How will we bring back manufacturing jobs in america

[blues90]

I have to aks this question as insane as it sounds .
What comes to my mind is what on earth will we make agin here and who will take on this task and risk .

I can't see anyone renting or reopening a factory and re-introducing the clothing iron or the next generation sewing machine or even a damn alarm clock .

The idea of made in america seems to be gone forever .

I just can't imagine what we would make here can you .

Telephones , mico waves , computers , fingernail clippers or the good old model train set ? I just can't see it .

I have looked for years for a product made in america and there is no way to tell if the entire product is made here even if the case or housing says made in america or the USA . I have taken things apart to try to repair them since no one seems to repair anything other than shoes here these days and I see all the internal parts made in china and you cannot get parts for most products , they are obsolete in less than a year .

I have a pair off new work boots made in america that have sat for a few years because they were difficult to break in . Well since I have lost so much weight in the last 2 years I tried them on and a perfect painless fit . I went to the store and walked a bit and was pleased with the new boots and no need to buy another pair . When I got home my wife asked me what all the black crumbs were on the floor leading from the door and it turns out the soles were falling apart .

I called the manufactuer and asked why this happened , I have shoes much older and the soles never crumbled and they told me they soles are a product of china and the rubber breaks down . Great job with the made in USA lable . great job .

[Tempest]

1. Do away with the minimum wage and environmental protections

Other than that, I don't see how.


On edit:

Unionize workers worldwide and increase wages.
Enact environmental protections worldwide.

Neither of which are realistic.

[blues90]

5. That is a problem

In the US we did poison most of the air and land and water due to manufactoring processes and part of the reason manufactorers moved fist to other states and then out of the country was because there were no EPA laws to stop the ruin of their commons .

This added to what we can make brings the entire idea of made in america to an end forever .

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. thats idiotic...and pandering to corporation...

just tax american corporation for not producing in the states. thats really all there is to it.

or provide further tax relief for those who do.

american corporations should not have the privileges if they dont keep their jobs in their country

[Tempest]

15. My ideas are more realistic than yours

Are you under the delusion your ideas would ever be seriously considered or passed? It would be political suicide for anyone in Congress to propose taxing corporations for not producing in the states. And it would be illegal to boot. It's against existing commerce laws.


How can you claim my ideas are idiotic when that's EXACTLY what the Republicans have been trying to do for the last 50 years? And with some success. The EPA's recent ruling on lead in gasoline is a good example. The EPA's rule on suppressing and re-writing scientific papers is another.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

16. because liberals fought very hard for job protection and environmental laws

also if they brought back jobs at $2/hour how would this help american workers?

[Tempest]

18. You have misinterpreted me

I'm not advocating it, but unless you can come up with something that is feasible and won't violate international agreements or existing law, there's a limit on what is possible.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

20. ahh i see. sorry.

[newsdude]

23. Right. Because America doesn't have the power to flout commerce laws

Good Lord.

This is the problem with Democrats.

This is why so many union people, who we think should vote Democrat, turn their backs on the Dems on election day.

We sign into these laws. We can sign out.

We damn well better to be able to "realistically" do something about it. If we can't, then what good is democracy?

[Tempest]

39. Not even Repugs want commerce laws changed

Commerce laws benefit corporations as well as consumers.

Good luck getting them changed.


Union people turn their backs on Dems on election day? You must be getting your information from Limpballs. The fact is, unions flock to Democrats on election day according to surveys.

I foresee a tombstone in your future. Enjoy your short stay.

[newsdude]

41. Tombstoned? Ever worked in a union shop?

I have. In Canada. And the US Several times.

And I've always been amazed at how many people support Republicans (conservatives in Canada), even though Republican platforms are totally in conflict to a union workers economic interests.

Who signed NAFTA, a deal that probably damaged unions more than any single thing in the last 25 years?

That was Clinton.

He completely disregarded labor's interest on that deal.

So accusing me of being a Freeper is ludicrous.

I'm more left than the DLCers.

I am not a Republican, by any stretch of the imagination.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

2. I'm sorry, but

this thread isn't about smoking -- can't help you. :sarcasm:

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. ...

