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PRECISION PITTSBURGH PRECISION PITTSBURGH PRECISION PITTSBURGH WINTER 2012 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 MANUFACTURING AMERIC A’S FUTURE This article appeared in the December 2, 2011 issue of the Pittsburgh Business Times. Copyright 2011, Pittsburgh Business Times. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. If you believe manufacturing is no longer a vibrant American industry because China will eventually take away our manufacturing jobs, you need to spend some time with our Manufacturer of the Year finalists. According to the finalists and winners profiled in the 2011 Manufacturer of the Year Awards, those percep- tions about manufacturing are just plain wrong. According to representatives of manufacturing compa- nies in our awards program, and to statistics and trends (Continued on page 4) CHINA LOSING ITS COMPETITIVE EDGE By Alan Robertson, Publisher, Pittsburgh Business Times Combat robotics sounds cool, right? Well 43 area schools are finding out just how hard having that much fun really is. And the best part is that even after finding out how dif- ficult building a robot can be, they want to do it more! Perhaps most importantly, students see that building things is challenging, it's fun, and it’s a potential career. To find out what all the excitement is about attend one of (Continued on page 3) GEARING UP… BOTS IQ BEGINS! Is decreasing the tax burden on business and manufacturing the way to pull America out of recession? Obviously reducing business tax rates will encourage more investment in the US. And tax breaks to spur investment in R&D and advanced technology will lead to in- creased innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. Therefore many believe that reducing government spending in order to reduce business taxes will revitalize the domestic economy. It is not that simple. Easing the tax burden on small and medium domestic producers will have a very real and lasting impact that may initially appear to jump- start the economy. But unless it is part of a larger national economic strategy to reverse the US trade deficit, the long-term impact will be too limited to turn things around. (Continued on page 10) BUSINESS TAX CUTS CANNOT GO FAR ENOUGH By Dave Frengel, Governmental Affairs Chair DATES TO REMEMBER: BotsIQ Luncheon April 13, 2012 Details to be Announced Pirates & Politics PNC Park April 24, 2012 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Apprentice Graduation Stratigo’s North Huntingdon, PA June 13, 2012 6 - 10 PM NTMF Annual Golf Tournament Greensburg Country Club Greensburg, PA August 13, 2012 Details TBA INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Pirates & Politics pg.2 Training Opportunities pg. 5 Apprenticeship Update pg.9 National Conference pg.12

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Page 1: PRECISION PITTSBURGHpghntma.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Winter-2012-Newsletter-F… · Cam, Solidworks, Auto CAD, Geomet-ric Dimensioning &Tolerancing, etc.) New Century Careers

PRECISION PITTSBURGHPRECISION PITTSBURGHPRECISION PITTSBURGH

WINTER 2012 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

MANUFACTURING AMERICA’S FUTURE

This article appeared in the December 2, 2011 issue of the Pittsburgh Business Times. Copyright 2011, Pittsburgh Business Times. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. If you believe manufacturing is no longer a vibrant

American industry because China will eventually take

away our manufacturing jobs, you need to spend some

time with our Manufacturer of the Year finalists.

According to the finalists and winners profiled in the

2011 Manufacturer of the Year Awards, those percep-

tions about manufacturing are just plain wrong.

According to representatives of manufacturing compa-

nies in our awards program, and to statistics and trends

(Continued on page 4)

CHINA LOSING ITS COMPETITIVE EDGE

By Alan Robertson, Publisher, Pittsburgh Business Times

Combat robotics sounds cool, right? Well 43 area schools

are finding out just how hard having that much fun really

is. And the best part is that even after finding out how dif-

ficult building a robot can be, they want to do it more!

Perhaps most importantly, students see that building

things is challenging, it's fun, and it’s a potential career.

To find out what all the excitement is about attend one of

(Continued on page 3)

GEARING UP… BOTS IQ BEGINS!

