Greater Cleveland’s
Manufacturing Economy
Simple Math: Over Regulation + High Employer Taxes = Less Jobs
THE TRAKAS PLAN:
Congressional review of all regulations that affect American employers to examine the costs and benefits. Costly regulations should be eliminated but worthy regulations should be retained. The government should help employers financially to comply with the regulations without passing along the heavy cost to consumers, and putting more money toward salaries and benefits of hard working Americans. Regulation makes it harder to employ Americans in America, increases the price of goods for consumers, and is gradually choking our economy. Let’s let American companies make products in America, and government must stop the punitive regulation that leads to jobs and industries going overseas.
Smart Trade can work for Greater Cleveland American policy on trade must be fundamentally altered. We need to trade with countries that will buy our products so that trade is mutually beneficial. For a few pennies, products are cheaper for some consumers, but other consumers pay more because they have lost better jobs. Once we lose our manufacturing base, we lose our economic security and nation’s security. Smart Trade is the Trakas approach, select trading partners who compliment our economy and vice versa. In addition to more vigorously promoting exports to other nations who can afford to buy our products, America must not lose it’s strategic position as the World’s Superpower and the economic benefits it entails. Trading with cheaters is a losing propostion for the American worker and consumer.
American Manufacturing can lead the world andrestore prosperity to Greater Cleveland. With less job killing regulation, with less taxation to add to the cost of doing business in America, with Smart Trade, American Manufacturing can be brought back and thrive. We can make Cleveland great again, with the help of our government. Currently, government is costing Clevelanders their jobs and our area its prosperity. Jim Trakas will work to change that. “Made In America” is possible again, but our own government is making that very difficult.
Taxes must encourage investment in jobs, and modernize the tax code
The USA is the highest taxed nation on employers in the world. That has led to jobs going overseas at our people’s expense. Our own government has chilled job creation and encouraged job exportation. When we dramatically reduce the tax burden for our employers, we create opportunities for our citizens. Everyone is paying too much. Simplify the tax code; lower taxes for all Americans; take away tax impediments for job and wealth creation and let us create a dynamic economy that will benefit all.
Manufacturing Jobs Coming Home Zones: Jim Trakas will push for areas like Cleveland, Lakewood, Parma, Brook Park, Brooklyn and other communities to be designated for special manufacturing companies to come back home from overseas and for new manufacturers to go into zones of minimal regulation, reduced taxation, and environmentally friendly production areas. This is a real, tangible opportunity to revitalize our local and national manufacturing sector and create jobs in the USA, for a change.
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Real Answers on Health Care:
The quality of American health care is the best in the world, but it is too expensive, and too difficult for many Americans to access. Once and for all, Congress needs to lead and help take cost out of the system, provide more access, and keep the high quality of health care.
State and Federal Regulation and Mandates are well intended but are massively increasing health care costs. Make states create no mandate health care plans that will be affordable to consumers, and “cafeteria style” plans that allow consumers to obtain health care for what they need.
Dramatically Increase Tax Credits to Employers and Citizens to make health care more affordable so that more employers will offer care, and people can afford the deductibles and costs that insurance does not pay. The current one year limit on spending the money that individuals save from their own earnings in tax exempt medical spending accounts should be extended.
More consumer driven choice will lessen costs: Make health care more like auto, home, and life insurance, where we have more to say about our quality and cost of care. Consumers and Competition will bring down costs, just like other types of insurance. Everyone should have health care, with premiums for working class, poor and indigent people partially paid for by the government.
Government Health Care is driving up costs. Medicare and Medicaid do not pay enough to providers for their care, so providers increase the cost of private care. We need to harmonize these costs to reflect actual and agreed upon cost. This will bring costs down for Americans.
Catastrophic Care: We need a national conversation on catastrophic care. 90% of health care costs occur between the ages of birth to three years old, and the last three years of an American’s life. There is no one answer, but what we are doing now is not working, and a new strategy is needed.
