McCain Revealed

Sen. John McCain has a habit of voting away good U.S. jobs--not to mention overtime pay, Social Security, Medicare, our freedom to form unions and bargain and more. When the AFL-CIO started doing research to uncover John McCain's record on working family issues, it was like peeling an onion--layer after layer of hostile, Bush-esque actions and positions wrapped in McCain's camouflage as a straight-talking maverick.

The latest to come to light: McCain was a "key figure" in the deal that awarded a multi-billion-dollar air tanker deal to a joint venture that includes the European company EADS rather than to Boeing. McCain pushed the Pentagon to change the bidding process in a way that disadvantaged Boeing, Time magazine says. And some of his top advisers have out and out lobbied for the award to EADS/Airbus--one of them while serving as McCain's national finance chairman. [Time magazine, 3/11/08]

Facing recession, America lost 63,000 jobs last month alone. Had Boeing been awarded the air tanker deal, it would have supported at least 44,000 new and existing jobs here in the United States, many of them good union jobs.

For McCain, this is business as usual. And we want people to know that.

So the AFL-CIO has launched a McCain Revealed website to introduce the presidential candidate to the public and a multi-layered campaign to reach more than 13 million union household voters in 23 battleground states. Everywhere John McCain goes, union activists are there to confront him on economic issues and demand that he speak to working families' concerns. From worksite leafleting and door-to-door canvassing to microtargeting direct mail and phone calls, we'll make sure John McCain's real record is on the public record.

Here's just a taste:

John McCain: More George W. Bush. McCain supported President Bush's positions 95 percent of the time in 2007 and 89 percent of the time over Bush's two terms in office. (Congressional Quarterly Voting Study, 110th Congress)

McCain's Health Plan: Tax Benefits, Increase Costs. His plan would make employer-provided health benefits part of taxable income, essentially creating a new tax for working families. It undermines existing employer-based health care and pushes workers into the private market to fight big insurance companies on their own. It would reduce benefits, increase costs and leave many with no health care at all. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/5/06; Health08.org Forum, 10/31/07; Los Angeles Times, 11/20/07; The Commonwealth Fund, 6/20/05)

His Trade Policy: Support Every Unfair Trade Deal Available. McCain, a self-proclaimed "free-trader," voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and to allow China to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO), although the United States has lost more than 1 million jobs because of NAFTA and 1.8 million jobs since China entered the WTO. He voted to allow overseas outsourcing of government contracts and to weaken Buy American laws. (H.R. 3450, Vote #395, 11/20/93; S. 1307, Vote #170, 6/30/05; H.R. 4444, Vote #251, 9/19/00; Economy Policy Institute, 10/9/07; S. 1637, Vote #32, 3/4/04; S. 2400, Vote #135, 6/22/04; S. 1050, Vote #191, 5/21/03)

McCain on Rights: Oppose Freedom to Form Unions and Bargain. McCain voted to block the Employee Free Choice Act, which would level the playing field for workers trying to form unions and bargain with their employers for better pay and conditions. But he voted for a national "right to work" for less law that would cripple workers' unions. (H.R. 800, Vote #227, 6/26/07; S. 1788, Vote #188, 7/10/96)

McCain on Retirement Security: Privatize Social Security, Cut Medicare. McCain supports privatizing Social Security, putting our retirement at risk, and raising the Medicare eligibility age. (SCR 83, Vote #68, 3/16/06; SCR 18, Vote #49, 3/15/05; S. Amdt. 144 to SCR 18, Vote #47, 3/15/05; SCR 86, Vote #56, 4/1/98; SCR 86, Vote #77, 4/1/98; S. 947, Vote #112, 6/24/97; S. Amdt. 445, Vote #115, 6/25/97)

Get to know the real John McCain and spread the word. Visit McCain Revealed for more information, to find out how you can make sure America knows who McCain really is and to join in demanding that he renounce the failed Bush economic agenda.