When it comes to outsourcing OH jobs, DeWine gets things done

TODAY'S DEWINE ACTION ITEM:
 
DEWINE HELPED OHIO BECOME #1 JOB LOSS STATE
 
When it comes to outsourcing OH jobs, DeWine doesn't just talk, he gets things done
 
MARIETTA, OH - The Akron Beacon Journal reported yesterday that Ohio suffered 217,000 manufacturing jobs since 1997 - more than any other state.  Many of those jobs were lost due to unfair trade agreements with countries like China, where "rock-bottom labor costs" allowed for the production of goods like steel, rubber, and autoparts.  Ohio Republican incumbent Senator Mike DeWine supported NAFTA, and voted for CAFTA, and PNTR with China.  DeWine has taken more than $1 million from companies that have outsourced U.S. jobs.
 
"Mike DeWine voted to make jobs Ohio's biggest export," said U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  "He rubberstamped every trade agreement that President Bush put in front of him while Ohio has lost more jobs than any other state.   Mike DeWine voted to trade away Ohio's future."
 
Mike DeWine said: "I favor [NAFTA] because I believe it will mean more job creation in the United States. ...We are going to create a lot of jobs . . . This whole NAFTA zone will ultimately create a lot of jobs in Ohio.'' [Columbus Dispatch, 8/30/92].
 
"DeWine's flawed trade policies have put multinational corporations first and Ohio workers last," added Brown.  "Instead of encouraging companies to outsource jobs, we should reward companies that create jobs in Ohio."  Brown is an original co-sponsor of the Patriot Corporations of America Act, which would reward companies that create jobs and make investments in the United States.
 
Brown opposed PNTR for China, and is one of Congress' leading proponents of fair trade policy. Last year he led the bipartisan opposition in Congress against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and in 1994 he stood up to a president of his own party in opposing NAFTA.  Brown also introduced the Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act (H.R. 5635), a measure that would ban the import, export, or sale of products made overseas with sweatshop or prison labor.  This bill would fight the massive trade deficit the U.S. is suffering with China.
 
Source:
"Ohio No. 1 - in job losses"
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/15261652.htm

08/14/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Jobs, (all tags)

Ohio No. 1—in job losses

From Akron Beacon-Journal: 

Ohio's rejuvenated manufacturers, who had stripped down and learned to compete effectively with Japan, Korea, Germany and Mexico, stumbled before the new challenge from China, with its rock-bottom labor costs.

The effect on traditional industries was catastrophic: One in five manufacturing jobs in Ohio disappeared in the last five years -- more than wiping out all the hard-fought gains of the 1990s.

The 217,000 jobs that vanished from all of Ohio's goods-producing industries between 1997 and last year -- along with their $9.3 billion in average annual wages -- were the biggest losses of any state in the nation. The state's 15.7 percent decline in total average annual wages also ranked Ohio dead last.

...''A major problem is that the U.S. has not responded to predatory practices, dumping and the abuse of intellectual property,'' he said.

Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Avon) couldn't agree more.

"We must turn the tide on our nation's trade policies,'' said Brown, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Cedarville) for the state's Senate seat in November.

"U.S. trade policy should be crafted to ensure businesses in Ohio can compete globally, create good paying jobs right here at home and to promote new business growth.''

Click here to read the full article. 

 

08/12/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Jobs, (all tags)

DeWine Votes for More Big Oil Giveaways Instead of Providing Ohio Families Relief at the Pump

AMHERST, OH -- As gasoline prices hit record highs at pumps across Ohio, Senator Mike DeWine voted Tuesday for a bill that would provide additional giveaways to the oil and gas industry.
 
U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said:  “Mike DeWine chose to boost the record profits of oil and gas companies instead of reducing pain at the pump for Ohio drivers.  Drilling for America’s few remaining fossil fuel reserves will only increase America’s addiction to oil.  Instead of helping the United States achieve energy independence by investing in renewable fuels like ethanol, Mike DeWine voted to increase our energy insecurity.”
 
Last year, DeWine voted for an energy bill that provided billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas companies.  DeWine has accepted $330,000 in contributions from the oil and gas industry.  The average price of a regular gallon of gasoline in Ohio was $2.23 in July 2005 when the Energy Policy Act passed.  Today it is $3.00.  Exxon Mobil reported that it reaped the second highest quarterly profits of any U.S. corporation ever for quarter two of 2006.
 
