Obama appoints a Secretary of Outsourcing and H-1B
Obama appoints a Secretary of Outsourcing and H-1B
Date: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 7:22 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1973 -- 2/04/2009 >>>>>
President Obama continues to surround himself with champions of free trade and
open borders. Fortunately Tom Daschle was forced to withdraw -- and I say
fortunately because he is a pivotal figure in the H-1B fiasco. I believe
that's one of the reasons that Obama wanted him in the cabinet.
Obama's cabinet and other government appointments are transforming the
executive into a solid block of H-1B advocates who want to expand the program.
Sen. Judd Gregg secretary of commerce is as bad as it gets. Obama might as
well have appointed Bill Gates. Gregg gets a failing grade of F on guest
worker visas from Americans for Better Immigration:
http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=NH&VIPID=519
I wanted to punch him in the face as I watched a 5 minute video of Sen.
Gregg at the Cato website (link below). Among other things he wants to raise
the number of H-1B visas to 150,000.
Greg parrots the industry line on H-1B. One of his favorites is to repeat the
claim by Bill Gates that every H-1B creates 5 jobs for Americans. Ron Hira
asked the right question for Computerworld:
The five-jobs-per-H-1B-worker claim, said Hira, "is so absurd that
Mr. Gregg should be laughed out of the room. This is the kind of
thoughtful leadership that Mr. Obama is bringing us?"
Ron Hira wrote a stinging article for EE Times where he said:
"Obama Administration has been in office just a few weeks now, but
we already know how it will address the offshoring of engineering
jobs. It will promote it.
Be sure to read the last part of Hira's commentary because that's the most
important.
Unfortunately Gregg isn't the only bad appointee. Diana Farrell was appointed
by Obama for the National Economic Council and as deputy economic adviser to
the president. She has worked for the McKinsey Global Institute for a long
time. In 2004 Farrell said:
"People in the US are looking at it as a job issue. They are not
economists and therefore, they don t necessarily see the whole
picture. What's going to happen is that offshoring is actually
going to benefit US businesses even more than India."
Larry Summers and Ron Kirk are two other stinker appointments by Obama.
Summers will lead the president's National Economic Council and Kirk will be
the chairperson. So, Obama is stacking his entire administration with pro H-
1B, pro free trade, and anti-worker dregs from industry and the Clinton and
Bush administrations.
Last night Lou Dobbs had an excellent report on Gregg and it is available at
the CNN site. Ron Hira appeared on Dobbs so he has really been hitting the
road to get the word out.
DOBBS: Well this may be what we're going to see from the Obama
administration. That's a shame, because it's intellectual
dishonesty. It is absolute arrogance to continue to repeat the
policies of the past. Larry Summers, all of these folks very
capable people, that are absolutely part of the Rubin legacy.
It's devastating what's happening here. The millions of people,
working men and women who worked and supported and voted for
Barack Obama for change in the direction of trade policies have
to be extraordinarily disappointed, but fundamentally, if there
is no change on the part of our elected officials, on the top
policy choices, on free trade, on outsourcing, and focusing on
manufacturing, how to incentivize it and how to build our
middle class, rather than destroy it, this administration will
be remembered for something besides change and a disbelief in
the change they brought, but rather the legacy will be further
destruction of this economy, and that is intolerable to all of
us. Bill Tucker, thank you very much.
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http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2009/02/04/tucker.gregg.commerce.cnn
Video: Lou Dobbs and Bill Tucker, Gregg at Commerce
http://www.cato.org/weekly/index.php?vid_id=64
Video of Sen. Gregg
http://americaneconomicalert.org/blogger_home.asp?Prod_ID=37#3148
Secretary of Outsourcing
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10155763-38.html
What Judd Gregg bodes for high tech
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127276
H-1B, offshoring supporters get key Obama Administration posts
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Management/Commerce-Nominee-Favors-H1B-Visa-Expansion/
Commerce Nominee Favors H1-B Visa Expansion
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=DFOR1WWH1LFYGQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=213001145
Opinion by Ron Hira: The Obama administration promotes outsourcing
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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0902/03/ldt.01.html
LOU DOBBS TONIGHT
Daschle Withdraws; Is this Change?; Americans First?; Where is the Stimulus?
Aired February 3, 2009 -
DOBBS: A straightforward response from the White House. It is also a day of
considerable irony, as you suggest, and that he has appointed a man and
Senator Judd Gregg who would have destroyed the Department of Commerce just
13 years ago, but there's also sure to be a great attendant, some concern and
some controversy here over Gregg, because he is also a wild-eyed free trader
at any cost advocate. He also is a great support of CAFTA, of NAFTA and H-1B
visas which is antithetical frankly to the position the president took during
his campaign.
