![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanaqui posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
thisfinecrewNomination Hearing - Wilbur Ross
When: Wednesday 18 January from 10:00am
Committee Members: (as at 13 Jan) Chairman: Senator John Thune (R - SD), Senator Roger F. Wicker (R - MS), Senator Roy Blunt (R - MO), Senator Ted Cruz (R - TX), Senator Deb Fischer (R - NE), Senator Jerry Moran (R - KS), Senator Dan Sullivan (R - AK), Senator Dean Heller (R - NV), Senator James M. Inhofe (R - OK), Senator Mike Lee (R - UT), Senator Ron Johnson (R - WI), Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R - WV), Senator Cory Gardner (R - CO), Senator Todd Young (R - IN), Ranking Member: Senator Bill Nelson (D - FL), Senator Maria Cantwell (D - WA), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D - MN), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D - CT), Senator Brian Schatz (D - HI), Senator Edward J.Markey (D - MA), Senator Cory A. Booker (D - NJ), Senator Tom Udall (D - NM), Senator Gary C. Peters (D - MI), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D - WI), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D - IL), Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D - NH), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D - NV)
What the committee should be concerned about: Ross is a billionaire investor who "became known as the “king of bankruptcy” for buying, restructuring and selling off steel makers and other fading industrial companies." Rep Nancy Pelosi described him as a "corporate raider" but he appears to have decent relationships with labor, with at least some unions regarding him as a genuine turaround investor rather than an asset-stripper. He has a long history with Trump, having helped Trump avoid personal bankruptcy in the early 1990s by bailing him out when over-extended himself on the loans used to build his Atlantic City casinos.
Ross helped formulate Trump’s economic policies, which include tax cuts, reduced regulations on energy production and privately financed infrastructure spending spurred by tax credits. Two respected organisations have said Trump's plans spell economic disaster, according to the LA Times: Credit ratings agency Moody's "predicted that Trump’s plans would lead to a recession, while the Tax Foundation projected that deficits would increase."
Ross is also firmly behind Trump's anti-free-trade policies, having said the U.S. must free itself from the “bondage” of “bad trade agreements,” and advocated for steep tariffs on Chinese goods, although he has softened Trump's headline positions by stressing in an interview with Yahoo Finance that "withdrawing from trade deals would only occur if other countries refused to negotiate."
Suggested script for calling representatives:"Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Wilbur Ross as the next Secretary of the Department of Commerce because the economic policies and approach to trade agreements he's proposed will lead to economic disaster for the United States. Respected analysts have predicted that they will result in recession and an increased budget deficit. Mr Ross's aggressive and ill-considered approach to the U.S economy and our international trade partners make him unsuited to leading a department with a major influence on the U.S.'s future prosperity, and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of the Department of Commerce
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
When: Wednesday 18 January from 10:00am
Committee Members: (as at 13 Jan) Chairman: Senator John Thune (R - SD), Senator Roger F. Wicker (R - MS), Senator Roy Blunt (R - MO), Senator Ted Cruz (R - TX), Senator Deb Fischer (R - NE), Senator Jerry Moran (R - KS), Senator Dan Sullivan (R - AK), Senator Dean Heller (R - NV), Senator James M. Inhofe (R - OK), Senator Mike Lee (R - UT), Senator Ron Johnson (R - WI), Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R - WV), Senator Cory Gardner (R - CO), Senator Todd Young (R - IN), Ranking Member: Senator Bill Nelson (D - FL), Senator Maria Cantwell (D - WA), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D - MN), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D - CT), Senator Brian Schatz (D - HI), Senator Edward J.Markey (D - MA), Senator Cory A. Booker (D - NJ), Senator Tom Udall (D - NM), Senator Gary C. Peters (D - MI), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D - WI), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D - IL), Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D - NH), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D - NV)
What the committee should be concerned about: Ross is a billionaire investor who "became known as the “king of bankruptcy” for buying, restructuring and selling off steel makers and other fading industrial companies." Rep Nancy Pelosi described him as a "corporate raider" but he appears to have decent relationships with labor, with at least some unions regarding him as a genuine turaround investor rather than an asset-stripper. He has a long history with Trump, having helped Trump avoid personal bankruptcy in the early 1990s by bailing him out when over-extended himself on the loans used to build his Atlantic City casinos.
Ross helped formulate Trump’s economic policies, which include tax cuts, reduced regulations on energy production and privately financed infrastructure spending spurred by tax credits. Two respected organisations have said Trump's plans spell economic disaster, according to the LA Times: Credit ratings agency Moody's "predicted that Trump’s plans would lead to a recession, while the Tax Foundation projected that deficits would increase."
Ross is also firmly behind Trump's anti-free-trade policies, having said the U.S. must free itself from the “bondage” of “bad trade agreements,” and advocated for steep tariffs on Chinese goods, although he has softened Trump's headline positions by stressing in an interview with Yahoo Finance that "withdrawing from trade deals would only occur if other countries refused to negotiate."
Suggested script for calling representatives:"Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Wilbur Ross as the next Secretary of the Department of Commerce because the economic policies and approach to trade agreements he's proposed will lead to economic disaster for the United States. Respected analysts have predicted that they will result in recession and an increased budget deficit. Mr Ross's aggressive and ill-considered approach to the U.S economy and our international trade partners make him unsuited to leading a department with a major influence on the U.S.'s future prosperity, and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of the Department of Commerce
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-17 05:55 am (UTC)(It might be finished and not yet posted -- it can take 24 hours for that to happen -- but I'm not finding anyone saying that's the case.)