Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Out-sourcing jobs?

The ?¢‚Ǩ?ìcrisis?¢‚Ǩ¬ù in the U.S. about ?¢‚Ǩ?ìexporting jobs,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù will become a campaign issue. However, the immense impact of the United States?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ taxation of exports is being ignored.

Politicians will attempt to dismiss the cause as ?¢‚Ǩ?ìgreed?¢‚Ǩ¬ù by corporate interests which requires more laws from Washington. The fact is that the U.S. taxes our own exports to the rest of the world whereas the rest of the world does not do the reverse. According to Ernest Christian, a tax expert based in Washington D.C., the disadvantage to the U.S. is between $120 billion and $150 billion per year. Think about that number. It is enough to pay 3 million people $50,000 per year. Three million workers – compared to how many outsourced jobs? The second component here is government regulation. This regulatory burden adds further to the harsh tax burden. These two together could easily be costing the United States more than six million jobs per year.

The heavy hand of government plays a tremendous role here. Don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t be misled by those who are looking for another excuse to take more freedom from you. They are not out to help you, but to increase their own power. Remember what Thomas Jefferson said, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìAn honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Yet that is exactly what many politicians want ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú power over their fellow citizens by regulating, taxing, and outlawing behavior.

No doubt it will be an enormous campaign issue this year, but remember that the United States is one of the most competitive and efficient countries in the world, when we are allowed the freedom to compete.

So, when you hear politicians calling for the government to fix the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìout-sourcing?¢‚Ǩ¬ù of jobs over-seas, think about the huge negative impact the government has already had on this area and ask yourself if, after causing much of the problem, is it really qualified to fix it?

Christian H F Riley