:spray:

[kimmerspixelated]

3. I know what you mean.

It's sad, sad, sad. We need to turn this country around, but how? I keep thinking about all the money spent in Iraq and how it could have been spent here at home, for strengthening our economy, etc. But alas, we seem to be in the hands of complete idiots.

[Ezlivin]

4. I try to buy USA Made, but it's very, very hard and limited

I used to own a McIntosh Laboratories amp, pre-amp and speakers. All of them were hand-made in the US (Binghamton, NY). Expensive as hell but very, very well-made. And they held their value; when I sold the system after having it for nearly 10 years I got all of my money back.

I have a B&K preamp and amp now. They're both made in the US. But all the rest of my AV equipment is Japanese, Chinese or British.

My guitar is an Erlewine Lazer and it's hand-made in Austin, Texas. And I built all my own tube amps and effects pedals, so you can say they're also hand-made in Texas.

My wheelchair is an Invacare A-4 and it's made in the US.

And I buy some tools from Sears periodically that are American made.

That's it. A handful of stereo equipment, a guitar and a wheelchair.

American manufacturing ain't what it used to be, that's for sure!

[KamaAina]

25. Alas, your next chair will most likely have been outsourced

http://www.chroniclet.com/2006_Archive/02-14-06/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head1.html

ELYRIA — Local officials lamented the loss of more jobs and more revenue in the wake of Invacare Corp.'s announcement Monday that it was shipping 225 jobs out of the city.
Mayor Bill Grace blamed trade policies, saying they are forcing companies to move jobs overseas to stay competitive.

"There needs to be more safeguards to make trade closer to equal," Grace said. "We need to put higher demands on those we trade with — in work regulations, environmental controls, wages and requiring that they purchase similar amounts from the United States."...

WORKERS REACT...

"I was surprised, but I kind of saw it coming, too. Every company in America is having problems." Dan Dudukovich, 45...

"It's the same thing all over again. I got laid off from Lorain Steel three years ago, and now this." Bob Warren, 49

So we're down to a handful of stereo equipment and a guitar...

edit: This is assuming, of course, that the chintzy government will even pay for your next (power) chair. :grr:

[Pastiche423]

28. How do you drag your chair

on and off planes? You must have tremendous upper body strength.

Also, do you know how I can find out where my chair (Quickie R2) is manufactured?

[KamaAina]

29. Sunrise, makers of Quickie, is both in the USA and abroad

http://www.sunrisemedical.com/corp_comm/about_sunrise/what_we_do.jsp

Founded in 1983, the Sunrise Medical family of products has been built from many of the most popular brands in the homecare industry including Quickie, Sopur, Jay, DeVilbiss, Hoyer, Guardian, Coopers, Oxford and Joerns. Sunrise operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain and our products are distributed to suppliers through dedicated sales organizations and distributors in over 90 countries worldwide...

The page also features this fabulous chair-using female:

[Pastiche423]

31. Thank you for the info

I was looking at the Quickie web site, which doesn't state where they manufacture.

Do you know the fabulous female in the chair? (Just curious about your comment.)

[KamaAina]

33. In my dreams!

Do you know the fabulous female in the chair?

I have no idea whether she even actually uses a chair, or (as is all too often the case) a non-disabled model merely posing in one. I just thought it would be right for the (hetero male) readership of GD to see a quite attractive woman (depicted as) using a wheelchair.

[Pastiche423]

34. Thought it was a man-thing

lol

[Ezlivin]

38. I was loading it into a Piper PA-28

It was a folding chair and this is how to do it:

1. After doing the pre-flight checklist, unlock the cockpit and open the door;


2. Toss a spare cushion onto the wing just past the aileron;


3. Remove the wheelchair's leg rests and put them on the wing;


4. Transfer to the wing;


5. Remove the cushion from the wheelchair and toss it inside;


6. Fold the chair;


7. Slide up the wing near the leading edge;


8. Turn the chair and grab the handles;


9. Tilt back and pull the chair up onto the wing;


10. Maneuver it through the door and into the back seat;


11. Get into the cockpit;


12. Attach the hand-controls to the rudder pedal downtubes on the passenger side;


13. Get ready for flight.

http://www.wheelchairaviators.org/

[Kelly Rupert]

6. Remove environmental protections and abolish the minimum wage.

Or unionize the rest of the world and mandate worldwide environmental protections.

