Manufacturers say Dems' Edwards Hostile to Business

Manufacturers Say Dems' Edwards Hostile to American Business
VP Square-Off Goes to Dick Cheney, Conservatives Conclude
By James L. Lambert and Bill Fancher
October 6, 2004

(AgapePress) - During Tuesday night's debate with his GOP counterpart, Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards tried to convince Americans the country would benefit by putting him and John Kerry in the White House. A national industrial organization didn't need to listen -- they are convinced Edwards has already demonstrated his hostility toward American business.


Senator John Edwards (D-NC)
A spokesman for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) says it is "unusual for his organization to speak specifically about a national candidate." But that did not stop NAM media contact Hank Cox from delivering this assessment: Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards "demonstrates conspicuous hostility to manufacturing and business" in America.

NAM is the nation's largest industrial trade association, representing some 14,000 companies. This total includes some 10,000 small and mid-sized companies. The organization is upset with the Democratic VP candidate because, according to NAM president Jerry Jasinowski, "he has consistently fought reforms [that] manufacturers seek to reduce their competitive disadvantage in commerce." In doing so, says Jasinowski, Edwards -- a former trial lawyer -- has "contributed to the recent loss of manufacturing jobs."

A notable example of this involved the effort of manufacturing to negotiate a solution to the asbestos crisis which, in Cox's words, has resulted "in the loss of hundreds in billions of dollars to 60 companies, and tens of thousands of jobs being destroyed and a large chuck [of monetary awards] going to trial lawyers." Even the American Bar Association thinks it is time that a solution and compromise should be reached with this issue.

Cox is equally concerned about "runaway litigation costs" that have contributed to "making it more difficult for American manufacturers to compete" in the world marketplace. Jasinowski identified some notable specifics where Senator Edwards has blocked efforts to repeal and modify some "absurd OSHA ergonomics rules, sensible reform on health care liability, terrorism insurance, Medicare reform and trade promotion authority, to name a few."

Edwards, the NAM president says, "is on the controversial fringe of a legal profession that ... frequently drives viable companies [into insolvency] and puts thousands of Americans out of work." Edwards made millions as a trial lawyer prior to his Senate run six years ago.

Over the course of the last few years, conservatives have tried to put forth meaningful litigation reform to provide a sensible compromise of tort reform. These efforts have been defeated by lobbying groups for trial lawyers, whose supporters include Edwards. NAM vice president Michael Baroody concludes by saying that "both Kerry and Edwards ... in terms of their lack of credibility to manufacturers, large and small ... are virtually in a league by themselves."

The Kerry-Edwards campaign informs the public in press releases they will further revitalize the economy. NAM's Cox thinks that can only begin when the senators address meaningful reform to runaway litigation and abuse in the legal profession.

VP Debate Reaction
Senator John Edwards faced off against Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday night in the only vice-presidential debate scheduled before Election Day. Conservatives are praising the vice president's performance.

Richard Lessner of the American Conservative Union says Cheney was the clear winner, and that the vice president's experience was too much for the first-term senator from North Carolina. The VP, in Lessner's opinion, "pounded John Edwards into the ground like tent peg."

"Anyone watching that debate could clearly see which man was a man of gravitas," Lessner opines. "Dick Cheney is a man of substance -- he has command of the issues, he has command of himself, and he has a command of history. I think he has a sense for what a critical juncture this is in the history of this nation. And John Edwards is, just frankly, a lightweight."

Frank Gafney of the Center for Security Policy says the event provided the contrast voters needed to see. "The American people were exposed to a very real and very momentous choice between a vice president who has been actually immersed for four years in the hard issues and choices that a war-time presidency confronts, and a very attractive, very glib -- but fundamentally very superficial and not terribly experienced -- United States senator."

Former presidential speechwriter Dr. Janice Crouse, now executive director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, agrees with Gafney. "[Vice President Cheney] showed that same kind of gentlemanliness and statesmanship-like behavior -- very steely and very focused, but also very kind and very calm -- throughout the whole thing, too. To me it seemed like 'pretty boy' was up against 'gravitas.'"

Crouse expects the Bush campaign to receive a solid boost as a result of Cheney's performance in the debate. Meanwhile, President Bush and John Kerry are preparing for their next debate, scheduled for Friday evening in St. Louis.