Outsourcing

As most of us are aware, our economy went from bad to worse to horrible. Why is that one might ask or one might say it is because of the Bush administration. But truly, can you point the finger at just one political party and put the entire blame on that administration without any reservations?

It was mentioned in an article by Mortimer B. Zuckerman, that the Bush Administration has a problem, "a big problem" (U.S. News & World Report; 2004). The stated claim was the promised tax cut would give Americans jobs, which is in high demand. According to the Council of Economic Advisers, they predicted, did not promise, but PREDICTED total job would average out to be 306,000 a month totaling a little over 3.3 million new jobs by the end of 2003. That is a pretty large number when you think about it. Does that mean we have over 3 million American unemployed? Consequently the article failed to mention that the endorsed tax relief for families by lowering tax rates for all taxpayers, increasing the child credit and reducing the marriage penalty; encouraged business growth by providing incentives for small businesses to invest; and more importantly, proposed his Jobs for the 21st century initiative to improve education for high school students and train workers for industries creating the most new jobs.

The economy shows for twelve straight months there has been a job increase and the unemployment rate fell to less than 5.5%, the lowest in months; nearly 1.7 million new jobs were created since August 2003. So my question to the writer of U.S. News & World Report, dated 2/9/04, where is the Ð''big problem' that the Bush Administration is suppose to have? The White House issued the Jobs and Economic Growth numbers and it's evident that there has been and continues to show increase in employment.

In an article written by AFL-CIO, 12/2002, they mentioned that the Bush Proposal to Devolve Unemployment Insurance Administration to States would result in the workers getting essentially nothing. Getting nothing seems a bit harsh, but in the issue of political review, it basically outlined that the State's experience with the current recession. It doesn't provide for the hard numbers for one to make this statement factual. The fact remains that during the Bush Administration, our President has continually fought an upward battle and has shown progress and continues to show the American's that the economy is in an upward motion. The labor market has improved since the Presidents Jobs and Growth bill took effect last May. America's standard of living has increased. And a big plus, the consumer's confidence continues to be substantially higher than a year ago.

For M. Zuckerman to reference that there is something fundamentally wrong in the Ð''engine room' of the American economy seems a little out of place. The comparison used for a two-year recession recovery was from the 1930's, mid-1970's and 1980's. To compare present day events with situations that occurred more than 20 years prior is not significantly relevant to the case at hand. Times have changed; economy is not what it was in the 1930's. What exactly is a recession? According to CNN Money.com, 9/6/01, the possibilities of a recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of shrinking gross domestic product, at between 15% and 20%.

I must agree with Zuckerman that the international competition and outsourcing has been a major contributor to the unemployment market. But exactly how does outsourcing occur? According to Daniel W. Drezner of Foreign Affairs, outsourcing occurs when a business subcontracts a business function to an outside supplier. Example, when you contact a help desk or customer service center, isn't the majority of the callers with a heavy Midwestern accent, generally from India or some other rural country? This is because businesses have subcontracted the work to the Midwest. A