“At Any Cost”—Fidelity`s Corrupt Creed Infects Our Elected Officials Too
An ad has appeared in a number of
major business magazines recently (example, Forbes,
July 2, 2007), placed by the major firm of
Fidelity Investments to solicit
human resource and
retirement business from major companies. The box at
the bottom of the full page ad says "Retirement and
HR solutions". The heading of the page says: "CEO
and CFO on Leadership". Underneath, in an obvious
swanky restaurant, two men in power suits are
talking at dinner. The caption under the CFO who appears
on the right side says: "His Focus: The Costs".
The
CEO`s caption: "His Focus: Taking his company to
the next level at any cost."
[My emphasis].
Underneath these two corporate
mavens in very small print is this Fidelity pitch:
"Leaders are always looking for ways to
move their company forward. Fidelity Employer
Services offers just that. HR solutions that can help
increase employee satisfaction, productivity, and reduce
costs. And the most innovative retirement plans out
there. With Fidelity, you can move your company into the
future of business."
[VDARE.COM
note: The ad is online at the
Harvard Business Review,
if you`re a subscriber.
Email Fidelity and ask
them what they mean by “AT ANY COST”.]
I do not know the full nature of
Fidelity`s magic solutions. But to me the brunt of the
message is very clear: cut costs and bring your company
to the top—“AT ANY COST”.
And where are costs best cut? The
record of outsourcing and layoffs is clear—labor.
American citizens laid off in favor of any cheaper
employee.
Mr. Gates wants more
H1-B people from Asia and Hillary Clinton, a proud
(Democratic!) member of the
Senate Indian Caucus just told her Indian friends
there is much need to
expand Indian relationships. Would that mean raising
campaign money?
As Ed Rollins, former White House
aide under Reagan, noted on Lou Dobbs on July 9, "She
doesn`t have ambassadorships to give away, but she does
have more H1-B visas." Clinton suggested raising
H1-B visas from 65,000 per year to 115,000—although we
know that many of these so-called
vitally-needed skills could easily be
filled by American citizens.
My question: Among the people in
public life who
have a chance to be elected President, can anyone
succeed who is not willing to prostitute herself (or
himself)?
Now to the issue which clearly
needs our attention: Immigration Reform—real reform, not
the
disgusting giveaway offered by S 1639. The
immigration issue has
festered since 1965 and now hopefully most Americans
realize that the cost of open borders equals
a real diminution of their lives and that of their kids.
But wait—the situation is even more
critical. We have learned from careful research
published by The Heritage Foundation that the cost of
approving fast-track immigration for the 12 to 20
illegal aliens here now would have
been $2.6 trillion.
Yes, trillion. The war in Iraq has
already
cost us a bundle, but the ultimate
cost of amnesty would have been in the trillions. We
have had fiscal fiascos before—like the $500 billion
savings and loan debacle—but nothing like this.
Fortunately, someone in the
Federal Government is willing to speak out. In two
broadcasts, one on March 4th and the last on July 8th on
CBS` 60 Minutes, we were told the dismal fiscal
truth by the "nation`s top accountant, the
comptroller general of the United States".
He`s totaled up our government`s income, liabilities,
and
future obligations and concluded that our current
standard of living is unsustainable unless some drastic
action is taken. And he`s not alone. It`s been called
the "dirty
little secret everyone in Washington knows" – a
set of financial truths so inconvenient that most
elected officials don`t even want to talk about them,
which is exactly why David Walker does.
According to 60 Minutes,
"David
Walker is a prudent man and a highly respected public
official. As
comptroller general of the United States he runs he
Government Accountability Office, the GAO, which
audits the government`s books and serves as the
investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. He has more
than 3,000 employees, a budget of a half a billion
dollars, and a message he considers urgent.
"`I`m
going to show you some numbers…they`re all big and
they`re all bad,` he says.
“So
bad, that Walker has given up on elected officials and
taken his message directly to
taxpayers and
opinion makers, hoping to shape the debate in the
next presidential election."
He is going around the country
talking to citizens about
"What`s
going on right now is we`re spending more money than we
make…we`re charging it to
credit cards…and expecting
our grandchildren to pay for it. And that`s
absolutely outrageous," he told the editorial board of
the Seattle Post Intelligencer." [U.S.
Heading For Financial Trouble?– 60 Minutes, July
8, 2007]
So, on top of this terrible fiscal
forecast, our present leaders want to add more
“cheap” (i.e. taxpayer-subsidized) labor.
And don`t hold your
breath for that
fence on our
Southern border.
Our elected officials have only one
goal, their own personal aggrandizement. They think like
our CEOs, as depicted by the Fidelity ad. They want more
“AT ANY COST”.
Well, folks, the cost may well be
the
republic for which we used to stand. We are no
longer
one nation indivisible, since our leaders in
government or
corporate America, or some of our
religious institutions or the
ethnic lobbies, are not willing to offer
liberty and justice for all—just for their own
narrow special interests.
Bush and his cronies seem daily to
want to do away with our civil rights and consolidate
their power in illegal and unethical ways, while
plunging us
deeper and deeper into foreign wars, paradoxically
empowering enemies who initially had scant followings.
Which, of course, allows our flawed leaders to panic us
all into further ceding them special powers. George
Orwell`s 1984 foreshadowed it all.
“The
only thing we have to fear is fear itself” said
FDR at another dire time in our history. But showing
courage and backbone these days frequently gets you
nothing but a black eye and an exit from your power
seat. Wonder how long
Lou Dobbs can keep his?
We need a new
New or
Square Deal. We must seek strong, new, honest,
public -spirited leaders. And I for one don`t see them
anywhere among our present Presidential candidates or in
our Congressional leadership. The reason is obvious:
Leaders of that stripe can`t get elected.
The special interests won`t allow it.
Can there be an
Abe Lincoln or
Teddy Roosevelt out there, as yet unidentified? I
fervently pray there is, but it will take an aroused
citizenship with more willingness to play in this rough
contact sport called politics than seems to be there
now. Neither party seems able to produce such leaders.
No wonder
almost a third of Americans now think of themselves
as Independents.
Donald A. Collins [email
him], is a freelance writer living in Washington DC and a former long time member of the board of FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform. His views are his own.
