H-1B

Any Jobs Bill Must Have Buy American and Hire America Mandatory Requirements

arra signPaul Krugman shows the 2009 economic stimulus was not enough.  We've shown as have many others, tax cuts for the rich do not create jobs.   Yet, many criticized the $787 Billion Stimulus bill as spending, loaded with political favors and misdirected funds.  For example, 84% of the green jobs went offshore and build America bonds were yet another gift for Goldman Sachs.

The problem with the original stimulus wasn't that it wasn't big enough.  It was not smart enough.  What we need is true domestic stimulus.  If you're going to spend our money to stimulate our economy, stop shipping our dough to China instead.
buy american
Is this possible?  Can one stop the offshore outsourcing of jobs, especially jobs created with our hard earned taxpayer dollars?  Is there anything that can be done which actually goes to American workers?   Why yes there is.  First and foremost, all stimulus funding should have two mandatory requirements, Buy American and Hire America.  If a government is enacting Keynesian economic stimulus, they must keep that spending within the domestic economy they wish to stimulate.  The last thing America's workers need is stimulating China's economy and generating more jobs for them.

Tradable Jobs

The Council of Foreign Relations has released a new study with the benign title, The Evolving Structure of the American Economy and the Employment Challenge. Contained within are some horrifying statistics for American workers. From 1990 to 2008, all of the job growth was in non-tradable jobs. In other words, your suspicions are true, any job that could be offshore outsourced....was offshore outsourced. You were traded for a cheaper offshore counterpart.

New CBO Immigration Study - 12% of Population Foreign Born, 4% Here Illegally

The United States Population has the largest percentage of foreign born since 1920, including 10.8 million illegal immigrants and the Supreme Court is taking 'em on. SCOTUS just ruled the lower courts must re-examine their ruling on Hazelton Pennsylvania's laws to verify renters and workers are there legally.

Obama, Say What? India Creates American Jobs, Are you Kiddin' Me?

ladyfingersearAnyone else wondering how a President, who just received a red tidal wave that was a protest vote can run off to Asia and declare India as a creator, not a poacher of U.S. jobs?

Maybe it's because he has the queen of offshore outsourcing, Diana Farrell on his National Economics Council. Regardless, President Obama is wrong. India is indeed a poacher of U.S. jobs. How else do you think their offshore outsourcing industry is $50 billion a year, with 60% of that coming from the U.S. representing 1.32 million U.S. jobs lost.

Right now we have 17 million college graduates working as waitresses and sales clerks. We just saw in this 60 Minutes report PhDs, Masters degrees, people with advanced skills, grateful to get a part-time job at Target. We have 11 U.S. industries not employing Americans, U.S. workers, but where most workers are offshore or brought in as cheap labor.

The Administration Double Speak on Jobs & Exports

The most absurd thing is happening. Claiming to push exports, President Obama is planning on pushing a host of policies that are well documented to offshore outsource jobs and displace U.S. workers. On Obama's export council is Verizon, a notorious labor arbitrager. Ford, Disney, Pfizer (another notorious offshore outsourcer of advanced R&D), and Dow Chemical are also appointed.

Business Week:

He’ll have to push new trade agreements, higher quotas for skilled foreign workers, and tougher enforcement of intellectual-property rights.

On what planet, besides a made up one, does someone believe displacing a U.S. worker with a foreign guest worker helps U.S. workers get jobs? Of course firing Americans and replacing them with cheaper labor does not create U.S. jobs for American workers. Evidence of U.S. workforce displacement through global labor arbitrage is overwhelming. The top users of foreign guest worker visas are offshore outsourcers and even the GAO has documented the displacement and wage repression of U.S. workers.

Jobs For U.S. Workers Stripped Out of Stimulus Bill Behind Closed Doors - Update It Lives!

Shockers of all shockers, the Sanders-Grassley amendment survived the corporate lobbyists and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce! Senator Sanders press release:

Senate and House negotiators agreed to prohibit banks and other firms that take taxpayer bailouts from replacing laid-off U.S. workers with lower-paid foreign workers.

The proposal by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) was added to the economic recovery package in the Senate. A conference committee retained the provision in the version of the bill that is expected to win final congressional approval later today.

An investigation by The Associated Press found that a dozen banks now receiving more than $150 billion in bailouts requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years to replace laid-off American employees. The same banks announced at least 100,000 job cuts in recent months.

The measure would require the bailed-out banks to hire only Americans for two years, unless they could prove they were not replacing laid-off Americans with guest workers. Because the banks have announced mass layoffs, the measure would effectively place a moratorium on the H-1B visa program.

“With thousands of financial services workers unemployed, it is absurd for banks to claim they can’t find qualified American workers,” Sanders said.

“While we are suffering through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the very least we can do is to make sure that banks receiving a taxpayer bailout are not allowed to import cheaper labor from overseas while they are throwing American workers out on the street.”

Senators Sanders & Grassley Offer Hire American Amendment - Watered Down to a Symbolic Gesture

This is an update. I just read in Business Week that the actual amendment passed is not what is presented originally the below post. I've now confirmed:

This amendment, as modified, is being cosponsored by Senator Grassley and has been cleared by both sides. This amendment simply requires recipients of TARP funding to meet strict H-1B worker hiring standards to prevent displacement of U.S. workers.

Outsourcing expert Ron Hira estimates this will only affect 1,000 jobs. Remember Citigroup alone fired 50,000 and also signed a $2 billion dollar offshore outsourcing contract after receiving a $25 billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer money.

Here is Grassley's Press release:

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