Geithner vows to block protectionism

[OhioChick]

Source: Financial Times

April 7 2010 17:31

The US government has vowed not to harm India’s IT outsourcing sector as it battles to create jobs at home in the worst labour market since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, said during a two-day visit to India that protectionist measures to prevent jobs from migrating outside the country would do more harm to the US than good.

“We are not going to go down that path,” promised Mr Geithner. “We know that it would make us weaker, not stronger.”

He also said that the administration of Barack Obama, president, would not seek to curb the investments of US companies overseas as “our fortunes are tied with the world”. There have been proposals to trim the tax privileges of US companies that operate internationally.

“American companies are long in the world,” Mr Geithner told Indian business leaders at a discussion hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

“They are good at what much of the world needs. A huge part of the basic economic challenge we face is to give stronger in- centive for private investment, help support innovation and try to make sure there is more investment and stronger exports globally.”



Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/370f8d52-421b-11df-9ac4-00144feabdc0.html

[fascisthunter]

1. Geithner belongs in Jail

[Demeter]

15. Or a Hospital for the Criminally Insane

[roguevalley]

34. a test subject to determine how you can exist without a soul

this really reflects awfully on Obama that he would chose this criminal and then keep him.

[fascisthunter]

42. true

[whats_a_zip]

44. Why did Obama choose him?

n/t

[superconnected]

49. He's going against the will of the people. Obama should get rid of him.

[graywarrior]

2. Sheesh

[sandnsea]

3. Clearly we need a global labor investment

Because I don't think there is one economist who gets that there is no economy without labor.

[JuniperLea]

4. Go to hell, Mr. Geithner...

Weaker my ass... what's made us weaker is the lack of jobs remaining in our country. What's made us weaker is continuing to cater to the needs of other countries while ignoring our own suffering citizens. WE have nothing left to export! WE won't be able to help ourselves if this continues, let alone help any other country.

This guy needs to go down under the heavy weight of the book being thrown at him!

[SlingBlade]

7. K & R That !

[unabelladonna]

23. timmy needs to go

...in addition to all the above, timmy forgot to pay taxes on certain items.

[No Elephants]

53. Well, it's not like the IRS is in the Treasury Department or anything.

Daschle had unpaid taxes, too, but you can't expect a lawmaker to know tax law.

Hmmm. I have a feeling there are flaws in this post. I just can't put my finger on them.

[ihavenobias]

5. As if I needed more reason to despise his actions. n/t

[corpseratemedia]

6. then the economy will not recover.

[Jefferson23]

8. McCain should be happy, this is what he said during the campaign.

McCain denounces protectionism

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-22-mccain-ohio_N.htm

[ShamelessHussy]

9. it's all about what's good for the companies now

screw the people, no matter where they are from, or what party their leaders belong to.

i guess it's nutt'n but crumbs for us peasants, eh?

[No Elephants]

54. Crumbs are all we deserve, it we keep re-electing the same folks.z

[ShamelessHussy]

70. what choice do we got?

even when we vote for hope and CHANGE, we still get fucked with more of the same.

[Donnachaidh]

10. F*ck you and the horse you rode in on, timmeh

you ferretfaced gibbon.

[lib2DaBone]

11. Tariffs to protect AMERICAN workers.... a race to the top...

..Like all good Corporate whores.. Mr. Geithner could care less what is good for Americans...

[valerief]

29. Protectionism sure does work fine for him and his class, though, doesn't it? nt

[katandmoon]

12. Geithner and Obama to American workers: Screw you!

[xchrom]

13. Quelle surprise. Nt

[ChromeFoundry]

14. Why is Timmy still on the payroll? n/t

[Jim Sagle]

16. Cuz' his boss is on the payroll too?

[Mike K]

27. And therein lies the tale.

[QC]

17. How very, very hopeful and changealicious! n/t

[ixion]

18. It may as well read: Geithner Vows to Push America Over a Cliff

because that's what out-sourcing is doing.

[Odin2005]

19. Timmy is a worthless sack of Corporatist horse manure.

[Oregone]

20. LOL.

[billymayshere]

21. The cheap labor influx will continue

This crosses many sectors whether it be a gardner from El Salvador, a software engineer from India, or a nurse from the Phillipines. Timmeh and his bosses won't rest until we are all making 13 bucks an hour, forced to buy lousy health insurance,(heavily invested in by goldman) and pay high rent. I lost my enthusiasm for Obama when he sent his advisor to Canada during the election to reassure them that he wasn't interested in revisiting NAFTA. Timmeh is doing his job effectively, nothing new here. I still like Obama but he is killing me already!! Our middle class is collapsing and Timmeh is inviting in more cheap labor. I don't know about you but I see the fucking writing on the wall. We're fucked.

