Democratic National Committee | Title: "Believe"

Republican National Committee ^ | August 9, 2004

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Rhetoric

NARRATOR: “Millions of good jobs lost to plant closures and outsourcing. Yet President Bush protects tax breaks favoring corporations that move their headquarters overseas.”

CHYRON: 2001-2004: 2.7 million manufacturing jobs lost. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001-2004

CHYRON: Bush protects breaks for corporations who move overseas. Source: Associated Press, 06/07/02

The Facts

Kerry Team Supports, Understands Outsourcing

“‘Kerry Is Not Against Outsourcing,’ Kerry Spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter Said.” (James Kuhnhenn and Ron Hutcheson, “Bush, Kerry Almost Meet In Iowa,” The San Jose Mercury News, 8/4/04)

Jason Furman, Kerry Economic Policy Adviser: “John Kerry Recognizes That We Live In A Global Economy And That We Cannot Keep All Jobs In America.” (Washington Post Website, “Economy: Kerry Economic Adviser,” Live Online Chat, http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/04/furman080604.htm, 8/6/04)

“Supports” American Businesses Taking Jobs Overseas. “Benedict Arnold does not refer to somebody who in the normal course of business is going to go overseas and take jobs overseas. That happens. I support that. I understand that.” (Jerry Seib, John Harwood and Jacob Schlesinger, “Excerpts From An Interview With John Kerry,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/3/04)

In December 2003, Kerry Recognized You Can’t “Just Stop” Outsourcing. “Well, any candidate for president who stands up and tells people, as some are, that they’re going to just stop [outsourcing] by getting tough on trade or whatever, is lying to the American people. Outsourcing is particularly painful at this moment because we haven’t been creating jobs, and we haven’t been creating jobs to some measure because of the overhang of the 1990s, the excess capacity that we were left with and the need to sort of burn it up.”  (Sen. John Kerry, Remarks At Council On Foreign Relations, New York, NY, http://www.cfr.org/campaign2004/pub6576/john_kerry/making_america_secure_again:_setting_the_right_course_for_foreign_policy.php, 12/3/03) 

Outsourcing Not Cause Of Major Job Loss

Only Two Percent Of Layoffs Were Due To Foreign Outsourcing. “Shifting jobs overseas accounted for only a tiny fraction of U.S. job losses in the first three months of the year, according to a first-ever report released … by the Labor Department. … About 2 percent of the major layoffs in the first three months of the year stemmed from companies moving jobs offshore, either on their own or through hiring another firm to do the work, the Labor Department found.” (Ken Moritsugu, “Report: Offshoring Is Minor Factor In Job Loss,” San Jose Mercury News, 6/10/04)

Experts Say There Is Not “Serious Cause For Concern.” “Ravi Aron, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, says the numbers confirm that fears about a massive exodus of U.S. jobs are overblown. ‘This is not very surprising,’ says Aron, who studies the practice, commonly known as offshoring, in the services industry. He notes that moving operations abroad is not a simple activity and is risky. ‘I don’t think there is a real serious cause for concern’ for U.S. workers, he says. ‘There is a natural limit to outsourcing.’” (Barbara Hagenbaugh, “U.S. Layoffs Not A Result Of Offshoring, Data Show,” USA Today, 6/11/04) 

Robert B. Reich:  “Offshoring Is Not At The Heart Of The Matter … I Don’t Think It Is A Major Part Of The Job Picture.” (Eduardo Porter, “Not Many Jobs Are Sent Abroad, U.S. Report Says,” The New York Times, 6/11/04)

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Rhetoric

NARRATOR: “America can do better. John Kerry’s plan: End job-killing tax loopholes and provide incentives to companies who create good jobs here. Because John Kerry believes we should export American products, not American jobs.”

NARRATOR:  The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the contents of this advertisement.”

CHRYON:  America can do better.

