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... the O1 which was designed to bring in Rocket Scientists.

Yes, this is the bemusing part of all this to me. I actually had two uncles who were real rocket scientists, and cousins who worked at JPL. One of my uncles, whom I cannot name in the interest of my own privacy, was involved with the Manhattan Project. He was the guy who validated the calculations output by the computer, in his head. He had two degrees by his twentieth birthday. He got through the program at U of I back in the early 40's, when they were a no mercy destroyer of academic hopes. And he did it without a slide rule. He didn't need one. He could do it all in his head. About the time he died he was trying to teach my cousin how to do simultaneous equations mentally .. wait for it .. in 100 or more unknowns. He said there was a trick to it. Right, good uncle. The trick to it is to be blessed by God with a unique brain.

And he was the sweetest, humblest man you could wish to know. If the true intent was solely to bring in superstars like him, then I would have no problem with that. But these folks are scarce, a rather small and elite club, and they have access, by virtue of who they are, to whatever employment in the world they desire, more or less, and allowing for some exceptions, of course.

So no, I just do not buy that song and dance that the 350,000 H1b visas are for such as these. There's hardly a tenth of that number in the whole world who are operating at that level, and even that may be an exaggeration. No, the H1b numbers are there, in my view, to facilitate the intake of people operating in a much more ordinary range, the so-called "monkey workers," as you like to call them, Hostage. But compared to my uncle, most people in the world are "monkey workers."

Such invective is wasted hot air. It describes nothing useful. Especially if your purpose is making allies for Cruz out of reasonable people who see their livelihoods threatened by his professed policies. You may consider them wimps and whiners, but these "wimps and whiners" vote, and they're not likely to vote against their own self-interests, perceived or otherwise.

As for me, you're not making the sale. Perhaps my personal experience with superstar STEM workers makes that impossible. Nevertheless, if you're not selling me on the idea, I'd bet there's a bunch more just like me that Ted would like to win over, who are having genuine trouble with this policy. In politics, you don't get very far alienating your natural supporters. Just sayin ...

Peace,

SR