Listen Closely (State of the Union)

Tuesday night, President George W. Bush will lay out his 2006 agenda in his State of the Union speech, and working families will be listening closely. Time and again we have seen the president dress up anti-worker proposals with friendly sounding titles—but when his congressional allies adopt them, the results are disastrous for working families.

So when you’re listening to President Bush speak, think about what his previous proposals have really meant to working people like us:

* When Bush talks about health insurance, remember the disastrous Medicare drug prescription scam his team in Congress pushed through. It has stranded tens of thousands of seniors without needed medications and forced some 20 states to declare public health emergencies because President Bush put the interest of drug companies ahead of the interests of seniors.
* When the president talks about health care costs, remember that he and his allies in Congress refused to allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies, costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
* When Bush talks about taxes, remember the huge tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans he and congressional leaders already passed and the ever-growing debt they are leaving to our children and grandchildren.
* When Bush talks about opportunity, remember how the income disparity is growing as wages fall and the cost of living rises for working families.
* When Bush talks about education, remember that he and leaders in Congress have pushed higher education out of reach for many by cutting student loans.
* When Bush talks about keeping America safe, remember his administration’s utter failure to rescue desperate victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The State of the Union address always dominates headlines the next day and generates plenty of water cooler conversations. When you’re talking to friends and family about President Bush’s 2006 agenda and the congressional leadership that will carry it forward, remind them how the agendas of the past five years have turned out for working families.

In Solidarity,

Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO

After the State of the Union address, visit the AFL-CIO’s website for more coverage:

http://www.aflcio.org