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EDITORIAL: To Get Factory Jobs Back, U.S. Must Solve Health-Care Crisis
(Tampa Tribune (FL) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 1--It's hard to find a pony in the pile of sky-high oil prices, given the inflationary impact on the price of everything.
But consider this: With oil jumping from $25 a barrel to more than $120 a barrel this decade, American companies might reconsider the value of overseas production plants, given the costs of shipping goods back.
The energy crisis poses an opportunity to revive American manufacturing and recapture some of the 3 million manufacturing jobs lost to countries like China and South Korea since the mid-1990s.
Already, some companies are trickling back. Voice of America recently interviewed a Texas businessman who is moving his hair-care products manufacturing company from China back to Texas, where he will employ 1,000 people in full-time jobs with benefits.
But a renaissance in manufacturing, which gave the U.S. middle class a comfortable lifestyle and economic security, will never happen unless Washington gets serious about addressing the availability and affordability of health care.
As it stands, the American system of employer-provided coverage is putting the nation's competitiveness at risk in the global marketplace.
At General Motors, medical coverage for workers and pensioners adds $1,500 to the cost of every car. In Florida, citrus growers provide health coverage to employees while their Brazilian competitors, who want to sell oranges at a discount here, don't.
Across the state, many owners of small companies say that offering health-care benefits would put them out of business. Nationwide, the number of people with employer-based health coverage is on the decline, while the number enrolled in government health programs is on the rise.
Health-care plans should remain in the private sector, not with government. But Washington must figure out incentives or offsets to level the playing field for American businesses.
This is why our favorite advertisement of the political season is the "Divided We Fail" campaign run by AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons. The ads feature an elephant, a donkey and a clear message: Enough talk -- it's time for action on health care.
Here, here.
Washington has only nibbled at health-care reform since the Clinton administration's failed attempt in the early 1990s. Today the ranks of the uninsured have swelled to 45.7 million, a slight dip from 47 million in 2006, largely because of the enrollment of poor children in low-cost, government-backed programs.
In Florida, one in five adults lacks health insurance, and millions more are under-insured. Some people have lost their homes because of medical bills. Others have died much too young because they cannot afford access to care.
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama proposes subsidies to make insurance affordable. Republican John McCain proposes tax credits to help people buy their own coverage. Neither plan will advance without a political will in Congress to tackle this monster.
The last time America had a serious discussion about health care, Bill Clinton had just been elected president on the slogan: "It's the economy, stupid." That effort failed to link the loss of jobs with the health-care crisis.
America cannot afford to miss the connection this time around -- not if we ever hope to recruit those good American jobs back home.
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Copyright (c) 2008, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
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