Washington, April 19: Politics and economics have combined to find a viable middle ground for anti-outsourcing bills introduced amidst great publicity in state legislatures all over the US.

Three states — Colorado, Mississippi and New Mexico — have all quietly postponed for an indefinite period, consideration of legislation already tabled to curb outsourcing one way or another.

In six others, nothing has been heard of such bills since January, when they were referred to various state Senate or House committees for refining them, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which serves as an information clearing house for elected representatives in American states and their staff.

In North Carolina and Michigan, bills against exporting American jobs have been pending since 2003 without any decision being taken. In 10 other state legislatures, committees have been sitting over such bills since February since they were tossed over for action by these panels before being taken up for consideration or adoption by the full House or Senate.

John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, is, however, going full steam against outsourcing at campaign appearances with an eye on the vote bank of Americans who have lost jobs, their families and those who face the prospect of their work being sent abroad.

Unmindful of the lack of any concrete action by states in curbing the outflow of US jobs, Kerry has now unveiled a four-point platform to use government contracts solely for US workers, stop giving government contracts to corporations breaking those rules, giving consumers the right to know the location of call centres and ending tax credits for corporations which move jobs offshore.

Explaining the political expediency of anti-outsourcing actions in an election year in the US, Michigan’s state Senator Nancy Cassis recently referred to actions by state governor Nancy Granholm in this regard.

The governor’s decision, she said, was made to “sound like she is taking action but it is about as effective as trying to catch an elephant in a butterfly net...It is campaign season. There is electioneering going on and governor Granholm is backing Senator Kerry.”

Marcus Courtney, president of the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, was quoted in today’s The Wall Street Journal as saying despondently that “it is incredible the stranglehold the corporate interests have on this issue. It wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t see anything passed this year and we have to ramp up again next year.”

As of now, pending bills notwithstanding, 40 American states are said to be contracted to call centres abroad for a string of services.