AFL-CIO
815 Sixteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006

John J. Sweeney,

I would like to let you know how disappointed I am in the way that your organization is engaging in voter "misinformation" during the current presidential campaign. According to radio and TV ads that you have aired in my area (eastern NC), Representative Funderburk voted "with Newt Gingrich" to cut $270 billion from Medicare to fund a "tax cut for the wealthy". Of course, this is complete lie! Not an exaggeration, but a complete lie! He voted to INCREASE Medicare spending. It is my understanding that you are using this same ad to target all Republicans who voted for the budget, ignoring of course the many Democrats who voted "with Newt Gingrich" (and I might add, with the American public). What is even worse, is that you are doing this under the guise of "voter education". I would call it brain-washing, not education. More insulting is the fact the ads are paid for by people like myself (40% of AFL-CIO members voted Republican in 94 and are likely to do so in 96). How can your organization pretend to stand for working families, yet oppose the balanced budget ammendment? A balanced budget alone would shave 2% off of the interest rate on my home's mortgage and save me about $100 month for the next 28 years! Tell me, how many AFL-CIO members would benefit from that? How about the $500 per child tax credit, supported wholeheartly by rank-and-file unionists? For my family (one income/3 children), this would cut my Federal Income Tax bill in half! $1500 is nothing for someone like me to sneeze at. Why would your organization oppose it? I guess your organization cares about as much for working families as the ACLU cares about our Right to Bear Arms.

Until now, my involvement in elections has strictly been voting, but your blatant falsehood has convinced me to volunteer my time to help local Republicans get the REAL truth out. You should be ashamed of yourself and your organization. Didn't your mother teach you better?

I would be interested to hear your defense of the AFL-CIO's despicable electioneering, if you have the balls to defend them, that is.

(signed)
John Morales

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