February 10, 2004
Bush Endorses U.S. Jobs Moving Overseas

On Labor Day, President Bush said, "I want people to understand that when somebody wants to work and can't find a job, it says we've got a problem in America that we're going to deal with. We want everybody in this country working."1 But yesterday, President Bush directly contradicted himself, releasing a report which "supports the shift of U.S. jobs overseas."2 When asked about the report and how it contradicts the president's supposed concern about job losses, the president's top economic adviser said, "Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade."3

With more than two million jobs lost since President Bush took office, newspaper headlines across the country told readers of the White House's new support for the practice of wealthy corporations eliminating U.S. jobs and shipping them to lower-wage countries. The Seattle Times headline read, "Bush report: Sending jobs overseas helps U.S."4 The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, "Bush Economic Report Praises 'Outsourcing' Jobs"5 and the Arizona Republic said, "Bush Report Lauds 'Outsourcing' Jobs."6

And while this may be troubling to the millions in the United States who are out of work and suffering from stagnating wages, it was celebrated in India, where thousands of good paying, white-collar U.S. jobs have moved.7 The headlines in India read, "Bush Aides: Outsourcing win-win for India." The story said the Administration believes exporting jobs to India and other lower-wage countries "is a win-win for both exporter and importer"8 - failing to explain how this is a win for American workers who the president just months ago purported to care about.

Sources:
1. President's Remarks on Labor Day, 09/01/2003.
2. "Bush Supports Shift of Jobs Overseas", Los Angeles Times, 02/10/2004.
3. "President Calls Economy 'Strong and Getting Stronger'", New York Times, 02/10/2004.
4. "Bush report: Sending jobs overseas helps U.S.", Seattle Times, 02/10/2004.
5. "Bush economic report praises 'outsourcing' jobs", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 02/10/2004
6. "Bush report lauds 'outsourcing' jobs", Arizona Republic, 02/10/2004.
7. "More job searchers just quit looking", USA Today, 02/09/2004.
8. "Outsourcing win-win for India, US: Bush aides", Indian Express, 02/09/2004.