Tapsearch Com EditorEconomic House of Cards (LINK)
March 31st 2008 00:58
Bizarre Politics Reports:
Economic House of Cards Falling
Many say we are in a deep recession. but when I look over all my paperwork and data from 1998 not that much is different. We have plenty of data from 1998 to pass on.
Let's start off with this letter that first appeared in the Steelabor magazine about that time. Not much has changed.
A House of Cards
People get worried because LTV steelworkers lost their jobs and the community will lose millions of dollars because these jobs added dollars for others up the line from raw product to the finished product and then through the distribution channels. If this is dangerous, we should know that once there were 140,000 steelworkers in Ohio (1965 statistics ). In our local region of Cleveland, Arkon, and Lorain, we once had 29,000 steelworkers. Now there are less than 3,000. ( In 2007, it makes headlines when there are openings for a hundred workers.)
Our region which led the way in steel and other manufacturing is now replaced by an economy based on taxpayers with very lttile value-added stages left. It 's like a house of cards. Of the top five Cuyahoga County employers, the top five are government or tax supported.
Twenty of the twenty-five depend on other to do something first in creating the dollars to run their enterprise.
With the bottom supporting cards are being pulled away faster and faster. So out of the top twenty-five employers, only three are value added manufacturers. If only a few more cards are pulled from the base the whole thing will topple. The businesses that are thriving are temporary help offices, payday loan stores and equity loan businesses. This in not a foundation to build your economic house. We have a house of cards ready to fall.
Paul Donovan
Retired from Local 188
Cleveland, Ohio
Here are the top five employers in 1998 and not much has changed today:
1. U.S.A Federal Goverment
2. Cuyahoga County Government
3. Cleveland Clinic Foundation ( dependent on tax money )
4. Cleveland Board of Education
5. City of Cleveland
6. (X) LTV went bankrupt - closed down
7. Society Corp Bank - (X) gone
8. University Hospitals ( dependent on tax money )
9. MetroHealth System ( dependent on tax money )
10. Ford Motors ( Divisions closed down with more pending )
11. Case Western Reserve University ( depent on tax base and government loans )
12. Meridia Health Systems.
( Out of the next 13, there are two more related to Government employment, three in medical field, two in utilities, and one in insurance - all dependent on other businesses making money or paying taxes. )
All should take note of the following statistic. Unions are still blamed for many of our economic problems even though public- sector workers represent 46 % of union membership. In 1955, only 5% of union membership was made up of public-sector workers.
In 1995, private sector production workers totaled 50% of union membership. Today, it is now only 15 % and still the unions are blamed. ( These stats were about the same in 1998. )Overall union membership represented 33 % of the work force in 1955. Today it is down to only 12.5% with the public-sector workers union membership almost ten times larger.
Today, Ben Bernanke, Fed Chairman says to shop " domestically produced goods" to stimulate the economy. This economy was gone back in 1998 and never made a comeback since. The Clintons and former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan proclaimed prosperity back then while millions were losing their jobs during the most massive dislocation of workers ever in U.S. history. Shopping for U.S made products is something from the far distant past.
See : Ben says buy USA
We will continue more comparisons with 1998 to demonstrate not much has changed since then. President Bush's pre-emptive wars have hid the facts from the people.
Let's start off with this letter that first appeared in the Steelabor magazine about that time. Not much has changed.
A House of Cards
People get worried because LTV steelworkers lost their jobs and the community will lose millions of dollars because these jobs added dollars for others up the line from raw product to the finished product and then through the distribution channels. If this is dangerous, we should know that once there were 140,000 steelworkers in Ohio (1965 statistics ). In our local region of Cleveland, Arkon, and Lorain, we once had 29,000 steelworkers. Now there are less than 3,000. ( In 2007, it makes headlines when there are openings for a hundred workers.)
Our region which led the way in steel and other manufacturing is now replaced by an economy based on taxpayers with very lttile value-added stages left. It 's like a house of cards. Of the top five Cuyahoga County employers, the top five are government or tax supported.
Twenty of the twenty-five depend on other to do something first in creating the dollars to run their enterprise.
With the bottom supporting cards are being pulled away faster and faster. So out of the top twenty-five employers, only three are value added manufacturers. If only a few more cards are pulled from the base the whole thing will topple. The businesses that are thriving are temporary help offices, payday loan stores and equity loan businesses. This in not a foundation to build your economic house. We have a house of cards ready to fall.
Paul Donovan
Retired from Local 188
Cleveland, Ohio
Here are the top five employers in 1998 and not much has changed today:
1. U.S.A Federal Goverment
2. Cuyahoga County Government
3. Cleveland Clinic Foundation ( dependent on tax money )
4. Cleveland Board of Education
5. City of Cleveland
6. (X) LTV went bankrupt - closed down
7. Society Corp Bank - (X) gone
8. University Hospitals ( dependent on tax money )
9. MetroHealth System ( dependent on tax money )
10. Ford Motors ( Divisions closed down with more pending )
11. Case Western Reserve University ( depent on tax base and government loans )
12. Meridia Health Systems.
( Out of the next 13, there are two more related to Government employment, three in medical field, two in utilities, and one in insurance - all dependent on other businesses making money or paying taxes. )
All should take note of the following statistic. Unions are still blamed for many of our economic problems even though public- sector workers represent 46 % of union membership. In 1955, only 5% of union membership was made up of public-sector workers.
In 1995, private sector production workers totaled 50% of union membership. Today, it is now only 15 % and still the unions are blamed. ( These stats were about the same in 1998. )Overall union membership represented 33 % of the work force in 1955. Today it is down to only 12.5% with the public-sector workers union membership almost ten times larger.
Today, Ben Bernanke, Fed Chairman says to shop " domestically produced goods" to stimulate the economy. This economy was gone back in 1998 and never made a comeback since. The Clintons and former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan proclaimed prosperity back then while millions were losing their jobs during the most massive dislocation of workers ever in U.S. history. Shopping for U.S made products is something from the far distant past.
See : Ben says buy USA
We will continue more comparisons with 1998 to demonstrate not much has changed since then. President Bush's pre-emptive wars have hid the facts from the people.
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