Obama Touts Advanced Manufacturing as Jobs Engine in Radio Address

[FlimFlam]

I worked in manufacturing for over 20 years. What we need are not robots. America still leads the world in technology except in the area of robots, which is just ironic as hell. Japan is the leader there, but we can still hold our own there and unlike what you hear in the news we still lead in many other areas. What we need is to get the .gov the hell out of the way, get rid of the NAFTAs, CASTAs and the whole notion of "not so free trade" agreements, get rid of the endless EPA, OSHA and the myriad other alphabet agencies and their growth stifling regulations and fees (read taxes). When it takes 10 years to complete the permitting process to build a new refinery (that's before you move one speck of dirt) something is really messed up. We need to stop the .gov from telling Boeing where they can and cannot build plants. Yes they just did that and Boeing built it and went into production anyway. to Boeing!

In spite of all of this American companies are still profitable, but before long it's going to be bad enough that more and more companies are going to pull a Halliburton and fly the middle finger to the U.S. If Numbnuts gets another 4 years, mark it down, you will see large corporations pulling out of here altogether during his second term. Right now they are in a wait and see mode. They damn sure aren't going to invest any more in this jacked up business climate.

I'd agree that we are the leader in a lot of advanced manufacturing sectors and I'd certainly love to see our dominance spread and grow. But for more basic manufacturing we can't compete. I agree that regulations and silly agreements do hinder the cost of production however, I'd like our manufacturing to compete globally in terms of price vs quality. Sure the Chinese can still crank out tons of crappy plastics, but if we can export higher quality goods with a decent price, we can retake some of the global market.

I'd like made in America goods to be a viable option in the US, but I'd like it more if we could also export the goods for sale as well. Although removing NAFTA and other agreements that harm US manufacturers will help American companies compete in the US. Globally, that can't be done just with less regulation and agreements, we'll need to decrease the final cost of most items.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[FlimFlam]

Sadly we probably don't educate enough U.S. born engineers. I could easily see the robotics industry being centered in China or India instead of this country. Want to change this picture? Insist that your kids take the hard subjects and that Oklahoma schools give homework.

I can agree with you here. My wife and I both received bachelors in "hard" subjects and it has certainly helped us job-wise. I wish Oklahoma schools also have opportunities like in Texas. My wife attended high school at the Texas Academy of Math and Science (TAMS), which is located on the campus of University of North Texas. High school kids attend college classes right along college students. When my wife graduated she already had 60+ college credits. Anyone aware of comparable schools in Oklahoma? The high school I attended offered a couple of classes for college credit (Advanced placement with required tests) but that was about it.

 

[poopgiggle]

I worked in manufacturing for over 20 years. What we need are not robots. America still leads the world in technology except in the area of robots, which is just ironic as hell. Japan is the leader there, but we can still hold our own there and unlike what you hear in the news we still lead in many other areas. What we need is to get the .gov the hell out of the way, get rid of the NAFTAs, CASTAs and the whole notion of "not so free trade" agreements, get rid of the endless EPA, OSHA and the myriad other alphabet agencies and their growth stifling regulations and fees (read taxes). When it takes 10 years to complete the permitting process to build a new refinery (that's before you move one speck of dirt) something is really messed up. We need to stop the .gov from telling Boeing where they can and cannot build plants. Yes they just did that and Boeing built it and went into production anyway. to Boeing!

In spite of all of this American companies are still profitable, but before long it's going to be bad enough that more and more companies are going to pull a Halliburton and fly the middle finger to the U.S. If Numbnuts gets another 4 years, mark it down, you will see large corporations pulling out of here altogether during his second term. Right now they are in a wait and see mode. They damn sure aren't going to invest any more in this jacked up business climate.