LOTHIAN: Clearly differences between what he believes and what the president
believes. And I think that's why you heard the president say that he -- there
are some big differences between Mr. Gregg and himself. He joked saying that
the first big difference is that he didn't -- he wanted someone else for
president, but it's much deeper than that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Judd Gregg is a
controversial pick to lead the Commerce Department. Groups who believed
President Obama would usher in a new trading policy are bitterly disappointed.
Global Trade Watch responded saying quote, "Senator Gregg as commerce
secretary certainly is not the change we can believe in." The U.S.
Business and Industry Council representing 1,850 small and medium-sized
businesses calls the appointment baffling. ALAN TONELSON, U.S. BUSINESS &
INDUSTRY COUNCIL: He is a free trade purist. Judd Gregg has never, ever met an
outsourcing focus trade agreement that he hasn't loved. He's voted for all of
them enthusiastically.
TUCKER: Our trade deficit through the end of November of last year $630
billion. Other groups are disturbed at Gregg's staunch support of more guest
workers. In 2000 he voted to raise the cap on H-1B visas. Then in
2007 he authored legislation that would have more than doubled the size of the
H-1B visa program to 150,000. Gregg is also a strong proponent of outsourcing
and in the opinion of many worker activists it would be a serious mistake to
ignore his stance on those issues.
RON HIRA, ROCHESTER INST. OF TECHNOLOGY: Commerce plays a very important role
in all of these kinds of issues and is a big voice representing big business
within the administration.
TUCKER: Gregg's trade and outsourcing views appear contrary to statements by
President Obama, but Gregg's appointment is consistent with others made by the
president. Ron Kirk, the trade representative and the president's chief of
staff, Rahm Emanuel, are strong NAFTA supporters as is Larry Summers who leads
the president's National Economic Council and Economic Council member Diana
Farrell is an outspoken proponent of outsourcing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: It would be interesting to learn what President Obama meant this
morning when he introduced Judd Gregg as his commerce secretary nominee by
saying they have disagreements, because, Lou, it would appear that on many,
many issues, in fact, Senator Judd Gregg is in alignment with President Obama
and certainly his administrative picks so far.
DOBBS: Well this may be what we're going to see from the Obama administration.
That's a shame, because it's intellectual dishonesty. It is absolute arrogance
to continue to repeat the policies of the past. Larry Summers, all of these
folks very capable people, that are absolutely part of the Rubin legacy.
It's devastating what's happening here. The millions of people, working men
and women who worked and supported and voted for Barack Obama for change in
the direction of trade policies have to be extraordinarily disappointed, but
fundamentally, if there is no change on the part of our elected officials, on
the top policy choices, on free trade, on outsourcing, and focusing on
manufacturing, how to incentivize it and how to build our middle class, rather
than destroy it, this administration will be remembered for something besides
change and a disbelief in the change they brought, but rather the legacy will
be further destruction of this economy, and that is intolerable to all of us.
Bill Tucker, thank you very much.
Well coming up here next, lobbyist links and tax dodges, is this the change we
were promised? I'll be joined by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Cay
Johnston and how fast will $9 billion and high speed Internet spending create
jobs? Oh you're going to love this, all part of that stimulus stuff.
That's next in "Lou's Line-Item Veto". Check your blood pressure because it
just gets worse and worse, folks.
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http://americaneconomicalert.org/blogger_home.asp?Prod_ID=37#3148
Secretary of Outsourcing
Monday, February 02, 2009
I knew that Senator Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican widely reported
to be President Obama's leading candidate to head the Commerce Department, was
a staunch supporter of outsourcing-focused trade policies.
But until I checked his record, I had no idea how staunch. And for how long!
Gregg began representing the Granite State in the Senate in 1993 -- the year
NAFTA was approved. He began voting with the outsourcers then and he's
continued ever since. Most Favored Nation status for China, WTO membeship for
the People's Republic, the Uruguay Round world trade agreement, fast track,
CAFTA, free trade with sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean Basin, Vietnam, Peru
-- you name it on the outsourcers' agenda, and Gregg has been for it.
To put the icing on cake, he's a major Open Borders proponent, too. The only
significant exceptions to this dismal record have been support for County-of-
Origin labeling for food products, and for economic sanctions against the
brutal military junta in Burma.
Even recognizing that President Obama has not exactly been a full-throated
critic of these trade policies, the gap between his record and views and those
of Gregg's is yawning -- especially on NAFTA and on China.
At the same time, Gregg's nomination would be consistent with Obama's
presidential record of appointing strong supporters of outsourcing-focused
trade policies to key trade-related positions in his administration -- like
U.S. Trade Representative, which will presumably be held by nominee Ron Kirk,
and the White House National Economic Council chair and Chief of Staff post,
filled by Larry Summers and Rahm Emanuel, respectively.