Is decreasing the tax burden on business and manufacturing the way

to pull America out of recession? Obviously reducing business tax

rates will encourage more investment in the US. And tax breaks to

spur investment in R&D and advanced technology will lead to in-

creased innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. Therefore

many believe that reducing government spending in order to reduce

business taxes will revitalize the domestic economy.

It is not that simple.

Easing the tax burden on small and medium domestic producers will

have a very real and lasting impact that may initially appear to jump-

start the economy. But unless it is part of a larger national economic

strategy to reverse the US trade deficit, the long-term impact will be

too limited to turn things around.

(Continued on page 10)

BUSINESS TAX CUTS CANNOT GO FAR ENOUGH By Dave Frengel, Governmental Affairs Chair

DATES TO

REMEMBER:

BotsIQ Luncheon

April 13, 2012

Details to be

Announced

Pirates & Politics

PNC Park

April 24, 2012

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Apprentice Graduation

Stratigo’s

North Huntingdon, PA

June 13, 2012

6 - 10 PM

NTMF Annual

Golf Tournament

Greensburg Country Club

Greensburg, PA

August 13, 2012

Details TBA

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE:

Pirates & Politics

pg.2

Training Opportunities

pg. 5

Apprenticeship Update

pg.9

National Conference

pg.12

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PIRATES

&

POLITICS

APRIL 24, 2012

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

I hope 2012 has gotten

off to a positive start for

one and all. As we’ve

all seen manufacturing

has been front and

center in the news and

was even mentioned 16

times by President

Obama in his recent

State of the Union. I

guess everyone is finally

realizing what we’ve

known for quite some

time now:

manufacturing is alive

and well and continues

to be the backbone of

our country’s economy.

After all, unlike some

industries, we actually

make things!

I encourage you to read

the emails that are

coming in from NTMA

National regarding

manufacturing news

and how our industry is

influencing our nation’s

economic policies. As

we learned at our

Membership

Appreciation night at

PNC Park we have an

active national

association that is doing

its best to provide us

with the tools and

knowledge we need to

be successful.

With that in mind I

wanted to make our

membership aware that

PNC Bank and the

NTMA are exploring

“partnering” in an

attempt to create a win-

win situation between

our industries. In other

words how can PNC

help individual shops

with equipment needs,

financial needs, lines of

credit, and the like?

PNC is currently

putting together a

customized presentation for

our association that they

plan to present in late

March. We’ll be sending

out notices as soon as the

meeting is scheduled.

With 2012 being a huge

election year, we also have

our political consultants,

Franklin Partnership,

coming in for a Pirates &

Politics presentation. The

meeting will be at PNC Park

in conjunction with a Pirates

game April 24, 2012. SMC

Business Councils and CPA

are co-sponsoring the event.

If you’ve never heard our

consultants speak, I strongly

encourage you to do so. It

truly is fascinating to see

how politics work in our

nation’s capital and how

much influence we really do

have. Following the

presentation, we’ll cheer the

Pirates on against the

Colorado Rockies.

Another point of interest: I

will be attending the national

meeting, which takes place

from March 6 – 11 at the

Hyatt Grand Cypress in

Orlando. There is an

impressive list of speakers

led by Joe Gibbs, former

three-time Super Bowl head

coach of the Washington

Redskins, who now heads

the Gibbs Racing Team, one

of the preeminent teams in

all of NASCAR. I’ll look

forward to giving you an

update in the spring

newsletter.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAPTER PRESIDENT, Kevin Hartford

Page 2 PRECISION PITTSBURGH

Come join the Pittsburgh

Chapter of the NTMA for

our second annual Pirates

and Politics!

We’ll enjoy a tailgate-style

dinner, and hear from Omar

Nashashibi, a Founding

Partner with The Franklin

Partnership, LLP, the Wash-

ington, D.C.-based bi-

partisan government rela-

tions firm representing

NTMA on Capitol Hill and

at the White House.

Mr. Nashashibi will provide

an insider’s look at the latest

from Washington and dis-

cuss the November elections

including the latest impor-

tant local congressional

races.

