According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, January’s unemployment dropped from an astounding 10 percent to 9.7 percent.  An acceptable average is about 6 percent. If you are like most unemployed Americans, you are still not able to “buy a job;” perhaps Uncle Sam may buy one for you. 

The promises of the economic stimulus have fallen short. There is much optimism and quick action to take in order to pass a bill in Congress to accelerate job growth.  Part of this proposal is a $5,000 tax credit for each worker hired by a small business.  Although such allurement is difficult to pass up in a seemingly fragile economy, when they know they won’t see a tax break until the following year, small business owners must be wary to expand without a healthy demand for its products; sixty percent of all small businesses fail in their first few years. It sounds much like the predatory incentives that started this mess in the first place.

Small businesses don’t deal with the workforce needed to propel job growth on such a grand scale. Although small businesses account for approximately 50 percent of the total jobs in the private sector of employment, we have depended on them far too long to pull us from this quandary. I believe the real problem lies within the explosion of outsourced jobs during the Bush administration. There were a total of 3.2 million less jobs in the United States than there were at the beginning of his first term; 2.5 million of these were manufacturing jobs. Service jobs do not create the kind of wealth that is vital to our economy, nor do they pay as much to Social Security or Medicare.

This problem happens not just on the national level, but locally as well. For example, I called a local restaurant recently and ordered a meal. There was a problem with the order, so I asked to speak with a manager. Beyond that, they couldn’t get my order straight, and I couldn’t talk to anyone in the store. The person on the phone was at a call center in Lexington. Disgusted with the service, I ordered my food from somewhere else. I was appalled that these jobs were so outsourced that employment is so sparse in this area. It seems that the only thing that has trickled down over the years in this economy is the selfish self-interest of capitalism.

I also feel outsourcing is largely responsible for stagnant and modest change in the median household income in the last 10 years, if not longer. The median household income was $51,295 in 1998 and decreased to $50,303 in 2008, according to the Census Bureau (these figures have been adjusted for inflation). The loss of jobs to outsourcing are devastating to the American workforce, and unfortunately most of these jobs will never come back. The dislocated worker, who finds new work, typically takes a 20 percent reduction in pay.

There are many drawbacks to outsourcing that still remain unclear. If one goes far to reach his fortune, he will deceive or be deceived. The lack of communication and governing of these overseas jobs may be a quick and convenient solution for cheaper labor costs, but in the end, with the ever changing global economy, many of these companies may find themselves too far upstream, and without a paddle