U.S. Representative Sandy Levin
12th District of Michigan
| For Immediate Release January 31, 2006 |
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FAMILIES HAVE TO BE ASKING THEMSELVES WHERE HAS THE PRESIDENT BEEN? Five Year Record of Failure on Health Care Costs, Energy Costs and Addressing the Manufacturing Jobs Crisis |
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(Washington D.C.)- U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, reacted to the President's failure to use the State of the Union to address the manufacturing jobs crisis in this country.
“The President has a five year record of failure on the very items he described this evening as the priorities American families are most concerned about,” said Rep. Levin. “Families have to be asking themselves where has the President been when it comes to health care costs, energy costs, and addressing the manufacturing jobs crisis”
Continued Vision of Inaction on Manufacturing Jobs Crisis
“The President once again failed to address federal issues of importance to the manufacturing sector, and in many areas his State of the Union address takes us in the wrong direction.” said Rep. Levin.
“The President offers a vision of inaction in the face over 2.8 million manufacturing jobs since the he first took office, rising healthcare costs, and skyrocketing gas and energy prices. The manufacturing sector is vital to the health of our nation’s economy and the Bush Administration continues to sit on its hands when it comes to facing up to the manufacturing jobs crisis.”
President’s Rhetoric Far Cry From His Five Year Record
Trade and the Economy
Rhetoric: “We will build the prosperity of our country by strengthening our economic leadership in the world."
Reality: The U.S. trade deficit is at record levels (projected to surpass $700 billion for 2005), and the Bush Administration fails to enforce trade agreements, fails to take other countries to task for their unfair trading practices, fails to knock down foreign barriers discriminating against U.S. autos and auto parts abroad, and refuses to negotiate trade agreement with basic standards for workers in low-wage countries.
Health Care
Rhetoric: “"Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility”
Reality: Based on his proposals, President Bush’s idea of “confronting the rising cost” of health care is to tell workers to pay the additional costs out of their own pockets. Under President Bush’s leadership, the Republican Congress has moved to cut Medicaid, the primary source of health care for the poorest children and elderly people, and they created Medicare drug insurance that has done more to disrupt drug coverage for people who had it than to cover people who didn’t.
Energy Independence
Rhetoric: “…move beyond a petroleum-based economy…and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past”
Reality: We are more dependent on foreign oil under the Bush Administration and while consumers and businesses are struggling with soaring energy costs and high gasoline prices, the energy companies are raking in record profits. Yesterday Exxon/Mobile reported the highest profit in U.S. history: $36 billion.
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