The Republican Party frequently is supposed to be a pro-business party, but what’s most notable about recently introduced pro-business legislation is the total lack of Republican support for it.
H.R. 1912 (introduced by David Cicilline in the House) and its counterpart S. 1457 (introduced by Kirsten Gillibrand in the Senate), would shuffle money not to grandmothers, not to the poor, but to American businesses. That sounds like just the sort of thing that would warm the cockles of a Republican’s heart, but there are no Republican sponsors or cosponsors of this legislation. The 36 supporters of the legislation are all Democrats.
What makes this pro-business legislation repugnant to Republicans? We can begin by considering the aspects of the bill that make it different. It does not shuffle money to corporations that create jobs in overseas sweatshop havens where workers have no rights, no protection from poisons and scanty pay: it rewards businesses that invest in America by building manufacturing plants in America where worker rights are still protected. And it does not divert money to gigantic corporations: it supports small and medium-sized manufacturers. These differences have apparently driven Republicans away from the pro-business bill.
The following are the members of Congresswho support the Make It In America Act:
| Senate supporters of the Make It In America Act
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat-NY) — principal sponsor |
House supporters of the Make It In America Act
Rep. David Cicilline (Democrat-RI, District 1) — principal sponsor |