Were you better off pre-McHenry?
Sigmon asks: ‘Are you better off than you
were when Rep. McHenry won his office?’
NEWTON—Long-time Republicans fondly recall the moment in the fall presidential campaign of 1980 when Ronald Reagan stood on the debate stage with his Democrat opponent, Pres. Jimmy Carter, looked into the camera and asked: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”
10th District congressional challenger Lance B. Sigmon of Newton, a retired Air Force officer who graduated with honors in accounting and economics from Western Carolina University, is asking voters at campaign stops all across western North Carolina a similar question: “Are you better off now than you were when Patrick McHenry went to Congress a little over three years ago?”
An objective review of economic data the last few years causes most to have to answer, “No, I’m afraid not.”
The Sigmon campaign recently reviewed economic data collected by the Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG), comparing and contrasting economic data in the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)—Alexander, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba Counties—for years between 2000 and the end of 2006.
Many of the statistical measurements in the 40-page WPCOG findings indicated a downward movement in individual economic well-being or “quality of life” of 10th District constituents, noted Sigmon, who’s challenging McHenry in the May 6 Republican primary for Congress.
“As President Reagan observed about Jimmy Carter, my opponent has been a part of ‘the system’ the last few years; therefore, he’s clearly part of the problem, and the problem has gotten worse, not better during his time in Congress,” the challenger said.
Most trends in immigration, employment, types of jobs available since a moving to global trade, growth in average wages, retail sales, single-family building permits, educational achievement, highway construction status, and air and water pollution measurements show a real decline in “quality of life” standards at the end of 2006, the last year statistics were available.
“Certainly, I don’t blame the congressman for all of the economic and quality-of-life declines the last few years,” Sigmon said, “but he did run in 2004 as a small business man, who understood the problems of people in business, who planned to work hard to bring new jobs to the area.”
Hickory MSA employment reached a peak of 184,814 jobs at the end of 2000, the report shows, declining to 158,677 in the third quarter of 2006. After gaining 2,365 jobs from a low in 2003 to 2004, the Catawba-Burke-Caldwell economy lost almost 2,000 of those jobs again from 2004 to 2006.
From 1990 through the end of 2006, the Hickory MSA saw its manufacturing jobs base decrease from 51% down to 34%. The only segment in the economy to gain jobs was “services”—including restaurants and other jobs paying less than average manufacturing wages—which increased from 28% in 1990 to 43% in 2006.
Of 14 MSAs in North Carolina, only five actually lost jobs from 2000 to 2006—and Hickory led the way with an overall loss of 14.1%, while the next highest was Burlington at 11%. Hickory’s employment loss during the period was fueled by the exit of 27,529 manufacturing jobs, with the next highest segment a loss of 2,441 retail trade jobs.
In 2005-2006, during McHenry’s first term in office, the area lost 888 furniture manufacturing jobs, plus 511 more jobs in local textile mills, Sigmon pointed out. “At the end of 2007, we saw a 73-year-old hosiery manufacturer in Long View close its doors due to foreign competition,” he said.
Catawba County saw a net gain of 1,587 jobs in 2005-2006, the report revealed, while Burke County witnessed a meager gain of 106 jobs, while Caldwell County suffered a major loss of 960 jobs—on top of Caldwell job declines earlier in the decade.
“Rep. McHenry and the remainder of the 109th Congress had many opportunities to enact legislation to level the playing field for American companies. Why didn’t they? What we’ve seen is the U.S. lowers its trade barriers to foreign manufacturers, but American companies trying to compete in foreign markets face steep tariffs on imports. Why?”
Regarding immigration in the Hickory MSA, overall minority population grew by 8,045 in the six years ending in 2005, and the largest growth of any one minority group occurred among Hispanics (6,582), or 81.1% of the total. The next highest minority growth was among African-Americans (892), or 11.1%.
“The statistics bear out what many Americans already know: that illegal immigration from Mexico and other countries south of the U.S. is putting undue pressure on our 10th District counties,” Sigmon said. “The 109th and 110th Congresses, which included Patrick McHenry, have had several opportunities to more effectively control the flow of illegals.”
“What’s more, illegals are a national security risk. Generally, we don’t know who they are, where they came from, where they are now or why they’re here. We can’t call ourselves a nation for very long, if we continue to ignore our own borders.”
“America is a nation of immigrants, and they have enriched us as a people for many decades—but only if they come here legally, learn our language, assimilate into our society, and pay taxes,” the challenger said.
To see the report as a whole, interested persons may contact Taylor Dellinger, data analyst with the Western Piedmont Council of Governments, in Hickory at (828)322-9191, ext. 233, or by email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
After completing his four-year commitment to the Air Force in 1981, Sigmon earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics from Western Carolina University, then a law degree from Wake Forest University in 1988. He accepted a commission to reenter the Air Force in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps and served 17 more years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2005.
To find out more about him, or how to contribute to his campaign, Sigmon directed interested persons to go to his website: sigmonforcongress.com. He added that a biweekly newsletter also is available online.
