Aging bridges ignored at our peril

Rep. Sue Minter, who represents Waterbury, Duxbury, Huntington & Buels Gore, is a member of Vermont's House Transportation Committee. Her Op Ed in the Sunday Times Argus calls attention to reality that, "In the face of state budget shortfalls, the Douglas administration has chosen to delay transportation repair projects all around the state":

I wish I could say that I was surprised by the deadly bridge collapse in Minnesota last week. But with what I know about Vermont's infrastructure woes, I knew a major failure like this was only a matter of time. I only hope that this terrible tragedy will serve as a wake-up call here in Vermont and around the country. As a state and as a nation we are not adequately addressing our infrastructure needs. We ignore this problem at our peril.

When I was appointed to serve on the House Transportation Committee three years ago as a new legislator, I was shocked by what I learned about the under-funded and aging transportation system that I had become responsible for overseeing.

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Jim = McJobs

From VT Democratic Party newsletter

Last week, the governor grabbed a pair of giant scissors and snipped the ribbon at the McDonald's in Barre. Though we realize it's just one unfortunate ribbon in a long line that have met the same fate, and that we all like to indulge in a little fast food every once in a while, this particular ribbon cutting exposed a few inconvenient truths about Jim Douglas and his record as governor.

1. When the governor told Vermonters "Jim = Jobs," is this what he had in mind? Yesterday, the governor said McDonald's "provides dozens of jobs." True. But when he promised jobs to Vermonters, we suspect most assumed he meant better, higher paying jobs. As it turns out, however, since June 2003, shortly after "Jim = Jobs" took the helm of state government, the state has lost 1,750 high paying manufacturing jobs, according to the Vermont Department of Labor. It's true that we've added jobs, but unfortunately they pay so poorly that Vermonters have to hold two or three of them to make a living.

2. While the governor promotes McJobs as the way to move Vermont forward, he is also promoting a food source that all Vermonters know is unhealthy. The McDonald's "Mighty Kids Meal" contains 800 calories and more than half the daily recommended amount of saturated fat for adults. According to a report by George Washington University, to burn those calories, an average 7-year-old girl would have to either walk for over 9 hours, play volleyball for over 8 hours, baseball for almost 7 hours, swim or play paddleball for about 5.5 hours or engage in aerobics for 5 hours. Is this what the governor had in mind when he promoted his "Fit and Healthy Kids" initiative?

Wasting Economic Development Resources

To the Burlington Free Press editor:

Sunday's article about Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility ("Business group pushes for change", August 5, 2007) quoted the Secretary of Commerce on Vermont's tax credit program: "It's a critical program that returns money to the state."

The only way this misguided program can return money to the state is if the businesses would not have invested money or hired workers without the tax credits (the infamous "but for"). This is a fantasy.

Businesses expand when it makes sense financially, and tax credits (or cash rebates as is the case today) are not sufficient to overcome the business cycle. The evidence is clear: 1) few businesses apply during economic downturns; 2) dozens of companies awarded credits never met their job creation requirements; and 3) some companies that got credits cut jobs later on.

However, it's not surprising that businesses apply. If the state chooses to give away taxpayer money, why shouldn't they?

In the end, corporate taxes are not much of a burden (see the recent Tax Study by the Joint Fiscal Office). More importantly, tax credits are not long-term investments. I commend Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility for calling for a more responsible approach. We need it. The current one isn't working.

Doug Hoffer

Wage Deficit, Not Skills Deficit

Times Argus letter published Jul 11, 2007
Don't blame the victims

The article, "One third of Vermont youth drop out of work force," gets it wrong, blaming the victims — working Vermonters — instead of low-road employers. The article quotes Mr. Stenger about "good-paying, open positions," but provides no facts to back up his assertions. You report that Rep. Kupersmith claims that "employers have the jobs, but Vermont lacks the trained workforce to take those positions."

The so-called "drifters" may take advantage of new training opportunities, but most simply need livable wage jobs. Many of us used to find such work in factories or the building trades. Although factory jobs have declined, and wages too, the building trades could still offer a decent life. However, anti-union campaigns and policies have succeeded in depressing wages. We now have major employers using the H2B program to bring in hundreds of aliens to work (what are now) low-wage construction jobs, while some of our skilled trades-people leave the state for better pay.

As for the departing college grads, they're following the money. Many professional jobs in Vermont pay less than in other states. Actually, if every adult in Vermont had a graduate degree, many would still leave because 40 percent of the jobs require nothing more than short-term on-the-job training.

About all those "good-paying open positions." Where are they? Most entry level jobs in Vermont for new college grads are not "good paying" compared to other areas (let alone jobs for those with skills other than a degree). Mr. Stenger may be referring to mid-level professional positions, but many of those jobs are filled by in-migrants from other states.

Wage problems faced by the working Vermonters do not come because we have skill deficits, or because of skill shortages that hamper our competitiveness. We have had rapid productivity growth for the last 10 years with the very same workers who now do not participate in economic growth. Moreover, it is hard to claim that the stagnant wages of college graduates and the failure of new college graduates to locate jobs with benefits is the result of deficient skills.

No, Vermont's workers do not face a "skills deficit," rather we face a deficit in the wages and benefits that employers provide. This gap between pay and productivity growth is the result of policies that shift bargaining power away from the vast majority of us and toward big employers: the steep drop in unionization rates; unfettered globalization and off-shoring that increasingly puts us in competition with workers around the world; economic deregulation and the privatization of government services; and escalating pay for CEOs.

Unless and until Vermont employers raise wages, the exodus will continue.

Traven Leyshon

Check out VPIRG's new Rap on Global Warming

The minds behind the popular '802' rap video have struck again, and this time they're targeting Governor Douglas, the global warming legislation he vetoed and the state legislature. Click here to see the serious and seriously funny YouTube video 'CO2'.

Wal-Mart's reliance on Chinese imports costs U.S. jobs

Economic Snapshot for June 27 by Robert E. Scott

China's entry into the World Trade Organization was supposed to improve the U.S. trade deficit with China and create good jobs in the United States. But those promises have gone unfulfilled: the total U.S. trade deficit with China reached $235 billion in 2006. Between 2001 and 2006, this growing deficit eliminated 1.8 million U.S. jobs (Scott 2007). The world's biggest retailer, U.S.-based Wal-Mart was responsible for $27 billion in U.S. imports from China in 2006 and 11% of the growth of the total U.S. trade deficit with China between 2001 and 2006. Wal-Mart's trade deficit with China alone eliminated nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs in this period (See Chart).

The manufacturing sector and its workers were hardest hit by the growth of Wal-Mart's imports. Wal-Mart's increased trade deficit with China eliminated 133,000 manufacturing jobs, 68% of all jobs lost. Overall, the Wal-Mart trade deficit displaced and 308,100 jobs in 2006. On average, 77 U.S. jobs were eliminated for each one of Wal-Mart's 4,022 U.S. stores in 2006. (See The Wal-Mart Effect for more details.)

Wal-Mart's huge reliance on Chinese imports illustrates that many powerful economic actors in the United States benefit from China's policy of maintaining an undervalued yuan, its abuse of labor rights, and other fair-trade norms. Wal-Mart's benefit, however, is not the country's gain, as these policies have contributed directly to the ever-growing trade deficit that imperils future economic growth.

Scott, Robert E. 2007. Costly Trade with China: Millions of U.S. Jobs Displaced with Net Job Loss in Every State. Briefing Paper. Washington, D.C.: Economic Policy Institute.

Paul Krugman: we can cover everyone at negative cost