H-1 B: Two new bills to raise cap

[OhioChick]

Source: IndiaTimes/infotech

< MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2008 12:44:14 PM>

NEW DELHI: Has US Congress yielded to Bill Gates appeal on H1-B visa? Not yet. But the lobbying seems to be working. Just a day after the software czar headed for Capitol Hill to lobby for the increase in the annual quota of temporary skilled worker (H-1 B) visas, two bills were introduced in the Congress to fulfill Bill's wish.

The bills introduced by two members of the US House of Representatives -- one Republican and the other a Democrat -- have introduced legislations that would increase the annual cap of temporary skilled worker (H-1 B) visas.

Senator Lamar Smith, from Texas introduced a bill that would increase the annual cap on H-1B visas to 195,000, while the Democrat Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona introduced another bill that aims to take the cap to 130,000 in 2008, and increase it further depending on demand.

Smith's legislation "Strengthening United States Technology And Innovation Now Act" (SUSTAIN Act) suggests making 1,95,000 H-1 B visas as the base level for the fiscal year 2009, which will begin October 1, 2008.



Read more: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2873376.cms

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Nice.....Congress bending over for Billy. :mad:

[hedgehog]

1. I heard Bill Gates and I heard him say something to the effect that

he hires everybody he can from the top schools. I submit that despite the reputations (Based largely on the graduate schools and research) of the so-called "top" technical schools, they aren't that much better than some of the state universities. Physics is physics, calc is calc, statics is statics. Yeah, some of our best and brightest go to MIT, Cornell and Stanford, but there are a hell of a lot of bright kids at the state schools because the "top" schools can't take them all. A lot of those kids come from Rust Belt families and have a cultural tradition of making things work. If Bill Gates is ignoring these people, he is guaranteeing that someone in a garage out there is building something that will leave Microsoft in the dust.

[bean fidhleir]

14. Well said. I recently read a study that found that MIT, CalTech, RPI, et al.

produce the people that get the big-buck salaries, but not the people who do the majority of practical innovation. Jack Kilby, for example, got his BSEE at Illinois and his MSEE at Wisconsin, Seymour Cray got his BS & MS at Minnesota, and so forth.

[uponit7771]

2. ...and during an oncoming economic downturn

[twiceshy]

3. My office already looks like Bangalore.........

really, we are headed into possibly the worst economic smash-up since 1929 and these idiots in congress want to bring in more (excuse my French) Indian programmers and engineers.

[saigon68]

17. Are they making "torpedoes"?

http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/bangaloretorpedo.htm

Dating back to British use in India - hence the name - and designed by Captain McClintock (of the British Army Bengal, Bombay and Madras Sappers and Miners) in 1912, so-called Bangalore Torpedoes were used as a means of exploding booby traps and barricades left over from the Boer and Russo-Japanese Wars.

Specifically during the First World War they were put to more or less effective combat use as a way of destroying thick enemy barbed wire entanglements (being placed underneath and then detonated).

Eminently portable the weapon was comprised of three parts. The smooth nose was designed to penetrate its target; a number of empty sections gave the torpedo its required length; and finally, additional empty pipes were filled with explosive. The whole was approximately 1.8 metres in length.

[grilled onions]

4. During The depression...

did they pull such stunts as this? It seems when there are more people then decent jobs, here there should be put a halt on bringing in new job recruits from other countries.

[acmavm]

5. Bill Gates is a greedy pig who never came up with anything new.

Every idea he ever had he stole from somebody else.

[jimmil]

6. I personally know of at least 100 engineers

at this moment that are out looking for jobs. Yet they keep bringing in workers from offshore. My last real job I worked mainly fixing coding problems we had with programs made in India. They were very good engineers but it just takes years to understand 30,000,000 lines of code. There was a core of engineers whose job it was to fix the problems. To management, it looked like they were producing huge amounts of code and we were producing nothing. Our division was sold and shipped offshore even though we were making money, down to $126,000,000 (from a high of $230,000,000) with 256 employees. Last I heard from any customers were that all contracts were canceled.

