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GOP Outsources Fund-Raising to India

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Amanda

Dear BuzzFlash,

The GOP is creating jobs, unfortunately, they are in India. Following the trend of major corporations across the country, the Republican Party is outsourcing fund-raising jobs to India.

According to the Business Standard (August 2003) [LINK], a team of operators will man the phones in call centers set up in Noida and Gurgaon, India to telephone people in the United States and solicit their support for President George W. Bush and a donation for the Republican cause as a part of a fund-raising blitz. An HCL eServe company official say that an automated system will eliminate any concern of problems arising from a language barrier.

U.S. outsourcing has proven to be a boon for the Indian economy. According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies, the Indian business-process outsourcing sector has seen a four-fold increase in employment from 25,000 in 1999 to 106,000 in 2002.

Good news for India -- bad news for the America. Consider these facts:

The US Department of Labor reports that 9.1 million Americans are unemployed compared with 8.4 a year ago -- an increase of 700,000 workers. Between August 2002 and July 2003, the number of people out of work for six months or longer has increased by 28 percent, 1.96 million versus 1.53 million. In July 2003, state unemployment benefits expired for a record high 43.8 percent of unemployed workers before they could find work. This is the highest number since the information was first recorded in 1950, and exceeds last year's 40.1 percent. A total of 6.4 million new workers have qualified for unemployment insurance in 2003!

Long-term unemployment among parents has surged more than 50 percent in a 12-month period, according to an analysis released today by the Children's Defense Fund (U.S. Newswire, 8/27/03) [LINK]. One out of every 100 American parents was jobless and suffering long-term unemployment (more than 26 weeks) in June 2003, the highest percentage in years. These parents were among 2.8 million parents unemployed and actively seeking work. U.S. companies are expected to ship 3.3 million white-collar jobs overseas by 2015.

In these dire economic times are the GOP and President George W. Bush so desperate for money that they can justify sending American families with children to the unemployment line just to save a few bucks? How sadly ironic, and depressing. Shame on them.

Amanda from Georgia

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY