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Thursday, January 12, 2012
China is ‘unfairly keeping its currency low,’ U.S. Rep. Turner says
By Steve Bennish Staff Writer
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, Thursday spoke about the bill pending in the House aimed at allowing penalties to be levied against nations found to be manipulating their currencies.
“When you look at currency manipulation, China is unfairly keeping its currency low. Their products come here cheaper than our products,” Turner said.
As for background, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, on Wednesday visited HARCO manufacturing in Moraine accompanied by local elected officials, urging that the House pass the bill.
The Senate passed a Brown-authored bill in 2011 by a 63-35 vote. Brown cited a study from the Economic Policy Institute that suggest eliminating Chinese currency manipulation that undervalues their products from 25 to 40 percent could create more than 2 million U.S. jobs and revive the manufacturing industry.
The House version of the bill has a majority 230 co-sponsors, but Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester, refuses to allow a vote, saying it could spark a trade war. “Passing legislation that could seriously damage the United States’ important trade relationship with China would threaten Ohio jobs as well as future economic growth,” a spokeswoman told the Dayton Daily News.
Brown rejects that.
“Many of my colleagues say that standing up for Ohio manufacturers would start a trade war with China. But we’re already in a trade war. This is about fighting back with one of the biggest bipartisan jobs bill the Senate has seen this year. We’ve lost millions of jobs to China - including more than 100,000 Ohio jobs - due in no small part to that country’s illegal currency manipulation. It’s time to put American workers first. We cannot stand by and watch any longer as our factories close down and entire communities undergo total devastation. Rhetoric has done little to solve the problem, and Ohio manufacturers and workers have paid the price.”
Here are Rep. Turner’s complete comments Thursday:
“Well, I am a co-sponsor of the Anti-Currency Manipulation Bill on the House side. One thing is for certain. We see that we lose jobs in (the) manufacturing sector when we are in situations where China fails to play by the rules (and) when we have unfair competition, product dumping, currency manipulation. This costs American jobs. We should address it. They should be held accountable. When we have fair competition, American jobs survive and thrive and that should be our goal.”
“When you look at currency manipulation, China is unfairly keeping its currency low. Their products come here cheaper than our products. If they’re forced to allow their currency to float, their products then would be accurately valued and our products would be able to compete,” Turner said. “I think people understand that this is an issue of unfair competition. This is an issue of we’re losing jobs as a result of they’re either dumping product or manipulating their currency or unfair trade practices.”
“There is an ongoing debate as to what action to take.I am a co-sponsor of the bill that would hold China accountable. This is a bill that I think would make certain that China has to take action, float its currency more, so that we can protect our jobs here.”
“Support from manufacturing is incredibly important because these aren’t just the jobs of the past, this is how we create wealth and jobs in our economy. These are the jobs that need to be protected. Certainly, an area where our government needs to step in (is) where other governments are not playing by the rules and are costing American jobs. Certainly, this is something that Congress needs to address.”
TweetPolitical map battle likely to continue
Although lawmakers agreed last month on a bill that carves out 16 new congressional district maps, the arguing over how Ohio should draw legislative and congressional maps is not dying down.
This week, Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican who has been pushing for reform for seven years, urged House Speaker William Batchelder, R-Medina, to consider revamping the process as part of an overall update of the Ohio Constitution.
“There are many ways to improve upon the partisan, dysfunctional system that currently exists,” Husted wrote to Batchelder and members of the Constitutional Modernization Commission. “In my view, we need to find the right balance between three important virtues: compactness, competitiveness and maintaining communities of interest.”
Husted said the reforms could be accomplished through either the modernization commission or the special commission established in House Bill 369, which set the new districts. He said working through these two entities could position Ohio to have a proposed constitutional amendment by Aug. 8 so that it can go before voters in November.
“If we do not act, I believe outside groups will move forward with their own plans, without the benefit of the public input process and thorough review the Constitutional Modernization Commission is capable of providing,” Husted said.
Indeed, a coalition of election reform groups sent a letter to legislative leaders this week, calling for a non-partisan citizens panel to draw the political maps — not a bipartisan panel loaded with politicians who may have conflicts of interest.
The group, which includes the League of Women Voters of Ohio and Common Cause Ohio, said it is working on a constitutional amendment to present to voters this fall.
In 2005, Ohio voters defeated four citizen-initiated election reform proposals, including one that would have created a new legislative district drawing authority.
Currently, the redistricting processes are controlled by the majority party in power after the U.S. Census is taken. The Ohio Apportionment Board, which consists of the governor, secretary of state, state auditor, House speaker and Senate president, draws legislative maps and the General Assembly draws congressional maps.
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TweetE-filing for state taxes is open
The state of Ohio opened its doors this week for Ohioans who want to file their 2011 income or school district tax return electronically.
Last year, eight out of 10 taxpayers filed electronically.
Electronic filers typically see their tax refund direct deposited in their bank accounts within five to seven business days, which is quicker than with paper returns, according to the state Department of Taxation.
Electronic tax returns can be filed through I-File, a web-based program, a commercial software product such as TurboTax, or TeleFile, which is Ohio’s dial-by-phone filing method.
The state is no longer automatically mailing return forms and booklets to individual filers but the paperwork is still available at libraries, banks and post offices. The paper forms will also be mailed upon request.
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