Talking Points About The Unemployed And The Underemployed Today. (Draft) GOAL: To be prepared for when citizens and the media ask. Think about how to present our issues that are glossed over, buried, ignored, twisted, or manipulated by corporate media. 1. According to the corporate media, the economic indicators are improving, but I don't see an improvement. Is something wrong with me? Talking Points: Nothing is wrong with your perception. The corporate owned media is using the wrong measuring stick, generally the GNP and stock market index. The real wealth of the nation, the real measure of economic health is in employment and the health of our industries, communities, environment and families. Unemployment is at the highest level since the Great Depression. Charitable facilities are being swamped and threatened - more people needing food and necessities and fewer donations. 2. The national government has bailed out the banks, why isn't it bailing out main street? Talking Points: Good question. Financial industry is one of the top lobbying industries. It has put enormous pressure on our legislative bodies. In addition, many of the government officials and regulators have close connections to the industry, for example, Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner, Paul Bernanke and others. It is no surprise that the US taxpayers have been obligated for $22 Trillion (according to some reports - taxpayers' money and top execs of financial institutions reaping same huge salaries. While main street has been left out. What we have is socialism for the wealthiest and for the very same entities that created the market and financial crisis of 2008. The rest of us pay the bill. 3. Where have the jobs gone? Talking Points: 1979 the peak year for manufacturing in US. Then Congress embarked on legislative policies that resulted in the decimation of US manufacturing sector, a major basis of national wealth and security. a. lowered trade barriers (US lowest in industrialized world) b. allowed foreign workers and loopholes: highest immigration rate in world both legal, illegal Failed to protect American workers. Every other industrialized country protects its workers and domestic industries. c. Promises of GATT, NAFTA, etc. (dating back to Kennedy) of increased exports and export related jobs failed disastrously. US products not protected from dumping by foreign competitors (who violated international trade laws) and imports soared past exports d. Jobs outsourced - There is nothing wrong with the American worker. Companies pressure Congress for advantages so they can pay less to foreign workers and raise their profits. CEOs now receive up to 450 times the salaries of the entry level worker e. Companies merged, driven by purely short-term profit taking on the part of Wall Street operatives, with failure of the government to regulate. f. Companies forced to "trim down" (close plants, relocate plants, fire workers) to satisfy short-term profits demanded by Wall Street investors, or lose their backing and credit capability. 4. Who really creates the jobs and the innovation? Mid to small-sized companies create the majority of jobs in the US. Yet they are being overlooked in the bail-out plans coming from Washington. They are also to a great degree responsible for the innovation that has driven the economic growth of the country. 5. Why does it take two people to keep a household going and families are still feeling more and more pinched? What is happening to the middle class that is essential for maintaining a democracy? Talking Points a. Shift in tax burden from wealthy and from corporations to the middle class b. The middle class is endangered. In 1980 the top 1% received 8% share on income and the bottom 90% received 68% share of income. By 1992 only those figures had shifted to 14% and 61% and that trend has accelerated in the intervening years. c. Adjusted income of the middle class has actually declined from a high at the end of the 1970s while it has soared for the top income earners. In 1975 the CEO of General Election was paid the equivalent of the median income of 36 families. By 1995 the CEO of General Electric receoved tje equivalent of the median income of 133 families. In addition, working class incomes, adjusted for inflation have actually declined. Real income in down: tax burden is up. d. Unions, which have fought for the wages, benefits and working conditions associated with the middle class, have been weakened in the last three decades and the proportion of unionization in the US has dropped - more so than in other industrialized countries. 6. How can Congress and the Administration allow this to happen? Talking Points a. The companies, domestic and foreign, have invested huge sums in lobbying. They employ "advisors" who in many instances were legislators, or legislative aides, or were officials in trade related government regulatory agencies and who know the ropes. In many cases, it works the other way. The lobbyists move to government jobs. In either case, the lobbyists are looking out for the multinational with foreign interests or the foreign companies and not the American worker. For example, between 1970 and 1995 the number of paid foreign agents of the top 10 trading partners rose from 157 to 554 and the increase in the U.S. trade deficit from those 10 countries rose from $2 billion to $161 billion. 7. Isn't America still the richest country? Talking Points a. Depends on how you define "rich." We have a growing number of billionaires, but a huge growing gap between the super rich and those living in poverty or falling into poverty or just holding on. b. From the largest creditor nation after WWII, we have become the largest debtor nation. At some point the countries that have loaned us money will demand to be repaid and then they will be calling the tune. The value of the dollar could drop precipitously and it would be harder and harder to purchase the goods we need or want. Our standard of living would drop even further. c. As jobs rush overseas and foreign workers are paid sweatshop wages and work under bad working conditions, the good paying jobs here are lost and the wages of American workers are forced down. Manufacturing provides higher-paying, often unionized jobs compared to retail jobs. In 1955 manufacturing employed 16.9 million workers vs. retail, which employed 7.6 million. By 1995 the ratio had shifted and lower paying retail jobs, at 20.8 million,, had surpassed manufacturing at 18.4 million and the trend has continued. 8. What is wrong with the new jobs being created to replace the good paying manufacturing and white collar jobs? Talking Points a. Just look at the figures: millions of good paying jobs lost, white collar jobs and manufacturing jobs. The new jobs in the service industries pay far less and those participating in retraining programs often find the jobs they have been training for simply don't exist. b. The financial industry was touted as an industry that would help take the place of lost manufacturing jobs, but the banking industry employs a lower ratio of workers compared to other industries c. In losing our manufacturing sector, we are losing the ability to produce the very equipment and goods upon which our national defense in part depends. 9. Can anything be done? Talking Points a. Be informed and support organizations that fight for workers, including unions b. Demand legislation that protects American jobs and American industry 1) Demand protective tariffs on a par with other those of other industrialized countries. 2) Demand enforcement and revision on the visa programs that allow foreign workers to replace qualified U.S. workers. 3) Demand taxing domestic multinationals on the difference between wages paid to overseas workers and those paid in the US 4) Demand the eliminating of tax loopholes for countries taking jobs overseas 5) Demand that state, local, and national governments employ US companies and USworkers. 6) Demand progressive income tax reform. At the height of the expansion of the middle class in the 1950s and early 1960s, the tax rate on the top 1% of income (above a certain cutoff) was 87%. The decrease began with John F. Kennedy, was speeded up under Ronald Reagan and has continued under subsequent presidents. Today the top tax rate is only 37% c. Cooperate with organizations of foreign workers to look after the interests of working people worldwide. d. Buy local and develop local economies. Sources: Bartlett, Donald L. and James B. Steele, America: Who Stole the Dream? 1996. BW 2009.