October 18th, 2012

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Obama Overlooks People With Disabilities on Outsourcing Question

second debate

Most of the chatter following the second presidential debate centered on each candidate’s message to women voters. Prior to Tuesday evening, Republican nominee Mitt Romney was gaining ground in this demographic, but many in the media felt his response to Katherine Fenton’s question about equal income for women was, at best, poorly worded, and, at worst, a fabrication.

But from the standpoint of people who advocate for more job opportunities for people with disabilities, the most disappointing comment of the night may have been from President Obama. It came in response to moderator Candy Crowley’s followup on a question about outsourcing jobs from Carol Goldberg. Governor Romney actually answered first, but we’re skipping over his statement in The New York Times transcript:

MS. CROWLEY: […] iPad, the Macs, the iPhones, they are all manufactured in China, and one of the major reasons is labor is so much cheaper here. How do you convince a great American company to bring that manufacturing back here?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy, there are some jobs that are not going to come back, because they’re low-wage, low-skill jobs. I want high-wage, high-skill jobs. That’s why we have to emphasize manufacturing. That’s why we have to invest in advanced manufacturing.

The President’s focus on high-skill employment opportunities is understandable, given what economists tell us about the multiplier effect these types of jobs provide. But there are plenty of Americans with disabilities who are looking for work and are capable of doing the same assembly, packing, and shipping jobs being sent overseas.

It would take too long to link back to all the previous examples of the productivity and reliability of contract service organizations found in this blog. Fortunately, there’s no need because new stories are being published all the time.

Here’s one that takes place in the same state as Tuesday night’s debate at Hofstra College on Long Island, and it was published just one day before. Messenger Post staff writer Erinn Cain visited the Ontario County chapter of the New York state ARC, where 75 jobs for people with disabilities have been created through an arrangement with the New York State Industries for the Disabled (NYSID).

The jobs consist of “filling, labeling and packaging personal care products, such as lotion and shampoo.” By no means a master’s-level skill; but as ARC’s development director, Michele Wistner, tells Cain it can make a big difference for these individuals:

‘It gives people a chance to demonstrate skills and learn new skills and build skill sets that they can transfer to employment,’ she said. ‘They have to adhere to rules and be timely… They can transfer the skill sets to future employment opportunities.’

Cain points out that NYSID contracts created 7,000 work opportunities in 2012 alone, translating into $51 million in wages for people with disabilities. That’s money that helps make life matter more for people with disabilities, strengthens the economy by providing discretionary income for these individuals, and adds to the local, state, and federal tax-base.

FoxConn, the Chinese firm that manufactures the iPads Candy Crowley asked about, employs 1.2 million people according to the BBC. Making sure policies don’t leave those jobs overseas would put a hefty dent in the unemployment rate and help your election case considerably, Mr. President.

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Image by DonkeyHotey.

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