This document provides an overview of key economic issues and priorities for President Obama, House Republicans, business groups, and labor in 2013, and suggests local story ideas on these topics. It discusses Obama's focus on job creation, deficit reduction, and infrastructure investment, as well as Republican priorities around tax cuts, spending cuts, and energy development. Business groups want tax reform and immigration reform while labor advocates for infrastructure spending, trade reforms, and minimum wage increases. The document provides links to relevant data and examples of local angles to explore on these national economic debates.

1. As 2013 begins…
(At Least) 5 Local
Economic Stories to
Jump On Now
Day Two
Marilyn Geewax
NPR Senior Business Editor

2. What We Will Explore Today
• What Does President Obama Want?
• What Does the GOP-led House Want?
• What Do Business Groups Want?
• What Does Labor Want?
• How Can You Find Local Angles?

3. Let’s Start With Obama

4. What Does Obama Want?
• More Jobs
• Deficit Reduction
• Corporate-Tax Reform
• Immigration Reform
• More Green Energy
• Transportation-Infrastructure Upgrades
http://www.whitehouse.gov/economy

5. Job Losses – The Key Problem

6. Unemployment Shot Up
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

7. American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009

8. What Obama Would Do On Jobs
• Eliminate tax incentives for offshoring
• Cut taxes for businesses that hire workers
• Increase job training
• Boost spending on infrastructure
• Provide tax incentives for clean energy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blueprint

9. Offshoring: Find the Local Angle
• Offshoring Prevention Act
would end tax break that
rewards companies for
moving factories overseas.
• Is there a business in your
area that is offshoring?
• What’s the impact? More
jobs or fewer?
• Example:
http://tinyurl.com/aexkkr2

10. Lower Taxes To Spur Hiring
• Talk to local employers to
find out whether tax
incentives would spur hiring.
• Follow up when you hear
about hiring.
• DesMoinesRegister.com
looks at what’s on the state
Econ Dev board agenda and
finds some companies may
hire.
• http://tinyurl.com/bwcd3ry

11. Increase Job Training
• Community colleges are a
vital source of job training.
• Hang out at a community
college and learn what job
skills are “hot” in your area.
Who is getting hired?
• What is the relationship
between industry and the
local college?
• http://tinyurl.com/c9rd7z7

12. What local stories have you developed on
jobs?
NEEDS If so, what data
PICTURE did you use?
HERE
Photo by Flickr user MTAPhotos
If not, what obstacles kept you from
pursuing them?

13. Increase Infrastructure Spending
• The 2009 stimulus
package created a lot
of jobs. This would be
a good time to follow
up – what happened to
projects in your area?
• What is yet to come for
infrastructure?
• http://tinyurl.com/
bpkd9z3

14. Boost Support for Clean Energy
• Don’t think just
about factory jobs
– a lot of the
hiring involves
installation of
solar panels, wind
turbines, etc.
• And look at how
“green” jobs are
being financed.
http://
www.labor4sustainability.org/post/
california-steamin’/

15. What Do House Republicans Want?
• Lower Corporate Taxes
• Cut Federal Spending
• Expand Energy Extraction and Refining
• Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to
eliminate government guarantees of the
mortgage bonds they issue
http://www.speaker.gov/initiatives

16. GOP Has Had Few Wins Lately
Win McNamee/Getty Images

17. Lower Corporate Taxes
• This might actually
happen because lots of
people say rates should
be lower and loopholes
fewer.
• But “loopholes” may be
very important to your
local businesses, such
as the R&D tax credit or
rebates for expansion.
• http://tinyurl.com/
cxb944r

18. Cut Federal Spending
• Be fair when looking at
govt. spending. It’s easy
to do a story about jobs
lost when spending is
cut, but harder to find
businesses that grow
when government gets
out of the way. Look for
both sides.
• For example, military
bases are being turned
into private
developments.
• http://tinyurl.com/
cjpyhaf

19. What Does Business Want?
• Corporate-Tax Reform
• More Spending for Roads, Bridges, Ports
and Airports
• Immigration Reform
• Better Schools and Universities
• Tort Reform
http://tinyurl.com/b9ka87z

20. 3.6 Million Job Openings

21. More Immigrants to Fill Jobs
• Again, be sure to cover
both sides. Sometimes
immigrants do fill jobs
that U.S. citizens might
want, but sometimes
they fill slots that
otherwise would remain
empty. It’s complicated.
• http://tinyurl.com/
bowsfd8

22. Have you covered immigration and its
economic impact on your community?
If so, what did you
find?
Photo by Flickr user Fibonacci Blue
If not, what other local
labor stories have you
Protest in Minnesota against covered?
Arizona’s restrictive
immigration law, S.B. 1070.

23. What Does Labor Want?
• More Spending for Transportation,
Schools and Energy Infrastructure
• Trade-Policy Reforms
• More Federal Aid to State and Local
Governments to Prevent Layoffs
• Wall Street Reforms
• Minimum-Wage Hike
http://www.aflcio.org/Issues

24. 12 Million Unemployed Now
Nearly 5 million are long-term unemployed

25. Trade-Policy Reform
• Unions want to protect U.S.
jobs from low-wage, foreign
competition.
• Again, look for local angles
from both sides – the
company expanding thanks
to foreign customers, and
those shrinking because of
intense competition.
• http://tinyurl.com/cncc6v3

26. Global Trade Will Be a Top Issue