When Joe Wilson went to Congress in December 2001, South Carolina’s unemployment rate was 5.7 percent. Today, 10.8 percent of South Carolinians are without jobs, including 112,500 people who have lost their manufacturing jobs.



Manufacturing was the backbone of South Carolina’s economy, until unfair trade deals like CAFTA went into effect. CAFTA sent thousands of our jobs overseas, and people all across the state knew that would happen before the first vote was cast.



But that didn’t stop Joe Wilson. Joe Wilson voted for CAFTA and broke his promise to protect South Carolina’s workers, sending their jobs to Central America. The real insult is that Joe Wilson cast the deciding vote for CAFTA. If Wilson voted “No” CAFTA would not have passed.



It was that simple, and Joe Wilson didn’t have the courage to do what’s right. South Carolina towns are dying-- people are struggling to put food on the table-- and it all comes down to Joe Wilson turning his back on South Carolina’s workers by voting “Yes” for CAFTA.

When Bush pushed CAFTA through Congress, it was a very close win for the GOP's Big Business allies. The final vote was 217-215 . Although 187 Democrats voted against it-- only 15 joining the Republicans in favor-- Boehner, Blunt, Cantor, Ryan delivered for their corporate masters once again. For the last month Boehner has been running around the country like a bright orange chicken without a head squawking, "Where are the jobs, Mr. President?"It's an ironic question coming from one of the engineers responsible for passing trade policies that have systematically decimated the basis of America's manufacturing base. Boehner and his cronies-- their wallets fat with gargantuan payoffs from outsourcers-- have voted for every single bad trade bill that has ever promised to ship American jobs overseas. For Boehner to publicly ask where the jobs are is a slap in the face to every American worker and an insult to the intelligence of every Ohio voter. In the Senate, Obama looked at the exact same CAFTA bill Boehner and the Republicans did. Then-Senator Obama voted against it . Several conservative Senate Republicans voted NO as well (John Thune, Lindsey Graham, David Vitter, Mike Enzi, Richard Shelby...) but voting to send American jobs to slave wage economies: Jim DeMint, Richard Burr, Mike DeWine, Chuck Grassley, Blanche Lincoln, John McCain, Ben Nelson and, of course Miss McConnell. All the Democrats voted against it with the exception of a small handful of corporate whores who habitually vote with the GOP against working families.But let's go back to the House for a moment, where every member has to face the voters in November. Why are Ohio voters thinking of reelecting John Boehner, who has screwed them on WTO, screwed them on CAFTA, screwed them on NAFTA and has the temerity to be boosting plans for more unbalanced trade legislation with a handful of more low-wage countries. I know he wants to destroy the standard of living of American workers and make them into serfs but who does he think will be buying American goods and services to keep our consumer-driven economy afloat if there are no decent jobs? Not everyone can be a caddy or bartender!Instead of asking Justin Coussoule for another quote about Boehner's record on jobs and how it has devastated businesses and the economy from Butler County up through Darke, Miami and Mercer, we took a look at a perfectly framed ad by Rob Miller, the former marine running against Joe "You Lie" Wilson. Although South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham warned that CAFTA would be disastrous for South Carolina's textile industry and small businesses (and voted NO), at the last minute Wilson was persuaded by Boehner's slick blandishments and voted YES, along with Gresham Barrett and Bob Inglis, both of whom have been disposed of by tea party activists. Miller's TV ad should leave Wilson reeling:We caught up with Rob this morning and asked him if Wilson, just one Member of Congress, really hurt South Carolina with his vote. We knew the answer but we wanted to see how Rob would put it. He put it well:I hope lots of Democrats watch Rob's ad. Similar ones would be especially effective against Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mike Castle (R-DE), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and John Boozman (R-AR) four particularly corrupt Wall Street darlings who are all trying to upgrade from the House to the Senate. It may also be useful for Democrats in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and New Mexico to keep in mind as Charlie Bass, Mike Fitzpatrick and Steve Pearce try to slip back into office without letting voters know they were major players in the battles to pass CAFTA and similarly toxic trade bills.

Labels: Bush trade policies, CAFTA, Joe Wilson, Rob Miller, South Carolina