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Eighth District candidate Joe Allen predicts atypical electionSunday, October 26, 2008
As Election Day approaches in Missouri's Eighth Congressional District, the contest outwardly appears to be little different from each of the five times Jo Ann Emerson has been re-elected to the seat she first won in 1996. Emerson, a Cape Girardeau Republican, has a big campaign treasury, a dedicated organization and a Democratic opponent with only a tiny fraction of her financial resources. In each of the past three elections, that combination has given the incumbent re-election with more than 70 percent of the vote. Two of Missouri's nine congressional races are viewed nationally as places where Democrats could take seats from Republicans. The Eighth District does not make those lists. No published polls have been conducted to test whether this year will be typical. Joe Allen, a 31-year-old lawyer from Forsyth, Mo., who is running on the Democratic ticket, thinks this year will not be typical. As the stock market falls and trillions of dollars evaporate from retirement plans, and as voters react to a Congress that approved a $700 billion financial market bailout, Allen said he feels Emerson, who voted in favor of the bailout, is losing her appeal. "I don't know if that was a big enough mistake for her to swing this election, but I think that many people agree it is a big enough mistake that she is going to lose a big part of her fiscal conservative base," Allen said. Emerson has said the vote to approve the bailout — she prefers to call the plan a "rescue" — was so important that it is worth losing an election. As she's traveled the district, Emerson said Friday, she has explained the vote and she thinks people understand why she supported the measure even if they don't like the bill. "I have taken every opportunity known to me throughout our district to talk about our economy, to talk about the stabilization package, how we got here. and what the steps are to hopefully lay the groundwork for getting us out," Emerson said. "People have asked a lot of questions and I think once you sit down and talk to them about all the things that have gone on, people have thanked me for taking the time to explain it." Another thing Allen said is different this year is the array of rural campaign offices and enthusiastic volunteers helping U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign. That organization hasn't been in place for Democrats in the past. The volunteers have registered thousands of new voters in the Eighth District and Allen said he expects to receive a boost as those new voters choose Democrats down the ticket. "I have to assume a vote for Barack Obama is going to be a vote for me as well," he said. The three C's In her 12 years in Congress, Emerson has never been aligned with the far-right wing of the GOP. After winning the seat in 1996 following the death of her husband, Bill Emerson, she has charted a course that sometimes puts her at odds with the party leadership. In April 2007, she voted "present" on an Iraq War funding bill that she declared at the time had become too politicized. The vote on the bill broke almost completely along party lines. Shortly after the vote, she was one of nine Congressional Republicans who went to the White House to insist that President George W. Bush change policies in the war. In July 2007, she was one of 19 Republicans who voted in favor of the House version of a new Farm Bill and in September 2007 she was one of 77 Republicans who favored a bill cutting subsidies to banks that make student loans. In an interview Friday, Emerson distanced herself from comments made by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, who suggested in a national television interview that some members of Congress are "anti-American." There are no anti-American members of Congress, Emerson said. Pleasing other members of the GOP is third on her list of priorities when it comes to deciding how to vote, Emerson said. "I follow the three C's — my constituents, my conscience, my caucus, that is the way that I do things. Every caucus or both conferences have people on one extreme or the other." Over the years, Emerson has become adept at bringing home earmarked money for projects in her district — the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, the new Interstate 55 interchange and the new federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau are just some of the examples of spending Emerson has championed. While her party's presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. John McCain, has made earmarks an example of spending excess, Emerson said it's not that simple. "I look at a Highway 60 or I look at the Emerson Bridge and I say, well, you know what, that is for the public good, that is the way earmarks should be, not airdropped in," she said. Sometimes, she said, an earmark is the only way to make sure that a public need is addressed. "I personally think the bureaucrats in Washington