CPA and many Ohio organizations and businesses held the Ohio Senate Candidate Forum on Jobs, Trade and Economic Recovery in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on October 14, 2010.  Candidate Lee Fisher (D) attended, answered voter questions on trade, and pledged full support for fair and balanced trade.  Candidate Rob Portman (R) was unable to attend, but sent his Northeast Ohio Field Director, George Brown, to briefly address the crowd.

The CPA press release on the event is here.  Some photos from the Candidate Forum are below.

Lieutenant Governor and U.S. Senate Candidate Lee Fisher addresses the crowd.

Joe Logan (CPA Co-Chair for Agriculture) and Michael Stumo (CEO of CPA).

Fisher, Logan and Stumo on the stage.

George Brown (northeast Ohio Field Director, Portman for Senate) addresses attendees.

October 14, 2010

CPA News Release

Contact:  Sara Haimowitz, 413-341-3166
[email protected]

Cuyahoga Falls, OH ~ “I will not only be a vote for fair and balanced trade [in the U.S. Senate],” said Lee Fisher, Ohio’s Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate, “I will be a tireless advocate for fair and balanced trade.”

CPA held the Ohio Senate Candidate Forum at the Sheraton in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio this morning.  Candidate Lee Fisher (D) attended and answered voter questions.  Candidate Rob Portman was invited but declined to attend due to scheduling difficulties.  Mr. Portman did send a surrogate to make a statement and take voter questions back to campaign headquarters.

Fisher accused Rob Portman of helping cause the trade deficit, manufacturing decline and job losses when Portman was U.S. Trade Representative in the Bush Administration.  “Rob Portman repeatedly chose not to do anything about currency manipulation when he was in a position to take action,” Fisher said.

Fisher also said that he supports HR 2378 which the House of Representatives passed on September 29, 2010 to neutralize foreign government currency manipulation.  He favors tax credits for manufacturing in America to offset foreign value added taxes.  Fisher further said he supports the TRADE Act which would evaluate past trade agreements for efficacy and plot a course for a new trade policy that would balance trade.

“We appreciate Mr. Fisher’s support for balanced trade,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA.  “The Great Recession was caused in large part by ill-conceived trade policy at the federal level.  We are dedicated to educating candidates, voters and elected officials  so they make smart decisions on future trade policy.”

Other speakers at the event were Jacki Adams (Northeast Ohio Campaign for American Manufacturing); Bruce Cain (Xcel Mold & Machine, Canton, OH); Peter Yoder (Yoder Agriculture); John Wagner (Tri-County AFL-CIO); Joe Logan (farmer and CPA Co-Chair for Agriculture); and Tim Burga (Ohio AFL-CIO).

“Voters need to know where their candidates stand on trade issues to make intelligent decisions on November 2,” continued Stumo.  “Ohio has been particularly hard hit with job and manufacturing losses caused by federal trade policy.  Only by a single-minded focus on balanced trade can we achieve full employment and sound growth for our manufacturers and farmers.”

The Coalition for a Prosperous America is a nonprofit organization representing the interests of 2.7 million households through our agricultural, manufacturing and labor member.

Lee Fisher (D) and Rob Portman (R) debated last night in Ohio for the U.S. Senate campaign.  The Washington Post reported on the debate, and had this to say about on the trade and economic front.

Fisher called for more stringent trade and tax policies to discourage companies from moving overseas. He said he supported extending the Bush-era tax cuts, but not for the wealthiest households. He rejected cutting Social Security benefits and raising the retirement age, although he does want a bipartisan commission to address the entitlement program’s long-term fiscal problems. Fisher said he was open to changing certain portions of the health-care law, but “to repeal it is irresponsible.”

Portman’s economic solutions included more favorable tax and regulatory policies to encourage business development, more effective workforce training programs, and undefined spending cuts to lower the deficit.

CPA will hold a candidate forum in Ohio on October 14, 2010 with other associations and local/regional businesses in the Akron/Cuyahoga Falls area.  Fisher is committed to attend and Portman has been invited.  The topic is jobs, trade and economic recovery.

