Huffington huffs about outsourcers

Eclectic commentator Arianna Huffington is weighing in on outsourcing--and naming names.

Huffington, who dropped out of a bid to become California governor in the state's recall election last year, has a Web page titled "The Greedy Dozen," on which she identifies corporate leaders she says have sent American jobs abroad and contributed to Republican causes.

The finger-pointing comes with name-calling flair. "Michael 'Dude, you got outsourced!' Dell" is Huffington's name for the chairman of Dell, which she says is employing close to 3,000 people in India while donating thousands of dollars to the Bush campaign and Republican committees. "John 'Calcutta or bust' Chambers," the CEO of Cisco Systems and contributor to Republican efforts, has headed up the outsourcing of 2,300 software and Web development jobs to India and other countries, according to a report Huffington cites.

She also blasts the CEO of EarthLink, "Charles 'Pinkslip' Betty," for shipping about 1,300 jobs at the Internet service provider to the Philippines and for giving thousands of dollars to the Bush campaign and to the Republican National Committee.

"We need to put a stop to them--before they steal your job, too," Huffington writes.

Cisco and EarthLink didn't immediately return a call asking for a comment on Huffington's site. A Dell representative wouldn't comment on it either, but did say that the PC maker has increased employment in the United States and has added facilities in Oklahoma City and Ohio.

Earlier in her career, Huffington was on the right wing of the political spectrum--which generally defends sending American jobs to lower-cost locales as ultimately good for the domestic economy. But she said on her site that she became disillusioned with the right and that government involvement is important in overcoming poverty.