Government Run Health Care System is Terrible for All. Congressman Kucinich wants to turn health care over to the government, thereby eliminating one third of the American Economy, and the leading employer in Greater Cleveland. Congressman Kucinich's plan will eliminate insurance companies, take away your insurance, and put everyone into one expensive government run plan. This would be a disaster of massive proportions for Cleveland and the nation. Socialized medicine provides for expensive mediocre health care. “Free” Health Care is estimated to take up to one half of your income in taxes, as it does in Canada and Great Britain. The quality of care is inferior to our own. Keep health care jobs in Cleveland, and quality in health care, and say “NO” to Kucinich Socialized Mediocre Medicine.
Prescription Drugs: Congressman Kucinich voted against America’s Prescription Drug Program. Jim Trakas supports the program, and it is making a difference in the lives of Seniors.
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A Strong Defense Keeps Us Free:
A strong, modern military and intelligence community can protect us from terrorists, terror supporting states, and anyone else who wishes us ill. Every time we cut defense spending, we become more vulnerable. Technology is expensive but a great investment in our military and intelligence that will prevent problems before they become problems.
Strong Military, Strong Intelligence, More Freedom and Security! Protecting America costs money, and it is the best investment we can make to secure our safety and prosperity. More manpower is needed for intelligence gathering. More manpower is needed in the Armed Forces. Be vigilant, so that we do not have to ask questions later.
Modern Technologies for Weapon Systems and Intelligence Gathering. Modern safety and security demands the latest and most innovative weapons systems and intelligence. Investments in these areas assure our safety and assure defeat for our foes. We must be ahead of the enemies of our nation and of freedom at every step, and only through knowing more about them, and being able to destroy them with the best equipment, can we achieve security in an unstable world.
Secure The Peace, Defeat The Terrorists, Then Redeploy Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. We are there now. It doesn’t matter how we got there. A new Commander In Chief will provide needed new leadership to The War on Terrorism and in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we do not secure the peace, there will be negative consequences for us and our allies. Let’s define victory, and achieve it.
Keep The National Guard and Reserves out of harm’s way. Our Guardsmen and Reservists can easily rotate into non-hostile theatres of operations, such as Europe and Asia where America has bases, but are not involved in conflict. Let the Regular Armed Forces fight, they are better trained and equipped, and let the patriots in the Guard and Reserves serve their country out of combat zones.
Missile Defense A Must to Secure Freedom and Check Terrorist and Nationalist States. We need missile defense, and our allies need missile defense to protect us from the unstable world. One nuclear weapon would kill millions of Americans. Missile Defense puts the check on Iran, a resurgent Russia, China, Pakistan, Syria, North Korea, and any other terrorists who seek our destruction. It is better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
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In Touch With Cleveland Values:
Jim Trakas was born and raised in Greater Cleveland and shares our values. He is a second generation Greek-American, and believes strongly in the promise of America. His singular focus will be Security: Economic Security, Health Care Security, Social Security, and National Security.
Growing up and working in manufacturing, Trakas understands the value of this sector to our economy and particularly to uplift struggling families. Jim will work for you, the people of the 10th Congressional District.
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Immigration:
Trakas (Cleveland Values): Encourage legal immigration to fill gaps in our economy and allow for new opportunities. The new legal immigrants can be part of the solution to the population decline in North East Ohio We must secure our borders first and deport illegal aliens who commit crimes and fine companies that hire illegal aliens and deny Americans job opportunities, consistent with current American law. Trakas does not believe that illegal aliens deserve the benefits of American citizens. Citizenship is a privilege, and must mean something.
Kucinich (Non Cleveland Values) supports President Bush’s “comprehensive” immigration reform which grants amnesty to illegal aliens, does not secure our borders first, and gives taxpayer financed benefits to non citizens and illegal aliens. Congressman Kucinich voted against The Children’s Health Care Insurance Program initially, because it did not include taxpayer-financed coverage for non-citizens.