don't necessarily know what is for the public good in Cape Girardeau, Mo., or Sikeston, Mo., or anywhere." Federal spending does need to be dramatically reduced, Emerson said, but the real target should be overlapping responsibilities spread among several agencies, defense procurement practices and meaningful price negotiations over prescription drugs for Medicare patients. "We could save $300 to $400 billion just in that kind of efficiencies," she said. Fiscal conservatism In each of the six elections when Emerson has been on the ballot, Democrats have nominated a candidate who made a poor showing and then a new face comes along two years later and the process is repeated. Regardless of the outcome in 2008, Allen said that process won't be repeated. Win or lose, he said he will be a candidate in 2010. Allen presents himself as the kind of rural Democrat once popular in the Eighth District — conservative on social issues such as abortion, guns and gay marriage but more concerned with pocketbook issues than hot-button moral issues. The policies of Bush on the war and taxes have left the nation's fiscal house in tatters and Emerson has helped, Allen said. "It all goes back to fiscal policy with me," he said. "She has voted for the war, voted for tax cuts for the oil companies, voted for Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. I don't think you can wage a war and borrow every single dime to fight the war and cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans." Allen was raised by his mother, who was widowed when he was 6 months old. His mother operated restaurants in several small cities over the years. He is now a lawyer with the Merrell Law Firm in Forsyth, Mo. "I was fortunate to have a mother that sacrificed everything for me," Allen said. Like Emerson, Allen doesn't agree with other party members, such as U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, who denounce earmarks as wasteful. That kind of stand is a political posture, he said. "I think every Congressman will fight to get money for their district and I will do the same," he said. After getting spending under control, the top issues for Allen are the bailout, the war — the country needs a "legitimate plan for withdrawal" — and trade. Free trade deals have cost the district thousands of jobs and future treaties must present a better deal for U.S. workers, he said. "Nearly 20 percent of our people live in poverty," he said. "It is time to give someone else a shot." A native son The bottom line, Allen said, is that he wants voters to see him as a native son who cares about the district. He doesn't have to win to be successful this year, he said. A strong showing on a shoestring budget — he's raised less than $50,000 — would set the stage for 2010, he said. "I am already getting invitations from different groups," Allen said. "I will start Nov. 5 for 2010." Emerson said she hopes constituents remember that she has supported the farm programs important to the sparsely populated 28 counties she represents. Those efforts, she said, included opening Cuba to farm exports and supporting programs such as ethanol subsidies that add value to the district's farm production. "I think I have done a pretty good job in my 12 years of representing the district," she said. rkeller@semissourian.com 388-3642 Does this affect you? Have a comment? 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89
JOE ALLEN'S WHISTLE STOP TOUR COMING TO CAPE and NEAR YOU TOO.....JOE IS AGAINST THE BAILOUT OF WALL STREET GREED www.allen4congress.com
So many of you have contacted the JOE ALLEN for CONGRESS CAMAPIGN and asked when you would have a chance to meet Joe and talk to him personally. This weekend, is your chance to do so. This is the most current schedule for Joe Allen's stops in the area. Phone and email your friends, then come out and meet PRO-LIFE, PRO-Property Rigths, 100% PRO-GUN, with an ("A") Rating from the NRA... Yes, That JOE ALLEN... The other "JO" ...Jo Ann Emerson-Gladney, voted FOR the Bailout of Wall Street Greed... twice. JOE ALLEN stands with the 200 economists from Havard, Yale, MIT, UCLA, the LONDON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, and other prestigious universities who said from the beginning, that the bailout of these greedy gambling bankers would not work. http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/...
Get the word out, then come out to meet JOE this Weekend!
FRIDAY– 10/31/08
8 am Forsyth Allen HQ
9:30 am Gainesville
10:45 am Vanzant Plummer’s Station
11:45 am Ava Mona’s Café
12:20 pm Mansfield Ma and Pa’s Kettle
1 pm Mt. Grove Wagon Wheel Rest.
1:45 pm Cabool Sunny Side Café
3:00 pm West Plain Dem HQ
4:00 pm Thayer Obama HQ
4:45 pm Alton Possum Grape Café
6:20 pm Eminence T and T’s Rest.
7:45 pm Houston Dem HQ
SATURDAY- 11/1/08
8 am Salem Main Street Café
9:15 am Rolla The Sawmill Rest.
11 am Potosi Dem Canvassing Group
12 pm Farmington Obama HQ
1 pm Fredericktown TBA
2 pm Ironton Baley Joe’s Café
3 pm Lesterville Angry Minnow Rest.
4 pm Ellington Hall’s Rest.