[pattmarty]

7. This H 1 -b bullshit I believe is killing this country...........

...........because it "imports" workers to fill jobs in the US that the 300 million population cannot fill. WHY? BECAUSE OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM IS A FUCKED UP PIECE OF SHIT. Exactly why do we need to "import" skilled labor when we have this many people in the country? Most European countries "import" labor to fill the "low skill" jobs (and they have much lower populations than we do). In the US we "import" Mexicans to fill our low low skill jobs and the mid to upper skill jobs we "import" (at this time at least) Indians, Pakistanis, Japanese etc. When the fuck are we going to wise up?

[pattmarty]

8. Oh, and I DON'T want to hear any of that "racist" bullshit.........

......because of my post. Hey folks, this ain't about race or ethnicity OR immigration. It's about survival of our lower and middle classes.

[Donnachaidh]

11. Canada does the right thing by it's citizens

They have to PROVE that they cannot find anyone in the entire country who cannot do the work before they will give work visas out to non-Canadians.

But Bill Gates has so many of our congresscritters on his payroll he can do ANYTHING he wants. And he thinks his little *Foundation* is going to give him positive PR.

NO h1B visas for ANYONE not born in the USA.

[AlphaCentauri]

21. the immigration debate has been focusing on Mexicans

demonizing Mexicans even help some TV shows to boost their ratings but the true is that Mexicans aren't taking college graduates jobs, those jobs have been outsourced or taking by h1 visa holders.

[AngryOldDem]

27. Sad you have to make that disclaimer, isn't it?

And this is EXACTLY what is at stake -- the lower and middle classes.

[OhioChick]

29. That it is..... nt

[IronLionZion]

30. I don't want to hear any racist bullshit either.

I hate racist bullshit. I think any rational DUer will agree that DU and America will be a better place for all without racist bullshit.

[ihavenobias]

31. I agree with that statement, although I don't see how it applies to the original post in any way

If you're going to make such an extreme charge, please be prepared to back it up with an explanation.

[IronLionZion]

32. If you will kindly re-read my post,

you will find that I made no charge at all. It was a clear statement and it requires no explanation.

I'm glad you agree with my statement.

[ihavenobias]

33. That was the most unsatisfying response I've ever read at DU

Congratulations, a ribbon will be arriving shortly in the mail.

PS---Your statement requires no explanation *to you* because you wrote it. To the rest of us who don't take charges or racism lightly, it requires a hell of a lot more explanation.

Thanks

[IronLionZion]

34. Please point out where I charged anyone with anything.

I don't take charges of making charges lightly, and I certainly don't take racism lightly.

My friend, I can't say it's my goal to satisfy *YOU*, but thanks for the ribbon!

:hi:

[ihavenobias]

35. If you will kindly re-read my post,

It was a clear statement and it requires no explanation.

I'm glad you think of me as a friend!

:)

[IronLionZion]

36. this ribbon's for you

:toast:

[ramapo]

9. Never

If people aren't pissed off enough about this now, after going on for 15 years, it ain't going to happen. They might as well take all limits off and just let as many in as can make it here.
I know so many people who lost jobs in IT over past years and they all rather meekly go away. No real outrage over their job being outsourced or offshored. Quite amazing actually.

[OhioChick]

10. Meekly away?

Where are they supposed to go? Who will listen to them? Write their congressman or senators...? Been there, done that.

Are people pissed off about our manufacturing sector? (or should I say our lack of one?) Where is the outrage there? I still see Walmart parking lots packed with cars willing to buy that piss-poor Chinese crap.

"We the People" have no say against big corps running the govt., now do we?

[AngryOldDem]

28. The outrage is there....

...but what good does it do, really? Once you lose your job to someone who can do it for half the wage (and probably half as competently) priority number one is finding a new job. Which isn't so easy to do in IT these days, especially if you expect a living wage, good benefits, and a stable work situation.

Outsourcing is accepted anymore as a fait accompli in most IT shops. Maybe that's where you get the impression that outsourced workers are "meekly going away." But that does not necessarily mean an acquiescence to it, nor does it mean that anger and outrage are not there.

