Posted on Sun, Oct 10, 2010 : 9:49 p.m.
When is outsourcing acceptable? Virg Bernero responds
By Nathan Bomey
Lansing Mayor and Democratic Michigan gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero spent a large chunk of tonight's debate accusing Republican opponent Rick Snyder of "shipping jobs overseas."
Bernero trained his attacks on Snyder's tenure at computer-maker Gateway Inc. and as an Ann Arbor venture capitalist with investments in tech companies HandyLab and Discera.
After the debate, Bernero took questions from media gathered at the debate. AnnArbor.com asked him to define when outsourcing is acceptable. Here was his response.
Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.
Comments
Gordon
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 10:57 a.m.
When is 'outsourcing' acceptable? When you are receiving the job? Is it just as bad when the job goes to Texas from Michigan? It's OK for States / Communities to give tax breaks to attract a business in their State and not mine? If it has to be done by tax breaks why do we have the tax in the first place? For the poeple who lost employment it's awful and part of the taxes they paid helped replace the tax break given. How about our politicians answering these questions as they run for office?
David
Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 2:52 p.m.
While I tend to agree with Smiley, NAFTA, CAFTA, ect. are not true "free-trade". They were designed to help multi-national corporations alone, not the American people. True free-trade has no government involvement whatsoever, and if it does it is only to limit fraudulent activities. If it is true that Snyder "outsourced" jobs to a foreign country, I am sure it was not an easy choice. The Federal government has made it a point over the last 30 years to systematically demolish the manufacturing base of America. Financially, these actions have made it so that many companies can only continue to grow if they move over seas. Don't blame Snyder for doing something that kept a company alive and producing. Blame those who have made the business environment in America, and especially Michigan, toxic.
Smiley
Mon, Oct 11, 2010 : 8:09 a.m.
Politicians never get into the details of why things are the way they are. Benero would have you believe that there are evil people whose master plan it is to employee foreigners on foreign soil over our own countrymen. Think about that...does it really make sense? Or perhaps there are much deeper, more complicated forces at play - say perhaps Washington's trade policies over the past few decades. If America buys more from outside its borders than it exports, the end result is no different than if one spends more than they earn. Free trade policies are one of the root causes of this issue. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/11/10/352872/