Clinton's $7 billion 'insourcing' plan
Posted: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 1:10 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Hillary Clinton used an “economic summit” here Wednesday to announce another piece of her jobs program, a proposal to provide $7 billion a year in tax incentives and investment for firms that create jobs in America.
The plan, launched on the final day of a tour focusing on the economy, would promote what the New York senator terms "insourcing" of jobs. Clinton would pay for it in the same way she has proposed financing many of her plans, by closing "loopholes in our tax code" so that companies are not rewarded for shipping jobs overseas.
"We have to get back to really answering the call to America to seize the future once again. I obviously believe we can do this. I'm confident and optimistic," she said. "Today I'm announcing my 'Insourcing' agenda. You know, we hear so much about outsourcing. We all know what that is. It's when we lose jobs to other countries and I want to put and end to that."
The plan, she said, would help promote research centers around the country by encouraging partnerships between universities, private businesses and state and local governments, provide $5 billion in tax credits to companies to help them compete globally and would invest $500 million a year to encourage the creation of clean energy jobs.
"Today I'm proposing one of the largest expansions of tax benefits for research and job growth in a generation,” she said. “We have to update our tools for rewarding innovation. The research-and-development tax credit, for example, has been a successful, cost-effective tool to increase investment in research jobs here in the United States. When I'm president, we will increase it by 50 percent. We'll also invest in basic research."
As the former first lady was proposing new policy, her rival Obama announced he had received the endorsement of former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton, who was a chairman of both the Iraq Study Group and the Sept. 11 commission. Hamilton is not a superdelegate, but he could give Obama a boost in Indiana where Clinton has the backing of much of the Democratic establishment.
Clinton hosted the summit at the local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers training facility, after touring several research labs focusing on Alzheimer's disease, stem cell research and microbes.
