Outsourcing, visa curbs not in US interest: Congressman

Economic Times of India ^ | May 29, 2003

[AmericaUnited]

We've keep hearing this same garbage over and over again.

NAFTA = "Mexicans will grow economically and buy lots of products from the US." - NOT! A large number of US jobs were lost. THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT HAPPENED.

China - "Trade with China will open up a market of 1 billion Chinese consumers for the US." NOT!

And the latest version of this lie:

“As long as there are 300 million Indian who earn less than $1 a day, there is not much hope of them buying US products.”

[AmericaUnited]

Outsourcing is killing off one of the few remaining high paid sectors of the American workforce, i.e. computer programmers.

[sarcasm]

Congress is for sale.

[doodad]

Yeah, call HP for tech support and talk to "Nancy." You probably couldn't pronounce her real name and English is definitely a second language to her.

[dennisw]

It is not in the interest of the US to take the protectionist path, feels US Congressman Jay Inslee.

We need to outsource his job and the office jobs his staff does. To India and Mexico. I hear corrupt hacks go for cheap down there. Then see what tune he sings. These ******* in DC are way too insulated from the consequences of their actions . DITTOS for the Congressional staff who are responsible for keeping the wheels spinning in Wash DC.

[Drango]

There are hundreds of unemployed people in Jay's district. I'm gonna write my first letter to him about the fact there are a million foreigners here on visas, doing work that Americans can do.

Shame on him....

[Cacique]

Another lackey for corporate interests. The Dinos and Rinos should merge and form the transnational corporate party and stop pretending to be Americans.

[harpseal]

Jay Inslee Democrat representative from Washington. First, it is not "protectionist" to stop the H1B and L1 visa programs. According to the laws authorizing these programs they are only to provide temporary workers for American industries that are unable to find Americans to fill the positions at the prevailing wage or greater. In short while we are experiencing serious unemployment in our nation Representative Inslee is working hard to improve India's economy.

[SwordofTruth]

While the bills introduced to limit outsourcing and L-1 visas in the US Congress and state legislatures should be treated with a degree of seriousness, there is no need to lose sleep over it.

LOL! This guy seems more like a representative of India than a representative of a US house district.

[harpseal]

“As long as there are 300 million Indian who earn less than $1 a day, there is not much hope of them buying US products.”

So what Mr Inslee wants is for the average wage in the US and India to equalize. A question for Mr. Inslee is as follows: "Just what American products do you expect to sell in India when there are no Americans producing anything anymore?"

[sarcasm]

Jay is recognized as a tireless supporter of Microsoft and the worldwide protection of intellectual property.

[Beck_isright]

Can we outsource Congres? It would be the best start to saving American, IMHO.

[Non-Sequitur]

It is not in the interest of working people in this country to vote for politicians like Congressman Inslee. How does he feel about that line of reasoning?

[sarcasm]

But early figures indicate that redistricting might hurt Inslee, who has received more from Microsoft and its employees than any other congressman. In 2002, he collected more than $83,000 from Microsoft, nearly $50,000 less than for the previous election. Inslee attributes the change to his lack of strong competition.

[Dr Warmoose]

So what Mr Inslee wants is for the average wage in the US and India to equalize.

The average Indian isn't paying huge taxes to support peace keeping, humanitarian and diplomatic missions around the world. The average Indian isn't paying for the added costs of "code compliance", "litigation", "pension funds" and other hidden taxes on every product that is available to them. The employer side of FICA is often greater than the total wage paid to an Indian. Your house is overengineered compared to an one for an Indian, and to comply to local building standards you are forced to pay large sums of money. Granted the water and air is clean, and the power stays on most of the time, but for that privledge (and to purchase that privledge for the millions who don't pay taxes or utility bills), the American must make himself totally uncompetetive against billions of other people who are not saddled with supporting the world's most luxurious hammock.

[steve50]

The Dinos and Rinos should merge and form the transnational corporate party and stop pretending to be Americans.

Looks to me like they already have, and it's doing quite well.

[Dr Warmoose]

Outsourcing is killing off one of the few remaining high paid sectors of the American workforce, i.e. computer programmers.

If it only was restricted to computer programers... Accounting firms are outsourcing, radiology is now being handled overseas, even the work handled by stock analysts are being performed by those living outside our borders. Nothing will be done until legal work is also handled outside our borders.

Many selfish unpatriotic people that frequent this forum say that this is good because it lowers the costs of goods here in the united States. That may be true. But those who are presently insulated from job exports will find themselves soon competeting with all of those displaced workers who are taking courses right now to occupy those unexported gigs. These people speak lovingly about how their Pocket PC has more features for a lower price. Wow, they saved ten bucks. But those displaced workers are still getting unemployment compensation, they will demand health care services, they will be using up the parks and other services without "paying their fair share" - those who saved ten bucks on their new PDA are paying ten thousand dollars in additional taxes, fees and fines. Does anyone really think that government will get smaller as fewer Americans can dump one third of a six figure paycheck into the tax system?

Then we have national security issues. Personally I think that it is a crime against God and Man to have such a lousy tax system that requires more labor put into it than all of the labor consumed in the auto industry. But now that individual tax returns are being handled by foreigners, it seems that our 1040 forms are really nothing more than ways for the US government to encourage her citizens to shovel cash into large cargo ships and unload them overseas. I don't feel comfortable with non US citizens having so much information about something like the stock market, personal income, investments, business financial projects, legal matters, personal medical data, and other information that has absolutely no legal protections since it is being handled outside the judicial grasp of the united States.

For those who love outsourcing because in the short run it saves them a few dollars, don't ever call yourself an American or consider yourself wise.

[harpseal]

Ah yes so Rep. Inslee and the supporters of these visa programs and taxpayer subsidies to offshore outsourcing want to keep those burdens on the American taxpayer while giving assistance to the competition to that taxpayer. Keep on burdening one side while helping the other and we will get to have the USA as a third world nation. yes, I want those burdens off the the US worker but I also want teh help to the competition from teh uS government to stop now, today.

[harpseal]

re: your number 18. Very well stated.