Manufacturing jobs - Read post before voting!

Need your opinion on this idea. Hopefully it would bring more manufacturing jobs back into the US.

It is well known that the federal government gives subsidies and grants to corporations for researching various forms of technology. Then once those corporations discover something useful it is often sent across the border or over seas to manufacturing plants to produce en masse. (not saying all of em do...just a good majority). So here is my proposal.

Make a law/rule/regulation...whatever you want to call it...that states that any corporation or organization that uses any form of government assistence would be required to manufacture any and all types of products that was discovered with said assistance inside US borders for X amount of years. (at least 20 imo)

So what do you think? Feel free to give suggestions that would expand on this idea.

Kal'Stang said:

Need your opinion on this idea. Hopefully it would bring more manufacturing jobs back into the US.

It is well known that the federal government gives subsidies and grants to corporations for researching various forms of technology. Then once those corporations discover something useful it is often sent across the border or over seas to manufacturing plants to produce en masse. (not saying all of em do...just a good majority). So here is my proposal.

Make a law/rule/regulation...whatever you want to call it...that states that any corporation or organization that uses any form of government assistence would be required to manufacture any and all types of products that was discovered with said assistance inside US borders for X amount of years. (at least 20 imo)

So what do you think? Feel free to give suggestions that would expand on this idea.

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While I'm sure other posters will be quick to punch holes in your idea, I like it. It makes sense that if our government is funding corporate research grants, that the very reason we should fund them would be to benefit the United States. And what is more beneficial thank U.S. jobs? I'm with you!

Great idea and I would support it also.

Kal'Stang said:

Need your opinion on this idea. Hopefully it would bring more manufacturing jobs back into the US.

It is well known that the federal government gives subsidies and grants to corporations for researching various forms of technology. Then once those corporations discover something useful it is often sent across the border or over seas to manufacturing plants to produce en masse. (not saying all of em do...just a good majority). So here is my proposal.

Make a law/rule/regulation...whatever you want to call it...that states that any corporation or organization that uses any form of government assistence would be required to manufacture any and all types of products that was discovered with said assistance inside US borders for X amount of years. (at least 20 imo)

So what do you think? Feel free to give suggestions that would expand on this idea.

Click to expand...

Two things.

1. You should contact your Congressman/woman.
2. Why don't we have this already?

The basic idea is pure gold, and it should be taken into serious consideration at a federal law, IMO.

haymarket said:

Great idea and I would support it also.

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Haymarket!!!!!!!!!!!!

We agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why exactly are we trying to create artificial incentives to keep manufacturing in the US?

Personally, I'd rather have our menial manufacturing done overseas.

The biggest downside is that it would grossly increase the price the consumer has to pay for the goods.

spud_meister said:

The biggest downside is that it would grossly increase the price the consumer has to pay for the goods.

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I don't mind paying for american made goods, when I can find them. In regards to this idea, I'm not so optimistic. If you want to encourage manufactuing in america lowere the cost of doing business here. That's all it takes.

spud_meister said:

The biggest downside is that it would grossly increase the price the consumer has to pay for the goods.

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The upside is, there would be more consumers, because we'd have more jobs.

I'm not really a protectionist, but I come from a region that depended heavily on textiles and manufacturing jobs for most of the 20th century. Most of that is gone now, along with a lot of jobs that paid fairly well and offered considerable security. A lot of people were hurt when those jobs were sold overseas.

Right now... well, our economy is hurting. Jobs are scant. Maybe it is time to revisit a certain level of protectionism.

Kal'Stang said:

Need your opinion on this idea. Hopefully it would bring more manufacturing jobs back into the US.

It is well known that the federal government gives subsidies and grants to corporations for researching various forms of technology. Then once those corporations discover something useful it is often sent across the border or over seas to manufacturing plants to produce en masse. (not saying all of em do...just a good majority). So here is my proposal.

Make a law/rule/regulation...whatever you want to call it...that states that any corporation or organization that uses any form of government assistence would be required to manufacture any and all types of products that was discovered with said assistance inside US borders for X amount of years. (at least 20 imo)

So what do you think? Feel free to give suggestions that would expand on this idea.

Click to expand...

I like it. Of course I am opposed to outsourcing anyways. So the idea that a company would take tax payer money and outsource production is something that would infuriate me even more.

My concern is that they might find a way around this by simply hiring illegals or switching to automation. Of course at least with automation they would still have to hire workers to fix and replace the machines, clean the machines and do any other job that is not possible with a machine.

Kal'Stang said:

Need your opinion on this idea. Hopefully it would bring more manufacturing jobs back into the US.

