A Road Map to Decatur Jobs 

by Bill Faber

In the early days of Rome’s Republic, senators served in the army as generals. They paid special levies to pay for the wars they voted for. Rome lost many leaders during its first war against Carthage. Truly the Roman leaders put their money and their lives where their mouths were.

Last year America’s debt reached $489 billion dollars plus the tab to liberate Iraq. In the face of this red ink Congress passed a major tax cut. The top countries lending to the U.S. were China, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Our trade policy means that we are dependent on China and Japan for money, and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for oil. That does not seem like a smart bet to me.

During the past 6 years, the U.S. lost 3.3 million jobs in the manufacturing sector, or one in five of all jobs in the sector. This lost computes to a bigger loss than experienced in the 1980’s recession - the recession that created the Rust Belt. The economists tell us not to worry - market place will smooth the rocky road. Don’t believe it. And the politicians stand mute; afraid to tell the people.

America stands much weakened. Even a nation as powerful as the U.S. cannot long take this careless course without financial consequence. Warren Buffet, the billionaire investor, refers to the United States as “Squanderville”. He is shifting billions of his investments into foreign currency for safety.

In 1971 President Nixon announced a 10 percent import surcharge. Like Nixon, President Bush should impose a temporary general tariff of 10 to 15 percent on all U.S. imports. The tariff will stop companies from taking manufacturing abroad. The strategy of shifting jobs from the U.S. to low-wage nations, then selling the goods back to the U.S. will no longer be good business.

Decatur’s City Council should pass a resolution in favor of protecting American manufacturing jobs and then pressure the Congress and the President for a fair trade policy that puts American workers first. Thanks for listening.