5 pm Piedmont The Zephyr
6 pm Van Buren Smalley’s
7:30 pm Doniphan Dem HQ
8:30 pm Poplar Bluff Wine Rack
SUNDAY– 11/2/08
9 am
1 pm Dexter Dexter Pizza
1:45 pm Bloomfield On the Go gas station
2:45 pm Advance Rhodes gas station
3:45 pm Marble Hill Woodland Steakhouse
5:15 pm Perryville
7:15 PM Cape Girardeau Cape Cuts (TOWN PLAZA)
TBA Cape Girardeau Campus Dems
MONDAY - 11/3/08
8 am Sikeston Country Boys Restaurant in Miner
9 am Charleston Tammy’s near the courthouse
10:!5 am New Madrid Country Club
11:30 am Malden
12:45 pm Holcomb Strawberry’s Rest.
2:00 pm Kennett Democrat Headquarters
4:45 pm Caruthersville Courthouse
www.allen4congress.com
JO ANN EMERSON goes around southern Missouri, lying to us about how she HAD NO CHOICE but to vote for the bailout of her pals on Wall Street.
PNC BANK.. which is taking $5.6 BILLION of the $8 BILLION that Jo Ann Emerson gave them from our wages, is, also, signing a deal to put their branches in a GIANT FOODS.... They are using OUR money as capitalization money, they are NOT LOANING OUR MONEY OUT TO HELP THE ECONOMY... THEY USED IT TO MAKE THEM AN EVEN LARGER BANK...
"PNC and Giant Food LLC signed a 10-year contract this week to place PNC Bank branches inside 41 Giant Food stores in Virginia, D.C., Maryland and Delaware."
http://www.bizjournals.com/...
Jo Ann Emerson-Gladney has such a nice smile, too bad that that smile hides a lie. There were NO economists called to testify before Congress about the Bailout, because if they did, they would have said that the bailout would not work.
Jo Ann Emerson-Gladney, got this letter, as did all the congressmen, and ignored it, just like she ignored 90% of our calls that told her NOT to vote for the Bailout...
"This letter was sent to Congress on Wed Sept 24 2008 regarding the Treasury plan as outlined on that date. It does not reflect all signatories views on subesquent plans or modifications of the bill)
To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:
As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis. We are well aware of the difficulty of the current financial situation and we agree with the need for bold action to ensure that the financial system continues to function. We see three fatal pitfalls in the currently proposed plan:
1) Its fairness. The plan is a subsidy to investors at taxpayers’ expense. Investors who took risks to earn profits must also bear the losses. Not every business failure carries systemic risk. The government can ensure a well-functioning financial industry, able to make new loans to creditworthy borrowers, without bailing out particular investors and institutions whose choices proved unwise.
2) Its ambiguity. Neither the mission of the new agency nor its oversight are clear. If taxpayers are to buy illiquid and opaque assets from troubled sellers, the terms, occasions, and methods of such purchases must be crystal clear ahead of time and carefully monitored afterwards.
3) Its long-term effects. If the plan is enacted, its effects will be with us for a generation. For all their recent troubles, America's dynamic and innovative private capital markets have brought the nation unparalleled prosperity. Fundamentally weakening those markets in order to calm short-run disruptions is desperately short-sighted.
For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.
Signed (updated at 9/27/2008 6:00PM CT)
Acemoglu Daron (Massachussets Institute of Technology)
Ackerberg Daniel (UCLA)
Adler Michael (Columbia University)
and... over 200 more economists from MIT, YALE, HARVARD, UCLA, the LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, etc.....
http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/...
www.allen4congress.com
A personal word from Joe Allen, who, with your help, will be our congressman.
"Recently there seem to be three issues that continue to come up in conversation as I drive through the 8th District. I felt that these issues are worthy of discussion and my beliefs should be stated on my website.
I do believe that life begins at conception and I am pro life.
I do not support any further gun control and I have an A rating from the NRA.
I also, define marriage as between a man and a woman.
Thank you for your continued support and I hope to see or hear from you soon,"
Joe Allen
www.allen4congress.com
Jo Ann Emerson's VOTES THAT KILLED JOBS IN SOUTHERN MISSOURI.
(now, blackshadow, have you seen this before?)
Representative Jo Ann Emerson voted for the bailout of WALL STREET & FOREIGN BANKERS, and she voted for job killing “Free Trade” Policies.
