Wrong Direction
WRONG DIRECTION -- (House of Representatives - February 25, 2008)
Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, the favorite question of political pollsters of late is the benchmark right direction/wrong direction question: ``Do you think our country is headed in the right direction or the wrong direction?''
This year, most people say ``wrong direction,'' and the reason is because our jobs are headed in the wrong direction. There is a new report out by AMTAC, the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, that details the extent of the job loss in Ohio, the State I represent, just since 2000.
The job washout in Ohio over the past 7 years is the worst since the Great Depression. The damage to Ohio's economy has been concentrated in the manufacturing sector. Our farmers are currently enjoying record high prices for corn, soybeans, wheat, and eggs.
But manufacturing is a different story. It is the story of lost strength and of lost independence. It is the story of one of America's largest States teetering on the precipice. And the situation in Michigan is even more dire.
Our Nation has lost 3.4 million jobs in manufacturing and another 700,000 in the information sector since the beginning of the Bush administration. In the past 7 years, total nonfarm employment in Ohio has declined by 3.7 percent, a loss of over 209,400 jobs, according to Dr. Charles McMillion, author of the report. In the manufacturing sector, Ohio has lost over 236,000 jobs, most of those good-paying jobs with good benefits.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, manufacturing employment in Ohio dropped from 1 million jobs at the end of 2000 to 777,200 jobs at the end of 2007. That loss of 236,000 manufacturing jobs represents a 23.3 percent drop in employment.
Put another way, almost a quarter of the manufacturing jobs in Ohio have disappeared in the last 7 years. Only three of Ohio's metropolitan areas added jobs over the past 3 years, and none of them even matched the 4.3 percent overall U.S. job growth, which, by the way, is the weakest 7-year period since the mid-1940s demobilization after World War II.
Akron has the best recent record in Ohio, adding 4.1 percent to its job base. Then came Cincinnati and Columbus at 2 percent or less. I am going to place in the Record the job casualties in Ohio by metropolitan statistical area, and I would invite all of the candidates running for President to get off of their high horses and all these stage crowd rallies and come to us, to travel with the delegation from Ohio to places like Cleveland, Elyria, and Mentor which have lost over 48,800 manufacturing jobs. Or to Youngstown/Warren that has lost over 14,000; or to Steubenville/Weirton, West Virginia, over 3,800 jobs; or to Sandusky, which I represent, having lost 3,500 manufacturing jobs.
There you have it. That's why people in Ohio say the country is headed in the wrong direction. And why is this happening, why has Ohio lost more than a quarter of a million manufacturing jobs? The main reason, according to Auggie Tantillo, executive director of AMTAC, is the Bush administration's failed trade policies, and I might say the prior administration's as well, and the flood of imported products from everywhere in the world: China, Mexico, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The U.S. imported $1.37 trillion in manufactured goods in 2007 alone, and we incurred a trade deficit in manufacturing of half a trillion dollars. This is not the hallmark of a strong economy. This is not characteristic of an independent people. And Communist China accounted for more than 50 percent of that half-trillion-dollar deficit in manufactured goods.
According to AMTAC, America can't keep running on its China credit card to buy foreign manufactured goods. We need to make things here. We need to be a production economy, not just a finance economy. We have to restart our manufacturing engine.
According to Dr. McMillion, the author of the AMTAC report, the jobs data tell only one important part of Ohio's past-7-year economic story, yet these record job losses bear strong witness to the depressing effects of record trade deficits and the loss of U.S. production that they represent. Another key part of Ohio's past-7-year economic history is the unprecedented level of household and Federal debt that even in Ohio played a vital role in moderating the effects of import competition, outsourcing, and job loss. With the soaring engine of household debt now sputtering and debt service payments rising, strong industrial and trade policies seem urgently needed to halt Ohio's further decline.
The candidates coming through Ohio keep wondering: What do Ohioans care about? They care about job creation in the United States of America. They care about exporting goods, not jobs. They care about independence for America and the future of good jobs with good wages.
