According to the Alliance for American Manufacturing Minnesota's Second Congressional District is ranked 22nd of the 435 Districts nationwide in terms of net job losses to China due to growing trade losses from 2001-2008. That's the worst in the state, either raw net loss of as a percent of total jobs within the district.
They calculated the following losses:
Total Employment 389,200
Net Jobs Lost 10,900
Share of Total Employment 2.8%
Here's how that stacks up against the other seven Congressional Districts statewide:
CD 1 lost 9,000 net jobs (2.7%)
CD 3 lost 9,100 (2.6%)
CD 4 lost 5,700 (1.9%)
CD 5 lost 5,800 (1.8%)
CD 6 lost 8,300 (2.1%)
CD 7 lost 6,100 (1.9%)
CD 8 lost 3,800 (1.2%)
For a discussion of data sources (which include a new Economic Policy Institute report by Robert Scott,) methodology, and analysis, there's a downloadable PDF.
Now I don't fault Congressman Kline for his vote on the TARP bailouts of big banks and Wall Street, but I think we need to ask this Texas transplant why he's not doing more for the Minnesota workers he was elected to represent. We need to bring our share of the reinvestment/recovery stimulus money into the district, and I can't find any evidence that Mr. Kline's putting any energy into that.
What has Congressman Kline prioritized? In 2005 he introduced legislation to place former President Ronald Reagan on the $50 bill. In fact, Kline's only authored 8 bills since getting elected to Congress.
He's not too worried, perhaps, since he's served long enough to qualify for a lifetime pension. But the families in his district are struggling while he votes against bills that would make it easier for our kids to afford college and insure all of us can afford health care rather than go bankrupt. We're talking about the hardest hit district in one of the hardest hit states - we need a representative in Washington who'll do more.
They calculated the following losses:
Total Employment 389,200
Net Jobs Lost 10,900
Share of Total Employment 2.8%
Here's how that stacks up against the other seven Congressional Districts statewide:
CD 1 lost 9,000 net jobs (2.7%)
CD 3 lost 9,100 (2.6%)
CD 4 lost 5,700 (1.9%)
CD 5 lost 5,800 (1.8%)
CD 6 lost 8,300 (2.1%)
CD 7 lost 6,100 (1.9%)
CD 8 lost 3,800 (1.2%)
For a discussion of data sources (which include a new Economic Policy Institute report by Robert Scott,) methodology, and analysis, there's a downloadable PDF.
Unfair China Trade Costs Local Jobs
Now I don't fault Congressman Kline for his vote on the TARP bailouts of big banks and Wall Street, but I think we need to ask this Texas transplant why he's not doing more for the Minnesota workers he was elected to represent. We need to bring our share of the reinvestment/recovery stimulus money into the district, and I can't find any evidence that Mr. Kline's putting any energy into that.What has Congressman Kline prioritized? In 2005 he introduced legislation to place former President Ronald Reagan on the $50 bill. In fact, Kline's only authored 8 bills since getting elected to Congress.
He's not too worried, perhaps, since he's served long enough to qualify for a lifetime pension. But the families in his district are struggling while he votes against bills that would make it easier for our kids to afford college and insure all of us can afford health care rather than go bankrupt. We're talking about the hardest hit district in one of the hardest hit states - we need a representative in Washington who'll do more.
Great post.
ReplyDeleteMr. Kline has called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka the stimulus) a failure, yet as you pointed out the job losses have extended over his entire time in Congress.
The reality is that those job losses to China will never return … we know that.
But there are new opportunities that Mr. Kline could focus on … green jobs such as in the wind power industry … or the Ag bioscience industries … these are natural opportunities in the Second District.
But Mr.NO - Neo-Con Obstructionist – has been voting against these programs for years … I have chronicled some of these votes on my blog going back to 2007 when the Democrats started pushing these new job opportunities.
Mr. NO is enjoying his moment in the spotlight speaking out as a National Republican … where his constituent outreach ?
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has a number of opportunities where a true Representative would be advancing … funding to help grow the emerging health IT industry which is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs ranging from nurses and pharmacy techs to IT technicians and trainers … or funding for Broadband infrastructure.
The Kline Record is not a JOBS Record … just in the past weeks, he has opposed :
Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act which is now law and includes allowing employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010 and before Jan. 1, 2011) exempting them from their share of Social Security taxes on wages.
H.R. 4849 – Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act of 2010 which has been sent to the Senate and extends programs that have proven invaluable to Minnesota including Build America Bonds which the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority uses to finance clean water and drinking water loans; and Recovery Zone Bonds which Scott County calculated that $6.6 million under this program could “attract private investment through lower borrowing costs, improve tax base and employment.”
The Second District deserves a Representative who thinks the Job is creating JOBS in Minnesota - not being a talking-head for the Republican Party.