Blog For Stover

Danny Stover, Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives, is set to visit the Republic of Korea (South Korea) from June 24th to July 3rd, returning home just in time to celebrate Independence Day.

The trip, which he and his wife will be taking with a longtime friend and Korean native, will combine business with pleasure. While there, Stover will be meeting with several members of the Korean National Assembly, to discuss such subjects as the proposed Korean Free Trade Agreement, and North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

Stover has long been concerned about the affects of Free Trade on the local economy, and will no doubt express these concerns to the Korean representatives. As for North Korea, it is surely a vital time in the history of our relations with that country – they’ve recently been boasting of a long-range nuclear missile that could reach the United States, which they intend to test in the near future.

The trip will be financed out of Mr. Stover's own pocket, and is sure to be educational in many ways.

Posted by M.B. at 1:34 PM | Permalink

I’d like to talk today about a subject that is in hot debate in Congress – the minimum wage.

The current wage, last raised in 1997 (from $4.25 per hour), is $5.15 per hour. The Congress has been discussing proposals, which Democrats have courageously attached to multiple pieces of legislation to force a debate on the subject, to raise the wage to $7.25 per hour in yearly increments.

The minimum wage was first approved by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and has been raised several times since. The current wage has not been raised in eight years, the second longest in the history of the wage.

I’ve been an advocate of a higher minimum wage for some time, but in this most recent debate, it was the math that sold me.

Keeping in mind that the national poverty line is $14,824 for a family of three, let’s do some math. We’ll say a guy’s working 2 minimum wage jobs to support his family of three. Combined, he’s putting in 50 hours a week, which is a lot of time that he doesn’t get to spend with his two beautiful daughters, and since his work is spread between two jobs, he doesn’t get overtime pay.

Let’s try it - - 5.15*50=$257.50/week. There are 52 weeks in a year, so we come up with a yearly income of $13,390. That’s $1,434 below the poverty line.

I know what you’re saying – “Wait a minute! You’re telling me that, at our current rate, a guy working more than full time can’t keep his family out of poverty?”

Exactly, and we aren’t even trying to factor in expenses such as housing, food, health insurance (which minimum wage employers don’t usually offer), daycare – the list goes on. And God forbid one of our subject’s jobs gets moved to Mexico thanks to NAFTA.

The point is, the minimum wage is far too low. In 1979, the value of the minimum wage ,adjusted for inflation to modern purchasing power, was $6.92. That means that, since 1979, the wage has lost 26% of its value.

People are struggling to raise their families, and the Federal government needs to have their back.

17 states, including Illinois, and the District of Columbia, have all raised their minimum wage beyond the standard set by the Federal government. Illinois currently has a minimum wage of $6.50 per hour, thanks to Governor Blagojevich and the Democratic General Assembly.

Some cities, such as Santa Fe, have enacted their own wage laws, higher even than that of their respective states. In 2003, the City of Santa Fe mandated that wages paid by companies larger than 25 employees must be raise to $10.50 per hour by 2008. San Francisco applied a “living wage” – wage calculated for the necessary expenses of the worker – to some Bay area workers, and in 2004 raised the minimum wage for large businesses to $8.50 per hour ($7.75 per hour for small businesses).

Convinced yet? Minimum wage hikes directly effect the country – a study done in the late 1990’s found that raising the wage one dollar, from $5.15 to $6.15 per hour, would lift 900,000 people out of poverty. Nine hundred thousand people!

It’s time to send people to Congress, like Danny Stover, who will fight for Illinois workers. Americans haven’t gotten a raise in eight years, and Stover thinks we deserve one.

So let’s give America a raise, and elect those who care about keeping working families out of poverty.

Posted by M.B. at 12:18 PM | Permalink

Centralia, IL. June 15, 2006
The AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) have announced their official endorsement of Danny Stover for the United States House of Representatives. Stover, a Democrat, is challenging Republican incumbent John Shimkus for the seat this November.

Stover is a long time advocate of labor and workforce issues, something that the AFL-CIO no doubt took into account when deciding which candidate to back for this year’s election. An issue that he often talks about is free trade. A candidate who considers “keeping jobs in Southern Illinois” to be his first priority, Stover stresses that, while free trade policies have resulted in a “net gain for our nation, especially the rich,” free trade has also hurt people in his district who’s jobs are being shipped overseas.

An alternative that deals with the competitive market and puts a high premium on human rights is fair trade, rather than free trade. Danny Stover has long been a supporter of making our trade policies fair, buying and selling merchandise and labor overseas for prices equivalent to those on the American market. Too many people around the world are dying in poverty because they can’t make a decent wage, and too many Americans are losing their jobs because corporations can hire foreign workers, often children, for a fraction of the cost.

Stover’s support of labor and working Americans in Southern Illinois is in sharp contrast to that of his opponent, Congressman John Shimkus. Rating his votes as to whether they are “wrong” (hurts working families) or “right” (helps working families), the union organization gave Shimkus’s votes only a 29% “lifetime right” rating. Included in his recent “wrong” votes are: the massive increase in the deficit caused, in part, by John Shimkus’s approval of the president’s tax cuts for the wealthy, his help in gutting legislation to provide more job training for the unemployed, and his opposition to new, essential, workplace safety regulations.

The union endorsement demonstrates to the public what those who know Mr. Stover already know - when he is elected to Congress, Dan Stover will tirelessly represent the interests of working people all over the United States, especially in Southern Illinois.

Some other issues that form the backbone of the Stover campaign are his opposition to the Iraq War, his belief in the necessity of innovation in the way we fight the war on terror and the war on drugs, and his dedication to Congressional oversight of the Executive branch. "I believe in due process," says the Stover campaign's website. He believes that Congress needs to enter into "open, bipartisan deliberations" concerning the legality of such programs as warrant-less NSA wiretapping and torture.

Posted by M.B. at 12:10 PM | Permalink

Matt here - I work for Danny Stover, the next United States Congressman from Illinois' 19th Congressional District. You know, the one currently held by John Shimkus? Haven't heard of him? That's okay - he tries to keep well under the radar.

Actually, it's something of note - it's a gigantic district, representing a wide diversity of people and backgrounds. Take a look:



Now you know what I mean when I say large and diverse. It is, undoubtedly, both.

I would like to take this opportunity mostly just to introduce you to Danny. The following is from the introduction to the official website.

"With over thirty years of public service as an educator and in elected office, Stover has fought for balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility while still advancing the cause of our children, the poor and the elderly. As an educator he understands the need to adequately fund our schools, and as a city councilman he has fought the battles to build the roads and maintain the infrastructure without wasting money on pork and pet projects.

"Stover will work not only to keep jobs from leaving the country but to foster the conditions that will create new jobs. When elected, the under-employed with no health insurance and inadequate housing will be fiercely represented in the halls of Congress. Our seniors, worried about the Social Security that they have worked for and been promised, will have a loud and tenacious advocate. The pork barrel politicians will find an equally loud and vociferous adversary."

In short, Danny Stover has been a fine public servant throughout his life, and when you elect him to Congress, he will represent the people of Southern Illinois with honor and integrity. Please check out the website, where Danny has extensively covered his positions on a wide array of issues and concerns of the American people, and keep an eye on the blog, where you'll find up to the minute news and information on the campaign and our fight to send Danny Stover to Washington. Vote Stover.

Posted by M.B. at 12:20 AM | Permalink