Bestirred by worried constituents and even more worried pollsters, the folks who run the U.S. House of Representatives -- its Republican Caucus, led by Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas -- have come up with a bold plan for dealing with the "outsourcing" of services jobs to countries with lower wages. As explained in the May 4 issue of Manufacturing & Technology News, House GOP leaders have designed a package entitled "Building Careers for 21st Century America" that is intended to "counter negative publicity over outsourcing." On examination, the package turns out to be the standard Republican economic agenda of cutting taxes, reducing government regulation, enacting oil-production-based energy legislation, paring back litigation, encouraging individual health insurance plans, blah, blah, blah.

Anyone who's watched the Bush administration operate is accustomed to Republicans offering the same "solutions" to every economic problem, whether it's budget surpluses, budget deficits, too much growth, too little growth, high energy costs, low energy costs -- you name it. But this particular recycling of the Republican economic "plan" is especially revealing. "Lowering the cost of doing business," said DeLay, "is vitally important for allowing us to compete in the world economy." What he and his colleagues are essentially saying is that the United States cannot compete with low-wage, low-tax, low-public-services countries without moving in the same direction. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

We've crossed swords for many years with protectionists in both parties who claim that global competition means a "race to the bottom" in terms of wages, public services, and quality of life. But DeLay and company are actually endorsing a race to the bottom as the foundation of their economic strategy for America. Are good schools and colleges, superior infrastructure, investments in science and technology, a clean environment and good quality of life, and rising incomes and living standards perhaps compatible with -- or even conductive to -- economic growth, as much of the 20th century suggests? Apparently not, according to the House GOP.

This mentality eerily echoes the old Southern approach to economic development -- unfortunately, still popular in some southern GOP circles -- which is based on the idea that the keys to economic growth are low taxes with minimal government services and regulation. But it's an entirely new and alarming idea that the most advanced country in the world should pursue an economic strategy that would debase its living standards to compete in the global economy. Even the original Southern practitioners of that strategy have largely given up on it in the last decade. The reality is that while it may have worked for the South 50 years ago, it doesn't work in today's global, knowledge-based economy. The places that are cheapest no longer have the highest standards of living. The buzzing hives of economic innovation are the places with the most skilled workers, the best universities, the most developed infrastructure, and highest quality public services.

Interestingly enough, the same issue of Manufacturing & Technology News that explained the House GOP plan to deal with outsourcing had another item reporting that one of the few federal programs with a proven track record of helping small U.S. manufacturers innovate and compete had become a finalist for the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School Innovations in American Government award, among roughly a thousand applicants. The award judges called the Manufacturing Extension Program "remarkable" for its success in "blending government and private resources into a partnership" to help small manufacturers, many of which are struggling with new global competition.

What else is remarkable about MEP? At a time of record manufacturing job losses and trade deficits, the Bush administration and its congressional Republican allies have been trying to shut it down entirely. "High-road" initiatives to help U.S. businesses and their employees compete are apparently of little interest to today's GOP, which is racing down the low road, throttle wide open, to competition based solely on reducing costs, whatever the cost to the U.S. economy or our standard of living.