Troubling news from the National Science Board

By Frosty Wooldridge

While 15 million Americans cannot secure a job, our U.S. Congress encourages insourcing, outsourcing and offshoring of American jobs, today, in January 2012.  There’s no let-up. 

It’s most discouraging that the men and women supposedly representing the best interests of American citizens unfortunately pander to the best interests for foreign countries.  Congress undermines the American worker at every juncture.  If the job can be outsourced, Congress approves it.  If it can be insourced, Congress gives a multitude of visas.  If the manufacturer can make more money with cheap labor in another country, Congress approves it.

Result:  15 million unemployed Americans.  Another 7 million underemployed!

The National Science Board, the policy making board for the National Science Foundation, has issued a new report that shows Americans have lost 28 percent of technology manufacturing jobs over the past 10 years.

The NSB said, “The U.S. has lost 687,000 high-technology manufacturing jobs since 2000.  At the same time, U.S. multinational corporations created research and development (R&D) jobs overseas at an “unprecedented rate,” while China emerged as the world leader in high-technology trade.”

Our own Congress did that to us along with our annual $700 billion trade deficit.  Little wonder that Congress earned a 9 percent approval rating in 2011.  It’s well on its way to a lower rating in 2012.

Scott Paul, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said, “We hope the NSB report will be read by every member of Congress, every candidate on the campaign trail, and every relevant policy maker in the administration. The report sheds new light on the challenge of maintaining a high-technology edge when we outsource so much production and research overseas.

“If we want to invent cutting-edge technologies—and make these products here—we must dramatically change course. We’ve outlined concrete steps that Congress and the administration can take to ensure that we maintain our manufacturing and technological edge in the decades to come.”

You can also call your own congressional critters to give them a piece of your mind.  Our Constitutional Republic is not a spectator governance.  Make your voice heard. Call them.

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Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents – from the Arctic to the South Pole – as well as six times across the USA, coast to coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. He presents “The Coming Population Crisis in America: and what you can do about it” to civic clubs, church groups, high schools and colleges. He works to bring about sensible world population balance at www.frostywooldridge.com He is the author of: America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans. Copies available: 1 888 280 7715