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Obama also has called for a minimum 30 percent tax rate on annual incomes of more than $1 million. Business interests claim it could harm small and medium-sized manufacturers who file tax returns as individuals. Obama's sharp focus on reviving manufacturing isn't shared by all Democrats. "Let's not fool ourselves. We're not going to have the kind of manufacturing-based economy we had 30 or 40 years ago," says Robert Reich, labor secretary under President Bill Clinton. And Christina Romer, who headed the president's Council of Economic Advisers from 2009-2010, says it is wrong to suggest that producing "real things" is more important than "services." "American consumers value health care and haircuts as much as washing machines and hair dryers. Our earnings from exporting architectural plans for a building in Shanghai are as real as those from exporting cars to Canada," she wrote. Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said his organization agrees with Obama in part, that "manufacturers are poised for a renaissance." "The good news is everybody is talking about manufacturing today. Even on the Super Bowl, you saw ad after ad referring to the promise and the potential of manufacturing in America," he said. The bad news? It is still "20 percent more expensive to manufacture in the United States than it is anywhere else in the world," Timmons said. Obama supporters argue his proposals would help make U.S. factories more competitive. One much-discussed Super Bowl ad was a Chrysler spot featuring actor Clint Eastwood that celebrates Detroit, suggesting it was near collapse until the residents "all pulled together." Eastwood implores the nation to do the same. Some Republicans called the spot a valentine to Obama's auto bailout. Eastwood insists it was apolitical. Despite the job losses, the U.S. remains an exporting powerhouse, right behind No. 1 China and vying with Germany for the No. 2 rank. U.S. factories have steadily become more advanced and automated, requiring only a fraction of the workers previously needed. Yet, China is beginning to take some market share from the U.S. in exporting advanced products and equipment, said a report by the U.S. Business and Industry Council, which represents mainly family-owned companies. "These findings demolish the still-widespread view that Chinese economic competition can be safely downplayed because it's largely confined to cheap consumer goods," council official Alan Tonelson said.
[Associated
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