Posted on 08/25/2003 2:05:47 PM PDT by snopercod
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- This year's highly publicized job losses in North Carolina manufacturing, including the Pillowtex bankruptcy, could mean trouble next year for President Bush in a region that was a stronghold in 2000.
Bush won more than 56 percent of the vote in both North Carolina and South Carolina in 2000. But his strong support of free trade has turned some against him in the South, where U.S. trade policies are blamed for the loss of jobs in textiles and other manufacturing sectors.
Andy Warlick, chief executive officer of Parkdale Mills in Gaston County, said he doubts he will repeat his 2000 vote for Bush next year.
"He made a lot of promises and he hasn't delivered on any of them," Warlick said. "I've had some firsthand experience of him sending down trade and commerce officials, but they're just photo ops. It's empty rhetoric."
Fred Reese, the president of Western N.C. Industries, an employers' association, said executives are beginning to raise their voices against Bush and are planning education and voter drives.
"We're seeing a new dynamic where the executives and employees are both beginning to see a real threat to their interests. You're going to see people who traditionally voted Republican switch over," Reese predicted.
The hard feelings were on display days after Pillowtex's July 30 bankruptcy filing, when Republican U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes walked into a Kannapolis auditorium to meet with former workers.
"Thanks for sending the jobs overseas, Robin!" shouted Brenda Miller, a longtime worker at the textile giant's Salisbury plant.
In December 2001 Hayes -- who is an heir to the Cannon family textile fortune -- cast the tie-breaking vote to give Bush the authority to negotiate "fast-track" trade agreements, trade treaties that Congress must vote up or down with no amendments.
At the time, Hayes said he won promises from the Bush administration that it would more strictly enforce existing trade agreements and pressure foreign countries to open their markets to U.S. textiles.
"Are we pleased with the way they responded? Absolutely," Hayes said. "Are we satisfied with where we are? Absolutely not."
Jobs in many industries have fled overseas since 1993, when Congress passed the Clinton-backed North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. About half the textile and apparel jobs that existed in 1994 are gone.
Since Bush took office in January 2001, it is estimated North Carolina and South Carolina have lost more than 180,000 manufacturing jobs.
And even more textile jobs could be out the door once quotas on Chinese imports expire at the end of next year.
Republican U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger voted for NAFTA and fast-track, and has seen his 10th District lose nearly 40,000 jobs, primarily in the textile and furniture industries.
"Certainly, there's a political cost to any controversial vote no matter which side you take," he said. "People are casting stones, but we're trying to pick them up and build something."
Democratic U.S. Sen. John Edwards voted against fast-track in 2002 after voting for an earlier version. In 2000 he voted for permanent normal trade relations with China.
Recently, though, while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, Edwards has attacked Bush's trade policies and called for fairer trade measures.
Robert Neal, vice president of the local chapter of the Pillowtex workers' union, said Hayes has worked to try to ease the impact of job losses in his district.
"Though he (Hayes) voted for fast-track, he is really concerned about the workers and their conditions in the state of North Carolina," Neal said.
Not everyone feels that way.
Reese is organizing 1,500 manufacturing companies across North Carolina in an effort to leverage what he calls a new voting bloc.
In South Carolina, voter drives are planned for the first time at Milliken & Co., which has about 30 plants in the state. Mount Vernon Mills of Greenville, S.C., is forming a political action committee.
The company's president Roger Chastain, a one-time Bush voter, doesn't expect to support the president or Jim DeMint, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Ernest Hollings.
"We're basically liquidating our whole middle class, polarizing people on the two extremes, have and have-nots," Chastain said of the manufacturing job losses. "We'll be a Third World country."
There you go again tax cuts for the rich, that's all you Merchant-Lovers ever talk about.
Well damn it I want my Job now and I want the tax rate on anyoine making more money than me to be at 122%.
Further I wat 300% Tariffs on all imports and I want to Nuke any country that doesn't follow my plan on running a manufacturing plant.
GW better announce all of the above tomorrow morning on FOx and Friends or I am voting for Dean!
Oh Yeah, and I want a pony!
I read The Straw Giant many years ago, and Arthur Hadley laid it right out. The nations of the world do not know if those missiles, under realistic conditions (no warning, no painstaking maintenance of each bird prior to launch, et cetera) will (a) clear their launchers, (b) stage properly, (c) fly the proper trajectory over the North Pole, (d) fly a proper reentry path on the far side of the globe, and (e) arm and detonate the warheads within the accuracy parameters supposedly displayed during flight tests with dummy warheads.
Nobody knows. Not one missile has been ever live-fired on an operational trajectory. Only one missile has been launched with a live warhead that detonated, and that was during the last string of US atmospheric tests, Operation Dominic (the Frigate Bird shot). The missile was specially prepared for the test; it wasn't randomly selected from the inventory. And that model of missile left the inventory more than thirty years ago.
How many people out there--no matter how desirous of world domination--would be willing to stake their personal survival on those things working as advertised?
That is right absolutely no money whatsoever. All I wanted was his knowledge. I did errands and paperwork, I even helped unload cargo. I was allowed to ask questions and I was given detailed information on how this businessman made money.
Working for nothing was the best Money I ever made in my life!
Sounds quite a bit like what I did in the early '70s. I didn't work for free, but did work sub-minimum wage.
I got a 30 year long career out of it, doing work I absolutely love...
I doubt this very much.
China is too busy oppressing it's people and it's manufacturing/engineering base.
In my opinion if anybody replaces the USA as the dominant world power it will be the EU.
You have to stop thinking in terms of one person. It really doesn't matter if one person finds a job but 250 in the same town are laid off that same day. There is double-digit unemployment in many areas of the country --- it's not some kind of seasonal unemployment or temporary lay-off because things are a bit slow. Many plants are shutting their doors forever. How can you possibly believe falling wages and no jobs is a great thing for this country???
Nope.
In the first place, I want him to win, even though I don't think he will. Your slamming me for this is akin to blaming the fire on the smoke alarm.
In the second place, I don't have spare money to bet. Something about not having a job for a year will do that.
In the third place, I don't think you are a man of your word, and you'd stiff anyone betting you in a heartbeat, just out of spite because you lost.
Why you dirty little anti-union-merchant-loving-free-traitor!
How dare you vary from the herd and make us all look foolish!
You might not be aware of the July elections in Mexico --- the big beneficiary of NAFTA, the voters just took a sharp left turn --- Fox and his PAN party were big losers. The anti-NAFTA party --- PRD was the biggest winner. All this globalism seems to be causing some pretty shaky political situations in our neighborhing country.
I can understand that I mean the devil-spawn-son-of-a-whore Wal-Mart Corporation has moved into Mexico. I mean the Mexican voters are much smarter than us and they are gonna exercise the Wal-Mart demon before it takes root in thier country.
Hell before you know it Wal-mart will have the Mexican Donkey Milkers Jobs outsourced to India and then where will they all be!
Chad, see post #137.
Damn you PGALT now you have made me feel inferior because I can't think for myself and take care of myself and wipe my own behind.
Will none in the government help me?
Doesn't GW care if I have a dirty Behind?
What will become of me? Will I get my pony?
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