It is worth noting here that these geo-political concerns are not perfect but they do stand as tenable strategies. There are essentially two choices in this case. Either one accedes to the destructive imperial behavior of the American-led NATO bloc, which has produced nothing but war since the end of the Cold War that every America supports daily with their taxes, or one shows solidarity with the geopolitical effort working to counter this. Is it perfect? Of course not. But the history of solidarity movements which have been successful always included an alternative and viable power structure, be it supporting the North Vietnamese or the Sandinistas or the Second Spanish Republic. And the instance in recent memory where a power vacuum did in fact exist, as was the case in Cambodia, terrible things can and do happen. Geopolitics is not morality, it is power relationships and being forced to choose between the least awful of choices. And in understanding the way that the Western imperial project and its weaponized debt programs under the auspices of foreign aide have pillaged country after country, one quickly grasps the dynamics of this question.

Employees from Illinois will rally today at Sensata headquarters in Attleboro to protest their jobs being outsourced to China. Sensata is not only partly owned, and created by, Bain but Mitt Romney owns stock in the company and he recently profited from transferring his Sensata holdings to a foundation, according to a New York Times expose on Romney and Bain’s ties to China.

“About a dozen workers from the Freeport plant and other businesses associated with Bain Capital say they will show up at the headquarters building at 11 a.m. to seek an explanation why their jobs are being sent to China,” reports Rick Foster of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle.

Tom Gaulra, one of the employees who is losing his job, recounted his experience working for a Bain-created company in the Huffington Post today.

I’ve worked at the same factory in Freeport, Ill. for thirty-three years, making sensors and controls for the auto industry. It’s tough work, but it pays a living wage with health benefits that folks can count on, and it fuels our town’s economy and tax base.

That’s been changing since Bain Capital came to town. Two years ago, our factory was sold to Sensata Technologies, a company created by Bain Capital, and they told us that by December 2012, all 170 of our jobs would be shipped to China. They even made us train our Chinese replacements.

Gaulra writes that while Romney didn’t work at Bain when they created the company that outsourced his job, he is making money off of his misfortune.

…Mitt Romney’s connection to Sensata is even more direct. He is also personally invested in Sensata Technologies, according to his 2010 and 2011 tax returns, and last year got a huge tax break by moving some of his Sensata stock to one of his foundations.

That’s right: Mitt Romney got a big tax break on his investment in his company that’s shipping my job to China. My pain is Mitt Romney’s gain.

The New York Times wrote about Mitt Romney’s ties to Sensata in an article last week titled “As Romney Repeats Trade Message, Bain Maintains China Ties.”

Mr. Romney also has millions invested in a series of Bain funds that have a controlling stake in Sensata Technologies, a manufacturer of sensors and controls for vehicles, aircraft and electric motors that employs 4,000 workers in China. Since Bain took over the operation in 2006, its investment has quadrupled in value. Bain continues to own $2.6 billion worth of Sensata’s shares.

Two years ago, Sensata bought an operation that made automobile sensors in Freeport, Ill. At the first meeting with the plant’s 170 workers, Sensata managers announced that by the end of 2012 all the equipment and jobs would be relocated, mostly to Jiangsu Province. Workers have staged demonstrations, pleading for Mr. Romney to intervene on their behalf.

Chinese engineers, flown to Freeport for training on the equipment, described their salaries as a pittance compared with Freeport wages. Tom Gaulrapp, who has operated machines at the factory for 33 years, said he fears he will go bankrupt after he loses his job on Nov. 5.

“This goes to show the unbelievable hypocrisy of this man,” he said of Mr. Romney. “He talks about how we need to get tough on China and stop China from taking our jobs, and then he is making money off shipping our jobs there.”

It is often difficult to determine precisely how much Mr. Romney benefits from specific investments by Bain funds, since his money goes into a pool used to buy stakes in companies. In the case of Sensata, however, it is clearer because he reported a charitable donation of $405,000 in Sensata stock that he received as “partnership distributions” in 2010 and 2011, according to his tax returns.

Jiangsu Province, where most of the Freeport jobs are moving, is one of China’s designated “export bases” for auto parts. Asimco, the other auto parts manufacturer in Bain’s portfolio, also has factories in Jiangsu Province and three other regions designated as export bases.

The Chinese government incentives offered to companies in those “bases” set off a complaint from the United States to the World Trade Organization last month. The United States asserted that in 2011, China spent $1 billion on grants, tax preferences, lowered interest rates and other subsidies to increase exports of auto parts in violation of fair trade rules.

Mr. Romney has been critical of these types of Chinese incentives to bolster exports.

OUR VOICE IN WASHINGTON                                        

Rhode Islanders sent Sheldon to the Senate to fight for us and against the big special interests – and that’s just what he has done. We know that we can count on Sheldon to support our priorities – creating jobs, protecting families, and ending special deals for billionaires and big corporations. Sheldon has led the fight against moves to severely cut Social Security, Medicare benefits, and Pell Grants because he knows how much we in Rhode Island count on these programs.  And he has opposed giving more tax breaks to billionaires and multinational corporations while middle class families continue to suffer.

