Posted on 06/01/2003 4:11:54 AM PDT by sarcasm
NEW DELHI: While the bills introduced to limit outsourcing and L-1 visas in the US Congress and state legislatures should be treated with a degree of seriousness, there is no need to lose sleep over it.
It is not in the interest of the US to take the protectionist path, feels US Congressman Jay Inslee. The congressman was addressing a CII forum on Globalisation & Business Process Outsourcing: Win Win for India and the US in Delhi today.
According to Mr Inslee, while these bills whether those introduced in the state legislatures or the one introduced by Representative John Mica seem to have captured the Indian imagination, they are not on the Congress radar. He emphasised the need to keep the issues in perspective. However, Mr Inslee added that since September 11, there has been a new urgency for greater security in the US.
What should provide comfort to India is the fact that protectionist efforts, like John Micas bill, are considered by many in the US political establishment as impediments to trade. As Mr Inslee put it: If we want access to the world markets then we cant create barriers to flow of intellectual capacity. It is in the interest of the US economy to help the Indian economy grow, he said. As long as there are 300 million Indian who earn less than $1 a day, there is not much hope of them buying US products.
While Mr Inslee presented an optimistic picture, he did caution that the issue of outsourcing and L-1 visas is a public issue. This is what makes it difficult. In recent times, Americans have been feeling threatened by outsourcing and this creates anxiety at various levels. He suggested that a good way of dealing with public anxiety was to get the Indian-American community involved in the political process in an active way.
Congressman Inslee said that the people of the US are optimistic and believe in their technical capabilities. Under this environment, protectionism in trade is not logically supported in the US. He believed that the knee-jerk reaction from the Americans is not going to work for long. However, he advised the Indian community and businesses to be observant and sensitive to the issue and continue dialogues at various levels with their US counterparts.
NAFTA = "Mexicans will grow economically and buy lots of products from the US." - NOT! A large number of US jobs were lost. THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT HAPPENED.
China - "Trade with China will open up a market of 1 billion Chinese consumers for the US." NOT!
And the latest version of this lie:
As long as there are 300 million Indian who earn less than $1 a day, there is not much hope of them buying US products.
We need to outsource his job and the office jobs his staff does. To India and Mexico. I hear corrupt hacks go for cheap down there. Then see what tune he sings. These ******* in DC are way too insulated from the consequences of their actions . DITTOS for the Congressional staff who are responsible for keeping the wheels spinning in Wash DC.
Shame on him....
LOL! This guy seems more like a representative of India than a representative of a US house district.
So what Mr Inslee wants is for the average wage in the US and India to equalize. A question for Mr. Inslee is as follows: "Just what American products do you expect to sell in India when there are no Americans producing anything anymore?"
The average Indian isn't paying huge taxes to support peace keeping, humanitarian and diplomatic missions around the world. The average Indian isn't paying for the added costs of "code compliance", "litigation", "pension funds" and other hidden taxes on every product that is available to them. The employer side of FICA is often greater than the total wage paid to an Indian. Your house is overengineered compared to an one for an Indian, and to comply to local building standards you are forced to pay large sums of money. Granted the water and air is clean, and the power stays on most of the time, but for that privledge (and to purchase that privledge for the millions who don't pay taxes or utility bills), the American must make himself totally uncompetetive against billions of other people who are not saddled with supporting the world's most luxurious hammock.
If it only was restricted to computer programers... Accounting firms are outsourcing, radiology is now being handled overseas, even the work handled by stock analysts are being performed by those living outside our borders. Nothing will be done until legal work is also handled outside our borders.
Many selfish unpatriotic people that frequent this forum say that this is good because it lowers the costs of goods here in the united States. That may be true. But those who are presently insulated from job exports will find themselves soon competeting with all of those displaced workers who are taking courses right now to occupy those unexported gigs. These people speak lovingly about how their Pocket PC has more features for a lower price. Wow, they saved ten bucks. But those displaced workers are still getting unemployment compensation, they will demand health care services, they will be using up the parks and other services without "paying their fair share" - those who saved ten bucks on their new PDA are paying ten thousand dollars in additional taxes, fees and fines. Does anyone really think that government will get smaller as fewer Americans can dump one third of a six figure paycheck into the tax system?
Then we have national security issues. Personally I think that it is a crime against God and Man to have such a lousy tax system that requires more labor put into it than all of the labor consumed in the auto industry. But now that individual tax returns are being handled by foreigners, it seems that our 1040 forms are really nothing more than ways for the US government to encourage her citizens to shovel cash into large cargo ships and unload them overseas. I don't feel comfortable with non US citizens having so much information about something like the stock market, personal income, investments, business financial projects, legal matters, personal medical data, and other information that has absolutely no legal protections since it is being handled outside the judicial grasp of the united States.
For those who love outsourcing because in the short run it saves them a few dollars, don't ever call yourself an American or consider yourself wise.
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