Sen. John McCain’s economic proposals today badly missed the mark, offering little more than a repackaging of President Bush’s failed economic agenda. For months, Sen. McCain has ignored the economic crisis facing working families, opting instead to join President Bush in burying his head in the sand while hoping our economy magically improves. Today, he finally offered some recognition that our economy is in trouble, but instead of offering long-term solutions, he focused on shortsighted proposals that would do more to pad the profit margins of large corporations than help struggling working families.
The centerpiece of McCain’s economic policy is a tax plan that economists have called “atrociously conceived, wildly irresponsible.” McCain wants to extend and expand upon Bush’s tax cuts to the very wealthiest Americans, giving more rewards to them while ignoring the needs of working families—and, in the process, costing U.S. taxpayers more than $2 trillion over the next 10 years.
The numbers tell the story of who would benefit under McCain’s proposals. His tax plan gives nearly $2 billion in tax cuts to the top 10 insurance companies, while his health plan would tax the health care benefits of working people. Five giant oil companies would get nearly $4 billion in tax cuts—but McCain hasn’t said a word about turning around the wage stagnation undermining the middle class.
McCain’s rhetoric doesn’t fit with reality. He says he would make health care “more affordable and accessible,” but any honest reading of his plan shows it does just the opposite: It would raise taxes and push health coverage out of reach for millions of Americans.
He says his policies would “respect wage earners,” but in the same speech, he urges passage of the Colombia Free Trade Act, a deal that would undermine workers here and abroad. His agenda would weaken Medicare and Medicaid, and he would push to privatize Social Security. These aren’t the priorities needed to turn around America.
What’s more, McCain ignores one of the biggest drags on the economy: the disastrous war in Iraq that has cost trillions of dollars and thousands of lives.
McCain repeatedly has skipped opportunities to meet with union members, choosing instead to surround himself with corporate lobbyists and focus on high-priced fundraisers. It’s clear that he’s out of touch with the real lives of workers and the real challenges in the economy.
Sweeney says McCain has a choice: He can keep on promoting the same old Bush agenda that aids the wealthy at the expense of everyone else, or he can change course and really listen to the needs of workers. Sweeney says:
We need leaders who understand the economic needs and concerns of working families. America’s workers deserve a plan that will deliver good jobs, a secure retirement and health care for all. Today’s proposals glossed over those needs in favor of policies skewed to the privileged few. Working people across the country call on Sen. McCain to reject the failed policies of the past that put corporate profits and the interests of the wealthy few above our families’ needs.
read:
http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/15/mccains-economic-agenda-wont-cut-it/
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