' I’m sure it’s not intentional - even Mark Twain knew statistics lie (way back in the 1800’s) - and our government seems to be the master of manipulating statistics to lie (oops, I mean to indicate what the government wants the data to say).
Excerpts (with my comments in blue)
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U.S. Immigration Policy on the Table at the WTO
By Sarah Anderson | November 30, 2005
Editor: John Gershman, IRC
In the contentious negotiations leading up to the December 13-18
World Trade Organization (WTO) summit…
there has also been a battle brewing between developing countries and
the U.S. government over immigration. Led by India , several
countries are demanding expansion of U.S. visa programs for temporary
professional workers.
OK, since when has immigration and visas been considered ‘trade’ - I thought the WTO was a TRADE organization - not a job transfer vehicle — hey wait, that IS the net results of all this…
Under the global
trade body’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS),
governments can regulate the supply of services performed by
foreigners. The technical term for this type of service trade is Mode
4. Thus far, the types of visas being discussed are those for
executives and highly skilled professionals, such as Indian software
engineers who have come to work in the Silicon Valley and other high-
tech hubs in the United States. Ok, now I see - it has been part of this after all - jobs ARE trade too…yea, sure they are…
The wrangling over visas is just one more example of the WTO’s
mission creep. Global trade rules are no longer aimed merely at
eliminating tariffs on goods that cross borders. The ultimate goal of
GATS, for example, is to lift barriers to all manner of services by
curbing national and local government controls on the entry of global
banks, insurance companies, and other service providers into each
country’s markets. Other WTO rules limit government efforts to offer
affordable generic medicines or to protect native plants and
traditional handicrafts from being patented for profit by global
businesses. And any domestic law, including public interest
regulations, can be challenged under WTO rules as “an unfair barrier
to trade.”
So, we have no more right to enact our own laws - it’s the world way or no way?
Powerful U.S. corporate
lobbyists have sided with developing country governments in favor of
expanded Mode 4 access. BIG surprise here - my guess is they are paying the Indian lobby, the Indian government, and God knows who else - so they don’t have to seem so vocal, and still get what they want - cheap labor no matter where in the world it comes from. There is no such thing as a US corporation anymore.
In June 2005, some House members tried a new tactic to block U.S.
trade officials from negotiating immigration matters. A bill
introduced by Colorado Republican Thomas Tancredo would have
prevented the trade representative from using any funds (including
for staff time) to negotiate improved access for foreign business
personnel. Hey, here is one guy who should be re-elected. Remember this name - Tancredo - and vote for him if you get the chance.
The H-1B
visa program was begun in 1990 to alleviate labor shortages by
allowing entry to a modest number of professional and technical guest
workers with college degrees. At that time, demand for information
technology (IT) professionals was strong. Although the numbers vary
from year to year, IT workers constitute about 60% of H-1B workers.
Then the dot-com bust hit, and between March 2001 and April 2004, the
industry shed 403,300 jobs. Although recession was the cause of some
of those job losses, more than half occurred after economic recovery
began in November 2001. Many IT workers argue that continued use of
H-1B visas is motivated not by labor shortages but by employers’
desires for cheaper, more vulnerable foreign workers.
You bet that’s why - duh - I’ve been telling you that since 2002. It’s all about cheap labor - and to hell with the IT folks in the US that can’t get a job.
Although there is anecdotal evidence of U.S. companies
applying for H-1B workers while laying off U.S. citizens, the actual
impact of the H-1B program on U.S. jobs and wages has not been widely
documented. Well gee, I wonder why there is no data - the government looks the other way - does anyone in their right mind think the corporations doing this are suddenly going to get a conscience and fess up - no way.
The lead advocate for expanded Mode 4 access in the United States is
the Coalition of Service Industries (CSI), which represents 43
corporations and business associations, primarily in the
telecommunications and financial sectors. Why am I not surprised that telecom is leading the charge for more H1Bs - because they might as well MOVE to India - that’s where they have moved their hiring, and then they ship in the rest and call them US jobs - even though it’s Indians on visas doing them - while their ex-US work force is still looking for those elusive ‘innovation provided’ new jobs. Give me a break!
