McCain’s Flea-Market Economy

Posted by Tula Connell, AFL-CIO at 11:35 AM on July 8, 2008.

George W. Bush’s solution to our
nation’s economic mess—that his failed policies helped create—is to
applaud people who must work three jobs to make ends meet. 


Sen. John McCain colors his solution to working families’ financial struggles with similar crayons: He encourages us to make a living selling stuff on eBay. As reported on Bloomberg: 

McCain, seeking to address voter anxiety about the economy, uses eBay to signal that he is “fundamentally optimistic about the capacity of the U.S. economy to innovate, for that innovation to give new opportunities for jobs,” said Doug Holtz-Eakin, the candidate’s senior economic adviser. “We shouldn’t be obsessed with looking backwards all the time, and saying, ‘Gee, where did those jobs go?’ “

Why worry indeed? After all, top McCain adviser is fond of an India-based company whose mission is to convince U.S. companies to outsource jobs to India. McCain also takes economic advice from a former lobbyist
for a bank with interests in the housing market—and then there’s Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a top economic adviser to McCain who acknowledges McCain doesn’t wantto include labor and environmental standards in trade agreements.

McCain’s support for a flea-market economy based on eBay is fundamental to his disconnect from the realities facing working families.Like Bush, McCain recently admitted he doesn’t know the price of gas. Guess what? Working families sure do.

Stumping for the presidential primaries, McCain has snubbed America’s workers by:

Promotingfailed trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) while standing in front of a failed factory in Ohio.

Holding a town hall meeting at Worth & Co., a Bucks County, Pa., contracting company investigated by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry for "intentionally failing to pay the predetermined minimum wage” to its employees. The state has accused the company of cheating employees out of $142,000 in wages for government projects.

Not bothering to respond to invitations by union members holding roundtables on the economy.

This is how McCain’s treats workers when he needs votes. Imagine what a McCain presidency would be like for working families when he thinks he has a mandate to govern.