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<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy;font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic'>Nice work to Karen, who got the ball rolling on this . . . <o:p></o:p></span></font></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-weight:bold'>Labor, trade reps criticize
Portman <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Friday, 19 March 2010 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>http://www.wapakdailynews.com/content/view/150800/1/<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>By WILLIAM LANEY<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Managing Editor<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Ohio labor and trade leaders criticized the
Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate on the anniversary of his appointment
as a trade representative, while the Republican’s campaign press
secretary dismissed the event as a manufactured anniversary to distract voters.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>In a media teleconference, labor and trade
advocates attacked the resume of former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, who is seeking
to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Sen. George Voinovich.
Portman is running against Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the Democratic challenger.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>In 2005, President George Bush appointed
Portman as his <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
trade representative after serving as member of the U.S. House of
Representatives from 1993 to 2005.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Cincinnati AFL-CIO Executive
Secre-tary-Treasurer Doug Sizemore said Bush chose Portman for a reason and
that his record in the House show he “betrayed <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State> workers time and time again.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>“Portman voted repeatedly to
fast-track international trade agreements and also voted against helping
workers who lost their jobs due to outsourcing,” Sizemore said.
“Portman also supported NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and
still thinks it created jobs. I can tell you there are 50,000 <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State> workers who would disagree with him on
that.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>“This anniversary is important because
as we weather this recession, we can’t forget how we got here,” he
said. “Portman’s job killing trade policies were a recipe for
disaster five years ago, and they are not the way out of this crisis ... and we
can’t afford to have him represent our voice in the Senate.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><font size=2
color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Trebuchet MS";color:navy;font-weight:bold'>Ohio</span></font></b></st1:place></st1:State><b><font
size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Trebuchet MS";color:navy;font-weight:bold'> Conference on Fair Trade Director
Karen Hanson blasted Portman and said the number regarding trade and loss of
jobs speaks for his work. “It’s unthinkable for Portman to receive
anything but failing marks for his record as Bush’s <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> trade
representative,” Hanson said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy;font-weight:bold'>She
claimed 17,000 <st1:State w:st="on">Ohio</st1:State> workers had their jobs
shipped overseas on his watch and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> trade deficit rose nearly 6.5
percent “slowing economic growth and impeding job creation.” She
also claimed the trade imbalance with <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>
eclipsed $200 billion for the first time in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> history.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=navy face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:navy;font-weight:bold'>“These
are just statistical numbers and they don’t begin to reveal all the
collateral damage to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>
families and communities by this decimation of our manufacturing base in this state,”
Hanson said. “Ohio workers, businesses and middle class families deserve
better than Portman’s agenda in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Joe Logan, director of Agricultural Programs
for the Ohio Environmental Council and agricultural co-chair for the Coalition
for a Prosperous America, criticized Portman for his policies affecting
agriculture.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>He cited wheat exports declined to 20
percent of the global export market in 2009 from 45.7 percent in 1980, with
corn declining to 10.6 percent from 19.6 percent and soybeans dropping to 30
percent from 60 percent during the same period.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>“Traditionally the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> agriculture has been a very robust net
exporter of agricultural commodities and agricultural products,” <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Logan</st1:place></st1:City> said.
“Exports and trade continues to be a very important to the agricultural
economy here in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>
and across the country.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>“We have gone from being a very robust
net exporter of food to a near-break-even point,” <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Logan</st1:place></st1:City> said. “We are on the cusp of
being a net food importer for the first time since 1959.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Portman’s Senate Press Secretary
Jessica Towhey defended Portman and his record. She also criticized the
Democrats for creating an anniversary in an effort to show their support for
Fisher.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>“Manufacturing a meaningless
anniversary is the Democrats’ latest attempt to distract voters from Ohio
Job Czar Lee Fisher’s failed leadership resulting in record job
loss,” Towhey told the Wapakoneta Daily News. “<st1:State w:st="on">Ohio</st1:State>
voters should begin a countdown to see when Job Czar Lee Fisher will emerge
from the secret location where he’s been hiding from the massively
unpopular healthcare debate and take responsibility for his failure to help <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State> working
families.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Citing Bureau of Labor Statistics recently
revised unemployment numbers going back to 1990, Towhey noted revised numbers
are even worse for <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>,
where the unemployment rate is 10.8 percent:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>She noted <st1:State w:st="on">Ohio</st1:State>
has lost nearly 450,000 jobs since Fisher became job czar in 2007, <st1:State
w:st="on">Ohio</st1:State> has lost nearly 195,000 jobs since the
Democrats’ stimulus was enacted in February and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State> has lost nearly 222,000 jobs in the
last 12 months.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>She also cited that in January 2005, <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>’s
unemployment was 5.9 percent. In January 2007, when the Strickland-Fisher
administration came in, <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>’s
unemployment was 5.3 percent. Just three years later in January 2010, <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>’s
unemployment had risen to 10.8 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Last Updated ( Monday, 22 March 2010 ) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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