Manufacturing

Recognizing that manufacturing is critical to the overall health of the American economy, 85 percent of Americans believe that creating manufacturing jobs is either the most or a very important job for the policymakers in Washington.

During the course of the recession, with companies desperately seeking out cost-saving measures to hold up their bottom lines or even keep their companies afloat, many have opted to outsource their manufacturing. Since the recession began, the U.S. has shed 2.2 million manufacturing jobs.

"If we were at war with the Chinese and we were buying our ammunition from the Chinese, I don't think that would work very well," Robert J. Smith, president and CEO of Highway Machine Company, told the Courier-Press.

So-called free trade agreements have devastated America’s manufacturing base, nowhere is that more evident than in the steel industry, which literally built the U.S. and used to be a thriving industry.