Are you glad the Senate just doubled H-1b visas?

[markiv]

in the immigration bill?

do you think that will solve the desperate shortage of workers?

[uponit7771]

1. This aint passing the house... no way, they're so hateful

[markiv]

3. if they really loved American workers, they'd replace them nt

[Marr]

31. Oh, I think they'll go for it. It's for big business.

[LittleBlue]

2. No, it's a joke

Hope it dies, can't see how though

There are US kids who can't find work. They should get jobs before any of these visas.

[Hydra]

4. I've always been against this

Because I have a tech background, and I can't get work in the field. Yet more and more screams for slave labor via H-1B or where I'm currently working, increased use of undocumented workers.

Capitalism working as intended- less pay for the people doing the work and more for the people on top.

[markiv]

5. yup, huge betrayal of US tech workers

far beyond my worst nightmare of what I thought was even possible, years ago

and no matter how much we prove it is abused, and even when they finally admit it, their reaction is to push the cap even higher

[Hydra]

8. Only the people hurt by these policies really get it

A family friend with an engineering degree can't get work either. The businesses pretend they aren't getting any inquiries and ask for H-1Bs and others.

A lot of people think capitalism and competition are holy. They don't seem to want to see how that translates into exploitation and misery for all involved, including the people brought in on the visas or the people having to sneak across the border.

[markiv]

11. i was stunned how badly i've been sold out by 'The Left' on this one

silicon vally is liberal on social issues and support$$$ the Democratic party

but they are also totally fascist in their own sweatshops

so, the reaction from social issue dems who benefit from the tech money is



and are often quite hostile to anyone who bring up this bi-partison betrayal

[Hydra]

16. Definitely

I'm a social/economic justice Dem + constitutionalist, and I feel VERY out of place with all of the RW jingoism our party has embraced in the name of "electability."

I suppose if all you need is Corp money to be electable, it logically follows that you are going to adopt their policies. That also means that this isn't a democracy anymore if you can buy political power.

[newthinking]

54. Ultimately, we are *all* hurt. The displaced american workers will take

another job. It travels all the way down the line and affects us all

[Arcanetrance]

6. There's not a desperate shortage of workers there's a desperate shortage of companies willing to

hire people who want to be paid a real livable wage.

[markiv]

7. unemployement is caused by a shortage of workers

our orwellian friends actually said that, this go round, since they cant deny there is high unemployment

[Arcanetrance]

12. I have brother who works in the IT field been unemployed for two years

From what he says its become the norm in his field. It seems the increase of the visas is going to make that situation worse

[markiv]

15. it absolutely will make it worse

hell, if i knew it were going to be like this, i would have never gone into the field

i accepted the harder work for moderate pay for (perceived and illusuary) 'security'

[bigwillq]

9. No (nt)

[avaistheone1]

10. No.

It hurts those who work in technology here.

[pampango]

13. All the Democratic senators voted for the immigration reform bill. Only 14 republicans

voted for it while 32 opposed it.

The odds are that the House is going to kill this bill anyway so things will stay the way they are - with republicans further destroying their credibility with Hispanics and other immigrant groups.

[markiv]

17. if they kill the bill, they'll strip out the H-1b doubling as a stand alone bill

it was a stand alone bill in the first place

[pampango]

26. The House will strip out all components of the comprehensive bill as stand alone bills,

except for the path-to-citizenship which they will ditch altogether. Democrats in the Senate say they won't accept this tactic so immigration reform will still die.

[msongs]

14. fortunately our jobs for americans president will veto this....right? PS, where is the dems job bill

[markiv]

18. this IS a jobs bill

a give away the jobs bill

[cascadiance]

40. Maybe the House will use voting down this bill as their way of CREATING jobs for Americans!

... as keeping the H-1B Visa program from happening will help some of us Americans get more jobs. Democrats, don't take it for granted that they won't have anything to use in 2014 to say they created jobs in the House. They just MIGHT use voting down this bill in this capacity to appeal to their base and to independents and point to Democrats as "killing American jobs" in this case.

[geek tragedy]

20. Perhaps you can ask Bernie Sanders why he didn't join with champions

of the working people like Jim Inhofe and Ted Cruz.

