Sen. Sanders Bill: End Americans fired to make room for H1B visa cheap labor

[yurbud]

Run time: 02:35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR9QdQIKqMc   Posted on YouTube: June 07, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: February 16, 2008 By DU Member: yurbud Views on DU: 2294

 
Bernie Sanders points to companies that lay off thousands of workers then beg for H1B visas to replace them with cheap foreign labor.

He proposes an amendment that says they can't get H1B visas if they have laid off workers.

[AzDar]

1. Good Gawd, I adore this man. He GETS it.

:loveya:

[yurbud]

2. I think it's more about what he DOESN'T get (or at least accept) a greased palm or offer of lobbyist

or CEO job when he's tired of being a legislator.

[antigop]

3. Unlike HRC who wants to INCREASE THE H1-B VISA CAP when US tech workers remain unemployed

THANK YOU, BERNIE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhLBSLLIhUs
Hillary pushes for more h1-b visas and outsourcing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLNOSGM2jK4
Lou Dobbs: Hillary Clinton's hypocrisy (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgdrh2Bc95M
Lou Dobbs: Hillary Clinton's hypocrisy (part 2)

[guruoo]

4. Obama plans to cut red tape to "increase the number of legal immigrants"

Taken from the Obama campaign web site:

"Obama believes we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and
increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet
the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill."

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/immigration/

[ihavenobias]

5. In Fairness, NEITHER Of The Parties Seem To Get This Issue

I wouldn't single out Obama, not at all. The Dems desperately want that Latino voting block, and they'll go *too* far (IMO) to get it.

By contrast the Repubs seem to be split between xenophobes and racists (who can't stand immigrants) and business types who want to exploit cheap labor (which in turn *does* drive down wages). And obviously we're importing more high skilled labor as well, and therefore we'll see an increasing squeeze the higher and lower ends of the spectrum.

That's why I appreciate Bernie's perspective, and that's why Thom Hartmann frequently has him on. Hartmann is also one of the (seemingly) few progressives that gets the fact that there are *real* reasons to be concerned about the issue of undocumented workers that have NOTHING to do with xenophobia and racism. Unfortunately many progressive *confuse* these real reasons with fair and honest concerns about racist/xenophobic motives that often fuel conservatives.

Here's a must read article by Thom on the issue: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0705-23.htm

[truedelphi]

8. A lot of times I am forced to conceive of our modern political reality as one big tent

On the Democratic side, the flap of the tent reads: "Come In! End the War. Campaign finance reform. Fair Immigratation Policy, Improve Education, and Right to abortion.

On the other it reads something like: "Come In! Protect the rights of gun owners, Keep America a DOminant Military Force, End Immigration, Etc"

But the middle of the tent performing in the Big Ring are the mega Rich. ANd the Ring Master wears a hat that says "Perpetual War and Terror and fear" And his smirk indicates that there won't be too much fun for those who are not inside the ring.

For in truth, at least as far as immigration and having an open border, the Powers that Be need the cheap labor and are quite happy to have driven the Unions out of the picture.

And so that is what we get from the One Big Tent of American politics.

Your statement: Unfortunately many progressive *confuse* these real reasons with fair and honest concerns about racist/xenophobic motives that often fuel conservatives

It goes further than that. Working as an elder care health aide, fifteen years ago I could have made up any story I wanted to and gotten a black woman working with me fired (Mind you - that would be tantamount to murder to me - I don't slander my co-workers. And I never ever worked with any black person who didn't have the necessary devotion and concern for the job.)

But with immigrants flocking to this field, I am now in a real pickle if I need to report a valid concern. I have had co-workers who refused to feed the elderly person we took care of - the nursing agency didn't want to hear my "racist" claims. I have had money stolen out of my purse - again, how "racist' of me to complain about it. One newly arrived immigrant had the nerve to complain about my being late by three minutes! Yet she was frequently late by forty five minutes.

In the end you become resentful of such a double standard. I started out with a most positive mind set of working with people from other places and other cultures. And That positive attitude has been replaced by a negative one - not just because of bad experiences w/ immigrants themselves, but ESPECIALLY because of management's overly liberal stance that people from South of the border can never ever do anything wrong.

[truedelphi]

13. I also don't see why the progressives don't take the time to separate out the

real reasons that the immigration issue needs to be dealt with and the valid concerns regarding the bigots who are all about xenophobia and racism.

[cascadiance]

15. Bingo! You've voiced my feelings exactly!

I'm telling those here who are running for Bilbray's seat in the coming election, though one of them pulled out earlier, that this is the issue they need to have a better answer for than any of them in Washington do now. In my mind, that was the big achille's heel in Francine Busby's campaign last time around. She let the Washington consultants structure TOO MUCH what her position was here in an immigration sensitive area like San Diego.

I think a nuanced position along the lines of what Thom Hartmann talks about voiced down here, and emphasizing that they'd try to lead Washington in this direction would just KILL Bilbray down here! He's a one trick pony, and that would be stealing his whole campaign away from him, and grab independents in the droves.

You know they even have a ship offshore here in San Diego that has tons of foreign tech workers working on it outside of American territorial waters so that they can work around the H1B Visa restrictions here? It is just amazing the lengths these corporations will go to get cheaper labor and kill our economy in the process!

