In a speech to the Communications Workers of America on Tuesday, Pelosi mentioned Democrats' opposition to outsourcing. She said Democrats will end tax subsidies for companies that send jobs overseas.
Of course, they don't have a plan ready to deal with higher priced goods stemming from increased overhead. If it's truly a case of employing foreigners at a detriment to American workers, will they also end the H1-B visa program that allows foreigners to come to America and take jobs from Americans as well?
She also said Democrats support the "right of all Americans to organize," a sentiment that goes over well with labor unions such as the CWA. To protect workers who want to join unions, Pelosi said Democrats are "fighting" to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) in the House and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) in the Senate. "The bill will guarantee that when a majority of workers in a company want a union, they will get a union," Pelosi said.
Of course, "protecting workers who want to join unions" is code for shoring up Democrat votes. Because when it comes to protecting workers who don't want to join the Democrat-supporting unions, these same "champions o' poor, oppressed workers" are quick to side with Big Labor by supporting compulsory dues which finance unions' political activism.
Step 2: A Little Dose of Socialism
Democrats also support an increase in the minimum wage. Pelosi, describing the income of corporate American CEOs as "immoral," used Wal-Mart to make her point: "I was told that an entry level person at Wal-Mart, who works his or her entire career at Wal-Mart, would make as much as the CEO makes in two weeks. A lifetime of work versus two weeks in the executive suite -- this is not America, this is not fairness, this is not the basis of a strong middle class that is essential for our democracy. We must change that in our country," she said.
Sure, if that person was mediocre enough to not get promoted. The problem with Pelosi's use of Wal-Mart as an example is the fact that most of Wal-Mart's management team started in jobs on the ground floor at Wal-Mart. A specific example is Lance de la Rosa, who joined Wal-Mart 18 years ago on the ground floor and now "coordinates operations for 1,100 Wal-Mart stores in the southeast and midwest, moving millions of pieces of merchandise and tending to the big and little details that help make Wal-Mart stores work in your community." In fact, in 2004 alone, 9,000 hourly associates moved into management jobs.
Maybe Pelosi ought to be asking what's wrong with a person that spends their entire life at the bottom and never advances. It may be a lack of ability or desire. Neither of which can be cured by forcing the employer to pay them more for the same work.
But if Pelosi wants to make such a disingenuous comparison, maybe we could do the same for members of Congress. Current minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. Based on 40 hours/week, 4 weeks/month, 12 months/year, that works out to an annual salary of $9,888. Pelosi's current salary as House Minority Leader is $183,500. That means that the same poor, minimum wage-earning, Wal-Mart worker makes as much in a year as Pelosi does in just under 3 weeks. At what point will she start using her own career as a political pandering anecdote?
Step 3: Present Republican Proposals as Your Own
Pelosi also mentioned the Democrats' "Innovation Agenda" to maintain America's leadership role in the global economy. America lags behind other countries that have universal broadband deployment, Pelosi said; but the Democrats' agenda "guarantees" that every American will have affordable access to broadband within five years.
Hmmm... universal broadband in America by 2011? Sounds familiar. Just this month, the House Republican High-Tech Working Group launched the "Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda" which "emphasizes research and development, a commitment to science, and making the U.S. tax, regulatory and legal environments more attractive for innovation, can help the U.S. high-tech industry compete in the 21st century." In addition, the Bush administration's goal is to have universal high-speed Internet access by 2007.
Maybe we're seeing the Democrats trying to return to the Clinton-era strategy of co-opting Republican ideas to be successful. I guess that would at least qualify as a plan.
Step 4: Down With "Big Oil" and a little more Socialism
They claim to support energy independence, but consistently reject efforts to actually do it.Democrats support "energy independence" within ten years;
Remember the last time socialist health care was proposed?health care for all American within five years;
Meaning they will continue to force workers to contribute to the Government's Ponzi Scheme so they can continue to use it for vote-buying promises while allowing those who don't already contribute to 401(k) accounts to not put even more into such accounts. Step 5: Don't Forget the Talking Points Pelosi also tosses in the "culture of corruption" line... a culture with which she is intimately familiar.and "dignified retirement" (no privatization of Social Security) through an "AmeriSave" plan.
Does that include the Long Beach, California port leased under the Clinton administration to COSCO, a company owned by the Chinese government's Ministry of Communications? Or the Indianapolis airport, whose security has been managed by a British company since 1995? Or how about JFK airport, where a UAE company runs a cargo terminal? But under the surface of this so-called "plan", Democrats are really focused on paying Bush back for the embarrassment of their hero's impeachment. And they have to regain a majority in the House this Fall to launch their payback agenda. Fortunately for the rest of us, the Democrats haven't learned that socialism won't fly here."Democrats stand for "real security," Pelosi said, including port security. "We must have 100 percent screening of our containers that come into our ports," she said.