It is well known that the federal government gives subsidies and grants to corporations for researching various forms of technology. Then once those corporations discover something useful it is often sent across the border or over seas to manufacturing plants to produce en masse. (not saying all of em do...just a good majority). So here is my proposal.

Make a law/rule/regulation...whatever you want to call it...that states that any corporation or organization that uses any form of government assistence would be required to manufacture any and all types of products that was discovered with said assistance inside US borders for X amount of years. (at least 20 imo)

So what do you think? Feel free to give suggestions that would expand on this idea.

Click to expand...

To be honest I think laws and rules like this are kind of a bad idea. They just make research and production harder for companies and discourage investment in the first place.

For example, when working on a job for the Fed gov companies have to make sure that they do not send the work overseas. Where I work this means that we have to do everything within our American offices. Sounds great, right? No. If we just need something as simple as programming done, or keeping up our sharepoint site for the project, we have people that work for our company in India to do it for us. But with these rules we have to find somebody in the US to do it. The fact of the matter is that instead of hiring someone in America to do it, it just doesn't get done. You are left with a crappier product in the end. All it does is slow us down.

drz-400 said:

To be honest I think laws and rules like this are kind of a bad idea. They just make research and production harder for companies and discourage investment in the first place.

For example, when working on a job for the Fed gov companies have to make sure that they do not send the work overseas. Where I work this means that we have to do everything within our American offices. Sounds great, right? No. If we just need something as simple as programming done, or keeping up our sharepoint site for the project, we have people that work for our company in India to do it for us. But with these rules we have to find somebody in the US to do it. The fact of the matter is that instead of hiring someone in America to do it, it just doesn't get done. You are left with a crappier product in the end. All it does is slow us down.

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So are you saying that Americans can't do the job properly or that there isn't enough of the right type of trained Americans do accomplish what needs to be done?

MaggieD said:

While I'm sure other posters will be quick to punch holes in your idea, I like it. It makes sense that if our government is funding corporate research grants, that the very reason we should fund them would be to benefit the United States. And what is more beneficial thank U.S. jobs? I'm with you!

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I absolutely agree. Ever since NAFTA et al US manufacturing jobs have been sucked overseas so fast that they've left a sonic boom in their wake. Taxpayers fund research and US jobs should be assured in manufacturing the results of that research.

Really an excellent idea all the way around. It makes far too much sense for anyone in congress to even consider it, however. Those corporate bribes are much too comforting for them.

Look at all that freedom going out the window. Economic freedom? Gone. Personal Freedom? Gone. Where do I sign up for rape?

If you were honesty interested in fixing the problem of companies leaving you wouldn't look first at them leaving, but why they are leaving.

As for subsides and grants, just ban them. There, I fixed those problems. That was hard.

Henrin said:

Look at all that freedom going out the window. Economic freedom? Gone. Personal Freedom? Gone. Where do I sign up for rape?

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What freedom is being taking away here? The freedom to take your business where you want to take it? Not really. You are perfectly free to take your business elsewhere. You just won't get any government assistance. Remember, that assistance is a privledge, not a right. Does it really make sense to give money to people that don't give anything back in return for that money? How long would any corporation survive with that kind of attitude?

Henrin said:

If you were honesty interested in fixing the problem of companies leaving you wouldn't look first at them leaving, but why they are leaving.

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Actually you would look at ALL the reasons. Not just one. This idea isn't a total fix for all of the problems. But I think it would certainly help.

Henrin said:

As for subsides and grants, just ban them. There, I fixed those problems. That was hard.

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I actually don't support this. Research is needed and should be helped. But that help shouldn't come freely.

Kal'Stang said:

What freedom is being taking away here? The freedom to take your business where you want to take it? Not really. You are perfectly free to take your business elsewhere. You just won't get any government assistance. Remember, that assistance is a privledge, not a right. Does it really make sense to give money to people that don't give anything back in return for that money? How long would any corporation survive with that kind of attitude?

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I think its pretty obvious how its taking away freedom here. By telling them they can't leave regardless of how you do it is destroying their freedom. What part of that is hard to understand exactly?

Actually you would look at ALL the reasons. Not just one. This idea isn't a total fix for all of the problems. But I think it would certainly help.

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How does it even begin to help? How does using subsidies that aren't even part of the problem as a weapon of force that isn't even getting near fixing the cause of the problem helping? You have failed completely to even mention one real reason companies are leaving and went straight into freedom restricting mode finding the perfect tools in subsidies and in fairness.