Voted YES on promoting Free Trade with Peru (November 2007)
Voted NO on assisting workers who lose jobs due to outsourcing of jobs (October 2007)
Voted YES on implementing Central America Free Trade Act (July 2005)
Voted YES on implementing Free Trade Agreement with Singapore (July 2003)
Voted YES on implementing Free Trade Agreement with Chile (July 2003)
Voted NO on withdrawing from the World Trade Organization (June 2000)
Voted YES on PERMENANT Most Favored Nation Trade Status for Communist China (2000)
Noted YES on 'Fast Track' authority for Trade Agreements (September 1998)
Then, on Monday, September 29th, and again on Friday, October 3rd, Jo Ann Emerson voted against 90% of the people in southern Missouri who told her not to vote for the Bailout of Wall Street's greedy, gambling bankers and Foreign Banks. Jo Ann Emerson is Wall Street's and the insurance industry's best friend. (She was an insurance lobbyist before she met Bill Emerson, while he was still married.) Once a lobbyist, always a lobbyist. That is why she is such a great meet and greeter... the insurance industry trained her well so she could lobby for them.
Meet a new face.. such an honest face... Pro-Life, Pro-Property Rights, Pro-Gun with an ("A") from the NRA... JOE ALLEN ... www.allen4congress.com
I am voting for someone new this year. I am voting for a hardworking man like Joe Allen. He will be our voice in Washington, we will not be left behind!
Here is his website for any questions.
allen4congress.com
Here is a list of factories which have closed during the last ten years, or, so. Most of them closed under Jo Ann Emerson's remote representation of us from her mansion in Washington, DC, and, since 2000, in St. Louis with her hubby, Ron Gladney.
Please pardon the length of this post. I could not find another way to format the list.
Please focus on all those people who have lost good paying jobs, and why then, does Jo Ann Emerson want them to pay off the gambling debts of the Wall Street greedy gambling bankers and foreign banks, with their lower wage jobs, if they found a job at all?
Advance
Inland Shoe
Bernie
IXL closed south plant
Caruthersville
Box Factory
Bridge Wheel
Colson
Gates Rubber,
Missouri Fabrication
RT Friction
Chaffee
Columbia Sportswear
Box Factory
Cape Girardeau
Bunny Bread
Dana Corporation
Emerson Electric
Nuth Rubber
Tri-Con Seat Covers
Thorngate - 250 jobs
Charleston
Gates Rubber
Dexter
Arvin (Downsized > ½ )
Elders Manufacturing
Paramount Cap
Prestige Printing
Purolator
Doniphan
Lignetics
FEDCO
A windmill factory
Katie’s Needle
East Prairie
Story's Popcorn
Farmington
Tyco?
Huffy Bike
Kennett
Emerson Electric
UARCO
Malden
Circle D
Federal Mogul
Sterling Piston
Yakel
C.B. Forms
A garment factory
RTW cutting tools
Marquand
The Crayon factory
Morehouse
Rowe Furniture
Mountain View
Angelica Garment
Conaway Winter
A boat factory
Mountain Grove
Arlee Home Fashions
Fordick
Steel Company
Poplar Bluff
Dalton Adding Machines
Essex (Dow Chemical)
Rowe Furniture Company
Smiley Container
Mopek Plastics
Portageville
PLASTENE (370 jobs lost when they closed)
Puxico
A uniform plant
Rolla
Briggs and Stratton
Sikeston
Bunny Bread
Canvas Products
Coca Cola
Cotts Bev. layoffs
Essex Wire
Fleming Foods
Growe's Sportswear
Heritage Homes
Inman Trucking
National Lock
Trans-o-gram toys
Triangle Wire
A wallet factory
A brass company
C&F Foods
Steele
Milwaukee Tool
Steele Manufacturing
Thayer
Arlee Home Fashions
Van Buren
Paramount Cap
West Plains
AMYX
Arlee Home Fashions
Gardner's Shoe
Joy Dog Food
These Corning, Arkansas plants, which closed, employed many Ripley and Butler Countians.
BASLER
HARTS
Factories with several locations that closed in southern Missouri.
Paramount Cap, Arlee Home Fashions, Elders Manufacturing, H.D. Lee, Inland Shoe, Brown Shoe, International Shoe.
