On-shoring

belated orphan

SEE TAFIFF BS FAIL TRUMP

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AN 5 25

The Wall Street Journal reportsmany Americans may not care to adopt the kind of factory work President Donald Trump’s is pledging to bring back to the U.S.

“The jobs are tiring, feature hazards not found at desk jobs and are tough to fill. Once workers are recruited, it can be difficult to get them to stay,” reports WSJ. “… The work represents the type of gritty, physically demanding labor … Trump envisions will recast the U.S. as the manufacturing powerhouse it once was.”

The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. already has nearly half a million unfilled manufacturing jobs, according to the U.S. Labor Department. A 2025 National Association of Manufacturers survey also shows nearly half of manufacturing companies say their biggest challenge is recruitment and retention in jobs with rigid hours, hard work, and risk of significant physical injury. Additionally, the pay is 7.8% lower on average than the private sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, following a decline in union representation.

“A lot of people say they wouldn’t work in a place like this because of how hard it is,” said Quaker City Castings employee Zachary Puchajda, who is a metal caster.

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Carolyn Lee, president of the Manufacturing Institute, a nonprofit focused on workforce development for the sector, told WSJ that the significant labor shortage makes scaling up production a challenge.

Quaker City Castings President Dave Lordi told reporters his company saw a brief 25% surge in orders after Trump announced tariffs, but he would need to add a second work shift. This, say analysts, would not be easy without manufacturers adding better pay and schedule flexibility, among other things that Americans have come to expect from work. Plus, many of the incentives it would require to coax Americans into factories could drive up purchase prices for U.S. factory-made goods. American-made Viking stoves already cost more than $5,000 for a low end model, and those are made in Greenwood, Mississippi, which is known for its record low cost of living.

Lee says the U.S. manufacturing industry is nowhere near the level of evolution it needs to be to engage growth.

“You can’t just plop a factory down and hope people will miraculously appear,” Lee said.

Read the full Wall Street Journal report here.

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AN 12 24

During the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump relentlessly attacked President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the economy — blaming both of them for post-pandemic inflation in the United States. And the message resonated with enough voters for Trump to pull off a narrow victory over Harris.

According to the Cook Political Report, Trump defeated Harris by roughly 1.5 or 1.6 percent in the popular vote and picked up 312 electoral votes compared to 226 for the vice president.

A victory of 1.5 or 1.6 percent is hardly a "landslide," as Trump's allies have been claiming. But it's a victory nonetheless, and Trump will be sworn in for a nonconsecutive second term on January 20, 2025.

Some of Biden's supporters have argued that history will be kind to the outgoing president — not unlike the kind words for the late President George H.W. Bush after he lost the 1992 election to President Bill Clinton. And history, they argue, will remember Biden's job-creation record and the low unemployment of his presidency.

In October, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. unemployment was 4.1 percent.

In a December 2 post on X, formerly Twitter, Alex Armlovich — a senior housing analyst for the Niskanen Center — praised Biden's record on creating manufacturing jobs. And he made his point by tweeting a chart from Joey Politano, who publishes a financial newsletter.

Armlovich tweeted, "This rise in US manufacturing construction spend via @JosephPolitano is absolutely mindblowing. So many CHIPS & IRA-fueled factories are about to start opening in January you're not gonna believe it."

READ MORE:[Bombshell report details 'dangerous' new allegations against Trump Cabinet nominee

In a separate tweet, Armlovich laments that Trump, in 2025, will get the credit for Biden's economic achievements.

Armlovich predicts, "Trump's name will be on every IIJA, CHIPS, & IRA ribbon cut b/c key Dem factions thought NEPA red tape was more important than permitting reform to finish projects in <4 yrs FDR didn't respond to the 1930s by saying 'Mussolini is too fast we need NEPA.' He just started building."

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