Romney and H1-B

[hoytster]

www.betterimmigration.com...res08.html

MA is the interviewer. MR is Romney.

Quote:MA: I didnt think of it that way, thats interesting. Lets jump into visas, probably the most politically, one of the most sensitive issues in Silicon Valley at least. The H1B in particular, allows US employers to temporarily seek help from skilled foreigners, they have to have the equivalent of a US bachelors degree to qualify. We used to give, in the late 90s, 100-150k a year, theres at least demand for 200k a year. In the last couple of years, the US quota for that has been brought down to 65k, and that was last year and this year. A lot of Silicon Valley startups and large companies in particular are saying its really hurting them with their hiring. Proponents of the program say it helps U.S. businesses stay competitive and it helps avoid outsourcing. It also brings some of the worlds best and brightest to the U.S. Quite a few of the most successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley started off as H1B visa holders. The other side says it can take jobs away from US citizens and lowers wages. Whats your position on H1B in general?

MR: I like H1B visas. I like the idea of the best and brightest in the world coming here. Id rather have them come here permanently rather than come and go, but I believe our visa program is designed to help us solve gaps in our employment pool. Where there are individuals who have skills that we do not have in abundance here, Id like to bring them here and contribute to our economy. Ultimately were in a competitive battle with the rest of the world; a battle where we need to stay the most powerful nation in the world. And the only way our nation stays ahead forever is with superior technology and innovation. And if we need additional folks who have skills that can contribute to our country then by all means lets welcome them in and if we see that our kids are not competing in certain areas lets help our kinds understand what they need to become competitive.

MA: Do you think the quota should be increased? Do you think their should be no quota? Should we let in everyone that is qualified?

MR: I would like to see us increase the number of people who receive an H1B visa and can provide skills and experience that we may not have. As to the exact number in my view that would follow a review of a number of things. Number 1: Whats the overall economy doing? Whats happening to the size of our workforce. Number 2: Whats happening to our own capacity in the jobs that are being requested. Number 3: What are the demands from our employers? How many additional folks do they need? Youd have to do an assessment of that on a regular basis, but my overall view is we need more H1B visas, not less.

[codger]

This makes it unanimous. Maybe Edwards or R. Paul have a different viewpoint. - Maybe.

[hoytster]

Nevermind. - Hoytster

[codger]

[David Cressey]

Edwards was a major supporter of H1B while in Congress.

Ron Paul is an economic libertarian, as I've commented elsewhere.  Don't expect him to support any economic barriers at all.  He's replace H1B with something that would allow even more third worlders to compete for jobs in America.

[David Cressey]

What do you expect?  He's a conservative.  

(with a nod to codger).

[pm4hire]

[Richardk]

But what can you (we) do about it?

We had the numbers (of people) when manufacturing left and nothing happened about jobs leaving. Now with a much smaller head count of white collar workers, I doubt anyone will listen or care about our plight.

Yet little by little our entire economy and infrastructure is being gutted from the inside out. We don't make anything like we used to. Soon we won't control a lot of the technology that drives everything. I wonder what's next?

I hope I'm just pounding my chest and making noise since the trend doesn't look good.