In 1980, there were FIFTY shoe factories in the 8th Congressional District. Today there are none
My vote and support goes to a true conservative, a hardworking man who worked his way though a Christan college, the College of the Ozarks, where you WORK for your TUTION, and then got his law degree and lived here ever since.
I disagree with some of you on his chances. I do believe that Joe Allen has a very good chance of winning this election. He has been out working hard, meeting lots of people, justlike some of you here, and myself, who have been Republicans, but cannot stomach Jo Ann Emerson's vote for the Bailout of Wall Street Gambling bankers and Foreign banks. His website has had phenominal hits by NEW VISITORS checking him out.
I hope that some of you got to watch "60 Minutes" tonight. Their guest explained in simple terms what these scoungrel friends of Jo Ann Emerson were doing on Wall Street. They were making side bets on whether the stock market would go up, or, down. Whether there would be more mortgage forclosures, and making other similar side bets called derivatives. That is what sunk them, not the bad mortgages. They demanded bad, or, risky mortgages, so that when the mortgages went bad, they would WIN the Side bet.
These people are scum,and they are friends and contributors of Jo Ann Emerson.
We need a change. You all vote for whomever you feel it best, but, for me, that man is Joe Allen.
Joe Allen is ADAMANTLY OPPOSED TO THE BAILOUT OF WALL STREET AND FOREIGN BANKERS, WHICH JO ANN EMERSON VOTED FOR....TWICE...
Joe Allen is for Traditioinal Marriage. He is Pro-Life, Pro-Property Rights, and he got an "A" from the NRA, for his no compromise 100% support of our gun rights. You have not seen a candidate like this before in many years...
His positons are there on the Bailout and Thorngate losing 250 jobs. Then, go take a look at Joe Allen.. such an honest face.
www.allen4congress.com
The Dems should indeed do atypical well in the 8th district this year.... unfortunately for Allen such a surprising result will mean he'll only lose 58%-42% or so instead of the 70%-29% drummings that Emersons past opponents got. Given the makeup of the district as long as Jo Ann avoids getting busted with dead boy/live girl she is guaranteed to be re-elected regardless of how she votes or who she associates with.
Emerson did not - and would not - require her staff to watch Obama, nor any other politician - give any speech.
And Joe Allen is nuts... He says "...a vote for Barack Obama is ... a vote for me as well."
But, Obama won't win in the 8th district. IF he wins MO at all, it'll be in STL & Jackson Counties.
I'm a long time Republican who is not voting for Jo Ann Emerson again. I made up my mind after she voted against the bailout and have a few more reasons.
Jo Ann Emerson is married to Ron Gladney, a St Louis labor attorney and one of the biggest democrats in the state who controls money paid to labor unions.
He actually attends republican fundraisers with her and works the room to convince people in attendance to vote for Barack Obama.
Emerson herself, even made it a requirement that her staff watch Obama’s acceptance speech!
Given that, and her voting record of late, her husband has converted her as well.
If she is seeking office it should be on the democrat ticket and be voted out Nov 4th.
I will not be voting for her this time.
Rep. Emerson has never voted for anyone's interest but her own. A vote as "present" did nothing to keep us from entering a financially, internationally, and morally disastrous war that has cost the United States thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and a severe decrease in our credibility with even our own allies.
Her votes for the farmers has done little to help family farmers, but does assist the corporate farmers who can donate generously to her campaign.
Her vote for the bailout helps the irresponsible financial institutions who have put us in such perilous financial times and places the burden squarely on the middle and lower classes who can little afford food, healthcare, and housing let alone an additional taxation to help the rich retain their wealth and continue to make generous contributions to her campaign.
We are the 12th poorest congressional district in the country which is reflected in the closing of more than 60 plants throughout the 8th congressional district. This is one of many clear signs that we have lacked representation over the past 12 years.
No, Ms. Emerson, it is time for you to return to your home in St. Louis. You are not representing us, you are representing yourself. It's time for someone else to step in and begin the process of repairing all the damage you have done in your time in office.
This will be my first time in 20 years not voting a straight ticket for the republicans. She may win this one again but not with my vote or $$$$.
Agree! Anybody but an incumbent! They've all sold out their country.
It's time Jo Ann is retired to St Louis where she lives. Enough already.