wrote myself:)
President Bush will be in Michigan tomorrow to raise more money and to meet with his conservative nominee’s for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in response to the vacancies on the court, and the conflict surrounding the blocked nominees from taking ascent out of partisan differences. While the crisis with the chronically understaffed 6th Circuit Court is noteworthy, Michigan’s economical climate has more immediate needs that the President should address during this stop, but isn’t.
To date, the judicial vacancy rate is once again lower than the unemployment rate, prompting politicians like Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) to question the importance of a White House focus on judicial matters, when unemployment continues to soar. Last year, Senator Leahy stated in a Senate hearing that “the Republican myth of a ‘judicial crisis’ is punctured by the facts, which show the lowest judicial vacancy rate in 13 years-lower than the national jobless rate of 6 percent.”
Former Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley is also questioning the supposed judicial vacancy crisis and believes Bush's visit could be better spent. “As Senator Patrick Leahy pointed out last year, this is the first time in a long time that the judicial vacancy rate is lower than the unemployment rate. With seats on the bench being filled, and job losses continuing, maybe what we should be talking about is well paying jobs for Michigan families.”
Michigan residents couldn’t agree more. If only the President saw it this way.
According to America Coming Together (ACT) Bush has presided over the loss of thousands of well-paying jobs and replaced them with low-paying work in the service sector and there is no better example of this disparity then in Michigan.
The Economic Policy Institute reports that Michigan's overall job loss since Bush took office is 200,200. Jobs are shifting from higher-paying industries such as manufacturing and information, to lower-paying industries such as retail and hospitality. In Michigan, the average pay in industries that are growing is $36,477, which is 26% less than the $49,397 average wage in industries that are shrinking. (Economic Policy Institute, January 21, 2004) Yet the President will not address this ongoing crisis tomorrow, despite the fact that this crisis began, swells, and worsens under his administration.
Michigan residents have yet to see any results from Bush’s promises to uplift the sinking state economy. There has been little to no effort on the part of the Bush Administration to comparably replace the multitude of jobs lost in Michigan. The few new jobs that Bush has created cannot sustain working families.
Tomorrow is a time when Bush can begin to follow through on the promise’s he’s espousing, as he campaigns for a second term, but he’ll more than likely choose to escape the conflicts and concerns of most Michigan residents, and take refuge in the homes of the American’s who he’s always given priority to, from day one: the rich and wealthy and employed.
