Disappointed on outsourcing

[Robert Oak]

Sorry DU but I really am...my heart sank at his answer on this.

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I am disappointed with Kerry's answer on outsourcing. He needs to stand up and make a committment to the American people that he will do whatever it takes
to keep America the number one economy with the American workers being the
strongest workforce in the world.

There is much more he can do.

His tax restructuring plan is the 1st step.

He could also ban both the Federal
and State governments from using BOTH foreign companies AND corporations
encorporated in tax havens off shore from receiving any government contracts.
(look at Accenture, they just got a 10 Billion dollar homeland security contract, are incorporated in Bermuda and to make matters worse, can't engineer their way out of a paper bag...unbelievable...Lockheed Martin was passed over for these benedict arnold parasites).

He can renegotiate our trade policies and make a committment on global trade
to make the goal of these trade agreements, not the goals of multinationals, but
the goals of America as a whole and the American worker. The results are now in that these trade policies, starting with NAFTA, have reduced the middle class
world wide and is one of the major reasons we have repressed wages in the US.
NAFTA didn't even help the workers of the other countries involved...for the most
part, these trade agreements gave more money and power to the "new world order" elites.

He could and should use tariffs on industries that are critical to the security of the United States.

He could use a hidden wage tariff if needed. How can an American compete
with a slave in a 3rd world country? And believe me, in China and elsewhere,
the wages are so low and conditions are so bad, you might as well call a spade
and spade and say these people are slaves.

He can put pressure by joining the Kyoto treaty (he will do this) and put pressure
on these other countries for environment rights and worker rights. 3rd world
countries will be less able to undercut our wages if they have to offer a true employment situation to the workers versus the slavery that is going on now.

He can challenge existing trade laws and when it becomes apparent that the rules
are stacked against the United States, threaten withdrawal from the WTO unless
significant restructuring takes place. (We need representation, open meetings, open documents, considerable restructuring of the trade law and most importantly, the US needs veto power).

He can look to reduce the deficit and I'm sorry, by cutting defense. Defense
is outsourcing like mad....look at Halliburton and look at the cost of the Iraq
war. Is this ridiculously expensive and not efficient or what? I think some profiteering is going on and this waste should be stopped. What is a halliburton
contractor making 80/hr driving a truck while the soldier guarding him is making 3.75/hr and is risking his life more? Completely unfair and shows privatization and outsourcing of the military is more costly to the US.

He could modernize, with US companies designing the technology, for the IRS, the
DoD and homeland security. Just in identification papers alone in the US, it's a system from the 1950's and all of this needs to be modernized. Why is it the banking system has a modern system, yet the government system, including
voter registration and voting is in such antiquated chaos? The model for modernization is right there in the US banking system and could certainly be applied to the IRS, drivers licenses, social security numbers, citizenship verification and voting.

He could work on getting legislation that demands some social responsibility from
our US multinational corporations. Look at these companies, some have GDP's
as big as Turkey! They are "mini nations" and have way too much power. There
are many ideas of how to demand corporations have social responsibility, from breaking up these trusts to demanding the democratization
of multinational corporations. Right now CEOs are running amok, firing people,
offshoring the jobs and taking the profits into their own pockets. CEO's
and the board are the new feudal war lords of the 21st century. Right now US venture capitals, DEMAND that a startup company outsource. That is just sick!
Kerry needs to find a way, through taxes and other legislation that demands
venture capitalists grow US based corporations with US workers.

Kerry claims he couldn't stop outsourcing, that would be pandering.

Well, I am sorry, but pandering is making a few statements about Benedict
Arnold CEO's versus realizing that America is strongest, both economically
and as a global power, when the middle class is the strongest.

The statistics bear this out! Kerry needs to make a very strong committment to this goal, realize when the middle class is strong, protected and supported, the
US will remain the number one global power and work towards that objective.

I honestly question whether Kerry really gets that or not. Today we have
multinational lobbyists everywhere in Washington and even more frightening,
it is the lobbyists "research" that often forms trade and budget policy.

Wake up Kerry and democrats! Their research is biased and is not true...
there are many world leading economists who conclude when one has a strong manufacuturing base, a strong middle class, the result is the way to true strength and power.

Kerry needs to realize this, his economic advisors need to admit to this and he needs to publically some out strong to a committment to stop outsourcing.

For 30 years we've been draining jobs and now the situation is in "red alert".

This also would be where Kerry could get his money for his programs...
American workers pay American taxes, the more wages the more taxes.

Come on Kerry, bite the dog and get on this issue!

[Joe Chi Minh]

1. So was I

momentarily, but I strongly suspect that his answer was the best way of avoiding a complex explanation.

The fact is that if you outshine your rivals on the economic front, it is absolutely no good at all to the nation at large, if the only people who profit thereby are the richest few. And I believe John sees this, and it is the reason why he intends to "alter" it.

What makes a country successful depends on many different factors, and any putative loss to firms on the basis of a single criterion can be made up for by other gains. One need only compare France and Germany - not to speak of Scandinavia - with the UK, which as Clive Owen's father-in-law in the TV serial "Chancer", during Thatcher's watch, she and her acolytes have turned into a vast shanty-town of hamburger stalls.

