Recent Job Losses Will Hurt Everyone
RECENT JOB LOSSES WILL HURT EVERYONE
REGULATORS IGNORED SIGNS OF CRISIS
WALL STREET GETS THE HELP, MAIN STREET GETS THE SHAFT
FREDERICK, MD – March 21, 2008
The recent job losses at Rayloc in Hancock, MD and at Hagerstown’s Volvo-Powertrain plant will hurt hundreds of families and the local economy. While Rep. Roscoe Bartlett expressed little concern about the job cuts, calling the cuts “cyclical”, Democratic challenger, Mayor Jennifer P. Dougherty said, “This is just another example of how people in Washington lose touch with local people and businesses and use old ways of thinking to try to explain away problems.”
According to Dougherty, “Hardworking people will have to find a couple of minimum-wage jobs to try to pay their bills. They will dig into their savings and cut their expenses at a time when the cost of living just keeps going up. If anyone in Washington had been paying attention during the past 3-4 years, they could see the credit problems were going to explode and that real people were going to be hurt.”
“Dr. Bartlett blames everyone else for the economic problems, but takes no blame for the federal regulators who ignored the signs of crisis. Members of Congress should have been asking some tough questions a few years ago if they really wanted to avert a crisis,” said Dougherty.
Dr. Bartlett’s criticism of the increased minimum wage is surprising at a time when people are going to depend those additional pennies, “People will work one hour to buy 2 gallons of gas, I’m worried he just doesn’t get it.”
“Dr. Bartlett’s record of siding with the industry CEO’s is quite clear, but it is disappointing that he would rub salt in the wounds of those who have lost their jobs. Just look at who the Bush Administration is baling out. Wall Street gets the help, Main Street gets the shaft,” Dougherty added. “Without the strong union jobs that support families with a living wage, retirement and health benefits, hundreds of other local businesses will suffer – everyone from the waitress in the local restaurant to the landlords who will lose rent-paying businesses. This hurts everyone.”
Dougherty believes that the problems with the local economy can be fixed, but it will take a more energetic and creative response. “We can grow business and jobs in the 6th District, but it has to include more than service sector and distribution centers. I want to work to build the businesses that will help grow the green economy.”
Dougherty has proposed a bio-fuels refinery for Western Maryland that can rely on local raw-materials, create jobs and be good for the environment. Investing in new technologies will build a firewall in times of economic struggle by making our industries more diverse.
