Congressman Toomey’s Futile Attempt to Mislead on Jobs

Unable to Refute Criticism about China Favoritism

MEDIA, Pa. – In a press release Friday (see full text below), Congressman Toomey’s campaign attempted to defend his record after days of news stories detailed how his policies would create work in China at the expense of Pennsylvania jobs. Just as his campaign did in calling an ad untrue last week without disputing “any of its specific assertions,” they disapprove of criticism about Toomey’s record on American jobs without any evidence to refute it.

“If Congressman Toomey is going to talk about ‘dishonesty,’ he should admit that during the time that he claims he was a small businessman, he was actually working for a Chinese billionaire in Hong Kong,” said Sestak spokesman Jonathon Dworkin. “More importantly, he should admit that even though the policies he enacted in Washington caused this economic debacle, he continues to fight to put China ahead of American workers. We see that Congressman Toomey was able to find three people – two politicians from his hometown and another person who he used to pay — to vouch for him, but we are confident that the people of Pennsylvania will not be fooled.”

Congressman Toomey’s Record of Putting Big Corporate and Wall Street Interests in China Ahead of American Jobs:

According to the Morning Call, Congressman Toomey wants a regulatory system more like Hong Kong: “I was seeing pretty close up which economies were succeeding and which ones weren’t, and there is an unmistakable correlation,” Toomey said. “Those that are heavily regulated and centrally controlled underperform. And those like Hong Kong, where there is regulation but it is sensible, they thrive.” [Allentown Morning Call, 9/26/10]

To specifically benefit China at our expense, Toomey:

Voted to grant permanent most favored nation status to China [HR 4444, #228, 5/24/00]
Argued that granting Permanent Normal Trade Relations would cause China to fix its problems with liberty, freedom and human rights [145 Cong. Rec. H. 6434, H. 6462, July 27, 1999]

Organized a petition to stop the US from imposing tariffs on China that would prevent the dumping of cheap goods in America and stop American manufacturers from being put out of business [Bloomberg, 8/2/07]

Opposed allowing the sanctions against China for gaining trade advantages by manipulating their currency to dump cheap goods on our shores [AP, 10/7/10]; every Republican in the state supported it [Pittsburgh Post‐Gazette, 10/7/10]

As a Member of Congress, he also:

Voted to give federal loans to corporations that move offshore [HR 4818, #386, &/15/04]
Voted to give benefits to corporations dodging U.S. taxes by moving offshore [HR 4520, #258, 6/17/04]

Voted for tax loopholes allowing companies to avoid paying federal taxes on earnings from foreign factories [HR 4520, 10/7/04, #509]

Argued free trade would create jobs, while acknowledging that workers might be “displaced” [Morning Call, 12/5/99, 1/21/00]

In his 2009 book, The Road to Prosperity, Toomey explained:

His belief that the United States has an “unfortunate tendency” to use “buy American language” in legislation.  [The Road to Prosperity, © 2009, p. 211]

“Foreign subsidies should be seen for what they are: Gifts to American consumers at the expense of foreign taxpayers…Certainly, substantial foreign subsidies…would result in fewer American cars sold, and consequently fewer American auto workers.” [The Road to Prosperity, p. 112-113].

Just this week, it was reported that foreign corporations are illegally pouring money into Pennsylvania on behalf of Congressman Toomey. The Chamber of Commerce uses tax loopholes to avoid disclosing contributions from foreign corporations. The New York Times wrote that “[b]ecause the United States Chamber is organized as a 501(c)(6) business league under the federal tax code, it does not have to disclose its donors, so the full extent of foreign influence on its political agenda is unknown.

But Tuesday’s report sheds light on how it raises money abroad. Its affiliate in Abu Dhabi, for example, the American Chamber of Commerce, says it has more than 450 corporate and individual members in the United Arab Emirates who pay as much as $8,500 a year to join.” [New York Times, 10/5/10]

Toomey Campaign Press Release

The Jobs Score: Pat Toomey: Hundreds of Jobs – Joe Sestak: Zero Jobs
Fri, 10/08/2010

For Immediate Release—October 8, 2010

Contact: Nachama Soloveichik • Communications Director • 484.809.7994 • 646.528.1029
Contact: Kristin Anderson • Deputy Communications Director • 484.809.7994 • 612.280.5196
Contact: Tim Kelly • Press Secretary • 484.809.7994

Allentown, PA – While Congressman Joe Sestak continues to be dishonest about Pat Toomey’s record on jobs, it is important to remember that there is only one candidate in this race who has actual experience creating jobs in Pennsylvania – and that is Pat Toomey.

From 1991 – 1998, Pat owned and ran several small businesses with his brothers in the Lehigh Valley and Lancaster and created hundreds of jobs for people in Pennsylvania.  During that time, Pat learned that the best way to create jobs is to keep taxes and government burdens low to give small businesses the flexibility to thrive and hire new employees.  In contrast, Joe Sestak has never created a job in the private sector.  And it shows.

Read testimonials about Pat’s record of job creation:

“Pat hired me to be the Vice President of Operations for Rookies in Allentown.  Working with Pat was a great opportunity and one I appreciate to this day.  Together, we did all the stuff that lots of small business folks do to make their businesses successful.  We set goals; we established budgets; we met periodically to measure the progress on those goals; we made personnel decisions; and we updated and revised our menu periodically, among many other things.  In my book, Pat was as hard a working small business owner as any I’ve met and he helped create many jobs in the Lehigh Valley.” – Bill Smedile, current owner of Rookies

Michael Rosenfeld, Executive Director of the Allentown Redevelopment Authority said about Pat’s small businesses: “It certainly was under responsible ownership.  It brought thousands of people downtown.” – York Sunday News, 11/02/03

“I got to know Pat when he started his restaurants here in Allentown when I was the Assistant to Mayor Joe Daddona.  In addition, my wife and I had a small family business for several years in King of Prussia, employing our son and daughter, and we know how hard it is to run a small businesses.  There is no question that Pat is a hardworking small businessman whose involvement in the restaurant business helped to bring many jobs to the Allentown area over the years.  Pat’s business was an asset to our community.”- Karl Kercher, Assistant and Chief of Staff to former Democratic Mayor of Allentown, Joe Daddona