Transfer of American Jobs Overseas Becomes

 

Jim Malone

The transfer of American jobs overseas to cut the cost of doing business has emerged as a key issue in the battle for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination¹ between Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and North Carolina Senator John Edwards.
For David Bevard of Galesburg, Illinois, the concern over lost jobs is not an abstract issue.
He has worked for 30 years making refrigerators for the Maytag Corporation and now faces the prospect² of having to look for a new job just as he was approaching retirement³.
"We have always believed that if you worked hard, paid your dues, played by the rules and produced a quality product that you would get rewarded in the end," he said. "Instead, our reward is that Maytag is taking the 1,600 jobs out of Galesburg [Illinois] and moving them to Reynosa, Mexico, and South Korea. This is going to be devastating⁴ to our community of 34,000 people and, quite frankly⁵, we are not alone."
Mr. Bevard spoke⁶ at a rally this week sponsored by the AFL-CIO, the country's largest federation⁷ of labor⁸ unions, representing more than 13 million workers. The union organization now backs Senator John Kerry for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
The concern over lost jobs has become a driving issue in the Democratic race and may have helped Senator John Edwards to a stronger than expected second place finish in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.
Senator Edwards says he has been less supportive of free trade deals than his rival, Senator Kerry, and he now focuses on the job loss issue in his campaign speeches.
"We have shipped more than a million good jobs overseas in a race for cheaper labor," said John Edwards. "I don't know if you heard this, but the administration - the White House - said about two weeks ago that the outsourcing of American jobs is a good thing. What planet do these people live on? Let me tell you what would be a good thing is to outsource this administration!"
For his part, Senator Kerry is now critical of free trade agreements and says future agreements should include tougher job and environmental protections.
The job loss issue has become a potential weakness for President Bush as he gears up his re-election campaign. The president's difficulties on the issue were compounded recently when the chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers⁹, Gregory Mankiw, said the outsourcing or transfer of U.S. jobs overseas was a good thing for the U.S. economy.
Jack¹⁰ Pitney is a political scientist at Claremont-McKenna College in Los Angeles. He says the comment amounted to a political stumble for the White House.
"Well, from the standpoint of strict economics you could make that case," he said. "But politically, that was a terribly damaging statement to make and naturally the Democrats¹¹ are taking advantage of it."
Democrats are seizing on the issue, charging the president is responsible for the loss of 2.7 million jobs.

注释：
abstract [5AbstrAkt] adj. 抽象的，深奥的
devastating [5devEsteitiN] adj. 破坏性的，全然的
sponsored [5spCnsE] vt. 主办
AFL-CIO abbr. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization 美国劳工联盟及产业工会联合会
federation [7fedE5reiFEn] n. 联合，联盟
outsource [aut5sC:s] v.（将……工作、业务等）外包
tough [tQf] adj. 艰苦的
stumble [5stQmbl] n. 错误

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》