The California Labor Federation put out a statement today calling the following ad “patently offensive.” Watch closely and see if you can spot the outrage. (I couldn’t.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRiIvImUaP0&hl=en_US&fs=1]
The full statement from Steve Smith, of the California Labor Federation, follows after the jump. Billionaires, it seems, are not people too.
To: Interested Parties
From: Steve Smith, Communications Director, California Labor Federation
Re: Meg Whitman’s New TV Spot
Meg Whitman’s avalanche of obscene campaign spending continues today with the launch of her latest TV spot, which disingenuously claims she can relate to our state’s unemployed. It’s patently offensive that a billionaire like Whitman would even suggest she understands what families that have been devastated by unemployment are going through. Meg Whitman’s life of wealth and privilege means she’s never had to worry about losing her home, paying household bills or affording to put her kids through college. These are the issues California families struggle with every day. We need real solutions to the jobs crisis, not slick soundbites that fit neatly into a 30-second TV ad. And we certainly don’t need a billionaire telling our state’s unemployed that she understands the “human cost” of joblessness.
While Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs were wrecking our economy and causing mass job loss, Whitman and other corporate executives built their fortunes. Everywhere Whitman has gone throughout her career as a high-paid corporate executive, jobs have disappeared. Her jobs plan is simple: eliminate, outsource and downsize.
If Meg Whitman were serious about solving our unemployment crisis and rebuilding our middle class, she wouldn’t be proposing to cut the jobs of 40,000 nurses, teachers, librarians and other state workers. She wouldn’t be attacking private sector workers’ overtime pay and guaranteed meal breaks. Unfortunately, Whitman just doesn’t get it. She thinks that if she spends enough money trying to fool California voters with slick TV spots that hide her true agenda, she’ll skate to victory. We’ve got news for her: That’s not how it works. The 2.1 million member California Labor Federation along with community groups and allies across the state are going to be working every day from now through November to expose Whitman’s Wall St. agenda to ensure voters know exactly who she is and what she really supports.