Obama's State Of The Union 2012 Part 3

Part 3

“What's happening in Detroit can happen in other industries. It can happen in Cleveland and Pittsburgh and Raleigh. We can't bring back every job that's left our shores. But right now, it's getting more expensive to do business in places like China. Meanwhile, America is more productive. A few weeks ago, the CEO of Master Lock told me that it now makes business sense for him to bring jobs back home. Today, for the first time in fifteen years, Master Lock's unionized plant in Milwaukee is running at full capacity.

So we have a huge opportunity, at this moment, to bring manufacturing back. But we have to seize it. Tonight, my message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.”

While it is getting more expensive to do business in places overseas, the reason for that is simple.  The global economy is suffering.  Therefor the costs of doing business anywhere is going up, including here in the US.  Obama wants to know what it will take to bring manufacturing back to the US, that is simple too.  Get rid of him and every politician that thinks like he does when it comes to over regulation, that will bring more jobs back to the US because it will make it easier for manufacturing businesses to do business here in the US.  Also, make the entire US right to work so that unions can’t force people to join them if they want a job.  Unions have been one of the biggest hindrances to the manufacturing market for a long time.  I am not saying to do away with the unions because they can be a good thing when they do what they are supposed to do, but give the hard working Americans a choice whether or not they want to join.

“We should start with our tax code. Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and everyone knows it.”

For the record, the Dems are the ones who wrote, promoted and passed the laws that set the system up like this.

“So let's change it. First, if you're a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn't get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home.”

I’m all for taking away the tax deductions that he is talking about.  The money that a business saves just from going overseas won’t be affected so they will still go overseas.  But what we should not do is have taxes raised on businesses that choice to operate in a friendlier environment so that the money can then be sent to businesses that chose not to go overseas.

“Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here.”

American companies pay more than their “fair share” (by the way, I am getting sick of hearing that phrase, it is a stupid thing to say) in taxes.  They still pay taxes when it comes to importing and exporting goods.  We should not be taxing operations in in foreign countries.  The countries that those businesses operate in tax them for what is done there we should not penalize the company for trying to make an extra profit because that does come back home to make more jobs here in the US.  I agree that we should incentivize businesses to stay here in the US, but we don’t need to do it by raising taxes on multinational businesses just so we can subsidize businesses that won’t go overseas.  The business model that a business uses should be based off of where they can get best quality work for the lowest price so that they can them turn around and invest in the economy.  Doing what Obama suggests will kill our import export trade and make the economy even worse.

“Third, if you're an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut. If you're a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making products here. And if you want to relocate in a community that was hit hard when a factory left town, you should get help financing a new plant, equipment, or training for new workers.”

Once again, don’t have much of a problem with what he is saying here but I think he wants to go about it all the wrong way.  As for the subsidizing he is suggesting see my previous comment.

“My message is simple. It's time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America. Send me these tax reforms, and I'll sign them right away.”

But that is not what he is saying; he is saying he wants to punish businesses for going overseas.  As for him signing tax reforms right way… Why hasn’t he or the Senate Dems back any of the tax reforms that are currently sitting in the senate because Harry Reed won’t even let them be brought to the floor?  If you are going to say it Obama, you should at least look like you are trying to what you claim you want to do.

“We're also making it easier for American businesses to sell products all over the world. Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years. With the bipartisan trade agreements I signed into law, we are on track to meet that goal - ahead of schedule. Soon, there will be millions of new customers for American goods in Panama, Columbia, and South Korea. Soon, there will be new cars on the streets of Seoul imported from Detroit, and Toledo, and Chicago.”

That is just a dream as long as Obama and the Dems keep up their policies when it comes to taxation.  The fact of the matter is when it comes to exporting you have to create a friendly environment for businesses here in the US, including the ones that are forced to import due to regulations.  Until you do that, the costs of American products are going to be too high in an overseas market and you will be throwing money down a hole while trying to succeed, especially since most other nations see our good as inferior with the exception of our food exports.

“I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products. And I will not stand by when our competitors don't play by the rules. We've brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration - and it's made a difference. Over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tires. But we need to do more. It's not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated. It's not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they're heavily subsidized.”