Or just give everyone cigarettes and circumcisions.

[Historic NY]

7. Well for one thing the balance of trade.........

between the US & China is obscenely out of balance. I would place tariffs on goods coming in from China. I couldn't give a crap if US companies in China suffered in fact I'd propose making them bleed for every job they exported. China is sitting back and laughing at us, we give them the means, method, mode and materials to produce goods that they sell back to us at a premium. You don't see China eagerly buying up US goods, why because they don't need too. Us Companies engaged in China manufacturing must be made to pay the balance and not have any US government assistance. These companies should be treated as if they a China owned company. We owe China a debt of over a 300 billion dollars, figuring in Japan at the most, the Cayman Islands second, the UK and Luxembourg, our overseas borrowing is about 2 trillion dollars. Many countries buy our securities, but China just takes cash, they don't invest in the US. China is also using its new found wealth to build a world class navy and the largest army. They are now filling the place the former Soviet Union once had as the second superpower, thats pretty scary since we are giving them the means to do it. Think back after WWII when Japan only made trinkets, etc. now their car companies have surpassed Ford and are knocking on GM's door here in the US. Once we were a manufacturing giant today we are nothing but consumers that cannot fend for ourselves. We have lost our self reliance and ability to produce as more & more manufacturing ability is lost to serving fast food. We've grown fat not on what we sell but what we eat.

[BuyingThyme]

8. Solar power.

[SoCalDem]

10. Make ANY product brought into the US subject to stiff tariffs.

EVEN if it's produced by an "American" company.

If it's not MADE here, it's not an American product.

simple.

If it's made by just "assembling" shipped in parts, slap a tariff on it too.

and ALL workers here (and abroad) should be unionized.

If fatcats could not escape paying fair wages, they would build it/make it here.

Look at all nthe precious FUEL that's burned in the shipping this stuff all over the globe...and for what??

$5 jeans and $3 plastic shoes at walmart.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. exactly. taxation is the way to bring american jobs back.

[Tempest]

17. Can't be done

Against WTO, as Bush has found out with Canadian timber.

[newsdude]

26. Then get out of the WTO or redraft the WTO ...

You can't have all these laws in place, domestically, to protect your workers and environment, and then lose your manufacturing base because we've signed on to international agreements that amount to economic suicide ...

Of course, I don't expect that the Democrats will be any more anxious to spit in the face of their corporate rulers than would the Repugs.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. And close the insane loophole that allows

items manufactured in the Mariana Islands by Chinese laborers to be marked as "Made in U.S.A."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Northern_Mariana_Islands

[SoCalDem]

19. Yep.. USA MEANS USA..not Puerto Rico/Marianas/or any other "protectorate"

If the location does not have USA voting rights for all citizens, it's NOT the USA.

[OhioChick]

37. I Agree 100% n/t

[DaveJ]

13. These days, I think this is the theory...

Today anyone can be a "manufacturer" except now we are compelled to be upper level management and engineers. It's the labor that seems to be moving oversees. Anyone will the time and skill can design a product and have it made elsewhere.

Might not be what people want, but that seems to be the case.

[newsdude]

21. A few things we can do ...

1) Write your representative and urge him/her for fair trade before free trade. America should tax products made my countries that do not allow unions, do not have/enforce environmental regulations, do not have/enforce workplace safety regulations, etc. etc.
2) Write your representative, urge him/her to enact legislation, under the guise of patriotism, that clearly shows where each product is made.
3) Most importantly, Buy American. Urge friends, co-workers to buy American.

[MrSlayer]

22. Massive infrastructure and machine tool factory overhaul.

We need to rebuild our highways, railroads and power plants and go back to making the tools and materials necessary to do the rebuilding. Our auto industry is our last real manufacturing industry and the machine tool factories that make the equipment for that industry are all being sold off now. The last of our once great middle class will be killed off soon. We are in big trouble unless we somehow reverse this trend. Considering the corporate globalization fools that run the government this is no more than a pipe dream. Quite simply, we will not rebuild our manufacturing industry not that we cannot, we just will not because of the corporatists.

