12 Articles Worth Reading
12 Articles Worth Reading
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 1:30 AM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
January 25, 2006 No. 1404
<<< COMMENTS FROM ROB >>>
Article #2 - Supposedly Indian firms are hiring Americans. I read the
entire article and noticed that the reporter never interviewed a single
American that worked for Tata or Wipro. Read very carefully and you will
see that these Indian bodyshops just want a few American business types
that will probably help them set up more outsourcing to India: "The perfect
candidate," he says, "has an undergrad degree in engineering and computer
science and an M.B.A."
OK, here is the reality check: Indian bodyshops only hire fellow Indians
unless they have no choice. They are so exclusive that they tend to shun
all but Indian nationals - in other words they won't hire an Indian who is
a U.S. citizen. It's pure folly to think that Indian companies are somehow
going to reverse the trend of job destruction due to outsourcing or H-1B
but that's the idea USNews is trying to push.
Articles 5, 6, and 7 discuss Minnesota Governor Pawlenty's plans for going
to Washington to lobby for more H-1B visas. February is going to be a
dangerous time for American workers and Pawlenty knows that the next
several weeks will be his window of opportunity. The FAIR legislative
updates #9 and #10 explains why Pawlenty is in such a hurry to get to
Washington DC - and why you better get involved or we will be looking at a
massive new guest worker program.
So far I'm not aware of any activists in Minnesota that are trying to stop
Pawlenty. If there are some out there, please contact me and let me know
what is going on.
<<< END OF COMMENTS >>>
Article 1:
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jan/15fraud.htm
Indian accused of running visa fraud racket in US
United States immigration authorities have arrested an Indian on charges of
running a visa fraud racket and seized?$5.7 million from his bank and
brokerage accounts. Federal agents involved in the bust found that Narendra
Mandalapa of New Jersey had filed nearly 1000 possibly fraudulent
labour-based petitions on behalf of Indian and Pakistani nationals, who
were seeking to enter the US or stay here. The petitions filed by Mandalapa
were for skilled computer workers.
Article 2:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060123/23offshoring.htm
Coming and Going
As offshoring evolves,t Indian firms even hire Americans
It doesn't take an economics degree to conclude that one of the main U.S.
exports of the 21st century is likely to be jobs. And by many accounts,
India is at the head of the receiving line. A small crosscurrent is
beginning to flow, however. While some of America's most well-known
companies are suddenly rushing to India, the big Indian offshoring firms
that started the whole trend--companies like Tata Consulting Services,
Wipro Technologies, and Info-sys--are starting to hire in the United
States. The numbers are small so far.
Article 3:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1546868.htm
Liberals blamed for Freescale job losses [in Australia]
There has been political fallout over news US computer chip maker Freescale
will close its Mawson Lakes office in March. Communications giant Motorola
established Freescale and the previous Liberal government gave the company
$14 million for set up costs.
Yesterday it emerged 145 more workers would lose their jobs at Freescale.
Article 4:
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=175804064
Engineering shortage? Get real
Despite all the political posturing and sleight of hand with labor
statistics, there's no shortage of trained engineers in the United States.
India and China are not producing new engineers any faster than we are.
Article 5:
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14126151
Even as the advance degree H-1B visas have hit the 20,000 ceiling for
fiscal 2006, the Governor of State of Minnesota has raised the pitch for
increasing the number of H-1B visas and employment-based green cards
granted to those studying and working in high technology sectors. The
Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, is slated to travel to Washington next
month to lobby the immigration, border security and citizenship
sub-committee chairs of US House and Senate Judiciary Committees to allow
more than the 65,000 H-1B visas currently granted each year for these
specialised areas of work.
Article 6:
http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2006/01/12/mn/0pawlenty.txt
After targeting illegal immigrants, Pawlenty to help legal ones
Gov. Tim Pawlenty showed a softer side to immigrants Thursday, extending
offers of help to legal immigrants after weeks of talking up a crackdown on
those who enter the country illegally. The governor's proposals for legal
immigrants include asking the federal government for more H-1B visas and
green cards for immigrant college students who plan to work in areas such
as biomedical engineering, medical research and software development.
Currently, about 65,000 such visas are granted each year.
Article 7:
http://www.austindailyherald.com/articles/2006/01/12/news/news01.txt
Promoting immigration
Gov. Tim Pawlenty began a state tour in Austin this morning to announce his
second phase of immigration initiatives, this time outlining ways to foster
legal immigration. He said he will visit Washington, D.C. in February to
lobby for an increase in the number of H-1B visas, which are granted to
college-educated non-citizens working in high technology and high need
fields.
Article 8:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060124/ap_on_re_eu/eu_cia_secret_prisons
Investigator: U.S. 'Outsourced' Torture By JAN SLIVA, Associated Press
Writer
The head of a European investigation into alleged CIA secret prisons in
Europe said Tuesday that evidence pointed to the existence of a system of
"outsourcing" of torture by the United States, and that it was highly
likely European governments were aware of it.
Article 9:
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=leg_analysis_hr4437_hr4313&JServSessionIdr006=0sg8b7h6i1.app13b
Make or Break Time in Congress on Immigration
The Senate is set to take up immigration legislation early this year,
perhaps later this month or in February. It is widely expected that unless
something changes dramatically, the Senate will approve a bill containing
some border controls and some enforcement features, but also broad amnesty
and guest worker programs. The result for the public if this Trojan horse
is passed will not be pretty. The final product will contain half measures
on border security and immigration enforcement and full blown guest worker
and amnesty programs.
