It's Time to Restore The American Dream

ALL Americans should have access to affordable health care:

45 million uninsured Americans have been left behind.

	1.4 million Americans lost their health insurance in 2003, even as health insurers and pharmaceutical companies earned record profits.
	Millions more Americans are underinsured, with only temporary or seasonal coverage.

Retiree costs just keep rising.

	Medicare premiums will rise 17.5 percent in 2005.
	Prescription drug prices continue to soar at double the annual rate of inflation.

A lifetime of work deserves a secure retirement:

Pension Security now uncertain.

	Bankruptcies, corporate financial scandals and consolidations have left millions of workers' hard-earned pension savings threatened or entirely lost.
	The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (the government agency that protects pensions) faces a $11.2 billion deficit going into 2004, and may assume billions more from airline industry defaults.
	The number of Americans covered by a defined benefit pension plan has fallen by half in the last 20 years.

Social Security funding shortfalls projected.

	About one-third of retirees receive more than 90 percent of their income from Social Security, but the system faces dramatic shortfalls in the decades to come.
	Billions have been borrowed from Social Security for other purposes and an estimated $990 billion is projected to be diverted through 2008.

Let's Export Products and Services - NOT Jobs:

America has lost 2.7 million well-paying manufacturing jobs since 2001.

	"New Economy" jobs in technology, communications, and health care are also being outsourced, cutting off the opportunity to move up the career ladder.
	Unfair trade agreements and bad trade agreements are increasing the rush of jobs out of our nation.

We Should Move Upward - Not Race to the Bottom:

Family income has dropped steadily since the year 2000, falling an average of $1,535, even as the cost of living increases.

	The Personal Debt against Income ratio increased almost 16 percent since 2000.
	For the past three years, productivity has gone up, while median income has declined.

WE CAN'T STAND BY WHILE THE AMERICAN DREAM SLIPS AWAY

Join the ReUNION:

You've worked hard and provided for your family. You've relied on a secure retirement. But now that American Dream is slipping away. Together, we can recapture the dream. But it will take all of us to move the decision-makers in this nation.

IF NOT US....WHO?  IF NOT NOW...WHEN?

SPONSOR: Stand up for Steel, a coalition of the United Steelworkers of America and leading American steel companies.

COST: Your time and attention.

GOAL: To help both active and retired Americans form a broad-based movement for change that will do no less than restore the American dream.

SIX THINGS YOU CAN DO TO START MOVING RIGHT NOW:

1. SEND in the Activist Form and get involved click here.

2. VOLUNTEER at a local ReUNION outreach site.

3. Get out there and ATTEND ReUNION events, rallies, and lobby actions.

4. Register to VOTE and hold those elected officials accountable.

5. CONTACT your elected congressional representatives by calling, writing, visiting and giving them a piece of your mind.

6. MOBILIZE your family and friends and help build this movement one person at a time.

JOIN US!

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