It's All Over Representatives are Screwing Americans

none ^ | 11/15/02 | FlyingA

[FlyingA]

Honorable Representative Tom Davis,

I have just finished reading the article http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021213S0035 and as an unemployed IT consultant and US CITIZEN, I find the idea stupid and unpatriotic. First, training foreigners on the internals of our IT infrastructure is a disaster in the making. Second, I find it difficult to believe that it will "save" that much, if any, money - the employment of CITIZENS to do the work keeps the money in the USA and adds to the growth of OUR economy, not that of India or China. Finally, at a time when the unemployment rate for IT and telecom people is at record levels, I find this action to be extremely unpatriotic.

If you really want to save money, why don't you outsource the war on terror and Iraq, to India and China. I'm sure that would save the taxpayers a lot of hardship and grief, not to mention money - funerals aren't cheap. Maybe you can save even more money by importing some people to replace those overpaid policeman and fireman - I'm sure the state and local governments would appreciate the help.

Let's be honest, all you're doing is lining the pockets of any contractor will to move government contracted work to offshore sweatshops. Short-term gain for you and your bosses, with long-term cost and hardship to the American people.

"A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled to, and less than that no man shall have." •Theodore Roosevelt Gonna forward something to my reps, but I'm waiting a few more days for a response from my last nasty-gram.

[FlyingA]

Well its time to celebrate! I looked at the 2002-2003 Occupational handbook which is put out by the US Govt at the bookstore. Do you know what the job title with the best outlook for the next 10 years is? You guessed it. Computer Engineer. #1, Numero Uno, tops. Software engineer was only a place or two behind. So why would any of us, most who have been computer engineers and software engineers for the last 10 to twenty years, consider changing careers to one that has a much dimmer outlook?????

[ppaul]

Overseas Outsourcing A Possibility For Federal IT Projects

Two top federal IT policy makers don't philosophically object to the government's outsourcing some IT work overseas.

By Eric Chabrow, InformationWeek
Dec 13, 2002 (12:00 AM)
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021213S0035

In an interview with InformationWeek editors, Rep. Tom Davis, the Virginia Republican who chairs the House Subcommittee on IT and Procurement Policy, says contracting overseas programmers to write nonsensitive, nonstrategic government software could be a way to save taxpayer money. "I don't have a problem if work for the government--if it's done cheaper, same quality, talking about best values--is going offshore." Davis points out that most of the overseas work would likely be part of outsourcing contracts awarded to American firms. "I see my job as trying to be an honest broker here to get the best value for the country."

Outsourcing IT work overseas doesn't bother Bush administration IT czar Mark Forman, either. "We don't care if it's built overseas or in the U.S., as long as it's built to the same high standards," says Forman, chief enforcer of the fed's IT policy as associate director for IT and E-government at the Office of Management and Budget.

But Forman doesn't see much of need to outsource IT work overseas. Offshore outsourcing would be employed mostly to develop customized apps or tailor off-the-shelf software, he says. Government agencies should use packaged software as it comes out of the box. Says Forman: "We don't want to spend taxpayers' money turning off best practices embedded in off-the-shelf software."

Copyright ©2001 CMP Media LLC

[FlyingA]

Actually, TSA agent pays over $60K to sit around and chat with other TSA agents at the coffee shops in empty airports.

But shortly, the USA will come down to two types of people (outside of the corrupt elites); hungry peasants trying to get security jobs and security people trying to control the masses of hungry peasants.

Note this situation will gradually drive security work down to minimum wage where it should be anyway. So in my mind, the hottest job (OR ONLY JOB) the next ten years in America will be low pay security/police officer.

On the bright side, at least Americans no longer will have to buy airplane tickets to visit the third world: they will live in it.

[FlyingA]

1657.5 in reply to 1657.1

The Occupational Outlook 2002-2003 is on-line. Enjoy

http://www.bls.gov/oco/

[FlyingA]

Hmmm..... maybe I'll travel to India and have an Indian family adopt me. Then I could return to the US as a H-1B worker with a guarantee of a job. What do you think...?

[PokeyJoe]

ouch.

[FlyingA]

ALERT: NEED TO IMPORT MORE INDIAN WORKERS IMMEDIATELY TO COVER THIS NEWLY CREATED WORKER SHORTAGE. For example, International Truck, just now has 250 new openings.

Cable Giant Charter to Impose Layoffs

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Cable television giant Charter Communications Inc. plans to streamline its operation in a move that will cost a "significant" number of workers their jobs, the company said Tuesday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=528&ncid=528&e=11&u=/ap/20021212/ap_on_hi_te/charter_layoffs_2

OM Group to Cut Jobs, Miss Expectations

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Specialty chemicals company OM Group Inc. (NYSE:OMG - news) plans to cut its work force by 12 percent and sell assets under a restructuring plan aimed at improving cash flow and its balance sheet, the company said Thursday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=568&ncid=568&e=21&u=/nm/20021212/bs_nm/chemicals_omgroup_dc_1

International Truck to Lay Off 250

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) - International Truck & Engine Corp. plans to lay off 250 workers next month and cut truck production because of declining demand, the company said Thursday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=509&ncid=509&e=39&u=/ap/20021212/ap_on_bi_ge/truck_layoffs_1

Yahoo! Lays Off Broadcast Services Workers

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) - Internet powerhouse Yahoo! Inc. said Tuesday it has laid off an unspecified number of workers in its broadcasting services division as part of the company's financial makeover.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=528&ncid=528&e=19&u=/ap/20021210/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_layoffs_2

Pink slips coming in January at Allfirst

An undetermined number of Allfirst Financial Inc. employees will learn in mid-January whether they will be dismissed after the bank's takeover by M&T Bank Corp.

http://www.sunspot.net/business/bal-bz.allfirst11dec11,0,7071033.story?coll=bal%2Dpe%2Dbusiness

AOL to lay off 60 in Mtn. View
CUTBACKS ARE INCLUDED AMONG 300 NATIONWIDE
One week after detailing its turnaround plan, troubled America Online said Wednesday that it is laying off 300 employees, including 60 at its Mountain View location.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/4722533.htm

[gnarledmaw]

"...as an unemployed IT consultant and US CITIZEN..."

Was here too, for 6 months. Took an IT related job for a 58% cut in pay, I had to do something. Still looking for a real job. The only other work around here is just over minimum wage insurance jobs and factory work that really requires you to come from a union family to get into.

[harpseal]

That is about the only way you will work in IT in the USA.

[FlyingA]

I would like to suggest a book called The Coming Internet Depression by Mandel. It was written in 2000, long before we could imagine the depths of this situation. He states that it is imperative that the govt supports demand to stop us from spiraling out of control. On page 71 (remember that this was written in 2000) he has a table:

Early Signs of the end of the tech boom:

simultaneous fall in tech stocks and slowdown in tech spending

Slowdown in the rate of price declines for tech goods

Decline in the flow of venture capital and IPOs

To get out of this, we need to both cut taxes and boost spending. The book is a little technical, but I am sure that you guys can handle it.

[FlyingA]

This lady is completely out to lunch and totally out of touch with what is going on.

The administration needs to act with the same kind of anxiety that us unemployed feel in order to get things back on track.

I won't feel confident until the White House dumps her as well.

I think her picture says it all, just smile and act like a robot:

http://www.dol.gov/

[FlyingA]

Analysis: Silicon Valley insiders profited while companies flopped

The newspaper examined records of stock sales by executives, board members and venture capitalists at 40 companies that have become almost worthless since March 2000. It found that the insiders walked away with $3.41 billion from the sales while, by Sept. 30, their companies' total market value fell 99.8% to $229.5 million.

"This money was taken from investors who didn't have the same information as these insiders and lost their money," said Charles Elson, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.

"They sell the stock and then they restate the earnings," Minow said. "That brings it one step closer to being a Ponzi scheme."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2002-12-09-tech-insiders_x.htm

[MissAmericanPie]

The propaganda sold to Americans was that we would lift the boats of the third world, they didn't tell us it would be by sinking ours, but anyone with common sense would have known that.

It is past time for angry Americans to show up in D.C. and demand high tariffs, and that 80% of goods sold to us be manufactured in the United States, tear up NAFTA and GAT, hurl the U.N. out of the U.S. by the nape of the neck. It's past time for representatives to start representing. What's it going to take?

[FlyingA]

Bump - Ping

[harpseal]

Having spent over 20 years in IT I am aware of what is happening. H1B visa people are imported to write sloppy code that barely manages to function and applications that actually supoported the business and its unique needs is trashed in favor of vanilla software that the alter so the company gets the worst of all possible worlds. A package that has been altered so that standard improvements can not be used and a workforce that can not communicate and really do the job. I work as a consultant that comes in makes the system work again and then they go back to the samne disaster in waiting.

Most of America's competitive advantage in the workplace was a result of intensive IT spending that actually boosted productivity of the American worker. No we have decided to outsource to the lowest bidder who delivers products that do not really have the functionality required and are incompatable with the legacy systems they are replacing and except for the fact they run on a PC network would not even be considered as equivalent to the systems they replace. But boy do the reports look nice and all the MBA's in the corporate HQ can use those reports really easily besides we do not really need to make anything anymore.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[RightOnline]

Americas investors and corporate Boards are squarely to blame for all of this.

Now days, there is nothing resembling "long-term thinking" or vision in most US companies. Everything is "quarter-driven" (e.g. "What have you done for me THIS quarter??"). There is constant pressure on costs to enhance companies' bottom lines, so corporate execs do whatever they feel they can do (or have to do) to cut costs.

Here's a big hint: What's the single largest cost to ANY employer??

[FlyingA]

Ditto harpseal

Ping

[RaceBannon]

I got laid off a year and a half ago from EBM (telecom, fans trays).

I am now a construction worker, and I work part time nights at Stop & Shop sweeping floors.

Good thing I got a mechanical engineering deree in Connecticut.

[FlyingA]

Agreed