[amandabeech]

24. That Canadian caper did a number on my enthusiasm, too.

This guy is a member of a religious organization that worships as its god Milton Friedman.

I say no to theocracy wherever it rears its ugly head.

[izquierdista]

22. Has anyone checked his high school yearbook?

Was he voted "Most Likely to be Ditched"?

[glinda]

25. He has absolutely no balance in what he said. He doesn't get the whole picture.

[Mike K]

26. Geithner is an Obama appointment.

Along with Lawrence Summers and Rahm Emanuel.

[Lost4words]

40. Obama has been such a dissapointment to me

I really thought this guy would have the raw guts to do and not just say. Patriot act, no job plan or programs, no public option,
2 phony wars - ongoing. This ,for me, is more like *'s third term.

[No Elephants]

56. I suggest something else.

A cross between Bill Clinton's third term and *s third term.

PNAC all the way, yeaaay!

:puke:

[No Elephants]

55. And Hanky Panky Bernanke.

[valerief]

28. I'd like to see that crook out of a job and in a prison. nt

[Billsmile]

30. F-U American Workers

Maybe we should replace guys like Tim Geithner with financial experts from other countries who understand the value of protectionist policies. They'll work for less & give the American economy a boost. Let's bring 'em in pronto.

[midnight]

31. Didn't he understand a word Brooksley Born was saying about needing regulations?.

[TroubleMan]

32. What and evil, evil man.

It's very disturbing that Obama associates with this piece of shit.

[Quantess]

33. If there is a hell, he's going there.

[grahamhgreen]

35. Why does he want to keep my freinds unemployed? nt

[scentopine]

36. Geitnter is a peice of shit - gives all democrats a bad name. If republicans

run with this and use it to attack Geithner, I'm all for it. Too much suffering here in USA for that mother fucker to slave out jobs too unregulated labor markets for "US" companies who pay little or no taxes.

Jesus - what a crew, Obama, Geithner, Summers, Bernankie - the most elite and academic uber rich lobbing "fuck you" bombs at the middle class, busting unions while on their knees serving their wall street johns and turning tricks for every CEO that whistles at them.

[Steerpike]

38. The jokes on us...

I thought Geithner was a Republican.

[No Elephants]

58. Geithner is a Republican who changed his registration to independent in order to take this job.

[dogfacedboy]

37. Phuque You, Geithner. Eat a shit sandwich.

[bread_and_roses]

39. Why so hard on Timmy? And now Solis' comment makes sense

Everyone slamming poor little Timmy - do we have any indication at all that he's "gone rogue" on this? Any disclaimers from Obama? Someone tell me that Obama disavows this assurance and I'll be thrilled.

But (earlier this week? late last week?) a very reliable source with a particular and exhaustive knowledge of outsourcing issues was listening to Hilda Solis on (TV? radio?). She was asked about IT outsourcing and said something to the effect of: I can't comment on the actions of private sector employers. (sorry I can't give a cite - if I could remember which show I might be able to look it up, but I can't)

My reaction to that was "Huh?" Solis has been quite good, an appointment I could cheer unreservedly, has taken many corrective and even pro-active actions to counter the systemic and unrelenting downward pressure we've endured yea these many years on workers rights, safety, wages. The comment doesn't even make sense in light of her position. So I was astonished, willing to think she'd been somehow taken aback, something had thrown her off...whatever.

Now, it all makes sense.

[golddigger]

41. Obama likes him.

[closeupready]

43. If Geithner wants to block it, it means we should push for it.

n/t

[Unvanguard]

45. Good. Protectionism in that sector would only harm our economy.

As most protectionism invariably does.

Present unemployment rates have effectively nothing to do with outsourcing, and everything to do with a massive financial crisis that brought about the worst recession in over half a century.

[OhioChick]

46. You did forget the sarcasm tag, right? n/t

[ShamelessHussy]

48. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism By Ha-Joon Chang

http://astore.amazon.com/globalissues-20/detail/1596913991/

an excellent recent book that puts to bed that neo-liberal, or third-way lie.

[No Elephants]

59. Geithner isn't even a neo liberal.

[Unvanguard]

64. And whose focus is actually on "infant-industry" protectionism in developing countries

which is quite a different phenomenon from bald attempts by first-world countries to prevent others from competing with them. I have much more sympathy for that case than I do for the sort of thing that Geithner is disavowing.

