Posted on 06/15/2003 4:24:16 AM PDT by harpseal
Dear President Bush,
Sir, I am writing today about what I and some others see as some significant problems with our current international trade policies. Specifically, our research has shown that the United States Government has agencies and policies in place that provide direct support to competitors of the USA. Specifically I am referring to The Overseas Private Investment Corporation as the first of these agencies. I realize this agency was created and expanded before your administration but it is a problem and it should be addressed by your administration. Policies in place that may harm American permanent residents include the H1B and L1 visa programs. As one of your supporters in the 2000 elections I appreciate many of the policies you have advocated over your term so far. I would hope that you are elected to a second term but I am concerned the economy may provide you with problems over the coming months until November 2004.
As I am sure you are aware unemployment in the USA is still rising despite the emaciated version of your tax cut that was passed and this continued rise in unemployment and underemployment may well threaten any economic recovery. A part of the reason that companies are not hiring is the effect of imports on the American economy. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation is an agency of the United States Government that provides American Corporations loans and political risk insurance for investing in nations other than the USA. Sir, this is not Free Trade or anything even close. This is government subsidy to the low cost labor of China, India, and other so called developing nations who are in direct competition with American workers for jobs. There is a correlation between productivity and capital investment. Simply eliminating this organization and its programs would help to stimulate investment in new plant and equipment in the USA since there would no longer be a subsidy to investing offshore.
Sir, another problem is the abuse of our immigration law that allows foreign guest workers who are willing to work for less than American workers in technical professional areas. I am referring to the H1B and L1 visa programs. The H1B program is supposed to provide temporary guest workers to help alleviate short term shortages within the American labor supply. Instead it has become a permanent short circuit around our regular immigration laws. As a result American engineers and IT people are out of work in record numbers. Sir, these people are American citizens and they vote. They need their government to enforce the laws for their protection. Curtailing the abuses of these programs will be a winning political issue because it is the right thing to do.
Sir the political implications of not doing anything about these programs are clear. A Democrat will run on the economy promising a government jobs program which will do little to help the economy really but may get enough votes to threaten your re-election. By taking a stand on these programs you will attract much of the traditional Democrat supporters in the next election. Your stand against government handouts will appeal to your base while driving a wedge between Liberals and the union member Democrats and independents. Thank you for your consideration
Respectfully yours,
I'm beginning to see a real groundswell of anger about this situation. It's one thing to have massive layoffs of taxpaying Americans because of a business cycle, it's quite another to have wholesale shifts of American jobs to countries overseas. And to have an agency in the federal government that uses our money to help these corporations destroy lives to benefit their bottom line?
I will be sending President Bush an e-mail myself. I sincerely hope somebody in the administration takes notice of the sentiment out here before it's too late for them. It would be horrific to see another Bill Clinton in the White House because this issue was ignored.
I note the comments above by Dugway Duke accusing this letter of being socialistic. I really wish I could use that letter to tar every one of the Free Traitors for what they are people who seek to destroy their fellow Americans and their nation for their personal gain. However I must let the reply to my letter and the response to it stand on trheir own merits. This letter was crafted to avoid any pro Socialist stands in any sense of the word. So clearly Dugway Duke to attack it as socialism was defending Big Government and a handout of taxpayer dollars for no value recieved to the American people.
The above also applies to your 'free trader' argument about mass immigration. Sure, the individual businessman benefits from the cheap labor, but society picks up the tab for that cheap laborer's housing, food, medical care, schooling, etc. Only an idiot would think that a uneducated mexican with 12 dependents and a $5 an hour under-the-table income is a benefit to our nation as a whole.
Bottom line? a socialist welfare state combined with the greed and self-centeredness of people like you equals a increasingly rapid trip down the path to national suicide. I hope your gated community has strong gates because before long they will surely be tested.
The depriving it of funding from the US treasury would should not be a problem.
You say you are for "free markets", yet you want to erect barriers to "free markets" to protect your job. That costs me money, it takes money from my family, it is nothing more than the use of government power to enrich yourself. That, my friend is robbery, and those are the "points" you raised. Please tell me of any barriers to free trade I have proposed in this letter. I am for enforcing our immigration law as it stands. You sir are a liar and a fraud. Your defense of of US taxpayer dollars being spent for your personal gain and the gain of foreign nationals is disgusting. Why don't you either tell the truth or go play with the other lying Socialists, iternationalists, and Communists at DU.
By the way for anyone interested here is the OPIC web site OPIC . Their own website states they are an agency of the US Government. I note the ".gov" domain name. My information on their programs and policies comes from the OPIC website.
Now please back up one of your accusations with a reference or go back to DU. Truly, you did not use the term "living wage" for IT professionals. I used that to describe a policies that are the equivalent of a "living wage". You want to limit competition to protect your job and your wages. Explain how that differs from the "living wage" argument advanced by democrats. Both want to guarantee you a job, a wage, and a standard of living.
Then removing government funding should not be a problem should it. Further you have yet to post a reference that justifies this statement. Keep digging sucker the way out of the hole you are in is down.
The IT industry is migrating to a centralized, remote managed environment, where all IT resources must produce an acceptable return on investment (ROI), and make a substantial contribution to the client’s competitive edge. Our clients can no longer afford to pay for mismanaged, unproductive IT solutions. The former IT skillsets that guaranteed long-term employment have become outdated as the complexity of IT deployments has diminished. I have been employed as an IT professional since 1992 and this trend was beginning to emerge even then.
Okay here is the drill newbie to IT. If the return on investment is the only criteria then why do you need a government subsidy? This letter asks for nothing more than ending a government handout and enforcing our immigration laws and standards. Defund OPIC and enforce the law period that is it. Your straw man agruments are total Bull and need to be refuted as such. I note the first wave of outsourcing in IT was prior to 1992 and it died a rapid and well deserved death because the subsidies were not there. I have nbo objection whatsover to a free market but a government subsidy to one side does not constitute a free market.
Now if an offshore outsourcing investment can not produce a return on investment better than one in the USA without government subsidy then it is probably an unwise investment. I am truly sorry for you if you have sponsored such a project within your corporation and removing such programs as government subsidized political risk insurance change the overall numbers. you do not have a right to a government subsidy.
I note that if you refer to the text of my e-mail it is sent as a GWB supporter and I am referring to specific programs.
Best wishes to you when your investment if offshore outsourcing turns sour and you are on the unemployment line. By the way I have found a lucrative niche for my business which is fixing problems generated by offshored IT work.
It has to do with a reputation for expertise and the ability to come in and quickly get mission critical systems back up and doing what they are supposed to do. however as someone new to IT you would probably not understand the concepts involved in mission critical systems.
I hope it gets to him!
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