Obama Echoes McCain
Posted by SCapozzola on March 21st, 2008
Barack Obama was asked about U.S. manufacturing jobs yesterday by the Charlotte Observer and his response was suitably “McCain-esque.” In a line reminiscent of McCain’s pithy “Those jobs aren’t coming back” line in Michigan, Obama started out with “Look, some of those jobs are just not coming back.” He then asked a rhetorical question: “How do we make sure more jobs don’t leave?”
Here’s an excerpt from the transcript:
Q: North Carolina has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs. What would you say to people trapped in a changing economy?
Obama: Look, some of those jobs are just not coming back. So the question is, No. 1, how do we make sure more jobs don’t leave? And that means setting up trade agreements where you actually got labor standards and environmental standards and safety standards that are enforceable, so that U.S. workers can compete on an even playing field.
ManufactureThis would like to very simply and succinctly answer Senator Obama’s question: In order to retain U.S. manufacturing jobs and grow new ones, the United States must begin to enforce its trade laws. The U.S. has trade laws on the books for a reason, and they need to be vigorously enforced in order to address dumping, subsidies, and currency manipulation by countries like China that cheat on trade agreements in violation of world trade law. Remedying unfair competition is the most immediate and tangible way to create an “even playing field.”
