"Joe" wrote in message
...

I said we can debate the intentions of the *proposal* all you want, and I
will post the exact language for just that.

Ok, here is the exact text from the report from page 73-74 as referenced in
your CBS link. (link to full report
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/index.html )
You tell me were it recommends that fast food jobs should be classified as
manufacturing jobs.

Box 2-2: What Is Manufacturing?

The value of the output of the U.S. manufacturing sector as defined
in official U.S. statistics is larger than the economies of all but a
handful of other countries. The definition of a manufactured product,
however, 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?
The official definition of manufacturing comes from the Census
Bureau’s North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS.
NAICS classifies all business establishments in the United States into
categories based on how their output is produced. One such category
is "manufacturing." NAICS classifies an establishment as in the
manufacturing sector if it is "engaged in the mechanical, physical, or
chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into
new products."

This definition is somewhat unspecific, as the Census Bureau has
recognized: "The boundaries of manufacturing and other sectors… can
be somewhat blurry." Some (perhaps surprising) examples of manufacturers
listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics a bakeries, candy stores,
custom tailors, milk bottling and pasteurizing, fresh fish packaging
(oyster shucking, fish filleting), and tire retreading. Sometimes, seemingly
subtle differences can determine whether an industry is classified
as manufacturing. For example, mixing water and concentrate to
produce soft drinks is classified as manufacturing. However, if that
activity is performed at a snack bar, it is considered a service.
The distinction between non-manufacturing and manufacturing
industries may seem somewhat arbitrary but it can play an important
role in developing policy and assessing its effects. Suppose it was
decided to offer tax relief to manufacturing firms. Because the
manufacturing category is not well defined, firms would have an incentive
to characterize themselves as in manufacturing. Administering the tax
relief could be difficult, and the tax relief may not extend to the firms
for which it was enacted.

For policy makers, the blurriness of the definition of manufacturing
means that policy aimed at manufacturing may inadvertently distort
production and have unintended and harmful results. Whenever
possible, policy making should not be based upon this type of
arbitrary statistical delineation.