Last modified: 8/26/2014 1:04:06 AM
The outsourcing of jobs emerged as a hot topic yesterday following a report last week that linked U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown to a company that has sent jobs abroad.
Democrats hammered Brown yesterday over the report, published in the Telegraph, that Brown earned $270,000 from a Massachusetts company that has outsourced jobs to China and Mexico.
In February 2013, Brown joined the board of directors for the pulp and paper supplier company Kadant Inc. The company has four manufacturing operations in the United States and 14 abroad, which in part allowed it to avoid paying millions of dollars in income taxes, according to the article published online Friday. Kadant officials told the Telegraph that relocating the jobs overseas helped “boost domestic jobs.”
During a call yesterday organized by U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s campaign, George Bald, a former commissioner of the state’s Department of Resources and Economic Development, said he was disappointed to learn “Kadant’s focus really is not on creating jobs in New Hampshire or in this country.”
Bald, who was appointed commissioner in 1998 by then-Gov. Shaheen, said she has achieved significant accomplishments in creating jobs. “As far as what Mr. Brown has done for the state of New Hampshire, it is a blank sheet of paper,” he added.
The state Republican Party countered that Shaheen had a hand in outsourcing. While governor, she and the Executive Council approved a state contract that ultimately led to outsourced jobs, according to the Telegraph.
During the call yesterday, state Sen. Bette Lasky, a Nashua Democrat, said the comparison between Brown and Shaheen on outsourcing was apples to oranges and that Republicans were “reaching to find something that equates.”
In a statement yesterday, state Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Horn called on Shaheen to return campaign contributions from companies that outsource.
“If Jeanne Shaheen is actually upset with companies that outsource jobs, she should put her money where her mouth is,” she said. “If she doesn’t return the money, Shaheen will prove that she is a phony Washington politician.”
(Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307 or amorris@cmonitor.com.)