"Better and Cheaper Outside the US"

In my last position as a senior executive at a Spanish language television network, my colleagues and I were told that layoffs were inevitable because all the work could be done "better and cheaper outside the United States." This presumed "fact" led to, as Brits like to say, the "redundancy" of nearly 200 people at one company alone. ( I love that phrase "to be made redundant" for a firing, lay-off, loss of job. So very quaint, isn't it?)

How many ways is it wrong to tell your staff their work can be done "better and  cheaper" somewhere else before even giving them the chance to prove that incorrect? When my department proposed programs that were in fact more economical to produce right here in the U-S- of A, we were dismissed. Literally. Laid off.  Gone with anything local.

Perhaps this was because the owner was Mexican and needed to monetize his own facilities in Mexico. Perhaps someone was taking a kick-back from other producers of content and could not afford to have that stream dry up. Perhaps it was simply an inability to understand how to maneuver and prosper in the United States. Whatever the reason, it has convinced me that we need to protect our American assets, workers, communities and businesses now more than ever.

Austerity budgeting, buying American and keeping our working families financially healthy is critical to our nation's future.