Yesterday, the Senate approved a huge new tax bill, with half of the $143B in tax cuts coming in the form of a write-off for manufacturers.
That sounds pretty clear-cut. Manufacturers are, of course, in a lot of financial trouble, thanks to NAFTA. In Southside Virginia, textile and furniture manufacturers have been closing, laying off massive chunks of their workforce, or declaring bankruptcy, resulting in Martinsville having the highest level of unemployment in the state. So a $77B tax break might be a needed way to to help manufacturers in the U.S., and Bush could claim a victory in reinvigorating the manufacturing sector of the economy.
Naturally, that’s not how it shook out. Instead, the Bush administration redefined “manufacturer.”
Who is a manufacturer now? Who isn’t! Plumbers, architects, farmers, oil drillers, gas explorers, software makers (that’s me!), filmmakers, food processors and even baristas, they’re all manufacturers. When Bush signs this bill, as he will surely do, with the stroke of a pen, he’ll turn hundreds of thousands of Americans into employees in the “manufacturing” sector. Hundreds of thousands of new “manufacturing” jobs will have been “created,” which will surely be a sign that his tax cuts are working and the economy isn’t sliding deeper-still into a $54/barrel recession, but instead rebounding and growing at a tremendous pace, what with all of the new manufacturers (making cappuccino and growing alfalfa).
I’m feeling more optimistic already. Bring on my tax cut.