Posted on 02/04/2006 4:38:34 AM PST by Tyche
Making a strong pitch for America to stay competitive in the face of emerging economies such as India and China, President George W Bush has urged the Congress to raise the number of H-1B visas that allow companies to hire foreign workers for scientific and high tech jobs.
"Congress needs to understand that nations like India, China, Japan, Korea and Canada all offer tax incentives that are permanent. In other words, we live in a competitive world. We want to be the leader in this world," Bush said in a speech in Minnesota on Thursday.
To fill vacant jobs in the US, Bush urged the Congress to lift current limit on H-1B visas that allow foreign workers to get jobs in the United States. The Congress in 2005 capped at 65,000 the number of H-1B visas, a third of the 195,000 allowed during the technology boom.
"I think it's a mistake not to encourage more really bright folks who can fill the jobs that are having trouble being filled here in America, to limit their number. So I call upon Congress to be realistic and reasonable and raise that cap," Bush said, but did not say by how much he wanted the limit lifted.
He said that one part of the agenda to stay competitive was to study math and science, a theme he touched on in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday.
"It's one thing to research, but if you don't have somebody in that lab, well… And so I got some ideas for the Congress to consider. The first is to emphasize math and science early, and to make sure that the courses are rigorous enough that our children can compete globally," Bush said in a speech at the 3M Corporation.
He said there are more high-tech jobs in America today than people available to fill them. "So what do we do about that? And the reason it's important -- and the American citizen has got to understand it's important -- is if we don't do something about how to fill those high-tech jobs here, they'll go somewhere else where somebody can do the job."
"There are some who say, we can't worry about competition. It doesn't matter, it's here. It's a real aspect of the world in which we live," he said.
"And so one way to deal with this problem, and probably the most effective way, is to recognize that there's a lot of bright engineers and chemists and physicists from other lands that are either educated here, or received an education elsewhere but want to work here. And they come here under a programme called H1B visas," Bush said.
He said America should not fear competition. "It's important for us not to lose our confidence in changing times. It's important for us not to fear competition but welcome it."
Senior administration officials noted that the number of H-1B visas has fallen to 65,000 which in their estimation was 'too low' and that it was imperative 'to bump that up.'
". . . some of reports have called for increases of 10,000; others between 20,000 and 40,000. So there is a number of options on the table to be considered. But we'll work with Congress on that," said Claude Allen, assistant to the President for domestic policy.
And how exactly to do this competing? Working longer hours? Accepting lower pay? Or getting another engineering degree?
ALL of those things and more! Whatever is necessary in the short term while, at the same time, working to straighten out the mess we have allowed our federal government to become.
I would strongly suggest that a good starting point might be insisting that our employees in government get rid of the current communist inspired mess we call a tax code and replace it with something worthy of a free society!
You think we need to reform lobbying? I think we need to reform Congress!
Like not having children? They are an expensive luxury. It is much cheaper to import young grown-up workers from the Third World countries. See my tagline.
Only if you have given up and are willing to quit. I hope that is not the case!
I'm not qualified to teach economics, either to little people or to big people, but I will suggest two books that will bring you up to the 90th percentile relative to all public school graduates.
The first is a thin volume from the 1940s that is easy enough to read and understand, even DUmmies should have little problem (if they would only read it!): Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt.
The second is newer and thicker, but I am told by those who've read it (I haven't yet) very well-written and not at all technical: Basic Economics, by Thomas Sowell.
In neither of these books will you likely learn how to make more money, or how to get a promotion, or any other "how-tos." Economics doesn't teach that kind of stuff. You'll have to go to the investing or personal growth sections of the bookstore for that information.
Economics is more about what causes production, wealth, poverty and unemployment than how an individual can become rich.
Ditto, ditto, ditto. I know many Dems who would vote GOP based on cultural issues, but hesitate when they see the pro globalist fraction in the GOP who would outsource everything in sight just to eek out an extra percent in the quarterly profits. What burns them even more is many former globalist types become lobbyist for overseas competitors on international trade issues after they retire from the government. These globalist would sneer at us and tell us that this is the nature of the world, and tell us to grow up. We respond by saying, I don't see former Chinese, Korean, Japanese, European officials retiring and working for the US lobbying against the trade laws of their homelands. The Dem globalist are no different except they want the US to submit to an International World government. I think one day the Conservatives and Reagan Democrats will wake up and unite to form a Third Party or revolution will occur in this country in our grandchildren's generation. We unfortunately may live long enough to see it.
Great post BUMP
"Well, now at age 18 he is a first term junior at the University of Oregon, and is scared of majoring in engineering, due to what he has heard about outsourcing. Should he be?"
No....in fact, a career in engineering would be the most logical choice today.
I don't agree with that assessment. Simply working harder won't accomplish a thing. Nothing. Nothing at all.
True one does have to work, but if we let the other football team have 15 players on the field then pretty much no matter how hard we work we are going to lose.
Work harder, work harder... always its work harder. That is not the solution.
Its about like comparing a ditch digger to a book reader. To the ditch digger the book reader is doing nothing.
But in the end, who gets paid more. When the ditch digger sees the other guy's paycheck he decides he'd better 'work harder'... He can dig sun up to sun down but he will never, never, never win until he fundamentally changes the way he thinks. When he finally realizes that digging ditches sucks then he's made more progress than all those years of 'hard work'.
Insessantly beating our heads against the wall with the system 'as is' is useless. That is exactly why the vast majority of the people in my age group don't give a dang about much of anything.
If other countries are going to compete via their government, I say we do the same thing. They put tarriffs on our products, I say we do the same to them. If they truly want to trade, lets get it on.
In heads up competition sure, we should work harder than everyone. But thats just it. Its not heads up competition.
Sitting around crying and begging someone to protect us from it because we are, after all, Americans serves no purpose whatever because it is FAR to late for that in any case.
Its never too late to stack the deck in our favor. We can have trade. Sure. But its time for hardball and the hardball must be done via the government because if you think other governments don't interfere with trade, you are full of crap. If they want heads up competition, fine. If not our government should interfere and punish them just as much as they seek to interfere against us.
They will be getting market salaries. And why not? If market salaries are fine for MBAs, why shouldn't they be fine for programmers?
The only thing holding back our progress is us, as a whole.
The only way we are going to make it anywhere is if there is an equitable system in place. You can rest assured that for the rest of my life I will never support any candidate that believes otherwise.
I think there are MANY oppurtunities there for people who are interested in international business communication and project management. Those liberal arts degress can be put to use too (as long as people know what to do with them in a global economy).
However if we were to drop the income tax and implement the FairTax (national retail sales tax) I suspect the explosion of capital investment in the US would make H1-B expansion absolutely necessary. Otherwise, it's a stupid, stupid, stupid thing to do.
If the economy is doing soooo well, why is GWB approval rating below 50 percent. With the low unemployment numbers and great GDP numbers, GWB and GOP should be soaring in the polls even against a biased MSM. They are not because the economic and employment numbers are great at the wholesale level, but free trade/globalism at the retail level is not so rosy. Outsourcing and low cost H-1B is affecting the job security of many American workers. It is as threatening as the open border polcies of the government for illegal immigrants. All have economical consequences at the kitchen table level.
This is in response to the demands that India open up sections of its own economy....welcome to the global economy!! The price of beef in West Texas does have an effect on the markets and consumer choices in South Korea (whether you ike it or not).
Hats off on your great post.....very well said.
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