Sorry to shock you folks again, but in this post I'm going to praise the southern state of Tennessee -- while slamming my native land of California.
No, really.
Last night, I read Lou Dobbs' important book "Exporting America." Even though it's a slim volume, the kind you devour in one evening (to be frank, his description of what's happening to this nation makes sleep impossible), he does an expert job of explaining why outsourcing constitutes national suicide. Along the way, he laceraties each and every pro-outsourcing argument ever proferred by Corporate America's well-paid propagandists.
One outsourcing atrocity he particularly detests invovles government services. When (for example) people lose their jobs, they often have to use the services of a state call center -- and these days, that call tends to be routed to India.
Yeah. The government wants you to tell a person in Bangalore how difficult it is to find work in America. But you're not supposed to presume a cause and effect relationship. If you do, you're a commie.
With deep and genuine shame, I must admit that this kind of thing happens all the time in Arnold Schwarzenegger's California. You know where it doesn't take place?
Tennessee.
Governor Phil Bredesen -- a Democrat, please note -- signed a law last year giving state procurement preference to firms that use only local talent. And Tennessee gives tax incentives to firms that stay clear of outsourcing.
That's the kind of corporate tax break I can support. (Incidentally, if John Kerry had won, congress would be debating the implementation of similar policies on a national level).
My fellow Californians -- wake up! Tennessee's way ahead of you!
About Bredesen: This article notes his realistic stance toward Hillarly Clinton's alleged presidential aspirations.
Personally, I don't think she will ever run for national office: She's not that popular with Democrats (personally, I never understood her charms), while conservatives will always consider her a Satanic lesbian one-world Illuminatrix who wants to burn churches and give all your money to shiftless black people. To paraphrase a Gore Vidalism, whenever a right-wing pundit tells you "Hillary's running," conservatives should hold on to their wallets: It's just another cry for donations.
But...as long as we're talking about 2008...
...why not Bredesen himself? Yeah, sure, I might prefer the seccession of Jesusland, but -- speaking realistically -- that just ain't gonna happen. So if we have to stomach YET ANOTHER southern pol, we could do worse than this guy.
So next time you hear me spew insults at the Jaysuzz-addled hillbillies in the red states, please keep in mind the one great exception. I'm not talking about the land that gave us Davy Crockett, Al Gore and the Bell Witch.
Let's not mention the Elvis thing. I'm trying to maintain a good mood.
20 comments:
yes, it's true: Silicon Valley's job growth has been negative the past five years even though tech companies have finally been growing the past two years. Why? because these companies no longer hire locally, 80 to 90% of all new job openings are outsourced overseas.
See the San Jose Mercury's sept 17th frontpage article (but doesn't raise the issue that these companies are outsourcing which is still verboten in MSM):
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/12685924.htm
Valley still limping in quest for new jobs
By Nicole C. Wong
Mercury News
Silicon Valley's job market is still hobbling along with half-steps toward a recovery from its lingering four-year slump.
The region has stopped losing jobs, but it is not yet gaining many of them back, according to the monthly employment report released Friday by the state.
Employers in Santa Clara and San Benito counties added 200 jobs to their payrolls in August, a tiny increase for a total of 868,600 positions. But compared with a year ago, Silicon Valley had 2,400 fewer jobs, a decrease of 0.3 percent.
Economists say the annual comparison is more important than the monthly one, which is easily swayed by seasonal shifts in employment. And for the past five months, the year-over-year changes have stayed fairly close to zero, wavering on either side of it.
The valley's previous employment report, released last month, showed that the region in July achieved its first annual gain since the dot-com bust.
``There was a hope last month that it was the beginning of a turn. And it may be, but it didn't get confirmed this month,'' said Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy.
The unemployment rate slipped to 5.4 percent in August, down from a revised 5.5 percent in July and 6.2 percent a year ago. That compares with 5.1 percent for California and 4.9 percent for the country in August.
Professional and business services, one of the key industries indicating the valley's economic health, shed 2,900 jobs in the past year. The cuts came largely in management of companies, employment services, and architectural and engineering services.
Manufacturing, another valley mainstay, dropped 400 jobs during the same period.
And the important information industry -- which has posted annual gains of 1,000 to 2,200 jobs each month this year largely because of ever-expanding Internet search providers and Web search portals -- showed a year-over-year increase of 900 jobs in August.
``The bottom line is when we're looking year to year, we still don't see any noticeable gains in employment. And it's a little surprising, given that the major tech companies in Silicon Valley are all doing very well right now,'' said Steven Cochrane, senior economist at Economy.com. ``Many are also repatriating profits from overseas. They seem to be awash in cash.''
Companies are temporarily able to bring foreign profits back to the United States at a tax break, an incentive Congress intended to create more jobs in America. Scott Anderson, a senior economist at Wells Fargo, said he's heard that some technology companies are postponing expansion plans until next year as the global spike in natural gas prices threatens to siphon off dollars that overseas consumers and businesses would have spent on the valley's tech products.
Here's a kick in the head. The IRS sends out quarterly tax forms for employers to report payroll. In last year's third quarter, the forms they normally send me didn't arrive when they were supposed to.
I phoned the IRS, asked them to re-send the forms, as mine hadn't arrived.
"Oh," said the IRS, "we don't send those anymore. We SUBCONTRACTED that out."
"Wait, wait," said I. "This is the IRS I'm talking to, right? My government? And you're telling me that you don't even SEND OUT YOUR OWN DAMNED FORMS ANYMORE? Who sends them out for you? And from where?"
"I don't know," he replied. "But the IRS doesn't provide that service anymore."
The first part of "What's the Matter With
Kansas" makes the point that the 19th
century populist William Jennings Bryan
was a Nebraskan, and Kansas was a hotbed
of radical populism and even communism in
the early part of the 20th century.
So what's happened in these red regions?
As someone who's spent several years
living there and traveled extensively in
rural America my opinion is that what's
changed is that people have recognized
that the world does not value their
culture, their skills, or their products
(except bulk agricultural products that
are largely produced and handled by
machines). The increasingly marginalized
people of these regions thus turn to the
comforts of apocalyptic religion (and to
military adventures) for some sense of
heroic destiny to compensate for an
otherwise uninspiring life.
'The increasingly marginalized
people of these regions thus turn to the
comforts of apocalyptic religion (and to
military adventures)'
I don't get it. What does islam have to do with all of this?
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