Surprise meter just hit 8.75!
Former First Lady Hillary Clinton on Wednesday defended the general principles of free trade and outsourcing , while rejecting suggestions that she was allowing Indian info-tech major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to take away jobs from the state that elected her to the Senate. The New York Senator was ambushed by CNN’s Lou Dobbs on his show, a daily outlet for anti-free trade rants,
snicker
with questions about a TCS center she opened last year in Buffalo in upstate New York despite the company’s reputation as an ’outsourcer.’ "Of course, I know they outsource," Clinton retorted. "But they have also brought jobs and they intend to be a source of new jobs in the state."
Did she get a clue, or a check from TCS?
Outsourcing works both ways, she told Dobbs and his constituency of anti-free traders who tried to corner her on the issue. While not minimizing the problems of job flight, she said free trade also provided opportunities for the US to attract jobs from around the world if they got the domestic diagnosis right. The administration and the Congress needed to figure out changes in tax codes and trade laws to provide incentives for companies to keep jobs at home and create new jobs instead of blindly striking out against outsourcing.
Damm, Hillary and I agree on something. I have to go outside and see if the sun has gone dark. |