Poll: More Manufacturing Can Stop Economic Slide
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In the global economic race, the United States is coming in second—and one of the major reasons is that we have stopped making things in this country. A recent poll shows the public thinks it’s going to be that way for awhile. Only one in five Americans say the U.S. economy is the world’s strongest. Nearly half (47 percent) say China’s economy is stronger and only one in three expects the United States to regain the top spot in the next 20 years. Nearly three-fifths of those surveyed say that increasing competition from lower-paid workers around the world will keep living standards for average Americans from growing as fast as they did in the past.
The poll, conducted for Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor, found that behind the public’s concerns are the related issues of the global economy and the loss of manufacturing jobs. Nearly 60 percent say the nation cannot continue to lose manufacturing jobs.
The uneasiness over the global economy is reflected in responses to the question of whether free trade has been good or bad for the United States. Only college educated whites, people ages 18 to 29 and folks making more than $75,000 think free trade has been good for the nation. Everybody else across racial, economic and education lines are clear that it has not helped.
The main reason people cite for the lack of faith in free trade is that it encourages employers to ship jobs overseas. When asked why manufacturing has declined, 58 percent of respondents say U.S. manufacturers have shifted jobs overseas to take advantage of cheap labor to achieve higher profits.
Shuler: Unions Can Play Critical Role in Training Nation’s Workers
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To be more competitive in the global economy, U.S. business and government must greatly increase their investment in education and skills training. Unions can play a critical role in making sure our workers have the skills and knowledge they need, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler said today.
Shuler participated in a panel sponsored by the National Journal, “Why Should Business Invest in Increasing Education Attainment.” She told the group that unions have created a model for investment in education in the form of joint labor-management programs where the voice of the worker is heard, and his/her input is taken into account.
For example, she said, while companies and education experts are trying to find ways to train more skilled workers, the AFL-CIO and our union affiliates have a long history of partnering with businesses in many industries. Our labor apprenticeships and skills training programs contribute some $1.6 billion annually to the national economy, she said.
Trumka: Tuesday’s Vote Was About Jobs, Not Republican Agenda
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America’s voters are angry about the economy and the lack of jobs, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said this morning during a discussion at the National Journal’s “The Day After” conference. And if Republicans don’t listen to what the voters were saying, they will be thrown out in 2012.
Trumka said the Republicans would be making a big mistake if they believe voters endorsed the Republican agenda. The votes in fact were a rebuke to the party in power, he said. Speaking to Mike Duncan, chairman of American Crossroads, the Republican mega political action group, Trumka said:
The America people know the economy doesn’t work. They’re suffering and they’re angry because of that and you’re going to have to come up with a way to create jobs and get the economy back on the move. They’re frustrated not because too much was done, but too little was done. But now that you’re in the governing structure, you just can’t say no.
Big Insurance Funds Chamber of Commerce to Kill Health Care Reform
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The nation’s biggest health insurers have been funneling money quietly to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to air lie-filled, scare-mongering commercials about health care reform.
Like Capt. Renault, who discovered there was gambling going on at Rick’s Café Américain in Casablanca, we are: “Shocked, shocked….” Yeah, right.
Most observers of the health care reform fight suspected the major insurers that make up the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) were helping to foot the bill for the latest round of ads by two “business coalitions” subsidized by the Chamber. But it wasn’t until Peter Stone at the National Journal connected the dots that we had proof.
Dan Pfeiffer, White House communications director, says the report confirms
one of Washington’s worst-kept secrets—which is big insurance companies are fighting tooth and nail to kill health reform that will wrest power from their hands and give it to American families.