Or as the author of a LTTE of the Times put it, somewhat elliptically and sarcastically, a broken-down, national transport-infrastructure seems a small price to pay, to avoid having the Olympics or European Championship held here. The invisible earning spivs have been lording it these past twenty years plus, while mass unemployment and low earnings have become the norm, and a major pension catastrophe for the masses is imminent.

[Peter1x9]

2. Neither party seems to care about this.

Thanks to all this BS, my CS degree is now not even worth the piece of paper it was printed on. American IT workers no longer have any opportunity in america or any representation by the US government.
Just the other night I saw a great story on this issue on Lou Dobbs. IT jobs are now going to Argentina, since labor is 15% cheaper there than it is in India.
If you are out right out of high school, I urge you to avoid any computer major at all costs. All the entry level positions are gone to various overseas countries. Experienced positions are either going overseas or staying here at lower pay levels.

[Robert Oak]

3. Well, I think we should push on this issue

Basically getting action on this is why I'm voting Kerry, so the more
we bring this issue to the forefront, maybe we have a chance
of getting a "full camera face" announcing to America from Kerry
"I will make a committment to the American middle class to stop
the job hemmorage with all the tools at my disposal"

Anyway, look at the 60 minutes blogosphere affect. If they can do it, we can do it.

[Cocoa]

6. Gephardt, Kucinich, Sharpton, Braun

all very strong on trade, all democratic primary candidates this year.

How many republicans are as strong as those four?

[high density]

7. You're not alone

I graduated in 2003 with a BSCS degree and so far I've earned about a thousand bucks with it. I'm currently unemployed. Kerry's response to outsourcing last night was a non-answer, which was the same trap that Clark (whom I supported in the primaries) fell into during a debate as well. Nobody wants to stand up against this stuff!

I agree that people should probably avoid computers degrees, at least right now. Nobody wants to hire entry-level people so getting my first job has been and continues to be a very long and disappointing process.

[TexasSissy]

4. All the things you've listed STILL do not stop outsourcing.

Stopping outsourcing totally would require a law against it, period. We live in a capitalistic society, where the goal of most is making money. Nothing wrong with that. Competition is a good thing. And companies DO have rights. If they want to send jobs overseas, they have that right. If you want to work for an overseas company, you have that right, as well. We don't want the government to pass laws preventing you from working for whoever you want to work for, or for companies hiring whoever they want to hire.

But the government can discourage that, and actively encourage companies to keep jobs here. That's what Kerry proposes.

Outsourcing has been going on in the U.S. (and other countries) for many years. It has done little to no harm at various points in time. It has been only in the last decade that it's begun to be a problem, and a BIG problem since * took office.

The goal is to stop the problem, IMO, not to prevent some entity from doing something just because we don't like it. Kerry's plan should stop the problem, or go a long way toward stopping it. (Part of his plan, BTW, includes the free trade agreement amendments to include requirements for wages in other countries, environmental concerns, etc., which discourages countries from relocating to other countries in the first place).

Kerry's plan should work. If it doesn't, then we can discuss stronger measures. But I opt for the lesser governmental control first. We've seen increasing federal government control over the last four years. I, for one, do not want to see that continue. So I think we should first take away the government's INCENTIVES to outsource (in the tax code and in the free trade agreements), and see if that takes away the problem.

[Robert Oak]

5. It is a multi dimensional problem

But, I am requesting a law to Ban all federal and state contracts...

and there is more reasoning behind this than outsourcing.

It's national security. As an engineer, I know all too well how easy it would be for an engineer or team of engineers to put Trojan code
into sensitive devices. Still the government is oblivious to cyberthreats and by outsourcing the engineering and software design,
we are even more vulnerable to attack.

The way testing is done it wouldn't be impossible to embedded some microcode to be activated remotely in aircraft, in the power grid,
in communication systems and so on.

This is a request for a law.

but, Kerry is not coming out strong enough on trade. Those trade agreements have accelerated outsourcing to an epidemic and yes,
something has to be done right now. Enrollment in engineering has
dropped over 25% at the top universities. The reason is job security.

It takes years to be competent in computer science and engineering...
if something isn't done immediately we will lose the educational
base you must have in order to develop the cream of the crop in these fields.

He needs to tackle the China PNTR as well as India immediately.

I do agree start with the corporate tax code first, but I also think
immediate action on trade agreements is needed.

We've lost so much power and ground in trade, the trade deficit
is at a dangerous record and to prevent further damage it must
be modified right now.

Kerry shouldn't bother with the true definition of outsourcing politically. Yes, he'll never stop it and in some cases it can be a benefit...but because right now they are using outsourcing to completely destroy the professional fields in the United States, he should come out much more forcefully and forget about the true finer points of the debate.

There is no way any politician can communicate the complexity of this issue even in an hour long speech, but coming out on some of the more finer points will make me feel more secure that he's going to hit this hard and heavy with whatever it takes.

Last night and in many other polices...I'm not so sure.

[Joe Chi Minh]

8. J M Keynes

asserted that the UK could be self-sustaining. If that's true of a small island like ours, how much more so, a virtual continent like yours?