United Liberty
Want to stop jobs from going overseas?
Fri, 07/20/2012 - 1:35pm | posted by Tom Knighton
It seems a day doesn’t go by that I don’t see or hear someone complaining about jobs going overseas. They invariably want the government to do something to keep jobs on American shores. They blame “greedy corporations” for seeking profit and not looking out for the interests of Americans who desperately need jobs.
Well, those Americans really do need jobs, so here are some helpful tips to help bring those jobs back to American shores.
1. End the unions
Unions are a large chunk of the reason many companies have looked overseas for labor. Unions, which once existed as a way to deal with abusive management, now seek to line pockets. Not just theirs, but those of their members. Through collective bargaining, they have jacked up wages for what are often unskilled positions to a point that borders on the ridiculous. In some cases, that border is crossed. Reports of auto workers with high school educations making six figure incomes while not filling any kind of management role are a prime example.
The thing is, non-union shops in the same industries often pay comperable wages. They simply expect more work out of their employees, minimizing the number of people required. Companies want the best workers they can get, and even without unions you won’t see wages plummet. The best and brightest want to be compensated, and they will be.
However, if unions continue to push for more and more, then more and more companies will seek to move their operations overseas.
2. End the EPA
This one is bound to bother the left. They will argue that without the EPA, companies will pollute us into early graves. The thing is, they’re wrong. The same thing can be done through the threat of legal action. Fear of being sued is incredibly powerful in corporate America, and the threat of bad PR is even more powerful. Sure, some will try. They try it now with the EPA supposedly there to watch them like a hawk.
However, the EPA and their regulations - rules passed without Congress having voted on them I might add - create increased cost for companies. As a result, those companies look for other nations with more relaxed environmental regulations. The cost to the environment is, at best, the same as without the EPA’s involvement. At worst, it’s a huge step down since many of these same countries aren’t known for giving their people the right to complain (China, for example?).
3. Pay more for your stuff
Americans love a good deal. I think it’s encoded in our DNA somehow. That’s why Walmart is such a successful company. They offer just about everything you could want, and at a price that’s lower than just about anywhere else. However, those deals come with strings attached.
You see, the search for deals has made competitors seek new ways to get products at lower costs. This lets them reduce the price and increases their opportunities to make sales. When coupled with things like minimum wages (which are the governmental in origin) and our expected standard of living (which isn’t necessarily on the government), it becomes impossible to meet the demand for lower cost. As such, companies look overseas.
If you want jobs to come back to the United States, you’re going to have to expect to pay more. Sucks, but that’s just life. That guy you want to have a high paying job? Someone’s got to pay for it. That someone is you and me.
4. Quit saying corporations are evil
Corporations aren’t good or evil. They’re entities. They’re a legal construct designed as a way for groups of individuals (who can be good or evil) to do business. A corporation is incapable of being good or evil. The people who run them can, but that’s a different matter.
However, there is an opinion among a lot of folks that corporations are evil and they should be taxed into oblivion. The result of that is many companies look off shore to find places they can operate without such animosity. The United States has a high corporate tax structure, and many corporations look elsewhere for as much as they can to avoid US taxes. Changing the laws so that they still get taxed isn’t the answer.
The answer is to cut corporate taxes and lure these companies - and bring the jobs - back to American soil.
Conclusion
The truth of the matter is that corporations didn’t just trot these jobs overseas on a whim. They were chased their by progressives of both parties who only saw dollar signs rather than employment for millions of Americans. Want those jobs back? Then suck it up and get over the idea that these companies owe you anything simply because you think they do. They don’t.
“End the EPA” isn’t bound to bother the left, it’s bound to bother sane people. What jobs do you think will be created if the EPA is done away with? Will we be able to bring lead-based plant factories back to the US, and greatly increase the ease of mining by using loads of mercury?
I’m surprised a libertarian would adopt the bizarre posturings of Michele Bachmann, or see any possible benefits from polluting and destroying the environment upon which we all depend. Sure, we’d all be worse off and sickened by toxic chemicals in our air and water, but maybe that might result in a few low-wage, low-skill jobs being brought back to the US from China.
And you believe companies wouldn’t pollute because of the fear of being sued, or apparently worse, a bad reputation? Where does such naivety come from? There’s a reason we have EPA rules and it’s precisely because companies have wantonly done these things in the past. And the only thing keep them partially in check now is regulation and enforcement.
Furthermore, such suggestions as “pay more for stuff” so that jobs can remain in America are farcical. Do you think the country would be better off if electronics were at least 20x more expensive for everyone so that a few plant workers could benefit from minimum wage jobs in America?
Free trade works, and we all benefit from lower priced goods and services. Low-wage, low-skill jobs have left the USA, are leaving the USA, and will continue to leave the USA. There is no appreciable benefit to having US workers perform such jobs.
Congratulations. You completely missed the point. Good job.
And what, pray tell, was the point? That the US should adopt some sort of toxic mix of Argentine protectionism and Chinese environmental desecration in order to potentially lure low-wage, low-skill jobs to this country?
If your post was meant to be some sort of tongue-in-cheek jab at those on the radical right, such as Bachmann, then yes, I understand the point. Otherwise, your suggestions are far-fetched and unlikely to be at all effective. Yes, cutting the corporate tax rate would make the US more competitive globally. But even if the US were to cut the corporate tax rate to 0%, make every state in the union right to work, end every kind of environmental regulation, and whisper sweet nothings to business leaders every night, it wouldn’t change the fact that US labor costs will never be competitive with those of Bangladesh. And that is why low-wage, low-skill manufacturing has left, is leaving, and will continue to leave, the US.
