On the recordSeptember 13, 2010
There is no question if the auto industry had failed and gone under--and it was close to that happening, as we all know--and if the conservative politicians in this body and down the hall had their way, it would have collapsed and it would have meant disaster to our future way of life in terms of manufacturing. Manufacturing creates wealth more than any other segment of our economy. It is the $20- and $30-an-hour jobs. It is the supply component, the suppliers and all the people who serve the industries, including the restaurants and the hardware stores around these companies. It is the truckers bringing materials in and taking materials out. It is the building trade--the carpenters, pipe fitters, plumbers, and sheet metal workers who modernize the plant and get it ready for a new line of production. It is all of those things. All of that would have suffered job loss if we had followed the naysayers who said just let the market work.
