Sure it would...if it were true. But it's not.

C'mon, NOYB. Do all the rw news sources really keep you guys that insulated?

Or are you maintaining that the President's plan, outlined in the economic
report of late February, simply hasn't been implemented yet?

A few excerpts from the web:

*******************

February 24, 2004
Rep. Dingell Challenges Mankiw on Fast-Food "Manufacturing" jobs
Again, thanks to Atrios for the pointer. Rep. John Dingell, of Michigan, wrote
a letter to CEA Chairman Mankiw this week, not only challenging the absurd
classification of fast-food workers as “manufacturing jobs� but doing so
with such humor that I rolled on the floor laughing – a rare thing when
reviewing the Administration’s hijinks these days. Here are some fun
quotes, but I recommend reading the whole thing:

I am sure the 163,000 factory workers who have lost their jobs in Michigan will
find it heartening to know that a world of opportunity awaits them in high
growth manufacturing careers like spatula operation, napkin restocking, and
lunch tray removal.

Dingell goes on to ask key questions about this new trend in job creation,
however:

Will federal student loans and Trade Adjustment Assistance grants be applied to
tuition costs at Burger College?

Will special sauce now be counted as a durable good?

*****************************
(CBS) Manufacturing jobs making things like airplane engines, cars and farm
equipment are disappearing from the American economy.

Or are they? According to a White House report, new manufacturing jobs might be
as close as your nearest drive-thru.

The annual Economic Report of the President has already stirred controversy by
suggesting the loss of U.S. jobs overseas might be beneficial, and predicting
that a whopping 2.6 million jobs will be created in the country this year.

As first reported by The New York Times, the fast food issue is taken up on
page 73 of the lengthy report in a special box headlined "What is
manufacturing?"

"The definition of a manufactured product," the box reads, "is not
straightforward."

"When a fast-food restaurant sells a hamburger, for example, is it providing a
'service' or is it combining inputs to 'manufacture' a product?" it asks.

Manufacturing is defined by the Census Bureau as work involving employees who
are "engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of
materials, substances, or components into new products."

But, the president's report notes, even the Census Bureau has acknowledged that
its definition "can be somewhat blurry," with bakeries, candy stores, custom
tailors and tire retreading services considered manufacturing.

"Mixing water and concentrate to produce soft drinks is classified as
manufacturing," the president's report reads. "However, if that activity is
performed at a snack bar, it is considered a service."

The report does not recommend that burger-flippers be counted alongside factory
workers.

Instead, it concludes that the fuzziness of the manufacturing definition is
problematic, because policies — like, for example, a tax credit for
manufacturers — may miss their target if the definition is overly broad or
narrow.

But reclassifying fast food workers as manufacturing employees could have other
advantages for the administration.

It would offset somewhat the ongoing loss of manufacturing jobs in national
employment statistics. Since the month President Bush was inaugurated, the
economy has lost about 2.7 million manufacturing jobs, according to the federal
Bureau of Labor Statistics. That continues a long-term trend.

And the move would make the growth in service sector jobs, some of which pay
low wages, more appealing. According to government figures, since January 2001
the economy has generated more than 600,000 new service-providing jobs.

The annual economic report — most of which consists of charts and statistics
— has been the focus of unusual scrutiny this year, perhaps reflecting the
presidential campaign and concern about the lack of job creation despite an
ongoing recovery.

The report first touched off a furor with a statement regarding the
"outsourcing" of U.S. jobs overseas, where wages are lower.

"When a good or service is produced at lower cost in another country, it makes
sense to import it rather than to produce it domestically. This allows the
United States to devote its resources to more productive purposes," the report
read.

The statement, which reflects standard economic theory about the efficiencies
of trade, was denounced by Democrats and Republicans alike.

"These people, what planet do they live on?" asked Democratic presidential
candidate and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.

Even Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert wrote to the White House
protesting at the claim.

The president's top economic adviser and the lead author of the report, Gregory
Mankiw, replied to Hastert that "My lack of clarity left the wrong impression
that I praised the loss of U.S. jobs."

Critics of the White House also seized on a chart in the report that suggested
the administration expects 2.6 million new jobs by the end of the year.

"I've got a feeling this report was prepared by the same people who brought us
the intelligence on Iraq," said Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a
Massachusetts senator.

The White House insisted the figure was just an estimate.

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***************************

HIGHTOWER: Bush Creates New Manufacturing Jobs!

By Jim Hightower, AlterNet
March 9, 2004

I have excellent news, Americans! The Bu****es have come up with a sure-fire
plan to increase the number of manufacturing jobs in the USA!


Yes, while Democrats merely complain about the demise of such jobs, George W
and his team are stepping forward with a creative, can-do solution that, I
think, can only be described as astonishing.


Their plan is proposed in the "Economic Report of the President." In it, George
W's top economists assert that all of those people working in such fast food
joints as McDonalds and Subway really are not part of the service economy –
but more accurately should be reclassified as manufacturing workers, just as
those who make cars and other industrial products. After all, contend Bush's
crack team of job classifiers, when you insert that meat patty, lettuce,
cheese, and ketchup into a sliced bun, you are engaged in the combining of
inputs to "manufacture" a product, no less so than those who assemble
electronic parts to manufacture, say, a computer.


Bush's innovative economists also note that manufacturing is officially defined
as "the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials into new
products," and, they claim, when you heat ground beef, you are, in fact,
chemically transforming it into a burger.


Of course, if Bush can redefine hundreds of thousands of hamburger flippers as
manufacturing workers, then he can statistically hush the critics who've been
pointing to the drastic decline in these production jobs. There's another
upside for the Bu****es, too – since manufacturing gets special tax breaks,
suddenly Bush's backers in the fast-food industry serendipitously qualify.


I'm with Bush on this one. After, all, by assembling nouns, verbs, and whatnot,
I have manufactured this piece, and by applying the chemistry of my tiny brain
cells, I have transformed raw words into a new product. Manufacturers of the
world, unite! Now, where do I go to get my tax break?

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