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.
"Which nations have a higher standard of living? Those that trade a lot or those that trade very little?"
Even factoring in the depression, we had the highest standard of living in the world before WWII with no more than 5% of our economy dependent upon trade. And 99% of our standard of living was created by that 95% internal market. And as we become more dependent upon other countries for our standard of living, the more fragile and vulnerable it becomes to attack.
That is a very interesting fact. Now will you answer the question?
And as we become more dependent upon other countries for our standard of living, the more fragile and vulnerable it becomes to attack.
Is that a back door admission that trade raises our standard of living?
Sounds yummy. I'm glad you and the Danish people are still allowed to benefit from trade.
Sounds like advice the entire world should take.
"Is that a back door admission that trade raises our standard of living?"
No, because another good measure of standard of living is determined by the ability to aquire material necessities/wants with cash/check/debit derived from wages & other income. An ever-increasing percentage of the US population, to maintain the same standard of living, has to rely more and more on the use of credit cards, lines of credit/home-equity loans, home refi's, pay day loans etc... In other words they have to bury themselves in debt they'll never repay. In 1955 the average wage-earner could save up enough money in 5 years or less to buy a brand-new American car or truck outright with cash. Try that today. The problem is that most of what people look at to determine "standard of living" is what car you're driving, how up to date your home electronics are, and how big your house is...not HOW you obtained them. Have you ever seen that commercial with the guy bragging about all that he has, and then telling you that: "I'm in debt up to my eyeballs!" That commercial is very easily representive of America as a whole. On the surface his life seems grand, but he's on an ever thinning string towards financial collapse. The United States is steadily more and more in that condition through free-trade policies. In 20 years, if we keep on this penny-wise pound-foolish path, China's going to have a very big set of scissors to cut that string with.
If this is true, how do you explain household net worth rising to an all time high of $51 trillion? Liabilities are only $11.4 trillion. Assets are almost $62.5 trillion.
The United States is steadily more and more in that condition through free-trade policies.
Are you claiming our net worth has dropped since NAFTA? You have any links showing our debt is growing more than our assets?
"Danish goods are imports that I'm all for!"
Hee hee! Stickin it to the Burning Turbins Gang 'eh? So I take it's true that the Danish food companies are getting crunched pretty bad by the people in dirty night-shirts due to their dependency in exporting to them? Well, if there's any time to make an exception...that's definitely it! Hmmm...I wonder if it's possible to make a laser-guided Danish butter-bomb. I'd like to see 2,000lbs of Lurpak ricocheting through the crowds that set fire to the embassies.
"If this is true, how do you explain household net worth rising to an all time high of $51 trillion?"
Probably $40 trillion or more in the top 5-10%.
"Are you claiming our net worth has dropped since NAFTA? You have any links showing our debt is growing more than our assets?"
Considering our most valuable national asset, manufacturing, as well as our ballooning trade deficits & national debt, I'd say yes.
Considering our most valuable national asset, manufacturing, as well as our ballooning trade deficits & national debt, I'd say yes.
You'd say yes, but do you have any proof? Page 110 of 124 shows our net worth has increased over 25% since 2001.
Words fail me.
Yes, you always think that 'again'. And again. Yet it is you who is constantly wrong. Again, and Again. As it is you who are mistaken. Again, and again.
We'll just wait here for your proof. Take your time. LOL!
We still in fact produce televisions, albeit only the large-screen projection models. So you are jumping the gun. The occurrence of the gouging that is an inevitability, and is a matter of timing between the foreign producers...after presumably coming to some kind of oligopolistic consensus...
So they're gouging us on smaller TVs? On VCRs? Can you give some examples of anything we no longer manufacture here where we are being gouged? If you're right, there must be thousands of examples.