Bet you probably haven't heard about this from our so-called "liberal" corporate media!




http://www.sea-code.com/

http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/outsourcing/story/0,10801,103089,00.html

http://lavoice.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=694

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

22. addressing those already here is different than HB1s inviting tech labor to immigrate here

HB1s are so that companies can bring in tech people to work cheaper than US tech folks

Keeping immigrant families (already here) together is humane, and isn't an invitation.
It is addressing a situation that already exists, not creating a new one (HB1 Visas )

[ihavenobias]

25. Well, except that people are continuing to come here for both low and high skill labor

I'm not for deportation or fences but I *am* for going after illegal employers. I'm for going after the demand for cheap labor, not the supply of exploitable workers (I can't blame them, I'd likely do the same in their shoes).

But I could argue that it's also inhumane to drive down wages and benefits at the high and low end, as is exploiting cheap labor (and providing no benefits and often questionable working conditions with no recourse for fear of being deported).

This issue is not as simple as keeping families together, although I would argue that it IS much harder to keep families together if people have to work 2-3 jobs because 1 job doesn't pay enough or isn't full time (employers are increasingly doing this to avoid paying out benefits).

[guruoo]

27. Should they not have thought of that (family seperation) when they moved here?

:shrug:

One has to wonder how they would feel if the tables were turned.

[mile18blister]

6. Thank you Sen. Sanders.

But it's not just kids out of college who are affected. Older workers with years of experience are being replaced by inexperienced H1B visa holders and it really hurts.

[trthnd4jstc]

7. This is why I am a Democratic Socialist

Unless a corporation is run by people loyal to the people of this nation, screw them. Large corporations repetitively lay people off, blame the worker for it, get tax breaks, and have tax loop holes, and yet they have so much power. Let us make any corporation that is not loyal to this Nation, and the People, pay higher taxes if they want to be here. I hope that we do not enter into another depression, but with nearly $4 Trillion and counting of loss capital because of the mortgage defaults, we may enter into another depression. Deregulation is part of the problem. What to do after we enter a Depression? Price controls to counteract hyper-inflation, government owned businesses, and regulation to prevent monopolies. The Republicans helped wreck our economy with all of these lay-offs. We must defeat the Reptilians to right our nation.

[CherylK]

9. I prefer the term "regulated capitalism"

Going too far toward any "ism" (communism, socialism, capitalism) always brings disaster. Of course this is complicated but I'm keeping this to a much broader, general point. We need to find the right blend of capitalism and socialism rather than creating an either/or false dichotomy (something conservatives often do annoyingly).

At any rate, overall I don't think we disagree that we've been transforming into a corporatocracy (really since 1980).

[Fovea]

11. You will sometimes hear me use the term

diffracted system.

To indicate a modern social democracy with a human centric market and state driven economy with a full set of bureaucratic functions.

[yurbud]

12. I prefer ''spay and neuter your CEOs''

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. of offshore CEO jobs to India

the same job could be done for 1 Millionth of what it pays here in the US.

[aquart]

26. Too, too tempting.

Really.

[aquart]

19. "Regulated," while attractive to me, is too scary for many.

Would Responsible Capitalism work? Everybody wants to be responsible. Nobody wants to be regulated. "Responsible" sounds like it's in charge. And the restrictive legislation can be framed that way.

[ihavenobias]

21. That's an interesting point

There is also controlled capitalism (which might sound too much like regulated capitalism) and fair capitalism which doesn't have that much of a nice ring to it.

The framing of this issue is critical, and the republicans have done a *much* better job of it in recent decades.

[Fovea]

10. You depression remedies are good

but that is not what we will do if we cannot make the political center of DC look like the real political center of America. If we cannot win this fight against corporatism, savage capitalism and enron accounting will be the only system on teh planet.

The free market is a junkie. And for a while, it could do clever things to score smack. It was still making things. Now it is stealing the wiring out of vacant houses and street lighting. Soon it will buy a saturday night special.

We have to intervene.

[provis99]

16. a corporation is just a scrap of paper with human rights

That perversion of reality, defining a corporation as a human, is what started the mess. A corporation's only reason for existence should be whether it benefits American people; if it doesn't, get rid of it; it doesn't deserve any rights independent of that.

[aquart]

20. No. You are giving a corporation the definition of a nation.

It is up to the NATION to make that decision. A corporation exists to make a profit. A nation does NOT. A nation exists to benefit its citizens. Therefore the nation is required to make the corporation conform to that national imperative. If the corporation cannot conform, then it should not be allowed to do business in that nation.

[gateley]

14. I see this was posted on YouTube in June -- any info on the amendment?

If it hasn't come up for vote, and if it WILL be, we need to start a deluge of communication to our Senators.

Thanks.

[Mojambo]

17. I wish we could clone that man.

The Senate could use about 25 more just like him.

[aquart]

18. How ...logical. I think I'm in love.

[TheFarseer]

24. I'm glad somebody gets it

Too many Democrats think it's OK to let corporations crap all over everyone and then expand government handouts to make up for it. Forget that. I don't want welfare. Nobody wants welfare. People want jobs.