Job competition greatest U.S. threat: Frist
Global job competition is the biggest threat facing the United States today, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Frist.
The Senate Majority Leader outlined three major challenges the country faces during a Wednesday night visit to the Warren County Administrative Offices.
In addition to job competition, Frist identified soaring health care costs and the war on terrorism as the country’s most prominent problems.
“We’re not competing with other towns and other states for jobs,” said Frist. “We’re competing with China. And China’s economy is growing three times faster than our economy is right now. On top of that, China is producing four times the number of PhDs in engineering, math and science as the United States.”
Frist said U.S. tax codes are “ridiculous” because they are far too confusing. He said that’s just one of the reasons a corporation might find it easier to establish a large-scale manufacturing facility in Mexico, or overseas, than in this country.
He said frivolous lawsuits also add excessive costs to businesses. He said companies pay an average of $800 per employee dealing with legal fees and settlements related to lawsuits, whether they are legitimate or not.
And then there’s always the enormous discrepancy in labor costs.
“If you had someone working in textiles, for example, in this country you’d expect to pay that person around $15 an hour,” said Frist. “That same labor averages 83 cents an hour in China, and there’s no difference in the quality.”
The soaring cost of health care also puts a financial strain on businesses that offer insurance to their employees. Frist says what’s worse is the small businesses that simply can’t afford a health care plan, which forces some Americans to go without insurance or pay top dollar for it.
“Health care costs are going up three times the average wage,” said Frist. “People shouldn’t have to choose between prescription drugs which could be life-saving and putting food on the table.
“When I first started practicing medicine 20 years ago, prescription drugs were not that useful. Now we have powerful prescription drugs that work and help save lives.”
Frist said one problem is some drugs are over-prescribed. He said direct TV advertising has created a market where people ask doctors for prescriptions instead of doctors writing prescriptions that are genuinely necessary.
As for the war on terrorism, Frist didn’t offer any clear-cut solutions. He said it’s troubling terrorism is on the rise in this country, in Europe and in the Middle East.