Americanmachinist 2898 84651jamesrgros00000056910
Americanmachinist 2898 84651jamesrgros00000056910
Americanmachinist 2898 84651jamesrgros00000056910
Americanmachinist 2898 84651jamesrgros00000056910
Americanmachinist 2898 84651jamesrgros00000056910

Im not going to take this anymore!

Aug. 12, 2009
Marketers claim that the average person needs seven “viewings” of a message before they see, read, or absorb it. I’ve been writing for some time now about how important it is for the precision manufacturing industry to speak with one ...

Marketers claim that the average person needs seven “viewings” of a message before they see, read, or absorb it. I’ve been writing for some time now about how important it is for the precision manufacturing industry to speak with one voice. A few readers have thanked me and agreed with the points I’ve made, so perhaps the message is starting to get through. I’m not giving up.

I guess everyone “gives up” at some point, and decides they’ve had enough? What is your breaking point? Perhaps it will come when you realize your representatives are still supporting legislation that is harmful to you and your company?

When the government tells you that you must provide your employees with a mandated level of health insurance, whether you can afford it or not, will that be your breaking point? When the government forces your employees to become part of a union and then forces a binding contract on you and your company? How about when your government passes laws that ignore free-market principles and force the price of electricity, gas and oil to triple?

What if you found out that a former government official stands to make millions in a system where companies buy credits under a “climate change” law that he helped to craft? What about when your government uses tax dollars to buy banks, large corporations and other financial institutions, and allows the officials in those organizations to continue to spend tax dollars on frivolous, wasteful spending? How about when the government starts passing laws without proper debate or discussion, in order to keep the public from understanding the legislation, or what it will do to the country? How about when they establish a federal office that dictates how much money a company manger can be paid?

Are you aware that former Vice President Gore might make millions if the Cap-and-Trade regulations are enacted, because he’s supposedly an investor in a company that will be buying and trading the credits created by this legislation? Just how credible is his position as an environmental expert then? As we set out to address man-made global climate change, should we choose solutions based on science, or on the profit potential for influential investors?

Those who endorse the Capand- Trade approach say that the U.S. must take a leadership position on global warming, but the more candid among them admit that Cap-and-Trade won’t make any difference to global warming unless all industrialized countries make similar efforts.

China, India and other industrial countries admit they have no intention of capping their carbon emissions, so why should the U.S. manufacturers become less competitive, and U.S. taxpayers endure further declines in their standard of living? Who stands to gain from this sort of regulaton? Is this “leadership”?

I’ve had business owners tell me that the Employee Free Choice Act (card check) won’t affect them. Will it affect their vendors and customers, I wonder? Vendors will seek higher prices to cover their costs, and customers will demand lower prices to cover their higher overhead. Higher labor costs for domestic products will further erode U.S. global competitiveness.

Now, we’re beginning to see the outlines of the health-care solution our representatives are crafting. Let’s agree that we need to manage the rising costs and increase the availability of health insurance. But, our representatives’ approach to this matter is to start a class war by placing the responsibility for their past incompetence on small businesses and on so-called wealthy citizens. Rather than punish success, why not openly debate the problems and the available solutions?

We undoubtedly have a leadership crisis. We need leaders that will act responsibly for the benefit of our country and its citizens. But, we also have citizenship problem. We need to acknowledge the gravity of the problems facing us, and demand better representation. We must work together to see that positive changes happen but not at the cost of our way of life, and not at the cost of the freedoms so many have sacrificed to preserve. At what point will you say you’ve had enough? Contact me if you’ve reached your breaking point.

Contact James R. Grossman at the National Tooling & Machining Assn., [email protected].

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