Posted on 03/02/2004 6:46:01 AM PST by ConservativeMajority
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Democrats hoping to use the issue of job losses to other countries against President Bush were given some fodder when Gregory Mankiew, the President's chief economic adviser suggested that outsourcing was "probably a plus for the economy in the long run." Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) said that, if elected, he would require companies that ship jobs offshore to tell the Labor Department and the workers when, where, and why the jobs are moving.
"Companies will no longer be able to surprise their workers with a pink slip instead of a paycheck," Kerry said.
However, now that Kerry is lashing out against "Benedict Arnold CEOs" who send jobs offshore, one of his senior campaign advisors has come into the "outsourcing" spotlight.
Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin signed on to the campaign of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) before the front-runner decided to lash out against American companies who send jobs overseas. But Rubin, who presided over the "bubble" economy of the 1990s before becoming chairman of Citigroup's executive committee, might be a liability to the Massachusetts senator.
Citigroup is a financial giant that has outsourced thousands of jobs in recent years. Tandy Gold, founder of the Offshore Interest Group, believes the Citigroup model for outsourcing will dominate in the next seven years or so.
CNN's Lou Dobbs spoke of Citigroup and others that are "exporting America."
"These are U.S. companies [that are] either sending American jobs overseas, or choosing to employ cheap overseas labor, instead of American workers," Dobbs said.
During a recent tour to promote his book, "In an Uncertain World", Rubin told U.S. News, "Open markets have been very good for us in the past and are likely to be so in the future. Having said that, the range of jobs subject to trade pressures has expanded substantially because of outsourcing in service areas."
Democrats first talked about unemployment and a "jobless recovery" until recent job growth forced them to shift their focus to outsourcing.
Rubin described the current employment conditions when he said, "The magnitude and speed of this phenomenon may cause a lag before the adjustment takes place with both economic and political consequences."
Rubin sounded more like a cheerleader of Bush economic policies than an advocate for the president's opponent in saying, "The policy implications are that we need to do everything we can to boost productivity so we can be competitive."
Productivity is at 20-year highs after sizzling 9.5 percent increase in the third quarter of 2003.
Rubin also cited the importance of "education and dislocation aid and ... fiscal discipline to keep interest rates low and promote investment." Interest rates are at 40-year lows with little indication that inflation is anywhere on the horizon.
Rubin warned that trade barriers would allow "our competitors will get the inputs to their production processes that come from abroad more cheaply than we will."
Kerry was absent from the Senate when a provision sponsored by Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and Craig Thomas (R-WY) that prevents any work won by a private firm through a public-private competition known as "competitive sourcing," from being transferred from federal employees to offshore labor passed by a 95-1 margin.
Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
What good will that do? When McDonalds starts using people in India to take remote orders at their drive-thrus all they will have to tell the Labor Dept is that they couldn't find employees who speak English in the U.S.
CNN's Lou Dobbs spoke of Citigroup and others that are "exporting America." .........
Kerry was absent AWOL from the Senate when a provision sponsored by Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and Craig Thomas (R-WY) that prevents any work won by a private firm through a public-private competition known as "competitive sourcing," from being transferred from federal employees to offshore labor passed by a 95-1 margin.
Hey John F'ing Kerry, looks like you may have a serious problem here.
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