In the Midst of Chaos . . .

I took yesterday off -- everything just got to be too much here and I'll spare y'all the gory details and just say that my last nerve was in mortal danger. The idiot Tea Party Freshman are still acting like damned fools which doesn't surprise me at all. I got a letter last night from mine and I sent a note back asking him if he was going to lend me the money to pay my rent when my Social Security check isn't deposited. I hope that I wasn't the only one who did that.

With the budget crisis at the forefront, I was pleased to see my Senator, Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), take the floor and talk about something useful and that we desperately need: jobs. He's a good friend of Bernie Sanders (and stood with him during the Berniebuster) who is co-sponsoring this bill that calls for making American flags be made in America -- currently, most are made in China. What's wrong with this picture?



I didn't have the time to do the text for y'all but I've included a letter that Sen. Brown and others sent to Obama that will tell you what he talked about. (A tip of my Thinking cap to the good folks at Crooks and Liars.

"Dear Mr. President:

In your State of the Union address, you called for consolidating and reorganizing the Administration’s trade agencies. To that end, you tasked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to examine the consolidation of export and trade offices managed primarily by the Office of U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department.

During this process, I urge you to ensure that this reorganization focuses not only upon export-related efforts but also the non-export policy needs of domestic manufacturers. Currently, the Office of Manufacturing and Services (MAS) is the designated office for supporting the Secretary of Commerce in his role as the federal government’s chief advocate for American manufacturing.

This office is within the International Trade Administration (ITA) and primarily supports sectors that have a direct connection to exports or impact trade flows. With more than 90 percent of the world’s customers outside the United States, this focus on exports is clearly a central plank in a national manufacturing strategy and efforts.

However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a report I requested, found that MAS set an internal goal for 75 percent of its resources to support the National Export Initiative (NEI).

This singular focus upon exports is of great concern, especially when greater challenges face the manufacturing sector than export barriers, including: tax issues; access to credit and financing for viable producers; workforce training; and regulations. These challenges take on new urgency considering that from 2000-2009, fifteen of the nineteen aggregate-level U.S. manufacturing sectors shrank in output while manufacturing jobs fell by 6.1 million, or 34 percent.

You have given manufacturing policy significant attention, as outlined in the December 2010 “Framework to Revitalize American Manufacturing” and as evident in your recently announced Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. Further, your efforts to restructure the auto industry have saved thousands of jobs in my state and throughout the country, and now we are seeing new jobs created in the auto sector.

I fully support and encourage your efforts, but request that you consider a comprehensive and sustainable structure within the Commerce Department to serve as the voice for domestic manufacturers and the integrator of Federal agency manufacturing efforts within yours and future Administrations. I have proposed legislation that will help to achieve these goals, which with your support has the potential to create a more cohesive and coordinated approach to promoting U.S. manufacturers."

And here's three minutes of common sense from Bernie Sanders on the Ed Show on the current debacle:



Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!

Kay