page in Kimberly, WI. That would be why he was there talking to the employees that day, and still is. Where is John Gard for these people? I still haven't seen him comment on this unfair competition for the Steel, Paper, and Auto Industries and what he will do to fix the problem.

You say empty promises? Well it is hard to pass a bill on the House and Senate floor with the President's authority to veto every single one. At a time when this economy is downturned and struggling, our own President has no real economic plan and is not on the side of the Manufacturing Industry and its' employees. So to say Kagen is not doing anything for us, is completely offscaling the truth that he is, but our own President will not sign them into Legislation.

Since Kagen has been in office, Kagen has worked on "No Patient Left Behind" and has declined to participate in the Congressional Healthcare plan offered to Congress until all Americans have access to affordable healthcare.

On May 15, 2008, legislation sponsored by Kagen titled "To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal and for other purposes" (H.R.6074) was introduced before the House. On May 19, 2008, the House overwhelmingly decided in a 324-84 vote to approve this legislation, which allows the Justice Department to sue any foreign state that limits the production/distribution of oil or engages in price fixing.[4]

As far as energy. The reason oil/gas prices have soared is thank you to Mr. President who has the oil companies in his back pocket. Exxon Mobil released it's quarterly earnings July 2008, and it has reported the fattest operating profit in U.S. Corporate HISTORY! The increase in gas prices that we are paying at the pumps is going directly to the Big Oil Companies. We have thousands of acres of land in this country already with access to drill for oil, and yet we want more (ANWR). Yet we hear in the news that we need more land, and we need to limit our dependence on foreign oil, when in reality this country has exported MILLIONS of barrels of oil to Canada this year. We have plenty of oil here.

As for Kagen, he has stood by the manufacturing industry since day one, and has a realistic plan to move our community through this struggle we are facing with the unfair and disastour trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and currently Colombia Free Trade. These free trade agreements are not fair. They do not address the environmental regulations, they suppress labor rights, they allow non market economies like China to subsidize their market and dump products into the United States. American companies are being asked to compete with this, and in reality it is not possible for American companies to compete against the Chinese government. We have seen factory after factory, industry after industry close plants and ship them overseas to China. When this happens, communities are damaged, healthcare and pensions lost, and jobs eroded. Kagen stands by us on this issue, where as John Gard supports any and all free trade agreements. Already in the U.S. we have lost over 4 MILLION good jobs, most within the last 5 years. This issue needs to be ADDRESSED and no candidate other than Kagen is willing to do so.

In Congress, Steve has helped to lead the way by sponsoring legislation to help consumers by empowering the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price gouging refineries and oil companies

We talk about securing our borders and limiting immigration into this country. We need to take a look at why we have these people coming into the States in the first place. It all goes back to NAFTA and placing all these factories right at the Mexican-American border and creating all these 'Maquiladora' factories where companies could produce goods cheap and pay 15 cents an hour to chilren/employees. As this happened a lot of Mexican residents moved up to the border to get what they thought of as "better paying jobs". As soon as these companies realized they could build factories in China even CHEAPER yet, they all moved to China, where they could pay workers 6cents instead or 15cents. So now you have all these Mexicans sitting on the border, with no food, home, job, etc...and where do you think they are going to go. NORTH!! The real problem with securing our borders and immigration in this country goes back to NAFTA. We need to ammend our trade agreements, which is the underlying factor of immigration policy etc..but I can guarentee you will not hear this on the News. It is the truth.

And Congressman Steve Kagen has a plan to fix this issue. He has working on a Fair Competitiveness piece of legislation, similar to what Great Britian has in place.

Also, one word. VETERANS. Kagen has accomplished so much as his Freshman Congressional term comes to an end. An end to his first term, he will continue working hard each and every day for us all. He knows the real issues facing us and stands by us as we go through this together.

Together, We Will Re-Elect Steve Kagen~!!!

Paul - Berry Laker said...

Anonymous, thank you for your comment.We can agree to disagree, but at least we can discuss it. You wrote a very detailed comment from my post. You are either a paid staff member or volunteer for Mr. Kagen. To bad you are afraid to at least post your first name. Alas that is the M O of you and your comrades. Always staying anonymous. Well I cannot write a book but will make a few comments to you.

First you said "Well it is hard to pass a bill on the House and Senate floor with the President's authority to veto every single one." You are correct but you have to pass bills to get a veto. Where is all the bi partisan work to get things done in Washington like Mr. Kagen and the left promised in 6 in 06? Can you name more then passing name changes for post offices?

You said, "sponsored by Kagen titled "To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal and for other purposes" (H.R.6074) was introduced before the House. On May 19, 2008, the House overwhelmingly decided in a 324-84 vote to approve this legislation." I'm sorry I missed it , where is the Bush veto? Sorry, not sure, did the senate pass it also?

You said, "Exxon Mobil released it's quarterly earnings July 2008, and it has reported the fattest operating profit in U.S. Corporate HISTORY!" Even with the high profits do you even realize the gov taxes them on their profits! Second, it's their money not yours. Third, Steve Kagen in his last campaign promised lower gas prices. Jan 07 gasoline was 2.07 to 2.25 and today 3.76 to 3.89 gal. This is on Steve Kagens watch. Look at the 6 in 06 plan, you know what that is, That is one of many of his empty promises.

Sorry I can't write a book either. If you do advise Steve Kagen, please go over your talking points a couple of extra times with him. He seems to forget what you or his staff directs him to say.

But hey, thank you for reading my posts , I am glad at least we can discuss it. Maybe next time over a diet soda some day. I'll buy, don't want you getting caught with illegal campaign spending. Have a good week, who ever you are.

Paul-Berry Laker