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JOHN McCAIN'S RECORD ON JOBS AND UNEMPLOYMENT
Sen. John McCain has a record of opposing job-creating construction projects that stimulate our economy. But he supports policies that encourage outsourcing and privatization of our jobs. He opposed extending unemployment benefi ts that are vital to helping workers get through tough times. John McCain: You can do better for working families.
McCAIN SAYS RECORD JOB LOSSES ARE ‘NOT TERRIBLE’
McCain Called 63,000 Jobs Lost in a Month ‘Not Terrible.’ When 63,000 jobs were slashed from payrolls in February, McCain said the “unemployment figures are…not terrible.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States lost 260,000 jobs in 2008 as of April. (McCain Town Hall, Atlanta, 3/7/08; The Employment Situation: April 2008, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5/2/08)
McCain Thinks We Are Better Off Than Eight Years Ago. While President Bush has been in office, “there’s been great progress economically,” McCain said. (“Money & Politics,” Bloomberg, 4/17/08)
McCain Told Ohioans That ‘Free Trade is the Best Thing That Can Happen to Our Nation.’ At a town hall meeting in Rocky River, Ohio, McCain said, “Some of those manufacturing jobs are not coming back and you know it and I know it.” McCain added, “Free trade is the best thing that can happen to our nation.” (Reuters, 2/25/08)
McCAIN SUPPORTED EFFORTS TO OUTSOURCE AND PRIVATIZE JOBS
McCain Supported Bush’s Federal Privatization Plan. McCain voted to support President Bush’s efforts to privatize federal jobs. The Bush administration has led a major effort to outsource and privatize hundreds of thousand of federal jobs, including those of 350 workers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. (H.R. 5631, Vote 234, 9/6/06)
McCain Supported Contracting Out Homeland Security Jobs. McCain voted against an amendment to prohibit the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services from contracting out work. (H.R. 4567, Vote 168, 9/8/04)
McCain Voted for Unfair Privatization Rules Favoring Contractors. McCain voted against blocking new rules that gutted previous regulations designed to create a level playing field between private contractors seeking government work and the agencies and workers performing the work. The amendment would have blocked implementation of the new pro-contractor privatization process. (H.R. 2989, Vote 408, 9/23/03)
McCain Voted to Allow Overseas Outsourcing of Government Contracts. McCain voted against prohibiting the overseas outsourcing of government contracts. (S. 1637, Vote 32, 3/4/04)
McCain Supported Outsourcing Veterans Affairs Jobs. McCain opposed an amendment to prevent the Department of Veterans Affairs from outsourcing jobs, many held by blue-collar veterans, without first giving the workers a chance to compete. (S.Amdt. 2673 to H.R. 2642, Vote 315, 9/6/07)
Supported Outsourcing at Walter Reed in 2006. McCain opposed an amendment to the FY 2007 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill that would have prevented the outsourcing of 350 federal employee jobs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center—outsourcing that contributed to the recent scandalous treatment of veterans at Walter Reed. (Vote 234, 9/6/06)
McCAIN ADVOCATES POLICIES THAT SEND OUR JOBS OVERSEAS
McCain Helped Companies Send Jobs Overseas. McCain supported tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, voted to weaken and waive Buy American laws that keep jobs at home and voted against protecting steelworkers’ jobs from 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)
McCain and Lobbyists on His Campaign Helped Airbus Get a $35 Billion Contract Over Boeing. McCain stepped in to make it easier for EADS/Airbus to get the contract for Air Force refueling tankers over Boeing, an American and union 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 EADS’ behalf. 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)
McCain Thinks NAFTA Was a Good Idea and Supported Letting China into the WTO. McCain voted for NAFTA, which has cost the country more than a million jobs, and recently said, “I know NAFTA was a good idea.” He voted to allow China to enter the World Trade Organization, despite its history of workers’ rights violations, resulting in 1.8 million U.S. jobs displaced. (Des Moines Register and www.BigThink.com interview, 11/07; H.R. 3450, Vote 395, 11/20/93; H.R. 4444, Vote 251, 9/19/00; “NAFTA’S Cautionary Tale,” Economic Policy Institute, 7/20/05; “Costly Trade With China,” Economic Policy Institute, 10/9/07)
