Posted on 03/10/2004 4:43:33 AM PST by 1rudeboy
President George W. Bush hit back at Democratic critics of his administration's job-creation efforts on Tuesday, branding them as "economic isolationists" who would raise new trade barriers and damage the US economy.
The comments came as part of what appeared to be a co-ordinated administration effort to respond to growing political pressures over the slow pace of US job growth, which has helped push Mr Bush's likely Democratic opponent, John Kerry, ahead of the president in several recent polls.
In a speech in Virginia, Mr Bush said: "There are economic isolationists in our country who believe we should separate ourselves from the rest of the world by raising up barriers and closing off markets. They're wrong. If we are to continue growing this economy and creating new jobs, America must remain confident and strong about our ability to trade in the world."
Robert Zoellick, the US trade representative, similarly warned Congress on Tuesday that "given the fact we're now in a stage of an economic recovery, the absolutely worst thing we could do would be to turn to economic isolationism".
Mr Zoellick told the Senate finance committee that increasing US exports to countries such as China and India, encouraging foreign investment in the US, and helping workers adjust to the loss of some jobs abroad were better responses than "bureaucratic interventions that will increase prices to our people".
Mr Bush's comments came less than a week after the Senate passed legislation aimed at preventing US government contracts from being carried out by workers in developing countries.
The administration has been uncertain over how to respond to the continued slow pace of job creation. Mr Bush has sought to distance himself from recent remarks by a senior economic adviser, Gregory Mankiw, that outsourcing of jobs is just a part of trade and therefore good for the US economy. But the administration now appears set to mount a more robust defence of companies that move US jobs abroad.
"US companies with foreign affiliates now account for about 58 per cent of our exports," said Mr Zoellick. "So the companies that do business overseas are also exporting overseas."
"I think the challenge is: How do you help people in a way that doesn't hurt or kill other jobs?" he said, pointing out that the US currently runs a $60bn annual trade surplus in the service sector, which has seen a growing number of jobs moved to lower-wage countries.
Given your start up date- I tend to think this is only wishful thinking on your part.
Bush is going to DESTROY Kerry. Get used to it. That way you won't be too let down in November when it actually happens.
I am astonished at all the class envy, class warfare attitudes from people here on FreeRepublic, a place where I thought people would know better.
And they blame it on Bush when in fact the bulk of overseas connections occurred during the tech boom of the last decade.
In reality, the percentage of "outsourcing" in recent years is infintesimal compared to the huge overseas investments US companies made in the 1990s, yet hardly anyone was out screaming about it then.
Your mortgage is your problem, man. If you couldn't afford it, you shouldn't have taken it out.
You don't have a right to a job. That's freedom. No guarantees. Your life is up to you. If you fail, it's not the government's fault.
That is a disingenuous argument, and you know it.
There is a REASON these companies are selling their products in the US, and not where they are manufactured.
Care to guess what it is?
Wonderful! We also agree that state control of the economy is wrong. Let's practice what we preach and begin by having our own state lower taxes (including import taxes) and having our own state not control what seller we buy from. We can fix China next.
I may not approve of your buying Chinese chips for your computer or European medicines for your children-- but hey, that's your right.
Hmmm. This is a typical Marxist sentiment here. The Captains of Industry that you sneer at are the ones that make your cushy life possible.
What I pray for is that the tax on the wealthy will be reduced to 0%. Corporate taxes reduced to 10% or less (as close to zero as possible).
I hope the rich get richer and richer. I hope they have so much money the average liberal dies of nausea.
Most of Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, S. Korea, and similar nations I have no problem with outsourcing / Free trade to/from because we have as much to offer them and *THEY HAVE TO OFFER US*.
When you throw India and China into the mix we have little to offer them they do not make enough to buy our products and the low wages attract the exportation of American jobs (especially if there is no tariff to export those products back in). The net effect is cheaper goods *for those who's jobs have not been exported*. As more and more industries outsource this means more and more people can not afford cheap goods meaning more companies have to look for even cheaper labor, ....
If you ran a company, where would you be selling your goods?
Well, Louie... shouldn't they market in BOTH? Again I ask, how come they aren't selling their consumer goods to their workers?
Don't worry 1rb I wouldn't vote for Kerry if I lived under a bridge ... and would vote for Bush against Kerry if the election appears to be close and my vote is needed to keep the dims out of office
Really computers and IT services are obsolete? when did this happen? The Buggy whip analogy works fine when you want to talk about vcr manufactures trying to hold back dvd players, it refers to competition among technologies *NOT* peoples.
Ignore the man behind the curtain!!!
I am too. And to me the worst part is the racism. We hear all this belly-achin' about the horrible Indians, Chinese, Mexicans, making too much money by working too hard. But none of the protection mob complains about outsourcing 'Lord of the Rings' because it's not outsourcing if you're sending the work to New Zealand, UK, or Scandinavian countries.
One of the most accurate statements on this issue.
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