The Bible NETWork ~ Impacting the World for Christ one post at a time!

I do actually listen to other people when they disagree with me

But dismissing my opinions with a handwave as you've done, claiming that I'm biased without actually trying to present some kind of argument is, quite frankly, a cop out

This has been a running theme with you and I'm growing very, very tired of it

In my mind, your resorting to these tactics means that I've "won."

But if you think I'm too much of a thick-headed liberal to reason with, and can't be bothered to do anything other than pester me, please - just leave me alone

California decided not to apply for federal funding for the project because the “Buy America” provisos would probably have required purchasing more expensive steel and fabrication from United States manufacturers.

“I don’t think the U.S. fabrication industry could put a project like this together,” Brian A. Petersen, project director for the American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises joint venture, said in a telephone interview. “Most U.S. companies don’t have these types of warehouses, equipment or the cash flow. The Chinese load the ships, and it’s their ships that deliver to our piers.”

Despite the American union complaints, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, strongly backed the project and even visited Zhenhua’s plant last September, praising “the workers that are building our Bay Bridge.”

Zhenhua put 3,000 employees to work on the project: steel-cutters, welders, polishers and engineers. The company built the main bridge tower, which was shipped in mid-2009, and a total of 28 bridge decks — the massive triangular steel structures that will serve as the roadway platform.

Pan Zhongwang, a 55-year-old steel polisher, is a typical Zhenhua worker. He arrives at 7 a.m. and leaves at 11 p.m., often working seven days a week. He lives in a company dorm and earns about $12 a day.

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation, which was based in Bethlehem, Pa., was once the largest producer of steel in the United States. Formerly the Bethlehem Steel Company, it was a major supplier of steel for ships, ammunition and other ordnance during World War I and World War II, and it stood as a symbol of the industrial might of a nation for much of the 20th century. Bethlehem Steel's earliest predecessor, the Saucona Iron Company, was founded as an iron works in Bethlehem, Pa., in 1857. The company grew rapidly as the industrial age dawned, buoyed by conflicts abroad, the construction of the railroads and the rapid, steel-reliant expansion of U.S. cities. In 1904, steel tycoon Charles M. Schwab formed the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, and he was replaced as president by Eugene G. Grace in 1916, with Schwab remaining as chairman of the board. Together, the two men oversaw a series of acquisitions and innovations that helped build Bethlehem Steel into an industrial giant. Among its holdings was the plant at Sparrows Point, Md., once the largest steel mill in the world. But by 1960, the U.S. was importing more steel than it was producing domestically, an ominous sign for Bethlehem Steel and the steel industry as a whole. Unable to keep up with changing technology and competition from overseas, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and its assets were sold off. Bethlehem Steel's downfall often is cited as a prime example of the U.S. economy's transition away from industrial manufacturing.

Where 30,000 people worked during World War II producing massive amounts of steel - 17 million tons - and launching hundreds of ships.

This battered relic of U.S. industrial might is owned now by a steel entrepreneur born in India named Lakshmi Mittal. With the acquisition of Sparrows Point, Mittal's company has become the world's largest steelmaker. Steel prices are booming, boosted by huge demand from China's burgeoning industries. But thousands of retirees have been left in the dust of the bankruptcy, bereft of promised pension and medical benefits.

Update on China Invading Idaho
• Idaho's Governor Butch Otter is supporting a plan to make Idaho the first Chinese-owned state in the U.S. The plan is called Project 60, but it is really the globalization of America. Project 60 uses a federal program that grants permanent residency to foreign nationals and gives special tax exemptions to foreign firms that move to the U.S. The original purpose of this program was to reduce U.S. unemployment. But surprise, surprise, the Chinese industries in Idaho will be staffed by Chinese workers imported to the U.S. Examiner, 5-31-11
• Top Idaho officials have been traveling to China and entertaining the Chinese to facilitate this plan. China is financing these enterprises with its sovereign wealth funds and government-owned enterprises. A Chinese firm is building a fertilizer plant in American Falls, Idaho. China bought 50 square miles of land south of Boise. Governor Otter has agreed to give China "hassle free" landing rights at Idaho's main airport. It's not just Idaho. China is buying a large chunk of real estate in Toledo, Ohio, and oil and gas fields in Texas. Wall St. Journal, 5-24-10
Update on Using Taxpayers' Money to Hire Chinese
• U.S. taxpayers paid Communist China to build and install the replacement of the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge that was destroyed in the 1989 earthquake. It's a $7.2 billion project, one of the most expensive structures ever built. Chinese laborers are now doing the work to install more than two dozen giant steel modules, each with a roadbed segment about half the size of a football field.
• California officials said it hired the Chinese company, Zhenhua, because of "its large low-cost work force." The Chinese company put 3,000 employees to work on the project: steel-cutters, welders, polishers, and engineers. A typical Zhenhua employee works from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m., seven days a week, lives in a company dorm, and is paid $9 to $12 a day.
• Chinese workers have been hired (instead of Americans) all over the U.S. In New York City, Chinese companies are renovating the subway system, refurbishing the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River, and building a new Metro-North train platform near Yankee Stadium. New York Times, 6-25-11, 3-20-10

The minimum wage in the US is $7.25 per hour. Is this really too high a wage to pay for putting Americans back to work doing American jobs?

Why did the U.S. economy's transition away from industrial manufacturing?

Are you suggesting that U.S. companies doing these kinds of projects would be paying their workers the minimum wage rate?

11/15/11 1:00 a.m. Updated: Number of individuals who have run out of benefits is now over 560,000.
The American Jobs Act of 2011 proposed by President Obama does include an additional year to access current federal unemployment extension benefits. However, it does not include any additional weeks of benefits to increase the maximum of up to 99 weeks of benefits that are available now. The President has submitted his package to Congress and it will require members’ approval if it is to become law. The EDD will be monitoring developments closely regarding unemployment benefits as well as potential enhancements in training and job search assistance.

Cost. As our economy has become increasingly global, U.S. companies are competing with other companies all over the world. In an effort to remain competitive many U.S.-based companies have even moved operations to other countries where costs are lower. They do this because they cannot otherwise compete on price. And given the choice between two manufacturers of the same products, assuming they produce equal quality products, consumers will buy from the manufacturer with the lower price. So ultimately it is consumers who are driving the transition.

I'm suggesting that the unemployed should be willing to work for minimum wage --- so yes, I am suggesting that the U.S. companies doing these kinds of projects Should be paying their workers the minimum wage rate --- during this critical economic time --- in order to put people back to work.