Senator calls outsourcing of white-collar jobs a fact of life
Please, please please....SOMEONE tell me that this is a BAD joke. This DEMOCRAT did NOT just say that we Americans must just "learn to deal with it" when it comes to losing our jobs to overseas companies in the name of CORPORATE GREED. I would expect this from a Republican. Did someone actually vote this idiot into office? So now that we must deal with being unemployed because we actually want to be able to afford a home and feed out children, where is this training, education and tax incentive he is talking about? What about those people who are out of work NOW because of this? Don't those tax paying AMERICANS have a right to work and not live in fear that their job will be outsourced?
"Critics in the West say outsourcing puts skilled people out of work just so big companies can save money. But supporters argue that it actually creates jobs by helping companies grow faster. "
Are you seriously kidding me? So now that these companies have "grown faster", where are the jobs? Are we supposed to believe that those put out of work by outsourcing were re-hired into better positions? Who the hell are we kidding here?
This is the most classic example of why each and every American on this planet needs to get out and VOTE. If we only let the rich and corrupt have a vote in society, you have no right to bitch and complain about losing your job.
Senator calls outsourcing of white-collar jobs a fact of life:
Sen. Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said Friday that outsourcing white-collar jobs to low-wage countries such as India has become a global fact of life -- and that America must learn to live with it.
Read the rest after the jump...
Senator calls outsourcing of white-collar jobs a fact of life
BANGALORE, India (AP) - Sen. Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said Friday that outsourcing white-collar jobs to low-wage countries such as India has become a global fact of life -- and that America must learn to live with it.
The senator from Montana also called on India to further open its once-tightly closed economy, especially in the agricultural and retail industries, to competition from U.S. companies.
Baucus said a majority of fellow Senate Democrats agreed with him, despite the party's longtime opposition to American companies moving jobs overseas.
``Everybody is concerned about job losses and so am I,'' he told The Associated Press in an interview in Bangalore, his first stop on a five-day tour of India.
``But the world is flat and we must work harder to better retrain our people,'' rather than resist outsourcing, he said. ``Offshoring is a fact of globalization. Opportunities for U.S. companies come from everywhere -- including India.''
In a written statement released later Friday, Baucus said the intent of his trip was to ``try to get at the problem of outsourcing'' and find ways to keep more of the jobs in the United States.
``Any job lost to outsourcing is too many,'' he said. ``But we can't kid ourselves or stick our heads in the sand. ... Our challenge is to learn why these jobs are moving overseas and work to keep them at home by boosting America's competitiveness through such things as training, education and tax incentives.''
Contracts from foreign firms for everything from software engineering to customer service call centers has helped turn India's economy into one of the world's fastest growing. It's expected to expand more than 7 percent in the fiscal year ending in March.
Such outsourcing is expected to bring in $22 billion in revenues this fiscal year.
Critics in the West say outsourcing puts skilled people out of work just so big companies can save money. But supporters argue that it actually creates jobs by helping companies grow faster.
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Democratic contender Sen. John Kerry said U.S. companies that shifted white-collar jobs overseas were ``Benedict Arnolds'' -- a reference to the most famous turncoat of the American Revolution -- but later softened his stand on the issue.
On Friday, Baucus cited the prosperity that outsourcing has brought to Bangalore, India's technology hub, and it served as a showcase for growing ties between the two countries. And he said a reciprocal opening of markets would benefit both the United States and India.
``Investing in India to bring products for one-fifth of the world's population will be terrific for the U.S., but equally significant for India because it will bring huge growth opportunities,'' Baucus said.
He also talked about the landmark India-US nuclear deal signed in July, which he said he ``in principle'' supports. Under the deal, the United States would share civilian nuclear technology and supply nuclear fuel to India in return for New Delhi separating its civilian and military nuclear programs.
The agreement still has to be ratified by the U.S. Congress, where it has faced criticism from some members because India is not a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Baucus said in the interview that he would have to examine the deal's details before throwing his full support behind it. ``The devil is in the details and I will wait to see if there is a clear and transparent separation of civilian and military aspects,'' he said.
Kerry voiced similar sentiments on Thursday when he visited New Delhi and the central city of Hyderabad.
Baucus is leading a business delegation and arrived in India from China. He was scheduled to visit New Delhi over the weekend.
