Spring Break
George W. Bush: champion of the American laborer
Phil Elder
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Opinion
For the past eight years, and indeed several more before his presidency, Bush has repeatedly attempted to paint himself as a working class hero - masking his trust fund arrogance, governor daddy and old money upbringing, attempt at a Yale education and complete and total physical removal from anything working-class with a $500 cowboy hat, jeans with bits of dust on them and a complete ignorance of and disdain for basic English grammatical structure.
This adoration of the American laborer has been reflected ad nauseum in his economic policies. His attempt to completely dismantle Social Security in 2005, his annual financial breaks for the wealthiest 5 percent (97 percent of the benefits from the 2006 tax policy affected only those with a gross annual income of $200,000 or more) his savage assaults on public education and affordable healthcare, and his persistence in destroying the working class labor market, are just minute examples of the titanic levels of compassion Bush vaunts for the American proletariat.
Now concerned with the homogeneity of his legacy, Bush hopes to internationally perpetuate his love for laborers everywhere. He has rushed Congress into voting through a free trade agreement with Colombia, to strengthen our national security, boost ourselves economically and send a clear message throughout the rest of the world.
Colombia was an excellent choice for this trade agreement, as they are world-famous for sharing Bush's commiseration for the working class.
Said compassion is represented statistically by the 39 trade unionists murdered in 2007, the 11 (to date) in 2008, and the fact that only 70 cases of union murders since 1986, around 3 percent, have resulted in convictions. Union membership in Colombia is now below 5 percent.
Not to mention, of course, that the Colombian government has repeatedly failed to bring its labor laws into compliance with international norms, has failed in many cases to enforce its laws protecting workers from anti-union discrimination and has erected bureaucratic and legal obstacles to union registration and collective bargaining rights.
This adoration of the American laborer has been reflected ad nauseum in his economic policies. His attempt to completely dismantle Social Security in 2005, his annual financial breaks for the wealthiest 5 percent (97 percent of the benefits from the 2006 tax policy affected only those with a gross annual income of $200,000 or more) his savage assaults on public education and affordable healthcare, and his persistence in destroying the working class labor market, are just minute examples of the titanic levels of compassion Bush vaunts for the American proletariat.
Now concerned with the homogeneity of his legacy, Bush hopes to internationally perpetuate his love for laborers everywhere. He has rushed Congress into voting through a free trade agreement with Colombia, to strengthen our national security, boost ourselves economically and send a clear message throughout the rest of the world.
Colombia was an excellent choice for this trade agreement, as they are world-famous for sharing Bush's commiseration for the working class.
Said compassion is represented statistically by the 39 trade unionists murdered in 2007, the 11 (to date) in 2008, and the fact that only 70 cases of union murders since 1986, around 3 percent, have resulted in convictions. Union membership in Colombia is now below 5 percent.
Not to mention, of course, that the Colombian government has repeatedly failed to bring its labor laws into compliance with international norms, has failed in many cases to enforce its laws protecting workers from anti-union discrimination and has erected bureaucratic and legal obstacles to union registration and collective bargaining rights.
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