I actually don't support this. Research is needed and should be helped. But that help shouldn't come freely.

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Now you're walking into a trap that I didn't even set. Does the government set up and force subsidies? When you figure that out the game will truly begin.

Besides the fun traps of your argument the government doesn't actually need to fund research, nor is it wise in a free society, in the market, or to the survival of business. A great example of all three is wind turbines.

Henrin said:

I think its pretty obvious how its taking away freedom here. By telling them they can't leave regardless of how you do it is destroying their freedom. What part of that is hard to understand exactly?

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Actually it would be just like any other contract that happens millions of times a year in the US by both the government and civilians. X person/organization does this and we will do A for X. Also remember, no company would be forced to "buy" into this. They can take it or leave it. If no force is being applied then there is no infringement of any rights.

Henrin said:

How does it even begin to help? How does using subsidies that aren't even part of the problem as a weapon of force that isn't even getting near fixing the cause of the problem helping? You have failed completely to even mention one real reason companies are leaving and went straight into freedom restricting mode finding the perfect tools in subsidies and in fairness.

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It helps by bringing in more manufacturing jobs into the US. It is manufacturing which creates wealth for a country. Nothing else does. The more manufacturing in a country the more jobs there are the more can be exported which means more wealth comes in. Instead of the US relying on other countries for goods...they would have to rely on us....unless of course they are self sufficent. Which is fine.

As for the reason that they are leaving...this thread is not meant to address that. It is meant to offer a possible solution. If you wish to talk about the various reasons that companies are leaving then you have two options. Join one of the many threads around DP that talk about it or two make your own thread.

Henrin said:

Now you're walking into a trap that I didn't even set. Does the government set up and force subsidies? When you figure that out the game will truly begin.

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AFAIK nope they don't. It would seem to me as being illegal for the most part. There might be some that are understandable, like nuclear? :shrug: Don't rightly know.

Henrin said:

Besides the fun traps of your argument the government doesn't actually need to fund research, nor is it wise in a free society, in the market, or to the survival of business. A great example of all three is wind turbines.

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Actually yes the government does need to fund research in order to stay a step ahead of other countries and governments that are funding their own research. Not to mention civilian corporations cannot conduct research on items that have been deemed illegal for civilian use/ownership.

As for wind turbines...what do you have against them?

Kal'Stang said:

Need your opinion on this idea. Hopefully it would bring more manufacturing jobs back into the US.

It is well known that the federal government gives subsidies and grants to corporations for researching various forms of technology. Then once those corporations discover something useful it is often sent across the border or over seas to manufacturing plants to produce en masse. (not saying all of em do...just a good majority). So here is my proposal.

Make a law/rule/regulation...whatever you want to call it...that states that any corporation or organization that uses any form of government assistence would be required to manufacture any and all types of products that was discovered with said assistance inside US borders for X amount of years. (at least 20 imo)

So what do you think? Feel free to give suggestions that would expand on this idea.

Click to expand...

so.... you want companies to move their research facilities overseas? that's what i'm getting from this.

from henrin

I think its pretty obvious how its taking away freedom here. By telling them they can't leave regardless of how you do it is destroying their freedom. What part of that is hard to understand exactly?

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You identify your self as a libertarian. Fine. Is it not a principle of libertarianism that two parties can enter into a contract with each other and in doing so there is nothing wrong with that?

This proposal forces nobody to do anything they do not willingly want to do. The government is willing to provide help and the company is willing to abide by a term of the contract giving them help. There is not loss of freedom for anyone since there is no force being involved here.

from cpwill

so.... you want companies to move their research facilities overseas? that's what i'm getting from this.

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I do not see how you could come to that conclusion. The idea is designed to keep jobs here in the USA - not send them overseas as many are now doing.

RightinNYC said:

Why exactly are we trying to create artificial incentives to keep manufacturing in the US?

Personally, I'd rather have our menial manufacturing done overseas.

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What is an "artificial incentive" and what makes it "artificial"?

I take it by your cavalier comment that you do not work in a "menial manufacturing" job?

MaggieD said:

Haymarket!!!!!!!!!!!!

We agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Of course we do Maggie. Great minds think alike.

Just make it cheaper for companies to operate and produce stuff here. That will bring jobs back to America and keep consumer costs down.

cpgrad08 said:

Just make it cheaper for companies to operate and produce stuff here. That will bring jobs back to America and keep consumer costs down.

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Do you really want to win a race to the bottom?

haymarket said:

Do you really want to win a race to the bottom?

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Am suggesting lowering regulations, and lowering Corprate taxes.