[markiv]

21. good question, because he has been outspoken on H-1b abuse

[geek tragedy]

28. Yet he voted for this bill. nt

[markiv]

30. last i checked, i'm neither bernie or his spokesperson

you'll have to ask him, i cant explain it

[pampango]

33. A similar question could be directed to Senator Warren. There must have been more good than bad

in this immigration reform bill.

[geek tragedy]

34. There was a lot more good than bad.

Good for the economy, good for the defict, good for the country.

It's a safe rule that when you have Warren and Sanders vs Cruz and Inhofe, it's not a close call.

[markiv]

44. if you judge by who voted for a bill, rather than WHAT

it is, you are not someone who thinks for themselves

there's no justification whatsoever for doubling H-1b in this environment, or ANY environment for that matter

[geek tragedy]

45. This wasn't an h-1b standalone bill. nt

[markiv]

47. so what? explain to me why you cant have a path to citizenship

without screwing tech workers

or what possible justification there is for screwing tech workers even harder than they've already been screwed?

[treestar]

42. Elizabeth Warren voted for it?

OMG. Already betrayed us all!

[Whisp]

19. This is NOT ABOUT SNOWDEN!!! n/t

[treestar]

43. He should try for the Russian version of the H-1B

I wonder if Russia even has an immigration department. I mean, who migrates to Russia? Other than our friend Eddie.

[DCBob]

22. I thought it was too high already.

[markiv]

23. it was already WAAAAY to high

when you consider all of the expemtions from the H-1b cap, the L1 visa, the TN-Status, the B1 visa and the F1-OPT,

ALL of which are used to displace domestic tech workers

[DCBob]

25. Yeah, Im an IT manager.

Its really a joke to say there aren't enough Americans to fill the jobs. Companies want cheap, smart, and desperate... and that's what H1b gives them. Pathetic.

[markiv]

27. it's a vicious, economic singling out of a group of workers

based on nothing but raw corruption

the party has been completely unrepentant on their role in this bi-partisan sellout

it's against everything the party claims to stand for

[pnwmom]

24. No, and the two out-of-work recent STEM PhD's that I know aren't happy either.

This whole shortage thing is a lot of crap.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

29. Not at all.

IBM has laid off more than 1000 workers and they're laying off even more while hiring in India.

[bvar22]

32. These things do NOT happen by Accident:

76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/24/pf/emergency-savings/index.html

New Rule (Passed by Congress and signed by President Obama) signals Kiss of Death for Pensions
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100694955

Wealthy win lion's share of major tax breaks
http://www.boston.com/business/news/2013/05/29/wealthy-win-lion-share-major-tax-breaks/Ua0UyYle21EUXub7g1suCI/story.html

Half of America is in poverty, and its creeping toward 75%
http://www.alternet.org/economy/real-numbers-half-america-poverty-and-its-creeping-toward-75-0

Wealth gap widens as labor's share of income falls
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/wealth-gap-widens-labors-share-income-falls-1B6097385

As the Economy Recovers, the Wealth Gap Widens
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2013/03/11/as-the-economy-recovers-the-wealth-gap-widens

Top One Percent Captured 121 Percent Of All Income Gains
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/top-one-percent-income-gains_n_2670455.html

Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/03/1270541/corporate-profits-wages-record/?mobile=nc


These things ^ do NOT happen by accident.
They take careful planning, preparation, marketing, buying the right politicians, message control, and the marginalization of any opposition.

The H1B Program to import [font size=3]Cheap Labor[/font] for those jobs that can't be shipped to Slave Labor countries is a part of [font size=3]The Bi-Partisan Program to Drive Down Wages & Benefits, and BUST UNIONS![/font]

Just say NO!


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]




You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS.[/font]

[KamaAina]

35. A big fat NO from Silicon Valley.

My first apartment complex here seemed to have an awful lot of Indian people in it. At first, I just figured that wasn't that unusual for the Valley.

But then I realized that a) they were all getting off in the morning at one or two rail stops that serve one large company, and b) they were all walking back into the complex together in the evening, suggesting to me that many were roommates. Yup, H1-B's living at least two to a 1-bedroom apartment (that's basically all they had).

