Misleader Home A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion
Photo: Collage of President Bush and White House
Navigation: Who We Are Navigation: Special Reports Navigation: Ask the Experts Navigation: Feedback Navigation: Donate Navigation: Tell a Friend Navigation: Contact Us

Receive the Daily Mislead
Get a look past the rhetoric, every day, delivered to your in-box by noon eastern.

your email:

Member of the press?


             Privacy policy


In the Spotlight
Bush Campaign Ads . . . Brought to You by Special Interests
As President Bush's $10.5 million campaign ad blitz begins, Public Citizen released a report outlining who helped pay for the campaign ads and what favors they have received during his presidency.

Special Reports
No Child Left Behind? The Funding Gap in ESEA and Other Federal Education Programs
The current reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), raises high expectations for achievement and imposes stringent measures of accountability on students, teachers, and schools.

See the Ad


A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion
Send The Misleader to a Friend | Printer Friendly Version | Want the Mislead on your site?



March 19, 2004 | Daily Mislead Archive

Bush Markets Burmese Products; Evades Own Trade Ban



According to a new report, President Bush's official campaign is selling clothing made in Burma - a country whose goods Bush banned for sale in the U.S. because of their awful human rights, narcotics and sex trafficking record. According to Newsday, "the merchandise sold on 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."1

The decision by the president's campaign to defy its own embargo directly contradicts the president's pledge to enforce existing trade laws. Just this week the president said Americans need to be "treated fairly" and pledged to "make sure the playing field is level" on trade.2 But his decision to market Burmese textile products evades laws that prevent American workers from having to compete with Burmese workers who have no minimum wage, human rights or labor protections. Since Bush was elected, thousands of textile jobs have been lost -- particularly in the South - and many have questioned whether the Administration is adequately enforcing trade laws.3

On top of evading his own trade laws, the president's effective endorsement of Burmese goods means his campaign is marketing products from a country the State Department has repeatedly condemned for human rights abuses4 and that the Treasury Department has cited for laundering money from illegal narcotics dealers5. Just last year, the president told the United Nations it needed to more seriously address international sex slavery, saying, "there's a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable."6 But his own campaign is now marketing products from a country that experts cite as one of the leaders in international sex trafficking.7

Sources:
  1. "Bush campaign gear made in Burma", Newsday, 03/18/2004.
  2. "President Discusses Health Access", 03/16/2004.
  3. "4,000 textile jobs lost in 2003", Charleston Post and Courier, 01/14/2004.
  4. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Burma, US Department of State, 02/25/2004.
  5. States News Service, 03/04/2004.
  6. "President Bush Addresses United Nations General Assembly", 09/23/2003.
  7. "Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation: Burma/Myanmar".



Send the Misleader to a Friend | Print It | Misleader Archive