If you have a question about food stamps in Oklahoma, you can dial up a call center in India for help. I wonder how many Oklahomans receiving food stamps could do that job? Evidently, some state legislators are wondering the same thing.

A state House committee is considering a change that would require state contracts to be made only with U-S or Oklahoma companies.

Why is it our trade policy choices seem to lie at either extreme? I’m all for supporting Oklahoma and USA businesses, but restricting state purchases to Oklahoma or USA companies only, is just as extreme as Oklahoma taxpayers hiring people in India to answer questions for unemployed Oklahomans. How about a middle-ground?

We have no problem subsidizing companies in the hope of them providing job opportunities, yet provide no advantage for local businesses bidding against foreigners for government contracts? Free trade sure works funny.

Yes, it’s the dreaded “protectionism”, and you always have to watch for loopholes in any such legislation.

Jaworsky told the panel there is no statute that prevents companies from subcontracting with overseas companies after winning a state bid.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 16th, 2004 at 3:27 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.