For Immediate Release
Tuesday, January 29, 2002
President's Domestic Agenda Reflects Misguided Economic Priorities
But AFSCME Stands Right by His Side on War and Homeland Security
WASHINGTON —Responding to President Bush's State of the Union address, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, said that while the union fully supports the President's war against terror at home and abroad, his administration's plan for economic recovery and some other domestic priorities don't do enough to help working families.
"While we stand with the President and our military 100% in the fight against terrorism, we strongly disagree with his focus on helping out his industry friends with tax giveaways before helping the rest of America," said AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee.
The President's proposals would do little to stimulate economic recovery or help laid-off workers and small businesses get back on their feet, but would benefit many large corporations.
When President Bush took office, he inherited the strongest economy in the nation's history and the largest budget surpluses in a generation. Only a year later, the nation is in a recession, 8 million Americans are out of work, $4 trillion in projected surpluses have disappeared, and the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds have been raided.
AFSCME supports the President's proposal to spend more on homeland security but believes that his budgetary priorities fail to protect the nation's security in other critical areas such as economic growth, Social Security, and real prescription drug coverage under Medicare. AFSCME has been especially vocal about the need for the federal government to assist the growing numbers of states and localities facing budget crises and an increasing inability to pay for skyrocketing health costs and job training and other assistance for recently unemployed workers. But the President's business tax cuts would make the states' fiscal situation worse.
"The recession is hurting millions of working families, and they need measures now that put money into their pockets so that they can help get our economy back on track," President McEntee added.
