You're a liberal. You've identified a problem -- the massive loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States; a net loss of 4.6 million jobs over the last 20 years. You've even done a decent job of identifying the causes of the problem: "Companies lose market share to foreign low-cost producers . . . or move their operations overseas in search of lower wages . . . or apply production techniques that require fewer workers."
So, what's your solution? Measures like reducing taxes and regulation to make U.S. manufacturers more competitive, perhaps? Of course not! Remember, you're a liberal. No, your solution is what you yourself describe as a "massive" new welfare program for affected workers and communities that will contribute to making U.S. manufacturers even less competitive and destroy even more jobs!
That is the approach proposed by Gary Chaison in his Boston Globe column of this morning, Disaster relief needed for manufacturing:
The best answer is to treat the closing of major manufacturing plants as the emergencies that they are. This means providing the intensive, comprehensive aid similar to what is given in disaster-stricken communities.A massive nationally coordinated and community-focused relief program for job losses in manufacturing has never been attempted. But federal departments, including those for emergency relief, health and human services, commerce, environment affairs, and transportation must work together to devise specific plans to make declining communities attractive and thriving again.
Relief plans should include extended unemployment insurance and healthcare benefits for displaced workers as well as assistance to help them meet rent and mortgage payments. Special low-interest and forgivable loans should be provided by the Small Business Administration to keep downtown merchants afloat. Federal grants should be directed at rebuilding schools and modernizing hospitals, and training and raising the pay of teachers, firefighters, police, and healthcare workers. To be judged successful, a comprehensive plan should not only attract employers but also rebuild and revive entire communities, from their schools to their shopping.
So there it is. A "massive" new welfare program that is part of a "comprehensive plan" for "entire communities." Say, why not give it a name? "Five Year Plan for Aiding Hero Workers and Rebuilding Entire Communities for Glory of Motherland" has a nice ring.
Does Chaison even attempt to calculate the cost of his proposals, or how such additional costs will translate into higher taxes that will discourage economic growth and kill more jobs? How many times do I have to tell you? We're talking about a liberal here.
Oh, and not just any old liberal. This isn't a college sophomore indulging his utopian big-government fantasies. It's the guy who's teaching that college sophomore. As we're informed at the foot: "Gary Chaison is professor of industrial relations at Clark University's Graduate School of Management and the author of 'Unions in America.'" Comforting to know that fellows like this are molding the minds of tomorrow, no?
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Comments Policy
Masters of the World
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 06:02 ET by allanfLiberals put their faith in government, not in people.
"A liberal is a person who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which he proposes to pay with your money"
Chaison completely misses
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 06:19 ET by motherbeltChaison completely misses the point that relief after a natural disaster is aimed at getting the businesses in a community functioning again.
His plan is to simply "take care of" the town, so that no one has to leave to find a new job, or make any changes in their lives. It is nothing more than a government-run nanny-town: extended unemployment, loans that don't have to be paid back (why doesn't he just call them gifts?), raising the pay of people who didn't lose their jobs. Prop up the businesses that are losing revenue because people don't have money to spend... And this is supposed to attract new businesses????
Yeah, that's the ticket!
It's designed to attract & benefit
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 06:32 ET by sarcasmoThe "business" of being a professor of unions, maybe? :) Seriously, this guy apparently wants full economic control over others' lives and wallets. That means in the end that he's just as dangerous as those who would want full social control over other human beings, and for many of the same reasons.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
That's like giving someone
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 08:29 ET by dmntd1That's like giving someone tylenol when they break their arm. It hurts, let's treat the symptom. Ignore the cause of the problem (broken bone).
I really think that questioning others' masculinity is a game probably better left to people who haven't had more cock in and out of them than a Tyson Chicken regional distribution center. AceOfSpades 06162007
liberals
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 09:45 ET by iveseenitallJust as with all liberal plans, give vent to your own ideology, first and foremost. Never consider small matters like viability, cost, whom it will hurt, or the bigger picture down the road. Besides, won't it make us all feel good? Nonetheless, lets do this---right after we bail out all those who've overpaid for their houses. Scheeze! Modern "progressive" liberals have destroyed everything they've touched for at least 40 years. They are sickening.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
A clever plan
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 08:30 ET by KC MulvilleThis plan is about as strategic as paying consumers to buy your product. Even if the sales numbers spike up, you actually don't gain any advantage.
