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McCain-o-nomics: Warmed Over Bush |
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Murray Rogers’ last day at the Groveton, N.H., paper mill, where he worked for more than 20 years, was Dec. 28—his 50th birthday. That was the day the Wausau Paper mill shut down after hemorrhaging more than 1,200 jobs during the past seven years. The United Steelworkers (USW) Local 61 member says the plant closed because of the failed and flawed Bush administration trade policies that encourage unfair foreign competition.
In fact, the Bush administration trade policies are the same as those that Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain embraces and praises.
Today, New Hampshire union members rallied outside an Exeter, N.H., town hall meeting where McCain was pitching his economic policies, policies Rogers says “warmed-over Bush.”
We don’t need anymore of the same. The two terms of Bush have wiped out 1,200 jobs.
The New Hampshire event was part of the AFL-CIO’s new McCain Revealed campaign to inform voters that McCain is no “moderate” or “maverick,” but a Bush McClone when it comes to jobs, trade, Social Security privatization, health care and other vital working family issues. (Click here to page through the McCain Revealed briefing book.)
Says New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie:
The biggest misconception union members have about John McCain is that he is some sort of moderate….But the reality is he does not have a moderate record when it comes to Social Security. He does not have a moderate record when it comes to trade. He does not have a moderate record when it comes to the minimum wage. He does not have a moderate record when it comes to the freedom to join unions. People need to know that and we’re going to let them know.
Eddie DeBlois, Local 75 recording secretary, works at a Berlin, N.H., paper mill, but that operation is down to 350 workers from nearly 1,500 in 2001, and about half of those will be laid off in April.
A vote for John McCain is a vote to stay the same course that Bush steered and I can’t believe anybody would want to stay that course, unless you’re an Exxon, or Mobil or Halliburton.
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Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
4 Comments
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Wake up everyone, Senator McCain has been an advocate for all Americans! You’re going to allow a dinosaur like the AFL-CIO to spend millions of your own hard-earned dollars to attack a true hero like John McCain? Stand up to this union-thuggery and character-assassination! Enough is enough. Unions–not corporations–have exploited workers for far too long!
Wide awake, here! The days of “union thuggery” are over. I applaud the AFLCIO for spending the millions (who else could?) to ensure that workers understand that a vote for McCain is not in their own best interest.
McCain is an honorable man. No one is assassinating his basic character. However, he has a stated intention of following in Bush’s footsteps and holding on to many of the failed Bush policies that even many Republicans are saying have to go!
You can’t just shine a spotlight on the good. It’s essential that voters get the full story from all sides. How else can they come to an informed decision?
There are millions of ‘true hero’es in these United States. Would you vote for any of them on that basis only? Get real!
Thank you AFLCIO for having the courage to tell the rest of the story.
Wide awake here also! I have higher wages, a pension, full benefits, paid sick time, paid vacation, health benefits, job seniority and other fringe benefits as well. My non-union counterparts are working for lower wages without benefits doing similar work. If this is exploitation, I can’t wait for our next contract!
Is this how George W. Bush and John McCain protect Americans? By sending middle class American jobs overseas to India and China. Their actions are the same as signing death warrants to millions of innocent workers who have nothing left to support themselves and their dependents. How does McCain solve the problem of Michigan workers who have lost their jobs? By sending 50+ years olds to community colleges to retrain for a new and exciting career in a dynamic economy!
Why don’t the American people send Bush and McCain into re-education camps to teach them how to fly modern fighter airplanes again.