What have you done for us lately?

Manufacturers are mad as Hades and speaking out about what they believe to be the lack of support from the Obama Administration.

Dr. Chris Kuehl, economic analyst for the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA), said he has yet to see "anything remotely resembling a policy" from the administration to support U.S. manufacturers in this turbulent economy.

In FMA's latest Fabrinomics newsletter, Kuehl said, "For the most part, actions taken by the White House have been long on rhetoric and very short on pragmatic help. The only thing that could be construed as a policy is the bailout of the auto industry, but even that was limited in the sense that it paid little attention to the issues facing tier two and three suppliers.

"There has been lip service paid to training and to making competitive moves, but the actions from Congress have actually gone in the wrong direction. There is some faith the President really does have concerns about the fate of U.S. manufacturing, but there is also a sense that nobody on the President's team quite understands the key issues."

According to Kuehl, the four issues that either haven't been addressed or are going in the wrong direction include:

"The Employee Free Choice Act would make union organizing much simpler, and that presents a major problem for most small- to medium-sized manufacturers," Kuehl said. "It could put many of them in a very severe financial slump. This bill has started to lose some steam in Congress, but it is still part of Obama's plan.

"The most frightening aspect of the original plan was the mandated mediation by the government," he adds. "For manufacturers trying to survive the recession through cost containment, the threat of mandates that force higher labor costs can be enough to push them over the edge."

The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) also believes much more needs to be done to help manufacturing.

According to a statement issued Aug. 4 by AMT, "manufacturing technology suppliers have reacted with cautious optimism over reports that Ford posted the first sales gain in two years and that U.S. manufacturing activity slowed less than expected in July. But that's not to say that tough times are over for the manufacturing industry."

"This country's manufacturing sector shrunk at the lowest rate in a year. That's hardly great news!" insisted Doug Woods, president of AMT. "While we hope the July numbers represent a slowdown to the freefall our members have suffered over the past year, there is still a very long road ahead before most of them breathe easier.

"The end to 19 consecutive months of decline in automotive sales that July's sales figures represent is like a loud crack in the ice at the beginning of the spring thaw," Woods added. "While AMT welcomes the success of the Cash-For-Clunkers program, it can't go on forever & the auto industry will not turn around overnight."

AMT Board member and President of Automatic Feed, Napoleon, Ohio, Kim Beck said. "Real work needs to be done in Washington now in order to save America's small manufacturers.

"It should not be on the backs of American small businesses that Congress overhauls the healthcare system and strives for energy independence. "Likewise, Congress should target future programs aimed at stimulating the economy to where they will have the greatest impact – the manufacturing sector. My company is not even eligible for the vast majority of federal economic stimulus programs."

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) relentlessly strives to impress upon Congress the importance of manufacturing— Americans get it— and encourages a pro-manufacturing agenda. Getting the point across seems to be a constant uphill battle, casualties of which are being felt everyday at large corporations, mom-and-pop job shops, and companies everywhere that depend on manufacturing's success.

Come on Washington & do something that really helps manufacturing and the U.S. economy, before it's too late.

Follow Vicki Bell, fabcomlady, on Twitter.