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My, my, the economic theory hits just keep rolling from John McCain.   First he said that Americans couldn’t pick lettuce for $50/hr.   Of course he thinks more bad trade deals are great for the nation. That’s right, damn the evidence and the statistics as our US dollar tanks and the nation is hollowed out of manufacturing and service jobs.   Now he believes by denying US citizens jobs and opportunity, displacing them with foreign guest workers, one creates jobs!   Must one wonder if McCain is living in some sort of economic fantasy world!   Or could it be he will only listen to corporate lobbyists and present their public relations teams talking points?

Ars Technica reports Chuck Fish, former conglomerate Time-Warner executive and lawyer, representing McCain, claims:

For each H1-B visa hire, 20 domestic jobs are created

Ars Technica notes there is only one study that claims firing Americans and denying opportunity to Americans creates jobs.   When Ars Technica requested the source of John McCain’s claim that guest worker Visas is a massive job creation engine, there was no reply from the McCain campaign.

Even worse, Ars Technica is quoting a corporate lobbyist paper that has been heavily debunked.   Of course it is debunked, does anyone in their right mind think that somehow not giving opportunity, investing in US citizens and giving them jobs will somehow magically grow their own economy?

So, look at McCain’s answer to the United States economic decline, that right, H-1B Visas are his top priority.   Of all of the issues to make the United States truly competitive, this is the last thing US workers need, so clearly McCain is simply the front man for corporate lobbyists and their agenda, the Global Labor Arbitrage Agenda that is.

If you think Barack Obama will actually put US professionals first, think again. From his “technology” plan:

Barack Obama supports comprehensive immigration reform that includes improvement in our visa programs, including our legal permanent resident visa programs and temporary programs including the H-1B program, to attract some of the world’s most talented people to America. We should allow immigrants who earn their degrees in the U.S. to stay, work, and become Americans over time. And we should examine our ability to increase the number of permanent visas we issue to foreign skilled workers. Obama will work to ensure immigrant workers are less dependent on their employers for their right to stay in the country and would hold accountable employers who abuse the system and their workers

This means Barack Obama is ignoring the many statistics which prove US workers are being displaced and to make matters worse, he wants to turn America’s higher education system into a glorified green card machine.  Imagine what they will do to opportunities for US students.  It’s bad enough right now many are denied and if they are not, they cannot afford the cost

Even more odious is the Obama campaign claims to be of different politics, so why is it we see the exact same corporate lobbyist agenda items as part of his plans?

If one gets anything out of Presidential politics it is that STEM Professionals, tech workers have zero voice simply because they do not have enough organized power and money to counter the multinational corporate lobbyists demands.  So much for Democracy or basing policy on any sort of statistical realities in favor if keeping the United States strong and the US workforce strong.

Immigration is the 3rd rail of politics, especially for Democrats.   One is guaranteed to be name called and attacked if any attempts to have a controlled immigration policy are made.     In the Oregon Senate Democratic Primary, not surprisingly, finding out where the candidates stand is a hard, long dig.   Like stepping through a mine field, one false move is guaranteed to be targeted by some special interest group.    Let’s go past the name calling hype and try to find out where they really stand and why these positions are vital to US workers.

Steve Novick on Immigration:

First,  Novick talks about the small business owner getting wiped out by the competition through use of cheap illegal labor.  Yet in the very next sentence, he endorses the failed Comprehensive Immigration Bills!

The comprehensive immigration bills were opposed by the AFL-CIO because they were loaded with guest worker Visas and were anti-labor.

Jeff Merkley on Immigration:

Now Merkley is mentioning something very real, labor supply and demand. It is well known among labor economists (and corporations) to lower wages, one dramatically increases the domestic labor supply.   These are fundamental economic laws and apply to to any worker in any labor market, from a Post Doctorate to an unskilled laborer.   Merkley is acknowledging these economic laws and truth.

Novick, on the other hand uttered as first words, “some people are bigots who hate brown people”  because they want the laws enforced.    He then begrudgingly acknowledges some labor economics truth.   Yet in the same breath,  Novick turns around and discounts those realities by endorsing bad bills.   The comprehensive immigration reform bills in the Senate were written by the US Chamber of Commerce and other corporate interests, loaded with so many guest worker Visas it would decimate US workers through over supply.   The bill also gives corporations control over those workers.   Most notably, US Professionals, were especially targeted for labor arbitrage in those bills.   There is a reason comprehensive immigration reform closed down the Senate phone and fax lines and it’s because they are corporate written bad bills for working America. 

From the Oregon voter guide:

Jeff Merkley: Gordon Smith and politicians in Washington D.C. have failed miserably to address this issue. We need real leadership and here’s what I will do: First and foremost we must restore the rule of law. We must crackdown on companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and take common sense steps to reinforce the integrity of our borders. The 9/11 Commission recommended doubling guards and using new technology to secure the border and we’ve yet to take those actions. After we have reestablished the rule of law we can work to match labor supply to labor demand and consider appropriate legislation that requires citizenship with strict accountability.

