The Job Hunt
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 18, 2003; 9:10 AM
Every other word in the presidential campaign seems to be about jobs.
George Bush says he wants more of them.
The Democrats say he's been a disaster at creating them -- the worst record since Herbert Hoover, in the oft-repeated phrase (70 years later and they're still running against Hoover).
Economists debate why the recovery isn't doing much on the job front.
Liberals say the GOP cares more about tax cuts for the wealthy than working-class stiffs.
Conservatives say the Democrats are doom-and-gloomers rooting for bad news.
All of which is built on the questionable notion that a president can snap his fingers and create lots of good ol' American jobs.
It's a lot more complicated than that. Ever call customer service and get some distant, foreign-sounding voice? According to the new Fortune, 110,000 people in Bangalore, India, are writing software, running computers, processing mortgages and preparing tax forms for U.S. and other global companies -- including Intel, Oracle, GE, AOL and Ernst & Young.
"The attraction of the Indian knowledge workers who get those jobs is that they're paid 10 to 20 percent of what Americans would expect for similar work -- and in many cases they do it better," Fortune says. This has caused folks "to wonder just what it is that Americans will do for a living now that even knowledge work can easily be sent overseas." (You can read the top of the Fortune piece.)
Another article notes that 2.8 million factory jobs have been lost since the summer of 2000, shrinking manufacturing employment by a whopping 16 percent, to 14.6 million. The good news: Output is as strong as ever. The bad news: Some of the lost jobs aren't ever coming back.
This is why Bush, having imposed steel tariffs to help workers in such swing states as West Virginia and Pennsylvania, now faces the dilemma of whether to revoke the duties or face retaliatory tariffs on other American industries that would hurt even more workers in even more key states.
All of this suggests that boosting employment in this country is going to take a serious debate of NAFTA-like dimensions -- and nifty campaign slogans won't get it done. Not as long as there are thriving places like Bangalore.
The Wall Street Journal is on the tariff case: "U.S. steelmakers reluctantly agreed to end tariffs on steel imports earlier than scheduled, after the White House urged the companies to seek middle ground and help it avert a threatened trade war.
"But the offer likely will face a tough audience in the European Union. European trade officials have shown little interest in compromising on the levies, which the World Trade Organization last week ruled were illegal. U.S. steel consumers, including automotive-parts makers, also aren't likely to be impressed by the compromise proposal."
Lots of news to deal with -- Washington sniper John Muhammad, to no one's surprise, was convicted -- but the biggest buzz may be about Rush's return. You can read my story (including his rhetorical exchange with the National Enquirer) from The Washington Post, and accounts in Newsday and the New York Post.
Says Chicago Tribune critic Eric Zorn: "If you've ever had a friend come out of recovery or undergo any sort of new-agey conversion to some empowerment philsophy, Rush Limbaugh in his first, platiudinous half-hour back on the radio Monday morning would have sounded very familiar you.
"It was quite Oprah there for a while."
You can also check out some of what Limbaugh said.
And Gallup has this: "A new Gallup Poll conducted Nov. 10-12 shows that just 34% of Americans at this time hold a favorable view of Limbaugh, while 51% hold an unfavorable view.
"Of course, it should be noted that Limbaugh's conservative views and controversial statements in the past may well be a contributing factor in those ratings. For instance, 51% of political conservatives hold a favorable opinion of Limbaugh -- compared to just 12% of liberals. At the same time, 35% of conservatives now hold an unfavorable view of Limbaugh (along with 75% of liberals)."
That's an interesting number.
washingtonpost.com |
