Friends, MD Congresswoman Donna Edwards is running for the Senate, and I hope you can help her.

[elleng]

DUer qwlauren35 is working on Donna's campaign. Following is a bit about Donna, a true progressive, by Lauren:

"When you’ve had to pay off nearly $100,000 in college debt and it takes you nearly 20 years, there’s a better understanding of the need to address the student debt issue, and US Senate Candidate Donna Edwards has that understanding. Since July, Donna Edwards has been visiting college campuses around Maryland and talking to students about the issues that matter to them, such as student loan debt. So far, she’s visited 6 colleges, and plans to visit more after the winter break. Why students? Because 18-29 year olds make up 21% of the voting population, and have the most untapped potential - if they can be attracted to the voting process - to make a difference in local and national elections. Voting as a student is actually quite complicated. Registration is a new process, knowing what to put as an address is not clear, finding a polling place is difficult, and in many cases, the local issues are not relevant. Because students may not be taking major financial responsibility for their lives, wage laws, and social security and Medicare, aren’t the issues they care about. However, one thing they do care about is student debt.

Donna Edwards’ story is easy for students to relate to. Having gone to college at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, then to the University of New Hampshire Law School, she racked up $91,000 in student debt and made her last payment at age 50 when she was swearing in to her Congressional seat. She believes that young people shouldn’t have to go through that. And with $2.1 trillion in collective national student debt, the Obama administration believes that too. Since 2012, the Obama administration has been spending billions of dollars to ease the burden of student debt with programs such as PAYE - Pay as You Earn, which caps monthly payments at 10% of take-home pay, and forgives loans at the end of 20 years for individuals with a financial hardship. Pell Grant amounts have been increased, tax credits have been tripled, Other programs include Debt Forgiveness after 10 years of public service for careers as varied as military enlisted and officers, firefighters, law enforcement or corrections officers, nurses or medical technicians, school librarians, public defenders, family services workers, child care workers, special education teachers, math and science teachers in teacher shortage areas, faculty members of tribal colleges, and of course, Peace Corps volunteers. There are other options available. Income-Contingent Repayment has been in place for years, capping repayment on 20% of take-home pay.

Today’s Millennials are tomorrow’s future leaders. It’s something no politician should forget, and a concept that Donna is committed to recognizing as a cornerstone of her campaign for Senate."

Please join me in supporting Donna Edwards. I posted this earlier: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10561017

Thanks

[daleanime]

1. kick.....

I may have to learn some more about her,

[elleng]

5. Here's a bit about her and the race,

more to follow:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1056990

[MH1]

2. Please help my fried brain cells - who is she running against?

I mean, who is the incumbent? And/or major primary challenger?

I remember supporting Donna in the past. Just need to put it in perspective of the current race.

She is clearly strongly focused on young people having a good start on the ladder of opportunity. Any line on where she stands on skilled worker visa programs (such as H1B) that take away rungs on that ladder?

[elleng]

6. Against chris van hollen, one of the Dem ptb,

for Barbara Mikulski's Senate seat; Mikulski's retiring.

Here's a bit: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1056990

I don't know where she stands on visa stuff; maybe Lauren knows.

[MH1]

8. Good, thanks.

Nice to know there's an alternative to van Hollen.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. This is for Babs Mikulski's soon to be open seat

Big shoes to fill.

She is running against DLC Chris Van Hollen.

[MH1]

10. Thanks, yes

they are big shoes to fill.

Good luck to her, I think. (I'm pretty sure she's better than van Hollen. But as long as she beats the repuke.)

[qwlauren35]

11. Not a question I've heard before.

I'll get back to you.

[MH1]

12. Hi Lauren,

and thanks.

It's not quite a litmus test issue for me but it is important to me that I know where a candidate stands on this, and why.

I think the expanded use (and abuse) of skilled worker visa programs has hurt economic mobility for less advantaged Americans.

[qwlauren35]

13. I got an answer.

Hi!

I contacted the campaign office and this is what I got.

Donna is a strong supporter of the Labor Department’s regulations released in April -- requiring stricter oversight of the H-2B program, adding worker protections, and ensuring better wages -- and she will continue to be so in the United States Senate.

Donna also knows that America’s broken immigration system adversely affects Maryland’s workers, employers, and economy. Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform so that the H-2B visa program does not become a pathway for unprotected work here in Maryland and around the country. Donna's championed these reforms in the House because she knows they will protect American workers, treat migrant workers justly, and ensure that employers are granted the certainty required to build their business and grow our economy.

I hope this helps.

Lauren

[MH1]

14. Thanks, H-2B is a seasonal labor program, important to MD shellfish industry.

Her position on this is important and on the right track. I have read several articles about how these workers are abused as well. In the cases of unskilled workers, typically agricultural or some other seasonal labor such as H-2B, the abuses can be very visual and heartwrenching - when reported on, which is sadly not often enough.

So on pure immediacy of the human rights issue, the nonskilled worker programs are more obvious as an issue that needs to be dealt with.

I am asking about skilled worker visa programs such as H-1B and L-1. The damage of these programs is more insidious in that it removes rungs from the ladder of opportunity for certain groups in our country. It is basically a foreign aid package to the source countries, at the expense of increased costs to our society for people who were born here. There is a kernel of validity to the so-called need for H-1B in exceptionally specialized areas. However I have observed that the definition has been so expanded as to merely represent another way to bring in more controllable and exploitable workers at the expense of providing opportunities to people already here. In theory a company isn't allowed to place a foreign worker under this program when an American worker is available. Ha ha ha. They have many ways to get around that.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-2B_visa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-1_visa

[qwlauren35]

15. I thought I might have gotten it wrong.

Thanks for the clarification. I did ask about H1-B. I have asked through another avenue and will see what I get.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. We already have and we likely will again

[elleng]

4. Great, Stinky.

I'll continue with these.

[WillyT]

9. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!