Sly fox

Dear George:

I was going to start by saying that since I am the Vice President of a Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union, you probably think that I am a vile and loathsome sort of person. But it dawned on me that since I'm not worth tens of millions of dollars, you don't even realize that I exist. Yes, that’s right Mr. Bush, I'm one of those people that thinks a person deserves a livable wage and some respect in the workplace. I think that safety and protection in the workplace is important even if it cuts into your corporate pals bonuses.

I feel that it's important to remember that it was the working class that built this country, it's cities and the corporations that don't seem to have problems laying off thousands of workers daily so that they can relocate overseas to make an even bigger profit margin. Your administration seems to think that free trade and outsourcing are a good thing. Maybe for someone it is, but not the working class American family. Something is wrong when I'm buying American corporation products that were built overseas. When thousands of jobs are lost overseas in billing and technology fields. But since your administration thinks this is “good for the American economy” then I suppose it must be so.

You claim that Unions are unfair to all contractors since they hinder the “fair” bidding process. So with the stroke of your pen you get rid of the Project Labor Agreements (PLA's) that working men and women fought so hard for, for many years. Then you turn around and give Halliburton a NO BID contract. I know that because Mr. Cheney was at one time the CEO of that company, it had no bearing on your decision since you are so committed to ensuring fairness for contractors and it's workers.

Oh, did I mention that I was also a trustee of our health/welfare and pension funds? It's interesting watching health care costs go up about 27% across the board yearly and prescription costs shoot up 100 to 112% yearly while you sit by and do nothing. Well you did do that little Medicare thing which is now going to cost our retirees a bit more in prescriptions.

But hey Mr. Bush, that’s ok...just as long as you and your pals are doing ok, we'll find a way to muddle through. Maybe retirees throughout the country can get a no name brand of dog food instead of that high dollar ALPO for their meals, to help supplement their higher health care costs.

But wait a minute you say!!, how about the retirement check they get?? Well Mr. Bush, thanks to the economy, stock markets have devastated some pension funds (corporate scandal and greed others), and when people don't work they don't put hours(money) into the funds. While it was great of you to bail out the pension funds of large corporations, you made up your mind not to help the self funded and multi-employer funds.

Just an oversight on your part I'm sure. These are funds that several small employers use together to try to generate a decent retirement for their smaller workforces and used by several Unions whose members have an hourly contribution added to the funds.

Just before 9/11 you were ready to open the borders between the U.S. and Mexico allowing the flood of dirt cheap labor into the country. Well there you go, good thinking, if the American worker won't help to increase the commitment to corporate greed....lets just turn the United States into a third world country. That'll show those greedy workers. And then lets drop the EPA standards so that the corporations won't have to pay those nasty fines and spend money for the improvements needed to clean their acts up. Hey wait a second! They also don't have to pay wages to the men and women that have to work on these improvements.

You’re a genius Mr. Bush. And to think that all this time I followed the beliefs that many people share that you are “dumber than a box of rocks”. *wink* If they only knew what a sly fox you really were. It'll be our little secret.

While religion has never really been my strong suit, for the first time I actually pray that you are going to be a one term wonder and that Kerry can get us out of the mess you've gotten us into. It's not so much that I'm die hard Kerry fan, but Mr. Bush I honestly don't believe the country can survive another 4 years of you in office. I would hope that you would have the good of the country in your heart and do what’s right..... Take whatever payments the puppet masters have offered you and bow out gracefully into obscurity.

Mike
Age 43
Seaford, DE