9-07-08, 9:58 am
Michigan working families worry about jobs and the economy above all else. The past two elections cycles, Republican candidates have tried – and failed – to blame Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm for high unemployment and weak economic numbers for the state. But voters understand the problems faced by the state are not simply local ones; they are fueled by national policies.
Michigan voters were fed a dose of this blame-the-state-first thinking by the likes of former Republican gubernatorial candidate and billionaire Dick DeVos, whose mostly Michigan-based company, Amway, took advantage of federal tax loopholes and subsidies to move some of its production out of the country. Now they are hearing the same tune again from Republican congressional candidates and John McCain.
As is widely understood, though, economic hardship in Michigan has been driven primarily by so-called free trade policies pushed by the Bush administration and John McCain. But John McCain has also used his vote in the Senate to help companies profit at the expense of taxpayers and working people who need jobs. For this reason, it is important to closely examine his record on economic policies that have impacted the state, say many Michigan residents.
In lock-step with George W. Bush, John McCain voted in March of 2005 to give tax breaks to companies that move manufacturing plants out of the country. It is worth noting this because he is now running ads in Michigan claiming he is against the very policy he voted for. He must be confused.
The truth is that McCain, in 2005, helped defeat a Democratic measure that would have repealed tax incentives for companies who move manufacturing plants out of the country and to use the resulting revenue to help balance the budget. The authors of the amendment estimated that $3.2 billion taxpayer dollars could have been saved by eliminating subsidies to corporations who cut jobs in this country, many thousands of which are in Michigan.
Incidentally, Barack Obama, in one of his first votes as a Senator, supported this measure to end tax incentives for companies moving out of the country. This issue isn't just one of policy for Obama, says his campaign. Having worked closely with families impacted by the closing of steel mills in Chicago in the 1980s, Obama understands what happens to families and communities when good-paying jobs leave. His campaign says that while Obama and the Chicago communities he worked with saw some successes in keeping jobs, providing better housing, and improving schools, he understands that a sound national economic policy is needed to keep jobs here, create new jobs in new industries, and rebuild crumbling communities.
Just one year before the two presidential candidates cast those defining votes, McCain voted against another measure that would have prohibited the use of taxpayer dollars to help ship jobs overseas, again in line with the policy of the Bush administration. In March of 2004, McCain helped block the creation of a reserve fund of about $24 billion that would have directly aided companies that sought to create manufacturing jobs in the US and for small businesses to supply health care coverage to their employees.
Just one week before that, McCain voted to allow outsourcing jobs, even for federally funded contracts. He was one of 26 Senators who stood up to the 'made in America' lobby and voted against a measure that would prohibit federal government contracts, including state contracts that are partially federally funded, from being performed outside of the country. Is this what McCain means by 'country first'?
But McCain's habit of voting to kill jobs in the United States doesn't end there. In 1998 he voted to block an amendment that required employers to find and keep US workers before recruiting guest workers form other countries. As part of that same package of votes, McCain tried to block an amendment that would have prohibited an employer from hiring a worker from another country under the H-1B visa program if the employer has recently laid off any US-born workers.
In 1995, McCain voted against an amendment that repealed a special tax break on the incomes of shareholders who profit in the billions on investments that create wealth and jobs outside of the country.
Regarding the auto industry, like George W. Bush, John McCain has simply done nothing to help Michigan automakers invest in new technology to compete in the global economy. He only changed is mind on allowing loans to the Big Three after strong public pressure that would have threatened his presidential bid during the primaries.
John McCain says he will fight exclude worker and environmental protections from free trade agreements like NAFTA, which alone has cost Michigan tens of thousands of jobs. In fact, he wants more free trade agreements and wants them fast-tracked through Congress to limit scrutiny, much like George W. Bush did. He has admitted to giving up on keeping jobs here and told his supporters that more jobs will be lost in the name of free trade and the global race to the bottom.
Toeing the Bush administration line, McCain helped Republicans filibuster the pro-labor Employee Free Choice Act, signaling his opposition to the right of workers of workers to join or organize labor unions. Unions are one of the best social institutions working families have to improve their standards of living in an economy that fast sinking – thanks in no small part to John McCain.
With 26 years in Congress under his belt, John McCain's record on economic issues is clear. This record along with eight straight months of growing unemployment across the country has many Michigan residents wondering, is this the kind of 'experience' we need in the White House? Many people want to know how it is possible to keep the same politicians with the same policies in Washington and expect different results.
