Manzullo Launches Plan to Put Americans Back to Work in Northern IL, Across US

Congressman Don Manzullo (R-Egan), who is seeking re-election in 2010, today unveiled the latest version of his working action plan to create economic opportunities in the United States to help companies put Americans back to work in northern Illinois and throughout our nation.

Manzullo's American Jobs Agenda is a compilation of years of legislative and administrative actions focused on making American companies more competitive so they can expand and create jobs. Former Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Small Business, Manzullo continues to champion American jobs as founder and co-chair of the House Manufacturing Caucus as well as his positions on the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services.

"Our great country is experiencing its most significant economic downturn since the Great Depression, and Americans need jobs more than anything else right now," Manzullo said. "My American Jobs Agenda gives our entrepreneurs the economic jolt they need to survive these difficult times so they can thrive again and put Americans back to work. It stands in stark contrast to many of the policies Congressional Democrat leaders are pursuing that will penalize employers and put even more Americans on the unemployment lines."

Congressman Manzullo's American Jobs Agenda includes legislative and regulatory proposals to:

1. Reform the tax code to help U.S. companies create jobs, put Americans back to work.

2. Make health care more affordable and accessible to Americans without a government takeover that would cost millions of jobs, reduce quality and choice, and increase our debt for generations to come.

3. Enact an "all you can create" energy plan that promotes innovation, conservation, and responsible production of energy to achieve America's energy independence and a cleaner, healthier planet.

4. Review and eliminate burdensome and unnecessary government regulations that stifle economic growth and cost American jobs.

5. Reform our government procurement policies and require federal agencies to follow "Buy American" laws" to ensure our government is doing business with American companies.

6. Level the playing field for American companies doing business in the global marketplace while reforming our export control policies to help U.S. companies sell more goods overseas.

7. Secure America's borders, create mandatory work authorization verification and reduce illegal immigration through interior enforcement.

The complete agenda can be viewed below.

An American Jobs Agenda

The United States is experiencing the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression. The much ballyhooed "economic stimulus" package has not stemmed rising unemployment ­ in fact, more than 3 million jobs have been lost since the $787 billion bill was signed into law earlier this year. Deficits are at record levels, and America needs a new plan. In 2009, Congressman Don Manzullo continues his mission to strengthen the American economy and create good-paying jobs for the people of northern Illinois and throughout our nation. His American Jobs Agenda, an ongoing action plan, is focused on creating economic opportunities to put Americans back to work.

October 20, 2009

ACTION ITEMS

1. Reform the tax code to help U.S. companies create jobs, put Americans back to work.

a. Accelerate the phase-in of the 9 percent domestic manufacturing tax deduction by one year to take effect in 2009. Manzullo co-authored the original 2004 legislation that rewarded manufacturers with a lower tax rate on the products they made in America;

b. Make permanent the $250,000 maximum expensing allowance for small business;

c. Increase the tax deduction to $20,000 for starting a small business;

d. Provide a 20 percent tax deduction for income derived from small business;

e. Increase the meals and entertainment tax deduction to 80 percent for small business;

f. Extend the carry-back period for net operating losses to 7 years;

g. Provide a standard $1,500 tax deduction for home offices (and indexed for inflation);

h. Clarify the tax definition of an independent contractor;

i. Cut the corporate tax rate to 25 percent;

j. Eliminate the job-killing "death tax" that destroys family businesses and is scheduled to return at 55 percent with a vengeance in 2011;

k. Make the 15 percent capital gains tax rate permanent;

l. Make the 15 percent dividends tax rate permanent;

m. Make permanent the Research and Development tax credit and to increase the amount of this credit for companies who commit to maintain more than 50 percent of production in the United States;

n. Extend to all buyers and increase to $15,000 the tax credit for purchasing a home, gradually phasing it out over time, to help revive the struggling home construction and real estate industry;

o. Make the current individual tax rates permanent to prevent small employers (85 percent of small business owners pay individual, not corporate taxes) and other Americans from being hit with huge tax increases in the coming years. Small employers create 70 percent of all new jobs each year.

