Obama And Romney Are Wrong: Outsourcing Is Actually America At Its Best

Forbes ^ | 07/28/2012 | Harry Binswanger

[SeekAndFind]

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are currently fighting over who is the more patriotic. Obama slams Romney for having outsourced jobs to China during his Bain Capital days. Romney punches back by labeling Obama “Outsourcer in Chief.” The latest is that both John Boehner and Harry Reid are voicing outrage over America’s made-in-China Olympic uniforms. “Burn them!” thunders Reid.

Republicans and Democrats strangely agree that outsourcing is unpatriotic, and that the moral and patriotic thing to do is to “Hire American” and “Buy American.”

Well, no. Not in a thousand years. The fear of outsourcing and international trade is economic nonsense and moral blindness. More than that: this anti-profit attitude is un-American.

Despite the ongoing Europeanization of America, America still symbolizes the land of freedom, entrepreneurship, profit-making, above all, individualism.

But collectivism is the premise of “Hire/Buy American”: we are to view ourselves and others not as individuals, but as units of a nation. Businesses are urged to pay more in labor costs, simply to hire workers who are American; consumers are urged to forgo Walmart’s low prices, pay more, simply because the pricier goods were made by “our guys.” This is not rational patriotism, it is not Americanism, it's primitive tribalism.

American individualism means making buying decisions on the basis of economic merit, giving no regard to the nationality or race of the seller. Let’s not hide behind patriotic-sounding slogans. Let’s name things straight for a change: giving preference to American sellers over foreign sellers is the same mindless injustice as giving preference to sellers who are white over those who are black.

Economic nationalism is as morally outrageous as racism. Buying on the basis of nationality or race is the same collectivist evil: judging men and their products by the group from which they come, not by merit.

[1rudeboy]

No, they merely point out (much to your consternation, and that of others), that raising taxes on ourselves is not good for our national security.

Heck, there's a guy on this thread who thinks doubling the price of gasoline is good for you, and the nation.

[virgil]

I’m sick of being told how offshoring jobs is good for us. They’ve been telling us this for decades and I don’t see the benefits. I lost a good job with good health insurance because of it. Those are facts, not theories. There’s an old saying...”don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining “. I appreciate your arguments.

[1rudeboy]

But many on this site say the U.S. has a bigger economy than China (that is bs).

[groan]
I am not aware of even the most committed of protectionists (I'm not speaking of random people on the internet) who argue that China has a larger economy than ours. They might exist, I suppose . . . if you come across one of them, I'd love to see it.

[1rudeboy]

Again, if the issue is "what is (or is not) good for you," then how badly do you want to shackle the U.S. economy so you get to keep your job?

It's really not that much different from the government spending $100K in order to create a job that pays $30K.

[rurgan]

China to build 50,000 skyscrapers and most are futuristic like nothing seen in the U.S. ever, with malls, housing and hotels in them already .
In the last 20 years China has moved 300 million peasants into the middle class.And they did it at our expense by stealing our technology and industry. China economy grew at average of 10% last 30 years. U.S. living standards going down . We could have had that growth China had if we made the stuff our own consumers use but nooo you free traitors won't have that only more debt for us.

Watch this video and you'll see how China is far ahead of the U.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7aXJ3VcmXw

What is the U.S. economy ? A consumer economy and government spending ( gov produces nothing). U.S. consumers buy products from other countries like china. U.S. gov debt exploding at all levels , 16 trillion just in federal debt, 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, U.S. cities like Detroit becoming hellholes. And you free traitors say the U.S. has a better or bigger economy than China. surely you free traitors must be insane.

China to build 50,000 skyscrapers and most are futuristic like nothing seen in the U.S. ever, with malls, housing and hotels in them already . sorry the facts hurt.

[Toddsterpatriot]

On a previous thread, he argued that our entire economy was based on the mark-up that retailers charge on imports.

His initial claim was that we manufacture nothing ($0) here in the US. When I showed him the truth, he started making even less sense.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Bingo.

And it’s getting worse, not better. We have reached the time to re-asses the policy.

I may or may not support protectionism per se, still thinking through that. But we absolutely, positively are doing it wrong now.

100%.

[rurgan]

What is the U.S. economy ? A consumer economy and government spending ( government produces nothing) and DEBT. U.S. consumers buy products from other countries like china. U.S. gov debt exploding at all levels , 16 trillion just in federal debt, 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, U.S. cities like Detroit becoming hellholes. And you free traitors say the U.S. has a better or bigger economy than China. surely you free traitors must be insane. Yeah this is the best economy in the world, the U.S. economy all debt. you all are brainwashed. that’s not an economy that is a joke. china is the factory of the world so the China economy is far bigger and superior to the U.S.’s . How many consumer electronics like smart phones made in U.S.A? Zero that’s how many.

