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One of the best ways to know how the Senators and Members of Congress in your state vote on issues that affect manufacturing is to visit the site,www.metalworkingadvocate.org. In column right, under the "VOTE" graphic, there are several links to actions that you can take - including registering to vote if you are eligible and have not already done so. Unfortunately, the deadline has passed for registering to vote in this year's federal general election. State election laws vary. If you are not registered to vote, do so anyway today so you can exercise your right and privilege to vote in the next election.

There are links to see how your elected officials have voted on key economic issues. If they have voted against the interests of manufacturing, now is the time to tell them - in the voting booth. If that is the case, chances are that you'll find a candidate that opposes the positions of your current Senator or Member of Congress. There is also a link to each and every state and federal race, wherever you live. There, you'll find information on all candidates.

Take the time to know how each representative has voted on issues crucial to the survival of manufacturing. And take the time to understand how an opposing candidate (likely) would vote if he or she were elected to replace that incumbent.

Once upon a time in the mid-90s, here in Southern California, we actually had four members of the California State Assembly who had manufacturing experience. They called themselves the Manufacturing Caucus, an almost tongue-in-cheek name for a group of 4 like-minded businessmen and women in a sea of lawyers and career politicians. For those of you who are familiar with California politics (and for those of you who are not), that 2-year period of 1995-1996 was the only period in which Republicans held a majority in the Assembly since 1970.

One of those new members of the Assembly, Jim Morrissey of Superior Jig in Anaheim, was also a member of the NTMA. The company is still a member today. At the time, Jim was upset about receiving junk fax, costing him lots of aggravation, never mind more trips to the store to buy rolls of fax paper. Somebody said the equivalent of "well, Jim, write your Congressman!". He took it a step further and ran for State Assembly - and WON. And he won in a district that was, let's say, not particularly inclined to vote for someone with his "stripes".

My point would be that, especially in this election season, one that is sometimes referred to as "silly season", there is nothing silly about it. The issues are large and have huge implications for our businesses and our industry. Make sure that you, your employees, your families and your friends vote. And make it a vote for manufacturing.

-John Belzer

This Month's Featured Process - Precision Plate Sawing

TCI Precision Metals has six precision plate saws to cut our plate and sheet to tight tolerances. Our saws are capable of cutting all allows of aluminum including 6061, 2024, 7075, 5052, 3003 and cast plate just to name a few. We routinely cut large plate with thicknesses up to 8".