McCAIN OPPOSED JOB-CREATING PROJECTS
McCain Voted Against 2004 and 2005 Highway Bills. McCain voted against the 2004 $318 billion highway and transportation bill that would create about 5 million jobs over six years. The legislation contained Davis–Bacon prevailing wage protections. McCain also voted against a six-year $286 billion reauthorization of the federal highway and transit construction program in 2005. The massive infrastructure modernization bill would create 1 million familysupporting jobs, protected by Davis Bacon prevailing wage standards. (S. 1072, Vote 14, 2/12/04; HR. 3, Vote 220, 7/29/05)
McCain Opposed $1.6 Billion in School Construction Funding. McCain voted against an amendment that authorized $1.6 billion in fiscal year 2002 to help states and local school districts repair their most dilapidated public school buildings. (S. 1, Vote 108, 5/16/01) McCain Sought to Eliminate $12.6 Million in Construction Funding. McCain tried to eliminate $12.6 million in construction funding for a research center proposed at Iowa State University. (Des Moines Register, 12/12/99)
McCAIN WANTS TO PRIVATIZE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AND JOB TRAINING
McCain Proposes Privatizing Unemployment Insurance, Similar to His Plan for Social Security. McCain has proposed taking money out of the current unemployment insurance program to create Lost Earnings Buffer Accounts, similar to his and President Bush’s efforts to privatize Social Security by creating personal accounts. This could deplete the money available for people who are repeatedly unemployed. (McCain Press Release, 4/10/08; Cleveland Plain Dealer, 5/19/08)
McCain Would Take Money from Current Job-Training Programs. McCain said he would reallocate money spent on existing retraining programs to help pay for an unworkable wage insurance proposal. He also put forth a vague proposal to create “flexible training accounts” for workers. (Detroit Free Press, 12/20/07; McCain Campaign Press Release, 4/10/08)
McCAIN OPPOSED JOB-TRAINING PROGRAMS AND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT EXTENSIONS
McCain Voted Against a Pilot Program to Provide Low-Interest Loans to Workers in Job-Training or Assistance Programs. In 2002, McCain voted to kill an amendment requiring the Labor Department to establish a pilot program providing lowinterest loans to workers in job-training or job-assistance programs to enable workers to continue making their mortgage payments. (H.R. 3009, Vote 119, 5/21/02)
McCain Opposed Extending Federal Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Jobless Workers. McCain voted against extending the expiring Temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation program for another six months, with an additional 13 weeks of benefits for workers who exhaust their federal benefits while looking for a new job. The measure also called for unemployment benefits for lowwage workers and workers seeking part-time employment. When the program was due to expire, more than 1 million long-term jobless workers were nearing the end of their state benefits. (S. 1054, Vote 152, 5/15/03)
McCain Voted Against Increasing Spending on Unemployment Insurance by Reducing the Bush Tax Cuts. In 2003, McCain voted against increasing spending on unemployment insurance by $16.3 billion in 2003 and 2004, offset by a reduction in tax cuts. The amendment would double the program’s length to 26 weeks and expand it to include part-time and low-wage workers. (S.C.R. 23, Vote 85, 3/25/03)
McCain Voted Against Unemployment Benefits and Job Training for Airline Workers After 9/11. McCain voted successfully to deny aviation workers relief after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The measure would have provided unemployment, jobtraining and health benefits for workers displaced as a result of reductions in service by air carriers and closures of airports caused by terrorist actions or security measures. (S. 1447, Vote 293, 10/11/01)
McCain Voted Against Unemployment Extension. In 1991, McCain voted against establishing a temporary emergency unemployment compensation program, fully funded from the Unemployment Trust Fund, to provide an estimated $6.4 billion to extend unemployment benefits for up to 20 weeks to long-term unemployed workers who had exhausted their regular unemployment benefits. In addition, the bill established an Advisory Council on Unemployment Insurance to evaluate the unemployment compensation program and make recommendations for improvement. (S. 1722, Vote 213, 10/01/91)
