Hillary Clinton Announces "Insourcing" Agenda At 21st Century Jobs Summit

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Wed Apr-02-08 02:31 PM
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Hillary Clinton Announces "Insourcing" Agenda At 21st Century Jobs Summit

In Pittsburgh today, Hillary Clinton announced a groundbreaking policy initiative that would eliminate tax incentives for companies that outsource jobs and use the savings to encourage U.S. companies to create � or �insource� � jobs here in the United States. Her insourcing agenda provides $7 billion per year in new tax benefits and investments to help companies create high-paying, high-quality jobs here in the U.S. and to compete in the global economy. Hillary made the announcement at an economic summit hosted by the campaign focused on �Jobs For the 21st Century.� The event also marked the end of Hillary�s six-day Solutions For The American Economy Tour.

Her insourcing plan would enact the largest expansion of tax benefits for research and job growth; create at least 15 new �Innovation and Research Clusters� across the country, launch a new �Insourcing Markets Tax Credit� to spur business investment communities facing global competition, and catalyze the 21st Century manufacturing sector with several bold new programs, including the �Made Green In America� Fund, which would provide $500 million annually in investments to encourage the creation of high-wage jobs in clean energy manufacturing technologies.

�We reward companies like Exxon-Mobil who park $56 billion in profits overseas because they don�t have to pay a dime in U.S. taxes on those profits. And we�re using your tax dollars to reward companies that ship your jobs overseas,� said Clinton. �My insourcing agenda is based on a different approach. I believe our government should get out of the business of rewarding companies for shipping jobs overseas, and get back into the business of rewarding companies that create good, high-wage jobs � with good benefits � right here in America.�

Hillary discussed the details of her proposal during her campaign�s �Jobs For The 21st Century� summit, which took place at the local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Conference Center & Training Facility.

Clinton started her day touring the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, a biotechnology initiative and non-profit organization that provides resources and tools to entrepreneurial life sciences enterprises to advance their research and patient care. She then came to the IBEW center and toured the training facility before hosting two panels about the emerging economy and job growth.

The first panel focused on how research and technology will be a primary driver for jobs of the future. During the first panel dicussion, Hillary was joined by John Manzetti, President and CEO of Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse; Don Smith, Vice President of Economic Development for Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh; and Christine Pambianchi, Senior Vice President, Corning, Inc.

During the next panel, a second group of local and national experts discussed workforce redevelopment and green jobs. Panelists joining Hillary included, Dave Malone, Chair of the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board; Marge Krueger, Administrative Director to the Vice President, Communications Workers of America International; Bill Cagney, Business Manager for Operating Engineers Local 95; and Dr. Nabil Nasr from the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies.

In the same conference hall where, four years ago, state leaders heard testimony about why Pittsburgh should go into state receivership, Sen. Hillary Clinton today talked to about 450 invited guests about how she'd return economic vitality to the region.

"Wall Street doesn't care about your products in the pipeline," Clinton said in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local #5 conference center in the South Side. The event, broken into two panel discussions with an audience looking on, was dubbed the "21st Century Jobs Summit."

Gov. Ed Rendell, who introduced Clinton today, touted her plan to sell Rebuild America Bonds modeled on the War Bonds of World War II. The bonds would pay for billions of dollars in infrastructure repairs and, Clinton has said, create jobs.

"State and local investment is 75 percent of our infrastructure" repairs, Rendell said. "We can't do it alone."

Clinton said she would help add 5 million jobs to the economy over 10 years by leveraging government investment for research into alternative sources of power to create a clean energy industry.

"Pennsylvania is a huge success story in clean energy," because of Rendell's state grants, Clinton said. People are researching clean energy in "garages and basements" because the federal government hasn't invested enough.

"We have to get back to really answering the call to America to seize the future once again. I obviously believe we can do this. I'm confident and optimistic," she said. (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/02/851362.aspx) "Today I'm announcing my 'Insourcing' agenda. You know, we hear so much about outsourcing. We all know what that is. It's when we lose jobs to other countries and I want to put and end to that."

The plan, she said, would help promote research centers around the country by encouraging partnerships between universities, private businesses and state and local governments, provide $5 billion in tax credits to companies to help them compete globally and would invest $500 million a year to encourage the creation of clean energy jobs.

"Today I'm proposing one of the largest expansions of tax benefits for research and job growth in a generation,� she said. �We have to update our tools for rewarding innovation. The research-and-development tax credit, for example, has been a successful, cost-effective tool to increase investment in research jobs here in the United States. When I'm president, we will increase it by 50 percent. We'll also invest in basic research."

on a lighter note . . .

In a late night discussion with the press, a beer-wielding Hillary Clinton mulled over the idea of challenging Barack Obama to a free-throw contest. Her idea came just hours after challenging Obama to a �bowl-off� during an April Fools' Day joke aimed at the press.

�He has already challenged me to basketball instead,� Clinton said. �I know, I vaguely heard that from someone, and I said I'd have to train a while but I would take him on.�

Clinton, who on occasion will visit the back of the plane (where the press sits), found comfort in discussing basketball after a long day of campaigning. The discussion unlocked memories of the �dark ages,� as Clinton put it, of when she used to play the sport as a child.

�I had free throws down pat but they were all underhanded,� Clinton admitted, pointing out �that's how I was raised to throw free throws."

"When I played basketball in the dark ages, young women could not play full-court basketball. So I would play full court basketball with my brothers and the boys in the neighborhood," Clinton said proudly.

Sometimes these candid discussions leave the press scratching their heads like when Clinton was asked if she watched bowling on television, which led her to wax philosophically about the sociological wonders of the sport.

�Bowling alone you know, this is a big sociological phenomenon, bowling alone is a sign of our times, we could bring it back we could like transform the entire society. People would start joining leagues again they would feel a sense of community a sense of togetherness, exactly, bowling alleys everywhere on every corner, people setting pins again. End the automation, get the pin boy, there is no telling what could happen!"