Restoring a manufacturing base takes the same care as a farmer cultivating a field. You don't get anything overnight, and overnight solutions usually destory the soil instead of making it more productive. After all, if you're thinking about building a factory in a particular area, and you suddenly discover that the federal government has guaranteed a huge pay raise and tax hike, you're going to flee as fast as possible.
Gain an advantage KC? Shame
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 08:44 ET by VT Con ManGain an advantage KC? Shame shame, in the la la land of the Liberal, gaining an advantage is downright eeeeevvvvviiiiillll. Almost as bad as being called a "Capitalist".
Does anyone have a 300 million wide door?
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 09:40 ET by KC MulvilleAgreed. Liberals value equality (even of poverty) over progress. It's like demanding that all 300 million Americans have to go through the door at the same time. It makes more sense to allow some to go before others. Justice doesn't demand that we all stand still until we all go together ... justice means that we make sure no one locks the door behind them.
This plan is about as
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 08:45 ET byThis plan is about as strategic as paying consumers to buy your product after you tax the product 50% to get the money to pay the consumers
Supreme Court, National Security, Borders, Fiscal Restraint, my litmus test for President.
It's Typical
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 08:59 ET by pbthinkerAt the company, where I work, we carried a line of American made products. Customers would come in to buy them and the cost would, typically, be around $20.00. The complaint would come, "I can buy this across town for $5.00." I would say something about the 5 dollar product being made in China and the common retort was they didn't care.
I don't look at these customers as conservative or liberal, just typical consumers. There are many reasons why American goods are more expensive than foreign made goods, some of them we can do something about and some of them we can't. How much of the cost, of manufacturing goods, can be associated with trial lawyers? The trial lawyers, in the U.S., have added costs to everything we buy and there is no way to hold them accountable. I would love to see an analysis done that shows just what this cost is so people could figure out if it's worth it or not.
Wouldn't it be interesting, if this professor, would teach a class actually trying to understand this issue to see what could be done to stop the outflow of jobs. Alas, that's not the way Liberals are. They would much rather have an issue than a solution.
Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Yes PB
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 09:07 ET byand thank you John Edwards for your contribution to the two americas
Supreme Court, National Security, Borders, Fiscal Restraint, my litmus test for President.
You got that right
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 15:44 ET by general companyThey would much rather have an issue than a solution.
And if they do suggest a solution it usally leads to bigger problems
pbt, Typical consumers, new mantra:
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 16:38 ET by upcountrywaterOld mantra: "The best that money can buy"..
New mantra: " The MOST that money can buy".
The only reason that USA is still in the manufacturing game is because we have the best automation systems, in the world.
Good enough to compete with Dollar-a-day workers from elsewhere.
That's some good news ;-) eh
Entitlement over infrastructure every SINGLE time.
Lose the income tax
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 09:35 ET by LionKingOne easy way to make US companies more competitive would be to elimintate the income tax, both personal and corporate. What liberals fail to understand is that taxes are considered a business expense...all business expenses are passed onto the consumers.
Liberals don't understand
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 15:40 ET by general companyLiberals don't understand the concept, they want our government to raise gas taxes to punish Big Oil, as if they would not just pass those cost right on to us. Suggesting they are thick is an understatement
"...to make declining
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 09:43 ET by bassndude"...to make declining communities attractive and thriving again." Ok now, let me get this right. The way to make a community a thriving community is a giant money give away? A system that is designed to keep folks at or below poverty level? Nothing about reducing taxes on the companys to keep them viable? Seems to me, the more poor people they have, the less attractive the community is going to be.
And I bet this guy complains about how much war costs.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
National Self Reliance
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 10:22 ET by takingmyconstitutionalIt is misleading to say that all "liberals" think like that. Some of us are more interested in comprehensive approaches than bandaids. We could start by recognizing that economic globalization and national security are two concepts that are at odds. What good is NAFTA and the other treaties if we are left with a bunch of citizens who lose their well-paid jobs and can't afford to buy the imported stuff we could have made ourselves? And where are we going to be in a national emergency if we have no industrial infrastructure?
