Monday, May 24, 2004
Any upbeat in the economy cannot stop the gushing hemorrhage of good paying U.S. jobs to third world countries and the resulting crumbling of the American middle class.
Ninety percent of American companies have private owners with no desire to relocate offshore. Nevertheless, they are being pressured to move by the major American corporations to which they supply. Refusal to comply will result in their replacement by competitors that do use sub-slave labor in third world nations. Also, they are being enjoined to cut wages and benefits to their U.S. workers creating a rippling dominos effect across America bringing down middle class wages and benefits. Furthermore, the Bush administration has joined in by instructing employers to pay lower wages and suggesting techniques designed to cut overtime pay.
The offshoring lure is that the prevailing wage in China, India and Mexico is $1.25 an hour compared to $52.85 plus benefits for an employee of one of the big three U.S. auto makers. Sending this job to a third world nation would result in savings of $2066.00 a week, $8884.00 a month and $106,608.00 a year. Furthermore, a foreign work force is minus a legacy expense, providing for pensioners, which is built into the price of products. However, greed has blinded U.S. businessmen to the fact that there must be some spreading of the wealth to enable capitalism to work. As more Americans slip into poverty, the fewer customers business will find.
The only thing that will save the American economy is something like the Labor Equalization Act.No product will come into this country unless it meets American Labor Criteria with an added surcharge of the difference between its foreign labor cost and what it would have been in the U.S. For example, using a labor tax rate of $52.85 an hour, Chinese slave-made shoes costing Nike $2 will be taxed $50.85 for the right to sell them here. When there is no cost advantage to go offshore, they won't. They sure aren't going to sell those $125 shoes in China, where workers make $1.25 an hour.
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Teachers Suspended for 'too much information.'
Local parents are outraged that students from two high schools allegedly watched or listened to the graphic beheading of an American in Iraq while in class under the supervision of teachers. While potential future soldiers in high school are being kept ignorant of the true realities of war, Congress ordered the school-to-military cooperation as part of Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. This law requires schools to turn over students' names, addresses and phone numbers as well as forcing high school administrators to let military recruiters onto their campuses.
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The numerous past incidents of terrorist attacks on the United States in retaliation for U.S. foreign intervention suggest that the United States could reduce its chances of terrorist attacks by adopting a policy of military restraint overseas.
According to the Pentagon's Defense Science Board, a strong correlation exists between U.S. involvement in international situations and an increase in terrorist attacks against the United States. In fact, a long list of terrorist attacks irrefutably coincide with specific instances of U.S. intervention overseas.
Many say that terrorists are targeting America because of our extensive overseas industrial and commercial presence and exported culture and belief systems of religious freedom, economic opportunity and respects for the rights of the individual. However, other countries are doing the same, but are not being hit. The U.S. has one major difference according to American foreign policy authority Richard Betts. "As the only nation acting to police areas outside its own region, the U.S. makes itself a target for states and groups whose aspirations are frustrated by its power." Thus, it was inevitable that George Bush's gung-hoe military approach in Iraq has only stirred the hornets nest of terrorism and escalated insurgent terrorist retaliation.
It would be much easier and less painful to change U.S. foreign policy than changing the American way of life.
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Bush and Rumsfeld were ultimately behind the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib.
The scandal started with Bush declaring Al Qaeda and other captured terrorists to be illegal combatants, and not eligible for the protection of the Geneva Conventions.
American Special Forces units couldn't move fast enough against suspected terrorist cells because they were compelled to get prior approval from local American ambassadors and brief their superiors. In response, Rumsfeld authorized the establishment of a highly secret special-access program (SAP) that was given blanket advance approval to kill or capture and, if possible, interrogate "high value" targets. According to Newsweek, Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft also signed off on it opening the door to the abuse and torture found at Abu Ghraib. However, Secretary of State Colin Powell and America's top military lawyers expressed their objections.
As the occupation went sour, the extent of the Pentagon's political and military misjudgments became clear. American and Coalition forces knew little about the insurgency. Human intelligence was poor or lacking due to a lack of competence, expertise and coordination. So, Major General Geoffrey Miller, the commander of the detention and interrogation center at Guantanamo was brought over. As learned from recent Senate hearings, Miller's concept was to make Iraqi prisons more focused on interrogation. He also briefed military commanders on the interrogation methods used in Cuba, including sleep deprivation, exposure to extremes of cold and heat, and placing prisoners in stress positions for long periods.
According to an Army consultant, photos were taken because It was thought that some prisoners would do anything-including spying on their associates-to prevent their families and friends from seeing them in shameful pictures. The goal was to create a blackmailed army of informants to insert back into the population and gather information about pending insurgency action. Unfortunately, the scheme wasn't effective.
Some JAGs fear that U.S. tolerance of mistreatment will come back and haunt us in the next war. Other countries now have an excuse to ignore the Geneva Conventions.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
BUSH DEMONSTATED HIS STRONG SUPPORT FOR OFFSHORING U.S. JOBS BY OUTSOURCING G.O.P. FUNDRAISING & VOTER OPERATIONS TO INDIA.
