Our state is going through some tough times but we are fighting back.

We pulled together and saved the auto industry.  Now we are re-tooling the plants, investing in advanced technologies and preparing to build the cars of the future. 

We are moving in the right direction with 28 straight months of job creation, but it is clear that the recovery is too slow for millions of unemployed workers, their families, and the businesses needing more consumer demand to spur their growth.

Congressional Republicans think they can slow walk the economy to the election, but next week when they go through the motions on yet another health care repeal vote that is going nowhere, the American people will see through their smokescreen and know that their agenda is simply one of inaction.

Democrats have a ‘Make it in America’ plan, and we have introduced four pieces of legislation in the last four weeks with bi-partisan support as part of our ‘No Excuses’ agenda that Republicans could pass immediately.

The Invest in America Now Act, H.R. 5974, extends 100 percent bonus depreciation through 2012. One hundred percent Bonus depreciation is a bipartisan provision that, before it expired at the end of 2011, gave businesses an incentive to make major capital investments now by allowing them to write off the entire cost of a major purchase in the year it is made rather than depreciate those expenses over many years. It benefits over two million businesses. The Treasury Department estimated when bonus depreciation was originally expanded to 100 percent in 2010 that it could support up to $50 billion in new investment. The Invest in America Now Act would offset the cost of this incentive by repealing the Section 199 manufacturing deduction for the Big Five oil and gas companies.

Extending 100 percent bonus depreciation has broad bipartisan support and there is no reason for House Republicans not to move the legislation immediately. An extension of 100 percent bonus depreciation – which expired at the end of 2011 – was included in the President’s budget, the Majority’s December 2011 payroll tax bill, and in Rep. Pat Tiberi’s H.R. 4196, a bipartisan bill to extend bonus depreciation that has 48 Democratic and Republican co-sponsors. The provision is also included in Sen. Reid’s Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act of 2012.

The Wind Powering American Jobs Act would extend the Production Tax Credit through 2013, providing a 2.2-cent-a-kilowatt-hour credit for electricity produced by wind turbines. Under the measure, wind project developers could continue to choose to instead receive a 30 percent investment tax credit. The Production Tax Credit, established in 1992, has helped lead to tremendous growth within the windy energy industry. The extension is paid for by repealing dual capacity taxpayer benefits for the Big Five integrated oil companies, which continue to reap record profits.

The Hire Now Act would provide a 10 percent income tax credit for firms that create new jobs or increase wages in 2012. Under the legislation a firm can increase its payroll by either hiring additional workers or raising the salary of existing workers. The credit is targeted to middle class jobs and wages and because the credit is based on Social Security wages, companies would receive no credit for wages above $110,100. It would be paid for by repealing LIFO and Intangible Drilling Costs (IDCs) for the Big Five integrated oil companies.

Ways and Means Committee Democrats introduced legislation to extend the Research and Development Tax Credit through 2012, the latest bipartisan measure Committee Democrats have unveiled as part of their No Excuses agenda to encourage Republicans to finally act on jobs legislation. The R&D Tax Credit – a 20 percent credit for certain research expenditures -- expired at the end of 2011, despite its proven effectiveness and broad bipartisan support. The legislation, the Investing in American Innovation Act of 2012, would provide an incentive to companies to invest in research at the level that is most beneficial for the overall economy. In 2009, the last year for which data is available, more than 12,000 firms claimed the R&D Credits related to nearly $100 billion in qualified research expenses. The measure is paid for by limiting treaty shopping and ending the special depreciation for corporate jets

The American public deserves to know that each and every day we are doing everything we can do to support and strengthen the economic recovery.