However, I believe that he is wrong. Unlike most Freepers I do not believe that Obama is a knee-jerk socialist on all issues. I believe that he has been co-opted by the banks just as much as W was and many presidents before him. So Obama and Cruz agreeing on something in my mind is not a strange occurrence, nor is it a case of Cruz pandering to Obama. It is a case where both Obama and Cruz believe that giving more power to the executive to streamline economic deals with foreign countries will be better for the US economy.
Regardless of whether there will be enough US science and engineering students in the pipeline to fill future engineering positions, right now there are lots of unemployed or underemployed scientists and engineers that are being underbid by H-1b holders. Meanwhile, H-1b holders are being treated like indentured servants. I have worked with some and the story is always the same: their companies claim that someday they will submit the paperwork so that they can get their green cards and be on their way to US citizenship, but the paperwork never gets filed. H-1b holders are basically treated like illegal aliens, i.e. if they complain about salary, work conditions, or anything else they get quickly replaced by a more subservient H-1b holder.
Do you really want your software and your computer hardware developed by engineers with lots of credentials (of suspicious quality) but lower skills than their US counterparts? Do you want them to do exactly what they are told by managers that have no clue regarding the requirements for safe, secure, and accurate software? Maybe part of the reason why so many corporations and government agencies have been hacked is because the hardware and software were developed by holders of H-1b's who did what they were told rather than what they knew from experience to be the correct thing to do.
I could go on, but here is one point that really irritates me where I believe Cruz is either an outright liar or is just so enamored with the TPP that he has blinded himself to reality:
Cruz tells us that the TPP will give congress MORE power to craft trade deals. I don't believe this for one minute. Look what happened recently with regard to food labeling. The American people wanted food labeled with point-of-origin so we knew what country it came from. The congress did the right thing, fought the whiny companies that claimed that relabeling would cost too much, and passed a law that forced companies to add place of origin to the labels.
Canada and Mexico didn't like this so they brought it to the WTO and won. Soon after the congress had to pass a law that basically repealed the point-of-origin labeling law. This was something that the American people didn't want, and probably most of the congressmen didn't want.
This all because the congress passed NAFTA and NAFTA ended up tying the hands of congress.
In what universe does Cruz believe that TPP, TPA, and TISA won't end up tying congress's hands as well?
Either he is not being totally honest with us or not totally honest with himself.
Look what happened recently with regard to food labeling. The American people wanted food labeled with point-of-origin so we knew what country it came from. The congress did the right thing, fought the whiny companies that claimed that relabeling would cost too much, and passed a law that forced companies to add place of origin to the labels.
Canada and Mexico didn’t like this so they brought it to the WTO and won. Soon after the congress had to pass a law that basically repealed the point-of-origin labeling law.
That one really infuriates me. We no longer have the right to know where our food originates from.
“Do you really want your software and your computer hardware developed by engineers with lots of credentials (of suspicious quality) but lower skills than their US counterparts? Do you want them to do exactly what they are told by managers that have no clue regarding the requirements for safe, secure, and accurate software? “
I am a software engineer (mechanical, avionic software).
The coding can be done by just about anyone - it’s the design and quality control that affects the outcome. Now, if the managers and lead developers are not properly trained, there will be problems.
Like healthcare.gov.
I’ve never seen a website that looked more like a high school project. The functionality is limited and the design is simplistic. That was created by substandard developers, for sure. Ones that overcharged!