“Since Mike DeWine voted for last year’s energy bill the oil and gas companies have made $1,300 in profits every second,” stated Brown.  “Gas prices have skyrocketed and Exxon Mobil CEO Lee Raymond was rewarded with a $400 million golden parachute.  Mike DeWine continues to vote for legislation written by and for his big oil contributors.”
 
DeWine has consistently voted to keep oil company profits and energy prices up.  In June 2005, he opposed efforts to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help relieve gasoline prices [Vote #147, 6/22/05].  He opposed cutting the gasoline tax at least three times [Vote 26, 3/11/98, Energy and Environment Daily, 4/3/00, DeWine Media Stakeout, 6/22/00].  As Chairman on the Senate Committee that oversees mergers in the energy industry, DeWine has held only one hearing on high gasoline prices.
 
 
Brown has fought to hold oil and gas companies that gouge prices accountable, and to make Ohio the Silicon Valley of alternative energy.

08/02/2006 / Permalink / Economy, gas, (all tags)

Senate candidates dispute best trade policy for Ohio

From Columbus Dispatch: 

Akron businessman John Johnston might have had enough. Six years ago, the registered Republican, who is involved with two separate steel distribution and processing ventures, voted for Sen. Mike DeWine.

This time, Johnston is leaning toward voting for DeWine’s Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown of Avon. If so, the switch will result mainly from Brown’s vocal criticism of a series of freetrade agreements approved by Congress and supported by DeWine.

"A lot of the products that used to be made here now are made overseas," Johnston said. "Nobody is against trade. It’s all about what is fair.

"Pretty much everybody we compete against is subsidized in one form or another, especially with what you see in China," Johnston said, adding he thinks China and other countries also gain an advantage through currency manipulation. "It is about jobs. Where (Brown’s) trade policies stand is where this country needs to go for the future."

The issue of free trade and its impact on manufacturing states such as Ohio is one that Brown hopes will catapult him past DeWine in the November election. Since his election to the House in 1992, Brown has asserted that free-trade pacts have shattered Ohio’s industrial base and cost the state tens of thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs.

Click here to read the full article. 

07/30/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Jobs, (all tags)

Memo To Chamber:  Don’t Limit Your Thanking Mike Dewine Campaign To Medicare Part D

Remind Ohio Of Everything Dewine Has Done For Special Interests At The Expense Of Working Families

TO:  Chamber of Commerce

FR:  Brown Campaign Communications Department

RE:  Thanking Mike DeWine

Today's news reports confirmed that the Chamber is launching an 8-figure campaign to reelect members of Congress who put the needs of big business before the needs of their constituents.  You couldn't have picked a better Senator to thank than Mike DeWine.  But you shouldn't have limited your "Thanks Mike" campaign to DeWine's support for the Medicare prescription drug benefit written by the drug and insurance companies.

Mike DeWine hasn't limited his support for special interests to only one industry.  He has voted for in favor of special interests across the board - to support all those industries that have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign coffers.  With two polls released over the weekend showing DeWine eight points behind, we believe he's going to need some extra help.

We recommend the Chamber also thank DeWine for:

VOTING TO EXPORT OHIO JOBS.  Even though Ohio has lost 246,500 manufacturing jobs since President Bush took office, Mike DeWine voted for the president's trade agreements that helped moved Ohio plants offshore and outsourced jobs.  He voted against repealing tax incentives for domestic companies that move their manufacturing plants offshore, and against prohibiting American tax dollars from being used to ship jobs outside the country.  DeWine also voted to keep tax breaks for companies that operate overseas, while he opposed tax cuts for domestic manufacturers.

VOTING TO BOOST OIL COMPANY PROFITS, RAISE GAS PRICES.  One year ago this week, Mike DeWine voted for an energy bill that gave billions of dollars in subsidies to the energy industry.  Today, gas prices and oil company profits are at record highs, and our dependence on foreign oil has not declined. The average price of a regular gallon of gasoline in Ohio was $2.23 in July 2005 when the energy bill passed.  Today it is $2.97. DeWine has accepted $300,000 in contributions from the oil and gas industry.

VOTING AGAINST MINIMUM WAGE AND WORKER PROTECTIONS.  Mike DeWine has opposed increasing the minimum wage at least 9 times.  (Note to Chamber:  As part of his election year makeover, in 2005 DeWine voted twice for an increase in the minimum wage .  You may want to invest your money quickly to thank him for opposing an increase in the past!  You wouldn't DeWine to pander to families struggling to pay their bills, would you?)  DeWine also voted three times against overtime pay protection and six times against extending unemployment benefits to workers who lost their jobs.

