http://www.11alive.com/

It's the first story, under "poll."

And BTW, let's put to rest the notion that either Bush or Kerry believe in total free trade. They don't.

Outsourcing labor is an outgrowth of two things: the technological growth of communication and poor education in the USA.

The Internet, cheap (and clear) international phone calls, and sattelite communication all combine to make outsourcing feasible, although with obvious overhead costs.

The bigger problem, in my view, is that there are  very bright, well-educated people in countries that we are used to thinking of as the third world.  They are clearly smart enough to learn English, at least.  And here, in the USA, many students barely know how to read and write.

I went back to college to finish a degree recently.  As an older student, it was very eye-opening.  Young people today are stupider than they used to be.  That may be painful to hear, and I might not know how to prove it other than through my own anecdotal experience, but it is true.  

The international students kick the ass of the American students.  There's obviously some self-selection involved in international students superior performanc; it takes some ambition and intelligence to go to school overseas, here, as they do.  But the laziness and lack of interest of many American students is just ghastly.  They take it for granted.  The instructors take it for granted.  This stupidity is accompanied by a huge sense of entitlement.

Well, that's my little rant.  Bush is right, although he might have just been grabbing at straws when he said it.

I haven't seen anyone comment on Bush's emphasis on community college as the path to higher education for the masses.  He never talks about enabling poor families to send their children to Yale or Harvard, even Eastern State.  Why didn't his daughters choose that route?  Could it be that he believes smart kids from less affluent backgrounds don't deserve a chance to prove themselves at an elite university?

1. American companies take their jobs to places where they can have slaves (or ruin the environment or avoid paying retirement or health costs) and we lose an industry because of "comparative advantage"

2. American companies drive down compensation in this country to levels paid in the 3rd world.

The reason we have such a huge trade deficit is because we are the most powerful country in the world.  The deficit is a result of our (real and perceived) strength.

Why?

Because our currency is the most trusted on the planet.

What do all international oil transactions use as a base currency?  Dollars.
What currency do the citizens of countries use where the local currency is basically worthless?  Dollars.
What currency do drug dealers and money smugglers use?  Dollars.

Not Yen, not Pesos, not Euros, not Pounds, not Rubles.  No, US Dollars.

The demand for US dollars is artificially high due to this.  Therefore, the cost of US dollars is artificially high.  Therefore, the cost of US-based labor, which is paid in dollars, is artificially high.  Therefore, there is an artificial incentive to ship jobs overseas, where the workers are paid in a currency that costs less.