He will also address impor-

tant policy priorities making

their way through the legisla-

tive and regulatory processes

that impact all NTMA mem-

bers.

Following the presentation,

we’ll cheer the Pirates as

they take on the Colorado

Rockies.

Don’t miss this terrific event!

TO REGISTER:

e-mail Ed Sikora at:

[email protected]

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BOTS (Continued)

Page 3

our competitions which

will be held on March

23 and 24 at California

University of PA and on

April 13 and 14 at

Westmoreland County

Community College.

Please visit our website

at BotsIQpa.org or con-

tact Mike Valoski at

[email protected]

to find out more about

Bots IQ or to volunteer

your time.

THE SPARK IS NOW

FULL COMBUS-

TION! Faced with an

aging manufacturing

workforce, The Pitts-

burgh Chapter of the

National Tooling and

Machining Association

spear-headed efforts to

bring a national student

robotics program to the

Pittsburgh region. Local

manufacturers and edu-

cators joined forces in

(Continued from page 1) 2005, and with just six

schools, launched Bot-

sIQ. Now, in its seventh

year, the program has

exploded to include

more than 40 schools

and its own fan base.

Working with a Robot-

ics Curriculum based

on the National Cur-

riculum Standards and

Massachusetts Institute

of Technology's (MIT)

mechanical engineering

methodology, south-

western Pennsylvania

students are taught to

design, build and battle

robots in a gladiator-

style competition. The

competition draws on

students' knowledge of

math, science, engineer-

ing and even public

speaking.

To find out what all the

excitement is about at-

tend one of our compe-

titions which will be

held on March 23 and

24 at California Univer-

sity of PA and on April

13 and 14 at Westmore-

land County Commu-

nity College. Please

visit our website at Bot-

sIQpa.org or contact

Mike Valoski at

[email protected]

to find out more about

Bots IQ or to volunteer

your time.

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observed by a number of groups,

China is starting to lose its competi-

tive edge, especially for small to mid-

size manufacturing projects.

There are a lot of factors at play here

that encompass issues in both the

U.S. and China. For the Chinese, it’s

rapidly rising wages, long delivery

times, and quality and communica-

tions problems. One example is that

wages there increased more than 19

percent annually between 2005 and

2010. U.S. manufacturing workers

experienced 4 percent salary increases

annually during the same period.

In the U.S., manufacturing produc-

tivity has skyrocketed in recent years.

Between 1987 and 2008, U.S. manu-

facturing productivity grew 65 per-

cent more quickly than the overall

American business sector.

But statistics and trends don’t tell the

whole story.

Nearly all of the manufacturers inter-

(Continued from page 1) viewed for the 2011 Manufacturer of the

Year Awards talked about this growing

American advantage. Ty Eggemeyer,

chairman and CEO of AccuSpec, an

Erie-based full-service provider of elec-

tronic manufacturing services from

printed circuit boards and cable assem-

blies to complete integrated electronic

“box build” assemblies, talked about

“the China experience” in describing

how his company is now competing

globally.

Since taking over what had been a small,

family owned business, Ty has dramati-

cally ramped up production. He’s even

started competing with products that

were once handmade, and has found

that utilizing technology and an entre-

preneurial approach has meant he can

compete with almost any product he

needs, no matter where it’s made.

Then there’s David Richardson, presi-

dent of Richardson Cooling Packages in

New Castle. The company designs, pro-

duces, sells and supports cooling system

parts and assemblies for use in off-

highway applications. His com-

pany was fabricating sheet metal in

Turkey. He purchased the ma-

chines he needed and brought all

the work back to the U.S. His ma-

chines run 24/7, and now he does-

n’t have to deal with 2 a.m. phone

calls or delayed deliveries.

This advantage extends to even

smaller firms like Alle-Kiski, which

does fabricating and welding, heat

treating, assembly and quality as-

surance, and tool and die out of

Leechburg. Principals Kevin Hart-

ford and Ed Newell said the pen-

dulum is starting to swing back in

favor of American manufacturers.

