Posts tagged ‘China’

Robert Pollin: Economic Outlook for 2013

by , posted on Tuesday, January 1st, 2013 at 10:34 pm

from The Real News Network

With austerity policies in Europe and the USA and slow down in China and India, 2013 needs innovative policies or more recession is likely

Robert Pollin is the Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute and Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

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The Tea Party’s—and Mitt Romney’s—Brand of Capitalism

by , posted on Saturday, October 20th, 2012 at 3:34 pm

This short video clip features a comment made by Ed Schultz on Friday while in Freeport, Illinois, broadcasting live from Bainport, the site of the protest by Sensata workers and their allies over the closing of the profitable plant by Bain Capital in order to move it to China.

Ed’s comment was a simple and straightforward one: “I’m a capitalist, but I think you can cross the line between being being a capitalist and being a greedy son of a gun that hurts middle class families across America.”

The video was shot, however, by a tea party activist by the name of Ulysses S. Arn, who describes himself as “the conservative movements warrior poet.” He labeled it: “Laugher of the Week: MSNBC’s Ed Schultz ‘I’m a Capitalist'”.

Apparently conservatives like Arn think it’s laughable for a capitalist to believe that any such lines can be crossed. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that Mitt Romney thinks the rules don’t apply to people like him, either.

Perhaps it’s time for us to start calling “free market” ideologues “laissez-faire capitalists” once again, and remind ourselves why we came to the conclusion that a regulated marketplace was needed in the first place.

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Bain-owned Sensata factory workers plead with Romney to stop plan that will send their jobs to China

by , posted on Saturday, October 20th, 2012 at 10:50 am

from The Young Turks (Current)

Michael Shure talks to Dave Johnson about Sensata Technologies, a Bain Capital-owned Illinois auto parts factory scheduled to have all its work exported to China.

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Six Arrested in Illinois Protesting Bain Capital’s Plan to Close Sensata Plant, Move Jobs To China

by , posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2012 at 4:30 pm

from Democracy Now!

We turn now to Freeport, Illinois, where more people have been arrested protesting plans by Mitt Romney’s former company, Bain Capital, to shut the Sensata Technologies plant and move operations to China — a loss of 170 American jobs. On Wednesday, six people were arrested in the lobby of the plant during a sit-in demanding full severance pay for those who will lose their jobs. Last month, Senata workers set up an encampment called “Bainport” across the street from the facility to protest the company’s plan to close the plant. Last week, three protesters were arrested for blocking the path of trucks leaving the plant in an effort to stop the removal of equipment from their workplace. To find out more about the “Bainport” protest, we speak to Tom Gaulrapp, who has worked at the Sensata Technologies plant for 33 years. His last day of work at Sensata is November 5, one day before the election. The protesters have invited Romney to visit “Bainport” to address their situation.

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Mary Jo Lost Her Job at Sensata Because of Bain Capital. She’s Got a Few Words for Mitt Romney

by , posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 at 7:08 pm

from MoveOn.org

Sensata worker Mary Jo Kerr lost her job due to Bain’s outsourcing to China. She’s got a question for Mitt Romney.

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Sensata Workers & Community Blockade Bain

by , posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2012 at 10:16 am

from The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann (RT)

Debi Kempel of Freeport joins Thom Hartmann. In just over a month – Sensata Technologies in Freeport, Illinois will shut its doors – thanks to Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital and it’s love of outsourcing. But workers at Sensata aren’t going quietly – and are doing all they can to bring attention to Bain Capital’s all out attack on American jobs.

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Bainport Protesters Arrested for Blocking Illinois Factory

by , posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 at 9:46 am

from Democracy Now!

Police have arrested three people for blocking the removal of equipment from the Sensata Technologies plant in Freeport, Illinois, to protest a plan by Bain Capital to close the factory and ship their jobs to China. Workers at Sensata have set up an encampment called “Bainport” across the street from the facility to protest plans to close the plant and move operations to China, taking 170 jobs with it. Sensata is owned by Bain Capital, the private equity firm co-founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. We hear from two of the detained protesters: Karri Penniston, 16, whose mother works at Sensata; and Debi Kempel, a Bainport supporter from nearby Pearl City.

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Sensata Workers in Freeport Camp Out to Pressure Romney, Bain to Save Jobs

by , posted on Thursday, September 20th, 2012 at 9:32 am

from Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! broadcasts from just outside a Freeport, Illinois, factory owned by Bain Capital, the private equity firm founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Workers at Sensata Technologies have set up an encampment called “Bainport” across the street from the facility to protest the company’s plan to close the plant and move it to China, taking 170 jobs with it. The workers have been trying to get Romney to save their jobs. We’re joined by two Sensata workers, Mark Schreck and Tom Gaulrapp; and Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp, who has supported the encampment and fended off calls for it to be shut down.

“Welcome to Bainport, a taste of the Romney economy” — that’s the message on one of the banners that greets you at the tent city where we broadcast from in Freeport, Illinois. “Bainport” is an encampment set up by workers who face losing their livelihoods when their workplace closes its doors in November and moves to China, taking 170 jobs with it. The workers’ plant, Sensata Technologies, is owned by Bain Capital, the firm co-founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Democracy Now! first spoke to the Sensata workers when we met them at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, where they unsuccessfully tried to meet with Romney. Now, they have returned to Freeport and set up a protest camp in a bid to save their jobs. We speak to “Bainport” workers Dot Turner and Cheryl Randecker.

See also: bainport.com

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Sensata Worker Outsourced by Bain Speaks Out

by , posted on Friday, August 31st, 2012 at 10:09 am

from The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT

Cheryl Randecker, Sensata worker whose job is being outsourced. Aside from his offshore tax havens – Romney also wants people to ignore what’s happening at a factory in Freeport, Illinois. That factory belongs to Sensata Technologies – or at least it did – until Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital took it over. And with Bain Capital in charge – all 170 workers at that factory are about to lose their jobs. Over the last few months – Sensata workers have been watching chunks of their factory packaged up and shipped off to China – and all their jobs will be following suit by the end of the year thanks to a decision made by Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital. Romney doesn’t want you to know this is happening – especially since he’s running as the guy who will create 12 million AMERICAN jobs in his first term. But those workers at Sensata do want you to know what’s going on.

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Bain, Romney and Obama Support Offshoring/Outsourcing of U.S. Jobs

by , posted on Saturday, June 30th, 2012 at 5:55 pm

In an attempt to differentiate between President Obama and Mitt Romney, the Obama campaign is working hard to draw attention to Mitt Romney and Bain Capital’s agenda to offshore and outsource jobs.

While not necessarily connected to the Obama campaign, there is a new push inside labor circles to draw attention to a small company based in Freeport, IL named Sensata. The company is owned by Bain Capital and is preparing to move 170 Illinois jobs to China. Factory workers are calling on Mitt Romney to step in and stop the plant closure.

I support the move to target Romney on this issue and I hope that national pressure causes Bain Capital to keep those jobs in Illinois and sign a union contract with the workers.

At the same time, I can’t help but call out the hypocrisy of the Obama Administration for blasting Romney in public while secretly (and I mean very secretly) holding closed-door meetings with 600 corporate advisors to write another free trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that will result in more off shoring and outsourcing of U.S. jobs. TPP is expected to be the largest and worst free trade agreement in global history.

In a recent RT article titled, “TPP secrets: Obama covertly granting more power to multinational corporations,” a doctor chastizes the president.

“Bush was better than Obama on this,” Judit Rius of Doctors Without Borders Access to Medicines Campaign tells HuffPo. “It’s pathetic, but it is what it is. The world’s upside-down.”

So, who do we blame?

(more…)

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