Article 10:
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=leg_legislationlistaa70
Illegal Alien Amnesty Lobby Launches Full Court Press - Continued Action
Needed to Fight Guest Worker Amnesty
The illegal alien amnesty lobby and the greedy corporate interest alliance
with the support of the Bush administration have launched a coordinated
effort to weaken enforcement reform bills and get a guest worker amnesty
through the Senate.
Article 11:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0601220364jan22,0,1386363.story?coll=chi-newsopinionperspective-hed
Shelter anyone?
We're not prepared for an economic hurricane either
AS ITS BROKEN LEVEES AND drowned pumping systems made so painfully clear,
if the Big One was widely predicted in New Orleans, it was never genuinely
feared. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, disaster preparedness and
prevention are no longer completely academic subjects. If only such realism
could be injected into U.S. policymaking before a widely predicted economic
disaster finally strikes.
Article: 12 (To read this you must click the link)
http://www.vdare.com/burns/060114_immigration.htm
Progressive Indictment, By Randall Burns
Doubts About Immigration Reaching MSM - Sort Of
Sharon Begleys WSJ piece focused on technical employment and the impact
of immigration. It isn't just another rah-rah piece saying that companies
are all victims. However, she still missed some basic points: She didn't
estimate how many American engineers have been displaced by H-1B workers.
(My estimate: at least half a million, plus many more now significantly
underemployed)
1. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jan/15fraud.htm
Indian accused of running visa fraud racket in US
Sridhar Krishnaswami in Washington | PTI | January 15, 2006 | 19:52 IST
United States immigration authorities have arrested an Indian on charges of
running a visa fraud racket and seized?$5.7 million from his bank and
brokerage accounts.
Federal agents involved in the bust found that Narendra Mandalapa of New
Jersey had filed nearly 1000 possibly fraudulent labour-based petitions on
behalf of Indian and Pakistani nationals, who were seeking to enter the US
or stay here. The petitions filed by Mandalapa were for skilled computer
workers.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement?have seized more than?$5.7 million
dollars from the suspect's bank and brokerage accounts.
Mandalapa has been charged with fraud and misuse of visas in a District
Court in Newark, New Jersey. He is currently in the custody of the United
States Marshals Service.
Mandalapa's arrest was a part of a joint anti-fraud initiative undertaken
by the ICE, the USCIS and the Department of Labour's Office of Inspector
General.
'The investigation began when a special fraud detection unit of the USCIS
uncovered a pattern of fraud in petitions for immigration benefits
submitted by Mandalapa through one of his companies', the ICE said in a
press release.
The investigation which began involved the USCIS's Fraud Detection Unit,
the Benefit Fraud Unit of the ICE and the field investigation involving a
special agent in charge in Newark. The end result was the arrest and the
asset seizure.
The investigation has, thus far, uncovered two 'shell' companies in New
Jersey owned by Mandalapa, which were created solely for the purpose of
filing fraudulent labour based petitions for foreign workers.
Agents, during the course of their investigations, have also seized
computers and documents from the corporate address of Cybersoftec, Inc.
It is believed that $2.1 million came from fees paid by individuals who
were seeking fraudulent benefits. All of the money has now been seized by
the government with the assets coming from four bank accounts in Edison,
New Jersey and two brokerage accounts in New York.
Also seized were a Mercedes SUV and a Lexus Sedan with a combined value of
$100,000.
"Immigration benefit fraud is a multi-billion dollar business and cannot be
tolerated.This type of fraud not only steals jobs from legitimate workers
but it also provides individuals to illegally enter the United States and
creates a risk to national security and public safety," Thomas Manifase,
Acting Newark Special Agent in Charge said.
2. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060123/23offshoring.htm
1/23/06
Coming and Going
As offshoring evolves, Indian firms even hire Americans
By Richard J. Newman
It doesn't take an economics degree to conclude that one of the main U.S.
exports of the 21st century is likely to be jobs. And by many accounts,
India is at the head of the receiving line. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates
recently announced that the software giant will nearly double its workforce
in India, to 7,000, and invest $1.7 billion there. IBM has added at least
10,000 Indian workers this year and could employ more than 50,000 Indians
by the end of 2006. Accenture, EDS, and other consulting firms are
following close behind. By 2015, 3.3 million jobs will have been sent
overseas, accord-ing to Forrester Research. As the offshoring trend
matures, U.S. firms will contract out increasing amounts of white-collar
work like accounting, drug research, technical R&D, and even cartoon
animation.
A small crosscurrent is beginning to flow, however. While some of America's
most well-known companies are suddenly rushing to India, the big Indian
offshoring firms that started the whole trend--companies like Tata
Consulting Services, Wipro Technologies, and Info-sys--are starting to hire
in the United States, where some of their biggest customers are based. The
Indian firms have earned billions by helping Fortune 500 companies slash
the cost of running call centers or performing basic information technology
work, relying on a huge pool of well-educated, English-speaking Indian
workers who earn one-fifth what their counterparts in the West do. But to
expand beyond basic IT work, the Indian firms are finding that they have to
hire Americans who have local connections and understand western business
climates. "You can't be global if you only hire your fellow citizens," says
Jessie Paul, Wipro's chief marketing officer.
The numbers are small so far, and nobody expects a major reversal of the
offshoring trend. But factors that used to tilt jobs toward India and other
low-cost countries are now shifting. Political pressure in the United
States has forced many companies that do government contracting, for
instance, to keep jobs here. Defense giant Northrop Grumman plans to set up
a "homeshore" operation, hiring hundreds of software engineers, in rural
Virginia--where costs are higher than in India but lower than in prime U.S.
cities. Science Applications International Corp., another defense
contractor, recently opened a tech center in Kentucky. Other states, like
Nebraska and Indiana, are offering tax and other incentives that make them
look like an affordable alternative to Bangalore.