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DRAM probe picks up steamBy John G. SpoonerURL: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-5165650.html A document released by the Federal Trade Commission late Wednesday could add weight to accusations that some dynamic RAM manufacturers may have conspired to fix prices during 2001. The commission made public a November 2001 e-mail from a Micron Technology executive that could suggest that three memory makers were in accord on raising DRAM prices during 2001. DRAM is the most common form of system memory used in PCs. The e-mail, a portion of which was cited in an FTC administrative judge's 348-page initial decision in a separate case, described efforts by Micron and competitors Infineon and Samsung to boost prices on DDR SDRAM (double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM), the decision surmised. The decision came in the agency's antitrust case against chip designer Rambus, which the judge threw out last week. "Subsequently, in a November 26, 2001, e-mail, a Micron manager named Kathy Radford described the efforts of Infineon and Samsung to raise DDR prices and stated that Micron intended to try to raise its prices to all of the OEM customers," the decision said. "Radford then reported that '(t)he consensus from all suppliers is that if Micron makes the move, all of them will do the same and make it stick.' Prices did, in fact, increase in the months after Radford's e-mail." The FTC decision is separate from a price-fixing investigation, now being conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice. The San Francisco field office of the department's antitrust division has been conducting the investigation, with assistance from the FBI. Although he declined to comment on the specifics of the quote, David Parker, a spokesman at Micron, said the ongoing Justice Department investigation is "completely unrelated" to antitrust claims brought by the FTC against Rambus. "Rambus has attempted to confuse these issues to take attention from the FTC's charges against Rambus. It appears to be an attempt by Rambus to distract the public and others from their actions," Parker said. "We are very concerned about information like this being taken out of context and being represented as fact." Meanwhile, he said, "Micron has fully and actively cooperated with the DOJ in an effort to aid them in their investigative process and will continue to do so as appropriate." The long-running antitrust investigation may soon conclude, with prosecutors expected to seek criminal price-fixing charges against some chipmakers, as other manufacturers consider striking a plea deal, according to a report in Thursday's Wall Street Journal that cited lawyers close to the case. Officials from the Justice Department declined to comment Thursday morning. Historically, selling DRAM has been a boom-or-bust business, but some have accused players in the market of trying to alter that historical pattern. The DRAM market was hit hard by the sagging economy and subsequent PC market downturn that began late in 2000. As PC unit shipments decreased, demand for RAM fell, prompting memory manufacturers to slash their prices in order to foster demand. Then, in late 2001, memory prices began to climb again. Some manufacturers attributed the price hike to tighter supplies of DRAM. But others, including PC industry heavyweight Michael Dell, founder of PC maker Dell, suggested that the price increases were due to "cartel-like behavior by a couple of DRAM suppliers." The Justice Department opened the investigation into DRAM price fixing in the United States during 2002. In December, Alfred Censullo, a former regional sales manager in upstate New York for Micron, agreed to plead guilty to attempting to obstruct an investigation. Censullo, who held that post until the plea bargain was entered, was charged in U.S. District Court in San Francisco with obstructing justice by altering and concealing documents containing competitor pricing information. The documents had been requested from Micron in a June 2002 subpoena by a federal grand jury in Northern California. After the subpoena was served, Censullo allegedly altered his handwritten notes relating to telephone conversations among Micron sales managers, discussing price recommendations for DRAM used in servers and PCs at the time. The notes also contained reference to how much competitors were charging for DRAM, according to the charges in the plea bargain. Additionally, the charges state that Censullo removed and initially concealed 14 pages from notebooks that contained competitor pricing information. The Justice Department alleges that these changes were done to disguise the nature, source and accuracy of the information. The maximum penalty is 10 years and a $250,000 fine. The Justice Department said it is not clear when the final plea bargain deal will be put in writing. IBM was a customer in Censullo's territory. Infineon declined to comment on the information revealed by the FTC, a company representative said. However, the chipmaker is cooperating with the DOJ in its DRAM investigation, the representative said. A representative for Samsung also declined to comment.
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I'll check those links out. That sort of reminds me of what some say the bg plan is to have the world integrated into 3 blocs, Asia, Europe and the Americas. It sort of reminds me of George Orwell's book, "1984," where you had East Asia, Eurasia (Europe and USSR) and Oceania (The Americas, UK, Australia). I remember reading back in the 1980's where something like this is the goal of the Trilateral Commission where it own name comes from their goal of integrating the world into 3 parts. Getting back to "1984, Africa is up for grabs and is a source for the wars between the three powers. I rememer one part of the book where the alliances keep changing and I think Oceania was fighting Eurasia for a piece of Africa.
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