Re-industrialization of the United States?

Like any American who refused to ever buy into the shortsighted bipartisan corporatist de-industrialization of America by clueless, pie-in-the-sky Wall Street elites making their way blithely between banks and cabinet rooms, I was happy to hear President Obama at least acknowledge that these policies have to be turned back. You missed it? It was part of his State of the Union address last night, that little talk he gave that made Republicans so grumpy but that swing voters loved.

Scott Paul, the executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing sure picked right up on it. The President had barely finished speaking before his office blasted out his support. "Strengthening American manufacturing and growing manufacturing jobs will lay a solid foundation for a new middle class and economic security for the next generation. We commend President Obama for focusing on manufacturing in a way no president has for 25 years or more." Amen to that! These are some of the lines in the President's speech he was responding to:

Think about the America within our reach: A country that leads the world in educating its people. An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs... Tonight, I’m announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trade practices in countries like China.

We should start with our tax code. Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and everyone knows it. So let’s change it. First, if you’re a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn’t get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home. Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here.

When President Obama talked about building an economy built to last, it could be interpreted as a direct swipe at Mitt Romney, whose vulture capital experience is the exact opposite: short-term financial manipulation for quick profits creating nothing at all. That's the record as a "businessman" Romney seeks to run on. After the speech the White released a document called Blueprint For An America Built To Last. Let me quote a section, the heart of it in my opinion, titled "A Blueprint To Create New Jobs Here In America, Discourage Outsourcing, And Encourage Insourcing." It's pretty specific, although some of those specifics-- particularly the bullshit about "free" trade-- are more the cause of the problem than the solution.

Take away the deduction for outsourcing, make companies pay a minimum tax for profits and jobs overseas, and reward companies for bringing jobs back to America: The President believes that we need comprehensive corporate tax reform that will close loopholes, lower rates, and eliminate incentives that make it more attractive to ship jobs overseas-- corporate tax reform that will:

• Remove tax incentives to locate overseas through an international minimum tax: The President is proposing to eliminate tax incentives to ship jobs offshore by ensuring that all American companies pay a minimum tax on their overseas profits, preventing other countries from attracting American business through unusually low tax rates.

• Stop letting companies take a tax deduction for moving overseas and instead provide a credit for moving jobs back home: The President wants to eliminate the tax deduction companies receive for the cost of shutting down factories and moving production overseas, and create a new tax credit to cover moving expenses for companies that close production overseas and bring jobs back to the United States.

Lower tax rates for companies that manufacture and create jobs in the United States:

• Create new incentives to increase manufacturing in the United States: At the same time he proposes to close special-interest loopholes, the President is proposing to ensure the next generation of manufacturing jobs is created here in America by reducing tax rates for manufacturers and doubling the tax deduction for high-tech manufacturers.

• Support companies that make new investments in the communities hardest hit by major job losses: The President is proposing a new tax credit that provides support for companies seeking to finance new factories, equipment, or production in communities that have been hardest hit by a company choosing to relocate or a military base shutting down.

Get tough on trade enforcement: The President has worked to ensure Americans can sell their products all over the world, and last year he signed into law new trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea, helping to put the United States on track to reach the goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014. But the President refuses to stand by when our international competitors don’t play by the rules. To level the playing field by improving trade enforcement, the President is announcing:

• A new trade enforcement unit: The President announced the creation of a new trade enforcement unit that will bring together resources and investigators from across the Federal Government to go after unfair trade practices in countries around the world, including China.

• Enhancing trade inspections: The President called for enhancing trade inspections to stop counterfeit, pirated, or unsafe goods before they enter the United States.

• Putting American companies on an even footing: When competitors like China offer unfair export financing to help their companies win business overseas, the United States will provide financing to put our companies on an even footing.

Create jobs by using half of the savings from ending foreign wars to rebuild America: To help ensure we have the infrastructure so that companies can ship their goods more efficiently throughout the country and the world, the President is calling for new efforts to revitalize American infrastructure. The President’s plan will protect taxpayer dollars by fixing existing roads and by directing funding to the best projects instead of earmarks, and will continue investments in high-speed rail. To pay for these investments, the President is proposing to use approximately half of the savings that we will achieve from winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the 6 year period of the infrastructure plan with the other half going towards paying down the debt. The President also announced that within the coming weeks, he will sign an Executive Order clearing the red tape that can slow down new infrastructure projects, accelerating those projects that have already been funded.

Unserious right-wing obstructionists like the two up top and the cardboard cutout they had give the GOP rebuttal (right) may not have understood-- or cared to try to understand-- what the President is attempting to do to get the country back on the right track. But thoughtful members of Congress sure did-- all dozen of them. Brad Miller (D-NC), who won't be running for reelection in November (yes, you just read something no one else knows), was one of the first out of the box who did grasp what Obama was talking about. "I strongly support his commitment to bring back American manufacturing," he wrote.

For generations, factory jobs meant a spot in the middle class; jobs in the service economy or in retail often do not. Reforming the tax laws to reward companies for creating American manufacturing is an important step. Cracking down on unfair trade practices by China and others will level the playing field for American manufacturers. And extending the payroll tax cut will put money in the pockets of working and middle-class families so they can buy American manufactured goods.