President Barack Obama will deliver a speech at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh today.

In his comments, he is expected to highlight the importance of manufacturing to the U.S. economy, and steps the government, private sector and universities should take together to create new industries and new jobs.

Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin issued the following comments Friday morning ahead of the President's speech:

Today the President is traveling to Pittsburgh to talk about manufacturing. As a person who spent 31 years building a successful manufacturing company, I am curious what President Obama might say about manufacturing.  He has little personal experience in manufacturing or business.  He has very few members within his administration with success in manufacturing or the private sector.

President Obama needs to change his way of thinking. He needs to realize that government doesn't create jobs, it creates debt.  It is the private sector that creates long term, self-sustaining jobs.

America is an economic and debt crisis. What kind of leadership can America expect from a President who lacks the background and experience to know how the American economy works? He recently blamed inventions like the ATM, for unemployment.  This is a depressing display of economic ignorance.

Milton Friedman once visited China and saw workers digging a canal with shovels.  When he asked, "why not use bulldozers?", he was told because digging with shovels, created more jobs.  Friedman replied, "Then why not use spoons, instead of shovels?"

Technological innovations create jobs.  They drive our economy forward, by helping workers be more productive. That raises everyone's living standards.

There is a reason the United States holds 5% of the world's population, yet produces 25% of the world's goods and services.  It is because of Freedom, the free market system, and the marvelous innovations, that have been the result of that system.

President Obama's own Chief of Staff, and his nominee for Commerce Secretary, have acknowledged, that this Administration's economic policies, are backward. His agencies seem to be trying to regulate America back to the Stone Age. This has created the uncertainty, that is keeping investment capital on the sidelines, and stifling job creation. If the President truly recognizes the importance of manufacturing, he needs to learn something about ATMs, the innovation they represent, and America's free market system.

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