Bush Distances Himself from Aide on Exporting Jobs

Reuters ^ | February 12, 2004 | Adam Entous

[Deliberator]

HARRISBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - Under pressure from fellow Republicans, President Bush distanced himself on Thursday from one of his top economic advisers who said the outsourcing of U.S. jobs to workers overseas may benefit the economy.

"The (economic) numbers are good. But I don't worry about numbers, I worry about people," Bush told students and teachers at a high school in Pennsylvania -- a pivotal state in this year's election and one of the hardest hit by factory job losses during his presidency.

Without mentioning by name the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, Gregory Mankiw, Bush said he was concerned "there are people looking for work because jobs have gone overseas" and vowed to "act to make sure there are more jobs at home" by keeping taxes low and by retraining displaced workers. Bush offered no new initiatives to curb outsourcing and aides said he opposed restrictions on free trade.

With political concern about unemployment heating up ahead of the November presidential election, critics have seized on Mankiw's characterization of "outsourcing" by U.S. companies as "something that we should realize is probably a plus for the economy in the long run."

Democrats said his comments and the council's annual report were evidence that the Bush White House is insensitive to the plight of out-of-work Americans.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle predicted Mankiw would quit.

But Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said, "This is the economic report of the president and not the economic report of Mr. Mankiw ... We cannot allow our Republican friends to shift the blame and the burden to Mr. Mankiw."

Senate Democrats said they would propose new protections for workers whose employers send their jobs overseas. Their proposal would require that outsourcing companies disclose their plans to their employees and to the Labor Department.

On Wednesday House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois joined the bipartisan chorus of criticism from the U.S. Congress and the campaign trail, saying of Mankiw: "His theory fails a basic test of real economics."

The White House has rebuffed any suggestion that Mankiw resign. "That's kind of laughable," spokesman Scott McClellan said, adding: "Our economic team is doing a great job."

U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans defended the comments, telling CNBC: "What he praised was free trade and open trade. Every president since Herbert Hoover (1929-33) has said that free and open trade - as long as it's fair trade - is good for our economy."

At issue is the practice of a growing number of U.S. companies to move all or a portion of their operations to places like Mexico, India and China, where labor costs are lower and goods can be produced more cheaply, in order to improve corporate profits.

Nearly 2.8 million factory jobs have been lost since Bush took office and the issue looms large ahead of November's vote, where victory in rust-belt states like Pennsylvania could be key.

Underscoring its political importance to Bush's re-election, Thursday's visit was his 25th to Pennsylvania as president. He narrowly lost the state in the 2000 election, and analysts say he may have hurt his chances of winning it this year when he scrapped U.S. tariffs on steel imports in December to avert a trade war with Europe.

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

[Alberta's Child]

As for "no better than uneducated, ignorant peasant", gee, I saw a lot of these peasants in my masters programs, many of them where getting their Phds at my local STATE university.

Like I said -- then they ain't "Third World" anymore, now are they?

[ElCapitanAmerica]

> Like I said -- then they ain't "Third World" anymore, now are they?

They are, more than half the people in India live in abject poverty. Just take a little trip down there, and when you come back, let me know if that's 3rd world or not.

[drlevy88]

If they all lived under a government like the US's, or even most of Europe, that would be one story. But they don't. They may do things that once earned Americans many tens of thousands of dollars, but they only get a few cents and their gummints scrape most of it off the top and their neighbors by and large continue to live in grinding poverty. Third worldness is not just a matter of skills, it is also a matter of governments.

[Alberta's Child]

I think it's safe to say that the ones that live in "abject poverty" sure aren't going to your local university for their PhD. in microbiology.

[Alberta's Child]

Third worldness is not just a matter of skills, it is also a matter of governments.

That's right -- and that's part of what I'm getting at.

You can take a bunch of well-trained, highly-motivated group of auto workers with solid backgrounds in finance and send them to any Third World country you can think of -- and they probably won't be able to export a single car to the U.S. in a hundred years.

[pawdoggie]

Lot's of "Moby" responders, the kind of guys who believe that it's "conservative" to say that companies are in business to guarantee jobs, as opposed to making a profit or operating efficiently. And the artist of the political cartoon revealed its Left Wing origin with the "freedom fries" crack. That being said, Mr. Mankiw's remarks were artless and foolish. He should be fired, immediately.

[ElCapitanAmerica]

I think it's safe to say that the ones that live in "abject poverty" sure aren't going to your local university for their PhD. in microbiology.

You are aware that India has a population of 1 billion people right?

What's your point? First you made a comment about peasants replacing you. That's factually wrong.