This isn’t to suggest China’s

manufacturing monster is dying

and steel mills will once again line

our rivers. The American competi-

tive advantage is based on techni-

cal skills, on productivity and on

quality. Any company using a huge

labor pool for mass production will

(Continued on page 5)

CHINA (CONTINUED)

Page 4 PRECISION PITTSBURGH

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have a difficult time build-

ing things here.

More importantly, the

strength of the manufac-

turing sector in western

Pennsylvania — and for

the nation as a whole —

rises from the resiliency,

the entrepreneurship,

even the stubbornness, of

the men and women who

have chosen to make

things in America.

When everyone else was

saying manufacturing was

dead, they set out to prove

them wrong. Judging by

the finalists and winners

of the 2011 Manufacturer

of the Year Awards,

they’re doing just that.

(Continued from page 4)

CHINA (CONTINUED)

Page 5

COMPETE

The COMPETE grant is an incumbent

worker training incentive program. It

encourages local manufacturing compa-

nies to train and improve the skills of

their employees, so the company can

better COMPETE in this very competi-

tive market.

New Century Careers liaisons with train-

ing providers in the region who provide

classes geared toward manufacturing

(such as CNC Programming, Master-

Cam, Solidworks, Auto CAD, Geomet-

ric Dimensioning &Tolerancing, etc.)

New Century Careers periodically sends

out a digital catalog to hundreds of

manufacturing companies in the area

advertising these classes.

Companies may obtain rebates for quali-

fied classes. The rebate is 50% of the

total cost of the training per employee,

up to a maximum amount of $500.

If anyone wishes more information about

the program or would like to be receive

the Compete Catalog please e-mail your

request to Tim Brandis at

[email protected]. (continued on page 8)

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Re-Engineering Advanced

Manufacturing Careers Program

The program seeks to eliminate the

mismatch between job-seeker skills and

employer needs when filling mid-level,

in-demand manufacturing positions

such as electrical, mechanical and in-

dustrial engineers, logisticians, produc-

tion planners, quality control, and su-

pervisors among others. The program

provides employers with: recruitment

of job seekers along with a comprehen-

sive assessment to identify skill gaps;

employer subsidies for customized on-

the-job training to address new-hire

skill gaps and help them meet job re-

quirements, and an individualized on-

the-job training and career plan for new

hires with a training account to upgrade

skills. The employer may receive a sub-

sidy of up to 50% of the new hire’s base

hourly wage (not to exceed $10,100;

conditions apply). The cost of addi-

tional training or required credentials is

fully covered up to $5,000. For more

information, please contact: Carmen

Grosse at 412-992-6896 or

[email protected].

PITTSBURGH BUSINESS TIMES

MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR

For the past nine years, the Pittsburgh Business

Times has been recognizing area manufacturers

with their “Manufacturer of the Year” award.

Consistently, NTMA member companies make the

finals, and this year is no exception with Alle-Kiski

Industries winning in the Under 50 Employees

category.

Alle-Kiski is a precision machining and fabrication

shop that helps defense, energy, industrial and

transportation customers solve problems.

Also finalists in this year’s competition: Jennison

Manufacturing Group of Carnegie, PA in the 50-

99 employee category and Accrotool located in

New Kensington, PA in the category for

companies with 100-299 employees.

Kurt J. Lesker Company was named the 2010

Manufacturer of the Year in the large company

category. The company is a long-standing member

of the Pittsburgh Chapter NTMA, as well.

Congratulations to all of our member company

finalists and winners.

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SPOTLIGHT ON ASSOCIATE MEMBER: Life Cycle Engineering

Page 6 PRECISION PITTSBURGH

For more than 35 years, Life Cycle

Engineering (LCE) has provided

engineering solutions that deliver

lasting results for private industry,

public entities, government

organizations and the military. Their

mission is to enable people and

organizations to achieve their full

potential. The company website is

www.LCE.com.

