Bush Administration Advocates "Outsourcing." - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

KnifeMissile · 02-10-2004, 07:42 PM

This article describes how the Bush Administration is supporting the recent trend in American companies to outsource jobs. For those of you who don't know what outsourcing is, that's when a company gives jobs to residents of another country, to do remotely. Typically, these are jobs that are remote by nature, like phone operators (tech support, telemarketing) and (to the surprise of non-geeks) software development...

Quote:

Tuesday, February 10, 2004
By Warren Vieth and Edwin Chen, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- The movement of U.S. factory jobs and white-collar work to other countries is part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation, the Bush administration said yesterday.

The embrace of foreign "outsourcing," an accelerating trend that has contributed to U.S. job losses in recent years and become an issue in the 2004 elections, is contained in the president's annual report to Congress on the health of the U.S. economy.

"Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade," said N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisors, which prepared the report. "More things are tradable than were tradable in the past. And that's a good thing."

The report, which predicts that the nation will reverse a three-year employment slide by creating 2.6 million jobs in 2004, is part of a weeklong effort by the administration to highlight signs that the recovery is picking up speed. Bush's economic stewardship has become a central issue in the presidential campaign, and the White House is eager to demonstrate that his policies are producing results.

In his message to Congress yesterday, Bush said the economy "is strong and getting stronger," thanks in part to his tax cuts and other economic programs. He said the nation had survived a stock market meltdown, recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals and war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was finally beginning to enjoy "a mounting prosperity that will reach every corner of America."

The president repeated that message during an afternoon "conversation" on the economy at SRC Automotive, an engine-rebuilding plant in Springfield, Mo., where he lashed out at lawmakers who oppose making his tax cuts permanent.

"When they say, 'We're going to repeal Bush's tax cuts,' that means they're going to raise your taxes, and that's wrong. And that's bad economics," he said.

Democrats who want Bush's job were quick to challenge his claims.

Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, supports a rollback of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and backs the creation of tax incentives for companies that keep jobs in the United States -- although he supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, which many union members say is responsible for the migration of U.S. jobs, particularly in the auto industry, to Mexico.

Campaigning yesterday in Roanoke, Va., Kerry questioned the credibility of the administration's job-creation forecast. "I've got a feeling this report was prepared by the same people who brought us the intelligence on Iraq," he said. "I don't think we need a new report about jobs in America. I think we need a new president who's going to create jobs in America and put Americans back to work."

In an evening appearance at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., North Carolina Sen. John Edwards mocked the Bush administration's economic report.

Edwards, also a Democratic presidential nomination candidate who also supports repealing tax cuts for the richest Americans and offering incentives to corporations that create new jobs in the United States, said it would come as a "news bulletin" to the American people that the economy is improving and the outsourcing of jobs overseas is good for America.

"These people," he said of the Bush administration, "what planet do they live on? They are so out of touch."

The president's 411-page report contains a detailed diagnosis of the forces contributing to the U.S. economic slowdown and a wide-ranging defense of the policies Bush has pursued to combat it.

It asserts that the last recession actually began in late 2000, before the president took office, instead of March 2001, as certified by the official recession-dating panel of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The report repeats the administration's contention that the Bush tax cuts must be made permanent to have their full beneficial effect on the economy.

Social Security also must be restructured to let workers put part of their retirement funds in private accounts, the report argues. Doing so could add nearly $5 trillion to the national debt by 2036, the president's advisers note, but the additional borrowing would be repaid 20 years later, and the program's long-term health would be more secure.

Arsenic7 · 02-10-2004, 08:37 PM

What was going throug our leaders minds?

"It seems our own citizens can't get jobs...maybe we should look at a new market!"

HunterDevourer · 02-10-2004, 08:52 PM

Well it may be better for corporate America in the form of greater profits...but I think it's being a bit optimistic to believe that outsourcing will lead to more jobs domestically...

Shauk · 02-10-2004, 09:38 PM

outsourcing DOES NOT mean giving jobs to residents of another country

http://centerpartners.com/

read that.
I work for them.
I am employed IN USA, by an outsourcer.

now.

this kind of outsourcing is fine, but I agree thay overseas outsourcing sucks.

Johnny Rotten · 02-10-2004, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shauk
outsourcing DOES NOT mean giving jobs to residents of another country

Quote:

The movement of U.S. factory jobs and white-collar work to other countries is part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation, the Bush administration said yesterday.

Just in case you missed it

Paq · 02-10-2004, 10:06 PM

outsourcing is a great thing for companies, AT&T does it for everything not directly related to their operations, i'm talking about tech support, customer service, call handling, whatever, you call AT&T and i can almost guarantee that hte person you speak to does not work directly for AT&T.

with that said, outsourcing creates quite a bit of jobs that people who don't have as much training, etc, can attain. They make really good 1st jobs out of college, etc.