In any case, if you're actually interested in the topic: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23135

[ShamelessHussy]

67. the point is that it is all a scam... they could care less about the workers only the fat cats

protectionism IS practiced when it benefits big business, and I think that workers should be considered in the calculation, if not it will muck up all their plans on the white board.

BTW: I don't click on blind links, and it should be obvious that i am interested in this topic since i read and comment on it.

[cui bono]

52. And what brought about "the worst recession"??? n/t

[No Elephants]

60. Banks Wall Street, crap securities based on sub-prime mortgages.

[Unvanguard]

65. An expansion of finance capitalism that too many players failed to understand.

And economic institutions that let rich and powerful decisionmakers privatize profits and socialize losses.

There is no reason to believe that outsourcing has much to do with that either.

[ShamelessHussy]

68. lol - yeah, that is cover i hear everywhere, no one knew that what they were doing was a scam

I say BS.

and if they didn't think they could unload their TOXIC junk overseas, thanks to globalization, they wouldn't have attempted it.

[No Elephants]

61. And before the crisis, an insane real estate bubble for years disguised how bad

our economy was. And it was bad during that disguise period because jobs were gone.

[Unvanguard]

66. I don't know what "jobs were gone" means.

Certainly you can't be referring to the unemployment rate, which actually was fairly low in the later Clinton years and immediately before the Great Recession, and not because Bush and Clinton were stringent protectionists.

[jasonnfree45]

74. How so?

I'm just trying to understand this. The world is full of people that can work way cheaper than U.S. workers. Being 65, I can remember one income supporting a family. Now nothing is secure. Like predatory capitalism. If there is a cheaper way, pursue it. Offshore it, outsource it, Bring in people on visas to undercut USA labor. Pretty soon, without a tax base to support public sector jobs, what's next? Bring in India to teach in schools for 1/3 of what a teacher here makes? Why not? They can do it cheaper, right? Maybe plenty of trained Red Chinese army personnel to do the police work? Just a few in the beginning to "integrate with the new reality" or some such new buzzword. And then, why not let them do our military work also?
They have such a large investment in our economy thanks to MFN policy of the last 15 years, they have a right to protect their investment and besides, they can do it cheaper which is all that counts, right?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic either. It's just the way I see it. I don't understand Geitners statement like "It'll make us stronger.

[florida08]

47. like others here have said

He's not talking to the working class he's talking to the ones who pillaged our economy. We're part of 'the world' now. America is just a cog. People to be exploited.

[The2ndWheel]

50. There really is no such thing as outsourcing

In a world of multi-national corporations. The regional world which governments still exist in, sure. There are lines on maps and everything.

[FlyByNight]

51. Geithner the former tax-cheat...

...simply doesn't care about the decaying middle-class. His continued employment makes me wonder about Pres. Obama too.

:puke:

[No Elephants]

62. Geithner was not the only tax cheat Obama tried to appoint. Please see Reply #53.

"His continued employment makes me wonder about Pres. Obama too."

Didn't Geithner's appointment make you wonder?

[cascadiance]

57. He's in effect vowing to "Kill" the American working class! How "American" of him!

NOT!

He needs to be fired and told to go to move to India if he likes supporting their economy more than ours. No offense meant towards Indian DUers here...

Geitner, people here that make less than you do are ALSO Americans, and they ARE being made weaker by your policies of making "us" (you mean you and your rich buddies) "stronger".

[robcon]

63. This is the great news.

Protectionism is the greatest threat to American jobs.

[ShamelessHussy]

69. that's rich, when all evidence say's otherwise

we were doing great with jobs, and pay raises up until globalization.

but some say don't believe your lying eyes.

[pampango]

72. You sound like FDR who dismantled the Smoot/Hawley/Hoover (all republicans, of course) tariffs. n/t

[Vinca]

71. If we don't rediscover a little protectionism, we will lose the middle class.

This is turning into a country of the very wealthy who make money hand over fist off out sourced jobs and the very poor who can't pay the bills on service industry wages. The assumption - or at least the one that has been crafted over the years - seems to be that everyone is capable of doing jobs more complex that the ones offered in the manufacturing sector. If you need proof we're not all rocket scientists, look at Palin, Bachmann and the teabaggers.

[Owl]

73. Geithner is a jerk. Why can't we help protect whatever little industry we have left?