AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Sen. John McCain's Economic Proposals

April 15, 2008 -- 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.

John McCain: Photo by VictoryNH: Protect Our Primary (CC)

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 Sen. McCain's economic package is his ill-conceived plan to extend the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy. McCain’s plan to shower the wealthy with more tax giveaways at a time when families are struggling just to make ends meet shows just how out of touch with working people's kitchen-table concerns he is. McCain's tax breaks for the rich would cost more than $2 trillion over the next 10 years, draining vital resources that pay for education and health care. McCain also favors billions in cuts to programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are a lifeline for working families.

McCain offered no measures that would give working families equal footing in this economy or rein in out-of-control corporations. In fact, he proposed a massive tax break for corporations at a time when many are avoiding their tax responsibilities through loopholes created by the Bush Administration.

In today’s speech, Sen. McCain didn’t even mention the economic impact of the war in Iraq, which is costing America’s taxpayers trillions of dollars and creating a massive drag on the economy. McCain’s 100-year Iraq plan would mortgage our children’s future for a war the majority of Americans oppose.

Sen. McCain’s proposal to suspend the federal gasoline tax is nothing but a stopgap measure that ignores the underlying cause of the spike. With gas prices hovering near $4 a gallon, families need our leaders to put forth responsible energy and foreign policies that lead to a dramatic reduction in costs, not just a few pennies for a few months. McCain’s other recycled Bush proposals – billions in tax breaks for the health insurance industry and Big Oil, promoting unbalanced trade deals and privatizing Social Security -- would take us further down the wrong economic road. His new proposal to address the housing crisis offers far too little help to working families in crisis while doing nothing to address the root causes of the collapse.

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.

Source: AFL-CIO

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