This article, in the Pueblo Chieftain, arose from CPA’s Colorado Senate Candidate forum that was held on July 20, 2010 in Colorado Springs.

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Buck cites spending concerns

(Photo of Ken Buck)

By PATRICK MALONE | [email protected]

COLORADO SPRINGS — U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck trumpeted shifts in the corporate tax structure and domestic production of natural resources as his favored approaches to resurrecting America’s punch-drunk economy.

A bipartisan crowd of more than 100 gathered at the Stargazers Theatre for a forum hosted by the Coalition for a Prosperous America targeting the topics of economic growth, currency and jobs.

Buck fielded written questions submitted by the audience and read by moderator Joe Cole of Fox21 television news.

The candidate expressed his opposition to President Barack Obama’s policies ranging from the federal stimulus package to reforms in health care and the finance industry.

“I’m hard-pressed to find something I agree with,” Buck said.

He also said he would oppose the extension of unemployment benefits that face a vote in the Senate Tuesday.

Most of all, Buck stayed on point with his message that reduced government spending and lower taxes on individuals and businesses are the answers to America’s economic crisis.

“If we get our federal spending under control, we get our federal tax under control,” he said. “Reduce spending, reduce taxes and we will be more competitive globally.”
Buck also pointed to the link between affordable energy and manufacturing profitability, which he said increased environmental regulation was strained by imposing rules that place America at a competitive disadvantage.

“We need to drill here,” he said. “We need to look at nuclear energy.”

The candidate stopped short of calling for trade tariffs or adopting a governmental “buy-American” policy as answers to America’s reliance on affordable goods from foreign shores.

“I would not at this point (support that policy shift). I think we need to get our house in order before we deal with tariffs or penalizing folks whose products we’re importing,” said Buck. “We need to deal with our energy issue. We need to deal with our tax issue.”

Instead, he said creating an environment that’s friendlier to business in America could accomplish the same goal.

“Corporations are not patriotic. Corporations are profit-seeking entities. We need to create a climate in this country that will keep jobs here because corporations find it profitable to keep them here,” Buck said.

Buck, the Weld County district attorney, is facing former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. The winner of that race faces the victor in the Democratic primary between U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.

Buck and Romanoff attended Tuesday’s event in Colorado Springs. Norton and Bennet were invited, but didn’t attend. Organizers said the Norton campaign cited a scheduling conflict, and Bennet was in session with the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C.

Michael Stumo, CEO for the Coalition for a Prosperous America, characterized the group as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that focuses on trade and economic issues and represents the interests of farming, ranching, manufacturing and labor. It advocates human rights, American sovereignty, balanced trade, environmentally neutral or beneficial policy and other factors with America’s economic well-being in mind.

This article, in the Pueblo Chieftain, arose from CPA’s Colorado Senate Candidate forum that was held on July 20, 2010 in Colorado Springs.

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Romanoff urges fair trade fight

(Photo of Andrew Romanoff)
Posted: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 12:00 am
By PATRICK MALONE | [email protected]

COLORADO SPRINGS — A fair fight is all U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff wants.

He said so Tuesday at a forum at the Stargazers Theatre hosted by the Coalition for a Prosperous America focusing on economic growth, currency and jobs.

“I believe in competition,” Romanoff said. “I know Americans can win a fair fight. This is not a fair fight.”

Romanoff wasn’t referring to his primary campaign against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet for the Democratic nomination, but rather to the trade disadvantage that the United States faces in the global marketplace.

Romanoff said he supports trade sanctions against nations like China that have devalued their currency to undercut the price of domestic products, which he termed “predatory trade practices.”

To level the trade playing field, Romanoff advocates ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and he said he’d be open to discussing the imposition of trade tariffs on foreign goods that would make domestic products more competitively priced.

“I believe in trade, but it’s got to be fair trade,” Romanoff said. “It’s got to be a level field and give Americans an equal footing.”

He also supports a “buy-American” policy for the federal government.

“It makes no sense at all for us to buy foreign-made goods as a government, when their governments won’t do the same,” Romanoff said.

Romanoff regards investments in the economy such as the federal economic stimulus package to be helpful in that effort.

