By John J. Sweeney
When John McCain claims the fundamentals of America's economy are strong, he is fundamentally wrong. And every working person in America should know it.
John McCain cannot rail against deregulation, now that it's politically expedient, after spending 26 years as its high priest. After all, he refers to himself as "fundamentally a deregulator."
He can't claim he's for working families when he wants to do to our health care system what he and his allies have done to our financial system, which is on the verge of collapse. But in the current issue of a magazine for actuaries, McCain proposes “[o]pening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking…less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.”
McCain can't say he's the guy who'll be tough on Wall Street lobbyists. He and his campaign have close ties to 170 lobbyists. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, has been paid nearly $2 million to protect Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from tighter regulations and because he is so close to McCain. William Timmons Sr., the man McCain has picked to manage his transition to the presidency, was a registered lobbyist for Freddie Mac until this month's government takeover of Fannie and Freddie.
McCain can't gripe about lavish CEO golden parachutes when his surrogate Carly Fiorina got an outrageous $21 million severance package when Hewlett-Packard dumped her after a reign of layoffs and job outsourcing.
He can't credibly say he's all for retirees when he wants to risk Social Security funds in a crumbling stock market.
He can't claim he's like you and me when he has more houses than he can recall, 13 cars and wears $500 shoes.
Whatever John McCain claims, working families must know one thing: He is fundamentally wrong for the presidency.
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.
