Who’s On Our Side?
By Tom Chamberlain
O
ver the last 10 years, 50,000
manufacturers have moved their
factories out of the United States.
That equates to a loss of 6 million
American middle-class jobs.
There are a number of reasons
why companies move out of the
United States: lower labor costs, less
regulation, fewer environmental con-
straints ... and while these factors that
we can’t control in the United States
are elements in decisions to offshore,
they are not the only factors. The
American tax structure is another
driver behind companies like Bain
Capital deciding to offshore Ameri-
can middle-class jobs.
The U.S. tax code defers taxes on
profits of foreign subsidiaries of an
American corporation. Profits earned
in the United States are subject to the
35 percent corporate tax. But multi-
national corporations can defer pay-
ing U.S. taxes on their overseas profit
until they return to the United States
— reinvesting the money tax-free,
and waiting for tax rates to drop to
bring it home.
General Electric, for example, has
$62 billion in “undistributed earn-
ings” parked offshore according to
2008 Securities and Exchange Com-
mission filings. Drug giant Pfizer
boasts $60 billion and ExxonMobil
$56 billion.
The deferral clause of our tax
code has been in place for over 60
years. There have been a series of
failed attempts to eliminate the clause
beginning with President Kennedy’s
1961 effort.
President Kennedy understood
that giving business a tax incentive to
offshore jobs would ultimately un-
derfund vital services such as educa-
tion, public safety, and health care,
and undermine America’s middle
class economy.
In a time of 8 percent unemploy-
ment, our nation can’t afford to con-
tinue to provide tax incentives that
undermine our efforts to rebuild
America’s middle-class economy.
Senate Bill 2884, The Bring Jobs
Home Act, co-sponsored by U.S.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), closes
some of the tax incentives to offshore
jobs. As importantly, it provides a tax
credit of up to 20 percent of a com-
pany’s relocation cost when their
business moves back to the United
States.
All too often, union critics char-
acterize us as anti-trade. We are not
anti-trade. We support fair trade. A
fair trade policy doesn’t exploit
workers or the environment for the
sake of profit. Fair trade is the bill of
goods the American worker was sold
when NAFTA was passed in the
early ’90s. Some of you remember
the pitch: NAFTA would be an
American job creator while improv-
ing the living standards of workers
globally. NAFTA and the trade
agreements that have followed have
lowered the standards for American
workers, and done little better else-
where.
Even fair trade, though, won’t
work if our government is providing
financial incentives to send jobs over-
seas. While the Bring Jobs Home Act
doesn’t overturn out-of-balance trade
agreements, it does begin the process
of reversing the financial incentives
for American companies.
As of this writing, U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden (D-Ore.) had not signed on to
the Bring Jobs Home Act. I encour-
age you to call Sen. Wyden at 888-
659-9401 and ask that he support the
Bring Jobs Home Act. You can also
check our web site at www.orafl-
cio.org to find out who else from
Oregon’s Congressional delegation is
on our side when it comes to the
Bring Jobs Home Act.
Tom Chamberlain is president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO.
Second annual clay shoot
slated Oct. 27 in Gervais
The Union Sports-
men’s Alliance’s (USA)
second annual sporting
clay shoot will be held
Saturday, Oct. 27, at
Mitchell’s Clay Target
Sports, 6181 Concomly
Rd., Gervais.
Awards will be given
to the highest scoring teams and top in-
dividual shooter. First time shooters are
welcome and encouraged to partici-
pate.
Registration is from 8 to 9 a.m., with
shooting starting at 9:30 a.m. Registra-
tion includes shotgun shells (12- or 20-
gauge only) and clay targets, lunch and
E
E
FR
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lIncoln cIty vacation rental, 3 bdrm, 2
bath, sleeps 8, wi-fi, 2 blks to beach, 3 blks
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choice, $750 per acre, will carry contract. 1-541-
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central oregon, pine Hollow, 3 bed, 2 bath,
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mt. Hood view, $287,000. 541-544-2288
PAGE 6
beverages, along with
awards, door prizes and
premium raffle item
drawings.
Shooters and sponsors
are still needed. Various
levels of sponsorship are
available. All proceeds
from the event will help
support the USA’s mission to unite the
union community to expand and im-
prove hunting and fishing access and
wildlife habitat throughout North
America.
Contact Tim Bindl at TimB@union-
sportsmen.org or Heather Tazelaar at
615-831-6779 for more information.
W ANTED
casH paId old fishing tackle, wood plugs, reels,
creels, salmon fishing photos, derby items, hunt-
ing knives, game calls, etc. 503-775-4166
old woodworkIng tools, planes, lev-
els, chisels, handsaws, slicks, adzes,
wrenches, folding rulers, leather tools, tool
chests. 503-659-0009
collector pays cash for older toys,
older oil paintings and older american art
pottery. 503 703-5952
Ham radIo and short wave radio equip-
ment, particularly older 1950s/60s equip-
that uses tubes, 503-823-4577
u.s., german, Japanese military uniforms,
aviation, hats, helmets, swords, daggers,
bayonets, rifles, pistols. 503-852-6791
motorcycles, tractors, quads,riding
lawnmowers, cars, trucks needing trans-
mission work, cash paid 503-880-8183
buyIng u.s. & world coins to add to collection,
paying fairly, any amount welcome. 503-939-8835
JULY 20, 2012