[cascadiance]

36. I saw this sort of thing next door to me...

... in Silicon valley before I left to move down south. Rents were getting jacked up everywhere at the end of the dotcom bomb, when too many people weren't able to afford to buy the big houses that developers were building there then for wealthy and others who were earlier using their stock option windfalls to buy houses. When that dried up, it caused a rise in rents because of a squash of availability in lower end housing at the time.

When my neighbor left, an IT firm started putting in a few families of H-1B Visas (I think Asians and Indians) in the apartment across the hallway that was designed more for one a couple of people and maybe a kid or two. Then the IT firm guy that was their bosses suddenly decided that he wanted the place for himself, arbitrarily kicked them all out at once to find someplace else and moved in. This event happened not long after I left the building myself, in anticipation of my lease terms having my rent jacked up as well.

H-1B Visa slave labor should not be in an IMMIGRATION bill as it is NOT about "immigration" but about getting temporary slave labor instead. And as a result those that really want to move here have a lot harder time getting citizenship or green cards as well to put them on a path to citizenship, because the rich WANT IT THAT WAY! This crap should not be in the immigration bill...

Soon you are going to see more scenes like this of people like me if we don't get jobs soon... I just had my contract ended early at the end of last month so I'm in this rat race that's going to grow heavily in the coming months.

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. I just got a reaction from a local leader

there are problems with this bill, not just H1B.

She was very good in putting it together... as to the spending at the border, that is wrong headed.

Need to research some, and then write an article for the paper.

Just added that for food for thought... way too many problems.

[woo me with science]

38. Assault after assault.

It was a restructuring, not a recovery. The creation of this desperation is deliberate, because it is profitable.

This is what happens when corporations are able to seize power in governments, and over people's lives.

K&R

[cascadiance]

39. Maybe fashion models will be out there protesting with us as they are being "H-1B"'d too!

http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2013/05/23/31929/fashion-models-among-skilled-workers-eligible-for/

[treestar]

41. Er, you mean when the Senate passes a bill, it becomes law automatically?

I must've missed the Constitutional Amendments.

[L0oniX]

46. "desperate shortage of workers" who will do IT work for minimum wage...

so CEO's can get bigger bonuses.

[MH1]

48. Absolutely NOT. It sucks. But, that said, if it's the price we pay

for otherwise somewhat-decent immigration reform that tears the GOP apart, I can live with it.

I sure wish we didn't have to live with it. But the Congress is bought and paid for by their corporate masters, and until we fix that, we pretty much have to try to squeeze out what crumbs we can.

Edit to add: I doubt it passes the House anyway. So the visa number won't be doubled. But the corporate masters will keep trying to sneak it into another bill if this one dies.

[markiv]

49. well, some of us are paying a lot higher price than others

like losing everything

i find among those who are ok with that price, that it's not THEIR ox being gored

[MH1]

51. I'm in IT so my "ox" is being gored, actually

But I've put time into keeping my skills updated to current technologies, so I won't lose everything, just won't have it as good as I otherwise would.

And it isn't going to pass the House anyway - except it still might as a standalone bill, which is worse than at least getting something worthwhile for it.

And a whole lot more innocent oxes are going to be gored if the GOP gains any traction, so if it helps prevent that ... I might get screwed but a lot of people who have it worse will not be.

I guess it depends on your level of altruism, come to think of it.

[markiv]

52. 'I guess it depends on your level of altruism'

i dont have a problem with SHARED altruism, i'm just tired of ALWAYS being the one going under the bus for this party, for the benefit of not only the undocumented, but the ultra rich of this country

frankly, as far as my life is concerned, there's not a dime's worth of difference between the parties, and much of that so called 'altruism' is for the benefit of the ultra selfish like Bill Gates, Zuckerberg et al - that's not 'altruism' it's 'chumpism'

i think you've got a lot of gall to question the 'altruism' of those who resent being squeezed for the benefit of billionaires

[MrHand]

50. The bill is problematic

This entire immigration bill seems unfair to the working class.

The business class and elites are for it because they simply don't care about the unskilled and working class Americans who will be affected.

[pampango]

53. Don't worry. republicans opposed this 32-14 in the Senate and will probably kill it

in the House. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren may have voted for this "unfairness" but the republicans will come to the "rescue ". (Or Sanders and Warren see something for the working class in this bill so they supported it, while republicans see the same thing and naturally opposed it.)