Congressman Bernie Sanders, in his bid to get a seat in the Senate, has campaigned that he is firmly against outsourcing.
"In America today, despite a huge increase in worker productivity the middle class is shrinking, poverty is increasing and millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages," Sanders said in a statement prepared for Saturday's event.
"There are a number of reasons for this, but one of the key factors is the loss of good-paying manufacturing and information technology jobs -- many of which are being outsourced by American corporations to China, India and other countries where workers are paid a fraction of the wages that American workers receive."
One of the industries being outsourced to India, is the production of Gasoline.
Sitting on the edge of the water in the Gulf of Kutch on India's western shore is one of America's dirty secrets. A mass of steel pipes and concrete boxes stretches across 13 square miles (33sq km) - a third of the area of Manhattan - which will eventually become the world's largest petrochemical refinery.
The products from the Jamnagar complex are for foreign consumption. When complete, the facility will be able to refine 1.24m barrels of crude a day. Two-fifths of this gasoline will be sent 9,000 miles (15,000km) by sea to America.
Given that "No new oil refinery has been built in the US since the 1980s as environmental legislation has tightened" would Rep Sanders propose we build Gasoline refineries in Vermont, or would he prefer his constituents pay higher prices at the pump?
And I wonder if Rep Sanders is opposed to foreign companies outsourcing their work to America. I wonder if he's aware that 3.2% of Vermont's workforce is employed by foreign companies. Vermont's neighbor, New Hampshire, has 5.1% of their workforce employed because of outsourcing.
Or perhaps Bernie is a one-way outsourcer, you know, one who doesn't mind other countries outsourcing to us, but doesn't want to reciprocate. But that would hardly be neighborly, would it?
And doesn't outsourcing to places like India and the third world help spread the wealth? It is quite true that with all of the business being thrown India's way, it now has a much larger Middle Class, which means a lower poverty level. Doesn't out sourcing really mean that a rising tide raises all ships?
Or perhaps Bernie is only interested in Americans being wealthy while the rest of the world can just starve. But the would be greedy, wouldn't it?
I guess I just don't understand how it is that a Liberal, of all people, could be against trade policies that help third world workers raise their standard of living and become full participants in what the modern age has to offer.
In any case, I hope someone asks him about the Refineries. I'd be interested in his answer.
