09 Mar 2004 Benedict Arnold-Enablers

A note from husband David:

It seems to me that the liberals are Benedict Arnold-enablers. Or, to put it another way, they didn’t fall — they were pushed.

The reason manufacturing jobs are going overseas is more complicated than simply the cost of labor is cheaper there — though, the trade unions’ enormous power here is a big factor.

The costs of opening new plants in the current regulatory climate are enormous — so enormous, in fact, that industry has an incentive to keep old and inefficient plants in operation as long as possible. At a certain point these plants can no longer compete with new, state of the art facilities built abroad. They then have to look overseas for their manufacturing needs.

Remember the experience of Shintech. They wanted to in-source jobs, but weren’t allowed to.

Outsourcing is not a decision a company makes lightly. There are enormous costs associated with building new facilities, even when they are built abroad. There is also a lot more risk: Companies risk losing their investments to nationalization or damage due to political instability. Plus, there often are additional costs associated with getting finished products back to the U.S.

Even with all these costs and additional risk, many companies have concluded that their best interests are served by moving overseas. This should be a wake up call to everyone that something is wrong.

Liberals have backed virtually every item of the labor and environmental movements’ big government agenda that put these perverse incentives in play.

Liberals wanted only clean industry — they’re getting it.

Liberals wanted only high paying jobs — they’re getting them too.

The trouble is that they’re exporting all the remaining industries and jobs overseas in the process.

I agree with this, but would add another consideration: Our tort system. The big trial lawyers give liberal politicians and their allies cash, in exchange for which the left blocks legal reforms that would guarantee the rights of victims to receive fair treatment but reduce huge payouts to trial lawyers. Tort costs are definitely a consideration when businesses consider outsourcing.