Democratic Candidates Slam China, Support Working Families at Iowa AFL-CIO Forum

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/08/16/democratic-candidates-slam-china-fight-for-working-family-support-at-iowa-afl-cio-forum/

by Seth Michaels, Aug 16, 2007

Six Democratic candidates turned their rhetorical guns on China at an Iowa Federation of Labor forum Wednesday in Waterloo. Citing the recent recalls of millions of toys made in China, the candidates accused that country of unfair trade practices, currency manipulation and low production standards.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) slammed China as an “adversary,” according to a Des Moines Register report:

When you take my jobs because you subsidize your currency, when you send contaminated food and poison to my country…you’re no longer a competitor, in my view. When you steal my jobs, you’re becoming an adversary.

Addressing issues of concern to working families, the candidates deplored the massive U.S. trade deficit with China, which has displaced 1.8 million U.S. jobs, and the country’s currency manipulation, which gives China an unfair trading advantage over U.S. manufacturers.

Forbes reports that Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) told the Iowa AFL-CIO’s annual meeting:

There ain’t no such thing as free trade unless its fair trade, and that’s not what’s happening now.

In addition to Biden and Dodd, candidates at the forum were Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D). Showing their working family-friendly credentials, they all hailed the importance of unions in rebuilding a strong middle class.

Richardson repeated his pledge to appoint a union member as secretary of labor and get rid of “union-busting attorneys” in the Labor Department, the Register reported.

FULL story at link.

[FreakinDJ]

1. 'bout time

we're all poor now and sinking fast