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Social Issues:
Kucinich (Non Cleveland Values): When he began his Congressional tenure, Dennis Kucinich voted pro life on the issue of abortion, and since his first run for the Presidency, has changed so radically, that he supports late term partial birth abortion into the ninth month of pregnancy. He has been endorsed by both Right To Life and NARAL Pro Choice America. Congressman Kucinich opposed marriage and civil unions by gay people. Now he says he would be the most pro-gay rights president in American history.
Trakas (Cleveland values) believes and supports a pro-life position on abortion except when the mother’s life is in jeopardy and in cases of rape and incest. He is consistent on this topic.
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Affirmative Action:
Trakas (Cleveland Values) believes that legal discrimination should not be the law of the land, and that everyone should be treated equally. Trakas supports civil rights strongly and wants to make legal discrimination a thing of our sad past.
Kucinich (Non Cleveland Values) Strongly supports legal discrimination in hiring, education, and key programs. His support for Affirmative Action is deep seated, and he has supported legal discrimination every time he has had to vote on it. Back to Top
Cash Reparations For African Slavery Descendants:
Kucinich (Non Cleveland Values) supports cash reparations for descendants of African slaves, over one and a half centuries after slavery was abolished in this country and after the Constitution was amended to provide for full civil rights for all Americans.
Trakas (Cleveland Values) opposes cash reparations. Slavery has been abolished since 1864. This should be a non-issue! Most black leaders do not espouse this position, only the most radical and extreme.
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Destroying Manufacturing Jobs:
Kucinich (Non Cleveland Values) supports the Kyoto Treaty on Global Warming which will destroy what is left of America’s manufacturing base, and let China and India pollute the globe, while taking Cleveland jobs. Kucinich voted to increase gas efficiency standards more than the U.S. automotive industry can afford to do right now, and voted against similar legislation supported by the United Auto Workers and Cleveland area manufacturers which would have helped the environment and protect jobs.
Trakas (Cleveland Values) believes a global pollution strategy is necessary, but would not exempt China and The Third World which will not make the environment much cleaner and destroy the U.S. manufacturing industry. Trakas supports phased in fuel efficiency standards that protect Greater Cleveland auto workers and their suppliers, as well as our environment.
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Energy And Environment:
What we are doing now is unacceptable. High fuel costs, heavy pollution threatening our health and safety, and no consensus on what to do. The Trakas Plan respects our past, honors our present, and offers a clean and inexpensive way to go for the future.
It is time for a National Recycling Act, to help our environment, to reuse the many products that we throw away, to save virgin land from landfill development, and to create new jobs in new industries. We did it during World War I and World War II, and we can do it again. Let us use metal, plastic, paper and everything else that is recyclable and have a national effort to recycle, reuse, and renew our environment. By involving American industry, we can truly be on the road to less imports and utilizing our resources right here in America while exporting our recycled products overseas to help American workers.
While we still rely upon coal, let us use clean coal technology and new technologies to stop pollution. The Federal Government should prioritize pollution control, buying new scrubbers for coal generated power and pipe emissions underground into safe storage areas to clean the air we breathe. This is too expensive for utilities to do because they would have to pass that cost along to consumers, but government can and should clean up coal fired generators over the course of the next twenty five years.
Invest in Fuel Cells Now, and Eliminate the need for oil and gasoline in vehicles. We must, with great purpose, invest in and accelerate the research and development of fuel cells for transportation vehicles. The technology exists and needs to be refined. We can be the first nation that eliminates the need for oil and gas for our vehicles, greatly protecting our environment, lowering the cost of transportation, and making America energy independent of foreign control.
Lake Erie; our great energy resource, and job creator. Wind power is real, and while it will take time to perfect it and make it cheaper for everyday usage, we can create a whole industry right here to generate wind power. Encouraging this technology with financial incentives and agreed upon goals with power companies will help this fledgling industry become real, driving down energy costs, protecting our environment, and creating new jobs in the industry for Greater Clevelanders.
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