Thursday, July 29, 2010

Make It In America

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard argues that the federal government needs to spend money on manufacturing.
...After all the support America has given the financial sector – estimated to total more than $4 trillion – it’s time for Congress to invest in the productive sector, the one that creates jobs, real wealth and American power,

he writes in In These Times.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will soon pass “one bill after another” supporting American manufacturing. The House last week passed a bill to train people for jobs in emerging industries, which the Teamsters support. Another bill passed to ease American industries’ access to raw materials.

On Wednesday the House passed three more "Make it in America" bills.

Pelosi said in a statement:

With these measures, we are calling for a strategy to strengthen our manufacturing base and create jobs. We will help U.S. clean energy technology firms market and sell their products here and around the world – ensuring that American energy and know how power the 21st century. And we will take steps to reduce our trade deficit, strengthening our economy and our national security.

More are on the way. It's about time.