Then you say these countries are not 3rd world anymore. That's totally wrong

What are you trying to say? Look, the education system in our country is in shambles, and the people who make it to the good part of it (university) are losing their jobs. In the meantime, these countries are sucking up our tech jobs from low level to research.

While that's happening, Alberta's Child is chiding fellow posters for "whining" in the forums, telling them to just go drive trucks or wash windows. Again, is that your plan to keep America at the top of the technological and economical power that it is today?

It seems to me that all you care about is you making ends meet. That's great for you. I'm worried about everybody else, and the future of the country.

[ElCapitanAmerica]

I'm a left wing anti-abortion, pro Afghan & Iraqi war, pro tax cuts, anti-affirmative action, pro-school vouchers radical. Yeah. Hey, also voted for Jeb Bush. What a left winger!!!

I put the freedom fries comment in the cartoon because it's a shallow way to say you care for the country, when in the end, you don't care about hurting your fellow citizens. It also sounds better than "flipping burgers".

Hey, everybody is a critic.

Why should they fire Mankiw anyways, he expressed the official position of the administration.

[drlevy88]

Unless it's, say, China. They let America set up golden cows and they milk them for all they're worth, in the meantime keeping the boot on their citizens' necks. It's disgraceful.

[MattAMiller]

does that mean most Americans are wrong?

The public is frequently wrong. Why would it be surprising that most people would be wrong about a subject as complex as economics when most people either never took it in college or just learned enough to pass a final?

Having the masses come out to vote on how to make our economy better is not entirely unlike voteing on how to cure cancer. Most opinion on this matter is utterly uninformed.

[Alberta's Child]

While that's happening, Alberta's Child is chiding fellow posters for "whining" in the forums, telling them to just go drive trucks or wash windows. Again, is that your plan to keep America at the top of the technological and economical power that it is today?

I never told anyone to go and wash windows -- I said that's what I would be prepared to do if my job ever got "outsourced." I think it's no coincidence that I also happen to be one of the few people here who seems terribly concerned about my future financial prospects in this world.

It seems to me that all you care about is you making ends meet. That's great for you. I'm worried about everybody else, and the future of the country.

I think you should do yourself a favor and stop worrying about everyone else, and start focusing on your own life instead. In fact, from the sounds of it, I'd say you are more concerned about other people than those other people are concerned about themselves.

And lest you think this sounds terribly selfish, consider this: Go back and look at any captain of industry in the history of this country, and realize that the minute that person started being more concerned about "others" and "the future of the country" was the moment he would have been out of business (and all his employees out of work).

[drlevy88]

Having the masses come out to vote on how to make our economy better is not entirely unlike voteing on how to cure cancer.

So we have elites that drag their feet for years on remedies for desperate ills.

[COEXERJ145]

If Bush supports outsourcing overseas, he will get attacked for costing Americans jobs. If is against it he will be attacked for opposing free trade. Seems like a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

[Alberta's Child]

Oops -- correction there

I also happen to be one of the few people here who seems doesn't seem terribly concerned about my future financial prospects in this world.

[drlevy88]

And lest you think this sounds terribly selfish, consider this: Go back and look at any captain of industry in the history of this country, and realize that the minute that person started being more concerned about "others" and "the future of the country" was the moment he would have been out of business (and all his employees out of work).

I believe that Henry Ford, for all his crotchets, was also concerned about paying his people enough to buy his cars. How many of Walmart's suppliers pay enough to their workers that they could come over here and buy Walmart merchandise?

[ElCapitanAmerica]

> And lest you think this sounds terribly selfish, consider this: Go back and look at any captain of industry in the history of this country, and realize that the minute that person started being more concerned about "others" and "the future of the country" was the moment he would have been out of business

So I should just sit back and enjoy watching us lose our technical expertise.

In the meantime, I should be thankful to the president that now illegal immigrants can work here legally, while H1Bs and L1s take our higher paying jobs.

No thanks.

[MattAMiller]

Yep, it's a jobless economy.

Unemployment is actually rather low.

[ElCapitanAmerica]

How many jobs were projected to be created last year? How many were actually created?

How many jobs were projected for last month? How many were created? Out of those, can you guess what percentage were low paying retail jobs?

[drlevy88]

Unemployment is actually rather low.

As counted by the number of people currently claiming unemployment benefits. Those who are still out of work after the benefits expire after several months... get this... are not counted.

[MattAMiller]

So we have elites that drag their feet for years on remedies for desperate ills.

No, we have elites who showboat with all sorts of cockamamey solutions in order to keep their jobs and stay "elite."