[caption id="attachment_25258" align="alignleft" width="108" caption="Jack Stewart"][/caption]
This election year is a historic time for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association. For the first time in our 92-year history in representing manufactures in California, we have endorsed a U.S. federal candidate. That candidate is Carly Fiorina.
Why did we do this? Well, I think it is pretty clear the abysmal condition of the manufacturing sector of our economy, both in California and in the United States. Over the last 10 years we have lost a third of our manufacturing jobs and, over the last 20 to 30 years, manufacturing has been on a steady decline across the nation. We desperately need to do something to spur manufacturing growth and creativity, and get people back to work in all industries. There are small businesses up and down the state having to close their doors because they simply can’t stay competitive in the current hostile business environment.
To be competitive in this global economy, California companies have to be far more efficient and more productive than their counterparts not just within the state, but around the world. How do you do that? It helps to have the most trained, most well qualified work force in the world. But you also need to be able to operate your company and compete without burdensome regulations and high taxes that punish success instead of rewarding it.
Throughout her career, Barbara Boxer has supported policies that are killing small businesses and manufacturing jobs in our state. The National Association of Manufacturers compiles a voting record on manufacturing and on the issues of importance to manufactures, and it will come as no surprise to many of you that Barbara Boxer has voted against policies that would help manufacturers 83 percent of the time. The hallmark of her nearly three decades in Washington is her proud support for higher taxes, increased regulations and more taxpayer spending.
Carly understands that Washington needs to be lowering corporate taxes, reducing onerous regulations and enacting reforms to expand American trade. CMTA is standing behind Carly because she knows what it takes to create a job and renew our economy. She has actually had to meet a payroll, cut costs and make the checkbook balance at the end of the day. She knows that we need to lower taxes for the small businesses that are the lifeblood of our economy and incentivize innovation again. We need to start rewarding people for succeeding in our state, not punishing them with more government-imposed rules that make it harder to hire, plan and grow.
Barbara Boxer has proven that she is not up to the task of reinvigorating the American economy. In fact she’s got a 28-year-long record to demonstrate that she’s interested in doing the exact opposite. She and the other career politicians in Washington are simply out of touch. Want some proof? She insists on touring the state touting the $862 billion stimulus plan that she said would save or create 400,000 jobs. Instead, California has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs since the stimulus was passed. It’s not working because it is fundamentally based on the wrong idea: that government, using taxpayer dollars, is better at creating real jobs that lead to actual growth.
We are at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history and in the direction of our economy. Right now is the time to end the long downward slide in American production and the destruction of jobs and small businesses. This is time to renew and revitalize the American business climate, create jobs and allow innovation to take root again in this country. That starts with putting people in Washington who understand job creation, and in California we have a historic opportunity to do just that.
•••
Jack Stewart is president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association, www.cmta.net. Named to the President's position March of 1998, Mr. Stewart has been with the Association since 1992. From 1984 through 1991, he served as Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Commerce where he managed the State's economic development programs.
