May/Jun 2004 │ The Aluminum Association │
This November,
The Association has worked to provide the aluminum industry with voter tools to help our industry elect "pro-aluminum-manufacturing" policymakers. The web site www.aluminum.org and the BIPAC organization’s Prosperity Project provide companies voter registration and absentee ballot information and forms for each state. As candidates file for office, and votes that matter are cast, we'll present candidate guides and voting records.
We provide industry employees information to assist them casting their votes and becoming more involved in the electoral process. But we don't—and won't—tell them how to vote.
The political agenda for American business—the "Outline for Prosperity"—was developed by a coalition of business leaders as a statement of issues on which the business community is unified. It encourages, and we support, passage of an economic growth and job-creation package—and of long-term tax reform—that should include as many of the following as possible:
Tax: Permanent repeal of the death tax; elimination of double taxation of dividends; repeal of the corporate and individual AMT; reduction of corporate tax rates; enactment of enhanced permanent R&D tax credit legislation; and reduction of capital gains taxes.
Regulatory Policy: Requiring independent peer review to improve the quality of regulatory decisions; deregulation of functions where the marketplace or technology has made regulation unnecessary or inappropriate; streamlining of compliance and clarifying deadlines; and promotion of international harmonization of standards and regulatory processes.
Environment: Tax and other incentives promoting voluntary environmental policies—not prescriptive regulations; performance-based management for regulatory agencies where possible; emphasis on defining, measuring, and rewarding environmental results and reorienting core regulatory functions so they are driven by performance goals (not activity measures); a U.S. role in international organizations with environmental responsibilities; and using credible science and rules-based decision making to develop multinational regulatory programs.
Trade: Pursuit of bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade and tariff-reduction talks.
Energy: Encouraging federal, state, and local governments to implement a market-based national energy policy using all forms of energy, while ensuring the quality of the environment.
Healthcare: Public- and private-sector partnering to encourage healthcare solutions while avoiding imposition of new burdens that increase cost or limit access or options.
Between now and November, aluminum companies are encouraged to make their employees aware and motivated to register and vote “pro-aluminum.” Please use the voter tools at www.aluminum.org under the “Get Out the Vote” button.
Click Here to Get Involved!
Get-Out-the-Vote!
Get Active!
» Conduct a plant or facility tour
» Encourage telephone calls to legislators
» Send out Voter Guides and Candidate Questionnaires
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal export tax breaks ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization (WTO), but obstacles remain to its passage. The bill would replace existing tax breaks with new ones worth $160-170 billion over 10 years, many aimed at specific industries.
A House bill pushed by GOP leaders has stalled after dividing the majority Republicans—some claiming it gives multinationals too many tax breaks and U.S. manufacturers too few.
WTO authorized the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions for
Legislation is a critical step to ending these tariffs. We urge Congress to enact a law to comply with WTO rules, bolster our economy, and help manufacturers and other job creators.
