The “o” in Obama and Outsourcing!

April 11th, 2010 admin Posted in obama health care issues 4 Comments »

History was created on 20th January 2009 as Barrack Obama took oath as the 44th President of the United States of America. The first Afro-American President took office on the same day as the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr, the civil right activist who championed the cause of equality between the races in America almost half a century ago!

The entire world watched in awe, inspiration and hope as Mr. Obama became the Chief-Commander of the most powerful nation on the earth and hoped that with him will come a new era of peace, progress and prosperity.

Obama’s views on most things have been very balanced, practical and hope-giving and he is hailed as a rational and practical statesman, yet the outsourcing industry is still trying to asses his complete standpoint on the big “O” of Outsourcing!

Under “OBAMANOMICS” (as journalist call Obama’s take on most economic issues), his views are not completely clear.

On one hand he has said that outsourcing as a business and economic trend cannot be “reversed” yet on the other hand he has brought in The Patriot Employer Act of 2007, that states,

• All US business would have to maintain its headquarters in the US only

• 60% of each employee’s health care must be paid by the company

• The business must pay a minimum wage as per the Federal poverty level

• The business must match roughly 5% of each employee’s salary in retirement benefits

What affects the call center outsourcing industry is this clause -

• The business must maintain or increase its percentage of domestic employment in comparison to offshore employment to be specified as a “Patriot” employer. This guarantees him a 1% tax waiver.

In order to finance this tax break, US companies with subsidiaries abroad will have to pay corporate tax on profits earned abroad in USA and not in the country it is earned.

This has two implications;

One, it means that outsourcers will think twice before off shoring because that will make them miss the 1% tax benefit.

Secondly, the profitability of US firms will go down as the tax structure in US is more than those in China, Hong Kong, India etc resulting in greater tax outflows.

Next in line is Secretary of Commerce, Bill Richardson, who again strongly stands against American businesses getting attracted to the outsourcing business. He is quoted as saying, “Outsourcing is a problem and most of it is technical. To fight it we need to upgrade our science and math standards in our school. It is education that will help us keep those jobs here”.

Although the President himself is a very tech-savvy man himself and does understand the great economic benefits of outsourcing for US firms yet he cannot in any way underplay the politics of outsourcing as during this recessionary mode, more and more people are looking at him to provide some magical relief from the financial crunch and the President will have to deliver. We are “Hopeful” as President Obama always says; and so is the outsourcing industry in India and the rest of Asia!

Sandeep Periwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/customer-service-articles/the-o-in-obama-and-outsourcing-736102.html

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The Obama Meltdown?

April 9th, 2010 admin Posted in obama health care issues 6 Comments »

What a week for Barack Obama.

He (accidentally) refers to his “Muslim faith” on George Stephanopolous’ show, waivers and quakes on every position he has hitherto held (abortion, taxes, Iraq, the surge), and now faces a 10 point deficit to McCain/Palin in the latest USA Today likely voter poll.

And as we all know, it is the likely voter polls, not the registered voter polls, that really count.

I can hear the Democrats now, wondering aloud in polite company how the rest of America could be so stupid. I would respectfully take that question and redirect it in the direction from whence it came.

Barack Obama’s entire primary campaign was a personality contest and a “change” event (which really just kept reminding me of this particular South Park episode, where his supporters were the homeless). Between he and Hillary, there was little difference on the issues, ergo the issues were not discussed. Except maybe health care, though from a conservative point-of-view, government control is government control. A skunk is still a skunk, no matter how wide his (or her) stripe.

Now that the general election is upon him, and real questions, voter scrutiny and his own soaring oratory begin to descend, the plaster of Paris that is Barack Obama’s candidacy has begun to crack.

And it is not the “Republican attack machine” that is dismantling him, contrary to his echoes of Hillary Clinton’s mythical “vast right-wing conspiracy” from Democrat whines of yore. It is his own failure to stand for anything worth supporting, and like a Seinfeld episode that never ends, pinning his political future on a campaign about nothing. As he added substance to his campaign-speak, we learn what many of us already knew. He isn’t about “change” – he is just another tired old liberal, advocating policies that would balloon the federal government, destroy federalism, and transform this country in ways that would make her completely unrecognizable to her Founders. His proposals stem from a childish admiration of that pathetic 1960s hippy mindset of free love and free everything, except that you and I pay for it.

And why does it seem he is running against Sarah Palin? Is he really that afraid of John McCain?

I now feel free to offer a bit of advice for you Democrats who think that the debates will work in his favor. Barack Obama may be the most scripted presidential candidate in history. Though well produced, Ronald Reagan (as Bill Clinton) was great off-the-cuff, had their own ideas, and knew their subject matter. Obama, certainly unworthy of Reagan’s dirty sock, and not a sliver as tough as Bill Clinton, loses his unicorn-like luster when required to think on his feet. John McCain does not.

This may be the beginning of the end for the Obama candidacy. If it is, the country will be better off for it.

Nathan Moore
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/the-obama-meltdown-553744.html

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