Battleground Bulletin - Ohio

*FIGHTING FOR WHAT'S RIGHT -- **OHIO*

Less than a week and counting! It's time for another issue of "Battleground Bulletin! "

As District 4 members made their final push on behalf of Labor-endorsed candidates, CWA wants to remind you that you will make the difference in the Battleground States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. You can depend on each new "Battleground Bulletin!" to keep you up to date from now to Election Day.

AFL-CIO Executive Director Karen Ackerman put it best last week on ABC's "Top Line" when she said Labor's get-out-the vote operations will save the day for endangered Democrats and overcome the so-called "enthusiasm gap" that belongs to anti-worker Republican candidates.

"Many of these races are going to be very close," Ackerman predicted. "The difference will be and can be the labor vote."

We know that about half of the 75 House seats that are in play are in high union density districts. We also know that in many states, Democratic candidates are running well in early voting results.

District 4 members played a key role in the election of President Barack Obama and a worker-friendly Congress in 2008. It's up to us again.

We can win. We will win.

*WHERE THE ACTION IS*

Calling Ohio Ground Zero in the fight for working families, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined union members in Cincinnati and Dayton to continue to build momentum for the Ohio Labor 2010 effort. Trumka started his day in Cincinnati, where he rallied union volunteers with *U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus* and Cincinnati AFL-CIO Executive Secretary-Treasurer Doug Sizemore before volunteers hit the doors to talk to union members about supporting labor endorsed candidates.

Trumka warned Cincinnati union members that Driehaus' opponent will work with John Boehner against the interests of working families. Driehaus' opponent even sponsored a national right to work law to take our power away from us.

"You are the ones out there making the difference every single day," Driehaus, the District 1 incumbent, told union members.

Trumka told the crowd many union members still need to be educated about the records of labor-endorsed candidates like Governor *Ted Strickland*, U.S. Senate candidate *Lee Fisher*, and House incumbents *John Boccieri* (District 16), *Mary Jo Kilroy* (District 15) and *Betty Sutton* (District 13).

"We've got to get the information to them because there is a stark difference in the candidates that are running," Trumka said, adding that it's crucial union members "volunteer for get-out-the-vote, volunteer to do phone banks, to do leaflets, to do door knocks so that we are talking worker to worker. We know that works."

It's already working. In Ohio's 88 counties, more Democrats than Republicans are voting early. More Democrats than Republicans have requested ballots. More Democrats than Republicans have returned ballots. More Democrats than Republicans have voted early in person. Five times more infrequent voting Democrats – whose turnout is key to our victory – have voted early than have infrequent voting Republicans.

*TOUGH TIMES FOR WORKING FAMILIES*

As the result of the disastrous Bush-era economic policies, more than 1 in 8 Americans are now on food stamps.

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that 32 states have adopted rules making it easier to qualify for food stamps since 2007. In all, 38 states have loosened eligibility standards.

Eligibility for food stamps varies from state to state, with the 11 most generous states allowing families to apply if their gross income is less than double the federal poverty line of $22,050 for a family of four.

"We've seen a huge increase in participation due to the economic downturn," said Jean Daniel, a spokeswoman for the USDA. "That's the way this program was designed."

Incredibly, food stamps have been blasted by some Republicans in this midterm election season as just another federal entitlement program.

These guys never stop. Outsource our jobs, and then take away our safety net. No wonder American families are angry!

*BIG MONEY GONE WILD*

The New York Times reports that Prudential Financial sent in a $2 million donation last year as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce kicked off a national advertising campaign to weaken efforts to police Wall Street bandits.

Dow Chemical delivered $1.7 million to the chamber last year as the group took a leading role in aggressively fighting proposed rules that would impose tighter security requirements on chemical facilities.

Health insurance providers funneled at least $10 million to the chamber last year, all of it anonymously, to oppose President Obama's health care legislation.

And Goldman Sachs, Chevron Texaco, and Aegon -- a multinational insurance company based in the Netherlands -- donated more than $8 million in recent years to a chamber foundation that has been critical of President Obama's policies.

None of these large donations were publicly disclosed by the chamber, a pro-corporation tax-exempt group that keeps its donors secret. But they show how Big Money interests have become an influential player in this fall's Congressional elections.

These deep-pocketed donors don't care about working Americans. In fact, most of the policies they're peddling work against our best interests.

Remember, voting is the great equalizer. With hard work, we can send a message to the moneyed interests that are trying to buy our government.