Once again, Arlen Specter has failed to protect working families from anti-competitive behavior of foreign steel-producing countries. President Bush is expected to remove corrective steel tariffs that protected the US steel industry from anti-competitive behavior, including dumping and hidden subsidizing.

The original tariffs fell short of the intended goal of correcting the trade imbalance caused by anti-competitive countries; parts made with foreign steel were exempt from the tariffs and subsequently sported cheaper prices than US-made parts. This encouraged large US companies to source steel parts from offending countries, causing great harm to US manufacturing as a result.

Now, before the steel industry has fully regained its market strength through consolidation, and before the anti-competitive behavior has stopped, Bush has rolled back the tariffs, leaving tens of thousands of working families vulnerable to layoffs just as another long, cold winter sets in.

With a $500 billion trade deficit, something is clearly wrong with US trade. We absolutely must get our accounts in balance or we will continue down the steep slopes of the deflationary spiral. The recent GDP numbers are a red herring--temporary spikes caused by Defense spending and temporary tax giveaways. The long-term outlook given the current economic plan is bleaker: more layoffs, more white collar jobs heading offshore, more blue collar jobs heading to China, more foreclosures, lower tax revenues, very happy multi-nationals and very depressed (if not dead) small businesses.

Arlen Specter, I hold you directly responsible for the pain you and your Washington cronies are causing this state. You clearly do not have Pennsylvania's interests at heart. You caved on overtime rules, and you didn't even bother to show up for the tariff fight. You have failed your people. We know it, we feel it, and we're asking you to step down. Your time is up.