Watch for it, folks. This is the new agenda:
"As President, I have a responsibility to support jobs and opportunity for the American people, and I believe the US-India economic relationship can and should be a 'win-win' relationship for both of our countries," he told PTI.
He said his administration is "focused on America's economic recovery, investing in America's future, creating and keeping jobs in the United States, increasing our exports and providing incentives and creating conditions under which businesses can grow and prosper."
Making out a case for free access to American companies in India, the President said, "Our market is open to products, services and investment from around the world. We believe other countries, including India, should give US companies the same access to their markets that we give."
This is where Obama's diplomacy will be tested to its greatest extent, as the world economic community can smell blood in the water. As the President prepared for a major visit to Asia (which was put off because of the BP oil spill), he is promoting America's interests abroad and defending American jobs at a time when the American economy is increasingly dependent on foreign trade.
The Republican Party has supported "free" trade at the expense of American job creation for as long as I've been alive. And while outsourcing capitalism has been good for capitalists, it hasn't been good for America's economic self-interest.
Remember that President Obama brought this issue up in mid-October amid concerns that continuing weakness in consumer demand at home is hampering the economic recovery. In his weekly address on October 16, Obama called for Republicans to join him in closing tax loopholes for companies that create jobs overseas.
I want to close these tax loopholes. Instead, I want to give every business in America a tax break so they can write off the cost of all new equipment they buy next year. That’s going to make it easier for folks to expand and hire new people. I want to make the research and experimentation tax credit permanent. Because promoting new ideas and technologies is how we’ll create jobs and retain our edge as the world’s engine of discovery and innovation. And I want to provide a tax cut for clean energy manufacturing right here in America. Because that’s how we’ll lead the world in this growing industry.
These are commonsense ideas. When more things are made in America, more families make it in America; more jobs are created in America; more businesses thrive in America. But Republicans in Washington have consistently fought to keep these corporate loopholes open. Over the last four years alone, Republicans in the House voted 11 times to continue rewarding corporations that create jobs and profits overseas – a policy that costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year.
That doesn’t make a lot sense. It doesn’t make sense for American workers, American businesses, or America’s economy. A lot of companies that do business internationally make an important contribution to our economy here at home. That’s a good thing. But there is no reason why our tax code should actively reward them for creating jobs overseas. Instead, we should be using our tax dollars to reward companies that create jobs and businesses within our borders.
Obama's economic populism resonates with a majority of Republican voters who are increasingly dissatisfied with our dependence on foreign oil, our trade imbalance, and a flagging housing market. Obama must walk the line between economic protectionism and support of free trade, but I think the key word here is "fair" trade.
If you'll remember, during the 2008 campaign, one of the issues that came up during the primary season was the revision of trade agreements with Canada and Mexico. The new chief of the Council of Economic Advisors is Austan Goolsbee, the University of Chicago economics professor who made the news in March 2008 because of his meeting with Canadian ambassadors and his discussion about revising NAFTA. It's clear that President Obama wants to undo the failures of the Clinton Administration to protect American economic interests - a mistake that was repeated and amplified by Bush's forays into neoconservatism and globalization over the past decade.
Trade agreements are complex animals, and there is an almost religious fundamentalism about "free trade" among many Republicans and even some Democrats. But Obama's economic message, and his focus on domestic job creation, is likely to resonate with voters and help highlight the positive work of organized labor in the United States.