Buy American Provision Just Makes Economic Sense

The money we - American Tax Payers - are spending to bring us out of economic collapse is precious. So few of it is actually going towards economic development, so we need as much of it as possible to go towards creating jobs, in America. Leakage from the plan negates the very purpose of the legislation to stimulate the US economy.

The plan needs to hire American workers and American goods so it will create the American jobs, who when employed start spending and paying taxes here, thus making the plan ripple through our economy stimulating more jobs. If our money goes to people living in India or China, they pay taxes there, and goods there, stimulating their economy.

So while it might cost more in the short run to hire American, in the long run the stimulating effect to the economy – the very purpose of the bill – benefits us more than the short lived savings due to lowered cost.

So Congresspeople put in a common sense provision to make sure that jobs be created here first, if an exception is needed, it must be granted by an oversight body.

A commonsense provision made to make the bill as effective as possible.

Of course it is under attack, from the high school textbook economists who just see higher upfront cost and call it wasteful.

But they and the media are just the echo chamber for corporate lobbyist who once employed Lawrence Summers, Geitner, and others of Obama’s economic team in the private sector. These corporate economists are representing their interests, not the American people’s and I fear they are winning Obama over.

David Sirota, who is one of the most brilliant minds of our time is one it:

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, said his amendment would have required that any health information technology system bought under a $20 billion grant program in the stimulus package be manufactured in the United States by American workers...

While the amendment received unanimous support in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, it was not included in the $825 billion spending package that was approved by the House Wednesday night by a 244-188 vote.

Murphy said he made another bid for his amendment Tuesday night in the House Rules Committee, but again without success. He said the Rules Committee did not approve any Buy American provisions with the exception of one applying to textiles.

Don't underestimate the power of neoliberals in the Democratic Party to go to bat for the worst agenda of corporate outsourcers. And don't underestimate the small - but vocal - populist wing of the Republican Party looking to beat Democrats on trade/globalization issues. There is an aggressive minority of Republicans - especially from industrial states - looking to outflank Democrats on these issues. They will likely run into their own corporate wing that runs the GOP - but they are a growing minority (see Mike Huckabee's surprising success in the GOP presidential primary).

Beyond the politics, though, is the substance. If this local newspaper story is correct - and I have every reason to believe it is - Democrats effectively went to bat for those interests who want to be able to offshore the handling of our country's sensitive medical records. It is a foreboding sign that the free trade fundamentalists are alive, well and ready to legislate inside the Democratic Party.

Now it seems that the corporate prostitutes posing as elected officials have stripped all these common sense provisions putting Americans first.

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