Today the Associated Press reported that all but 4% of U.S. Fortune 500 companies reported gains in 2010. This report also showed that hiring was up for all companies this year, and yet still the economy lagged in the face of these happy results. Maybe that’s because, as the article stated, that the majority of those jobs were created outside the United States. That’s right folks, U.S. companies started hiring this year. However, they didn’t hire in their own country.
Our economy is struggling while the majority of corporate America hired more than 1.4 million people outside the U.S. Caterpillar, one of the nation’s few manufacturers still standing, hired more than 50% of their 15,000 jobs outside the U.S. I have no doubt that this was the exception. Many companies that hired didn’t hire ANY U.S. labor.
I guess I can understand why a company like UPS hired overseas. That makes sense to me. Their jobs were for shipping and receiving personnel. With the increase in overseas shipping, that makes sense. It’s not like some guy in Indiana can drive his little green truck to Minsk. However, it seems that what gets shipped more than anything are the jobs that can be done right here at home.
I have ranted on this before. I truly believe that if the Obama Administration would grow a pair, and force companies to pay taxes on offshore labor, more jobs would be done here, than outside the U.S. I know they have tried to pass that type of legislation, but since we don’t have anyone to stand behind it, who can fit into a standard athletic supporter, the legislation just sits in some committee until everyone forgets about it.
This year there was legislation to provide medical support for 9/11 first responders. Apparently, many of these volunteers don’t have health coverage, and the ones that did have it were dropped from their insurance companies when they got sick. Some of these people were actually City, State, and Federal employees at the time. These people put their lives on the line on 9/11. This seemed like a no-brainer vote. Who wouldn’t vote for that? However, Republicans wanted to add an Amendment to the Bill to prevent illegal aliens from getting access to any 9/11 money (even if they helped dig out bodies), and the Democrats blocked the Amendment. Democrats then tabled the Bill until after the mid-term elections because they didn’t want Republicans creating political ads which said “Did you know that (Insert ball-less Democrat Name Here) voted for healthcare for illegal aliens?” Then, when Democrats were ready to vote on the Bill after the elections Republicans blocked it until Obama agreed to tax cuts for people making more…not less…MORE, than $250,000.00 per year. It wasn’t until Jon Stewart dedicated a week’s episodes of his Comedy Central show (the last inviting actual first responders on to talk about the issue), were the lawmakers shamed into passing the Bill. Really? It took a comedian to get you to do the right thing? WOW!
I guess the only way we will get anyone to do the right thing here, is to have Stewart and Cobert hold another rally. I think we should call it the Rally to Restore a Pair. It should be held in Washington, and everyone should bring a pair of brass balls. I fear that city needs a few.