However, international outsourcing for large corporations will leave a HUGE hole in the domestic job market. I'm talking HUGE. The call center I worked for had 7 major accounts and over 1600 employees, and we were considered one of the smaller centers. We were also fairly well paid for the area, more than most retail managers and people in non-professional settings.

i'm kinda worried at how many jobs are leaving the country and i'm really getting worried about what is going to fill the empty slots

onetime2 · 02-11-2004, 05:27 AM

Look, economies of all countries are becoming globalized. Trying to fight it is pointless. The trend of jobs moving overseas is nothing new. Manufacturing jobs moving to China and elsewhere is one of the main reasons the American consumer has not seen big boosts in inflation in recent times.

It's either adapt or get killed later on. If you find yourself in an area of expertise that's going overseas, get cracking on finding a new career. The focus of the administration on retraining those being affected in such a way is admirable and will only make our economy stronger in the long run. Isolationism, tariffs, and protectionism will only make it more painful in the future when every other country sees the benefits of this "outsourcing" and we don't.

prb · 02-11-2004, 09:15 AM

Don't you love the spin that the Administration puts on this: "Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade."

Well, the U.S. finally found a product that isn't contributing to our trade deficit - - U.S. jobs.

teriaki · 02-11-2004, 04:37 PM

I wonder how this policy will affect the movement to get the government to help create new jobs here in the states to reduce the level of unemployment....

Weekly I'm reading in the papers about how many jobs were "created" here by the efforts of BigBrother...last poll was 112,000 "new" jobs (http://www.usatoday.com/money/econom...rate-jan_x.htm).

So, does anyone else think this support for outsourcing goes directly against what 'they' say they're doing here at home?

onetime2 · 02-12-2004, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by teriaki
I wonder how this policy will affect the movement to get the government to help create new jobs here in the states to reduce the level of unemployment....

Weekly I'm reading in the papers about how many jobs were "created" here by the efforts of BigBrother...last poll was 112,000 "new" jobs (http://www.usatoday.com/money/econom...rate-jan_x.htm).

So, does anyone else think this support for outsourcing goes directly against what 'they' say they're doing here at home?

Nope, in fact quite the opposite. Part of their initiative (as outlined in the State of the Union Address) is to provide training to workers affected by shifts in certain areas of the US/world labor market.

02-10-2004, 08:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Arsenic7 Insane Location: Corvallis, OR.	What was going throug our leaders minds? "It seems our own citizens can't get jobs...maybe we should look at a new market!" __________________ This is no sig.

02-10-2004, 08:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
HunterDevourer Insane Location: Sydney - Australia	Well it may be better for corporate America in the form of greater profits...but I think it's being a bit optimistic to believe that outsourcing will lead to more jobs domestically... __________________ Viva La Muerte

02-10-2004, 10:06 PM	#6 (permalink)
Paq Junkie Location: South Carolina	outsourcing is a great thing for companies, AT&T does it for everything not directly related to their operations, i'm talking about tech support, customer service, call handling, whatever, you call AT&T and i can almost guarantee that hte person you speak to does not work directly for AT&T. with that said, outsourcing creates quite a bit of jobs that people who don't have as much training, etc, can attain. They make really good 1st jobs out of college, etc. However, international outsourcing for large corporations will leave a HUGE hole in the domestic job market. I'm talking HUGE. The call center I worked for had 7 major accounts and over 1600 employees, and we were considered one of the smaller centers. We were also fairly well paid for the area, more than most retail managers and people in non-professional settings. i'm kinda worried at how many jobs are leaving the country and i'm really getting worried about what is going to fill the empty slots __________________ Live. Chris

02-11-2004, 05:27 AM	#7 (permalink)
onetime2 Junkie Location: NJ	Look, economies of all countries are becoming globalized. Trying to fight it is pointless. The trend of jobs moving overseas is nothing new. Manufacturing jobs moving to China and elsewhere is one of the main reasons the American consumer has not seen big boosts in inflation in recent times. It's either adapt or get killed later on. If you find yourself in an area of expertise that's going overseas, get cracking on finding a new career. The focus of the administration on retraining those being affected in such a way is admirable and will only make our economy stronger in the long run. Isolationism, tariffs, and protectionism will only make it more painful in the future when every other country sees the benefits of this "outsourcing" and we don't. __________________ Strive to be more curious than ignorant.

02-11-2004, 04:37 PM	#9 (permalink)
teriaki Tilted Location: San Francisco	I wonder how this policy will affect the movement to get the government to help create new jobs here in the states to reduce the level of unemployment.... Weekly I'm reading in the papers about how many jobs were "created" here by the efforts of BigBrother...last poll was 112,000 "new" jobs (http://www.usatoday.com/money/econom...rate-jan_x.htm). So, does anyone else think this support for outsourcing goes directly against what 'they' say they're doing here at home? __________________ Cute, but useless.

02-10-2004, 09:38 PM	#4 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	outsourcing DOES NOT mean giving jobs to residents of another country http://centerpartners.com/ read that. I work for them. I am employed IN USA, by an outsourcer. now. this kind of outsourcing is fine, but I agree thay overseas outsourcing sucks.

02-11-2004, 09:15 AM	#8 (permalink)
prb Psycho	Don't you love the spin that the Administration puts on this: "Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade." Well, the U.S. finally found a product that isn't contributing to our trade deficit - - U.S. jobs.