On July 15, 2003 Chairman Greenspan insulted tens of millions of U.S. workers by telling the House Banking Committee that manufacturing jobs don’t “matter.”
Specifically, Chairman Greenspan said: “Is it important for an economy to have manufacturing? There is a big dispute on this issue . . . . If there is no concern about access to foreign producers of manufactured goods, then I think you can argue it does not really matter whether or not you produce them or not.”
On July 18, 2001, Chairman Greenspan, insulted millions of U.S. workers by supporting the abolishment of the minimum wage. Here is the transcript from that hearing:
REP. BERNIE SANDERS: Are you for abolishing the minimum wage?
MR. GREENSPAN: I would say that if I had my choice, the answer is of course.
REP. SANDERS: You would abolish the minimum wage?
MR. GREENSPAN: Oh, I would, yes, because if what I say is accurate, then the minimum wage does no good.
3. In February of 2004, Chairman Greenspan insulted 77 million baby boomers by calling for President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy to be paid for by radically cutting Social Security benefits to future retirees through lowering Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) and indexing the retirement age for Social Security beneficiaries so that it keeps rising in future years.
According to an article that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazzette:
“The Federal Reserve chairman . . . . told the House Financial Services Committee last week that Congress should make President Bush's tax cuts permanent and -- here's the political bombshell -- pay the $1 trillion cost by cutting Social Security and other entitlement programs. Specifically, Mr. Greenspan told lawmakers they should consider raising the retirement age and use a less generous formula for figuring Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustment, which was 2.1 percent this year.”
4. On July 22, 2003, Chairman Greenspan insulted millions of credit card consumers, by supporting the credit card interest rate bait and switch – a practice that the credit card industry uses to jack up fixed interest rates even though a consumer has never missed a single credit card payment.
5. In January of 2004, Chairman Greenspan insulted millions of American workers by calling the record-breaking $500 billion U.S. trade deficit that has led to the loss of more than 2.5 million manufacturing workers “seemingly uneventful.”
6. In February of 2004, Chairman Greenspan insulted millions of Americans who are struggling to pay their bills, by saying that the record-breaking $2 trillion consumer debt is "not a significant cause for concern," because of low interest rates. While banks are receiving low interest rates, millions of consumers are paying as much as 30% interest on their credit cards.
7. On May 18, 2000, Chairman Greenspan urged Congress to pass Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China which has resulted in the loss of over 1 million American jobs and a record breaking $125 billion trade deficit with China alone. According to CNBC, “Greenspan calls permanent normalized trade relations with China, or PNTR, crucial to American long-term growth potential.”
8. In May of 1993, Chairman Greenspan insulted millions of American workers by supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement “saying it should benefit both the United States and Mexico.” NAFTA has led to the destruction of more than 700,000 jobs in the U.S., and has also been bad for Mexican workers who have seen a reduction in wages and an increase in poverty.
9. In July of 2002, long after the collapse of Enron and WorldCom, Greenspan continued to support “deregulation” which he claimed was “enhancing economic resilience.” This was an insult to the 17,000 workers at WorldCom who lost their jobs, the 22,000 Enron employees who lost their jobs, the millions of people on the West Coast who had to pay outrageously high energy prices, the millions of retirees who have seen their pensions slashed, and the tens of millions of investors who have lost their shirts investing in WorldCom, Xerox, Adelphia, Tyco International, Global Crossing, etc. etc. all because of deregulation in the financial services, telecommunications, and energy sectors.
10. On July 20, 2004, Greenspan insulted millions of workers by saying that “ he does not see so-called ‘outsourcing,’ the contracting out of jobs to other countries, as a major issue,” according to an article in Market News National.” According to a recent study by the Haas School of Business, as many as 14 million American jobs are in danger of being outsourced overseas over the next decade.
http://bernie.house.gov/documents/releases/20040721164643.asp
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