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Keeping an Eye on the Bottom Line and Good Jobs Here at Home

August 2, 2010
Opinion-Editorial

As a CPA, I understand the struggles that many San Fernando Valley families face when balancing their budgets. I am also aware of how tough the current economic situation is and the difficulty of finding good paying jobs. That is why, in Congress, I have focused on fighting the deficit and wasteful spending and looking for ways to create and preserve job opportunities, just like people are doing at home.

Fighting the Deficit and Wasteful Spending

The federal Office of Management and Budget recently reported that the U.S. government made $98 billion in overpayments to contractors in 2009. Government spending watchdogs in Iraq and Afghanistan have similarly reported billions in unaccounted spending and improper payments to contractors. That is why I worked to pass the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act that would crack down on wasteful government spending by helping to eliminate and recapture improper payments by the federal government to contractors. The bill has been sent to the Senate for consideration.

I also supported the IMPROVES Acquisition Act, which has also passed the House. This bill would reform the way we buy equipment for our military, saving the American taxpayer $135 billion over the next five years, while also ensuring that our troops have the equipment they need to accomplish their mission.

Keeping Good Jobs in America

I opposed the so-called “free trade” deals that send well-paying American jobs overseas, such as NAFTA and CAFTA. As chairman of a key subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I want President Obama to strip China of its most-favored-nation (MFN) status.

In 2000, Congress gave China permanent MFN status (I voted “no”). Since then, our annual trade deficit with Beijing has more than tripled, to $268 billion just prior to the onset of the global recession. China unfairly blocks U.S. products from its markets, ships toys with dangerous levels of lead to American children, and mass produces counterfeit DVDs and CDs of American films and music, hurting one of Southern California’s leading industries. This unequal trade relationship costs millions of good jobs for American workers while increasing our foreign debt.

Unbelievably, our current tax laws have allowed multinational corporations to avoid paying their fair share in taxes by hiring workers overseas. In addition to increasing the budget deficit, this actually promotes the outsourcing of U.S. jobs.

Our tax code should encourage companies to hire American workers, not provide tax breaks for outsourcing. That is why, I supported the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, which ends these international tax loopholes and encourages investment in the United States to create jobs here. Unfortunately, the Senate blocked that bill.

Congressman Brad Sherman represents portions of California’s San Fernando Valley.