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Bush aide says outsourcing a good thing Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/7943447.htmhttp://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/7943447.htm
Democrats attack Bush over lost jobs
Aide said outsourcing overseas 'a good thing'
JIM MORRILL
Staff Writer
Democratic presidential candidates, who for months have blasted President Bush over the loss of blue-collar jobs, have suddenly turned their attention to the exodus of white-collar jobs.
Democrats jumped on remarks this week by a top Bush adviser who said that "outsourcing," the move of high-tech and other jobs overseas, "is a good thing," even if painful in the short run.
"It's time to outsource this administration," Democratic Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina said Thursday.
During an appearance in Pennsylvania, Bush sought to blunt the criticism while highlighting his jobs plan.
"There are people looking for work because jobs have gone overseas, and we need to act in this country," the president told a crowd at a high school Thursday. "We need to act to make sure there are more jobs at home and people are more likely to retain a job."
The controversy follows this week's release of Bush's new economic report and shifts attention from the decline in manufacturing to the export of tech and other jobs. One study predicted one of 10 U.S. technology jobs -- or 500,000 -- will go overseas by the end of the year. Another predicts the loss of 3.3 million white-collar jobs by 2015.
The Carolinas aren't immune. An Observer survey last year found that 17 of the 27 Fortune 1000 companies based in the states, including Bank of America, Family Dollar and Cary-based SAS, have sent computer tasks overseas, mostly to India.
Why? Outsourcing saves money. According to this month's Wired magazine, a computer programmer in India makes about $8,000 a year compared with $70,000 in the United States.
The president's annual economic report called outsourcing "a new type of trade."
"When a good or service is produced at lower cost in another country, it makes sense to import it rather than to produce it domestically," said the report from the Council of Economic Advisers.
Speaking to reporters, council Chairman Gregory Mankiw called outsourcing "just a new way of doing international trade."
"More things are tradable than were tradable in the past," he said. "And that's a good thing."
Proponents, including Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, say outsourcing allows the market to determine the most efficient use of resources and results in lower prices for American consumers.
But critics see the report as further evidence of an administration that already has presided over the departure of manufacturing jobs in textiles, apparel and other industries and is now watching the exodus of white-collar jobs as well.
"Three million jobs destroyed on their watch and now they want to export more of our jobs overseas," Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said this week.
Kerry, who has won 12 of 14 primaries and caucuses, is the only candidate to sponsor legislation on outsourcing. He introduced a bill last year to make U.S. companies require their call center representatives to disclose where they were calling from with each call. The bill never passed, though this week Kerry may have wished it had.
His campaign dumped a California media company after The Milwaukee Journal reported it had routed automated phone calls for Kerry through a call center in Canada.
A spokesperson for rival Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor, accused Kerry of "sending more jobs over the border." But the incident underscored the growing prevalence of using labor abroad, as well as the risk to unsuspecting candidates or other clients.
"That's the kind of things campaigns have to be careful about because of the growth of the telecom industry," said Tony Feather, a partner in Feather, Larson & Synhorst, a St. Paul, Minn.-based firm that does telemarketing for President Bush and other Republicans.
"People come in and say, `We can give you ... recorded messages for 2 cents.' A lot of those cheap calls are being routed overseas."
Critics have blamed the administration's free-trade policies and their enforcement for allowing countries such as China to use large pools of cheap labor to undercut American manufacturers and even entice many U.S. companies to open manufacturing facilities abroad.
While manufacturing has taken a big hit in the Carolinas -- 19,000 textile jobs alone lost in 2003 -- no one is quite sure how many have been lost to outsourcing.
At least 15 states, including the Carolinas, have proposed legislation to stem the practice. An S.C. House bill would ban state agencies from using foreign call centers. A similar bill passed the N.C. Senate last year and awaits House consideration.
The most aggressive proposals have come from New York and Colorado. They would penalize businesses for outsourcing-related job losses.
Nationally, Democrats have pounced on the new Bush report.
"The continued loss of our ability to control the development of our technology, and the continued loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs, are issues of national and economic security," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who is running for president.
Edwards ridiculed the administration report.
"What planet do they live on?" he said. -- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF WRITER MARK JOHNSON CONTRIBUTED.
-- JIM MORRILL: (704) 358-5059; JMORRILL@CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM.
How They Stand
Here's how the presidential candidates stand on outsourcing and jobs.
George W. Bush
Predicts 2.6 million new jobs this year. Asked Congress for $250 million to pay for partnerships between community colleges and employers to train workers for high-demand jobs. Proposed $220 million for reading and math programs to help prepare students for the work force. Declines to comment on economic adviser's comments that outsourcing is a good thing.
Howard Dean
Has criticized administration's outsourcing comments. His own proposals on outsourcing were unavailable, but he has called for protecting U.S. jobs. Promises to create at least a million jobs in his first two years. Would invest in training programs and raise the minimum wage to $7 per hour.
John Edwards
Would invest in infrastructure, such as broadband technology, to make U.S. companies more competitive. Would increase federal funding for science education and re-training. Would set up a government agency to deal with the export of jobs. Overall would penalize U.S. companies that send jobs overseas and give incentives to those that create jobs here.
John Kerry
Would close tax loopholes that encourage companies to take jobs overseas. Give tax credits to companies that create new manufacturing jobs. Would demand more transparency from companies that send work overseas. Would add right-to-know disclosures on transactions that involve the use of telephones or the Internet.
Dennis Kucinich
Would cancel U.S. membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization, saying that would slow the flow of outsourced jobs. Would overhaul the H-1b visa program, which is used to bring skilled workers, many of them technology professionals, into the United States.
Al Sharpton
Proposes a five-year, $250 billion federal infrastructure redevelopment plan to rebuild highways, schools and ports to create jobs. His position on outsourcing was unavailable.
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© 2004 Charlotte Observer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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