(I'm an idea guy. Not sure if anyone proposed this but I am bringing this up for the DKos community to comment/hack/heckle/improve upon. I plan on sending this idea up to my local, state and federally elected officials. Thanks.)
Outsourcing has decimated domestic manufacturing and services in our country. The federal government encouraged outsourcing in the past and more must be done to encourage companies to stay in the US.
One idea I came up with is the Federal Groupon Program (or something similar to avoid copyright infringement).
Federal Groupon program: Companies providing domestic goods/services that participate in a “Federal Groupon-style” program and give a discount can receive an equal matching discount from the federal government up to 5%. For example if Domestic Company A gives a 5% Groupon discount, the Federal government will match the discount at 5%. The buyer ends up with a 10% discount on the good/service. This helps domestic companies compete with multinational corporations that send manufacturing overseas to reduce labor costs. To encourage participation, companies in this Federal Groupon-style program will have a “leg up or preference” over other companies when competing for federal contracts.
I suggest initially, that we use oil subsidy money to pay for the program. (Other ideas for paying the program are welcome.)
Companies based in the US are eligible. Those that have headquarters outside the US to avoid tax laws are not eligible.
What I’m trying to do here is get more people to buy locally. This provides a bigger impact in the local economy. By paying for a domestic good/service, you are paying the wage of an American worker who will use his paycheck to (hopefully) buy domestic goods/services. Paying for something made overseas will pay the overseas worker and help THAT country’s economy, not OURS.
Again this is one idea. Hopefully, there are others with ideas out there that can stimulate the economy. While getting this passed by the current Congress will be nearly impossible, we as Democrats must remain the party that says “Yes, We Can” instead of the party that says “No, We Can’t”. Come 2012, we can show voters that we have solutions that can help our nation rebuild. Just elect us and we can give a helping hand like with this Federal Groupon program.