Democrat calls out Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. on economic lies

There's a woman in New Jersey who has a problem with Congressman Tom Kean Jr. and the little fantasy land he’s selling—one where the economy’s booming, jobs are plentiful, and everything’s just peachy.

Kean’s story is getting spun out of Washington, but it does not make sense in the reality-based world. No, this one’s coming from the land of make-believe, courtesy of Kean and his pals who are still looking for the magic bullet that’ll fix everything without lifting a finger for the people who actually work for a living.

Lisa McCormick, a Democratic activist with no patience for the kind of nonsense Kean’s pushing, laid it all out.

In a fiery, no-holds-barred rebuke, she called out Kean for spreading “blatant falsehoods” about the economy—claims that belong in the same place as Trump’s tall tales.

Kean had the nerve to stand up after Trump’s recent Joint Address and sing the praises of a "booming" economy, painting a picture of a world where everything’s coming up roses. Well, McCormick’s not buying it, and neither should you.

She called out Kean for living in a bubble while American workers are getting their pink slips by the thousands. You know, the economy’s “booming” according to Kean, but try telling that to the 172,017 folks who lost their jobs just in February alone—highest numbers since the last two recessions.

And let’s not forget the 80,000 employees facing the ax at the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the other 62,530 jobs shed across 17 federal agencies. McCormick’s got the receipts, and they don’t match Kean’s rosy outlook.

“These are real people losing their livelihoods,” said McCormick, an anti-establishment progressive who earned 159,998 votes in the 2018 Democratic primary for US Senate. “No amount of spin will change the fact that their policies are failing American workers. If Kean has the courage to face the truth, I challenge him to stand in front of the thousands of unemployed workers in New Jersey and tell them how ‘booming’ the economy really is.”

Her response to Kean is blunt, straight from the gut: “The economy is not booming,” she said. The $1.7 trillion in “new investments” Kean touts? That’s not exactly the whole truth, either.

She pointed out that a big chunk of that number comes from a deal involving Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company—a company that’s expanding in Arizona, not exactly a windfall for the average American worker. And yet, Kean’s standing up there, like he’s giving us a free ride to prosperity, all the while Trump’s administration is blocking legislation that could make a real difference in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.

McCormick didn’t stop there. She made sure to point out the real story: millions of Americans are struggling. Nearly half can’t afford healthcare, a third can’t cover a $400 emergency, and grocery bills are stressing out more than half the population. So much for the "booming" economy, huh?

She also put the whole trickle-down economics myth to rest, pointing out that it didn’t work in the Great Depression, and it didn’t work under Reagan, Bush, or Trump. She’s calling for an end to the policies that line the pockets of the rich and leave the rest of us scrambling to make ends meet.

But it’s not just the government layoffs or the tech and retail sectors cutting jobs—no, Kean’s little fantasy world includes his stock purchases. Yeah, while average Americans are fighting to keep their jobs, Kean’s out here buying shares in companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Crown Holdings. All this while he’s selling us a story about a “booming” economy. McCormick’s not letting him off the hook.

She challenged Kean—stand in front of the unemployed, the people who’ve been laid off, the ones who can’t pay for their groceries—and tell them how great things are. Tell them about the booming economy that doesn’t even reach them. McCormick’s out here calling for accountability. The kind of accountability Kean and his pals don’t want to face because, at the end of the day, it’s not about the people. It’s about the power—and the money.

“Trickle-down economics failed when President Hoover tried it during the Great Depression, and our experiences under Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Trump have proven that giving handouts to the wealthy never benefits working Americans,” McCormick said. “If we don’t reverse Reaganomics, outlaw bribery, and restore fairness to our tax system, the American Dream will remain a nightmare for the people who actually built this country.”

So while Kean and his Republican buddies keep selling their fantasy, McCormick’s keeping it real. And when the next election comes around, let’s hope voters remember who’s working for them, and who’s just trying to make a buck off their misery.