Kerry Has Wrong Focus on Outsourcing

John Kerry's plan to discourage outsourcing by giving tax breaks to companies who keep jobs in the U.S. is shortsighted and not addressing the true issue at hand. Kerry's plan in effect subsidizes companies, mainly manufacturing companies, who do not outsource their labor. While this plan may win him a few votes from manufacturing workers, it is not going to solve anything. The main point that he is missing is that, through technology, the world's economy is moving away from manufacturing towards services. Machines can manufacture goods more efficiently with much less man power, meaning fewer employees. Outsourcing is not the main reason manufacturing jobs are being lost, a shift in the structure of business in general is that reason. Kerry's tax plans merely hurt the average American because these tax breaks mean less tax revenue for the government, and with Kerry's social policies generating more spending that tax revenue will likely be made up by raising income taxes. It also hurts the average American in the long run because the lack of cheap foreign labor will cause higher priced goods. Governmental policies should be focusing on improving the educational opportunities for adults who will have to learn new skills as they move to new jobs as the business world shifts. Kerry's plan does not recognize this, it merely attempts to stall the inevitable structural change while costing the U.S. consumers and taxpayers more in the short and long runs.