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Corporate tax havens, a "territorial tax" proposal that would give corporations more legitimate ways to avoid U.S> taxes, and the way current tax laws encourage companies to move jobs and profits out of the country and proposed solutions are among the topics covered in this briefing for progressive bloggers and media hosted by Dave Johnson.
The discussion highlights how various tax schemes have contributed to the hollowing out of the middle class, and the proposals being offered in Congress now to enact progressive tax reform.

Featured in this discussion is Steve Wamhoff from Citizens for Tax Justice and Frank Clemente from Americans for Tax Fairness.

Dave Johnson is interviewed by Matthew Filipowicz.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., participates in a conference call on reviving a "Make It In America" manufacturing strategy with Robert Borosage of the Campaign for America's Future and Scott Paul of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. That agenda includes cracking down on China’s currency manipulation and violations of trade rules, tightening up “Buy America” federal contracting provisions and encouraging federal investments that would boost the manufacturing sector.

» Related: "Sen. Chris Murphy Readies His Next ‘Make It In America’ Jobs Push"

Three hundred and fifty prominent economists issued a statement warning that “the fragile recovery is threatened by obsessive concern with cutting deficits that has infected both parties.” The economists from universities and research groups across the U.S. and the world reminded politicians that the U.S. economy in the post-election period is still “marked by mass unemployment, rising poverty, and declining wages.” And they warned that big spending cuts aimed at reducing deficits could throw the economy back into recession.

At a news conference, the co-authors of the statement, Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey, co-directors of the Institute for America’s Future and by Robert Kuttner, founder of The American Prospect, were joined by two of the signers, Robert Pollin, University of Massachusetts Economist and co-director of Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and Teresa Ghilarducci, Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the The New School.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, speaks to reporters and online writers about legislation designed to curb currency manipulation by China and other countries, and the impact that unfair China trade practices has had on his congressional district. He is the cosponsor of the legislation. Also on the call is Scott Paul, director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, and Dave Johnson of the Campaign for America's Future.

Paul Ryan gave the following speech to the Atlas Society in 2005. Details at www.atlassociety.org. Partial transcript available here.