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Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 6:18 PM
Subject: Fwd: US to China jobs
Here's another front page story that needs to be told publicly. Those politicians in the Congress who voted for this ban on incandescent light bulbs,
like Barbara Boxer, Susan Davis, Bob Filner et al should be held accountable in the public domain for this job destroying action and for increasing
the deficit in the balance of trade with China.
Federal Light Bulb Ban Creating Jobs in China
A federal law banning ordinary incandescent light bulbs has already had a negative effect on the American economy — GE has closed its last major bulb producing factory in the United States, creating job opportunities in China.Legislation enacted in 2007 orders the phase-out of incandescent light bulbs beginning with the 100-watt bulb in 2012 and ending with the 40-watt light in 2014. These bulbs cannot meet efficiency requirements dictated by law
Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) are the least expensive alternative. But the manufacture of CFLs is “labor intensive and too expensive to be done at U.S. wage rates,” according to a report from The Heartland Institute, which estimates that domestically produced CFLs would be 50 percent more expensive than bulbs manufactured in China.
So instead of retrofitting its plant in Winchester, Va., to produce CFLs, GE closed the plant in September and laid off 200 workers.
CFL's are already being manufactured in China, and increasing American demand will no doubt create new jobs there.
As the Insider Report disclosed earlier, while CFL's use about 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last far longer, they cost significantly more, take longer to turn on, can flicker, and contain small amounts of highly toxic mercury, which creates problems for users when they break or need to be disposed of after they burn out.
“Environmental activists and their allies in Washington were either too ignorant of basic economics to see these job losses coming, or they were simply too callous to really care,” said Heartland Institute science director Jay Leah.
“Either way, compact fluorescent light bulbs in the real world fail to live up to environmental promises, unnecessarily subject American households to toxic mercury, produce poor-quality light, and are sending American workers to the unemployment line.”
And Sam Kazman, general counsel for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said: “If the new energy-saving technologies being pushed by government are really that good, then we don't need government to mandate them. And if they are being mandated, that’s a sure sign that they're not very good.”
Three Republican members of Congress — Joe Barton, Marsha Blackburn and Michael Burgess — have introduced a bill that would repeal the ban on the incandescent bulb.
The three said in an article on The Daily Caller: “The unanticipated consequence of the ’07 act — layoffs in the middle of a desperate recession — is what sometimes happens when politicians think they know better than consumers and workers.”
Fwd: US to China jobs
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7 comments:
Don't you just love the irony of the RW's crocodile tears about jobs sent to China? This same crowd are the same ones that, for any other manufactured goods, were all too glad to outsource production to China ( and elsewhere ) if it fattened corporate bottom lines. Why the sudden concern from them now? These people are not making this argument in good faith; it's got to be something else.
Yeah, if you care so much about outsourcing, why not close tax loops that favor non-US companies?
"So instead of retrofitting its plant in Winchester, Va., to produce CFLs, GE closed the plant in September and laid off 200 workers."
Because unfettered corporate greed is totally the GOVERNMENT's fault, you know.
"'Environmental activists and their allies in Washington were either too ignorant of basic economics to see these job losses coming, or they were simply too callous to really care,' said Heartland Institute science director Jay Leah."
BUT...
"So instead of retrofitting its plant in Winchester, Va., to produce CFLs, GE closed the plant in September and laid off 200 workers. "
You tell me who's the callous one here. The environmental activists who want to make the world a better place and encourage American industries to innovate at home, or the multibillion dollar transnational corporation that decided that rather than affect the profit margins, they'd just cut 200 American workers loose in favor of the Chinese.
But remember: anything else is Socilisim!!!1!!!!
E-Meg Whitman & Carly I-Slept-My-Way-to-the-Top-&-Trashed-Two-Companies Fiorina in CA have been touting the "virtues" of the Chinese "business model," particularly in regard to how workers are paid and treated... essentially paid poverty wages with no benefits at all. This is what's being touted in CA for the business model in the USA.
Where's the beef with GE just jumping the gun and shifting US work to China first?
Oh yeah: blah blah enviroNazis femiNazi's socialsimkenyancommunisimNazis
Whatever...
Talk about victimization!
I could only WISH the environmentalist had the power that this rightwing thinktank ascribes to them.
US business has been so de-regulated that there's no brakes on them anymore. The Oligarchs, despite incessant tax cuts, tax breaks and tax incentives have absolutely NO loyalty to the USA or to US citizens, no matter how idiotically we behave or how low wages we're willing to accept.
The wealthy have cut us all loose because we live in a global economy now. If giant transnational corporations can save a few bucks here or there by offshoring US jobs to ground under serfs in Communist China: eh, that's the way it's gonna go.
But T-Tardz will *enjoy* feel victimized to environmentalists and waste their time and energy being easily *distracted* by this rightwing propoganda which clearly *instructs* T-tardz to hate dreaded liberals, who are the root of all evil.
No culpability on US corporations or Oligarchs, who are CLEARLY witless victims to liberals, too.
Yeah: that makes a hell of a lot of sense... not.
not to mention that the new bulbs are filled with POISON...
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