Senate Republicans allow India to momentarily breathe easy on outsourcing front

WASHINGTON - India, a key outlet for global outsourcing, especially from the United States, has been given some breathing space with Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocking a Democratic plan to encourage companies to bring jobs back from overseas.

According to the Washington Post, a united GOP caucus voted against a motion to debate the measure on the Senate floor. The motion failed 53 to 45.

The legislation would have raised taxes on corporations that shift operations overseas, costing U.S. jobs. It also would have awarded companies that bring jobs back from abroad by offering a two-year hiatus from payroll taxes for those positions.

After abandoning plans to extend middle class tax-cuts before the November elections, Senate Democrats turned to the outsourcing issue, which they view as politically potent because it shows concern for the heavy-manufacturing job losses that have devastated communities in Midwest and East Coast industrial states.

Democrats now plan to try to extend the tax cuts during a lame-duck session in mid-November.

The tax bill under consideration Tuesday included three parts: an end to tax deductions for expenses incurred when companies shutter a U.S. operation and shift the work abroad, a new tax on products once made in the United States but now manufactured by foreign workers and the payroll tax holiday.

All told, Democrats said the measure would have cost 720 million dollars over 10 years.

Business groups have strongly opposed the measure, saying it would hamper their efforts to compete in foreign markets. (ANI)