* [Begin Insert]
The favorite question of political pollsters is the benchmark right direction/wrong direction question. ``Do you think the country is headed in the right direction or wrong direction.''
This year, most people say ``wrong direction,'' and the reason is because our jobs are headed in the wrong direction.
There's a new report out by the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC) that details the extent of the job loss in Ohio since 2000.
The job washout in Ohio over the past 7 years is the worst since the Great Depression.
The damage to Ohio's economy has been concentrated in the manufacturing sector. Our farmers are currently enjoying record high prices for corn, soybeans, wheat and eggs.
But manufacturing is a different story. It's the story of lost strength and the loss of independence. It is the story of one of America's largest states, teetering on the precipice. (And the situation in Michigan is even more dire.)
Our Nation has lost 3.4 million jobs in manufacturing and another 700,000 in the information sector since the beginning of the Bush administration.
In the past 7 years, total non-farm employment in Ohio has declined by 3.7 percent, a loss of 209,400 jobs, according to Dr. Charles McMillion, author of the report.
In the manufacturing sector, Ohio has lost 236,000 jobs--many of them good paying jobs with good benefits.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, manufacturing employment in Ohio dropped from 1.01 million jobs at the end of 2000 to 777,200 at the end of 2007. That loss of 236,000 manufacturing jobs represents a 23.3 percent decline in employment.
Put another way, almost a quarter of the manufacturing jobs in Ohio have disappeared in the past seven years.
Only three of Ohio's metropolitan areas added jobs over the past 3 years and none of them even matched the 4.3 percent overall U.S. job growth (which, by the way, is the weakest 7-year period since the mid-1940's demobilization from World War II).
Akron has the best recent record in Ohio, adding 4.1 percent to its job base. Then came Cincinnati and Columbus (2 percent or less).
Here are the job casualties in Ohio by Metropolitan Statistical Area:
Cleveland/Elyria/Mentor: 48,800 manufacturing jobs; Cincinnati/Middletown: 27,100 manufacturing jobs; Dayton: 25,100 manufacturing jobs--one of the worst hit cities; Columbus: 24,700 manufacturing jobs; Toledo: 14,100 manufacturing jobs; Youngstown/Warren: 14,000 manufacturing jobs; Canton/Massillon: 13,200 manufacturing jobs; Akron: 10,100 manufacturing jobs; Springfield: 6,000 manufacturing jobs--the hardest hit city in Ohio; Mansfield: 4,300 manufacturing jobs; Lima: 3,900 manufacturing jobs; Steubenville/Weirton, West Virginia: 3,800 manufacturing jobs; and Sandusky: 3,500 manufacturing jobs.
There you have it.
That's why people in Ohio say the country's headed in the wrong direction.
And why is this happening? Why has Ohio lost more than a quarter of a million manufacturing jobs?
The main reason, according to Auggie Tantillo, executive director of AMTAC, is the Bush administration's failed trade policies and a flood of imported products from China and other low-wage countries.
The U.S. imported $1.37/trillion in manufactured goods in 2007, according to the report.
The U.S. incurred a trade deficit in manufacturing of $499 billion. That is not the hallmark of a strong economy. That is not the characteristic of an independent people.
And Communist China accounted for more than 50 percent of that half-trillion-dollar deficit in manufactured goods.
According to AMTAC, America can't keep running up its `China credit card' to buy foreign manufactured goods. We need to make things here. We need to be a production economy, not just a finance economy. We have to restart our manufacturing engine.
According to Dr. McMillion, author of the AMTAC report:
The jobs data tell only one important part of Ohio's past seven year economic story. Yet these record job losses bare strong witness to the depressing effects of record trade deficits and the loss of US production that they represent. Another key part of Ohio's past seven year economic history is the unprecedented levels of household and federal debt stimulus that--even in Ohio--played a vital role in moderating the effects of import competition, outsourcing and job loss. With the soaring engine of household debt now sputtering and debt service payments rising, strong industrial and trade policies seem urgently needed to halt Ohio's further decline.''
Source