WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday killed a measure backed by President Barack Obama that would encourage companies to bring overseas jobs back to the United States.
The measure being pressed by Obama’s Democratic allies is rich with political symbolism, but whether it would have had much practical impact on decisions by companies to “outsource” jobs to lower-wage countries is open to question.
Democrats brought the measure to the Senate floor in concert with political attacks on Mitt Romney, whose private equity firm, Bain Capital, promoted the practice of outsourcing jobs to countries like China and India.
The bill would forbid companies from deducting the expenses of moving workers or operations overseas from the U.S., and would offer a 20 percent credit for the costs of shifting workers back home.
Republicans blocked the measure on a 56-42 vote that fell just four votes of the 60 required to overcome a filibuster. Most Republicans opposed the measure on its merits, but the GOP opposition was cemented after top Senate Democrat Harry Reid appeared to indicate that he would not permit Republicans to offer amendments to the measure.
Four Republicans voted with Democrats: Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine; Dean Heller of Nevada; and Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said the legislation “asks whether we should continue to reward and incentivize American businesses to send jobs overseas to low-wage countries or create incentives for them to bring the jobs back home.”
But the official tax analysts for Congress at the Joint Committee on Taxation said that disallowing the deduction for outsourcing expenses would raise just $14 million next year, which appears to indicate that the measure wouldn’t deter outsourcing very much. The new credit for bringing workers back to the U.S. would cost just $21 million next year. Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah pointed out that Obama has spent more than that on ads attacking Romney on the issue.
The measure is cosponsored by Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who both face re-election this year in states that have witnessed the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in recent decades.
“We need to be exporting our products, not our jobs,” said Stabenow. “Instead of giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, we need to be cutting taxes for U.S. companies that create jobs in America.”
Thursday vote was a precursor to debate next week on extending the Bush-era tax cuts. Most Democrats appear to be sticking with Obama’s position that tax rates on family income exceeding $250,000 should return to Clinton-era levels, with the top rate increasing from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. Republicans want a full one-year extension of all the current rates.
Republicans circulated a new analysis of the competing measures that indicates the $301 billion GOP plan would only cost $29 billion more than a plan circulated by Democrats.
At a recent campaign stop in Ohio, Obama said that the nation doesn’t “need a president who wants to ship more jobs overseas.”
The legislation was opposed by prominent business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The legislation, said Business Roundtable President John Engler in a letter to lawmakers, “would saddle American businesses with new costs not faced by their foreign competitors.”
“would raise just 14 million”
It’s not about the money though. Right now there is incentive to move jobs away! Get rid of that.
{The legislation was opposed by prominent business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.}
The US Chamber Of Commerce is what as known as a Domestic Enemy of the United States!!
I am so sorry I am a member of the GOP.
You dont like this? Stop buying stuff at Wal-Mart.
Who could be against bringing jobs back home? It sounds like an unpatriotic majority to me.
What did you expect from most of the Rs (other than the thinking four)?
There must have been Dems voting with the GOP. (Dems have the majority.)
(Repubs have more than enough to filibuster)
Assuming all or most of the Repubs vote together.
So, according to the article the measure appears to indicate that it “wouldn’t deter outsourcing very much”…..and Sen. Reid appeared to indicate that “he would not permit Republicans to offer amendments to the measure”…..more attemps at wasteful legislation IMHO and political posturing which gets nothing accomplished…..Crazy…..
You must hate how the House GOP has voted 30+ to repeal Obamacare then, right?
I do not “hate” at all, don’t try to assume my thoughts or intents….is there any part of my opinion that is incorrect??
Is dislike more appropriate? The word choice really isn’t the point. You talk about wasteful legislation and political posturing not accomplishing anything. I was simply pointing out that it happens on both sides (according to your rubric) and highlighted a pretty egregious example of it in the House. I never tried to imply that your opinion was incorrect. I just wanted clarification as to whether this is a principle you have or if you just don’t like it when Democrats do it.
LOL! Word “choice” is directly the point and just last week it seems a choice of a word by a beloved Gov. clearly insensed many into a frenzy…..I did not indicate any personal “rubric” in my opinion, but to clarify I absolutely agree that both “sides” are accomplices in the political bantering, posturing and generally proposing of wasteful legislation….
