As Factory Job Losses Rise, So Do Risks to Bush

[True_Blue]

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — The gales of globalization are blowing hard across America's factory belt, but Cathy Schuldt does not plan to go quietly into the postindustrial era.

Schuldt, owner of Butler Wire & Metal Products Inc. in this Milwaukee suburb, laid off 19 of her plant's 49 employees after her customers began buying welded-wire baskets from Chinese suppliers who could deliver finished products for less than she was paying for raw materials.

She had plenty of company: The exodus from America's factories is responsible for all but 29,000 of the nearly 2.6 million U.S. jobs lost since President Bush took office. And that could have political ramifications as people like Schuldt share their pain in the voting booth.

Schuldt and her friends say they feel betrayed, abandoned and disenfranchised by the nation's economic elite and its defenders in Washington.
more....
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wisconsin25oct25,1,1919280.story?coll=la-home-leftrail

[madrchsod]

1. yup ,bush goes down under

for 21 hrs and hides out then leaves..the chinese leader is there for three days touring the city and meeting with the power brokers. i think the republicans are about to fire bush...

[jamesinca]

2. They won't fire him

They will get Jerry Fallwell in there to give a hellfire and brimstone speech. Bush will continue to talk of the great and improving economy. He will continue to talk of the great virtue of the war in Iraq. He will continue to talk of $2,000 plate dinners. He will continue to talk of Hussein and bin-Ladden as hating us for our freedoms. He will just continue to talk. And he does not feel he needs to do more than that because of black box voting, because of the 95% support for Limbaugh by his fans after the drug exposure, because his is a clueless idiot. He was shocked that the rest of the world sees him as so pro Isreal that he would be willing to destroy any and all things Muslim. He just did not understand that when it was mentioned to him in Bali a few days ago. He has no clue how the world views him, he must only watch FOX cable news.

[Avalon Sparks]

3. Great article - thanks for posting!

I know it's the LA Times - but I think because these jobs are leaving at such a fast pace now, the word is getting out to people.

I see articles about this almost everyday now, and letters to the editor in the Houston Post, Dallas Morning News, and Austin Statesman quite frequently about it.

Word is getting out and I do believe it will have an effect at the voting booth.

This quote from the article is what we need to harp on:

economists say it is likely that many of the lost jobs will not be restored. That's because most of the losses are attributable to permanent, structural shifts instead of the cyclical layoffs typical of past recessions.

I think for awhile many people have been thinking this is just a normal business cycle, but the longer it goes on and the more information like this that gets out, people will start to wake up.


This also caught my attention:

"They're not all going to come back," acknowledged National Assn. of Manufacturers President Jerry Jasinowski. Displaced factory workers "will have to move on," he said, into growing sectors of the economy, such as home building and health care.

This is bullshit - if jobs keep hemorraging like this, there won't be much demand for homebuilding and more people won't have access to healthcare due to lack of insurance or money.

Are we headed toward a society that barters services for food and rent? Who is going to be able to pay for services when that's all a majority of people can offer?

[SoCalDem]

6. That is so "BULLSHIT"...

They totally blow off the fact that a 45 yr old person who has worked there for many years, and does not have the skills or the MONEY to get other skills, is just plain SCREWED..

These are the "same folks" who ruined the lives of steelworkers, foundry workers, auto workers...you name it.. People were raising families, sending kids to college, buying homes & cars, and because a robot or an Indonesian child would do the work for less, THEY were suddenly cast off like a used kleenex.. They and their families did not just dieappear.. They still needed shelter,food, clothing..

The systematic unraveling of middle class society is a sad fact.. I don't see it changing anytime soon.. It's all about money in the pockets of the upper class.. That is all that matters..:(

[fizzana]

4. A whole lot more than 2.6 million manufacturing jobs have been

lost. The 2.6 million number is the overall number of jobs lost since Bush took over. This doesn't include the $50K plus jobs will ful benefits, pensions etc that have been replaced by $25K no benefits, no pension jobs.

