"OUTSOURCING" AND FREE TRADE

Is the attack on "Outsourcing" Leftist racism?: "Media bias is sometimes found not only in what makes it into print but also what doesn't. This is evident in the campaign theme of "outsourcing." There probably isn't a Democratic politician who hasn't used the term to attack President Bush, and this has resulted in a flurry of news stories about the subject. But in all the media coverage, have you heard anyone refer to outsourcing as a "racial code word"? For the uninitiated, racial code words are words politicians (usually Republicans) are accused of using to supposedly help them win votes by raising whites' fears of minorities. ... To the extent that outsourcing is a racial code word, the code isn't all that secretive. An organization calling itself Make America Work For Us, which is affiliated with the 527 group Media Fund, is running an attack ad that begins, "During the past three years, it's true that George W. Bush has created more jobs. Unfortunately, they were created in places like China." As the commercial proceeds, the camera pans out to reveal a factory covered with Chinese symbols. One can only imagine the outrage that would occur if a conservative group had run such an ad."

Call center employees replaced by lower-wage workers in India don't "deserve" to lose their jobs. But that does not mean they have a right to keep them, any more than candle makers had a right to block electric lighting or blacksmiths had a right to prevent the introduction of the automobile. In all of these cases, the need to make a profit in the face of competition drove people to produce better goods or services or to produce them more cheaply. The upshot of this process has been lower prices, higher productivity and a standard of living unparalleled in history. Economic progress requires a constant shifting of resources to their most productive uses

Fighting back on outsourcing: "What has been seriously lacking in the outsourcing debate thus far is hard data. Now, at last, we are starting to get some serious studies with good numbers. They paint a very different picture of the outsourcing phenomenon ..Global Insight found that the total number of jobs lost to IT outsourcing last year was only 104,000; this amounts to just 2.8 percent of IT jobs in the United States. A much larger number were lost due to unrelated factors, including the collapse of the dot-com boom in 2000, the recession, and rising productivity. The most important finding of the Global Insight study is that the cost savings from outsourcing don't just flow into higher corporate profits. They contribute significantly to higher output in the United States, which leads to job increases elsewhere in the economy"

The hot-button issue for the Democratic Party this year is "outsourcing," the latest political euphemism that seeks to stigmatize companies voting with their feet and escaping high taxes and onerous regulations that drive up the cost of labor, increase the cost of capital and drive down rates of return on investment... The enemy of American jobs is not Japan, India or China, but rather stupid policy made in Washington, D.C. Therefore, a more apt metaphor is "refugee CEOs" who are fleeing punitive government policies that hurt both capital and labor.

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ELSEWHERE

John Leo points out that the recent activities of The Anti-Defamation League (the best-known American Jewish organization) include support for abortion and gay rights, backing the effort to remove Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore from the bench in the Ten Commandments case, and opposing school vouchers in Washington, D.C. One might also note its role as a critic of THAT Christian film and conclude that organized American Jewry just does not know what side it's bread is buttered on -- considering that conservative Christians are the bedrock of America's support for Israel and considering that many Leftists are once again openly antisemitic (as they were in Hitler's day). John Leo goes on to point out however that the ADL is only one example of a special interest group that has drifted Left over time. I guess that a narrow mental focus just IS Leftist.

There is a good summary here of what a treasure the world has in Israel.

It's only a "lie" if a Republican says it: "When John Kerry says he supports the Kyoto Treaty even though he voted for a bill that declared the United States would never ever ratify it, that doesn't mean he's a 'liar,' it just means that ... well, to be honest, I haven't a clue what it means. You better to take it up with him."

There's no mystery why there are so few male teachers. Take this case. A male teacher was sacked because of accusations of sexual impropriety even though a court agreed that there was no evidence of impropriety. Who would want to risk entering a system as unjust as that?

Today's recipe is a simple way to make a hearty meal of chili con carne. See here.

For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH

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The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.

Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!

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