So forget the debate over outsourcing. The way we get good jobs back is with a national strategy to make Americans more competitive -- retooling our schools, getting more of our young people through college or giving them a first-class technical education, remaking our infrastructure, and thereby guaranteeing a large share of Americans add significant value to the global economy.
But big American-based companies aren't pushing this agenda, despite their huge clout in Washington. They don't care about making Americans more competitive. They say they have no obligation to solve America's problems.
They want lower corporate taxes, lower taxes for their executives, fewer regulations, and less public spending. And to achieve these goals they maintain legions of lobbyists and are pouring boatloads of money into political campaigns. The Supreme Court even says they're "people" under the First Amendment, and can contribute as much as they want to political campaigns -- even in secret.
The core problem isn't outsourcing. It's that the prosperity of America's big businesses -- which are really global networks that happen to be headquartered here -- has become disconnected from the well-being of most Americans.
Mitt Romney's Bain Capital is no different from any other global corporation -- which is exactly why Romney's so-called "business experience" is irrelevant to the real problems facing most Americans.
Without a government that's focused on more and better jobs, we're left with global corporations that don't give a damn.
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