Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on Monday discussed working with Sen. Joe Donnelly (D., Ind.) to penalize outsourcing companies, forgetting that Donnelly profited from outsourcing.
Sanders's comments came at a jobs rally in Indianapolis, Indiana.
"When the defense authorization bill comes before the Senate, and it will, in a short while be working with your Senator, Joe Donnelly," He told the crowd. "To make certain that those companies all across this country, who are throwing American workers out on the street—going to Mexico, going to China—they are last in line to get contracts from the federal government."
Sanders touted Donnelly as an advocate for anti-outsourcing, but failed to mention that Donnelly has profited substantially from Stewart Superior Corp., his family's ink business, outsourcing manufacturing jobs to Mexico.
The Washington Free Beacon reported on Donnelly's outsourcing profits, which ran contrary to his anti-outsourcing rhetoric.
Donnelly's investment in the family company, Stewart Superior Corp., was highlighted on Thursday by the Associated Press, which pointed out the senator's past criticism of companies that outsource manufacturing to Mexico. Donnelly has said that outsourcing is "a fancy term for ‘someone in Indiana has just lost their job,'" and is currently sponsoring the "End Outsourcing Act."
A representative for Stewart Superior, an ink stamp company, was surprised to hear Donnelly had been critical of the practice, framing it during a conversation with the Washington Free Beacon as the only way the company stays competitive.
Julie Paramo, the company's operations manager, said the company moved some of its manufacturing of ink stamp pads to a factory in Guadalajara five years ago—right around the time that Donnelly began directly investing in the longtime family business run by his brother.
Donnelly first disclosed his investment of between $15,001 and $50,000 in Stewart Superior, which is not publicly traded, in his 2013 financial disclosure report. No income was reported. The filing notes that he previously held assets in the company, but that it was below $1,000 and therefore didn't need to be disclosed.
Donnelly is facing reelection in 2018 and has engaged the outsourcing issue over the last year, criticizing Carrier, an Indiana-based air conditioning company, for planning to move some of its operations to Mexico like his family business did.
"What you’re seeing with Carrier is what I call free riders," Donnelly said. "What they do because of the trade agreement NAFTA, is they ship jobs to Mexico for $3 an hour, and so they get the benefit of the absolute lowest wages they can find, and then turn around to ship the products back into the United States."