Another major union endorsement for Clinton

[BainsBane]

WASHINGTON -- The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union endorsed Hillary Clinton for president on Friday, giving the front-runner for the Democratic nomination another boost from a major labor union.

IAM, which represents more than 700,000 workers in North America, said Friday that Clinton had garnered unanimous support among union leadership and was the "overwhelming favorite" in an internal poll of rank-and-file members.

Only two other major unions have declared their support for any candidate this early in the 2016 campaign -- the American Federation of Teachers, which endorsed Clinton last month, and National Nurses United, which declared its backing for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday.

Tom Buffenbarger, IAM's president, said in a statement that the union didn't want to stay quiet while the fight is "so clearly underway."

"Hillary Clinton has been a strong supporter of this union for years and she is now the target of unprecedented attacks, financed on a scale never seen before," Buffenbarger said. "The time to help is when help is needed most, and we intend to do just that."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/machinists-union-endorses-hillary-clinton_55ce33d5e4b07addcb42e9a9

[Robbins]

1. another stupid union

endorsing anti-union corporate dem like her is crazy.

Yes i call all pro-trade deals like nafta and TPP like her as anti-union.

They have learned nothing from obama.

[BainsBane]

2. Clearly she is not anti-union when she has supported that and other unions for years

How dare they look at her actual record.

And it goes to say they are stupid. They don't follow orders from a small minority of people who think they are the only ones fit to participate in democracy. They actually think they have a right to exercise their OWN Democratic rights. The nerve.

[Purveyor]

3. Yeah but they build the planes, tanks, bombs, etc... Their 'perfect' candidate, indeed! eom

[slipslidingaway]

10. War is a good business, the IWR vote was the same day as the stock market bottom in 2002. n/t

[Historic NY]

19. Planes that will go to Vermont?

[Ed Suspicious]

31. Planes that will go the the Middle East to drop some bombs on some moms.

[Thinkingabout]

63. Planes like the AUMF funded, with one Nay vote from Barbara Lee which was the

Bill passed and signed into to authorize military force in Iraq. Of course it funded the war and of course the welfare defense contractors.

[George II]

46. They also build planes that carry millions of civilians every day.

[Starry Messenger]

4. Are all the rest of them going to be stupid too?

More will be coming.

[Robbins]

5. yep

any union who supports corporate dems like her and obama are stupid.free trade deals are killing unions and working people.

[BainsBane]

9. "corporate" defined

caring about something other than the great and noble struggle of the 10-20 percent vs. the 1 percent.

[Starry Messenger]

11. Well, you're going to have a long year of disappointed feelings.

[Historic NY]

21. I think Obama clinched the overwhelming suport of the UAW

so much for that corporate memo thing, don't you think.

[still_one]

32. yup, that is the way to attract people, call them stupid, good job

[SonderWoman]

6. Yeah, like those "stupids" in the teachers union.

These people are literally rocket scientists and teachers.

[Starry Messenger]

8. I'm one of the much hated AFT union folks.

It's sad because when people post stuff like that, they alienate rank and file.

[BainsBane]

12. Don't forget the "brain damaged" and "uninformed"

black folks who support Clinton. Notice how everyone is inferior to them, and then they wonder why others aren't anxious to join their cause.

[quickesst]

15. I'll bet...

...good money that if Bernie Sanders, or I should say when Bernie Sanders drops out, these same people will do what? THROW HIM UNDER THE BUS!!! " HE WAS NEVER WITH US ANYWAY!!! YEAH, I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!!" WE'RE DOOMED!!!
And then they will....

[BainsBane]

18. Oh, I expect it will be blamed on a Clintonian corporate plot

Last edited Sat Aug 15, 2015, 12:06 AM - Edit history (1)

I think he would only be thrown under the bus if he were elected president and then turned out to be subject to the same constitutional limitations as our current one.

Except if he endorses Clinton when he drops out. I can imagine the bus going into overdrive then.

[quickesst]

22. yeah

If he endorses Hillary, some tar and feathers may also be involved.🚃🌑🐔

[Cha]

24. No, just because they didn't endorse BS doesn't make them "stupid". they know more than

you what is good for them.

[MADem]

29. Calling a union 'stupid' is probably not a good look.

Our party tends to like the union voters. They're very good at organization and GOTV.