LCE is headquartered in Charleston,

South Carolina, with regional and

field offices in: Bremerton,

Washington; Houston, Texas;

Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia and

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; San Diego,

California, Washington, DC; Dallas;

Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; and

Mayport, Florida. The company is

organized into three groups: the

Reliability Consulting Group

(RCG), the Engineering Services

Group (ESG), and the Applied

Technology Group (ATG). Total

employment is approximately 500.

ESG personnel, located primarily in

Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and

Washington, DC, include

approximately 50 highly skilled

engineers with expertise in: Systems

and Software Engineering; Electrical

and Mechanical Engineering; CAD

Modeling and Design; Finite

Element Analysis (FEA); HVAC

Engineering; Materials and

Metallurgical Engineering; Failure

Analysis and Reverse Engineering;

Alternative Energy and

Environmental Issues; Entrepreneur

and Start-Up Technical Support;

and SBIR Teaming and Technical

Support. More information about

ESG’s services can be found here:

www.LCE.com/esg/.

LCE’s Pittsburgh office is primarily

focused on providing support to

Southwestern PA’s growing

manufacturing sector. LCE has

extensive experience with the design of

specialized tooling and with the design

and testing of prototype components.

LCE is also excited about their work

evaluating conversion of gasoline and

diesel powered vehicles to compressed

natural gas (CNG) and liquid natural

gas (LNG) for municipal and

commercial applications, including on

and off-highway trucks, locomotives,

and river vessels. For more

information, please contact Tom Risley

at (412) 253-8380x3001,

[email protected], or toll free at (855)

764-0233.

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TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES (Continued)

Page 8 PRECISION PITTSBURGH

Manufacturing 2000 Machining Training Program

New Century Careers’ Machining Training Program

was recently modified to offer three levels of compe-

tency training in machining in order to better meet the

needs of employers and trainees. All levels include

hands-on and theory training:

Level 1 Manual/CNC Operator Trainee -

250 hours.

Level 2 Machine Operator/Machinist

Trainee - 450 hours of training.

Level 3 Manual/CNC Machinist Trainee -

600 hours of training.

To find out more about the program training, to re-

ceive brochures to be distributed to interested parties,

to refer candidates to the program, to sign our agree-

ment to hire candidates or to donate materials or sup-

plies, please contact Ed Henry, basic skills training di-

rector, at 412-258-6617 or [email protected].

On-the-Job Training Grant $$ Available

Attention companies in Beaver, Greene & Washing-ton counties: Are you hiring new employees? Do

your new employees receive on-the-job-training? If

so, we have funds that may subsidize half of your

new employee’s wages up to $8,000 during OJT.

Funding is limited and on a first come, first serve

basis. To learn more about eligibility requirements

of this OJT Grant, please contact Liz Blashock from

New Century Careers at (412) 258-6628 or

[email protected].

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PITTSBURGH APPRENTICESHIP: NIMS & Becoming an Instructor

Page 9

NIMS– National

Institute for Metal

working Skills

As a reminder to

companies, the NTMA

strongly recommends

that apprentices

complete NIMS projects

even though they are not

mandatory in the

curriculum.

It is the responsibility of

the employer to provide

the apprentices with

materials, tooling,

guidance and shop time

to complete the NIMS

projects. However, the

NTMA offer NIMS

Labs at each site

throughout the school

year. Your apprentice

was given a NIMS Lab

schedule at the

beginning of the school

year and they are given

the opportunity to sign up

each time a lab is offered.

NIMS Labs are offered as

an open show only. If you

do not require NIMS,

please encourage your

apprentice to pursue these

important personal

credentials.

NIMS has recently

endorsed a textbook

titled, “Precision

Machining Technology,”

as well as a Project

Manual Workbook.

These books can be useful

tools in supporting the

achievement of NIMS

credentials. If any

company or apprentice is

interested in purchasing

either of these books you

can contact Cengage

Learning at:

www.cengage.com/us/ or 1-

800-354-9706. The list

price for the text book is

$90.95, $20.95 for the

workbook.