CHRYON:  The Kerry Plan: End job killing loopholes. www.johnkerry.com

CHRYON:  The Kerry Plan: Give breaks to companies who create jobs here. www.johnkerry.com

CHRYON:  To read the Kerry Plan: www.johnkerry.com

The Facts

Kerry Plan Make May Actually Hurt Job Creation 

St. Louis Economist Said Kerry Tax Plan Will Hurt Job Creation. “How exactly would Kerry’s job-creation campaign, which begins by repealing the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, work? ‘A tax increase in the short run acts as a near-term drag on aggregate demand and slows the rate of increase in jobs,’ said Chris Varvares, president of Macroeconomic Advisers, a St. Louis-based consulting firm that maintains one of the large macroeconomic models of the U.S. economy.” (Caroline Baum, “Kerry’s Tax Plan To Create Jobs Doesn’t Add Up,” Bloomberg.com, 2/24/04)

Kerry Advisor Says Plan Would Create Few Jobs. “[P]eter R. Orszag, an economist at the Brookings Institution whom the Kerry campaign consulted about the plan … [said] the proposal would probably not create many U.S. jobs … ‘In terms of short-term employment growth, there’s very little effect,’ he said.” (Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Kerry Offers Plan Designed To Curb Outsourced Jobs,” Baltimore Sun, 3/27/04)

Plan Wouldn’t Stimulate U.S. Hiring. “As for the Kerry plan, David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor’s, says … it [is] unlikely that Kerry’s tax policy changes would bolster hiring here, even with major changes in the tax code.” (Peronet Despeignes, “Candidates Offer Competing Plans For Job Creation,” USA Today, 3/26/04)

ü      Former Clinton Advisor Agrees. “[C]hristian Weller, senior economist for the liberal think tank the Center for American Progress, said he doesn’t know if the Kerry proposal will have much impact on a company’s decision about where to base a job. ‘Tax cuts typically are a very small component in company’s hiring decisions,’ said Weller, whose colleague Gene Sperling is a former National Economic Advisor in the Clinton administration and a key economic adviser to the Kerry campaign. ‘It won’t necessary slow the move of companies and jobs overseas,’ said Weller …” (Chris Isidore, “Economists Mixed On Kerry Plan,” CNN.com, 3/26/04)

Kerry Advisors Admit Plan Will Do Little To Stem Outsourcing, Third Parties Agree

Kerry’s Own Advisors Won’t Predict If Plan Will Reduce Outsourcing.  “Mr. Kerry’s advisers wouldn’t predict whether his plan actually would reduce the flow of jobs outsourced from the U.S. …” (Bob Davis and John Harwood, “Kerry Targets Job Outsourcing With Corporate-Tax Overhaul,” Wall Street Journal, 3/26/04)

ü      “Campaign Officials Acknowledged That The New Plan Would Not Stop The Broader Trend Of Outsourcing Jobs To Low-Wage Countries.” (Edmund L. Andrews and Jodi Wilgoren, “Kerry To Propose Eliminating A Tax Break On U.S. Companies’ Overseas Profits,” The New York Times, 3/26/04)

Tax Expert: Kerry Plan “Not A Solution.” “But others were not so sure the effects would be that significant, partly because the change would affect companies only locating in countries with lower tax rates than the United States, such as Ireland or Singapore. Joel Slemrod, an international tax expert at the University of Michigan Business School … added that the change in tax incentives probably would not be large enough to overcome other factors encouraging companies to shift employment abroad, such as lower wages. ‘To those who see [outsourcing] as a problem, this is not a solution,’ he said.” (Ronald Brownstein, “Kerry Wants To End Tax Break For Corporate Profits Abroad,” Los Angeles Times, 3/26/04)

Kerry’s New Protectionism Hurts American Workers

Kerry Has Been Labeled A “Primary-Conversion Protectionist.” (William Safire, Op/Ed, “The Edwards Surprise,” The New York Times, 2/18/04)

Alan Greenspan Said Protectionism “Will Make Matters Worse.” “‘The protectionist cures being advanced to address these hardships will make matters worse rather than better,’ [Greenspan] said.” (Martin Crutsinger, “Greenspan Warns Against ‘Protectionist Cures’ To Deal With U.S. Job Losses,” The Associated Press, 2/20/04)

Protectionism Could Cause Americans To Lose Jobs. “Greenspan said that, ‘protectionism will do little to create jobs and if foreigners retaliate, we will surely lose jobs.’” (Martin Crutsinger, “Greenspan Warns Against ‘Protectionist Cures’ To Deal With U.S. Job Losses,” The Associated Press, 2/20/04)