Obama launches ‘Made in America’ tour at Canadian-owned auto-parts plant

by WASHINGTON TIMES on FEBRUARY 13, 2013

At the start of a “Made in America” tour promoting American innovation and manufacturing, President Obama Wednesday visited a Canadian-owned auto parts plant to advocate a public-private partnership model created in Germany.

Mr. Obama, seeking to build momentum from his State of the Union address Tuesday night, called on Congress to approve a $1 billion network of 15 “innovation institutes” nationwide that would use federal funds to partner universities with manufacturers.

He touted the proposal at Linamar, a Canadian-owned auto-parts factory in Asheville, N.C., saying it would help the economic recovery.

“While we’re seeing signs of progress, we’re still a ways away from where we need to be,” Mr. Obama told workers at the plant. “I believe in manufacturing. There are things we can do right now to accelerate the resurgence of American manufacturing.”

His proposal isn’t new.

A year ago, Mr. Obama inserted the plan into his fiscal 2013 budget, but Congress didn’t approve it.

Instead, the administration created a $45 million pilot project that was awarded to Carnegie-Mellon and Case Western universities in conjunction with several different firms in Youngstown, Ohio.

The president intends to cobble money from the Defense and Energy departments to start up three more pilot programs this year, but he said the public needs to pressure Congress to pass the full $1 billion appropriation.

This article was written by Dave Boyer for the Washington Times; full article at theWashington Times …

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