Hillary Clinton participated in the live TV show, “This week With George Stephanopoulos” in Indianapolis this Sunday.  The show was aired before studio audience, and the members of the audience had an opportunity to ask the candidate questions directly.  There was a question on trade.  Senator Clinton was asked by a voter: “Hillary, Alexander Hamilton said that the key to U.S. supremacy in the world is the manufacturing sector. Sens. Obama and McCain have stated that these manufacturing jobs that we’ve lost cannot be brought back to Indiana or United States. What is your position? Do you agree with Sens. Obama and McCain?” 
 

Well, Indiana’s manufacturing sector has been hard-hit in the last seven years.  Stephanopoulos did preface the question
by saying that Indiana lost 45,000 manufacturing jobs to China in that period of time.  That is true, but he didn’t mention that the total manufacturing job loss in Indiana from 2000 to 2007 was 109,800.

Senator Clinton said that she believed that the declining manufacturing base is a threat to the overall economy.  She continued, “we need to change the tax code to take out any single benefit from your tax dollars that goes to any business that exports a job out of Indiana to any foreign country. It’s outrageous. It’s unpatriotic that is still going on.” The candidate advocated for strong labor and environmental standards in our trade agreements. “if you go to work in Indiana, there are certain rules that the employers have to follow to protect your safety and your health, and there are certain consumer rules,” said Clinton,”but look what’s happening with China. You know, we get lead-laced toys and contaminated pet food and polluted pharmaceuticals, sent back into our market; they get our jobs.”  She specifically singled out the defence industry to say that: “if we are going to have a half-a-trillion defense budget, then I want to see American workers do what is necessary to produce the defense materials and good for our country.”

There were members of the Steelworkers Union in the audience.  These guys got up before dawn to hear the candidate speak about trade and other important issues.  The voters in TV studios and on the campaign trail should remind the candidates that real jobs and real livelihoods are at stake in this election.  What the candidates say matters a great deal to those who are will be voting tomorrow in Indiana and North Carolina.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 10:01 pm and is filed under Manufacturing in the U.S., Holding China Accountable, Enforcing Trade Laws, National Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.