Jeff Schuster

The Obama administration will announce a push today for a $5-billion boost to a tax credit for green manufacturing, along with a seven-point plan to slow job losses at U.S. manufacturers.

The plans come as Vice President Joe Biden hosts business leaders this afternoon to talk over ways to boost jobs in a sector that employs fewer Americans now than it did in World War II.

The administration’s plans tout U.S. manufacturing as a source of strength for the economy in areas such as fuel-efficient vehicles and biotechnology. But the plan faces several tough hurdles to taking effect, including international trade, government spending and relations with China.

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In the quest to secure 60 votes for cap-and-trade legislation, bill sponsors can point to almost any member of the Democratic Senate majority as a “must have” vote.

But, at least in the early days of the debate over the Kerry-Boxer climate change package, perhaps no single Democrat has received as much attention as Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, who has become an absolute “make or break” vote for the majority.

The first-term senator is one of several Midwestern Democrats currently on the fence over the bill, and there are others on that list who have more seniority and, perhaps, more power to shape major legislation. The only committee on which Brown sits that figures to get a crack at the bill is Agriculture.

Nevertheless, Brown is a pivotal litmus test in the ability of Democratic leadership to bring other moderate senators on board.

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