I haven't seen those numbers enumberated anywhere but guaranteed they are huge.

[RowWellandLive]

5. What do we do about the manufactoring job losses?

It's easy to blame * but Clinton and other Dems also supported free trade agreements like NAFTA, GATT and fast tract. Is protectionism the answer? If so what about the farmers and others that want to sell their products abroad and will suffer if they are not able to? * supported steel tariffs and got widely criticized for that. I agreed with that decision but it seems as if it might have done more harm then good.

I am very conflicted on the issue of trade. There are no clear cut partisan lines or answers. We might capitalize on the loss of these jobs but what can we do to keep them here and prosper in the long run?

Trade is probably the only issue where my heart and mind are up for grabs. I need intelligent advice in this matter!

[eagler]

7. IMHO fair trade and free trade are 2 separate things.

Trade with Japan or Germany is near parity which ensures healthy competiton but trading with China or Pakistansupports slave labor and makes fair trade impossible.

[RDANGELO]

13. I thinc the uncertainty comes

from the fact that the corporate controlled media presents the issue in a way that makes people thinc in terms of total protectionism or total free trade. What needs to be done is make the global economy work in a way that is fair to everybody. What we have now is a situation where all the wealth is transering to the top of the economic income ladder. The WTO doesn't care about labor standards or human rights.

[Skittles]

8. are they saying only 29K IT jobs have been lost?

I beg to differ

[goforit]

9. Risk for Bush???.........Not with a rigged election system!!!!

A minority of 5% can literally vote this dimwit in with
this padded rigged computer system!!!

What is happenning in this country, no matter how bad, will
have no effect on the voting system!!!

[The Zanti Regent]

14. I want a paper trail

If I have to use paper to go to the john, I should have the right to use paper when I vote!

[La_Serpiente]

10. I noticed that the jobless claims have been going down

However, I would also like to see how many blue collar workers or manufacturing jobs have been lost. I am sure the statistic would be quite revealing.

[UpInArms]

11. the shi-ite will hit the fan when

all-American Harley becomes "made in China"

One company that has stood apart is Harley-Davidson, the icon of American motorcycle machismo whose Milwaukee-area factories have become a required backdrop for visiting politicians, including Bush and members of his Cabinet. The company has kept its five assembly lines operating, maintained wages and benefits, and resisted the trend toward moving production overseas.

But that may be about to change. The company has informed the union representing its 1,600 Milwaukee-area production workers that unless some way is found to reduce the cost of building transmissions, it will consider moving the work elsewhere. About 200 jobs could be affected.

[gulliver]

12. Getting Bush out of office is the tip of the iceberg.

It's amazing to me how an issue affecting millions of people and the future economic stability of the United States can so easily be turned into a forum about the political fortunes of Bush Junior. This thing is bigger than Junior. The hemorrhaging of American jobs -- and not just manufacturing jobs -- is an indictment of the whole GOP.

We need to get crony capitalism out of power, and we need to do it fast. And that means booting out Republicans, big time. Their party is the root site of the infection that is wrecking the economy for all but the wealthy. They need to be excised.

[reprobate]

15. Please don't leave out the DLC democrats.

They are responsible for the clinton stand on NAFTA which lost us a bunch of jobs. This is not a party problem. It's a class warfare problem. It's time we all woke up and accepted the fact that we are now fighting a class war, and their goal is to transfer the wealth upward and leave the rest of us with only the crumbs. And there ain't nothing we can do about it. Hence the rumblings of revolution that can be heard if you listen carefully.

[gulliver]

17. It's not the DLC Democrats at all!

I know. I know. I despise the corporate pandering that that wing of the party does too.

But bottom line, there would be no "DLC Democrats" if the people behind Bush had not opened the door so widely to corruption.

DLC pandering is a rearguard action. The head of the monster is squarely in the sold out GOP.

[Beaker]

16. Have some fun in Freeperville.

Go over to freerepuke and browse the term "job losses". It seems that some of them are starting to come out of the coma, while others are slipping ever deeeper into theirs.