Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Republicans Vote against Second Biggest Concern of Conservative Voters, Outsourcing. Ready for a Revolt?

It’s a “down the rabbit hole” year of tea parties zanies, extending tax cuts for the wealthy, and votes against business tax breaks by...the GOP. After a year of tea party Americans angrily protesting cuts to Medicare and pulling the plug on granny, tea party candidates are now demanding we do away with Medicare. My head is spinning.

So how is it possible during an election year focusing on record unemployment and job creation, that the Republican Party can get away with voting against outsourcing American jobs? It’s front and center for conservative voters who made suggestions at the House GOP website America Speaking Out a supposed new way to get Americans involved in the democratic process.
Wonk Room at Think Progress: The proposal receiving the most “interest” (and the second highest number of overall votes) in the job creation section is to “Stop the outsourcing of jobs from America to other countries that do not pay taxes into the U.S. and stop the tax breaks that are given to these companies that are outsourcing.”
But outsourcing never made it into the Lemon “Pledge for America.” And for good reason:

Huffington Post: Senate Republicans beat back an effort by Democrats Tuesday to end tax breaks for companies who send jobs offshore only to import products back into the United States. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses in the United States, has aggressively battled the effort to reduce outsourcing.

During the debate over the stimulus, the U.S. Chamber fought efforts to include a provision that would encourage taxpayer money to be spent on products made by domestic companies. It opposed the outsourcing bill, arguing in a letter to the Senate that "Replacing a job that is based in another country with a domestic job does not stimulate economic growth or enhance the competitiveness of American worldwide companies..."

Job creation here doesn’t add a thing to our local economies?
In 2004, Chamber head Tom Donohue made the case that outsourcing shouldn't be a concern because only "two, maybe three million jobs, maybe four" would be lost.
That’s all really…for now. Can you take any more complete illogical bullshit?
Republicans argued that revoking the tax breaks would punish American companies and make them less competitive with foreign firms.
So how onerous was the Democrat bill for promoting American businesses?
The bill included a payroll tax holiday for companies that bring jobs back from overseas, ended tax breaks for plants that shut down to go elsewhere, and blocked companies from deferring their tax bill year to year by keeping money out of the U.S.
Are you ready to vote Republican yet?

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