[phil_will1]

"I agree with removing Federal corp income taxes,..."

Going to a consumption tax would certainly help level the playing field with respect to the handicap that our producers operate under in many of the world's largest markets - including our own. It is unconscienable that we handicap our own producers in our own market vs their international counterparts, but thats a gripe for another thread.

Although switching to a consumption tax system would help make US labor more competitive by removing the tax burden, I don't see that as being enough to offset the huge labor cost differential. Therefore, as much as I support the need for Fundamental Tax Reform (FTR), I don't see it helping out in the area of outsourcing to any significant extent.

[Glenn]

but thats a gripe for another thread

No. It is not. It belongs square on here.

Are we being asked to compete or capitulate for the sake of quarterly profits?

Either way you've hit it on the head. India and China do not consume mass amounts of the GDP worrying about government compliance in any area, much less our invented areas of affirmative action, sexual harrassment (sp), OSHA, ADA, unemployment insurance, pension guarantees, et al, et al, et al.

Remove them and we might have something representing global free trade, though I doubt it.

Just how many decades will it take for India and China to willingly price themselves out of the global market? What, exactly, is it we plan on selling them to recoup some of our sacrifice?

And one more thing: Where will the CEOs dig once the shareholders have normalized profits with the inclusion of outsourced labor?