In India, meanwhile, the talent pool is starting to get tapped out in
spots, leading to wage increases, frenetic demand for the best workers, and
job hopping. More important, the Indian IT firms are aiming upmarket just
as their bigger American competitors, like IBM, Accenture, and EDS,are
aiming down. "They are certainly trying to move up the chain," says Ron
Hira, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology and coauthor of
Outsourcing America. "Higher-level consulting services are very
relationship based, so it makes sense that they're hiring more Americans."
Big numbers. For more than a decade, the Indian IT firms were content to
fish the bottom for data-entry work, call center operations, and other
basic back-end tasks that big companies could move overseas without much
risk or notice. As U.S. firms like JPMorgan and Met-Life got more
comfortable with offshoring, they began sending more sophisticated work
like software development and computer programming overseas. Before long,
that had spawned a few of the fastest-growing juggernauts in the global
economy. Wipro, for instance, which is now a $1.8 billion company, doubled
its staff over the past three years and has a profit margin of nearly 20
percent. (IBM's profit margin, by contrast, is about 9 percent.)
Those kinds of numbers have caught the attention of the world's biggest
consulting firms. And with huge U.S. companies now going after the same
low-cost Indian talent, the Indian firms are trying to turn the tables.
Like their more entrenched competitors, the Indian firms are now offering
to take over whole IT departments and become business partners with their
customers. And they're poaching American executives to help get the ball
rolling. Infosys has hired several former Deloitte and Ernst & Young
partners to help jump-start its consulting business. Tata, Wipro, and
Cognizant Technology Solutions, a New Jersey-based offshoring firm, are all
luring American rainmakers from the likes of McKinsey & Co. and
PricewaterhouseCoopers. "We're doing a lot of hiring, both on- and
offshore," says Bob Rugare, who left Ernst & Young last year to become vice
president of Cognizant.
Core IT work--where offshoring firms still earn the bulk of their
money--will continue to flow overseas. And most of the U.S.-based employees
of the offshoring firms will still be foreign nationals in the States on
temporary work visas. But offshoring executives say that they're going to
need an increasing number of Americans, too. "My practice is going to rely
predominantly on local talent," says Paul Cotton, whom Wipro recruited
recently from ConAgra to help run a consulting practice out of Dallas.
Surya Kant, North American president of Indian IT giant Tata Consulting,
says that beginning this year, Tata will recruit American tech and
engineering grads on college campuses such as the Mas-sachusetts Institute
of Tech-nology and the University of Georgia, schools where Tata already
runs research programs. Overall, Tata will hire about 500 Americans this
year, Kant predicts. "It is more expensive," he acknowledges. "But some
work must be done here."
Offshoring firms want to hire people who think globally. The most adept
employees, says Rugare of Cognizant, will be those who have "one foot on
the boat and one on the dock"--adaptable workers who understand and
complement the offshore components of their industry. In the U.S. market,
Rugare sees a strong need for business analysts who understand the back-end
operations of financial institutions and other big companies and can help
design technical requirements that will be fulfilled overseas. "The perfect
candidate," he says, "has an undergrad degree in engineering and computer
science and an M.B.A." Cognizant has also been hiring American specialists
such as doctors, pharmacists, and biostatisticians to help fulfill a big
outsourcing deal with a major drugmaker.
Buyer's market. On the ground floor of the global economy, however, the
welcome mat can still be hard to find. Diane Collier, 43, is a Dallas-area
electrical engineer who was laid off from a local utility last year when
much of the work in her department was offshored to eastern Europe. She has
both technical and managerial experience and says jobs in her field are
still available--but it's a buyer's market, and employers insist on very
specific expertise. "And salaries are lower," she adds. "I'm probably going
to have to take a 20 or 25 percent cut for comparable work."
But no one expects the trend of offshoring to slow. Even as offshoring
firms integrate more Americans into their operations, the pressure on big
public companies to cut labor costs is intensifying. And so are the
opportunities, as the quality of Indian offshoring services con-tinues to
rise. Cognizant says Indian engineers at the firm are working on
cutting-edge technology like next-generation ATMs and new systems for
global securities trading. Kant says that in addition to all the IT work
Tata does, its staffers in India handle automotive design for Detroit,
broadcasting duties for Hollywood, and paralegal work for big law firms.
With some major companies just beginning to look overseas, "offshoring has
not even scratched the surface," he insists. It's time for American
workers, in other words, to get one foot on that boat.
CAN YOUR JOB BE OFFSHORED?
JOBS AT RISK
Computer programming
Software development
Basic systems architecture
Low-to-medium-tech jobs
Paralegal research
JOBS THAT ARE SECURE
Government jobs
Specialized website work
On-site program and tech support
High-end technical design
Healthcare
3. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1546868.htm
Liberals blamed for Freescale job losses. 13/01/2006. ABC News Online
Last Update: Friday, January 13, 2006. 10:01am (AEDT)
Liberals blamed for Freescale job losses
There has been political fallout over news US computer chip maker Freescale
will close its Mawson Lakes office in March.
Communications giant Motorola established Freescale and the previous
Liberal government gave the company $14 million for set up costs.
In 2004 120 workers were sacked and more are set to lose their jobs.
Yesterday it emerged 145 more workers would lose their jobs at Freescale.