2. Make health care more affordable and accessible to Americans without a government takeover that would cost millions of jobs, reduce quality and choice, and increase our debt for generations to come.

1. Enact Association Health Plans (AHPs) to allow small businesses to band together to purchase health insurance at more affordable group rates. More than 50 percent of the uninsured work for small employers who can't afford to offer them health insurance;

2. Allow the self-employed to purchase health care insurance before paying the Social Security/Medicare payroll (FICA) tax, effectively reducing premiums by nearly 15 percent;

3. Give individuals the same tax treatment to purchase health insurance as employers;

4. Provide more tax incentives to encourage individuals to purchase consumer-driven Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), which have reduced costs significantly for many Americans; and

5. Pursue significant medical lawsuit reform to reduce costs and discourage unnecessary tests.

6. Create refundable tax credits to help low-income Americans purchase health insurance.

7. Preserve high-quality health care through America's community health clinics.

3. Enact an "all you can create" energy plan that promotes innovation, conservation, and responsible production of energy as a way to achieve America's energy independence and a cleaner, healthier planet.

1. The American Energy Innovation Act represents a fiscally responsible approach to reducing our dependence on foreign energy, providing a cleaner environment, and putting Americans to work by:

· Encouraging innovation within the energy market to create the renewable fuel options and energy careers of tomorrow.

· Promoting greater conservation and efficiency by providing incentives for easing energy demand and creating a cleaner, more sustainable environment.

· Increasing the production of American energy by responsibly utilizing all available resources and technologies and streamlining burdensome regulations.

1. The pro-taxpayer legislation stands in stark contrast to legislation working its way through Congress that would implement a cap-and-trade system in the United States, drastically limiting energy usage, increasing energy costs by up to $1,700 per family per year (according to the Congressional Budget Office), and putting nearly 5 million more Americans out of work.

4. Review and eliminate burdensome and unnecessary government regulations that stifle economic growth and cost American jobs.

1. Give more power and authority to the Chief Counsel at the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration (SBA) to challenge poorly-crafted Executive Branch regulations to ensure proposed rules do not hinder growth of the small business sector.

5. Reform our government procurement policies and require federal agencies to follow "Buy American" laws" to ensure our government is doing business with companies in the United States.

1. Apply the "Berry amendment," which requires the Pentagon to purchase certain products (such as textiles and specialty metals) only from America, to goods that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) buys and

2. Have a "time-out" on allowing any more countries, particularly China, to join the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that removes domestic sourcing preferences in what the U.S. government buys.

6. Level the playing field for American companies doing business in the global marketplace while reforming our export control policies to help U.S. companies sell more goods overseas, create American jobs.

1. Include currency misalignment or manipulation as a government subsidy in order to allow U.S. companies to file a trade case against foreign competitors to obtain higher countervailing duties or tariffs against imports that receive an unfair trade advantage of a deliberately devalued foreign currency;

2. Enact the U.S.-Colombia and the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreements (FTAs);

3. Update and modernize our nation's export control laws so that U.S. high technology products, to which there are equivalent foreign competitors, are not disadvantaged in sales abroad; and

4. Reform the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) inter-agency process within the Executive Branch to develop a more comprehensive national trade strategy to promote U.S. exports abroad both through more effective market-opening agreements and export promotion programs. Top on the list is to re-negotiate the auto provisions of the U.S.-Korea FTA to remove Korea's discriminatory tax and regulatory schemes against imported vehicles in order to sell more U.S.-made cars in Korea.

7. Secure America's borders, create mandatory work authorization verification and reduce illegal immigration through interior enforcement.

1. No amnesty for illegal immigrants who still reside in the United States;

2. No expansion of current visa policies during times of high unemployment in order to free up all potential jobs for Americans to possibly fill.

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