Imagine how the U.S. would have fared after Pearl Harbor without its vast industrial infrastructure, its energy self-reliance, and its abundant agricultural resources. Where it DID have to scramble was in securing a supply of rubber---and that was largely because it ignored Thomas Edison's recognition that in wartime, the U.S. would have only a small "homegrown" source---guayule plants grown in the Soutwest. Edison spent the last years of his life (he died in 1931) investigating many domestic plants for their rubber potential. And interestingly enough, a young Army colonel, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was co-author of a 1930 report urging more attention to guayule production.
In short, any nation that values its independence should work to assure that it has a basic industrial infrastructure, energy independence, and a homegrown supply of food, fiber, etc.
So then we should be
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 10:29 ET bySo then we should be preparing to open ANWR to oil companies?
Supreme Court, National Security, Borders, Fiscal Restraint, my litmus test for President.
You won't get an answer botg
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 12:39 ET by SportPoliticsLast weeks prior I saw here the report that our manufacturing base has been expanding. It was a government report the press would not tell anyone about.
Most people in this thread still believe manufacturing is contracting in the USA. My conservative freedom first friend whines as Michael Moore taught him about the car manufacturers closing down, which I guess is the only "manufacturing job" anyone has ever heard about.
Everyone whines, while our unemployment is low and population increases they tell me our jobs are disappearing (it's ****'in magic for them, their magic mind is a rotten crabapple pit of absolute STUPIDITY), manufacturing is up, and people are enjoying the modern conveniences in the past 30 years like they never have before, their parents never had, and their grandparents never dreamed of.
I'm so sick of the crybabies, and it certainly has infected the republicans. There's only so long people can go before the constant drum of lies takes them and they believe it wether its true or not.
So what is the deal, has manufacturing actually expanded, or was that whole thing a big lie ? ( population is going up up up up up up- unemployment is down - jobs are SOMEWHERE the idiots never seem to realize - of course the government is lying....that's ALWAYS the answer for them)
I love those people who scream everyone in government is a lying thieving cheat, whenever there is a government report that cites any progress, they claim its all lies ( like unemployment figures or the expansion of manufacturing in the USA ) - but as soon as there is bad news- or very bad news from some government agency, they scream from the rooftops that the truth has been told. Oh they can't stop wailing about it and gleefully spreading it's absolutely accurate verdict of destruction.
I seriously wish they would SHUT THEIR STUPID LYING COCKEYED traps. Pick one side or the other - either it's all lies or it isn't, no switching your BS pattern in the middle of it all.
" It's not that we want to take things over, we don't want a bandaid we want a "comprehensive"...blah blah blah blah " < STICK IT UP you know where liar.
So, anyway, what were you saying botg, and where is his answer ? :)
so anyway
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 12:59 ET byi was merely adding the final conclusion to takingadump's post whether he likes it or not. And yes i realize he dumps and runs (a hygiene practice that gets a 99% approval rating from 'one square Crow') If you go to the link check out the pictures of the wildlife whichs seems to love the pipeline. Reminds me of the 'reefs' made up of old navy ships. Seems nature flourishes when man-made structures provide warmth and shelter. Secondly check out the pristine (or desolate?) coastal plain pictures, alas not much grows above the artic circle it must be Bush stealing the sun for six months yeah that's it blame W.
Supreme Court, National Security, Borders, Fiscal Restraint, my litmus test for President.
Pet peeves and animalistic behavior
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 17:01 ET by acumenbotg - You're post reminded me of Survivorman (Les Stroud) on The Discovery Channel. Every episode features "survivorman" being dropped off in some remote area and fending for himself with little material help.
Although an admirer of Les' survivor skills, in every episode I have watched he stumbles across some evidence of man being there before, i.e. - a cooler lid, an old can, etc and begins whining about man trashing the environment. Les' displeasure with such behavior is immediately followed by Les "amazingly" finding some useful purpose for these discarded items to aid in his survival. Les is evidently oblivious to the dichotomy of his whining over finding something he considers offensive followed by his delight in finding something useful to help keep him alive.
The analogy comes to mind of someone finding a 100 dollar bill and then complaining of litterbugs. Which in turn brings to mind the old saying; Ones man's trash is anothers treasure. I guess that old saying is applicable also to animals such as Caribou and pipe lines as well as closer to home the local racoons nightly pilgramage to my trash receptacle.
