Bill Clinton and Republicans promised NAFTA would create jobs..

[pampango]

56. Poorly paid manufacturing workers in right-to-work states are not going to support our economy

either. It is the amount that workers are paid (which depends significantly on strong unions and high minimum wages) that is critical, not the industry that they work in. Service workers in unions make more than manufacturing workers who are not unionized (except in the infrequent cases where an employer is keeping wages competitive to ward off a union).

Manufacturing employment is declining in every developed country. &quot A)rmies of well-paid American (manufacturing) workers" are not coming back any more than "armies" of agricultural workers are coming back. Neither are "armies" of German or French or Japanese or Canadian manufacturing workers coming back. We can pine for the "good ol' days", but that is not a viable policy.

Other countries (with declining manufacturing employment) don't pine for the "good ol' days" but enact liberal policies that create a strong economy even if it no longer dominated by manufacturing employment. They prove that through the use of strong unions, high minimum wages, strong safety nets and other liberal policies, it is possible to have a strong middle class, a good economy and an equitable distribution of income.