State Industry Minister Paul Holloway says it was a waste of taxpayers'
money.
"We shouldn't be attempting to buy jobs. We should be nourishing those
industry's that have the potential to grow in their own right," he said.
"But Opposition industry spokesman Rob Lucas has defended the former Olsen
government.
"I'd much prefer a Government that spends taxpayers' money on providing
jobs for South Australian workers and families that a Government like this
one," he said.
The Mawson Lakes centre was Freescale's only Australian office.
Mr Holloway believes South Australia's strong economy will help the sacked
workers find new jobs.
4. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=175804064
Engineering shortage? Get real
Jim Turley
01/16/2006
Despite all the political posturing and sleight of hand with labor
statistics, there's no shortage of trained engineers in the United States.
India and China are not producing new engineers any faster than we are.
Widely circulated articles in everything from The New York Times, Fortune
magazine and the Chicago Tribune, to speeches by Bill Gates and President
Bush, have said the engineering sky is falling and that U.S. engineering
schools are in crisis.
Probably not. First of all, it's hard enough to count the number of
graduating engineers in the United States, much less those of other
countries. According to the universities themselves, the number of students
graduating with a BS degree in computer science rose by 85 percent between
1998 and 2004. That's hardly a signpost of decline. The number of BSEE
grads has risen by more than 18 percent since 1999. The American Society
for Engineering Education says darn near 120,000 new BS, CS or PhD degrees
were handed out to newly minted engineers in 2004. Sounds like a boom to
me.
So how does that compare with the other guys? Nobody knows-or nobody's
telling. The prevailing wisdom seems to be that 600,000 new engineering
grads come out of China each year and another 350,000 out of India. But the
figures are probably bogus.
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the mythical 600,000
figure may have gotten its start as far back as a 2002 speech given by
Cadence's then-CEO, Ray Bingham, who said, "China produces 600,000
engineers a year and 200,000 of them are electrical engineers." That number
was uncritically recycled by newspapers around the world, most of which
cited each other as the source. Mr. Bingham himself couldn't recall where
his factoid came from, so it's still apocryphal.
As near as anyone can tell, the other nations' figures-if they're based on
fact at all-include anyone even remotely involved in the study of
engineering. The numbers probably include those enrolled in two-year
programs, dropouts, technicians and even empty "seats" in
government-approved engineering schools.
Looking now at the demand side, unemployment among engineers was 2.5
percent in 2004 and 4.3 percent in 2003. Those figures are right in line
with the 2.8 percent and 3.2 percent unemployment rates for all
professional occupations in those two years. So, given that employment
rates are entirely average, where's the shortage?
I suspect there isn't one. Recycle a statistic enough and people will
believe it's true, even though 74.3 percent of all statistics are made up.
5. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14126151
Minnesota pitches for more H-1B visas
Tuesday, 24 January , 2006, 09:08
New Delhi: Even as the advance degree H-1B visas have hit the 20,000
ceiling for fiscal 2006, the Governor of State of Minnesota has raised the
pitch for increasing the number of H-1B visas and employment-based green
cards granted to those studying and working in high technology sectors.
The Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, is slated to travel to Washington
next month to lobby the immigration, border security and citizenship
sub-committee chairs of US House and Senate Judiciary Committees to allow
more than the 65,000 H-1B visas currently granted each year for these
specialised areas of work.
Seeking an increase in the number of H-1B visas and employment-based green
cards, Pawlenty is urging the Federal Government to "loosen its hold on
these important employment visas" on the ground that Minnesota needs to
keep more of the talented and hard working employees trained in its
colleges and universities in the State, after they graduate. Other
proposals include a new citizenship tax credit aimed at helping immigrants
with the costs of becoming a US citizen and utilising visa opportunities
for foreign medical professionals in underserved areas of Minnesota. |Read
more Finance news.|
The demand for raising the H-1B visa limit comes at a time when the advance
degree H-1B visas have run out for fiscal 2006. As per the latest update
from US Citizenship and Immigration Service, the quota of 20,000 visas,
available under this category, has been exhausted on January 17.
Earlier, the annual cap of 65,000 for H-1B category was reached even before
the start of the Federal Government's fiscal year 2006, beginning on
October 1, 2005. H-1B visas allow employers to have access to highly
educated foreign professionals who have experience in specialised areas and
who have at least a bachelor's degree or the equivalent. H-1B workers,
including computer programmers, engineers, architects, accountants and
doctors, are admitted to the US for an initial period of three years, which
can be extended for an additional three years.
6. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2006/01/12/mn/0pawlenty.txt
After targeting illegal immigrants, Pawlenty to help legal ones
By Associated Press
ST. PAUL (AP) Gov. Tim Pawlenty showed a softer side to immigrants
Thursday, extending offers of help to legal immigrants after weeks of
talking up a crackdown on those who enter the country illegally.
The Republican governor's checklist includes tax credits for would-be U.S.
citizens, financial training, English language instruction and
immunizations. He also wants to help more foreign investors, doctors,
high-tech specialists and scientists come to Minnesota.
Pawlenty has been focusing on problems associated with illegal immigrants
since early December, including costs borne by taxpayers and crimes such as
drug smuggling, document fraud and human trafficking. On Thursday, he said
the nation's immigration laws don't work and the solution is both to get
tough and to encourage legal immigration in ways that help the economy.
``There isn't just one fix to this,'' said Pawlenty, flanked by
representatives of immigrant groups at a Capitol news conference. ``It's
not just about cracking down on illegal immigration.''
