Posted on 04/03/2016 4:54:10 AM PDT by cba123
Maurice King worked for Joerns Healthcare, a medical furniture manufacturer, for nearly 43 years. Until suddenly one day, he didnt.
Joerns shuttered its plant in Stevens Point, Wis., in 2012 after years of gradually outsourcing work to China. It cut loose 175 workers. Now the 62-year-old former local steelworkers union president works a 2-11 p.m. shift at a fan factory.
No more local fish fries on Friday nights with his wife, or his side job for 25 years as town chairman in Dewey, population 975. He hasnt yet earned a week of vacation. As for retirement? Thats been pushed back.
"You had the job, you figured you were planning out how things were going to go," King said. "Now you've got to back up and rethink."
Establishment voices of economists, government and business officials argue that trade deals are critical in a global economy, and great for America. But critics such as organized labor call them "death warrants."
And in blue collar communities in Wisconsin and across the industrial Midwest, that economic angst, coupled with some sense of betrayal, helps explain the roiling politics of 2016.
Wisconsin has lost more than more than 68,000 manufacturing jobs since the mid-1990s and the first of several controversial trade pacts with Mexico, China and others took hold.
Wisconsin votes Tuesday. But soon after come other industrial states, including Pennsylvania. And all could be battlegrounds this fall in the general election.
And a lot will look like Milwaukee, once known as "the machine shop to the world," now grappling with a new economy.
Wisconsin has lost more than more than 68,000 manufacturing jobs since the mid-1990s and the first of several controversial trade pacts with Mexico, China and others took hold.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article69551672.html#storylink=cpy
(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...
Independents are generally more liberal than Republicans. No surprise there.
I Wonder if the oppressive union and its demand for high wages had anything to do with it.
Maybe it did for larger manufacturers. Small manufacturers took a big hit, especially since 2007. I worked in the office of a now closed down small manufacturer. How can they sell their widget for $1.00 if companies can get it from China for .07. Wages are stagnant. Some companies froze pay or asked for wage cut. Doesn’t help that anyone with a green card or stolen identity will work for even less. American workers are hurting.
“Im sure at 62 he can retrain as a Neurosurgeon.”
Yeah.
“...it was Bill Clinton who conferred most Favored Nations Status on a brutal Communist Regime in China and paved the way and signed the lopsided NAFTA. “
I don’t know about the MFN for China but NAFTA was a bi-partisan deal. In fact, iirc, it was a Republican deal with Clinton “crossing the aisle” to support it. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
The Free Traders on this sit will tell you its ALWAYS the employees fault.
Always.
One of them told me recently that Americans should be willing to work for $5/hr. I told him to do that for a year and get back to us.
Yes. However Clinton signed the deal.
He also reversed his campaigned pledge, IE LIED, and gave China Most Favored Nations Status. Only after his millions in ‘donations’ from Charlie Tree and the other illegal donations.
http://tech.mit.edu/V114/N27/china.27w.html
There are a lot of out-of-touch 1% ers on Free Republic. Funny thing if you ask these guys who they support for President thy won’t answer.
He probably got the blue collar / rust belt vote as the ONLY candidate who showed up at the Carrier plant after the company said we’re moving to Mexico, I think in March.
The Dems are doing their level best to make sure no jobs are created in WI - they managed to kill the Walker/Republican bill for development of the iron mine up north and only relented length of environmental studies ... on a worm ... DJT & all Federal politicians have no effect on this sort of shenanigans.
Private insurance and cash could use anything, anyone. Could we have a 2 tier system? One tier capitalist and one tier protectionist/socialist?
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