There is just SO much fun stuff out there to tweak the Bushies with, isn’t there?
Sure, there’s got to be just as much potential amusement to be had at the expense of the Kerry side, but then again, he hasn’t had time to set himself up for all the jokes yet.
Anyway, what do you think of this little tidbit?
The official merchandise Web site for President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign has sold clothing made in Burma, whose goods were banned by Bush from the U.S. last year to punish its military dictatorship.
The merchandise sold on http://www.georgewbushstore.com includes a $49.95 fleece pullover, embroidered with the Bush-Cheney ’04 logo and bearing a label stating it was made in Burma, now Myanmar. The jacket was sent to Newsday as part of an order that included a shirt made in Mexico and a hat not bearing a country-of-origin label.
The Bush merchandise is handled by Spalding Group, a 20-year-old supplier of campaign products and services in Louisville, Ky., that says it worked for the last five Republican presidential nominees.
… Violators of the import ban are subject to fines and jail, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Burmese textile workers earn as little as 7 cents per hour, according to the National Labor Committee, a human rights group.
… Last week, Newsday ordered a hat, T-shirt and fleece pullover or jacket from both the Bush and Kerry campaign stores. The Bush merchandise – which totaled $81.85 – arrived this week. The Kerry products, worth $62, have yet to arrive because the fleece jacket was on back order, according to Financial Innovations, the company that licenses and sells Kerry merchandise on the Web site http://www.kerrygear.com.
The campaigns receive no profits from the merchandise because of federal election regulations.
The Kerry merchandise was made in the United States, according to Mark Weiner, the president of Financial Innovations. The company, whose employees belong to the Communications Workers of America Union, sources most of its merchandise from union factories.
“It’s becoming more difficult to find American-made union product, especially in textiles, but you just have to look. We pay more money for them, so we make a smaller profit margin,” said Paul McConnell, Financial Innovations’ vice president.
Well, at least the Bush administration is creating jobs somewhere, right?
