To: American Spirit who wrote (7943 ) 3/17/2004 12:38:41 PM From: Lizzie Tudor Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 81568 Bush likely to suffer for outsourcing jobs Wednesday, 17 March , 2004, 08:37 Washington: President George W Bush's stance supporting outsourcing of US jobs to low-wage countries like India could turn out to a political liability for him in his re-election bid if latest polls are any indication. Full Coverage: US Bars Outsourcing In the latest Gallup Poll released yesterday, six in 10 Americans (58 per cent) say that the issue of sending US jobs to foreign countries will be "very important" when they are deciding their votes for president. And another one in four (27 per cent) say it will be "fairly important." After some initial ambivalence, Bush and other administration officials have been attacking Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry for proposing that outsourcing be curbed to retain American jobs. Six in 10 Americans (61 per cent) currently say they are concerned that they, a friend, or a relative might lose a job because the employer is moving that job to a foreign country. Forty-one percent say they are "very concerned" about this happening, and another one in five (20 per cent) say they are "somewhat concerned." Those numbers combined with his slipping support for his economic policies portend a difficult road ahead for Bush. Discuss: If jobs are exported to India then what is the fate of people in the US. Close to half of respondents polled are pessimistic about the direction of the US economy - an outcome that hasn't been this negative since last September, when pessimists outnumbered optimists by 10 points. The Gallup survey found that 47 per cent were pessimistic about the outlook for the US economy. The percentage of Americans believing the economy is getting better stood at 44 per cent, down from 53 per cent recorded in mid-February and down from 66 per cent in early January. sify.com Too late for Bush now, he can't do anything to stop this trend or even slow it down.