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is not in favor of raising caps on H-1B
visas; he is for eliminating the caps entirely. Microsoft is likely
the largest single employer of workers with this type of visa. The
computer giant tops the list of companies that have applied for
permanent residency for H-1B workers, followed by Oracle, Intel, and
IBM. All IT firms, notice? And, by the way - Bill, you suck.
…the debate over
GATS Mode 4 has created an opportunity to raise awareness of the
expanding reach of the global trade body into policy areas that have
profound impacts on virtually every aspect of life. Do we really want
something as sensitive as migration decided in backroom deals,
perhaps in return for lower tariffs on alfalfa? If asked, most people
would likely say “no.”That’s why they don’t ask anyone.
——————
You can read the whole thing, without my comments of course, here:www.fpif.org.
This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach - that our corporate leaders have sold us out, that our government looks the other way, that everyday folks look the other way too (or just don’t think this is truly happening) because it doesn’t directly impact them. What the hell has happened to this country?
Computech Inc., a Southfield, Mich., firm that places computer professionals at locations throughout the United States has agreed to pay $2,250,000 in back wages to 232 computer professionals and a $400,000 fine to settle immigration law violations, the U.S. Labor Department announced today.
————————–
Now, if they would only go after the big fish, maybe some of the layed off US IT folks could work in their field again.
Addison Wiggin and Bill Bonner have written another must read book - Empire of Debt.
USAToday ran a cover story with this quote:
“The United States can be likened to Rome before the fall of the empire,”
says McPaper. “Its financial condition is ‘worse than advertised, …It has as ‘broken business model’. It faces deficits in its budgets, its balance of payments, its savings - and its leadership.”
Have you heard - sauerkraut, that sour pickled cabbage that grandma made you eat, can keep you from getting bird flu.
Read more here: Sauerkraut - Can This Pickled Cabbage Really Prevent Avian Flu And Cancer Too?
This excerpt is from InfoWorld:
—————————-
Why is the Department of Labor refusing to post on its Web site a database of more than 50,000 job openings — many for IT workers — for 2006? Are they precluded by law to do so, as a DOL spokesperson claims?
At least the only one in the media or in Congress. Excerpt below from http://www.programmersguild.org/docs/loudobbs%5Faug2005 - the site has video and audio clips of the actual discussion.
—————————
U.S. employers have applied with the DOL to bring in over 50,000 foreign tech workers on H-1B visas to fill U.S. jobs in the next fiscal year. The DOL does not require employers to first try to fill jobs with U.S. workers. Since these foreign workers cannot arrive until after October 1, 2005, groups such as the Programmers Guild pleaded with DOL to make these job openings public so that U.S. workers could be given equal consideration for these openings….
DOL is funded by U.S. taxpayers and should be placing the interests of U.S. workers above those of foreign workers. The DOL website provides on-line application for employers to get foreign workers to fill their openings. Kim Berry, president of the Programmers Guild asks, “Why doesn’t DOL make those openings searchable in real-time by U.S. job seekers?”….
The Programmers Guild is seeking Congressional sponsors for a bill that would simply require employers to seek qualified Americans in good faith before DOL would approve the application to fill the U.S. job with a foreign worker. So far zero Congressmen are on board.
Some interesting ’stats’ from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
———————–
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment, 142.6 million, and the civilian labor force,
150.1 million, were little changed in October. The employment-population ratio (62.9 percent) and the labor force participation rate (66.1 percent) also were little changed.So, where are the other 35-40% of the population - not working = unemployed, no?
(See table A-1.) In October, persons employed part time for economic reasons—those who are available for and would prefer full-time work—decreased by 330,000 to 4.3 million.
This number had been trending up in recent months.
I think what is going on right now could best be described as “dislocations”.
We have situations where there are incompetent people earning good money in environments that have been protected (gov’t, education, …). We have situations where there are people with Master’s degrees in engineering from top schools and who are tremendously productive who can’t find a “real” job. We have immigrants (illegal? Is that possible anymore?) who are taking over some types of jobs and recently and increasingly, skilled trades such as auto mechanics (ask my Son - he was the only english speaking mechanic in a sweat shop mom and pop repair shop where no mechanic earns over $10/hour!!!!).
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