[H8fascistcons]

12. Thats it, I've had it, I'm going Postal!!!!

America when are you going to wake up and smell the coffee! Bill Gates is a corporate Fascist scumbag just like Bush. Do you honestly think he cares about you or America, or is it about his personal financial wealth. In "06" he was in front of congress lobbying for more of this very thing, more cheap labor from India. That Christmas, people were literally mugging each other in Wall Mart parking lots for the sold out made in China Bill Gates Microsoft X-Boxes, whats wrong with this picture?. By your purchase of an X-Box you virtually guaranteed that no American was employed during design or manufacture of your X-Box and all of your money went to Gates and China PERIOD!!! This also goes for Steve Jobs from Apple, you do not need an Apple I-phone or a I-Pod, let them literally rot on the shelf until they are made here and American engineers and American workers are involved in the manufacturing process.
Seriously, if you have kids, why would you spend tens of thousands of dollars sending them to college for an engineering degree if Gates and Jobs are just going to hire non Americans and have the product made overseas? Gates can then claim that no Americans are educated to preform the job and we must look overseas for engineers, a self fulfilling prophecy!. America can you be that stupid, this is just corporate greed and republican Fascism run amok. Wake the "F" up, now you are wondering out loud why you are working for low pay and crappy health care benefits...
Proud to say I do not own any of these no Americans involved, made in China products...

[OhioChick]

18. "Gates can then claim that no Americans are educated to preform the job "

Gates is a lying POS. He wants the cheap-ass labor.

Why is it when Gates is testifying in front of Congress, no one is allowed to be there on the other side of the fence to debate his bullshit claims??

Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage

http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/itaa.real.html

Study: There Is No Shortage of U.S. Engineers


http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Careers/Study-There-Is-No-Shortage-of-US-Engineers/

[jimmil]

13. If it matters what so ever,

I have sent a letter to Lamar Smith telling him just how many thousands look on this. However, if you look up his biography you will see he is nothing more than a Republican stooge that licks the boots of his corporate masters.

[Orsino]

15. Legislators afraid to invest in Americans. n/t

[Thor_MN]

16. It's all "Free Market" and "Let the Market decide" until it comes to wages

THEN, they want government interference and regulation to drive down wages. People are avoiding IT careers because of the perception of the diffculty find jobs and that the pay is not that good. So fewer graduates, allowing the "Free Marketers" to whine their tales of woe, bringing in more foreign workers, lowering wages, making jobs harder to find, lather, rinse, repeat. Would the last person circling the toilet please turn out the bathroom lights?

[cascadiance]

23. YUP! Increased education isn't going to make a damn bit of difference...

... if the salaries are in the toilet. It's all about Supply and Demand 101. Our own legislators should understand that if they have any kind of education in economics themselves!

I am NOT being MEEK!



Unless this trend is reversed soon, we will have irreversable damage of a whole generation of kids that have avoided high tech careers BECAUSE our politicians want to give away their jobs to others with lower cost of living obligations for their families than we do, just to make those that PAY for them to get into office richer! I love the technical work, but I hate these frickin' political games being played. Had the same economic conditions and giveaway of our jobs happened when I got out of school, I might be in a different profession now.

[babylonsister]

19. Rec'd. nt

[ihavenobias]

20. This is infuriating. K & R

[lovuian]

22. We are in the Midst of a Depression and they are asking

for H1B Visas

the American people are going to be Furious
Gates will reap what he sows

[crimsonblue]

24. What about the thousands of American computer engineers?

Oh wait, I forgot... all of the GTA and research positions are going to foreign born students. It would make too much sense to decrease the visa cap and put money into educating Americans to do the jobs.

[lumberjack_jeff]

25. The "Strengthening United States Technology and Innovation Now Act"

This only makes sense if you consider "the United States" as an entity distinctly different from the citizens thereof.

If you, as I do, consider citizens constituents of the whole, it is entirely gibberish.

At it's most plain, it is strengthening America by protecting it from the workplace power of its citizens.

[DiverDave]

26. I did the computer school, 16K in loans

I now drive a truck, again...This is nothing short of war on the middle class.

Fuck bill gates and the enablers that further his middle class distruction...fuck em.