Steve Novick: Immigration is a challenging issue with no easy answers, but something we must work to address. As a former federal law enforcement officer, I sympathize with those who argue that “the law is the law.” But as a practical person, I do not think it is feasible to round up 12 million people living here without documentation and deport them. We need comprehensive immigration reform that includes securing the borders and real penalties for businesses that exploit undocumented workers and drive down wages. At the same time, we should have a path to legal residence for some of those already here who have no other criminal violations if they pay a fine and back taxes. The goal must be to improve wages here and abroad – not reduce them in the pursuit of the biggest profits. With a little common sense and compromise, I believe we can work together to achieve immigration reform that makes sense for America and the world. Read more at: http://www.novickforsenate.com/ challenge_illegal_immigration

Now my question is do you want a Democratic Senator who will caucus with the likes of John McCain,  or do you want someone with a voice of reason, looking to actually solve these issues, who would align with Oregon’s Peter Defazio and Senators Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Jon Tester, Byron Dorgan, Claire McCaskill and Jim Webb?  Who are the real Progressives in this list?   All of these Senators voted against comprehensive immigration reform because it was anti-worker.

Here are the two comprehensive immigration reform bills Steve Novick think are just fine with the opposition statements from the AFL-CIO, the largest labor organization in the United States.

S.1348 (2007):

AFL-CIO - Immigration Bill Dangerously Flawed:

The current system is unworkable. It has become a blueprint for exploitation of all workers, both U.S. and foreign-born. As long as this broken system persists, all workers will suffer because employers will be able to turn to a ready pool of exploitable workers to drive down wages, benefits, health and safety protections and other workplace standards for all workers.

The bottom line is that this bill is far from the kind of comprehensive immigration reform that would improve the status quo for either U.S.-born or immigrant workers or their families, and, in fact, it is likely to make matters much worse

S.2611 (2006):

The three-tiered approach creates a caste society in which millions of hard-working immigrants are driven further into the shadows of American society, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.

We are disappointed that the Senate adopted the greedy corporate model of addressing our nations’ future needs for workers–guest worker programs– instead of crafting a mechanism to ensure that future foreign workers come into the US with full rights and as full social partners.

From the AFL-CIO press release in opposition.

Both of these comprehensive immigration reform bills were loaded with unlimited (in effect) guest worker Visas, specifically targeting the best jobs in America.

The last thing Professional workers need is someone more than willing to sell them out on a dime and vote for a bill with massive H-1B guest worker Visas increases in it, yet another corporate controlled F-4 Visa to turn our entire education system into a glorified green card machine, yet more new unskilled guest worker Visa categories and absolutely no reforms, simply because some radical groups try to spin this issue as being about xenophobia.   It is absolutely not about that, it’s about national sovereignty, the ability of a nation-state to control it’s immigration policy, and not allow  corporations, or the WTO (pdf, Public Citizen), to manipulate our labor supply.   Most importantly, it is about US workers and their jobs and wages.

Guess who received the AFL-CIO of Oregon endorsement? Jeff Merkley.

So while corporate cheap labor lobby activists and special interest bloggers try to spin this issue into something it’s not, please read between the lines.   Do your homework and decide, which one is the true Progressive on immigration here?   My conclusion is workers have a much better chance with Jeff.

Other positions:   Jeff Merkley believes obtaining a U.S.  driver’s license implies one has not entered the country unauthorized.   Requiring proof of legal presence is one of the 9/11 commission recommendations and also assists in stopping the underground criminal identity theft ring.

If you can find high-quality talent at a third of the price, it’s not too hard to see why you’d do this

says EDS chairman Ron Rittenmeyer.

So much for the talk of domestic shortages of engineers. EDS has shifted literally tens of thousands of jobs overseas.

EDS owns the India-based offshore outsourcing firm, MPhasis, which uses the H-1B & L-1 visa programs to facilitate this transfer.

WashTech, a local of the CWA (AFL-CIO) has an action item to demand the extension of student worker Visas be set back to it’s original.

If you are a Professional worker and have your own personal horror story on wage arbitrage, displacement through insourcing and/or offshore outsourcing, may we request you join Hire Americans First and add your story so the facts of how guest worker Visas are used to displace US Professionals cannot be dismissed.

For your viewing pleasure, another group has made a series of you tube videos worth watching:

Finally Ex-startup CEO turned Academic Vivek Wadhwa also agrees we should get rid of the lottery on the H-1B Visa program. But we should not allow any increases in H-1B or the creation of an F-4 Visa and instead pass S.1035.

Per my last blog post, DHS Illegally Changes Rule to Increase Foreign Guest Workers, please leave a comment to tell DHS how illegal, inaccurate and wrong the OPT extension is.