“Wall Street derivatives trader Pat Toomey has proven once again he is completely out- of-touch with the realities Pennsylvanians face every day,” said Mark Nicastre with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “At a time of economic hardship for countless Pennsylvanians, Pat Toomey continues to advocate for his no corporation left behind agenda. Pat Toomey needs to look Pennsylvanians in the eyes and explain to them why he believes destroying American jobs while eliminating taxes for corporations that ship American jobs overseas makes sense for anyone but  Wall Street CEO’s and the corporate special interests that fill his campaign coffers. Or perhaps arguing for the destruction of American jobs is just another ‘intellectual exercise’ for the Wall Street derivatives trader.”

TOOMEY CLAIM: “At any given time, many companies, and sometimes whole industries, are closing down for many reasons. …As they close, many jobs are lost. At the same time many more companies and industries are being born, and new jobs are created in the process.” [p. 117]

THE FACTS: Not in Pennsylvania.  We’ve lost 311,200 manufacturing jobs over the last decade, and those jobs have not been replaced by new ones. Overall, we’ve lost 101,500 jobs over the last decade. [PA Dept. of Labor and Industry]

TOOMEY CLAIM: “[D]uring 2007, the American economy lost about 29.3 million private-sector jobs while creating 30.1 million new jobs for a net gain of about 800,000 jobs.” [p. 117]

THE FACTS: Picking only one specific year to look at skews the true pattern.  Over the last decade, the American economy suffered a net loss of 1,694,000 jobs. [Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)]

TOOMEY CLAIM: “The failing companies understandably evoke our sympathy and make the front pages of our newspapers; the new and expanding companies are born and often grow in relative obscurity.” [p. 117]

THE FACTS: The reason they “grow in relative obscurity” is they are growing in China. “China has eclipsed Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy after three decades of blistering growth that put overtaking the U.S. in reach within 10 years.” [AP, 8/16/10]

TOOMEY CLAIM: You would not know it from reading the average American newspaper but the truth is American manufacturing has been the envy of the world, growing steadily up to the 2008-2009 recession, profiting solidly, and providing millions of great jobs. [p. 117-8]

THE FACTS: In the past decade, we’ve had a net loss of 5,584,000 manufacturing jobs.  While the recession has had an impact, those jobs were on a steady decline before it started. In the decade before the recession, we suffered a net loss of 3,384,000. [BLS]