E-ALERTS: 2012

26 Oct

E-ALERT: Standing Up for a Safe Food Supply and Strong Nutrition Programs

e-Alerts: 2012

When we go to the grocery store we expect the food we buy to feed our families is safe and raised responsibly. In a country as affluent is ours, we also expect our safety net to provide assistance to our neighbors who are struggling to put food on their tables. I work everyday to make sure that the federal government is doing its part to meet that standard.

17 Oct

E-ALERT: New Medicare Report on the Ryan/House Republican Budget

e-Alerts: 2012

A new report highlights the dangers of the Ryan/House Republican budget for seniors in our community.

There’s been a lot of talk this year about how the Ryan/House Republican budget would impact vital services for middle-class families, senior citizens, and children.

We know it would end the guarantee of Medicare and increase health costs for seniors, significantly undercut Medicaid (MediCal in California), eliminate funding for public broadcasting, and cut Pell grants for college -- while at the same time providing a massive new tax break for the very wealthy.

Now a new official Congressional report was just released showing how the Ryan/House Republican budget would hurt seniors right here in Alameda County.

Read the report now.

You can view reports for all 435 Congressional districts here.

I’m fighting to make sure Congress stands up for our senior citizens, working families, and children and makes everybody pay their fair share -- not give more tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.

Sincerely,

Pete

12 Oct

E-ALERT: Fighting for Green Jobs

e-Alerts: 2012

This week, the U.S. Department of Commerce took an important step to protect American workers and the U.S. solar industry by imposing import duties on certain Chinese solar panels.  The duties will apply to panels that are illegally subsidized and flood our market, thereby undercutting American-made panels.  This change will help level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers.

There are more than 18,000 workers in the solar manufacturing field nationwide, including more than 4,000 in California.  Last year, I joined with members of the House and Senate in writing to the Administration to support action against China’s unfair trading practices in the solar industry.

In 2011, more than $3 billion in Chinese solar panels and solar cells were dumped into the United States at artificially low prices.  As a result, a dozen U.S solar companies were forced to close their plants or layoff workers, including many workers in California.  Now, many Chinese solar imports will have an added duty of as much as 250 percent.  That means they’ll no longer be artificially cheaper than U.S.-made products. 

I applaud this action by the U.S. Department of Commerce and will continue fighting to protect jobs at home.

04 Oct

E-ALERT: Saving Medicare

e-Alerts: 2012

Throughout my time in Congress I have worked to protect and strengthen Medicare for current and future beneficiaries. That is why I was pleased to participate in a hearing hosted by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee this week entitled, "Saving Medicare for Seniors Today and in the Future."Invited witnesses testified about their hopes for Medicare’s future -- specifically discussing their concerns about the Romney-Ryan plan for Medicare.

While Republicans are careful to claim that traditional Medicare may be an option for purchase under their Medicare voucher plan, they leave out the fact that it will only be an option for those who can afford it. They’ve designed their program so that the voucher won’t cover the cost of Medicare in many areas -- forcing beneficiaries into private plans that will limit their choice of doctor and may not meet their health care needs. To add insult to injury, they are undermining Medicare like this in order to finance tax breaks for millionaires.

Those are the wrong priorities for our nation. Tens of millions of senior citizens and people with disabilities will pay the price -- literally and figuratively -- if they succeed.

You can view my questioning of the witnesses here.

The full hearing can be viewed here.

28 Sep

E-ALERT: Extending the Legacy of Steve Jobs

e-Alerts: 2012

Nearly 30 years ago I worked with Steve Jobs to introduce a provision into our tax code to encourage companies to make donations of computer equipment to public schools and libraries.