This week, Pat Toomey took heat from a Pennsylvania editorial board for his empty words on Pennsylvania job losses after news that a GE Transportation plant was laying off a third of its Erie workforce. The Erie-Times News editorial board wrote on the announcement, highlighting Toomey’s disingenuous reaction to the news:
Amid the questions about GE’s intentions and demand for its products going forward, one key to maximizing Erie’s prospects is the overdue congressional reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. That’s why we didn’t put much stock in U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, of Pennsylvania, pronouncing the pending layoffs “heartbreaking.”
Unlike the region’s congressmen and the state’s other senator, Bob Casey, Toomey has tried to kill the Ex-Im Bank, which provides financing that helps GE and some smaller companies in the region sell products abroad. Because GE has designated international locomotive production as Erie’s primary niche, that means Toomey has been actively working against Erie’s interests.
This is the second time in the last week that Toomey has left hardworking Pennsylvanians hanging out to dry. Just last week, Toomey personally blocked a bipartisan, commonsense bill to help small businesses.
“Whenever Wall Street or corporate special interests come calling, Pat Toomey is there to help, but when it’s small businesses or Pennsylvania workers in need of an advocate, Toomey is ‘actively working against’ their interests,” said Lauren Passalacqua, DSCC National Press Secretary. “Toomey is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Pennsylvania voters with his empty words on jobs, but he can’t hide his record of rigging the system for corporations while leaving Pennsylvania families behind.”