Pawlenty also said he supports some kind of guest worker program to allow
foreigners to live and work legally in the United States for a period of
time, then return to their home country.
Several Latino leaders said afterward that they welcome the governor's
focus on immigration.
``The laws have to catch up to what's so much a part of our society,'' said
Jesse Bethke Gomez, president of St. Paul-based Comunidades Latinas Unidas
en Servicio. ``This has elevated discussion about the policies.''
Rick Aguilar, who runs an event production company and sits on the
Metropolitan Council, said illegal immigration has become a stigma
associated with the Latino community. Other immigrant groups including
Hmong and Somalis came to Minnesota legally as refugees, while growth in
the Latino community has occurred in part because of illegal immigration,
he said.
``We have to get rid of that stigma,'' said Aguilar, a Republican. ``I just
think it starts the dialogue. We're looking for the Latino community in
Minnesota to be proactive.''
Pawlenty unveiled the plan at a news conference in Austin - home to a
significant number of immigrants who work in food processing - and was
slated to talk it up in St. Cloud and Moorhead.
Last week, he outlined get-tough measures for illegal immigrants, including
stiffer penalties for fake IDs and more authority for law enforcement to go
after those who commit crimes. Enforcing immigration laws usually falls to
the federal government.
The governor's proposals for legal immigrants include:
-$1.7 million for a $300 tax credit available to immigrant families with
incomes of less than $30,000, to help cover the cost of English classes and
citizenship application fees.
-Tax, mortgage and business startup assistance through a public-private
partnership with the Itasca Project, a group of CEOs and public officials.
-Asking the federal government for more H-1B visas and green cards for
immigrant college students who plan to work in areas such as biomedical
engineering, medical research and software development. Currently, about
65,000 such visas are granted each year.
-Creating an Immigrant Investor Visa Regional Center in the state to
attract foreign investors, who could get visas to live and work here if
they invest at least $500,000 and create at least 10 new jobs or help a
struggling business avoid layoffs.
-$3 million grant program for English language classes for about 1,100
workers.
-More federal visa waivers for foreign doctors who work in underserved
areas outside the Twin Cities. Last year the state used 21 such waivers out
of a possible 30.
-$500,000 to immunize immigrants against hepatitis B and reduce and treat
tuberculosis.
7. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.austindailyherald.com/articles/2006/01/12/news/news01.txt
Promoting immigration
By Josh Verges/Austin Daily Herald
Gov. Tim Pawlenty began a state tour in Austin this morning to announce his
second phase of immigration initiatives, this time outlining ways to foster
legal immigration.
"While we certainly want to crack down on illegal immigration, we also want
to promote and encourage legal immigration," he said at the Austin
Municipal Airport.
Pawlentys latest proposals would promote foreign investment in the
state, provide a tax break for those seeking citizenship, help immigrants
with English, finances and health care, and ask the federal government for
more help in bringing educated non-citizens to and keeping them in
Minnesota.
One proposal is a $300 per family tax credit for those earning less than
$30,000. It would offset some of the costs that come with gaining U.S.
citizenship. The fee for citizenship application alone is $330. The annual
cost to the state would be an estimated $1.7 million.
The Itasca Project, chaired by Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson, and with help
from Thrivent Insurance, Wells Fargo Bank and US Bank, will teach
immigrants about basic finances, taxes, home ownership and starting
businesses.
Pawlenty wants $3 million in state grants to help employers teach their
immigrant employees English. It would improve employee retention, build
company loyalty and create a safer, more productive work environment, he
said.
Hepatitis B and Tuberculosis are significant challenges among Minnesotas
immigrant population, Pawlenty said. He wants $500,000 of the Health Care
Access Fund to raise awareness and access to immunizations.
Another health care initiative is already in place. Pawlenty wants the
Dept. of Health to pursue more visa waivers in rural and inner city areas
to bring physicians from other countries to medically underserved parts of
the state. Each state is allowed 30 such waivers, but Minnesota used just
21 last year, he said.
What the governor called the "foreign investment equivalent" to his JOBZ
program would grant citizenship to non-citizens willing to invest at least
$500,000 in business and create 10 jobs for U.S. workers. Such incentives
are already in place in other states. As with JOBZ, economically ailing
portions of the state would be designated as regional centers eligible for
the program.
"It will promote investment and economic development in parts of Minnesota
that need it," Pawlenty said.
The governor said he recognizes that citizenship issues are largely the
responsibility of the federal government, but there is room for action at
the state level. He said he will visit Washington, D.C. in February to
lobby for an increase in the number of H-1B visas, which are granted to
college-educated non-citizens working in high technology and high need
fields.
The illegal crackdown and legal promotion initiatives came out of a study
on the impact of immigration and a series of meetings around the state.
Pawlenty was criticized by immigrant advocates for his first round of
proposals and said he expects to take heat from the opposite side after his
latest initiatives. He said the state can expect another series of
proposals before the Legislative session starts March 1.
Austin was not among those in the community meetings, but Pawlenty said he
has heard from individuals here. Issues in this area, he said, are not
unlike those in other parts of the state, citing the need for court
interpreters, and problems with employer exploitation and false identities
in health care and law enforcement.
Pawlenty again defended the timing of the proposals this morning, saying
immigration has been an important issue for him and continues to be
important today.
"We have a country that is built on a tradition of immigration," he said,
"but thats a system that needs to be legal and orderly and above
ground."
8. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060124/ap_on_re_eu/eu_cia_secret_prisons
Investigator: U.S. 'Outsourced' Torture By JAN SLIVA, Associated Press
Writer
The head of a European investigation into alleged CIA secret prisons in
Europe said Tuesday that evidence pointed to the existence of a system of
"outsourcing" of torture by the United States, and that it was highly
likely European governments were aware of it.
But Swiss Sen. Dick Marty said there was no tangible proof so far of the
existence of clandestine centers in Romania or Poland as alleged by the New
York-based Human Rights Watch, and complained of a lack of cooperation by
EU governments.
His interim report, based partly on results of national investigations and
recent press reports, did not break new ground and largely repeated his
previous claims that U.S. policies in the war on terror contravene
international law on human rights. Allegations that the CIA hid and
interrogated key al-Qaida suspects at Soviet-era compounds in Eastern
Europe were first reported Nov. 2 in The Washington Post.
"There is a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the
existence of a system of "relocation" or "outsourcing" of torture," Marty
said in the report to the Council of Europe, the human rights watchdog on
whose behalf he is investigating.
"Acts of torture or severe violation of detainees' dignity through the
administration of inhuman or degrading treatment are carried outside
national territory and beyond the authority of national intelligence
services," Marty said. He added that more than 100 suspects may have been
transferred to countries where they faced torture or ill treatment in
recent years.
"The entire continent is involved," Marty told the Council of Europe's
parliamentary assembly, a body comprising several hundred national
lawmakers. "It is highly unlikely that European governments, or at least
their intelligence services, were unaware."
In his report, Marty analyzed the cases of an Egyptian cleric allegedly
kidnapped from Milan, Italy, in 2003 by CIA agents and a German captured in
Macedonia and taken to Afghanistan in an apparent case of mistaken
identity.
Citing an American lawyer, Marty also said six Bosnians were abducted by
U.S. agents on Bosnian soil and taken to Guantanamo Bay, despite a Bosnian
court ruling ordering their release.
Last week, Italy's justice minister formally asked the United States to
allow Italian prosecutors to question 22 purported CIA operatives they
accuse of kidnapping the Egyptian cleric, Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, in
2003 from a Milan street.
Nasr, believed to belong to an Islamic terror group, was seized Feb. 17,
2003. Prosecutors claim the cleric, who is also known as Abu Omar, was
taken by the CIA to a joint U.S.-Italian air base, flown to Germany and
then to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.
Marty also said he would follow up on evidence gathered in the case of
Khaled al Masri, a German of Lebanese origin reportedly kidnapped from
Germany to Afghanistan, in the next stage of his investigation.
Marty, who is expected to issue another interim report in the next few
months, complained there was enormous pressure on him to produce evidence
of secret CIA prisons but there was not much help from the Council of
Europe or governments.
"Not a single day passes without me being asked, 'Do you have any hard
evidence, is there any proof?'" he said. "I am not a judicial authority, I
have no means of investigation, the logistical support available to me is
very limited."
The European Union's top justice official, Franco Frattini, called on all
EU governments Tuesday to "fully cooperate" with the investigators.
The Council of Europe launched its probe after allegations surfaced in
November that U.S. agents interrogated key al-Qaida suspects at clandestine
prisons in eastern Europe and transported some suspects through Europe to
other countries.
Human Rights Watch identified Romania and Poland as possible sites of
secret U.S.-run detention facilities. Both countries have denied
involvement. Clandestine detention centers would violate European human
rights treaties.
Marty said there was no irrefutable evidence of the existence of secret CIA
prisons in Romania, Poland or any other country.
"On the other hand, it has been proved that individuals have been abducted,
deprived of their liberty and all rights and transported to different
destinations in Europe, to be handed over to countries in which they have
suffered degrading treatment and torture," he said. If eventually
uncovered, the detention centers would likely be small cells that could be
easily hidden, he added.
Marty has obtained flight logs archived by the Brussels-based air safety
organization Eurocontrol and satellite images of air bases in Romania and
Poland.
9. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=leg_analysis_hr4437_hr4313&JServSessionIdr006=0sg8b7h6i1.app13b
Make or Break Time in Congress on Immigration
The second session of the 109th Congress is poised to renew debate on
controlling the borders and bringing an end to illegal immigration. As most
of you already know, the House passed a bill in mid December that purports
to get tough on illegal immigration without adding any guest worker or
amnesty provisions. This much is satisfying, but the House bill could and
should have been stronger. Only the TRUE Enforcement and Border Control
Act, H.R. 4313, aims directly at the root incentives that drive illegal
immigration and mirrors what the public is demanding.
Read FAIR's exclusive analysis of the major immigration legislation pending
in Congress, updated January 2006 (PDF)
Many of these incentives are ignored in the House-passed Border Protection,
Anti Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, H.R. 4437. For
example, this bill conveniently ignores any requirement for employers to
dismiss their illegal alien employees even after they have been shown to be
unauthorized to work in the United States following mandatory verification.
The bill also fails to:
Construct a contiguous fence along the southern border;
Authorize sufficient personnel at DHS to enforce our immigration laws;
Protect the integrity of the social security card;
Protect the integrity of birth certificates;
Reduce the number of documents usable for worksite verification;
Suspend the visa waiver program;
Restrict birthright citizenship;
Restrict the use of ITINs;
Require additional detention space for illegal aliens
Stop the granting of mortgages to illegal aliens;
Stop the business tax deductions employers take for their illegal
employees;
Stop claims by illegal aliens for the earned income tax credit.
These failures are remedied in the TRUE Enforcement Act and all of them, if
left unchecked, will leave in place an environment where illegal aliens may
continue to live without inconvenience and nearly invisible to law
enforcement.
