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Candidates' Positions and Views |
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for:
US Congress District 13, North Carolina |
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May 6, 2008 North Carolina Democratic Primary Election |
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Candidates positions and views on other Issues where information is available: |
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The report below lists the candidate responses to Economy issue questions. The responses were provided by Derald Hafner and Ralph Bradley "Brad" Miller or were obtained from their websites. The candidates select the issues and questions for which they want to provide a response. The first link is a report of all the issues and questions made available to the candidates. Many issues and questions had no responses - links are only provided where we have information. If there are many candidates for this office, you may have to scroll down to compare all responses. |
| Economy |
Derald Hafner - D
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Ralph Bradley "Brad" Miller - D
Website
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| Economy, a General Statement |
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Reports of plant closings and job losses are too common in our state. I know what these losses add up to in the small towns of North Carolina -- they add up to double-digit unemployment and people unable to find work after a year or more.
President Bush's entire economic recovery plan hinges on an unsound scheme whereby tax cuts for the rich are supposed to trickle down to create jobs for the rest of us. It appears that his plan has worked for the investor class, as the markets have begun to inch north. But it has failed to spur any significant job growth in North Carolina and has not helped the middle class.
Other Bush Administration policies are actually hurting working families. The President continues to cut or eliminate funding for programs that are specifically designed to help our communities move forward through the economic transition: programs that teach workers new skills, programs that attract jobs to depressed areas, and programs that help manufacturers reduce their operating costs.
Earlier this year, I offered a job creation amendment to support adult training and dislocated worker programs, increase funding for community colleges, and extend federal unemployment compensation. Unfortunately, the amendment was rejected by the Republican leadership and failed on a party line vote in committee. Click here to read more about the Miller amendment.
There are three things that the federal government should do right now to help workers and create jobs:
Worker training
First, we need to invest in worker training. Our community colleges are at the center of this effort. They are where the newly jobless go to learn new skills and in many cases earn a GED. Perkins grants are at the heart of the federal government's contribution to technical and vocational education.
Manufacturing Extension Partnership
Second, we should fund the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). MEP is a program of regional centers that provide small and medium-si [Response was truncated to maximum response length of 2000 characters.]
Source: Candidate Website (10/04/2008) |
| Stimulating the Economy |
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There are three things that the federal government should do right now to help workers and create jobs:
Worker training
First, we need to invest in worker training. Our community colleges are at the center of this effort. They are where the newly jobless go to learn new skills and in many cases earn a GED. Perkins grants are at the heart of the federal government's contribution to technical and vocational education.
Manufacturing Extension Partnership
Second, we should fund the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). MEP is a program of regional centers that provide small and medium-sized manufacturing companies with technical and managerial assistance. N.C. State University uses MEP to fund its Industrial Extension Service, which helped North Carolina companies save $85.6 million in 2002.
Fair Trade
Finally, we need to level the international playing field on trade. This Administration has done a woeful job of standing up for American manufacturing in the world market. The President has abused his Fast Track authority in making unfair deals with Singapore and Chile, and he has let China manipulate its currency and implement barriers that block U.S. exports. I have voted against every trade bill in the 108th Congress to send a very clear message to the President: free trade means nothing if it is not fair trade.
Source: Candidate Website (10/04/2008) |
| These are available issue topics for which there were no responses. |
| Recession |
| America's Infrastructure |
| Federal Reserve |
| Federal Reserve's Interest Rate Policy |
| Aging of Population |