If your company is

interested in getting

involved in NIMS, please

visit the NIMS website at

www.nims-skills.org.

INSTRUCTORS

We encourage companies

to take part in assisting the

NTMA in providing quality

training in the region. We

are lucky enough to have

some of the best instructors

around! If you or someone

from your company is

interested in becoming a

future NTMA instructor,

please call Liz Blashock at

(412) 258-6628 or e-mail:

[email protected].

www.allekiskiind.com

531 Hyde Park Road, Leechburg, PA 15656

( A llegheny Twp. - Congressional District #12 )

Phone: 724-845-2799 fax: 724-845-2797

Kevin Hartford, President

Ed Newell, Vice President

MACHINING, FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY or contact Rick at:

Direct Dial: (412) 338-1309 Fax: (412) 338-1295 Mobile: (814) 397-5773 [email protected]

Rick Scott, Account Executive

PMA Direct: Pittsburgh

THE PMA Insurance Group

Two Chatham Center, Suite 600

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

A SPECIAL

THANK YOU

To

A special thanks goes out to

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

for sponsoring the 2012

Pittsburgh Chapter NTMA

Regional Apprentice

Competition.

This year’s event was held

March 2, 2012 at New

Century Careers Training

Innovation Center.

Watch your e-mail inbox or

check the spring issue of

Precision Pittsburgh for

competition results.

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BUDGET CUTS (CONTINUED)

Page 10 PRECISION PITTSBURGH

TRADE-RELATED POLICY COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Illegal Currency Manipulation 25% - 40%

Border Adjusted Tax (Multinationals oppose the US using this legal

tool to spur net exports – as all other nations do.) 17%

Weak Environmental, Safety, Labor, and Human Rights Standards 20% (Cost of Compliance in US)

Illegal Subsidies in Strategic Industries Sometimes more than 200%

Plus: Tariffs, Non-Tariff Barriers, Forced Technology Transfers,

Etc… Not quantified

The trade deficit is real money. It

represents real claims against the US

economy. It must be repaid. The

bad ways to repay it are: 1) print

more money, 2) borrow more from

foreigners, 3) sell more American

assets to international interests, and

4) lower our standard of living.

Unfortunately, we are doing all of the

above.

Good ways to redeem the trade defi-

cit and the toxic foreign debt that it

causes are: 1) export more than we

import and 2) attract foreign invest-

ment in new (not existing) produc-

tion capacity in America.

To accomplish this requires an effec-

tive national economic strategy that

rectifies the structural problems that

undermine the competitiveness of

domestic production. Given the dis-

torted nature of current global trade

dynamics, if national leaders fail to

address these structural problems, the

toxic US trade deficit will continue to

forestall genuine long-term economic

recovery. Tax cuts will have little

more lasting impact than stimulus

spending had.

Why?

There is a right way and a wrong way

to do globalization. The global part-

nership among multinational corpora-

tions, international bankers, and ma-

jor East Asian economies has forced

us into a bad globalization model.

They have a well-engineered strategy

to rig global markets to insure that the

wealth of America continually funnels

to them. If we let them continue to

expand this model – next through the

Trans-Pacific Partnership – America’s

wealth and good jobs will continue to

decline relative to the growth of our

population.

A significant piece of the globalists’

strategy includes a trade strategy to

insure that Americans continue to buy

more from the East Asians

(particularly China) than they buy

from us. Their plan is built around

manufacturing unfairly low-priced

goods in protectionist countries like

China and maintaining a unilaterally

open US market through lax trade

law enforcement so they can sell

their products in the US market at

tremendous profit.

This is the cause or our toxic trade

deficit and ever-growing foreign

debt.

The chart below illustrates how the

globalists’ economic strategy gives

Chinese products more than a

100% unfair competitive advantage

over US products before one cent of

labor cost is added!

From this we can see that even if we eliminate all

business taxes, domestic producers cannot compete

sufficiently with nations like China to pay down our

crippling trade deficit and foreign debt.

