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Cobb & LaMarche Call for a Living Wage and Health Care to Honor All American Workers. |
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COBB/LaMARCHE 2004 September 5, 2004 Contact: Blair Bobier, Media Director at 541.929.5755 or 414.364.1596 COBB & LAMARCHE CALL FOR LIVING WAGE & HEALTH CARE TO HONOR AMERICAN WORKERS The Green Party's presidential and vice presidential candidates today called for a Living Wage and single-payer universal health care for all American workers. "The way to honor the American worker on Labor Day - and everyday - is with a Living Wage and affordable and accessible health care," said Pat LaMarche, the Green Party's vice presidential candidate. The most recent U.S. Census reports that approximately 46 million Americans do not have health insurance. "The United States is one of the only industrialized countries in the world which does not provide health care for its citizens. While the establishment party candidates propose tinkering with a broken system, we call for its complete overhaul. The Green Party supports single-payer universal health care which will cover everyone and cost less than our current inadequate and profit-driven system," said Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb. The recent Census also reported that the poverty rate rose in 2003 and the income gap between rich and poor widened. "We are the only national political party representing the working people of this country. Working people should be able to provide for their families with full-time work and not have to resort to public assistance or second or third jobs just to feed their families and pay their bills. American workers need and deserve a Living Wage - a wage which will provide for their basic needs," said Cobb. The Cobb-LaMarche platform calls for a federal Living Wage of at least $10 an hour to be adjusted for inflation; the right of workers to organize; abolishing federal subsidies and tax breaks which favor huge corporations over small businesses; and creating millions of good-paying jobs by developing renewable energy. Both Cobb and LaMarche have their roots in poverty. Cobb was raised in a home in Texas without a flush toilet; LaMarche's family was living in public housing when she was born. "I dont think that either of the Yale-educated millionaires representing the two old parties have a clue what the average American faces on a daily basis," said LaMarche. Cobb will join the Humboldt County Central Labor Committee for a Labor Day celebration in Eureka, California. LaMarche will spend the holiday campaigning with Jeff Spencer, a Green Party candidate for the state legislature, in Portland, Maine. For more information: search: elct, ecpol |