The past year has seen the appointment of various so-called czars. We have had them over the years to deal with drugs, autos, bailouts, energy and other pressing issues and crises. The record of success for czars has been spotty some more effective than others. But putting someone in charge with a mandate to act, regulate and oversee is not essentially a bad idea. So what’s an overlooked crisis in need of a czar: the Made in America crisis.

Let’s ask the White House to appoint a czar to gin up support for Made in America products. Our Make-It-in- America Czar could clamp down on runaway companies in search of cheap, exploited labor in dismal corners of the world. This czar could speak about, and against, trade agreements, that undercut our ability to produce here at home and from tax policies that motivate companies to go abroad. An independent czar could do that. A czar with a union background would recognize the worker’s rights issues that underlie so many aspects of the current jobs crisis.

 A Make-It-in- America czar could galvanize and direct activity in communities and states that want to generate industrial development. Our new czar could cut red tape, find funding and help write legislation aimed at re-industrializing America.  This new czar could also be a watchdog and enforcer of the Buy American regulations on federal expenditures that are too lightly enforced now.

Any of these efforts would be welcome, especially so, if the Make-It-in- America czar was an unapologetic friend of the Labor Movement.  So, President Obama, I call upon you to appoint a Make-It-in- America czar. We need to get our domestic industry re-energized in just the way that your administration demonstrated that it could do with the auto industry and the banks. Of course, it’s not simply a matter of pumping billions into a few enterprises and that’s why a czar with a broader perspective is required.

I’d also like to suggest that our friends in Congress could step up and create a Make-It-in- America and Union Jobs Caucus. Certainly, Congress has plenty of other caucuses and factions and this one merits support, too. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “In November, there were 2.2 million marginally attached workers, 9.2 million involuntary part-timers, and 15.4 million unemployed workers in the United States, for a total of 26.9 million workers who are either unemployed or underemployed.  This represents 17.2% of U.S. workers, up from 8.7% at the beginning of the downturn in December 2007.”  Those figures point to the need for shoring up one America’s historical portals to the middle class: industrial work. A Congressional caucus could give focus to this concern.

The economic and other well-known advantages of union representation are bestowed beyond the unionized workplace. Communities, merchants, non-unionized workers and public and private institutions and agencies benefit from the example set by union workers. A Congressional caucus could help to spread these advantages.

If we can have a czar to figure out the appropriate pay for the bankers that President Obama has called “fat cats,” we can afford a czar to figure out how to reindustrialize America. Having a Congressional caucus to back up the czar seems like a good idea, too.