Bush: Outsourcing painful, but remedy is worse

CNN.com ^ | Friday, March 3, 2006 Posted: 1640 GMT (0040 HKT)

[Gengis Khan]

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Praising India's expanding economy, President Bush warned Friday that fears about job outsourcing to other nations should not prompt the United States to limit global trade. "It's ... important to remember that when someone loses a job it's an incredibly difficult period for the worker and their families," Bush said in a speech in New Delhi. "It's true that some Americans have lost jobs when their companies move their operations overseas," he said. "Some people believe the answer to this problem is to wall off our economy from the world through protectionist policies. I strongly disagree."

[hedgetrimmer]

The system is designed to privilege "least developed countries".

It gives what they call LDCs the competitive advantage over first world countries in most trade deals. Multilateral trading system is another name for it. It is the mission of the WTO to manage a multilateral trading system for the world.

[hedgetrimmer]

Free trade helps when you export as well as import.

Not really. The "free trade" system set up with China only gave us Foreign Direct Investment, but exports to China? Surely you jest.

[Logophile]

However the US government has a DUTY to protect his rights. The government created outsourcing and offshoring to redistribute US wealth around the world. In doing so it has violated the rights of American citizens by forcing INDIVIDUALS to take the financial hit for their globalist goals. That my friend is a complete corruption of our government.

Your post is intriguing, to say the least. Will you clarify a few points?

1. In your view, which rights are to be protected by the United States government? (Is the right to a job included?)

2. How did the government "create" outsourcing and offshoring?

3. Is our wealth being redistributed around the world?

4. What specifically do you propose should be done to prevent outsourcing and offshoring?

[snugs]

I do not jest I export all over the world and where there are trade agreements and less import duty we sell more.

In India for my goods Indian companies have to pay 60% duty if I send the same goods to Mexico, Switzerland, Tunisia, Morocco etc etc where there are trade agreements they pay zero rate of duty on goods manufactured in the EC. So free trade makes it possible for the companies in these countries to afford to buy my goods.

So I stand by my statement free trade works both ways.

[jdm]

pong.

[jdm]

MNJ does the daily Rush threads, I think. He's not a troll, IMO.

[dr_who_2]

Probably because he didn't want to touch existing US textile tariffs.

[ClaireSolt]

This bears repeating. "Politicians do not have a good track record when it comes to managing the economy. We would all be better off if governments were limited to their constitutionally specified functions."

[hedgetrimmer]

In your view, which rights are to be protected by the United States government?

The nutshell is the right to life and liberty.

What rights do you think the government is charged by the US Constitution to protect?

[dr_who_2]

Did he have the Dutch dude who took his job arrested for theft? Don't knock it. If the Dutch are anything like Belgians, jurisdiction isn't a problem.

[hershey]

One Happy Hemisphere coming right up. Trusted travelers (CFR calls them this),...a.k.a. illegal aliens...free trade, free travel, whoopee! Unfortunately, 'How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm, once they've seen Paree?' holds true. The poor, downtrodden, illiterate, unskilled are coming here and they ain't leaving any time soon. It's the end of America as we know it. Too many Hispanics all at once. The plan was to export capitalism to the third world and lift all boats, however the best laid plans, etc.. We keep exporting/outsourcing, and they keep coming. It's a double whammy. A recent Mexican poll showed that a quarter of Mexico's population is already here, and half of those remaining, the middle class, are packing and planning to head north at the first opportunity.

[tryon1ja]

Up until I read your post, I thought I was reading a democratic forum. Your post is, of course, the correct response. Americans must be resourceful and implement new ideas ant techniques to overcome the negative to outsourcing as we as a nation have always done in the past.

[hedgetrimmer]

So free trade makes it possible for the companies in these countries to afford to buy my goods.

Not really. Any trade agreement could have done this. The problem is your "free trade" agreement is part of a system that runs extra Constitutionally. Its is brokered by an appointee of the president outside of congressional oversight under the terms of an international institution.

[hedgetrimmer]

Americans must be resourceful and implement new ideas ant techniques to overcome the negative to outsourcing the unconstitutional actions of our government by replacing elected officials with persons who will uphold the Constitution as they are pledged to do.

[1rudeboy]

So the U.S. Trade Representative, after being confirmed by Congress, is some rogue?

[hedgetrimmer]

Happy saturday.

[ClaireSolt]

When your idea of middle class is getting into the job bank at GM many who work hard for a living would not agree to protecting that boondoggle. The American mioddle class was historically made up of sole proprietors, not dependants who expected someone else to employ them.

[ColdSteelTalon]

Yep so called "free trade" by the new world order elite is going to put us all in the poorhouse.

[ColdSteelTalon]

If we do not do it others will and we loose our market world position and our economy fails.

Yes and we will all be in low paying service jobs. The dominoes pizza hat fits me pretty good....

[kenth]

When you're competing with slave labor, or slave labor wages, it's not really competition. Free trade really isn't free when only one side is practicing it. We add in one-sided "free trade" and we get screwed.

One sided free trading is really nothing more than a wealth redistribution plan on an international scale. Wealth redistribution normally has (R)epublicans frothing at the mouth at the thought of another American getting their money. Too many of them whole-heartedly support it going international.

If the President and Congress were really serious about America being competitive, they would work to reduce or eliminate regulations, enviromental concerns and get rid of our current tax system, while doing all they can to pressure other countries to open up their markets.

Too much power to be lost if they gave it back to the people though.