From the Washington Times, we get this tidbit about John McCain’s address to the AFL-CIO:
Sen. John McCain threatened yesterday to cut short a speech to union leaders who booed his immigration views and challenged his statements on organized labor and the Iraq war.
"If you like, I will leave," Mr. McCain, Arizona Republican, told the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department, pivoting briefly from the lectern. He returned to the microphone after the crowd quieted.
So, McCain goes to a Hostile audience and then he gets a hostile response, he tries to run away. So much for that strong war hero image. McCain’s got an attitude problem. Its been witnessed on debate after debate. He’s the great John McCain, how dare anyone boo him! How dare anyone disagree with him? Anyone who opposes anything he believes in is against reform or racist. Its gone from straight talk to arrogance and the more people see the new McCain, the less they’re going to like it.
However, McCain goes to make a more clueless assertion on immigration (hat tip: Clayton Cramer):
But he took more questions, including a pointed one on his immigration plan.McCain responded by saying immigrants were taking jobs nobody else wanted. He offered anybody in the crowd $50 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona.
Shouts of protest rose from the crowd, with some accepting McCain’s job offer.
“I’ll take it!” one man shouted.
McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. “You can’t do it, my friends.”
Some in the crowd said they didn’t appreciate McCain questioning their work ethic.
This is a totally clueless statement. You figure that out. $50 an hour adds up to $2000/week which adds up to $104,000 per year. America’s per Capita Income is $32,937 per year. So, what McCain’s saying is that the average American would refuse $71,000 extra per year to pick lettuce.
Ask people at Taco Bell earning $6.50 or $9.00 an hour depending on the area whether they’d go pick lettuce for $50.00 and you’re going to get a strong chorus of yeses.
McCain’s attack is an insult to the integrity of the American people. Now, even if illegals leave I’m not going to pretend they’ll pay people $50 an hour to pick lettuce, but there are Americans who already work for far less than what would be paid for Agriculture workers in a post-illegal world.
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