John Kerry on oustsourcing - weak answer

[Eric J in MN]

When asked about outsourcing, Kerry says something like:
Any candidate who says he's going to end all the outsourcing is lying.

But I'm going to create jobs here.

And I'll make sure China protects intellectual property rights.

American workers can compete with workers anywhere as long as our free-trade treaties are properly enforced.

------------------------
My answer is that as long as Indian workers are paid a fraction of what American workers are, we can't compete. We need to bar corporations which do a lot of outsouring from federal contracts to save American jobs.

[sallyseven]

1. Nothing wrong with what he said

Your not going to stop it until the public rises up and refuse to do business with the companys that outsource.

[Eric J in MN]

2. Kerry implied he'd do very little about outsourcing (nt)

nt

[Dookus]

3. But where do you draw the line?

At outsourced IT jobs? What about component manufacturing? NO American computer maker or auto maker or *fill in the blank* maker relies exclusively on American-made parts.

Job loss IS a big issue (and I've been unemployed for 11 months from the tech industry) but there's no way we can demand that corporations ONLY use American workers and American-made parts. There are just too few companies that would meet those criteria.

And what if other countries did the same thing? 10% of the American workforce is employed by foreign corporations. They'd all lose THEIR jobs.

[w13rd0]

5. How big is our defense budget?

Insist the entire budget be spent on US manufactured and US controlled interests...no subcontracting to Halliburton to subcontract to the Chinese...

[Eric J in MN]

7. How about if a compay lays off at least

How about if a compay lays off at least 1 percent of its workforce in a year while hiring 1 percent in India, it's ineligible for federal contracts for the next 5 years.

[pistoff democrat]

4. Kerry's right about the "lying", but

I don't agree about barring corporations which do a lot of outsourcing.

They do it out of greed. So, instead of proposing a solution which can be twisted into something "undemocratic", I propose that we tax the crap out of any corporation who outsources.

Ya' know, make it equally expensive to outsource or keep this country's workers employed.

The earnings disparity between executives and workers is not just a shame in this country; it's sickening and IMO, that's what should be outlawed. For example, the top exec can make no more than "X" times the average worker...

[Eric J in MN]

6. Companies calculate profits one way for stockholder reports

Companies calculate profits one way for stockholder reports and another way for taxes.

The latter shows they made little or no profits. I don't think taxation is the answer.

[pistoff democrat]

9. Unfortunately, I believe you are correct.

But you do point out how much we need a complete tax overhaul!

[mhr]

8. Hi Eric, I Have posed This Question To All The Candidates Via Email

Being unemployed for 40 months has made me very sensitive to labor issues.

Only two candidates had strong replies, all else waffled. Both Kucinich and Sharpton would take strong measures to eliminate high-tech outsourcing.

Of the wafflers, Clark had the weakest response, which is to be expected because of his strong ties to corporate America.

I would say, if you are a unemployed high-tech professional, vote Kucinich or Sharpton. Otherwise, expect no help from the rest of the pack.

[pistoff democrat]

10. And, of course you realize that neither

Kucinich nor Sharpton will be nominated; and, if one of them was, he would be trounced in the general election.

The disparity of wealth promulgated by the actions of both parties is going to evenually lead to very hard times...can anyone say "Pinkerton"?

[Eric J in MN]

13. mhr- what did Kucinich say about outsourcing? (nt)

nt

[Eric J in MN]

14. kick (nt)

nt

[sleipnir]

11. Kerry is a whitewash.

[RichardRay]

12. A note on IT outsourcing....

A few years ago US programmers couldn't deliver a system on time and in budget to save their souls. It was a sad joke in the software business. Of course, nobody else could either, so we didn't have to feel bad. (Please note that I'm a software engineer by training and that I designed and implemented custom software for twenty years.)

The folks in Bangalore cleaned our clocks. Maybe US software producers have gotten better recently, but I've seen no sign of it. I am now a consumer of software rather than a producer. It seems like the goal of software engineering remains a chimera in this country; everybody wants to be a freaking software artiste.

If I were to go back to producing software you damn betcha I'd consider using Indian programmers - certainly in awareness of the cost but mostly over the quality. That said, I wouldn't want to see what kind of a hack those same programmers would make of designing software for US users or writing the requirements to comunicate that information to the programmers, and I sure wouldn't entrust tech support to folks who barely speak the language of my customers. Cranking out quality code is another issue.

[TahitiNut]

16. With over 35 years in the business ...

... it's my distinct impression that's about 80% a management issue and 20% a software engineer issue. YMMV, of course. :shrug:

[RichardRay]

17. I agree, management is the issue,

but that's part of SE, as well as banging out LOC at a high rate of speed.

[Hep]

15. My understanding is that

Indian workers are paid pretty handsomely.

Is there a link I can read to learn otherwise?

[Deja Q]

18. Very weak

American workers can only compete when their salaries are the same as salaries of the same types of workers elsewhere in the world.

And we all see what corporate america has been doing; lowering our standards rather than raising the world's standartds. x(

Corporate CEOs also need to be satisified with their already ludicrous salaries.

[DrFunkenstein]

19. Bush's Steel Tariffs

Showed what happens when you become too protectionist. Yes, we must enforce the right to organize and demand fair wages and safe working conditions. Yes, we need to ensure environmental standards are met. But a balance must be made.

Kerry is excellent at looking at things in the longview. If you take three steps forward and one step back, you'll make it to the Promised Land alot faster than if you refuse to budge.