McCain Praises Free Trade While Standing In Front Of Failing Ohio Factory

[marmar]

from McClatchy:



McCain picks failing Ohio factory to laud free trade
By Matt Stearns | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Standing before a nearly shuttered factory pocked with broken windows in a city devastated by the erosion of its industrial base, John McCain on Tuesday urged Americans to reject the "siren song of protectionism" and embrace free trade.

He used his own recent political fortunes — a dramatic fade followed by an unexpected comeback to secure the Republican presidential nomination — to illustrate that depressed Rust Belt cities such as Youngstown can rebound.

"A person learns along the way that if you hold on — if you don't quit no matter what the odds — sometimes life will surprise you," McCain said in a speech at Youngstown State University after meeting the five remaining workers at Fabart, a steel-fabricating factory that had more than 100 employees a few years ago.

Continuing a weeklong tour of what he calls the "forgotten America," McCain called for increased use of community colleges to retrain workers and investment in alternative energy technologies to replace the manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas, in part because free trade agreements made it easier for companies to move where production is cheaper.

"The American Midwest is more than a Rust Belt, and its economy is more than the sum of past hardships," McCain said, even as he acknowledged that a comeback "won't be easy."

The hardships are all too real in Youngstown. The city has lost more than 40,000 jobs since its signature steel industry collapsed in the 1970s and '80s. Its population is less than half its peak of 170,000 in the 1950s. About 25 percent of those who remain live below the poverty line.

To preach the virtues of free trade in such a place is risky even for a candidate who prides himself on "straight talk."

McCain lost the Michigan Republican primary in part because he told workers there that their "jobs aren't coming back," a claim then mocked by the victor, Mitt Romney. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/34495.html

[islandmkl]

1. okay everybody....quit licking your chops....

we'll get to johnnyboy soon enough...

[Jack Rabbit]

2. He's probably a little stringy, anyway

This is still going to be fun.

[havocmom]

3. Husband had to suffer through miles of a RW honcho yammering about McCain.

First, it was all 'Democrats keep sayin the economy is in bad shape. It can't be in bad shape, they are sending everybody money for a rebate!' My husband figured it was a Limbaugh talking point or something. Could not believe how fucking stupid this allegedly educated scientist was.

When he asked Havocdad if he wasn't THRILLED that McCain would get rid of the gas tax, my darling said let me get back to that one later'. When their tour took them over one particular stretch of road my husband knew to be in serious disrepair, he sorta hit all the potholes HARD then said "No, I am not impressed about McCain saying he will end gas taxes. That road is in bad shape. Thousands of miles of roads are all over America need maintenance. Do you think they will get any better if the taxes to maintain them gets the ax so you can save a few cents per gallon? Taxes pay for the infrastructure WE ALL USE. I don't mind paying gas taxes so the roads are maintained.'

Said the rest of the trip was pretty quiet and peaceful.