Sometimes it seems there are two George Bush's in the White House.
And no, I don't mean father and son.
It's more like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One seemingly noble, honest and courageous individual. And one who seems to be doing all he can to screw the nation over.
This week brought one of the most profound examples I've seen to date.
The Dr. Jekyll version of President Bush hit the road recently, with stops in New York, Pennsylvania and Chicago. He talked about the nation's economy and need to put more Americans to work. He talked about re-gaining the 2.3 million jobs that we've lost during the first 3 years of his presidency.
Honest. Noble. Courageous.
And then came the Mr. Hyde version of the Bush Administration.
A report surfaces that President Bush's team thinks it's a good idea for American jobs to be outsourced to third world countries. Their rationale is that outsourcing jobs makes for cheaper products to the end consumer.
Besides the obvious political repercussions that follow something like this, there's the fact that this is incredibly myopic. Who is going to buy this cheaper good or service if everyone is unemployed?
Unemployed workers, contrary to what folks in the Mr. Hyde White House seem to believe, do not buy much in the way of products and services. And those things that they do buy, tend to be limited to only the fundamental staples of life (i.e., food, clothing and shelter).
I mean, when's the last time you saw a homeless person with a sign that read, "Will work for a big screen T.V."?
Also lost in this debate is the fundamental unfairness of outsourcing to third world nations.
The last time I checked, 1 American dollar was worth roughly 43 Indian rupees on the international exchanges. This gives third world nations a huge advantage.
It's possible for an Indian worker to enjoy a fairly comfortable life with an income of only $11,000 U.S. The American, in contrast, cannot do the same thing.
It is that built-in unfairness that makes the whole concept of wide-scale outsourcing possible in the first place.
It also goes against some of the basic concepts that I've always thought make Americans the people that we are. An eagerness to compete, but a unspoken recognition that the competition must be fair.
The political controversy over outsourcing did prompt the Dr. Jekyl President Bush to distance himself from his economic team. Sort of.
He said, "we need to act in this country." However, he didn't say anything about what he was going to do.
He didn't talk about tightening the gap between the U.S. dollar and other currencies to address the fundamental unfairness in the system.
He certainly didn't talk about the $7 trillion national debt or its growing burden on the American economy.
He just left me wondering who was talking. Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?
And no, I don't mean father and son.
It's more like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One seemingly noble, honest and courageous individual. And one who seems to be doing all he can to screw the nation over.
This week brought one of the most profound examples I've seen to date.
The Dr. Jekyll version of President Bush hit the road recently, with stops in New York, Pennsylvania and Chicago. He talked about the nation's economy and need to put more Americans to work. He talked about re-gaining the 2.3 million jobs that we've lost during the first 3 years of his presidency.
Honest. Noble. Courageous.
And then came the Mr. Hyde version of the Bush Administration.
A report surfaces that President Bush's team thinks it's a good idea for American jobs to be outsourced to third world countries. Their rationale is that outsourcing jobs makes for cheaper products to the end consumer.
Besides the obvious political repercussions that follow something like this, there's the fact that this is incredibly myopic. Who is going to buy this cheaper good or service if everyone is unemployed?
Unemployed workers, contrary to what folks in the Mr. Hyde White House seem to believe, do not buy much in the way of products and services. And those things that they do buy, tend to be limited to only the fundamental staples of life (i.e., food, clothing and shelter).
I mean, when's the last time you saw a homeless person with a sign that read, "Will work for a big screen T.V."?
Also lost in this debate is the fundamental unfairness of outsourcing to third world nations.
The last time I checked, 1 American dollar was worth roughly 43 Indian rupees on the international exchanges. This gives third world nations a huge advantage.
It's possible for an Indian worker to enjoy a fairly comfortable life with an income of only $11,000 U.S. The American, in contrast, cannot do the same thing.
It is that built-in unfairness that makes the whole concept of wide-scale outsourcing possible in the first place.
It also goes against some of the basic concepts that I've always thought make Americans the people that we are. An eagerness to compete, but a unspoken recognition that the competition must be fair.
The political controversy over outsourcing did prompt the Dr. Jekyl President Bush to distance himself from his economic team. Sort of.
He said, "we need to act in this country." However, he didn't say anything about what he was going to do.
He didn't talk about tightening the gap between the U.S. dollar and other currencies to address the fundamental unfairness in the system.
He certainly didn't talk about the $7 trillion national debt or its growing burden on the American economy.
He just left me wondering who was talking. Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?
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