[Cleita]

24. If we place high excise taxes on imported goods, then it might

make the manufacturers think about making products here in the USA again. Also, we could pass a law that requires big box stores to carry in 60% of their inventory domestically produced goods.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. I've said it before: give preferences in government procurements to

companies that manufacture in the U.S.A.--the REAL U.S.A., as in the 50 states.

[Selatius]

30. Leave the World Trade Organization and implement fair trade.

If a Chinese firm can make a widget for 1 dollar and an American firm can make one for 5 dollars, then the only sensible solution is to levy a tariff where the Chinese firm's widget is comparable to the price of the American firm's widget.

In this way, the best man who wins is the one who can produce the best quality product for your money, not the cheapest product.

[MH1]

32. Here's a start. Disincentivize offshoring. Harmonize corporate tax rate with EU. ..

S.3777 "Export Products Not Jobs Act"

Title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure a fairer and simpler method of taxing controlled foreign corporations of United States shareholders, to treat certain foreign corporations managed and controlled in the United States as domestic corporations, to codify the economic substance doctrine, and to eliminate the top corporate income tax rate, and for other purposes.

CRS summary:

SUMMARY AS OF:
8/2/2006--Introduced.

Export Products Not Jobs Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) revise rules and definitions relating to the taxation of controlled foreign corporations to limit deferral of tax for certain types of income earned overseas; (2) treat certain foreign corporations managed and controlled in the United States as domestic corporations for income tax purposes; (3) define "economic substance" for purposes of evaluating tax shelter transactions; (4) impose a penalty for underpayments of tax resulting from transactions lacking in economic substance; (5) deny a tax deduction for interest on such underpayments; and (6) eliminate the 35% income tax rate on corporations and personal service corporations.

Statement of Senator John Kerry on introducing the bill:

Congressional Record pp. S8621-S8622. August 2, 2006.

Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Export Products Not Jobs Act of 2006. Tomorrow, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing to tackle the issue of tax reform and will hear from the chairman and vice chairman of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. The panel's report took a broad look at our current tax law and made numerous recommendations. I agree with some of the recommendations and have concerns about others, but believe that the report provides a good starting place for a thorough discussion of tax reform.

In 1994, the IRS estimated that a family that itemized their deductions and had some interest and capital gains would spend 11 1/2 hours preparing their Federal income tax return. This estimate has increased to 19 hours and 45 minutes in 2004. It is time for Congress to pass bipartisan tax legislation in the style of Tax Reform Act of 1986, which greatly simplified Tax Code. And our tax reform should be based upon the following three principles: fairness, simplicity, and opportunity for economic growth.

Our Tax Code is extremely complicated. Citizens and businesses struggle to comply with ru1es governing: taxation of business income, capital gains, income phase-outs, extenders, the myriad savings vehicles, recordkeeping for itemized deductions, the alternative minimum tax, AMT, the earned-income tax credit, EITC, and taxation of foreign business income. I believe that our international tax system needs to be simplified and reformed to encourage businesses to remain in the United States. And today, I am introducing legislation that I hope will be fully considered as we begin our discussions on tax reform.

Presently, the complexities of our international tax system actually encourage U.S. corporations to invest overseas. Current tax laws allow companies to defer paying U.S. taxes on income earned by their foreign subsidiaries, which provides a substantial tax break for companies that move investment and jobs overseas. Today, under U.S. tax law, a company that is trying to decide where to locate production or services--either in the United States or in a foreign low-tax haven--is actually given a substantial tax incentive not only to move jobs overseas but to reinvest profits permanently, as opposed to bringing the profits back to re-invest in the United States.

Recent press articles have revealed examples of companies taking advantage of this perverse incentive in our Tax Code. For instance, some companies have taken advantage of this initiative by opening subsidiaries to serve markets throughout Europe. Much of the profit earned by these subsidiaries will stay in Ireland and the companies will therefore avoid paying U.S. taxes. Other companies have announced the expansion of jobs in India. This reflects a continued pattern among some U.S. multinational companies of shifting software development and call centers to India, and this trend is starting to expand to include the shifting of critical functions like design and research and development to India as well. Some companies are even outsourcing the preparation of U.S. tax returns.

