![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[Politics] Half-truths
Apr. 21st, 2006 01:34 pmDrugde Report's page: Republicans have struggled to get credit for low unemployment and steady growth...
No duh.
The number of new jobs in non-service industries have declined to near extinction. So, while new jobs are being created they are lower-waged opportunities which few people can actually survive on (much less pay for health care, save for retirement, ect).
The primary reason for the loss of manufacturing jobs in America is so called "free-trade" agreements put in place to increase the overall well being of citizens of all classes in participating countries. The reality is that the wealthy and corporations have profited immensely from agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA (stop it!) and GATT. The poor and middle classes have been lured into a false sense of security with lower prices. Cheaper products always have a price somewhere else in the world. NAFTA in particular led to the obliteration of Mexico's agriculture industry during the 1990s. Companies like Wal*Mart use low-paying labor pools (cents per hour wages) to make goods for Americans.
When long term and short term unemployment decrease, and when cheap-labor jobs are replaced with good manufacturing & technology jobs then we will have cause to celebrate. Manipulating statistics helps partison politicians and hurts the people of this country. Clinton democrats played with numbers in the 90s just as Reagan did in the 80s (and like Bush republicans are doing in this decade).
No duh.
The number of new jobs in non-service industries have declined to near extinction. So, while new jobs are being created they are lower-waged opportunities which few people can actually survive on (much less pay for health care, save for retirement, ect).
The primary reason for the loss of manufacturing jobs in America is so called "free-trade" agreements put in place to increase the overall well being of citizens of all classes in participating countries. The reality is that the wealthy and corporations have profited immensely from agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA (stop it!) and GATT. The poor and middle classes have been lured into a false sense of security with lower prices. Cheaper products always have a price somewhere else in the world. NAFTA in particular led to the obliteration of Mexico's agriculture industry during the 1990s. Companies like Wal*Mart use low-paying labor pools (cents per hour wages) to make goods for Americans.
When long term and short term unemployment decrease, and when cheap-labor jobs are replaced with good manufacturing & technology jobs then we will have cause to celebrate. Manipulating statistics helps partison politicians and hurts the people of this country. Clinton democrats played with numbers in the 90s just as Reagan did in the 80s (and like Bush republicans are doing in this decade).
