Trump's plans would cost jobs

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Labor Day has come and gone and many Americans think of it as a well-deserved holiday for workers – and it is. It is also a holiday about workers. This annual observation that dates back to September 5, 1882, is a direct result of the labor movement, celebrating the social and economic achievements of America's workers.

While some may criticize unions, consider this: they led the fight against 12-hour work days, seven-day-a-week jobs, substandard wages, and the horrors of children as young as first graders working in factories and mines. They led the fight for eight-hour workdays, adopted in 1916, and passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, which helped to regulate child labor and set standards for minimum wage and overtime pay.

With Election Day nearing, we would do well to remember these facts, to know that the Democratic Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, has stood firmly with labor to create good-paying jobs, build a stronger and fairer economy, invest in infrastructure and manufacturing, and support our small businesses, which will spur many more good paying jobs. Compared with that of the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, there is plenty of reason to worry.

His idea of economic expansion is to help those in the top one percent. Offering trillions in tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires and Wall Street folks. Those who will lose out the most are America's working families. In fact, it has been estimated that Trump's plans would actually cost millions of jobs and ruin our economy.

Rhode Island has not been spared the impact of the 2008 Great Recession and we have been slow in recovering. As we go to the polls this election season, I would urge all Democrats, independents and Republicans to consider just how devastating a Trump presidency would be on our state and nation. The future really is in your hands.

Joseph M. McNamara is Rhode Island's Democratic Party Chair, a state Representative from District 19 Warwick/Cranston, and retired public school administrator, and Chair of HEW and member of the New England Board of Higher Education.

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