Eligibility for the deduction is broader than one might initially believe. Traditional manufacturers of tangible personal property are eligible, but so are engineers, architects, film producers, developers of software, and firms involved in real property construction and renovation, among others. Of course, only production activity within the United States qualifies for the tax break, as implied by the deductions name.
The Domestic Manufacturing Tax Deduction - Real Opportunities, Real Savings
Let's just cherry-pick the oil industry and get all those billions back that was handed to them by the taxpayers. As Obama said "they're doing just fine on their own".
When you pay personal income taxes, do you consider that money to be yours first and foremost?
If you earn it by working, if it shows up in the form of a paycheck, if you deposit it in the bank - it was at one time in your posession.
But somehow the oil and gas industry is so unique, so special, that the President feels it is his duty to single it out and declare that "they're doing just fine on their own". And he predicates it by saying that we can have one million electric vehicles on our roads paid for by taking billions of dollars that belong to the industry in the first place.
What is the connection? Where is the logic?
What is going to power thse electric vehicles? Will it be solar (only on a sunny day), wind (only when there is a stiff breeze), hydro (environmentalist are trying to destroy every dam built), natural gas, oil (imported), coal, or nuclear. How does that polute, less?