[FormerLurker]

If Americans are competitively priced, they will be hired.

That is untrue. Salary is one of the last issues raised in the hiring process. It is the matter of getting an interview that is impossible today.

What is one to do, write a resume and say something like, "HIRE ME, I'LL WORK FOR PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR"? Hey, maybe I should try that, maybe I'd get at a few responses. Whether I get an interview is doubtful though. There's just so many people with Master's degrees out there that can't get a job, and it's not because they're not trying.

[Red Jones]

well, I know I read somewhere, on an anti-H1B web-site probably, that said that H1B people have the normal payroll taxes withheld, but all of this money sent to their home government. Other people say it varies from country to country. Maybe so, maybe this aspect of the program is in flux.

Either way, we're talking about government intervention into the marketplace to drive wages down for 1-2 million people from about 70 grand a year to 50 grand a year, and the means of doing this is to get a bunch of americans out of those jobs and a bunch of foreigners into those jobs.