Espousing dangerous rhetoric that bears little resemblance to reality is akin to the very same anti-business hysteria that you are condemning.
Romney Verses Obama
Real Fact The I.R.S. has just been empowered to grab your assets
Yes, you read that right.
Obama has given the green light and an unlimited budget to the I.R.S.—the tax collecting arm of Obama Care—the right to grab:
• Your home
• Your life savings
• Your mementos
• Your business assets
• Your family heirlooms
• Your children’s college money
• Your unprotected retirement savings
• Your secret nest-egg
Virtually anything of yours it damn well pleases. And here’s their sinister plan…
Your assets will be liquidated and the proceeds used to pay for health care for illegal aliens. How does the Tea Party know this?
Because the illegal alien clause was NEVER TAKEN OUT of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)—also known as Obama Care.
Can you say redistribution of wealth (or poverty as the case may be because by the time O’Scammer is done in the Oval Office we’ll all be dirt poor)—the very thing Obama has been pushing all long.
They have the authority to take from the mouths of your family and give to undeserving, ILLEGAL strangers. As Obama disembowels our Free-Enterprise Republic, his liberal minions cheer him on, dreaming of the day they can bask in the glory of their evil and sinister conquest.
But YOU have the power to help us drive a stake through Obama Care and get rid of this garbage piece of legislation no one wants. Help us fax blast the hell out of both the Senate and the House—all 535 members—and tell them “DITCH Obama Care NOW!” Kill it once and for all.
( Facts) About Mitt Romney=em
Just Some Real Facts About Mitt Romney That We Will Not Hear About From The Lame Stream Media About The Real Mitt Romney! All you will hear from the Lame Stream Media about Romney will be negative or repulsive (from Mitt’s high school days approx. 50 years ago!) that in no way proves anything about what this man is made of today. The facts below are much more informative than what CNN or MSNBC can dig up about Romney.
Mitt Romney:
After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar, but never worked as an attorney.
As a venture-capitalist, Romney’s first major business deal involved investing in a start-up office supply company with one store in Massachusetts that sold office supplies. That company, called Staples, now has over 2,000 stores and employs over 90,000 people.
Romney or his company Bain Capital (using what became known as the “Bain Way”) would go on to perform the same kinds of business miracles again and again, with companies like Domino’s, Sealy, Brookstone, Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot Supply, and many others.
Got your calculators handy? Let’s recap.
Volunteer campaign worker for his dad’s gubernatorial campaign 1 year.
Unpaid intern in Governor’s office 8 years.
Mormon missionary in Paris 2 years.
Unpaid bishop and state president for his church 10 years.
No salary as president of the Olympics 3 years.
No salary as MA governor 4 years.
That’s a grand total of 28 years of unpaid service to his country, his community and his church.
And in 2011 Mitt Romney gave over $4 million to charity, almost 19% of his income….Obama gave 1%
Joe Biden gave $300 or .0013%
This is real character vs….well you know what!
Romney may not be the best representative the Republicans could have selected. At least I know what religion he is, and that he won’t desecrate the flag, bow down to foreign powers, or squander my money on vacations. I know he has the ability to turn this financial debacle that the “Spending President” has gotten us into. We didn’t know that when Obama said he’d give us change, he meant nickels and dimes, and he would get the big bucks. We won’t like all the things necessary to recover from this debt, but someone with Romney’s background can do it.
But, on the minus side, He never was a “Community Organizer”, never took drugs or smoked pot. Never got drunk. Did not associate with communists or terrorists. Nor did he attend a church whose pastor called for God to damn the U.S
Yes, he told us in advance what he planned to do.
Few were listening.
The following is a narrative taken from a 2008 Sunday morning televised “Meet The Press.”
From Sunday’s 07 Sept. 2008, 11:48:04 EST, Televised “Meet the Press” the then Senator Obama was asked about his stance on the American Flag.
General Bill Ginn, USAF (ret.), asked Obama to explain WHY he doesn’t follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.
The General stated to Obama that according to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171…
During rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed, all present (except those in uniform) are expected to stand at attention, facing the flag, with the right hand over the heart. Or, at the very least, “Stand and Face It”.
NOW GET THIS !!
‘Senator’ Obama replied:
“As I’ve said about the flag pin, I don’t want to be perceived as taking sides…..” “There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression….” “The anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air, and all that sort of thing.”
(ARE YOU READY FOR THIS???)
Obama continued:, “The National Anthem should be ‘swapped’ for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song ‘I’d Like To Teach the World To Sing.’ If that were our anthem, then I might salute it. In my opinion, we should consider reinventing our National Anthem as well as ‘redesign’ our Flag to better offer our enemies hope and love. It’s my intention, if elected, to disarm America to the level of acceptance to our Middle East Brethren. If we, as a Nation of warring people, conduct ourselves like the nations of Islam, where peace prevails - - - perhaps a state or period of mutual accord could exist between our governments ……”
“When I become President, I will seek a pact of agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity, and a freedom from disquieting oppressive thoughts . We as a Nation, have placed upon the nations of Islam, an unfair injustice,which is WHY my wife disrespects the Flag, and she and I have attended several flag burning ceremonies in the past.”
“Of course now, I have found myself about to become the President of the United States and I have put my hatred aside. I will use my power to bring CHANGE to this Nation, and offer the people a new path. My wife and I look forward to becoming our Country’s First black Family. Indeed, CHANGE is about to overwhelm the United States of America.”
WHAAAAT, is that???
Yes, you read it right.
I, for one, am speechless!!!
Dale Lindsborg , Washington Post
False…http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/stance.asp
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