SHELDON’S PLAN

Putting Rhode Islanders Back to Work.  Sheldon has fought hard for legislation to create jobs, support small businesses, and revitalize our manufacturing sector.

• Sheldon introduced legislation that would meet President Obama’s call in his State of the Union speech to eliminate the tax loopholes that reward companies who ship US jobs overseas.
• Sheldon helped pass a Senate bill to crack down on China’s currency manipulation that costs American jobs by making it more expensive for us to sell goods to China, and cheaper for China to sell things here.
• Sheldon is supporting legislation that could fund significant transportation improvements, such as repairing the I-95 viaduct in Providence, and provide new construction jobs in Rhode Island.
• Sheldon has proposed a measure to provide tax credits to small businesses who hire unemployed workers to make it easier for a business to add new jobs.

Protecting Medicare and Social Security for Rhode Island Seniors. Sheldon will always be committed to preserving Social Security and Medicare benefits, and will continue fighting to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for seniors.

• When Republicans in the House passed dangerous legislation to end Medicare as we know it, Sheldon helped lead the fight against that bill in the Senate.
• Sheldon helped ensure that the health care reform bill closed the “doughnut hole” for prescription drugs covered under Medicare. More than 10,000 Rhode Island seniors benefited from this discount in 2011, saving $5.5 million dollars.
• When budget negotiators threatened to pass new cuts to Social Security to reduce the deficit, Sheldon stepped up to protect that vital program and helped form the Senate’s Defend Social Security Caucus.

Getting a Straight Deal for Middle Class Families.  Sheldon has heard from so many Rhode Islanders who are frustrated with the special deals enjoyed by big corporations and billionaires.  He shares that frustration and is working to restore the “straight deal” that middle class Americans expect and deserve – ending tax giveaways to Big Oil, combating unfair credit card interest rates, making sure millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes, and putting a stop to unlimited and anonymous spending by big corporations in our elections.

Supporting Education.   Providing our children with a good education is the most important thing we can do to give them the opportunity to get the best jobs in the future.

• Sheldon is fighting to protect Pell Grants to make it easier for students to afford college. In 2009-2010, 19,937 Rhode Islanders received $69,567,944 in Pell Grants for an average of $3,489 per student.
• Sheldon has been working to extend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to improve our nation’s middle schools by establishing a grant program to help fund reforms in struggling school systems.

Protecting our Environment and Coastal Economy.  In Rhode Island, the strength of our economy is strongly tied to the health of our environment.  Sheldon recognizes this, and is leading several bipartisan efforts to better protect our oceans and coasts – and the jobs they support.  He’s working with Senator Snowe (R-ME) to establish a National Endowment for the Oceans, collaborating with Senator Vitter (R-LA) to re-authorize the National Estuary Program, and is co-chairing the Senate Oceans Caucus with Senator Murkowski (R-AK).  Sheldon will continue fighting to advance these priorities in 2012.

Stay in Touch: whitehouse.senate.gov, facebook.com/SenatorWhitehouse, twitter.com/SenWhitehouse

Apple made headlines this week when a New York Times article detailed Apples explanation for the companies lack of US manufacturing. Apple said that the issue goes much deeper than cheap labor and that American manufactures lacked the, “flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers.”

The true meaning of Apples statement only became evident when they cited a specific example clarifying what they meant. Last year, Apple ran into a last minute problem with the screen on one of its devices that caused the company to make a last minute adjustment in the manufacturing procedure.

Apple proudly admitted that 8000 employees at a Chinese manufacturing plant were quickly roused from their on-site plant dormitories, given a biscuit and cup of tea, and forced to go right into a 12 hours shift retrofitting the new screens.

If Apple wants to define “flexibility” as keeping workers in military like dormitories in which they are forced awake in the middle of the night to work a 12 hour shift on minimal food rations, than perhaps America cannot compete with that.

If one wishes to measure how Chinese workers truly feel about the working conditions they should look no further than the Foxconn plants in China. Apple uses the Chinese company Foxconn to manufacture a large portion of the Apple items bought in the US. In 2010, there were 14 successful suicide attempts at Foxconn when workers began jumping off the manufacturing building.

These suicides led 20 Chinese universities to launch an investigation and compile a report on the working conditions at Foxconn. The universities findings classified the conditions at the plants as comparable to a “labor camp.”

The idea of suicide being preferable to work became so widespread throughout the company that special netting was put around the roof of the building to keep workers from jumping to their deaths. In addition, workers were asked to take a anti-suicide pledge. Unfortunately Apple is not alone here. A few weeks ago, 300 employees that manufacture the Microsoft Xbox 360 threatened to commit mass suicide over working conditions.

Although Apple’s manufacturing practices are closer to the norm, rather than the exception when it comes to tech corporations, they deserve special scrutiny. Apple is quickly monopolizing the market of tablet and phone accessories. Most third party magazines, catalogues, and retailers that sell electronic accessories seem to be marketing accessories almost solely for Apple products today. Consequently, Apples business practices will likely be the practices emulated by the industry for market competitiveness.

Most disturbing though may be the uniquely deceptive way in which Apple products are marketed. Apple has successfully marketed its products as the must have items for generation Y. Sadly, when the young American unpacks his or her new I-Pad, they are unaware of the story behind how it actually was made.