Former Candidate for Congress
Florida's 8th District
A tireless advocate for the environment and working families, Corbett Kroehler is throwing his hat in the ring for the upcoming 2008 elections. He recently signed the America In Solidarity pledge to support working families and would be a welcomed addition to Congress. Here are Corbett's answers to our questionaire:
Why are you seeking office? Global warming will damage
What qualifies you to represent working families? My parents are retired public school teachers who worked two and three jobs each during their career in order to support my sister and me while continuing to do what they love, teaching others the joy of making music. Indeed, measured in aggregate, my entire extended family consists mostly of working-class folk, preachers, teachers and soldiers. I understand the value of a dollar and how much harder it is today to live on a single income. Additionally, during my time as a leader in the Sierra Club of Central Florida, I learned the importance of making do with the resources at one’s disposal and how not to become demoralized when fighting an uphill campaign. The prize, victory, must remain the focus at all times, just as it is with working families.
I know beyond a doubt that unions are the reason we have a middle class in this country. It is no coincidence, then, that the shrinking of union influence during the last 30 years has seen a concurrent loss of living standards and the size of
What are the main issues affecting the people you would represent? Violent crime/juvenile delinquency, stagnant wages, homelessness/affordable housing, inadequate public transportation, energy prices and global climate change.
What is your position on the “Right to Work” issue? Every American worker who wishes to join a union should be able to do so. Furthermore, companies currently have far too much power to intimidate people and threaten them with loss of employment if they seek to form a union.
The Employee Free Choice Act is a potential law which should have been on the books for years.
Do you feel government entities should change zoning laws to accommodate big block retailers like Wal-Mart? No, the opposite should be true. Without a living wage requirement such as the City of
How would you use your position to address
a) Provide every citizen with Medicare coverage if needed; and
b) Allow every citizen to buy into the same medley of coverage offered to members of Congress.
Progressive Democrats of America, a national organization which already has given me its support, summarizes the matter very well, “It is immoral for a country as wealthy as ours to have 45 million people with no health coverage and tens of millions more with inadequate or overly expensive coverage.”
What is your position on living wage ordinances? In 2004, I collected petitions and knocked on doors with ACORN in favor of
then surely they can establish a basic wage rate so that everyone who works full-time is capable of providing the basic necessities of life. The City of
What is your position on trade agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO?