Posted on 02/26/2009 5:43:58 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Can you stimulate the economy by shutting out foreign workers? Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Grassley think so. And for all his anti-protectionist rhetoric, President Obama has shown surprisingly little interest in stopping them.
The stimulus bill the president signed into law restricts the use of bank bailout funds (money banks get from the Financial Stability Plan, formerly known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program) to hire skilled foreign workers under the H-1B visa program.
This slap at open labor markets is downplayed as a dramatic but toothless gesture in favor of "Hire American," nice companion to the "Buy American" provisions of the same bill. Anyone who finds either of these two concepts a good idea in times of crisis has not learned anything from history. This superficially patriotic protectionism is a knee-jerk reaction, the politicians' equivalent of kids scratching a wound when they should really know better.
Even in its present form, this clause can do great damage. In this case, the Sanders-Grassley strictures mean nearly all major U.S. banks and financial institutions--all recipients of bailout cash--have to demonstrate that when they hire foreign worker, they tried to, but couldn't, hire American worker instead.
Aptitude, training and skill level become, at best, secondary concerns, and the door to lawsuits is opened wide. The restrictions don't bar foreign hires (who can legally work in America with H-1B visa), but makes them cost-ineffective in most cases and imposes prohibitive burdens on recruitment of needed talent. Banks are not the only targets: the Big Three automakers, for example, are all on the Financial Stability Plan's dole, too.
The real problem, though, is the underlying principle of the law. The idea that native Americans (or Poles, or Koreans, or Egyptians) deserve special status in hiring is deliberate slap in the face of globalization.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Well, if you get lucky, you might be able to pick lettuce or work in a mine. Keep your hopes up!
If he were willing to take half the pay of the H1B, would they have hired him?
Some of us work hard in an effort to keep our jobs, rather than wish for the job fairy to just come along and give us something that's not competitive on the world market. You might try it sometime.
by your own admission, poor corporate management is the norm nowadays, and that poor management is driving the free labor process you support so wholeheartedly.
I never said the second part.
And decision-making is only one part of management.
Perhaps if you improved your reading and analytical skills, you wouldn't miss critical points and would be more successful. That's not being snarky...it's a suggestion based upon your repeated misrepresentation of what I have written--whether you do it intentionally or not is your own call.
You're also wrong about my beliefs. I believe that the cheap imported labor is bad.
But I also believe that inflated (i.e., above-market) American expectations are bad.
If a German or a Korean can buy from two companies, an American and a foreign one, and the products are identical, what is the basis for convincing them to buy the US one at a much higher price?
If Americans want to get paid more and want to have all the protections like OSHA, then they have to be producing more. That production may be in quantity (so per-unit consts are competitive), innovation, technological superiority, efficient (using fewer raw materials per unit), etc. Unless we can demonstrate that value over the foreign worker, why should we expect to be paid more (including benefits like OSHA, etc.)??
And a company that succeeds will choose the best value for creating its products, taking into account corporate taxes and labor costs. If hiring American is inefficient, then go make your millions outcompeting them with highly paid American labor!
Otherwise, you have no argument except looking for a handout of the difference between your value and your pay/benefits.
You really miss the USSR, don’t you?
BWAHAHAHA!
Nice try. Your attempt at the 1984 “Freedom is Slavery” Jedi Mind Trick garbage doesn’t work. Free market capitalism is not communist, and any intelligent reader will recognize your stinky red herring.
On the other hand, we must wonder why you are so intent on making Americans uncompetitive. What turned you so anti-American that you’d want companies to have to move overseas or go out of business?
Please let me know...what part of this destruction do you like best—sinking American companies? making them move overseas? eliminating American jobs?
Point out a single place where I have done that. Your libelous comments are sickening..just admit that you can’t answer my points instead of lowering yourself to making things up.
Never have I preferred foreign business. I would prefer that American business get competitive. You seem to think that it’s better to remain uncompetitive and then shake your fist at the reality of business going elsewhere.
The Never Never Land combination of cheap freight fuel, peace with enemies and low third-world prices won’t go on forever for those who cheat American business and argue against Americans. It’s good to see that anti-American, pro-communist, pro-fascist house of cards falling one way and/or another.
So, basically, you are in favor of turning American back into a third world country. Which is what I thought all along. Folks like you are one reason why so many voters left the GOP in the last two elections...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.