McCain Has a New Welfare Plan
Written by Sam on December 21st, 2007In his latest attack on the free market and what appears to be a calculated political move to appeal to Michigan voters, John McCain wants to create a new welfare program for manufacturing workers.According to the Detroit Free Press, Senator McCain announced yesterday a plan to use federal dollars to make up the salary difference for workers who lose manufacturing jobs and are forced to accept lower-paying jobs until they find new careers.“This is exactly the kind of plan you expect to hear from the Democratic candidates, not an alleged economic conservative,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “The government should not be in the business of guaranteeing wages. In a dynamic economy, wage and employment changes are inevitable and part of the normal process of economic growth and technological innovation.”
“In addition, McCain’s welfare program has the potential to unleash a series of perverse incentives, the worst of which is the disincentive to learn new skills and assume challenging new career paths. Why make an effort to learn new skills and take on a challenge when John McCain will make taxpayers pay your former wage for even a minimum wage job? The program also has the potential to be exorbitantly expensive as many workers opt to settle for low-paying jobs so long as McCain doles out taxpayer subsidies.”
“This is the latest evidence that John McCain doesn’t appreciate the normal dynamics of a healthy economy and lacks confidence in the ability of workers to forge a successful new career without government handouts.”
Just as I was beginning to warm up to the guy he goes and pulls crap like this out of his hat. Is this his strategy for winning Michigan? Hell, if I ever get laid off I’ll never go back to work again. I won’t need to. John McCain will just give me your money.
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Great minds think alike, Sam. I still haven’t picked out a candidate, but I was THIS close to choosing McCain. I even starting thinking about what I would write in my blog when I did so. Well… so much for that.
Back to the drawing board…
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Is he trying to stall his campaign again?
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McCain needs to shut up sometimes. This is definitely one of them.
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I was about to say I was a solid McCain voter…as nuts as that seems, until I read this.
Wow
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Elephants never forget, but Republicans do–and even about the most important things. It never ceases to amaze me that, after all the times McCain has spat in our eyes, Republicans still need to be reminded of how horrible he is.
Thank goodness for this news, and let’s hope it gets the circulation it deserves.
I can’t understand why so many conservatives are still considering McCain. Do they honestly think that McCain would be so much better as president than he’s been as a senator? I understand that all the other electable candidates are totally untrustworthy, but for crying out loud, WE KNOW McCain is going to screw us on so many issues when he becomes president. There’s no uncertainty about this AT ALL. You think McCain is going to bow to conservative pressure when he’s got the power of the presidency behind him?
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There once was a man named McCain,
and he had a lot to explain.
Some of his bills,
seemed to be bitter pills,
that conservatives flushed down the drain.
Sorry, but there IS a reason for my nickname, after all.
Alan, you’re mostly right about St. John. The thing is, I have a soft spot for “tell it like it is” candidates, and if they happen to be genuine war heroes, well that’s even better. I supported him over Bush in 2000, and stand by my belief that he would have made a better President than W. I also differ from most of y’all on this page in that while I don’t like McCain-Feingold, I think campaign finance reform should be a major issue.
I was willing to tolerate McCain right up until the Shamnesty bill, then I washed my hands of him and moved on. But as we got closer to the primaries, I looked around at the other candidates, and damn if McCain didn’t look like a reasonable option compared to Two Mitts and Tax Hike Mike Huckabee.
Look at some of McCain’s GOOD qualities. He was against earmarks and profligate spending before it fashionable. He supported the surge long before Bush came around. Of any presidential candidate, I trust McCain the most to fight the War on Terror. Despite his opposition to the Bush tax cuts, he’s promised not to raise taxes and I believe him.
But then he goes and pulls this nonsense. The Republican Party will not win by trying to out-Dem the Democrats with “free” stuff. I will always believe that McCain is an American hero, and I will always respect him. But I’m done supporting him.
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You don’t have to support John McCain. We have Mitt Romney!