AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS AFL-CIO

This Saturday! Labor to Labor Walks in Manchester and Concord, NH and Winslow, ME. Join union members in going door to door to let fellow union members know why we must elect Barack Obama as President. Click here for details about the NH walk and here for details about the walk in Winslow, ME. 

Straight Talk About The Real John McCain: John McCain Advocates for Unfair Trade

John McCain is one of the strongest advocates in Congress for unfair trade agreeements.
He has made expanding free trade agreements a central part of his 2008 campaign and has demonstrated through his long record in Congress that he is not going to fight to keep good jobs here at home.

Free Trade in John McCain's Own Words: "If I were president, I would negotiate a free trade agreement with almost any country." (Speech to National Press Club, 5/20/99.)

"Some of those manufacturing jobs are not coming back, and you know it and I know it. The Economists I know and trust and the history that I study, and I study a lot of history, says that free trade is the best thing that can happen to our nation." (Reuters, 2/25/08.)

Sound like someone who understands and values working families?

Senator John McCain's record on trade and his proposals for the future show he just can't get enough free trade, and does not prioritize keeping jobs at home, nor enforcing protections for workers or the environment abroad.

Senator McCain Thinks NAFTA Was a Good Idea. Senator McCain voted for NAFTA and still supports it even though the United States has lost more than 1 million jobs because of the trade agreement. (H.R. 2450, Vote #396, 11/20/93; "NAFTA's Cautionary Tale", Economic Policy Institute, 7/20/05.)

Senator McCain Voted for CAFTA and Wants to Expand It. Senator McCain voted for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) even though it did not contain adequate protections for the environment or for workers. And now he wants to expand it. CAFTA cut tariffs among the United States, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Senator McCain has said he wants to expand U.S. trade with the rest of the region, and that his administration "would reduce barriers to trade and press for renewed Trade Promotion Authority." (s.1307, Vote #170, 6/30/05; Senator McCain's address on Latin America to the Floria Association of Broadcasters, published 6/20/07.)

Senator McCain Supports the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Senator McCain supports the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, calling Colombia a "beacon of hope" despite the murder of more than 2,500 trade unionists there since 1986. Click target="_blank">here to view a video of Senator McCain rolling his eyes during the last presidental debate as Senator Obama talks about the ongoing murders of trade unionists in Colombia. Click here to read a statement by AFL-CIO President Sweeney regarding the assaults and arrests of striking sugarcane workers in Colombia just this week. (Senator McCain press release, 4/11/08; Escuela Nactional Sindical; www.aflcio.org.)

Senator McCain Voted For Normalizing Trade Relations With China. Senator John McCain voted to allow China to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) despite its ongoing history of workers' rights violations. In 2007 alone, 101,480 Chinese workers died in job-related accidents.  Since China entered the WTO in 2001, job loss in the United States has increased to an average of 353,000 a year, and our trade deficit with China has increased. (H.R. 4444, Vote #251, 9/19/00; Associated Press, 1/22/08; U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics: China; Economic Policy Institute, 10/9/07). 

Senator McCain Has Voted for Other Bad Trade Agreements. Senator McCain has never seen a trade agreement he didn't like, regardless of its negative impacts on U.S. workers. He voted for trade agreements with Oman, Singapore, Chile and Morocco, among others, as well as for Fast Track bills to make it easier for the president to enact trade agreements without strong worker protections. (S. 3569, Vote 190, 6/29/06; H.R. 2739, Vote 318, 7/31/03; H.R. 2738, Vote 319, 7/31/03; H.R. 434, Vote 353, 11/3/99; H.R. 3009, Vote 115, 5/16/02; Vote 117, 5/21/02, Vote 207, 8/1/02; S. 1269, Vote 292, 11/4/97.)

Senator McCain Supports Tax Breaks for Companies That Ship Jobs Overseas. Senator McCain has voted to weaken and waive "Buy American" laws that keep jobs at home and voted against protecting steelworkers' jobs threatened by illegal dumping. (S. 1637, Vote #83, 5/5/04; S. 2400, Vote #135, 6/22/04; S. 1050, Vote #191, 5/21/03; H.R. 975, Vote #178, 6/22/99.)

