Posted on 02/28/2004 11:10:08 AM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
Commerce Secretary Donald Evans told workers at a Macomb Township factory Friday that the Bush administration is turning the economy around, but won't be satisfied until more jobs are created.
"We had growth of about 4.3 percent at the end of 2003, and we'll see about the same in 2004. But we're still not seeing the job creation we'd like to see," said Evans, who toured Michigan Production Machining with U.S. Rep. Candice Miller. "There's nothing more important than a job. It's at the center of our society."
Evans held a question-and-answer session on the factory floor, stressing that the president's top 2004 priority is to make his tax cuts permanent. Evans also expressed concern about the United States' ability to compete with China's low wages, willingness to steal product designs and manipulated currency rates.
The commerce secretary visited a company that is thriving at a time when Michigan has lost 170,000 manufacturing jobs over the past four years. MPM, a 300-employee firm that manufactures auto parts, plans an expansion in January 2005 that could add 50 jobs.
"Contrary to popular belief, U.S. manufacturing is alive and kicking at Michigan Production Machining," company President Kevin West said.
Evans and other Bush cabinet members have toured states hard hit by unemployment to promote the Bush economic team's efforts to create jobs. Other stops have included Washington and Oregon.
After Friday's event, Evans told reporters the administration is offering new funding assistance to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Commerce Department program that assists small manufacturers. Critics have blasted the administration for cutting funding for the MEP program, which has 400 centers across the nation, by 63 percent, from $106 million last year to about $40 million this year and in 2005.
Evans said the MEP centers will be eligible to compete for $45 million in Commerce Department grants, and additional grants may be offered by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.
But Kristin Dziczek, associate director of the agency that oversees Michigan MEP centers, said the prospect of grant funding will offer little help, especially at a time when the administration is planning to revamp and downsize the MEP program.
"(These grants) have always been there. They're just pointing to a pool of money and saying, 'Look, there's funding over there,'" said Dziczek, of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center in Plymouth. "Basically, the administration is scrambling because they've cut money for this program and now manufacturing is a big, hot issue."
Evans said the administration has made its choice for a manufacturing czar, a new Commerce Department assistant secretary post announced by the president on Labor Day. But Evans offered no hint of who the appointee is. He said the name would be submitted to the Senate for confirmation in a few weeks.
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and two Democratic Senate colleagues blasted the president Thursday for an "unacceptable" delay on the appointment at a time when job losses continue to mount.
Stabenow pointed to a new Labor Department report that found more than 2,400 employers across the country reported laying off 50 or more workers in January, the third-highest number of so-called mass layoffs since the government began tracking them a decade ago. Michigan ranked third in the nation with 171 employers reporting mass layoffs last month.
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