Senate Action Expected Soon
The Senate is set to take up immigration legislation early this year,
perhaps later this month or in February. It is widely expected that unless
something changes dramatically, the Senate will approve a bill containing
some border controls and some enforcement features, but also broad amnesty
and guest worker programs. From there, the House and Senate will get
together in a conference committee to iron out differences between the two
bills and agree on a package that each chamber will attempt to pass.
The result for the public if this Trojan horse is passed will not be
pretty. The final product will contain half measures on border security and
immigration enforcement and full blown guest worker and amnesty programs.
We at FAIR have been down this road too many times to count. Every time the
public demands action, political leaders in Washington, DC pull the old
Potomac two-step. They attempt to pacify the public with what is advertised
as tough measures coupled with new immigration benefits. The result: Public
restiveness is quieted, business gets what it wants, and politicians reap
the benefit of uninterrupted cheap labor lobby campaign cash, and whatever
enforcement steps were taken are ignored.
Don't Be Fooled, Let Congress Know How You Feel
Today the immigration reform movement stands at a crossroads. Will the old
Potomac two-step be permitted to work its magic once again? Or will the
public see through the latest ruse and begin demanding that politicians of
both parties stop selling out the public interest-and homeland security
along with it-to the highest bidder?
Last month in the pages of the Washington Times, immigration enforcement
champion Rep. J.D. Hayworth expressed his concern "that many in Washington
view illegal immigration as political problem to be managed rather than an
invasion to be stopped." Just so. See FAIR's "Facts About Guest Worker
Amnesty" for more ammunition to use - including detailed responses to the
most common arguements for a guest worker amnesty program.
If the final product of a House-Senate conference turns the House-passed
bill into a Trojan horse carrying amnesty and guest worker programs with
watered down enforcement provisions, FAIR will lead the charge to defeat
the conference agreement. In order to win this campaign, you and concerned
citizens across the nation must hold our political leaders accountable. If
together we succeed, it will be up to all of us to insist that swift action
be positively taken on the only legislation that will restore order from
the utter chaos that has become our immigration system. That legislation is
TRUE Enforcement.
10. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=leg_legislationlistaa70
Jan. 23, 2006
Illegal Alien Amnesty Lobby Launches Full Court Press - Continued Action
Needed to Fight Guest Worker Amnesty
The illegal alien amnesty lobby and the greedy corporate interest alliance
with the support of the Bush administration have launched a coordinated
effort to weaken enforcement reform bills and get a guest worker amnesty
through the Senate. Last week, the American Farm Bureau Federation mounted
its campaign to stop the House-passed border security bill, H.R. 4437, and
press for passage of a guest worker amnesty program. A dangerous coalition
of business, labor, religious and health care organizations led by the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce held a news conference at the National Press Club on
Thursday pressing the same agenda.
As opposition to reform efforts increase, your help becomes more and more
important in this fight to Save the American Worker!
This Week's Action Request - Urge Senate Majority Leader Frist to Use His
Leadership Power to Stop Senate Passage of a Guest Worker Amnesty
This week, your help is needed to urge Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
(R-TN) to use his leadership power to support the American worker by
opposing Senate passage of a guest worker amnesty. Please join this effort
by calling Sen. Frist's Nashville (615-352-9411) and D.C. (202-224-3135)
offices by Friday.
Sample Message for Phone Calls to Sen. Frist:
"I'm calling to ask Senate Majority Leader Frist to use his leadership
position to stop Senate passage of a guest worker amnesty program. A new
massive, unchecked guest worker amnesty program like the one envisioned by
President Bush and some Senators would undermine American workers,
America's economy and exacerbate income inequality. There are no jobs
Americans won't do at livable wages. Any program that offers cheap foreign
labor at the expense of American jobs and provides amnesty to those who
break the law is wrong and downright un-American. Please support the
American worker and help stop the guest worker amnesty."
If possible, take part in the "Save the American Worker" Candlelight Vigil
A peaceful candlelight vigil will be held outside of Senate Majority Leader
Frist's Nashville office this Friday requesting his support. FAIR's
National Field Director Susan Tully will be there, as will Minutemen
co-founder Chris Simcox and Tennessee Volunteer Minutemen founder Karl "Two
Feathers" Whitaker. Our objective is to light a candle of hope for
American workers and to make Sen. Frist understand that snuffing that flame
of hope would be a tragic mistake.
If you can make this vigil, please contact FAIR's National Field Director
Susan Tully at tullys@fairus.org right away.
Vigil Details:
What: Save the American Worker Candlelight Vigil
When: Friday, Jan. 27, beginning at 5:30PM
Where: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's (R-TN) Nashville Office
28 White Bridge Road
Nashville, TN 37205
11. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0601220364jan22,0,1386363.story?coll=chi-newsopinionperspective-hed
HURRICANE KATRINA: THE STORM AND THE METAPHOR
Shelter anyone?
We're not prepared for an economic hurricane either
By Alan Tonelson, a research fellow at the U.S. Business and Industry
Council Educational Foundation and the author of "The Race to the Bottom"
January 22, 2006
AS ITS BROKEN LEVEES AND drowned pumping systems made so painfully clear,
if the Big One was widely predicted in New Orleans, it was never genuinely
feared. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, disaster preparedness and
prevention are no longer completely academic subjects.
If only such realism could be injected into U.S. policymaking before a
widely predicted economic disaster finally strikes.
Hurricane-force winds of overspending are building storm surges of debt
that tower over the levees and pumps available to American leaders. These
mounting imbalances could wash over the economy and leave America and the
world submerged in a deep, long-term downturn.
