It has been decades now that Americans have been worried about outsourcing. Starting in the 1960s, American corporations began closing factories and plants in the United States and moving them elsewhere, costing untold millions of Americans their jobs. As a result of this practice, the American middle class has been collapsing in on itself – millions more families are living in poverty now in 2015 than they were even 20 years ago in 1995. Why is nothing being done to stop this?

What is the difference between outsourcing and offshoring?

Outsourcing is the corporate practice of taking jobs that exist in their home country and moving these jobs to other countries where labor is less expensive and working conditions are less strictly monitored. This is technically called offshoring when the corporation builds a new plant and hires workers in the foreign country, and it’s called outsourcing when the corporation hires a company in that foreign country to do the jobs for them. Both of these practices are referred to when most people use the word outsourcing, and that’s how I am using the word in this article.

What is the purpose of outsourcing?

Corporations who follow this practice justify it by claiming that labor costs in America are much too expensive. Corporations have an obligation to their shareholders to make as much profit as possible, and moving their facilities to countries where workers cost less means higher profits. The fact that this practice is absolutely devastating to American workers and the American economy is not interesting to these companies. Or at least, they certainly feel no responsibility for it.

Why doesn’t the government stop outsourcing?

The simple answer to the question, “Why doesn’t the government stop outsourcing?” is “Corruption.” While corporations may only have legal obligations to their shareholders, the American government has an obligation to all the citizens of the United States. It is clearly in the best interests of America to keep these jobs here, for American workers. So what other reason but corruption could there be for decades of administrations, both Republican and Democratic, to fail to pass any sort of regulations limiting outsourcing?

The truth is that both the Republican and Democratic parties rely far too heavily on corporate donations to risk doing anything to anger or alienate Wall Street. At different times and during different election years, both parties have made outsourcing into an election issue, however neither party has ever done anything to curb the practice once they were elected. As with so many other issues, outsourcing has demonstrated where the Republicans’ and Democrats’ true allegiance lies: they will always take the sides of their corporate masters any time their interests conflict with the interests of the American people.

Outsourcing needs to stop. It’s as simple as that. And the solution is equally simple. These corporations currently receive huge tax breaks and other incentives from the government, which essentially means that we, the taxpayers, are paying them to impoverish our nation. Tax breaks to these corporations need to stop, and we need to make the cost of moving our jobs to foreign countries higher than the cost of keeping them here.

I am running for President in 2016. If elected, I will devote myself to rebuilding the economy, starting with the elimination of outsourcing. If you are tired of being lied to and manipulated by the Republicans and Democrats, then I urge you to join me by casting a write-in vote for Art Drew for President in 2016. Together we can put a stop to outsourcing and bring jobs back home!