NoSlaves.com

Yesterday, a very popular amendment that would have funded programs for super smart kids and created college scholarships for Americans was gutted by the Conferees, yes that’s our House representatives and Senators, to the H.R. 3043: Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008. The amendment would increase fees on H-1B employers by $3,500.  About $3,000 of this fee increase would be targeted to $15,000 scholarships in math, science, engineering, and healthcare.  About $500 of the fee increase would be dedicated to the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Program.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal’s hit piece, which sums up the attack on this very well intentioned amendment.

I’m startled to learn that The Wall Street Journal seriously believes that an investment in American students will make things worse for U.S. businesses

Ok, so the Corporations claim they need these Visas because they cannot find talent. Yet a simple thing, like funding scholarships for the wiz kids of America is now called a tax on corporations.   You call supporting education a tax?

Clearly the goal of corporate America, by opposing such an obvious worthy goal of investing in the best and the brightest Americans is pure unadulterated labor arbitrage and  greed.  What a vile view of American ingenuity these lobbyists have, beyond the pale considering that ingenuity created these very industries.

This attack on simple funding for scholarships and wiz kids is so odious and amplifies the hypocrisy of the Corporate Cheap Labor Lobby’s entire argument.   Uh huh corporate America.  You can’t find the talent so by God, you’re sure going to spend millions of dollars to stop any sort of support or investment in American talent that you claim you cannot find.  Yup, it’s all about cheap labor.