RightChange: Why Obamanomics Has Brought Manufacturing To a 20-Month Low

It would be refreshing for a reporter from the mainstream media to ask President Obama a simple question: “In this time of record unemployment, which is more important to you, Mr. President: a new business opening that will provide jobs to thousands, or a labor union’s authority to prevent it from opening?  If we had to guess what Obama’s answer would be, it would probably be an artistic one that tricked you into thinking he was pro-business.  In this hypothetical situation, it would be a huge win for the media to press him further and say: “Then why are you allowing the NLRB to stop new business so unions can have more authority?”  The scenario of a reporter holding Obama accountable is purely hypothetical, but the scenario about the new business being dictated by the NLRB is real.  The NLRB is preventing a company from opening shop in South Carolina because there is no mandate in South Carolina that forces employees into a union, unless the employees vote to be in one.  Unfortunately for the unemployed in South Carolina, President Obama wouldn’t have it any other way.

Instead of focusing on how to create an environment where businesses are free to create jobs, Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is dictating where the American company Boeing can and cannot operate.  Why?  South Carolina is a right to work state, meaning if employees want a union; they are free to hold elections to create one.  If some employees choose not to be in a union, they don’t have to be in one and are free from the obligation of paying union dues.  The NLRB asked Boeing to close its doors in South Carolina because it would upset workers in the state of Washington – where Boeing is unionized. 

The opening of Boeing in South Carolina created over 1,000 new jobs and brought $2 billion worth of investment into South Carolina.  You would think this would be something President Obama would celebrate.  Instead, he sent the NLRB on Boeing to prevent the creation of 1,000 jobs.  Why would Obama prevent a business from opening up its doors to job creation?

Neil Whitman, president of Dunhill Staffing Services in South Carolina may not have the answer, but he does have a personal story about how Obama’s regulatory business approach has affected his company:

Obama can’t get reelected without union money.  If he doesn’t have the support of the union bosses, he loses all of the campaign money.  When Obama tells you he is for companies hiring, there is a major stipulation: it must be in compliance with everything the unions want.  Obama would rather see jobs like the one’s Neil’s company would create disappear than to get an angry call from Richard Trumka.

The economic environment that Obama and his administration have created is pathetic, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what is causing it.  The economic data says it all:  Manufacturing is at a 20-month low, we have record unemployment, U.S. consumer confidence hits a seven-month low, consumer economic confidence drops below 2010 levels, and consumer spending remains stagnant.

 Obamanomics has stifled job creation and the NLRB’s strong arm on Boeing is a perfect example of it.  Obama-1, You-0.

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