Senator McCain Thinks The Problem Isn't That Trade Deals Are Unfair, It's That We Haven't Adjusted. At a town hall-style meeting at Youngstown State University in Ohio, Senator McCain said, "The biggest problem is not so much what's happened with free trade, but our inability to adjust to a new world economy. So we want people to be part of that revolution, and we've got to be part of that new economy, rather than try to cling to an old economy." (Boston Globe, 4/23/08.)

Senator McCain's Campaign Admits He Lines Up 'on the Business Side' of the Trade Issue. Senator McCain's campaign sent out a press release saying he "voiced support for new free trade accords with Colombia and South Korea... McCain argues that free trade is good for U.S. economic growth and competitiveness... McCain is an ardent free trade advocate, lining up on the business side of the issue." (Senator McCain campaign press release, 5/21/08.)

Senator McCain Helped Airbus, a French Company, Get a $35 Billion Contract Over Boeing; Contract Was Awarded Unfairly. Senator McCain stepped in to make it easier for EADS/Airbus to get the contract for the Air Force refueling tankers over Boeing, an American, heavily-unionized company. Three of his campaign advisers lobbied for EADS, and his campaign received $28,000 in contributions from EADS executives, lobbyists and employees after he began to speak out on behalf of EADS. The Government Accountability Office investigated the deal and found that Boeing had been unfairly judged and should have another opportunity to compete for the contract. If Boeing had won the contract, it would have supported 44,000 good jobs in more than 40 states, many of which would have been union jobs. (Lobbyist Disclosure Act database, accessed 3/11/08; Associated Press, 3/11/08; Time.com, 3/11/08; OpenSecrets.org, accessed 3/12/08; Mobile Register, 1/16/07; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3/7/08; GAO press release, 6/18/08.)

Senator McCain's Advisers: A Stable of Free Trade Lobbyists

McCain Advisor Carly Fiorina Says Jobs Are NOT "America's God-Given Right". Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, has been described as the "face" of Senator McCain's economic team. According to the Associated Press, when she was still CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina defended the shift of jobs overseas in the computer industry by saying, "There is no job that is America's God-given right anymore." (Washington Post, 1/2/08; Associated Press, 1/7/04.)

Fundraiser Peter Madigan Makes a Living Lobbying for Unfair Trade Agreements That Devastate American Workers. Senator McCain's fundraiser Peter Madigan makes a living lobbying for destructive economic and trade policies. He has lobbied on behalf of foreign governments to pass CAFTA and free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama. (Arizona Republic, 5/26/08; U.S. Department of Justice Foreign Agents Registration Act, www.fara.gov; accessed 4/8/08.)

Fired John McCain Co-Chairman Lobbied for Free Trade with Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Former Rep. Thomas Loeffler is the founder and chairman of his own lobbying firm, the Loeffler Group. He was Senator McCain's campaign co-chairman and chief money man before being forced out of the campaign because of controversy over his lobbying for foreign governments, specifically Saudi Arabia. He has also been an advocate for trade agreements with Hong Kong. (Los Angeles Times, 5/19/08; FARA Database, accessed 6/13/08.)

Senator McCain Fundraiser Kirsten Chadwick Has Lobbied for Countries on Free Trade. John McCain fundraiser Kirsten Chadwick lobbied for the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the enactment of the Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, for the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, for the government of Peru on the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement and for the Business Roundtable on CAFTA. ((Bahrain) FARA Filing signed by Kirsten Chadwick, accessed 5/12/08; (Korea) FARA Filing signed by Kirsten Chadwick, accessed 5/12/08; (Peru) FARA Filing signed by Kirsten Chadwick, accessed 5/12/08; Peru Service Agreement, accessed 5/12/08; Roll Call, 6/5/06.)

With a record like this ask yourself:
DOES SENATOR McCAIN SHARE
WORKERS' PRIORITIES?

Vote on November 4, 2008 for a U.S. President Who Shares Workers' Priorities.

Visit: www.mccainrevealed.org

For more information, visit www.massaflcio.org/mcsame-bush-bad-working-families or visit www.mccainrevealed.org.

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