The Washington Post reports that six Democratic senators from states that went for Donald Trump are supporting punishing corporations that outsource labor.
Six Democratic senators from Rust Belt states won by President-elect Donald Trump called Tuesday for a swift congressional crackdown on U.S. companies that send manufacturing jobs abroad, claiming common cause with Trump’s crusade against outsourcing.
Trump on Sunday tweeted that “any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S. without retribution or consequence, is WRONG!” He threatened to impose a 35 percent tariff on goods those companies seek to import.
I don’t think that this is sound economic policy…whether Mr. Trump is saying it or my senator is saying it…and what I find troubling is…my senator is saying it.
The Democratic senators from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin stopped short of calling for a protectionist tariff regime. But in a letter to congressional leaders Tuesday, they applauded “the recent attention President-elect Trump has brought to the issue of outsourcing and its impact on middle-class families” and called for legislation that would penalize companies that send jobs abroad.
Those penalties, they say, should include taking into consideration any history of outsourcing while awarding federal contracts and potentially keeping outsourcers from receiving tax breaks and other federal incentives, and “clawing back” those incentives if companies later ship jobs out of the country.
“The loss of manufacturing jobs in our states has contributed to the decades-long trend of the declining middle class,” the letter reads. “We believe these principles — which we intend to introduce as legislation — are critical to our shared commitment to encourage companies to invest in the United States and in American workers.”
Yes it is time to have a national discussion on economic issues in this country…a discussion on trade…on tariffs…on sanctions…on inducements. But there needs to be sound discussions. Educational discussions. Not shoot from the hip emotional reactions. There is far more going on in corporate decisions that deserve to be examined and discussed.
But I have to wonder if the six senators are serious? Or calling Mr. Trump’s bluff? Or patronizing their local constituency who voted for Mr. Trump? All three possibilities make me even more uneasy about the future relationships between Congress and the White House.
The lead signer of the letter was Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), who praised the decision last month by Carrier Corp., under pressure from Trump, to reverse its decision to send hundreds of Indianapolis manufacturing jobs to Mexico. Also signing the letter were Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).
Thank you, Tammy!
I helped you win in 2012, and there’s nothing that you’ve done since that betrays my faith in what you stand for. Unlike most bloggers, I’m no put-down artist–going just party-line with no reference to economic facts–I think politics serves a greater function than cheerleading.
My life does not revolve around being able to buy the cheapest socks at the local big box store. For people to buy things, they need money from good jobs here: that’s what grows an economy.
Please keep up the good work, and if others vying for our State legislature get the idea, our State can once again turn Blue.
Smoot-Hawley, because sometimes it takes a Great Depression to bring us together!
Advocating that a Greater Depression than most US citizens are already experiencing is going to bring us together when it is currently ripping us apart as a nation on so many levels is insanity.
It appears you’ve contrived yet another fantasy in this comment of yours that anyone who is not already planted firmly in your camp of economic magical thinking would have any desire to join “together,” with you.
Most people I know are attempting to avoid the current free-fall to the economic bottom and individual financial ruin being inflicted on the state by our legislative majority’s unswerving shifting of the rest of the common wealth to the top.
I’m with Ed on his admonishment to think through the consequences and examine the details before any rash rush to policy implementations suggested by the Trumpeteers.
nonquixote, my comment was a joke using a demotivational template, the roots of which point out the economic disaster that comes with tariffs. Sorry you didn’t grasp it’s subtlety and meaning, and for the record they’re called Trumpkins.
Needing to explain your intent just might say more about the template you obviously didn’t succeed with than your demeaning of my intellectual abilities or recollection of legislative history. In your fantasy authoritarian world, I realize I’d likely be jailed or worse for labeling a group of white nationalist thugs with the cartoon character meme of my choice. So much for free speech.
Q, ” In your fantasy authoritarian world, I realize I’d likely be jailed or worse for labeling a group of white nationalist thugs with the cartoon character meme of my choice. So much for free speech.”
I gotta ask, what the heck are you talking about?
Hey guys, loosen up a bit, okay? Where’s that Christmas spirit….
I think these Democrats are smart to align with Trump on this at this stage of the game. We’ll know more when bills are written. Let our legislators do their jobs.
Well stated – 23 months before the next election I’d say that “nimbleness is next to Godliness” !