This statement makes me laugh.  Obama knows that he only goes all over the world to take vacations.  As for bringing cases against our competitors in other nations, so what, the fact of the matter is if China or Russia are going to abuse the rules then that is what they will do.  Obama and his administration can’t stop that.  Their bringing cases against foreign imports has not created jobs, it has just raised the cost on those imports that has actually hurt production in the US.  The only reason that unemployment is starting to drop is because despite what his administration has done the American market is strong and will recover, just at a slower rate. 

By the way, did you notice the little nod toward SOPA and PIPA?  For more on that you can read my post about those two bills. 

As for the last part of this statement, the reason that foreign manufacturers have a leg up on us isn’t subsidies, it is the fact that labor is significantly cheaper, which is one of the things that is killing manufacturing here.  There are some companies here in the US that, due to unions, have to pay their lowest paid workers a minimum of $25 an hour plus provide a complete benefits package.  If these manufacturers were allowed to either cut wages or make the work pay for part of their benefits then they would have an easier time competing worldwide.

“Tonight, I'm announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trade practices in countries like China. There will be more inspections to prevent counterfeit or unsafe goods from crossing our borders. And this Congress should make sure that no foreign company has an advantage over American manufacturing when it comes to accessing finance or new markets like Russia. Our workers are the most productive on Earth, and if the playing field is level, I promise you - America will always win.”

Umm, we have laws and departments in the government that already do this why do we need another?  Make the ones that are supposed to be handling this do their job of get rid of them.  As for what Obama is saying Congress should do, they have been trying to accomplish that but Obama and the Senate have been stonewalling them. 

“I also hear from many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can't find workers with the right skills. Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job. Think about that - openings at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work.

That's inexcusable. And we know how to fix it.”

Once again, yes we do.  Get rid of Obama and elect someone who cares about America.  The main issue when it comes down  to this is education.  We need to turn education back over to the states instead of dragging all states down to the lowest common denominator.  The Department of Education has done more to hurt education in this country by introducing programs like “No Child Left Behind” (more like no child gets ahead) which was passed under Bush.  We need to challenge our children in order for them to succeed, but until he stop holding them back until the ones that struggle catch up, that is not going to happen.

More in Part 4.

SOPA and PIPA - The Path To Obstruction

Ok, I know I am a little late to the game with this piece, but I feel this needs to be said therefor I am saying it.  The subjects I am going to talk about are the now infamous SOPA and PIPA bills that have yet to be presented in Congress.  Luckily SOPA has been set on the back burner for now while congress tries to figure out a way to change the language so that it is not as intrusive as it is in its current form.  At least that is the story that is being fed to us.  I believe that Congress is just waiting for our short term memories to forget about SOPA so that they can try to pass it again under a different name.  PIPA is still up for a vote soon unless something drastic happens.  Hopefully, the internet wide protests that occurred when SOPA was about to be brought up will have had an impact on PIPA, if not, then maybe we will have another protest only wider spread.  Ok, I guess since not everyone out there keeps up with current events, I need to start out by telling you all what SOPA and PIPA are.

I will start with SOPA, which stands for “Stop Online Piracy Act”.  Of the two bills, SOPA is the more extreme in its language and potential execution.  It intended to help fight copy right infringement on foreign websites.  One of the tools SOPA provided allowed the U.S. Department of Justice could seek court orders requiring Internet service providers such as AOL, Comcast and Charter to block the domain names of “infringing sites”.  For example, Comcast could prevent its customers from accessing megaupload.com.  Luckily, this was one of the parts of SOPA that was dropped due to the opposition as well as the impracticality of actually enforcing it.  The other tool would allow rights holders to seek court orders requiring payment providers, advertisers and search engines to stop doing business with an “infringing site”.  Because of this, the rights holders would also be able to request for funding to be cut off from an “infringing site”, and that all search links leading to the offending site be required to be removed. Then site in question would have five days to appeal any action taken against them.  Also, SOPA defines an “infringing site" as any site that is "committing or facilitating" copyright infringement, this blankets both domestic and foreign sites.

