Core competency of Our Nation (CON)

It is quite common now to find commentators vilifying OPEC, India, China, and others for the oil crisis and stating that we can achieve energy independence by drilling off-shore and in ANWR. There is a lot of angst expressed regarding the trade deficit we have with other nations, particularly China.
One of our core competencies that we can leverage into a valuable export commodity (and achieve independence) is marketing of the political system and its actions. Some readers may question this competency when the approval ratings of the President (23%, according to LA Times/Bloomberg poll, 6/19/2008-6/23/2008) and of Congress ( 19%, according to FOX/Opinion Dynamics RV poll, 6/17/2008-6/18/2008) are lower than the water table in the California desert. The key is to comprehend what the ratings would be in the absence of the exceptional marketing skills deployed by the politicians.

As an example, in 2004, I had written about a new bill Congress had passed, the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004" in an article titled "LEARNING FROM THE BEST- CREATIVE BRANDING CAMPAIGNS BY GOVERNMENT AND CONGRESS." In that piece I stated that "One of the items in this bill allows a U.S. corporation with a stake in certain foreign corporations may make a one-time election this year to shift foreign earnings to their U.S. headquarters at an effective 5.25% rate, instead of the typical 35% corporate rate. Another item reduces excise taxes on the sale of bows and arrows, fishing tackle boxes and sonar fish finders. While these initiatives might have been hard to sell on a stand-alone basis, the branding power of the JOBS bill enhances the marketing of them. This bill has been actively promoted by corporations and legislators alike as a key driver for job growth, since there are attractive elements for many constituencies."

The results of that bill are summarized in a New York Times article on 6/24/2008 titled "A One-Time Tax Break Saved 843 U.S. Corporations $265 Billion." There is no evidence that jobs were created due to this bill, primarily because this bill was directed towards multi-nationals. These firms never walked away from domestic investment opportunities because of lack of cash. Instead, they have been investing in emerging markets because that's where they are finding growth. Since money repatriated under the bill cannot be distinguished from money generated through operations, it is hard to identify how the money has been deployed. But large companies have been buying back stock in massive quantities, doing M&A, and giving massive dividends to shareholders. For example, in 2004, soon after the Bill was signed, Microsoft gave $32 billion in cash as a special dividend and announced a four year stock buyback of nearly the same amount.
The pharma companies saved healthy amounts of money, with Pfizer repatriating $37 billion and Merck $15 billion. IBM repatriated $9.5 billion. This was the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.

Politicians of all stripes are reviled everywhere. But the players in other countries can pay us to learn our CON and portray themselves as PRO citizenry while getting their pockets lined with lobbyists' generosity. This should appeal to elected leaders and wanting-to-be-elected leaders in many countries including China, President Bush's Katrina-gate images not withstanding.