[Sancho]

34. As a long term union member, I resent you calling us stupid...we are mostly liberal Democrats!

Our polls show the same thing. TPP is not finished or passed yet. The US has 20 trades deals in effect now. There are pros and cons of all of them. Even Nafta has not been all bad (links below).

What's more important are bad policies like Bernie's Robin Hood tax, that would be harmful to public employees retirement funds! We do our homework, and poll our members.

------Bernie Sanders Robin Hood tax---------

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/collegeforallsummary/

Fully Paid for by Imposing a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street. This legislation is offset by
imposing a Wall Street speculation fee on investment houses, hedge funds, and other speculators of
0.5% on stock trades (50 cents for every $100 worth of stock), a 0.1% fee on bonds, and a 0.005%
fee on derivatives. It has been estimated that this provision could raise hundreds of billions a year
which could be used not only to make tuition free at public colleges and universities in this country,
it could also be used to create millions of jobs and rebuild the middle class of this country.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/31/why-free-college-is-really-expensive.html
http://chronicle.com/article/Bernie-Sanderss-Charming/231387?cid=megamenu
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/07/08/Pros-and-Cons-Bernie-Sanders-50-Billion-Tax-Idea
https://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalDiscussion/comments/36vmm8/what_are_some_legitimate_arguments_against_bernie/

-------Nafta-------

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-12-30/nafta-20-years-after-neither-miracle-nor-disaster
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1212/pros-and-cons-of-nafta.aspx
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/u-s-economy-since-nafta-18-charts/
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/nafta-20-years-later-benefits-outweigh-costs/
http://www.ttgconsultants.com/articles/freetrade.html

------Easy Overview of TPP-------

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-06-16/what-the-proposed-pacific-trade-deal-could-mean-for-u-s-jobs
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-02-03/understanding_the_trans_pacific_partnership_and_what_the_trade_deal_could_mean_for_the_u_s_economy

[DCBob]

38. You know nothing about her or this union.

Blinded by your obsession with your candidate.

[George II]

43. So anyone or any organization that you don't agree with is "stupid"? That sounds like Trump to me.

[Iliyah]

7. K & R

[BainsBane]

13. Clinton beat Sanders 6 to 1 in the union's poll of its members.

But according to IAM, Clinton beat Sanders by a margin of more than 6 to 1 in its poll of 2,000 union members.

"The question should not be why are we endorsing Hillary Clinton now, but rather, what took us so long," Buffenbarger said.

[dsc]

14. well we all know that polling isn't as valid as random facebook posts

which will soon follow.

[BainsBane]

16. Of course

[Starry Messenger]

23. Amazing this isn't being shredded all to pieces by people who thought the AFT process wasn't legit.

What happened? Energy drain? What happened to needing to ask every single member personally how they feel?

[BainsBane]

25. Well, there is a thread in LBN

and we had someone above calling the union "stupid" for endorsing an "anti-union" candidate, because naturally the union itself is less fit to make that decision than the keyboard intelligentsia.

[sheshe2]

17. KnR

[ericson00]

20. I can't wait for her to demolish Sanders in the primaries

and not just in votes, but union endorsements.

[MADem]

30. She already has 181 endorsements from Congress.

That would be 181 super delegates, then. She has endorsements from other leaders who will be granted super delegate status as well.

Sanders doesn't have any, I don't think.

[George II]

45. That says a lot about Sanders' standing in the organization(s) he's been a part of for...

Last edited Sat Aug 15, 2015, 05:23 PM - Edit history (1)

...the last 26 years, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Of 232 Democratic Representatives and Senators, 118 (51%!!!) of them have already endorsed Hillary Clinton. Not one has endorsed Senator Sanders.

If one can't even get the support of one's own fellow legislators, how can he be an effective President?

[FloridaBlues]

52. Union folks supporting Hillary

But I thought all unions were jumping on the bern express bus! What happened

[BainsBane]

61. Oh, no. Unions are under the bus

and declared to be "stupid" for daring to disagree with the chosen few who are certain they are the only ones fit to make political decisions.

[PowerToThePeople]

26. The reaction towards the union's choice has not been good on social media.

and, the union did not vote on this decision.

It was a decision of the union leaders based on random poll of 0.26% of the members.

[BainsBane]

27. As predicted

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=519371

[PowerToThePeople]

28. well, I am a card carrying member of that union

and I will continue to support Sanders. Many coworkers within the closed shop will also continue to support Sanders. We will make our voices heard at the union hall of our dissatisfaction.

