Political Quotes

“we have to be honest about it, yes, for the vast majority of workers, wages are going down. Yes, we have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs for our working people, but we have not been totally fair tonight; and that is we must acknowledge that some people are doing well. We have to say that, and we do have to point out that the CEO's of major American corporations last year, and I am sure everybody will be happy to hear this, especially if you are among the richest 1 percent, saw a 54 percent increase in their compensation. So some people are doing very well. The average worker has seen a decline in his or her wages, but the richest people in America have never had it so good. So that explains to us why they pour millions and millions of dollars into their lobbyist friends and their television ads and newspaper ads telling us why we should support NAFTA and GATT. The trade agreement is working for all of you out there who are millionaires and billionaires. In fact, over the last 15 years it is rather remarkable. While the real wages of American workers have gone down, we have seen a proliferation of millionaires. In 1982 there were 12 billionaires in the United States, 12 billionaires. Today there are 135. So in all fairness, these trade agreements are working very well for millionaires and billionaires. But for the vast majority of our people, they are resulting in significant job loss and the pressure to lower wages.”