India's Hindustan Times reported that, during a 14 month period from 2002 to 2003 at the same time the Republican Party was playing up patriotism, its fund-raising and vote-seeking campaign was performed in part by two call centers located in India. The Republican National Committee shipped its voter database to its125 member Indian staff to use in soliciting political contributions ranging between $5 and $3,000 from thousands of registered Republican voters in America. The contract for running the campaigns was awarded to Washington-based Capital Communications Group. Then, for "cost and efficiencies gains", the company outsourced the work to HCLTechnologies to be sent offshore."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Ninety percent of American companies have private owners with no desire to relocate offshore. Nevertheless, they are being pressured to move by the major American corporations to which they supply. Refusal to comply will result in their replacement by competitors that do use sub-slave labor in third world nations. Also, they are being enjoined to cut wages and benefits to their U.S. workers creating a rippling dominos effect across America bringing down middle class wages and benefits. Furthermore, the Bush administration has joined in by instructing employers to pay lower wages and suggesting techniques designed to cut overtime pay.
The offshoring lure is that the prevailing wage in China, India and Mexico is $1.25 an hour compared to $52.85 plus benefits for an employee of one of the big three U.S. auto makers. Sending this job to a third world nation would result in savings of $2066.00 a week, $8884.00 a month and $106,608.00 a year. Furthermore, a foreign work force is minus a legacy expense, providing for pensioners, which is built into the price of products. However, greed has blinded U.S. businessmen to the fact that there must be some spreading of the wealth to enable capitalism to work. As more Americans slip into poverty, the fewer customers business will find.
The only thing that will save the American economy is something like the Labor Equalization Act.No product will come into this country unless it meets American Labor Criteria with an added surcharge of the difference between its foreign labor cost and what it would have been in the U.S. For example, using a labor tax rate of $52.85 an hour, Chinese slave-made shoes costing Nike $2 will be taxed $50.85 for the right to sell them here. When there is no cost advantage to go offshore, they won't. They sure aren't going to sell those $125 shoes in China, where workers make $1.25 an hour.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Teachers Suspended for 'too much information.'
Local parents are outraged that students from two high schools allegedly watched or listened to the graphic beheading of an American in Iraq while in class under the supervision of teachers. While potential future soldiers in high school are being kept ignorant of the true realities of war, Congress ordered the school-to-military cooperation as part of Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. This law requires schools to turn over students' names, addresses and phone numbers as well as forcing high school administrators to let military recruiters onto their campuses.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The numerous past incidents of terrorist attacks on the United States in retaliation for U.S. foreign intervention suggest that the United States could reduce its chances of terrorist attacks by adopting a policy of military restraint overseas.
According to the Pentagon's Defense Science Board, a strong correlation exists between U.S. involvement in international situations and an increase in terrorist attacks against the United States. In fact, a long list of terrorist attacks irrefutably coincide with specific instances of U.S. intervention overseas.
Many say that terrorists are targeting America because of our extensive overseas industrial and commercial presence and exported culture and belief systems of religious freedom, economic opportunity and respects for the rights of the individual. However, other countries are doing the same, but are not being hit. The U.S. has one major difference according to American foreign policy authority Richard Betts. "As the only nation acting to police areas outside its own region, the U.S. makes itself a target for states and groups whose aspirations are frustrated by its power." Thus, it was inevitable that George Bush's gung-hoe military approach in Iraq has only stirred the hornets nest of terrorism and escalated insurgent terrorist retaliation.
It would be much easier and less painful to change U.S. foreign policy than changing the American way of life.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Bush and Rumsfeld were ultimately behind the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib.
The scandal started with Bush declaring Al Qaeda and other captured terrorists to be illegal combatants, and not eligible for the protection of the Geneva Conventions.
American Special Forces units couldn't move fast enough against suspected terrorist cells because they were compelled to get prior approval from local American ambassadors and brief their superiors. In response, Rumsfeld authorized the establishment of a highly secret special-access program (SAP) that was given blanket advance approval to kill or capture and, if possible, interrogate "high value" targets. According to Newsweek, Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft also signed off on it opening the door to the abuse and torture found at Abu Ghraib. However, Secretary of State Colin Powell and America's top military lawyers expressed their objections.
As the occupation went sour, the extent of the Pentagon's political and military misjudgments became clear. American and Coalition forces knew little about the insurgency. Human intelligence was poor or lacking due to a lack of competence, expertise and coordination. So, Major General Geoffrey Miller, the commander of the detention and interrogation center at Guantanamo was brought over. As learned from recent Senate hearings, Miller's concept was to make Iraqi prisons more focused on interrogation. He also briefed military commanders on the interrogation methods used in Cuba, including sleep deprivation, exposure to extremes of cold and heat, and placing prisoners in stress positions for long periods.
According to an Army consultant, photos were taken because It was thought that some prisoners would do anything-including spying on their associates-to prevent their families and friends from seeing them in shameful pictures. The goal was to create a blackmailed army of informants to insert back into the population and gather information about pending insurgency action. Unfortunately, the scheme wasn't effective.
Some JAGs fear that U.S. tolerance of mistreatment will come back and haunt us in the next war. Other countries now have an excuse to ignore the Geneva Conventions.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
BUSH DEMONSTATED HIS STRONG SUPPORT FOR OFFSHORING U.S. JOBS BY OUTSOURCING G.O.P. FUNDRAISING & VOTER OPERATIONS TO INDIA.
India's Hindustan Times reported that, during a 14 month period from 2002 to 2003 at the same time the Republican Party was playing up patriotism, its fund-raising and vote-seeking campaign was performed in part by two call centers located in India. The Republican National Committee shipped its voter database to its125 member Indian staff to use in soliciting political contributions ranging between $5 and $3,000 from thousands of registered Republican voters in America. The contract for running the campaigns was awarded to Washington-based Capital Communications Group. Then, for "cost and efficiencies gains", the company outsourced the work to HCLTechnologies to be sent offshore."
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