Oh, and I have heard no one within the shop supportive of Clinton.

[Sancho]

35. I'm a union officer and long term member....

we're almost universally for Hillary....don't hate Bernie, but he has some bad ideas.

[PowerToThePeople]

39. name some of the "bad ideas"

which chapter are you a part of? I kind of figured the people polled were more in red states than blue by the results.

[Sancho]

40. I'm an educator...

We have AFT/NEA/UFF all as a joint union in Florida. We're a purple state. Actually, by registration Florida is a blue state.

I've also been in other unions in years past.

The worst bad idea is the Robin Hood tax.

[PowerToThePeople]

41. Taxing the wealthy is a bad idea?

Please explain why. I am all for much higher taxes on those who reap the benefits of this system.

[Thinkingabout]

64. The you would be taxing those who are in the safety nets?

[BainsBane]

59. The results of the union poll are here

http://www.goiam.org/images/articles/imail/latest-imail/2014/May_Aug/IAMAW_Election_Survey.pdf

It wasn't even close.

[Sancho]

37. Our union puts polls on email and makes phone calls...sometimes we send snail mail....

social media is a biased sample. A large number of our members don't even use FB or Twitter...and we prefer anonymous surveys instead of public "comments" on a social media site.

Professional polls can get accurate information from representative samples, not from social media sites that are self-selecting. DU is a good example of a self-selected biased sample that does NOT reflect the overall population - so it creates what experts call a "non-ignorable non-respondent" convenience group.

One famous example in politics was Geraldine Ferro, who drew large and enthusiastic crowds, but was fooled into thinking it would translate into votes.

[George II]

53. That's what the American Federation of Teacher - they covered all bases, every member...

....had an opportunity to vote - by telephone, internet, email, and STILL people were complaining that it wasn't fair.

I guess no matter how anything is done, if Sanders doesn't come on top people are unhappy.

[George II]

47. There were four times as many members polled by the Union than were polled...

...in this week's Boston Herald-Franklin Pierce poll "sweeping" Sanders past Clinton.

And the union poll wasn't even close - it was 6-1 in favor of Clinton.

[NaturalHigh]

36. "Hillary Clinton has been a strong supporter of this union for years"...

Why is it so hard for people to understand why the union endorsed her? I don't understand the anti-Clinton vitriol here.

[George II]

44. Why? Their guy didn't get the endorsement, otherwise the reaction would have been totally different

[Iliyah]

51. True! And there would be numerous threads to justify it as well.

[BainsBane]

49. It's a perpetuating game of internet telephone

They repeat the same nonsense so often, and it is repeated back to them so often, they believe it to be absolute truth.
Clearly Clinton threatens something, or there wouldn't be so much hostility.

[lunamagica]

42. K&R. Go Hillary!

[George II]

48. Here is the union's announcement:

Here is the union's announcement:

http://www.goiam.org/index.php/imail/latest/14835-machinists-union-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president

And here is the methodology and results of the union's poll:

http://www.goiam.org/images/articles/imail/latest-imail/2014/May_Aug/IAMAW_Election_Survey.pdf

[BainsBane]

50. Great!

Thanks for posting that. Looks to be a fully transparent process.

[aikoaiko]

54. Yes, another good endorsement, unfortunately before the debates happen.

Its true that I wish these many folks endorsing HRC, prominent people or organizations, would wait a bit, but alas politics is politics.

Even as a Bernie supporter, I don't think they are stupid at all.

[moobu2]

55. Great news

Clinton........................................................... 71 percent
Sanders .......................................................... 11 percent

[delrem]

56. Holy shit! "unanimous support"!

What democracy has ever seen such a thing?

This is an incredible victory for democracy, if nothing else!

[moondust]

57. TPP supporters?

A few industries like aerospace may believe TPP would be good for their future, and HRC is the most likely Democrat to support TPP.

[BainsBane]

58. She voted against CAFTA

And has not supported TPP. Maybe they looked at her actual voting record and campaign statements instead of fabricated internet memes? I know that concept is alien around here. Why should they care about reality when what counters is the internet echo chamber?

[moondust]

60. Isn't she refusing to take a position on TPP

until such time as she would have to as President? Why not commit now? Trying to have it both ways perhaps?

[leftofcool]

65. Uh, no!

[leftofcool]

66. Excellent news!

[McCamy Taylor]

62. Go Unions!