This building economic storm has generated at most pro forma
acknowledgments. Even worse, discussing crucial international dimensions of
the looming emergency is usually considered taboo, even though numerous,
ongoing policy mistakes on this front have heightened America's and the
world's vulnerability.
Ironically, these failures were showcased in the most prominent way
possible just before Katrina, when key global economic aristocrats gathered
for an annual gabfest in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Beneath the Tetons, bankers, policy experts, finance whizzes and academic
gurus alternated fly-fishing outings and nature hikes with sweeping
discussions, such as "The Greenspan Era: Lessons for the Future." The
subtext of the discussion: Has the U.S. economy become a bubble inflated by
investors and consumers who have totally forgotten the concept of risk? And
have Alan Greenspan's policies encouraged these excesses?
Upon returning to the real world, however, these folks disregarded any
eloquently voiced concerns. They simply refused to acknowledge that
specific U.S. foreign economic policies are inexorably widening the gap
between the nation's desires and its ability to pay for them responsibly.
America's dangerously weak finances stem partly from the public's ravenous
appetite for material goods and government services, combined with a
bipartisan determination in Washington to feed them. The world's
willingness to keep showering an overstretched America with cheap credit
has been central as well.
Flip side: Inadequate income
However, the flip side of overspending is under-earning, i.e., inadequate
income. And whether the problem is domestic wage stagnation or lagging
exports, a major contributor has been a national trade strategy that tends
to be championed by business and policy elites.
Inflation-adjusted median wages today have fallen back to 1967 levels,
according to Department of Labor statistics. The only way for the typical
American family to maintain its living standards has been to spend down its
savings, double its outstanding household debt since 1992 (after adjusting
for inflation), according to The Wall Street Journal, and often send a
second wage earner into the workforce.
Surely at least some blame belongs with globalization policies that have
resulted in the outsourcing of millions of the nation's best-paying jobs
and job opportunities, and that have directly or indirectly exposed most
other workers to the undertow of the "China price."
Similarly, record U.S. trade deficits cannot reasonably be divorced from 15
years of trade accords that have focused tightly on countries and regions
either too poor or too broke to buy from Americans anything close to what
they sell, or too mercantilist to seek such balance. A prime example is the
new, narrowly approved Central America Free Trade Agreement, which targeted
six economies whose markets combined only barely exceed that of New Haven,
Conn. Even expanded trade with China has locked the U.S. in an embrace with
a country whose production and exports will greatly exceed its consumption
and imports for decades.
The establishment, however, strives to marginalize fundamental criticisms
of these trade policies for two main reasons. First, it fears that
admitting fault with today's trade policies will undercut free markets and
capitalism around the world.
These leaders evidently have forgotten that domestic policy interventions
have been widely accepted throughout the industrialized world for decades.
They saved the essence of capitalism from the Depression and have
buttressed free markets ever since. Moreover, since 1945, the principle of
national interventions in international economic flows has been accepted as
well, though mainly in currency management.
Given the failure of exchange-rate policies to even slow the growth of
today's global imbalances, why should skillful, well-timed interventions in
trade flows designed to restore macroeconomic balance--as opposed to
safeguards restricted to specific industries--be so verboten? They are more
likely to leave capitalism healthier than the prolonged worldwide slump
whose odds the aristocracy itself believes are growing.
The second, and probably more important, reason for clinging to today's
trade policies is political. Change would undermine the highly profitable,
outsourcing-focused business models adopted by the U.S. multinational
companies that dominate U.S. policymaking through their generous
contributions to politicians, think tanks and universities.
The idea has been to produce goods in very low-cost countries but still
sell most of them in high-cost countries--especially the U.S.--where the
vast bulk of the world's purchasing power can still be found.
Recent research from consulting firm McKinsey & Co. shows just how
thoroughly this strategy has turned U.S. multinational companies into
super-importers. So proficient have they become at supplying America from
abroad that the share of the U.S. trade deficit produced by their
operations jumped from single digits in 1995 to more than one-third in
2002. This figure has undoubtedly climbed higher as they have sent ever
more export-oriented investment into the developing world.
Growing agreement that these deficits are unsustainable means that these
business models will ultimately backfire on the multinationals themselves.
Not even these firms will remain profitable if their American customers run
out of credit.
As the trade deficits show, the emerging markets they tout so energetically
won't even begin to substitute. Tragically, the American financial system
creates few incentives for them to look beyond the next quarter, so they
keep on pressing for new, CAFTA-like trade agreements to expand their
outsourcing options and lower their costs--and Americans' earnings
opportunities--still further.
Surcharge on imports?
To avert this economic disaster, the U.S. Business and Industry Council has
drafted an omnibus trade bill that includes a temporary surcharge on
imports until America's trade deficits and resulting debts are brought
under control.
Much of the economic establishment will reflexively vilify such measures as
protectionism. But if the economic elite can offer alternatives that have
not already failed, Americans need to hear them now, so that a genuine
national debate on the emergency can finally begin.
Containing today's likeliest economic disasters is even more important than
preventing or containing natural disasters. An economic hurricane like the
one gathering strength could flatten the world economy, not just local or
regional economies. And unlike imminent natural disasters, economic
disasters are directly strengthened by each new policy mistake and the
excesses it breeds.
As widely observed but clearly not genuinely believed the larger a bubble
becomes, the more destructive its bursting.
The resulting political storm will dwarf the ongoing post-Katrina
finger-pointing because Mother Nature will be completely off the hook.
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