Democratic Presidential Candidate Has Absolutely No Credibility on Outsourcing Issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. – John Kerry today traveled to North Carolina seeking to instill fear in the state\’s voters on economic issues. This doom and gloom discussion is occurring despite the fact that the Department of Labor reported North Carolina employers continued to hire in July, adding an impressive 8,400 jobs. Even more striking is the fact that the statewide unemployment rate precipitously dropped from 5.5 percent in June to 5.0 percent in July.
With good economic news coming out of the state Kerry is now resorting to desperate measures by striking fear in voters over the issue of outsourcing. In his remarks he is now saying that he would support a measure allowing companies operating in foreign countries to reinvest their profits in the U.S. at a highly discounted rate. Ironically, Kerry voted against the same legislation in May 2003.
"John Kerry has once again switched his position and is supporting legislation he voted against just last year," said ATR President Grover Norquist. "The \’Invest in USA\’ act, which Kerry voted against, would have strengthened the Bush tax cuts and created even more jobs, but Kerry voted against it."
Last year, as part of the debate on the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, the Senate voted to include a measure that allows American companies to repatriate their foreign profits back into America at a lower tax rate of 5.25 percent, rather than the current corporate income tax rate of 35 percent. Economists estimate that the legislation would have generated $400 billion in investment revenue and created roughly 500,000 new jobs. John Kerry was just one of a handful of Senators that voted against this pro-growth, pro-jobs measure.
"Jobs are being created in North Carolina and Kerry has nothing to talk about except instilling fear in voters," continued Norquist. "If Kerry believes that this proposal will help stem outsourcing then his no vote last year is an explicit endorsement that he favors outsourcing or worst was voting on legislation he did not understand. Frankly, Kerry\’s credibility on the outsourcing issue is all but non-existent."