Insourcing: Obama's new mantra

US President Barack Obama today said that it is time to focus on "insourcing" and not on outsourcing, which takes jobs outside the country.

In the coming weeks, Obama said, he would bring in policies that would discourage outsourcing and would provide incentives to companies that bring back jobs from overseas.

"You've heard of outsourcing. well, this is insourcing," Obama said in his weekly address to the nation.

On the video of the address, posted on the White House website, Obama displays 'Made in America' items.    

".. These products may not appear to have much in common. But they are united by three proud words: 'Made in America. They are manufactured by American workers, in American factories, and shipped to customers here and around the world," he said. The companies that make these products are part of a hopeful trend: they're bringing jobs back from overseas, Obama said.

Obama said this week he had invited business executives, that are insourcing jobs, to a forum at the White House.

"I told those CEOs what I will tell any business leader: ask yourself what you can do to bring more jobs back to the country that made your success possible. And I will make sure you have got a government that does everything in its power to help you succeed," he said. "That's why, in the next few weeks, I will put forward new tax proposals that reward companies that choose to do the right thing by bringing jobs home and investing in America and eliminate tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas," Obama said.

Obama also called on streamlining the structure and function of the American government to make it in tune with the 21st century economy.

Obama put forward a proposal to streamline government to make it easier for businesses large and small to get support in selling their products at home and around the world.

"Right now, we have a 21st century economy, but we've still got a government organised for the 20th century. Over the years, the needs of Americans have changed, but our government has not. In fact, it's gotten even more complex. And that has to change," Obama said.  "That's why I asked Congress to reinstate the authority that past presidents have had to streamline and reform the Executive Branch. This is the same sort of authority that every business owner has to make sure that his or her company keeps pace with the times," he said.

These changes will make it easier for small business owners to get the loans and support they need to sell their products around the world, he argued.