He pointed to infrastructure projects and education initiatives it funded as firm footing for an economic recovery.

“The best investments we can make are in the things that are most likely to stay here, like our people and our infrastructure,” he said.

Romanoff said candidates are easily lured into disingenuous rhetoric about cutting taxes while offering “services that stretch as far as the eye can see.” Realistically, he said, “the level of taxes you want to pay versus the services you want and need” must be weighed.

He supports a progressive tax that doesn’t unfairly burden the poor, but he said the federal government could use a balanced-budget amendment similar to the one that requires lawmakers in Colorado to move the bottom line into equilibrium annually.

“In Colorado, balancing the budget isn’t just a good idea, it’s the law,” Romanoff said. “That’s an appropriate constraint.”

Romanoff said he opposes expansion of the Army’s maneuver site at Pinon Canyon and sides with property owners who’ve objected to it. Ken Buck, who is running against Jane Norton for the Republican nomination for the same Senate seat that Romanoff is seeking, told the Stargazers crowd he opposes the Army using eminent domain to take the land, but favors individual property owners’ rights to sell.

Romanoff concluded the forum by making a pitch to registered independents to affiliate as Democrats just for the primary in order to cast a vote for him.

“I’m willing to stand up to my own party,” he said. “I’m doing it right now by challenging Michael Bennet in this race.”

Romanoff declared himself a consensus builder, and pointed to the passage of Referendum C, which lifted the limits of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights for five years, as an example. Romanoff was Colorado House speaker at the time voters adopted it, and he said it took a bipartisan effort to get it on the ballot.

Buck used a portion of his remarks to blast Referendum C as fiscally irresponsible.

Norton and Bennet did not appear at the forum. While invited, Norton had a scheduling conflict and Bennet was at the Senate in Washington, D.C.

The coalition, according to its website, “is working for a new and positive U.S. trade policy that delivers prosperity and security to America. .  .  . ’’

Contact: Michael Stumo, 413.854.2580
July 21, 2010

Colorado Springs, CO ~ The Coalition for Prosperous America’s (CPA’s) Colorado Senate Candidate Forum was a resounding success yesterday at the Stargazer’s Theater in Colorado Springs. Over 200 voters, elected officials and party activists from both parties attended to watch Ken Buck (R) and Andrew Romanov (D) present their views on trade, jobs and economic recovery.

Virtually all local Colorado Springs media as well as national Fox News media attended and recorded the event. Local Fox 21 News anchor Joe Cole was the moderator for the Forum.

Frank Shannon, chairman of the Colorado Chapter of CPA said: “This was a very good format to reveal the true thoughts of the candidates on trade, jobs and economic recovery. We usually get sound bites without an opportunity to follow-up with the candidates. However, this was an in‑depth format with written questions from the audience that truly revealed the candidates’ views on free and fair trade and responding to trade deficit problems.”

The Colorado Senate race is a highly visible national race and is closely watched across the country. The primary election is August 10. Democrat Andrew Romanoff is putting up a strong challenge to Michael Bennett, the incumbent appointed to take interior secretary Ken Salazar’s Senate seat. Republicans Ken Buck and Jane Norton are also neck and neck on the Republican side.

“Everyone appreciated this format and the information regardless of party affiliation,” said Roger Hukle, CPA member and chairman of the New American Colonies Project. “It did not matter whether audience members were Republicans or Democrats, they all feel these economic problems equally and want candidates to specifically say how they will work for solutions.”

Problems including foreign currency manipulation, the record trade deficit, and foreign value added taxes that act as tariffs on U.S. exports were heavily discussed.  Key points included the fact that trade country rivals do not play by the rules, are often state-managed economies, and this country has no strategy to create true fair, free and smart trade that benefits U.S. workers and businesses.

“CPA clearly made the point that we cannot achieve full employment and economic growth without fixing the trade deficit,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA. “Many of the other issues addressed by candidates are simply a distraction. Candidates need to shed any ideological baggage that prevents them from focusing on balanced trade efficiently and effectively.”

The Coalition for Prosperous America is a non‑profit organization representing the interests of 2.7 million households through our farm, ranch, manufacturing and labor membership.