Top McCain Campaign Adviser Outsources U.S. Jobs

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/05/29/top-mccain-campaign-adviser-outsources-us-jobs/

by Seth Michaels, May 29, 2008

It seems that each day that goes by reveals a new surprise in Sen. John McCain’s campaign for president.

http://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/mccain.cfm?source=mccainrevealed

Last week, we learned one of McCain’s fundraisers lobbied for the Colombian government, pushing an anti-worker trade deal that McCain supports (despite the fact that dozens of union members are killed every month). This week, it comes out that McCain is taking his economic advice from a former lobbyist for a bank with interests in the housing market. And already there’s another revelation about someone on McCain’s campaign staff: One of his top money men is responsible for outsourcing thousands of jobs.

Hat tip to Cliff Schecter at Firedoglake who yesterday wrote how McCain top adviser, Randy Altschuler, is the founder of OfficeTiger, a company based in Chennai, India. OfficeTiger’s mission was to convince U.S. companies to outsource jobs to India—and it seems Altschuler has been quite successful in shipping out U.S. jobs.

A 2005 USA Today article explains the nature of Altschuler’s business.

OfficeTiger sells a host of services to banks, print shops, insurance companies and other clients demanding high-quality work at rock-bottom prices. An investment bank, for example, might want research on a client’s competitors for a sales presentation. A print shop in Iowa might need type set for a restaurant menu.

OfficeTiger workers in Chennai do the work, then ship it back to the USA over the Internet for a fraction of the cost if done in the USA. Altschuler wouldn’t disclose wage rates in India. But he didn’t dispute VC estimates that labor costs there are often one-fifth those in the USA.

When it comes to jobs, McCain doesn’t seem to get it. He made a speech about his support of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other bad trade agreements in front of a shuttered Ohio factory. He claims the overwhelming percentage of Americans who think the country is on the wrong track are just sad that the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement isn’t getting passed. His economic plans are insufficient to the challenges we’re facing—and he’s claimed that the idea there’s a recession is mostly “psychological.”

Maybe it’s because he spends more time listening to his big-money fundraisers like Altschuler than he does to working families. In the you’re-on-your-own economy, Altschuler is doing just fine—but the people whose jobs are shipped overseas aren’t so lucky.

McCain needs to listen to working families, not his fellow millionaires, and propose solutions that will turn around America.