Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Barbara Boxer: Outsourcer of jobs in California..

Babs ponders life.
..aside from arrogance and condescension, this women has been an absolute drag on the economy of the state of California when it comes to wrong-headed representation and advocacy in D. C. An Investor's Business Daily article enunciates some of Senator Dim Bulb's wondrous achievements. In poo-pooing the only thing Boxer uses against Carly Fiorina -- her presiding over HP at the time when the company laid off 30,000 workers -- they say:

Sen. Barbara Boxer thinks she's struck election gold in California by charging her rival, ex-CEO Carly Fiorina, with outsourcing. The real story is how Boxer has chased millions of jobs out of state with her politics.

Last Wednesday's radio debate between California's two senatorial candidates repeatedly circled the issue of jobs in a state with 12.4% unemployment, second highest in the nation.

Incumbent Boxer's trump card was that her opponent, while chief of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2006, outsourced jobs. "She laid off 30,000 workers, shipped jobs overseas and says she's proud of her record — well, that's her record," said Boxer.

Problem is, Boxer is a far bigger outsourcer. The unemployment rate in her state is 25% higher than the national average of 9.4%, and the number of jobless Californians is 66% higher than when she took office 17 years ago. Her 90% liberal voting record based on National Journal data has much to do with it. Some of her biggest job-killing votes include:
  • The $787 billion stimulus package. Advertised in 2009 as necessary to "create or save" jobs and cap the national jobless rate at 8%, California unemployment soared to 12.4% by 2010 from 7.8% in 2008, as California posted its biggest job losses since 1940. That's a million jobs lost in this recession, according to the University of the Pacific, even as states like Texas with free-market policies gain jobs and draw investment. It's outsourcing on a grand scale.
  • The corporate tax. Boxer claimed in Wednesday's debate that she wants to "incentivize" U.S. companies not to ship jobs overseas. Maybe she was referring to her yes vote on S. 3816, which ends the tax deferral for multinational firms. The idea was to hike taxes on companies' overseas operations so they would hire more here. Instead, we've "incentivized" companies to move headquarters and jobs to low-tax countries. Even the Democrat-led Senate knew it was a job killer. Boxer didn't.
  • Free trade. In the debate, Boxer patronizingly said Mexico was important to California because it was a top trading partner. No kidding. California's economy is steeped in foreign trade, accounting for 11.4% of U.S. exports, which underperforms its 14% slice of the economy.
  • Maybe that's because Boxer has steadfastly kept California out of foreign trade. She opposed NAFTA with Mexico and Canada in 1993 and continues to oppose all free trade. She voted no on trade deals with some of the state's most logical, natural trading partners — Singapore, Chile, Peru, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica, to name a few.

the article goes on to describe how Boxer's radical environmental stance has caused the limitation of off-shore drilling and helped choke off water to the California's Central Valley:

As water was cut to the southwest Central Valley in 2007, unemployment rates rose above 16% in Fresno and as high as 40% in Mendota; agricultural operations fled to Mexico. Mendota's jobless farmworkers were reduced to accepting charity food from China — outsourcing that came because of Boxer's vote.

The article concludes:

With a record like hers, is it any wonder that Boxer's hometown newspaper refused to endorse her?

The senator's long, inept and counterproductive record in politics has left California poorer, less competitive and less employed than ever. If anyone should avoid throwing around charges like outsourcing, it's Barbara Boxer.

..can I get an amen?
-30-

1 comment:

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

You know this and I know this, but is Carly using it?