The Export Products Not Jobs Act of 2006 would put an to end to these practices by eliminating tax breaks that encourage companies to move jobs overseas and by using the savings to create jobs in the United States by repealing the top corporate tax rate. This legislation ends tax breaks that encourage companies to move jobs by: (1) eliminating the ability of companies to defer paying U.S. taxes on foreign income; (2) closing abusive corporate tax loopholes; and (3) repealing the top corporate rate. It removes the incentive to shift jobs overseas by eliminating deferral so that companies pay taxes on their international income as they earn it, rather than being allowed to defer taxes.

Last month, the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Revenue held a hearing on international tax laws. Stephen Shay, a former Reagan Treasury official, testified that our tax rules ``provide incentives to locate business activity outside the United States. Furthermore, he suggested that taxation of U.S. shareholders under an expansion of Subpart F would be a ``substantial improvement over our current system. The Export Products Not Jobs Act of 2006 does just that.

Our current tax system punishes U.S. companies that choose to create and maintain jobs in the United States. These companies pay higher taxes and suffer a competitive disadvantage with a company that chooses to move jobs to a foreign tax haven. There is no reason why our Tax Code should provide an incentive that encourages investment and job creation overseas. Under my legislation, companies would be taxed the same whether they invest abroad or at home; they will be taxed on their foreign subsidiary profits just like they are taxed on their domestic profits.

This legislation reflects the most sweeping simplification of international taxes in over 40 years. Our economy has changed in the last 40 years and our tax laws need to be updated to keep pace. Our current global economy was not even envisioned when existing law was written.

The Export Products Not Jobs Act of 2006 that I am introducing today will not hinder our global competitiveness. Companies will be able to continue to defer income they earn when they locate production in a foreign country that serves that foreign country's markets. For example, if a U.S. company wants to open a hotel in Bermuda or a car factory in India to sell cars, foreign income can still be deferred. But if a company wants to open a call center in India to answer calls from outside India or relocate abroad to sell cars back to the United States or Canada, the company must pay taxes just like call centers and auto manufacturers located in the United States.

Currently, American companies allocate their revenue not in search of the highest return, but in search of lower taxes. Eliminating deferral will improve the efficiency of the economy by making taxes neutral so that they do not encourage companies to overinvest abroad solely for tax reasons.

The Congressional Research Service stated in a 2003 report that, "according to traditional economic theory, deferral thus reduces economic welfare by encouraging firms to undertake overseas investments that are less productive--before taxes are considered--than alternative investments in the United States. Additionally, a 2000 Department of Treasury study on deferral stated, "among all of the options considered, ending deferral would also be likely to have the most positive long-term effect on economic efficiency and welfare because it would do the most to eliminate tax considerations from decisions regarding the location of investment.

The revenue raised from the repeal of deferral and closing corporate loopholes would be used to repeal the top corporate tax rate of 35 percent. The tax differential between U. S. corporate rates and foreign corporate rates has grown over the last two decades and the repeal of the top corporate rate is a start in narrowing this gap.

The Export Products Not Jobs Act of 2006 would promote equity among U.S. taxpayers by ensuring that corporations could not eliminate or substantially reduce taxation of foreign income by separately incorporating their foreign operations. This legislation will eliminate the tax incentives to encourage U.S. companies to invest abroad and reward those companies that have chosen to invest in the United States. I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort, and ask for unanimous consent that the full text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

[The2ndWheel]

35. You don't

America, basically, no longer exists.

The problem is that people want to cherry-pick the good parts of globalization, without having to deal with the bad aspects. Guess what? Just like with everything in life, you have to take the good with the bad. Not that you have a choice in the matter, this process has been going on since the first center of power expanded beyond its original borders because it could no longer support itself. That was thousands of years ago, and it has not stopped.

[leftofthedial]

36. fair trade would bring it back

we can't compete with products made in countries with no environmental laws, slave labor, one-sided tariff protections, bought-off American politicians and anti-worker corporations.

[noonwitch]

40. Make products that everyone in the world wants to buy

I also think that americans who buy a foreign car should have to pay a higher tax on that purchase. If other countries do it to us, we should be able to do it back to them. If a toyota is $2-3 grand more than a Focus or a Gran Prix, then people might opt for the american car more frequently.