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PA Mayors Call Romney a “Pioneer of Outsourcing”

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, left, and Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski

Mayors of two  Pennsylvania cities said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s record of job outsourcing as CEO of Bain Capital and governor of Massachusetts discredits his claim of being a “job creator” during a conference call Wednesday afternoon.

During the call with members of the media, Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia and Mayor Ed Pawloski of Allentown discussed an open letter sent to Romney and signed by them and the mayors PA’s five largest cities addressing Romney’s support of ending a tax on foreign profits of U.S. companies.

Referring to an article written last week regarding Romney’s business record, Nutter said Romney was one of the first executives behind the practice of outsourcing jobs to countries with fewer workers’ rights laws and environmental regulations.

“Under Romney’s leadership, Bain [Capital] not only profited from sending jobs overseas, but pioneered it,” Nutter said. “And he promoted as a means of making millions of dollars for himself and investors.”

Kate Meriwether, Romney’s Pennsylvania spokesperson, called the statements made by Nutter and Pawloski “distractions” made by Obama to take the focus off his economic record as president.

“If President Obama had even half of Mitt Romney’s record on jobs, he’d be running on it,” Meriwether said. “But President Obama has the worst record on jobs and the economy of any president in modern history, which is why he is running a campaign based on distractions, not solutions.”

Nutter said Romney’s support of ending taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits “undermines the progress made in Pennsylvania” under President Obama. He added that infrastructure funding and workforce grants supported by the President have fueled an economic recovery in the city.

During his portion of the call, Pawloski used the example of a bridge in Allentown built over the Lehigh River during Obama’s presidency to demonstrate the President’s positive impact on Pennsylvania’s economy. He said the project cost $80 million and generated hundreds of construction jobs.

Pawloski a Romney presidency would undermine the progress made under Obama by sending U.S. jobs overseas.

“Under Romney economics, all that progress could be jeopardized if we begin moving jobs overseas,” Pawloski said. “His policies pose a great risk to our economy.”

Here’s the full letter:

Open Letter to Mitt Romney from PA Mayors: Your Outsourcing Hurts Our Cities

June 27, 2012

Dear Governor Romney,

As the mayors of Pennsylvania’s five largest cities, we represent more than 2 million Pennsylvanians. Our state’s economic success is directly tied to our cities’ ability to help businesses grow and create jobs for hardworking middle-class families.

That’s why we’re deeply concerned with your record – both as governor and as a businessman at a corporate-buyout firm – of shipping jobs overseas to cut costs and maximize your own profits. We also worry that your proposal to completely eliminate U.S. taxes on businesses’ foreign profits would encourage more companies to send jobs overseas and severely undermine the growth and progress we’ve seen in Pennsylvania since we started adding jobs under President Obama.

On the campaign trail, you claim to know how to create American jobs, but as a corporate raider, you made your fortune shipping American jobs to countries like Mexico, India and China. Under your leadership, Bain Capital invested in and owned companies that were pioneers in sending middle-class jobs overseas so wealthy investors could profit. That’s not what
Pennsylvania families are looking for in a president, especially during a time of economic recovery.

Even worse, your tendency to ship American jobs overseas didn’t end when you left the private sector. As governor, you did the same thing, sending state call center jobs to India and vetoing a bill that would have prohibited state jobs from going overseas.

Governor Romney, you suggest that your “business experience” gives you special insight into the economy. But our cities can’t afford your real business experience in shipping our jobs to other countries.

Thanks to President Obama’s leadership, we are seeing jobs coming back to our cities after years of watching them get shipped away. We’ve seen more than two consecutive years of private-sector job growth, and American manufacturing is growing again for the first time in more than 10 years. This is the progress we must continue – putting the American middle class back to work. President Obama has a plan to do that. Where’s your jobs plan, Governor Romney?

One of the only plans you detail would eliminate all taxes on companies’ foreign profits, giving companies more incentive to send American jobs to other countries. Instead of closing corporate loopholes or giving tax breaks to companies that keep jobs here at home – as President Obama has proposed to do – your policies would eliminate American jobs and weaken middle-class security.

In President Obama, Pennsylvanians have a leader who has repeatedly proven his commitment to protecting American jobs, investing in an economy built to last and moving America forward. Governor Romney, it seems like you only want to take us backward and encourage companies to ship Pennsylvania jobs overseas.

No political spin can obscure your record, Governor Romney. We urge you to reconsider your plan to help companies send American jobs overseas and instead focus on job creation here at home. Our five cities – and the rest of Pennsylvania – can’t afford your policies of the past that will only jeopardize our economic recovery

Sincerely,

Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Pittsburgh
Mayor Ed Pawlowski, Allentown
Mayor Joe Sinnott, Erie
Mayor Vaughn Spencer, Reading

One Response

  1. Dear Mayor Nutter,

    Didn’t you outsource a large portion of the $68 million South Street Bridge project by purchasing a large portion of materials from china? I bet a lot more American jobs could have been created had you chosen to buy American.

    I’m glad you saved a few bucks on the project but I don’t think you have much credibility on this matter.

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