July 23, 2012
By AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
On July 19, 2012, the U.S. Senate had a golden opportunity to fix some of the policies that have contributed to the outsourcing of millions of U.S. jobs and the closing of tens of thousands of manufacturing facilities. Instead, 42 Senate Republicans stood firm with Mitt Romney and his 1 percent lobbyist friends to block S. 3364, the Bring Jobs Home Act – ensuring that offshoring companies can keep their tax breaks.
Senators who voted to protect outsourcers should not expect accolades from ordinary Americans, who want to see a lot less of the party label and more of the “Made in America” label from the people they send to represent them in the Senate.
Nor should Mitt Romney be surprised that voters disapprove of the outsourcing and other practices that made him more rich and workers less secure. It isn’t his wealth and success that are at issue – it is that the foundation of his economic success was sending jobs offshore and laying off workers.
As the Center for American Progress reported this week, Mitt Romney’s economic policy proposals – especially on territorial taxation — would actually accelerate the outsourcing of American jobs to foreign countries.
For weeks, working families across the country have been gathering outside the offices of elected officials and corporations, demanding they bring jobs home and invest in America. We won’t be stopping now. Expect to see us touting patriotic leaders and companies and calling out leaders who want to keep jobs the top American export.
In November, it’s time to do even more than bring jobs home. Let’s bring home the politicians who support the privileged and the powerful over the interests of working men and women.
