Today, Caterpillar, the largest employer in Illinois’ 17th District, announced it plans to lay off over 10,000 workers. The manufacturing company employs over 3,200 workers in its Peoria headquarters.
In the 2012 election, then-Congressional candidate Cheri Bustos promised to help manufacturing, using nice rhetoric that she would develop the district into “manufacturing triangle.” But Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman criticized Bustos’ trade rhetoric as an “absolute abomination.”
Bustos voted against trade promotion authority earlier this year, while Caterpillar passionately supported the legislation.
Now, it’s clear that Bustos’ manufacturing talk was just empty rhetoric, and her actual votes have only helped contribute to the terrible news about Caterpillar’s layoffs.