I thought Republicans were supposed to support free markets? And not just for goods, but also for labor.
But all I see on the board lately is that we don't want immigrants coming here to perform jobs that others won't. And we don't want companies outsourcing jobs to those who will perform the quality work for lower wages.
I reject the idea that protectionism equals patriotism.
I'd like to see some proof that the 'immigrants' who come here are doing jobs that others won't. Perhaps you meant to say 'immigrants are doing jobs that the owners of the businesses don't want to pay a real wage to Americans who are already here to perform so they hire illegals (what part of illegal do you, as a Republican, not understand?)'.
It's not protectionism to want to stop the brain-drain in this country. The CEO's in this article are very disingenuous. Instead of couching their argument in terms of competitiveness why don't they just come out and say the truth. This is all about their bottom line and they have determined that they would rather not pay an American programmer $75,000 to do a job that an Indian and Chinese programmer can do for 1/3 of that.
I do, too, and exchange rates and cost of living should eventually work everything out. But the problem is that there is a lag between the loss of American jobs and an increase in the standard and cost of living overseas. That can lead to a large number of unemployed and deeply in debt people. And since we live in a world where subsistence living off of the land is not possible and increases in productivity means that there may simply be no need to employ everyone. Unemployed people either need to be provided for or they will cause substantial social problems (they will emply themselves in theft, etc.).
Please note that a move towards both men and women working outside of the home as well as single parenthood has contributed to the problem. Where one employee used to be able to maintain a household, now two are needed because land and housing prices (which are the biggest single expense in many parts of America) are now calibrated for two incomes. Things can adjust back to a more stable situation but it isn't going to happen overnight and the question is over how much upheaval we'll have between now and then. If enough people wind up in economic freefall, things could get very bad before they get better.
GRRRR... I generally hate it when I'm reduced to name calling, but with this comment I just can't help myself! BONEHEAD! To compete with those kinds of wages you would quickly end up living under a bridge in this country! The air in Chinese cities is so bad that you spend most of the day dislodging black boogers from your sinuses and 99% of the population lives on pennies a day and you want to compete with their wage structure? ARE YOU MAD? Competing in a free market is one thing. Competing with third world totalitarian dictatorships is quite another.
Yea, but the country is going to suffer greatly if we force Americans to compete for third world country and slave wages