The Closing of the Last Factory

West Point Home ….Gone Forever

This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:

"Jackson County just lost its last textile employer, when will our nation close its last factory?"

How do you destroy a thriving industrial system within a national economy within ten years? If you want to destroy an entire nation’s industrialized system within a minimum passage of time you should take the following steps:

Step 1- begin escalating the cost of manufacturing within the nation as much as possible. This can be accomplished through creating the highest corporate tax rate in the world, then steadily increasing the cost of labor by legislating a series of minimum wage increases which raise labor cost from $.90 per hour to a minimum of $5.35 per hour (even though this creates inflation which raises the costs of everything consumed by a family), then impose strict and often unnecessary environmental rules which create extra costs, then impose constant governmental inspections, reports and administrative requirements.

Step 2 - When domestic manufacturing costs have risen to a level which is at least five times as high as a majority of other producers in emerging nations such as China, India, Korea, Viet Nam, Philippines, Africa, the Middle East, and even Mexico….then adopt the concepts of a "global market and free trade" and remove all tariffs and protective quotas for imported products from these nations. Do not impose any labor restrictions, safety restrictions, environmental restrictions, or any other restraints on incoming products.

Step 3 – After these regulations and free trade agreements have been implemented, just sit back and wait for six or seven years and watch as more and more domestic companies are forced to close their domestic manufacturing plants and begin sourcing these same products from these low cost nations in the new factories which are opening there to ship to the US markets.

We are the largest consuming marketplace in the world, but are rapidly becoming a service based economy instead of a manufacturing based economy. These changes have occurred in virtually every industry, and are at the basis of the problems currently being faced by the US automotive industry as it struggles to survive and begs for taxpayer funding. Other industries which are almost gone, or are already gone include the electronics industries such as television, radios, computers, telephones, microwaves, hair dryers, irons, textile manufacturing, apparel manufacturing, lighting, wiring harnesses, pharmaceuticals, meters, gauges, steel and iron, paper, furniture, fruit, fish, vegetables, tractors, lawn mowers, and on and on and on…….all going or gone and with them billions in potential tax revenues and millions of jobs.

Locally, only a relatively short time ago we enjoyed the following employing factories which are now gone; West Point Home (Chipley 400 jobs), Warnaco (Graceville 250 jobs), Colonial Corp. (Cottondale 200 jobs, Cottonwood 200 jobs), Russell Corp (Marianna 3 plants 1100 jobs), Donny Mills (Donaldsonville 150 jobs, Malone 50 jobs), Big Bend (Sneads 100 jobs), Quincy Mfg. (Quincy 150 jobs), Panama City (2 plants and 250 jobs), Havana (1 plant 100 jobs), Dothan (2 plants 400 jobs), Blakely (1 plant 200 jobs), De Funiak Springs ( Continental Apparel 150 jobs), Lehigh Furniture (Marianna, 650 jobs) ….and on and on… and on. Dothan recently even lost it’s long time producer of prophylactics, Trojan Mfg..

Just for general information, the concept of free trade was enacted during the Clinton Administration, but was endorsed by an assortment of Senators, both Republican and Democrats. NAFTA which was the lead trade treaty in this movement was passed in 1993 by a vote of 68 to 31, with one abstention. Notables who voted for the measure were both Senators from Florida, Graham and Mack, along with Dodd (D. of CT), Hatch (R. of UT), Kennedy (D. of MA), Kerry (D. of MA), Leiberman (D. of CT), Lott (R. of MS), McCain (R of AZ), and Nunn (D of GA).

In my opinion, as our nation lost the strength and vitality formed by the industrial basis of our economy, and transformed into a service/distribution based economy it became more susceptible to the ravages of recessions. The mechanisms historically used by the federal reserve to regulate growth and inflation, such as manipulation of the discount interest rate have lost their impact since factory expansions and purchase of new equipment is no longer influenced by these financial changes. ….all of that type of activity is occurring in China and other Asian nations. Thus, our economy is basically unregulated by any controls and is much more susceptible to what is happening around the world.

At present, the only growth industry within our new version of the USSA is government. With the current onrush to socialism and increased government participation in all aspects of life…. it can only continue to grow. At the same time our environmentalist elite continue to push for the "green movement" and the extra mega billions in costs this effort generates for our society. Personally, until global warming can be proven to be caused by man….I had rather have a green wallet.

Anyway, our last area textile plant has closed…I wait for the closing of our nation’s last plant of any kind.

Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning

● I encourage all readers to participate in the "Tea Party" tax protest on April 15 at noon at the Jackson County Court House. Do this and you will be "Getting It Right"!

● The exemption on the "Death Tax" will expire this year. This terrible tax often requires heirs to sell their families properties, farm, or home in order to pay the 45% tax which is imposed upon the death of the senior family member. This is double taxation, since taxes were paid when the earnings were generated which enabled the original purchase of the properties. We all need to urge our legislators to not allow this tax to be restored.

However, proponents of income distribution will welcome this double tax on families.

● It appears our leadership is supporting global government, global currency, global trade, and global regulations. The next step is global income redistribution which will lower our standard of living down to a level near that which currently exists in Africa and India.

● Our administration is in the process of dismantling our military, halting weapons development, stopping the missile shield programs, cutting back on space exploration, reducing the size of our military, reducing veterans benefits, and using these savings on more entitlement programs. Meanwhile, Iran is almost through developing the atomic bomb, and North Korea is developing a missile which can deliver that bomb.

● I understand that the administration plans to discontinue the Navy Seals program….they plan to replace the Seals with a woman’s synchronized swimming team.

● An unintended but real aspect of the global trade concept is the "globalization of industrial loyalties". Since US companies are no longer dependent on US manufacturing sites, US regulations, US labor laws, and the US Government…their identification with the United States as their home base is also diminished. Why have your international, global corporation based in such an anti-business environment. This opens the opportunity for the entire corporate framework to shop the world for a site which best fits their need. In this process, the US loses the corporate headquarters and the entire US national identification with the company. This is the new wave of change in the global, industrial marketplace. Stay tuned for the full impact of this evolution.

Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.