A Non-Industrialized Nation

We may all be in dire straits if the old adage “as California goes, so goes the nation” still holds true. A report from the Milken Institute shows California has lost 80,000 manufacturing jobs in the last five years.

Perry Wong, an economist for Milken, said, “the state lost about twenty-five percent of its employment base in manufacturing and about thirty-three percent in the high-tech sector.”

Where are these jobs going? Milken reported that neighboring states picked up 62,000 of these jobs, while according to Tim Strelitz, president of California’s Metal-X company, “a lot are going straight to Asia where they have no pollution controls and no health controls.”

Manufacturing has declined across the nation for decades and the reason is simple. The US is following in California’s footsteps with onerous regulations, hostile legislature, and for California, the highest tax rate in the nation. Unfortunately, it appears Obama is all to willing to follow their lead in this regard.

On August 3, 2009, Fox News reported that a manufacturer in California, who melts copper and other metals into ingots, is on the verge of going out of business. Heavy regulation, EPA concerns and high energy costs have driven them to firing their furnace only once a day, at nine o’clock at night. This company has laid off hundreds of employees and reduced their production by 50%.

An engine manufacturer in California laid off 300 employees because of government regulations and taxes. Also, residents in the community filed a complaint about the smell being emitted from the plant, which caused an investigate by the EPA. They found the smell innocuous and stated it was effluvial at best. But what did the EPA do? They mandated the company upgrade its ventilation system, all at the cost of $5 million.

So, this begs the question, what is the company to do? Apparently they’ve decided to move to a neighboring state.

The point here is this, hypocrisy seems to prevail on this issue. The liberals, and let’s not just pin this on the poor liberals, the supercilious and elite want clean air, social benefits for the poor, pollutant free oceans and lakes, as well as a myriad of other government controlled programs to enhance their lives. However, they want it all at the expense of industry.

They want tighter regulations and higher taxes on companies, whether financial or industrial. Industrial meant to pay the most. They want business to pay for schools, police, streets, government, etc. Sounds good doesn’t it? But what pays the salaries of the accountants, attorneys, judges, actors and actresses? The supercilious and elite I refer to. Who pays the pence to fill their coffers? The answer, people who work these jobs. Without manufacturing you don’t need accountants, attorneys or CEOs. Actors and actresses have no audience. Without jobs you have no tax. Maybe the liberals and elitists need to make a choice, or at least be willing to pony up themselves.

Our federal government might want to rethink their decisions as well. Decisions of sweeping reform and instituting regulations on energy and industry, which they cannot bear, will not work. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize the basic meat and potatoes of a society’s existence. Art and culture is fine and dandy, but when the supply line breaks, who can go?