McCain's Record on Killing Jobs in Michigan

[OhioChick]

I was asked to cross-post this here in the Michigan forum...

9-07-08, 9:58 am

Michigan working families worry about jobs and the economy above all else. The past two elections cycles, Republican candidates have tried – and failed – to blame Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm for high unemployment and weak economic numbers for the state. But voters understand the problems faced by the state are not simply local ones; they are fueled by national policies.

Michigan voters were fed a dose of this blame-the-state-first thinking by the likes of former Republican gubernatorial candidate and billionaire Dick DeVos, whose mostly Michigan-based company, Amway, took advantage of federal tax loopholes and subsidies to move some of its production out of the country. Now they are hearing the same tune again from Republican congressional candidates and John McCain.

As is widely understood, though, economic hardship in Michigan has been driven primarily by so-called free trade policies pushed by the Bush administration and John McCain. But John McCain has also used his vote in the Senate to help companies profit at the expense of taxpayers and working people who need jobs. For this reason, it is important to closely examine his record on economic policies that have impacted the state, say many Michigan residents.

In lock-step with George W. Bush, John McCain voted in March of 2005 to give tax breaks to companies that move manufacturing plants out of the country. It is worth noting this because he is now running ads in Michigan claiming he is against the very policy he voted for. He must be confused.

The truth is that McCain, in 2005, helped defeat a Democratic measure that would have repealed tax incentives for companies who move manufacturing plants out of the country and to use the resulting revenue to help balance the budget. The authors of the amendment estimated that $3.2 billion taxpayer dollars could have been saved by eliminating subsidies to corporations who cut jobs in this country, many thousands of which are in Michigan.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/7361