China to build 50,000 skyscrapers and most are futuristic like nothing seen in the U.S. ever, with malls, housing and hotels in them already . China is the factory of the world ,moving 300 million people from being poor peasants into the middle class in 20 years . And China did it at our U.S. expense. China averaged 10% annual growth over the last 30 years.
sorry the facts hurt

[1rudeboy]

Our government won't let us drill for our own oil, mine our own minerals, harvest our own trees, etc. For cripe's sake, smaller portions of our goverment don't want to allow a fast-food chicken outfit to open because the owner is in favor of traditional marriage. The EPA wants to regulate the dust generated by farming.

And people still expect the government to save their jobs?

[1rudeboy]

We ship about 200 billion dollars’ worth of manufactured durable goods per month. Granted, a significant portion of that is defense orders, and as much as I’d like to have a Bradley sitting in my driveway, I’m not allowed to buy one. Nonetheless, that’s still one heck of a “consumer” economy.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

At this point, it is merely a question of when.

China (already) exports more than we do. Has for two years.

[central_va]

Manufacturing is different, it is part of our national defense. It may be too late as it is. Once the leftists downsize the military, like they want too, and the manufacturing base is gone, there will be no more “arsenal of democracy”. Manufacturing has to be preserved in the USA. Only a traitor would think otherwise. The Free traitor is the fifth column. Funny how both the Free Traitor and the “greenie leftists” both hate domestic smoke stack industries, both for green reasons, money and “the environment”. LOL.

[1rudeboy]

Says the guy who thinks the U.S. corporate income tax rate is “somewhat high.”

[Toddsterpatriot]

Funny how both the Free Traitor and the “greenie leftists” both hate domestic smoke stack industries

I don't know any free traders who hate domestic smoke stack industries. I think we should cut corporate tax rates to 20% or lower. And that we should reduce ridiculous EPA regulations.

And if we really need a particular industry for defense, cut their tax rate to 0%. Doesn't sound like hate to me.

[rurgan]

In the past 30 years China's economy has grown an average of 10% per year , moving 300 million people into the middle class, 50,000 skyscrapers in the next 20 years etc..

The U.S. living standards have fallen during those 30 years yet debt has exploded at all levels, 116 trillion $ in unfunded liabilities, 16 trillion $ federal debt, U.S. cities declaring bankruptcy, many U.S. cities becoming hell holes, personal bankruptcy skyrocketing . How many consumer electronics ( like smart phones, PCS ) made in U.S.A. ? Zero made in U.S.A. most made in China. This U.S. debt is unimaginably high. Anyone who thinks the U.S. wont collapse under this debt is insane and not living in reality. When we actually produced something we paid down the ww2 debt now exploding debt will kill U.S..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7aXJ3VcmXw

China rose at our expense. Surely you free traitors can't say that the U.S. economy is better or bigger than China's. U.S.A is headed for collapse and at best will be a colony of China soon thanks to you free traitors.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2907789/posts

These 12 Hellholes Are Examples Of What The Rest Of America Will Look Like Soon

Do you want to see where this country is headed? If so, don't focus on the few areas that are still very prosperous. New York City has Wall Street, Washington D.C. has the federal government and Silicon Valley has Google and Facebook. Those are the exceptions. The reality is that most of the country has been experiencing a slow decline for a very long time and once thriving cities such as Gary, Indiana and Flint, Michigan have become absolute hellholes. They are examples of what the rest of America will look like soon. 60 years ago, most Americans were decent, hard working people and there were always good jobs available for anyone that was willing to roll up his or her sleeves and put in an honest day of work. But now all of that has changed. Over the past decade, tens of thousands of manufacturing facilities have shut down and millions of jobs have left the country. Cities such as Cleveland, Baltimore and Detroit were once shining examples of everything that was right about America, but now they stand out like festering sores.

[1rudeboy]

Anyone see the relation between the following two headlines currently in the sidebar?

U.S. Manufacturing Growth 2nd-Worst Post Recession
Car dealers fear Obama fuel standards will make new vehicles unaffordable

Hey, I have an idea: let's raise taxes!

[Toddsterpatriot]

If only we could put a 100% tariff on imported oil, all our problems would be solved.

[rurgan]

Raise taxes on china and illegals and lower them for Americans and U.S. companies who are here in the U..S. or better yet go back to the trade embargo on china that we had for 40 years and then the U.S. was actually rising.

You want to allow U.S. companies and Americans to import an unlimited number of immigrant workers also to provide their cheap services they offer? how would you like 2 billion immigrants to come to the U.s.A if we remove all immigration restrictions as you want to remove all trade restrictions ( allowing China to dump unlimited number of products they stole the tech from us to produce).

[rurgan]

Yes then maybe we’d produce our own U.S. energy as we the U.S. ,unlike china, we the U.S. have unlimited energy sources including oil, oil shale, coal,natural gas, nuclear etc.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Yes, the best way to produce our own energy is to crush our economy! /idiocy off