VOTING TO HELP WALL STREET INSTEAD OF MAIN STREET.  DeWine voted twice to create Health Savings Accounts, which would increase the cost of health care and swell the ranks of the uninsured.  HSAs could raise as much as $75 billion for Wall Street special interests.  DeWine voted to raid the Social Security Trust Fund for privatization and said he supported adding private accounts to Social Security, leaving Ohioans retirement security in the hands of Wall Street traders.

If the Chamber wants Mike DeWine to continue to support its special interest members despite all of the heat he's taking at home, you have to pay to play.  It's time for the Chamber to ante up.

07/27/2006 / Permalink / 2006, Economy, (all tags)

Bush, DeWine Economic Priorities Out of Touch with Ohio Families

AMHERST -- This week, President George W. Bush presented an economic scorecard strongly praised by Republicans. Democrats said the report underscores the depths to which the administration is out of touch with middle class families.

Bush, who DeWine has said is doing a "great job," reminded the American people he and the Republicans have turned record surpluses into a nearly $300 billion deficit. In 2001, Bush and the GOP Congress inherited a projected 10-year surplus of $5.6 trillion.

"Ohio families need someone in the Senate who is fighting for them, which includes working for the right priorities for our economy," said Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH). "Senator DeWine has supported nearly all the Bush economic policies that hurt middle class families, including a special tax break only for the very richest Americans. It's time for Ohio's senators to represent Ohio's priorities."

In May/June, Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich voted against the $70 billion tax giveaway, supported by DeWine, calling it "immoral."

DeWine has been as advocated strongly for legislation benefiting his top donors, including voting for legislation that provides $7 billion in tax breaks for oil companies; higher profits for drug companies at the expense of seniors; and special tax breaks that only the richest can take advantage of.

At the same time, the budgets of Ohio families have suffered as the state lost more than 200,000 jobs, health care costs rise, and energy costs rise.

"The pay-to-play culture embraced by Mike DeWine has hurt Ohio seniors, hit Ohio families hard at the pump, and cost Ohio jobs," Brown said. "It is time for change. It is time for leadership that stands up for Ohio family values."

07/12/2006 / Permalink / Economy, (all tags)

MIDDLETOWN: Congressman blames AK for prolonging dispute

From Middletown Journal: 

Congressman Sherrod Brown's campaign trail led him to Middletown's independent union hall Friday afternoon, where he expressed sympathy for workers locked out of AK Steel's local plant and blamed the company for perpetuating the labor dispute.

Brown (D-Avon), the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, dropped by the Armco Employees Independent Federation headquarters on Crawford Street and talked in front of a small crowd of AK hourly workers and retirees before hitting picket lines around the steel plant.

"I think what the company has done is wrong," Brown said Friday. "I think any company that locks out its employees is wrong."

Brown should know. He's a native of Mansfield, Ohio, where hourly workers were involved in a sometimes-violent labor dispute with AK Steel Corp. that lasted 39 months.

The lockout between AK Steel and the AEIF is now in its fourth month. About 2,600 hourly workers were locked out of the plant when a competitive bargaining agreement expired on Feb. 28. Since then, about 400 AEIF members have retired, the company has said.

Click here to read the full article. 

07/08/2006 / Permalink / Central Ohio, Economy, Jobs, (all tags)

DeWine, Brown trade barbs

With gas prices hitting record highs, incumbent U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine and U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, his Democratic opponent in the November general election, said they have plans to ease the country's dependence on foreign oil.

But there is no quick solution, they say.

The Mahoning Valley was ground zero for the Senate race Thursday with DeWine, a Cedarville Republican seeking his third six-year term, in Cortland, and Brown, of Avon, in Youngstown. The two face each other in the Nov. 7 general election.

...An hour later, Brown was in the parking lot of the former Weatherbee Coat Co. on East Federal Street in Youngstown promoting legislation he's introduced in the U.S. House to ban the import, export or sale of products made overseas with sweatshop or prison labor.

Brown also criticized DeWine for his vote supporting the Central America Free Trade Agreement, and for favoring the North America Free Trade Agreement. DeWine wasn't in the Senate when NAFTA passed, but approves of the agreement. Brown voted against both 

07/07/2006 / Permalink / 2006, Economy, gas, (all tags)