Then what are you arguing about? That’s exactly what I said in my first comment. You just got hung up on the word hate, which is pretty similar to the word dislike or whatever you want to use and actually dissimilar to the idiotic use of the word gestpo.
So clarification of thought and opinion is now “arguing”…..too funny…..I did not get “hung-up” on anything…..you need to buy a dictionary, IMHO…..
I like how you like your own posts immediately after posting them ;)
I guess that I have no clue what you are referring to…..I am posting on a mobile device that only allows me to edit my comments…..but if there is something that causes you to smile today I guess that is positive……
He didn’t say that they wouldn’t be allowed to offer any amendments at all. No he said that they couldn’t offer amendments that had nothing to do with the legislation. The Republicans wanted to add amendments that repealed the healthcare law and to extend the bush tax cuts. Those are the amendments that the republicans wanted to add to this legislation that the Democrats turned down.
Wow, I must need glasses because I read that Mr. Reid appeared to indicate he would “not permit” ammendments…..IMHO that sounds clear…..and you must have some secret decoding glasses or you have a link to direct me to your source for what the Repubs wanted to add for amendments because I don’t see that information above….
….
The GOP backers in the Chamber of Commerce—LOVE —Welfare, it helps them by being able to pay minumum wages!
They just hate being Taxed to help –Pay –for the Welfare!
Exactly!
Very simple , straightforward, common sense bill. Don’t pay people to hurt the US economy. Reward people who help the US economy. No wonder it didn’t pass
More politics than I can handle today. Time to be outside enjoying nature.
The GOP are Anti American —Pro Globalization —Money Grubbers!
Gee, big surprise here, right ? Oly voted on this as a ‘spit in your eye’ vote since the GOP literally froze her out of any serious economic or healthcare reform policy discussion’s. Suzie had to vote for this since she has to start, now, thinking about re-election in 2 years. Mainer’s have a VERY long memory. Add the fact that the GOP, and the on-life-support Tea Party, in Maine are all but determined to keep any US worker’s from any job’s here since they see actual employment a danger to their profit margins and reasons to keep complaining about moosepoop, well, is it really such a surprise ? And Scott Brown is all but done as far as his frequent support of the GOP’s position’s that job’s in Mass. are nice idea but really need to be outsourced to keep the Country’s economy growing the way it should (Is this guy subject to a drug test ’cause is sure sound’s lke he needs 1). Beth Warren is going to wind up stomping him into the ground once Brown’s voting record and campaign contributor’s list comes out. Nevada is a given, more so when you look at their demographics and immigration percentage’s.
This Outsourcing Bill would have made a huge dent in the employment and business expense record of a lot of US Companies. That they ‘bent the Country over the sofa’ to appease a bunch of 1% campaign contributor’s, who are now being more and more exposed as conduit’s for oversea’s cash, is gonna come back to bite them in the butt, if not land them in the pokey in Berlin pretty soon. And people wonder just who, and why, they are so against campaign finance reform is becoming more clear. If the DC 9’s had any common sense someone would drag the CU decision out and start reading political history and the recent FEC’s Financial Contributor’s List and start using some serious legal reasonng to ask themselves the big ‘WHY’ question.
Sounds to me like the republicans did not want to risk losing $7 million dollars a year on the plan considering our debt already, for something that is not really a deterrent for a multi- million/billion dollar business.
To compare tax dollars with campaign dollars is wrong. People donate to Obama’s campaign. Maybe Obama can donate some of that campaign money to the federal budget on that note.
OK. Lets think about this just a minute. To say this “would saddle American businesses with new costs not faced by their foreign competitors” kinda leaves out some of the equation. Re-patriating jobs would remove a bunch of expense from the unemployment ranks and from welfare costs. It would eliminate the costs of shipping components to another country for “assembly”. It would assure that the workers who are making and assembling products do so under the protection of reasonable workers rights.
Re-patriating jobs also keeps that money here in America to be spent in our stores and thus boost many parts of our economy.
So it seems that the only entity that benefits from outsourcing is the business. But us taxpayers pick up the lost economic opportunities in other ways.
And for the record – the same happens when we stick our soldiers in foreign countries for decades … or forever. Re-patriate our jobs AND our soldiers to build a better future for America.