The new frenzy these days is happening among the Chicken Little Society, consisting of the great and narrow minds at the NY Times and other old media publications, wringing their hands (feathers?) over the value of the dollar.

Battling back — and armed with the truth — is our own Frank Vargo, featured in yesterday’s USA Today on the topic. As you’ll see below (“Dollar Down, Exports Up”), the leveling off of the dollar is actually helping US manufacturers abroad. That’s a good thing, no? As Frank points out in his piece, the dollar is still 7% higher than it was when it took off in l997. It’s also funny that they keep talking about the “history” of the dollar/euro relationship, considering that the Euro’s only been around since l999.

In any event, Frank’s piece is an antidote for the Chicken Littles out there, and recommended reading for anyone who wants the straight story on the dollar.

Got a nice e-mail from CNN today concerning the piece posted below, “CNN Presents: Half the Story”. It was actually a very cordial and measured note, saying that “presenting a fair and balanced story is tough”, but noting that they strive to do so in all projects they take on.

They went on to say that their story was intended to be an intimate look at Stark County, Ohio, “Where manufacturing has been king over the last century”, but that “to ignore the hard reality that manufacturing jobs are disappearing there is to ignore the truth.”

Our problem with the piece was that it ignored the causes of manufacturing job loss, the 22% (non-wage) cost disadvantage we have with our trading partners which drive companies out of business and out of town quicker than anything else. And, to be fair, across America (like in San Antonio, for example), towns are welcoming new mfg facilities that will rejuvenate their economies. Perhaps this might be a suitable topic for a future piece.

Also, in the e-maelstrom which followed the posting of our pique with the story below, there was a clear sense from many of the interviewees — including the people at the local employment service — that the thrust of their comments was left on the cutting room floor. This left us to conclude that someone arrived with an agenda and was determined to put it on screen, facts be damned.

In any event, we welcome civil discourse and thank CNN for taking the time to weigh in and comment.

An update on the goings-on of manufacturing and manufacturers this day:

– First and foremost, President Bush today nominated a manufacturer, Carlos Gutierrez, CEO of the Kellogg Company, to be the new Secretary of Commerce. This is a great day for manufacturers when one of our own is nominated to serve in the President’s Cabinet. Evans will be a tough act to follow in terms of his focus on and his support for manufacturing, but everything we know about Carlos Gutierrez tells us he’s up to the job. Better still, his life story — from Cuba, to truck driver to CEO — is a true American success story. Click here
for the NAM press release applauding his selection. We look forward to working closely with him and his team.

– Our fearless leader, John Engler, will be in Florida on Wednesday, attending the first-ever manufacturing summit there. Gov. Bush will also be in attendance. Thanks to NAM Board Member — and small manufacturer — Al Stimac (another American success story) for making this event happen. Click here for details on the summit.

– Finally, our humble little blog made the news again, still milking the John Sweeney story, in a piece by Steve Franklin, labor beat reporter extraordinaire for the Chicago Tribune. Apparently the AFL-CIO complained that we were merely taking advantage of their disunity, as if somehow their disunity made the story somehow less true. Here’s the link to Steve’s story.

For those of you not on his list, here’s a copy of the e-mail that John Kerry sent to some 3 million of his supporters last week. It is noteworthy for a few reasons:

– After a concession speech long on healing, this e-mail appears to put Sen. Kerry back in attack mode, with language less like that of a statesman and more akin to, well, a blog.

– Following a fairly undistinguished Senate career that spanned over two decades, he appears poised to position himself as the activist Senator par excellence (that’s French). That sound you hear from his Democrat colleagues (and future rivals) is the sound of one hand clapping.

– Of all the areas in which to inject himself, he chose health care. This is remarkable if for no other reason than that the leadership on this issue among Senate Democrats for the past few decades has been the sole province of Kerry’s mentor and senior Senator, Ted Kennedy. Is Kennedy ready to cede his position as health care leader to Kerry?

In recent times, losing (general election) Presidential candidates have faded away: Al Gore, Bob Dole, George Bush Sr., Mike Dukakis, Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter. Kerry is the first losing Presidential candidate since Richard Nixon (a comparison he no doubt relishes) to try to remain in the fray and maintain shelf life and relevance for another four years. This will make for some interesting dynamics in the US Senate, considering he has a few colleagues there who have their eye on the prize as well.

In the 107th Congress, John Kerry had an NAM Vote Rating of 8% (www.nam.org/votingrecord). In the 108th, he distinguished himself as the only Senator with a perfect score of 0%. After twenty years, as he decides to try his hand at legislation, let’s make sure his new-found enthusiasm doesn’t come at the expense of American manufacturing.

Did anyone see “CNN Presents: Company Town” last night? Anchored by Aaron Brown and produced by Emily Probst, it was a fairly one-sided and gloomy account of manufacturing and our purported decline. It was actually a strange hour-long program in that it had no voice over, just an occasional black screen with an ominous text message, with more hand-wringing, more crepe-hanging. Amidst the innuendo in this meandering tale, there was some ersatz expert from Harvard, of uncertain portfolio, who spoke in the tone of an undertaker and foretold the end of the middle class. For some reason, no one thought to contact us in the hopes of finding balance (remember balance?) along the way.

Had they reached us, we would have told them that manufacturing is still one-sixth of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Standing alone, it would make us the fifth largest economy in the world. We are 60% larger than the retail sector and 130% larger than the agriculture, construction and mining sectors combined. We are responsible for two-thirds of all research and development and three-quarters of all exports.

We prefer to focus on the positive story of manufacturing and the effect we have on a town when a plant decides to locate there. If CNN is serious about the health of manufacturing — and not just in taking cheap shots — they should probably focus their attention on the 22% (non-wage) cost disadvantage we have with our trading partners.

As manufacturers know all too well, we are in a worldwide competition for jobs and we are still the most productive nation in the world, the most competitive, the best manufacturers in the world. However, the growing burden of legal, regulatory, energy costs and taxes are making it tougher and tougher for us to compete. If you’re looking for threats to the middle class, look no further.

We’d be happy to work with CNN whenever they decide to present this other half of the story.