BTW - An important result left out of TMC's example of America's lack of rubber in WWII was the developement of a substitute of equal importance - polyurethane. Polyurethane was used in WWII for everything from mustard gas resistant garments to high-gloss airplane finishes. Certainly basic resources are important, particularly in a time of war, but not as important as the uncanny ability of Americans to improvise in desperate circumstances. Something our military has engaged in since their beginning. One can look at the success of the "surge" in Iraq as a demonstration of this ability to improvise in modern times. And of course these discoveries are then eventually offered to benefit all of mankind.
BTW SP
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 13:06 ET bywhat's with his rubber fixation? room for one?
Supreme Court, National Security, Borders, Fiscal Restraint, my litmus test for President.
Oh sorry botg , let me answer for mr flippin lying lib
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 12:42 ET by SportPoliticsWell, no if you try to drill ANWR we should execute you for destruction of natural lands and resources and murdering caribou.
What we LIBS need is : A GIGANTIC JFK TO THE MOON SIZED PROJECT BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE.
( that's why **key breath didn't answer you)
I know a lot about this
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 13:39 ET by MidAmericaI know a lot about this subject. I live in an area that has seen many thousands of good paying jobs leave the area. The town I live in is struggling to reinvent itself.
Having sucsessful industry in a town brings in millions of dollars in wages and a big tax base for the city. When that suddenly stops a way must be found to transition to a new economy.
For one thing, manufacturing jobs generally involve people who are not trained to do anything other than a factory type job. Extended unemployment benefits only help if there will be a new job when the benefits do run out. One of the best benefits offered here was free or discounted schooling to the displaced workers.
"What good is NAFTA and the
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 17:50 ET by ckc1227"What good is NAFTA and the other treaties if we are left with a bunch
of citizens who lose their well-paid jobs and can't afford to buy the
imported stuff we could have made ourselves?"
Yeah, no one would lose their "well-paid job" if only we would do away with that NAFTA stuff.
Here's a an excerpt from a John Stossel article that visits, though maybe not directly, this flawed line of thinking:
"Caplan divides them into three categories: antimarket bias, antiforeign
bias, make-work bias and pessimistic bias.
Antimarket bias describes
people feeling that trade and profit are zero-sum games, that one
person's gain is another person's loss. They haven't learned that free
exchange is win-win and that in a free market, profit comes from
cost-cutting innovation.
Antiforeign bias, perhaps a vestige of
primitive man, consists of distrusting "them" even though our
prosperity increases according to how global the division of labor is.
Foreigners don't want to invade us; they want to sell us useful things.
Make-work bias is the belief that what makes us rich is jobs, rather
than goods, and so anything that eliminates jobs is bad. If that were
really true, we could prosper by outlawing all inventions created after
1920. Think of all the jobs that would create! Finally,
pessimistic bias is the view that any economic problem is proof of
general decline. Lots of people actually think we're poorer than our
grandparents were!"
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/08/economic_illiteracy.html
A few quotes to remember...
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 18:16 ET by Tom1969ca"Liberals measure their compassion by how many people their policies can help. Conservatives measure their compassion by how many people no longer need the government's help as a result of their policies."
-- Rush Limbaugh
"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."
-- Ronald Reagan
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
-- Ronald Reagan
~~~
If you don't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!
But first---
Sat, 09/01/2007 - 23:13 ET by misterbillBut first---let's create a lot of good jobs so that there are employed people to pay the tax burden of this munificence. I am glad I was a techie--this economics schtick is so hard to understand!!!!!!!!
This fool makes communism look workable.
Why liberals "think" the way they do
Sun, 09/02/2007 - 08:55 ET by w0tmView http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c
to FINALLY understand why liberals think the way they do. This was the most informative 47 minutes I've ever spent. View this video and you'll have little in politics to talk about in the future. You'll realize the futility of speaking truth, facts and common sense to a liberal (thinking it will begin to sink in and they'll then thank you for it). It's a waste of time. Total waste of time. You'll have more success speaking to a brick wall.
Chaison of Clark University
Sun, 09/02/2007 - 11:51 ET by Rick on Cape Cod BayAllowing leftists to frame the argument guarantees their unfair advantage. Clark University is as far to the left as Hillsdale or Liberty is to the right. They claim objectivity because they are liars, plain and simple.