In his various roles in the administration of President George W. Bush, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Rob Portman, gave us many assurances that the economy and trade were going well. HA!
What kind of a job did Rob Portman do as President George W. Bush's Budget Director (2006-2007)?
Bush: Portman “is the person in charge of meeting our goal to cutting the budget deficit in half by 2009.”
In Portman to be Budget Director, President Bush said, “He is the person in charge of meeting our goal to cutting the budget deficit in half by 2009. And he is responsible for managing Federal programs efficiently. The American people deserve results for every hard-earned dollar they send to Washington.” [President Bush’s Remarks on the Nomination of Rob Portman to be Director of the OMB, 4/18/06]
The White House Predicted a Record $482 Billion Deficit in Fiscal Year 2009
[The White House] predicted Monday that the deficit would more than double in the current 2008 fiscal year — to $389 billion, from $162 billion in 2007 — before shooting up to $482 billion in the 2009 fiscal year, which begins in about two months.” [New York Times, 7/29/08]
The National Debt Soared to $500 Billion in Portman’s Year as Bush’s Budget Director
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the total public debt outstanding when Portman assumed control of the Office of Management and Budget was $8,343,987,357,176.86 and $8,817,082,504,084.05 when he left [AP, 6/19/07; U.S. Treasury Department, accessed 7/30/08; Roll Call, 5/30/06]
Wow!
That is amazing.
Rob Portman's record on jobs is even worse.
More than 17,000 Ohioans’ Jobs Shipped Overseas:
....During Portman’s time as USTR (2005-2006). [Ohio Policy Matters, 2007]
...Ohio and U.S. Manufacturing Weakened:
...Because of the escalating trade deficit, accounting for the loss of between one-fifth and one-third of U.S. manufacturing sector jobs since 2000. Between 1998-2007, Ohio lost more than 220,000 manufacturing jobs[Ohio Policy Matters, 2007].
Job-Killing Trade Agreements Strong-Armed through Congress:
“Quarterback” of CAFTA Portman argued: “We’ll have a trade surplus as a result of this…estimates are…up to a $700 million trade surplus in the first year,” but the trade deficit increased 4% from 2005 -2008. [PBS, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 6/23/05] [US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics, Retrieved 5/13/09 <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c0004.html#2008> ] . [CNN, Inside Politics, 7/28/05]
As a Washington insider and friend to the entire Bush family, Portman did little to help average people.
****** Are the people of Ohio ready to blame Republican Jon Husted for the loss of major employer, NCR? While Jon Husted was living, sleeping, shopping, and using all the utilities in his home in Upper Arlington, the people of the district he was elected to represent found out that NCR was moving out of town. Husted was blindsided. I even wrote about Husted's lack of knowledge on NCR's move.
WHIO-TV:
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, called on NCR to begin supplying more information about the planned move to Georgia and how the move will impact local employees.
The company’s decision to leave Ohio caught local authorities off guard. Efforts to discuss the move with company leaders have not been successful....
Husted needs to look for employers that will fill the void in the Dayton area instead of wasting his time and energy with NCR. NCR's move is a done deal. Move on already!
Husted has taken his life, interests, and family and abandoned Kettering. His empty house is a monument to his broken promises to help his constituents. The Ohio Supreme Court, filled with Republicans, supported Husted's claim that he was a "resident" of that cob-web filled house in Kettering, even though his utility bills proved his lack of actually residing there. (For information on the actual utility bills of Husted's Kettering house, visit Progress Ohio's Facebook page here.)
It is hard to believe that Husted could actually become Ohio Secretary of State and question your residency.
