January 5, 2006 – “Is Vice President Cheney coming to the Harley-Davidson plant to announce a change in the administration’s trade policies that have cost so many U.S. workers their jobs?” asked Midwest Territory GVP James E. Brown about a planned visit by the Vice President to the legendary motorcycle maker’s facility in Kansas City, Missouri.
“Maybe the Vice President is here to reassure workers at Harley that they will not be the next victims of tax and trade policies that actually encourage companies to troll the globe for the cheapest labor and the lowest environmental standards,” said Brown.
“Despite Bush administration policies and the lure of cheap labor overseas, the IAM and Harley-Davidson are successfully preserving a brand name and a product that truly deserves to be called an ‘American classic,’” explained Brown. A spokesperson for the Vice President claimed the factory is a good example of how the president’s economic policies help America’s workers and businesses.
“It would be more fitting for the Vice President to acknowledge this administration’s epic record of failures than to take credit for a success story that has flourished in spite of the administration’s policies, rather than because of them,” said Brown.