As Factory Job Losses Rise, So Do Risks to Bush

[DBoon]

From:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wisconsin25oct25,1,1919280.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Choice quotes:

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...

...Since 1979, when manufacturing employment peaked at 19.6 million, 1 in 4 factory jobs have disappeared. It took more than two decades to lose the first 2.5 million. The second 2.5 million have gone away since Bush took office in January 2001....

Over the four years of the elder Bush's presidency, America lost factory jobs at a rate of about 26,000 a month. Since his son settled in the White House, the monthly job loss has averaged nearly 80,000.

"Unless perceptions change, this could be a big problem for the president," said G. Donald Ferree Jr. of the University of Wisconsin Survey Center.

[ima_sinnic]

1. "It took more than two decades to lose the first 2.5 million.

The second 2.5 million have gone away since Bush took office in January 2001...."

But somehow he will find a way to blame it on Clinton.

[livinontheedge]

2. What would democrats do to stop factory job losses?

It's easy to blast away at Bush's incompetency. Take job losses. We'll say "Bush lost these jobs". Great. Now what are we going to do to get them back? If we want the voters to go our way, we have to tell them what we would do differently. Protectionism maybe? Tax incentives (more corporate welfare)? I dunno. But people know what our candidates are against. Now we need to tell people what we are for. It's easy to say we want to reduce the loss of factory jobs. Buy someone is going to ask "okay, how do you propose to do that?"

[Old and In the Way]

4. I agree.

We need to annunciate a clear new vision of our future. IMHO, it all revolves around energy.

The Republican vision on energy is a real loser. We will be stuck fighting wars of occupation and spilling American blood for our share of a dwindling resource as long as the Bush Roilists control our energy policy. It is a vision of no American future.

The Democrats ought to be focused on restructring our enconomy to promote alrernative and renewable energy resources. We should be reinvesting in our economy to change over to energy models that are decentralized and inefficient (that are job intensive). This vision/model should revolutionize our urban transit systems. Technology that promotes energy efficiency should be rewarded by public tax credits and private investment.

If we don't start changing the Republican energy vision, we are going to be in deep trouble in 30 short years. That's about 10 years after we've crossed the threshold of demand/consumption outstripping supply.

[Beaker]

10. Yes.

Alternative Energy is the key to our next future.

Someone once pointed out to me how throughout history, when a new means of producing energy is introduced/developed, it marks the start of a huge economic boomtime, and rise in quality of life.

[Silverhair]

12. YES, Now look at Thermal Depolymerization Plants.

In fact, I'll try to start a thread on it later today or tomorrow.

[Beetwasher]

11. Massive Public Works and Grants Programs Aimed At

Transforming this country by making a complete shift away from fossil fuels. Public works focused on public transit systems, and grid upgrades. Grants for more research on alternative energy like hydrogen fuel cells. Tax incentives to people who by alternatively fueled cars and build homes using alternative energy and companies that switch to alternate energy sources. The new alternative energy industry would fuel the ecomony like nothing else has...

[gulliver]

5. We tell them ...

... both what we are for and what we are against. I'm sorry, but you are completely wrong if you are trying to suggest that we steer clear of attack. That simply changes the subject to one the Bushies find more manageable.

It isn't Bush's incompetency that is causing the problem at all. It's the extreme, deadly competency of the people behind Bush. The problem is not merely with specific GOP betrayals of the working and middle class. There are many of those. The problem is that the GOP has sold itself completely and opened the door to legalized corruption of the U.S. government.

You can reduce the loss of factory jobs by simply making it financially unpalatable for the corporations behind Bush to allow those jobs to disappear. Right now, in spreadsheet analyses across the country, corporate leaders are making decisions. Do we tool up and keep our American labor force or do we make a bunch of campaign contributions?

The answer is obvious. If a corporation can simply give 90% of its campaign contributions to Republicans (and 10% to Dems for cover), that corporation can keep the great Bushian ad campaign going. These corporations can take all of the jobs they want out of the country, and there will be no penalty at all from Bush. On the contrary, Bush will cover for them.

[Warpy]

3. The loss of factory jobs

..won't hurt Bush. You can take that to the bank.

However, what is going to hurt this gang of thieves is the steady loss of office jobs.

Yes, office jobs, the mainstay of suburbia. Jobs from medical transcription to accounts receivable to customer service, to telemarketing are all being shipped to any third world country where there is a program to teach the kiddies English. So far, India's been the big winner, but the practice is likely to spread from there. Look for one of your next calls to buy aluminum siding or a cemetary plot to be done with a Jamaican accent. Look for your question about that odd phone bill to be answered by a nice lady in India who doesn't have a clue.

This loss of the type of job the average Pubbie likes (comfy quarters, clean hands, nice clothes) is going to KILL the GOP. If the Dems don't start addressing the offshore migration of all the "good" jobs, they're dead, too.

[Abe Linkman]

6. Good points, but only to those who have lost their jobs

...and they may or may not bother themselves to go to the polls. People are very lazy and self-centered, so those in suburbia who still have their jobs certainly won't vote against bush merely because their despised neighbor lost HER job, and those that HAVE lost a job can be easily swayed to vote FOR bush based on a wedge issue (e.g. "well, BUSH didn't send my job to India, and he IS trying to protect unborn children").

[meti57b]

8. what you say is true, but ... everyone surely feels threatened by the.....

current economy. Everyone except that is, the ultra-wealthy. I sometimes think the truly wealthy repubs are not only stealing the wealth of the middle class and whatever the poor might be entitled to from the government, the wealthy are also looking to bankrupt everyone else, so that even if their wealth remains the same, the rest of us are made much more poor by comparison. (if you get my drift)

Anyone feeling secure right now must live in the hills of Idaho (does Idaho have hills?) and shoot bear for dinner.

[BlueJazz]

7. It should be noticed also, that author states:

"Unless perceptions change, this could be a big problem for the president," said G. Donald Ferree Jr. of the University of Wisconsin Survey Center.

The key phrase is "Unless perceptions change"
and we all are sadly aware how the Right-Wing media can spin a
sows ear into a gold purse.
....as another poster said....You can take that to the bank.

[FloridaPat]

9. But 1.5 million hi-tech computer jobs have been lost in the

last 3 years! Long way from 29,000. If only 29,000 programming jobs had left, I wouldn't have been on unemployment for 9 months and finally got a job at half my last income level.