Without structural reforms, tax cuts and stimulus

spending are ultimately the head and tail of the same

coin. If we attempt to use tax cuts to stimulate the

US economy in the current global economic

framework, the long-term effect will be basically the

same.

Without a national economic strategy that includes

trade, tax, and energy policy reforms to make

domestic producers more globally competitive and

rebalance trade, attempts to revitalize the American

economy by cutting business taxes is like taking a

knife to a gun fight.

The current globalization structure guarantees that we

(Continued on page 11)

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BUDGET CUTS (CONTINUED)

Page 11

“Without reforms to

move globalization in

a different direction,

the positive effects of

the proposed tax cuts

will dissipate almost

as quickly as

stimulus spending

did.”

buy more from the

Chinese than they buy

from us. So it took little

time for stimulus money

to make its way back to

China – where we

borrowed it from in the

first place. Without

reforms to move

globalization in a different

direction, the positive

effects of the proposed tax

cuts will dissipate almost

as quickly as stimulus

spending did. There will

be no end to the cuts we

will have to make.

The stimulus bubble did

not last long, but its long-

term negative effects did.

Stimulus spending

ultimately increased the

toxic trade deficit and

foreign debt that threaten

even greater economic

disaster for America.

Relative to population,

the American tax base is

declining at the local,

state, and federal levels.

This has already lead to

the loss of vital services

throughout the country.

Essential spending for

critical welfare

programs, government

services, and defense

will have to be cut more

and more, further

reducing our standard of

living and national

security, if we try to the

restore the US economy

this way.

Closing special-interest

loopholes that serve no

public good would help

to reduce or at least

avoid increasing business

taxes. Implementing an

effective US border

adjustable tax would

greatly expand the

federal tax base to include

foreign payers, reducing

the tax burden on domestic

producers. The latter

would directly promote the

global competitiveness of

domestic producers.

Opposing these tax reforms

is foolish at best.

Without a better approach

to globalization, one that

effectively addresses tax

reform and the other

structural problems that

disadvantage domestic

producers, American

wealth will continue to

bleed to China and the

wealth that remains will

concentrate in the hands of

fewer and fewer.

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briefing from One Voice lobbyists on the

latest developments related to key

legislation. We’ll then head to Capitol Hill

for a few hours of meetings before enjoying

a networking reception that evening.

The entire day on Wednesday, May 9 will

be spent on Capitol Hill.

Finally, as an added benefit, a pre-

conference webinar is being planned for

first-time attendees plus any others who

would like a refresher on what to expect

during the congressional visits.

More than 100 PMA and NTMA members

convened in Washington, D.C., for last

year’s conference, where we spread our

message to 100 congressional offices. We

want to build on that momentum and have

an even more successful event this year, so

please plan to join us May 8-9 in

Washington!

Additional Information:

Complete details about the conference and

registration information will be sent to you

in the next couple of weeks. In the

Please mark your calendar and make

plans to attend the fourth-annual

NTMA/PMA One Voice Legislative

Conference in Washington, D.C., May

8-9, 2012.

Tax issues will be front and center. It

is incredibly important for us to weigh

in on tax reform as the action Congress

takes could last a decade or more and

impact our ability to compete globally.

Congress also will address health care,

workforce development and labor

issues in 2012—all important issues to

manufacturers. Because of the

significance of these issues, extra

emphasis is being placed on Capitol

Hill visits this year, allowing more time

to discuss the issues that matter most

to your business with those who hold

power in Washington.

The program kicks off on Tuesday,

May 8 with lunch and a political

insider’s analysis of what to expect in

the 2012 elections, followed by a

meantime, please contact Christie

Carmigiano at

[email protected]

with any questions.

ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE MAY 8-9, 2012

By: Jim Grosmann, National Tooling & Machining Association

107 Freedom Court

Moon Township, PA 15108

Phone: (724) 601-6008

e-mail: [email protected]

PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE

PAID PERMIT NO. 130

GREENSBURG, PA