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When President George W. Bush appeared at a St. Louis warehouse and distribution facility on January 22, 2003, to tout his massive tax cut for the elite, even the White House spin doctors couldnt hide the hypocrisy.

Worth a thousand words: President Bush touts his economic
policies in front of "edited" boxes of Chinese-made goods.

For the cameras, it appeared that the president was speaking in front of a stack of boxes labeled "Made in America." Upon closer inspection, it was just a screen. In front of the president was a stack of real boxes, all with strips of white or brown tape carefully placed over one line of type. And what were these offending words that were blocked out?

"Made in China" (or Taiwan in some cases).

Has there ever been a better or clearer example of a politician showing his true colors by mistake? Here is the leader of the nation saying how much his so-called economic stimulus program will help American business, and he cant even find an American-made product to use as a prop. Bush is so worried about giving away more and more of Middle Americas tax dollars to his high roller friends and contributors that he doesnt appreciate the irony. This administration, like previous ones, has been busy sending American manufacturing jobs overseas, thus accelerating the destruction of the middle class tax base. There may be jobs in the warehouse and shipping facility where Bush appeared. But had the President cared to walk elsewhere in St. Louis or any town of any size in the United States or Canada, he would have seen a shuttered factory that once provided a living for working families and was part of the economic base of the community. And each plant closed means fewer jobs in maintenance and other support services, fewer customers for local businesses and less tax revenue for state and local governmentsthe same governments that are facing fiscal crises.

And think about what an admission the president and his handlers are making. By taping over the country of origin, they acknowledge that there is value to making things in America. They acknowledge that the American people care about having a domestic industrial base.

These are the dirty little secrets that the president doesnt want you to hear. Despite all the brave talk about patriotism, the administrations love of country doesnt keep them from continuing to give away jobs and vital industries if it will help make his corporate buddies richer. And the very ones who are making obscene profits off the backs of cheap foreign labor are the ones who stand to benefit the most from the presidents tax giveaways. But if you are muddling along trying to make ends meet and worried about your job, theres nothing left over for you.

The media rightly has devoted a lot of attention to the issues of war and terrorism. But what about the slow but steady economic cancer that is eating away from inside our nation? We once had an economy that was providing opportunity for a much broader segment of our population. Now, we are in danger of a new segregationthe dividing of the rich and the upper middle class from the rest.

President Bush would call this class warfare. But it is he who has declared the war. It is he and his allies who have created the kind of segmented class structure that we always prided ourselves on not having in America. The fiasco in St. Louis shows what this administration stands for.

Tear off the tape, Mr. President, and for once in your political life tell the American people the truth. 

Worth a thousand words: President Bush touts his economic policies in front of "edited" boxes of Chinese-made goods.
 

  Presidents Message

January/February 2003 IBEW Journal