[Walkin Man]

My fear is that this will play out in such a way that we'll have President Kerry and a Rat House and Senate. Then the so-called free traders will get exactly what they don't want, oppressive government regulation, restrictive trade policies, higher taxes, and more bureaucracy. Which is a hell of a lot worse than anything anyone on FR has ever suggested.

Yup, it will probably happen. The perception is out there that President Bush not only doesn't care if my job is exported overseas, but he's damn glad about it and thinks its a good thing!

And perception is king at the voting booth.

The Republicans have a very short time to change that perception and so far they have done nothing but reinforce it IMHO.

I don't count the Presidents latest "I feel your pain" speech because he changed nothing at all that would actually impact the problem.

The time for words has passed.

[Steve_Seattle]

So you think the Dems are going to get the USA out of the WTO and repeal NAFTA and all those other trade agreements? NO WAY IN HELL. This outsourcing issue has come to the fore now as a propaganda tool against Republicans, but the Dems are every bit as committed to free trade as the Republicans.

[MEGoody]

"The perception is out there that President Bush not only doesn't care if my job is exported overseas, but he's damn glad about it and thinks its a good thing!"

Anyone who holds this perception probably doesn't have a job because of their stupidity.

[Mr. Bird]

The perception is out there that President Bush not only doesn't care if my job is exported overseas, but he's damn glad about it and thinks its a good thing!

I think you raise a very good point, but it's not the one you think. Yes, there seems to be a growing perception that American jobs are just being sucked away by some strange, sinister force. There is a growing perception that a lost job is someone's fault; that the person displaced is somehow owed something in return.

The rumble against outsourcing/offshoring has been growing to a crescendo in, surprise surprise!, an election year. It is in the interest of those not in power to create the perception that things are worse than they once were. There are no statistical data to back that up, of course, so it's important to show nightly features on jobs going to India, or poor programmers in Duluth out of work.

If you lost your job to India, maybe your perception of your worth was a bit out of whack. If I find myself in a position that some two-bit, low rent doofus from Calcutta can fill, I think I'll look for something else. It would be less embarrassing than ranting about it here.