Now on to the subject of PIPA.  PIPA stands for “Protect Intellectual Properties Act”.  For the most part, PIPA is almost identical to SOPA with the main difference being the language.  As I said before SOPA is the more extreme of the two.  Whereas SOPA is very broad in its reach when it comes to a site that is committing or facilitating" copyright infringement, PIPA only target sites that have “no other significant use other than copyright infringement”.  What this mean is, if any website has any purpose other than providing copyrighted material it should be safe from the ramifications of the bill, though a site will still have to prove that it is for other uses other than pirating.  Sites that fileshare such as Rapidshare should, in theory, be safe from prosecution because they remove copyrighted material as soon as the owner of copyright requests it, while sites like Megaupload and PirateBay would be targeted due to their attempts to obstruct any attempts to force the removal of copyrighted material. 

Speaking of Megaupload… want to see something that should terrify you?  Go to megaupload.com and then come back here, I’ll wait…  See?  That is terrifying.  Why?  Because, Megaupload is based out of Hong Kong and the owner of the site was arrested from his home in New Zealand when the FBI had the site brought down.  Yeah, anyway, Megaupload is supposedly NOT a victim of the fallout from upset bureaucrats over the dismissal of SOPA, yet I find the timing very suspicious.  But I digress.

Now that I have given you some info on SOPA and PIPA I am going to tell you about my opinion of these two bills.  SOPA and PIPA both are good in their intentions, they are.  The main problem with them comes in the language that is used in the bills.  I am all for protecting an individual’s intellectual properties, I am, but this hits a little close to home with me in the aspect of writing, therefor I am going to approach this from that viewpoint.  After all, if someone stole the novel I wrote and distributed it without my permission and I, then, was unable take make any money off of it due to that, I would be upset.  I know some people think that authors that get published make tons of money on their books, but unless an author is extremely prolific or well sold, such as Stephen King, they are not going to make a lot of money off of their writing (unless they are very lucky).  When someone takes their book and uploads it to a site so that it can be distributed illegally that cuts into the sales of the book which cuts into the profits of the publisher and the royalties of the writer.  Lack of sales creates lack of prints which then, if taken to its ultimate end, creates lack of work for the author.  There are some companies that have found a way to profit from allowing books to be downloaded free of charge on select titles (Baen is one of them) but once again I digress.

SOPA and PIPA, like I said before are written with good intentions but they take the anti-piracy laws that we currently have and hype them up on steroids creating monstrous blanket laws that will infringe upon everyone’s life negatively in some way.  I don’t care who you are, once these laws go into effect no one will be safe from them, and if taken to the extreme that everyone is afraid they will be taken to, even the owners of the properties that these laws are meant to protects will be harmed by them.  Imagine an internet without ANY copyrighted material on it.  That is the most extreme that these laws could potentially be taken too.  I doubt they would go that far but dumber things have happened, after all look at who we currently have as President.  

A realistic example of what is most likely to come out of either of these laws being passed is something along these lines…  If you like to read or write fan fiction (fan stories based on intellectual properties such as popular books, games and TV series), you would no longer be allowed to write and distribute your stories nor could you receive and read the stories of others.  Sites like YouTube and Deviant Art would have over 90% of their content stripped from them if there were not shut down.  You could no longer read movie or book reviews online because they are based off of intellectual properties.  Keep in mind, this is a realistic scenario.  Sites that offer services like Netflix could be shut down at the whim of someone who thinks that they are not getting paid enough for the rights to be displayed by those services.  The internet as we know it would go away. 

SOPA and PIPA don’t need to just have the language changed; they need to be completely retooled in order to help strengthen our current anti-piracy laws instead of trying to override them with blanket laws that are so vaguely worded that they can be interpreted however anyone wants to interpret them to suit their desires.  As it is, the laws we currently have are not effective, but I would take what we have over having our freedoms online striped from us almost completely.  When we go down the path that SOPA and PIPA inadvertently will place us on, we will be brought that much closer to a communistic society. 

Here in America we should realize the value of freedom and work to defend that freedom.  For too long we have let the politician that sit in Washington slowly strip us from our natural born freedoms while telling us that it is for our own good.  Hell, we currently have 32% of the population of this country who are happy with a President that has effectively said he wants to be our Dictator and will do what is necessary to become said Dictator (more on that in my next post where I tear apart Obama’s State of the Union speech.) if re-elected.  We need to stand up and tell Washington DC “NO MORE!”  and then start pushing for a real change that preserves and restores our freedom to where it should be.