As Mayor of Dallas, Kirk was a backer of NAFTA as well as of breakneck trade
expansion with China --though clearly he didn't eat, drink, and sleep trade
policy. Summers, a Clinton-era Treasury Secretary, has been a primo
globalization cheerleader since Day One. And Emanuel, a key Clinton White
House staffer, was assigned to push NAFTA through Congress whatever phony
promises had to be made and whatever misleading statements had to be issued.
Of course, Obama will remain The Decider of U.S. trade policy's basic
direction. And he's clearly a believer in the strategy of hugging one's
rivals tight. But as a result, many of the biggest battles over trade
policy's heart and soul might be fought inside his administration. At a time
when major changes on this front are urgently needed to get the U.S.
economy back on a healthy growth path, that could become a recipe for
dangerous delay.
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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10155763-38.html
February 3, 2009 12:17 PM PST
What Judd Gregg bodes for high tech
Commerce Secretary-designate Judd Gregg (center) speaks Tuesday at the White
House, accompanied by Vice President Biden and President Obama.
(Credit: White House photo by Pete Souza) Republican senator Judd Gregg on
Tuesday officially became President Obama's nominee for secretary of commerce,
bringing a pro-business and pro-law enforcement record to a cabinet position
with significant influence over the new administration's technology policies.
In remarks at the White House, Obama called the New Hampshire senator "an
outstanding addition to the depth and experience of my economic team, a
trusted voice in my Cabinet, and an able and persuasive ambassador for
industry who makes it known to the world that America is open for business."
A review of Gregg's actions as senator shows that his record on technology
policy is mixed. His skepticism of Internet taxes and support for more H-1B
visas has made him a frequent ally of the tech industry, but he was the first
-- and only -- senator to call for a global ban on secure encryption products
after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The U.S. Department of Commerce oversees the administration's position on
Internet regulation, the patent office, and tech-related standards including
an algorithm used in digital signatures. Commerce's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration calls itself the
"president's principal adviser on telecommunications and information policy
issues." In addition to its traditional involvement with Internet governance,
NTIA is responsible for overseeing the coupon program for digital TV converter
boxes.
Because Commerce oversees regulations relating to the Web posting and export
of encryption code, Gregg's pro-surveillance views are causing a bit of
nervousness in Washington circles. On the Senate floor on September 13, 2001,
while the World Trade Center complex was still smoldering, Gregg
said: "This is something that we need international cooperation on and we need
to have movement on in order to get the information that allows us to
anticipate and prevent what occurred in New York and in Washington."
Gregg said that encryption makers "have as much at risk as we have at risk as
a nation, and they should understand that as a matter of citizenship, they
have an obligation" to include decryption methods for government agents.
Gregg, who previously headed the appropriations subcommittee overseeing the
Justice Department, then told the Associated Press he was writing legislation
"to give our law enforcement community more tools."
That proposal echoed legislation approved by one House of Representatives
committee four years earlier, which would have made it a felony to distribute
or sell encryption products unless they provided police with "immediate access
to plaintext." That would have prohibited the distribution of Web browsers
with built-in SSL encryption, operating systems with disk encryption, and
software using standard Internet protocols including IPsec and SSH.
A month later in October 2001, without explanation, Gregg abandoned the
legislation he was drafting.
"We are hopeful that as Commerce Secretary, Sen. Gregg will not revive the
discredited idea of limiting the use of strong encryption," Greg Nojeim,
senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said on Tuesday.
"Requiring a backdoor in encryption systems to help the government conduct
surveillance would create vulnerabilities that would ultimately make us less,
not more, secure."
A friend of the business community
In other areas and in other ways, though, Washington representatives of the
high tech industry say Gregg is a solid choice.
The Business Software Alliance said the senator "has the potential to be an
outstanding Secretary of Commerce." The Information Technology Industry
Council said: "He has been a strong proponent of opening overseas markets to
U.S. exports, he backed a permanent R&D tax credit and has voted favorably on
litigation reform."
Gregg has been a friend of the business community, receiving a cumulative
score of 88 percent in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's most recent
congressional scorecard. (By comparison, Obama received a 42 percent rating,
and Vice President Joe Biden a mere 35 percent.) On CNET's 2008 scorecard that
rated a broader range of votes including ones relating to gambling and
wiretaps, Gregg received a 50 percent.
He has been a champion of eliminating any limits on H-1B "guest worker"
visas, telling Microsoft's Bill Gates in 2007 that he "agreed 100 percent"
that there should be no limits on them. Gregg acknowledged that his colleagues
would not be inclined to support such a radical proposal; he introduced
legislation last year raising the limit on H-1B "guest worker"
visas from 65,000 to 115,000 and the advanced-degree exemption to 30,000 visas
for the next three years.
Gregg has also suggested making it illegal to sell someone's Social Security
number without their consent, and has consistently supported efforts to
restrict Internet taxes.
The news of Gregg's nomination comes a day after the Senate confirmed Eric
Holder as attorney general. Holder supported laws mandating Internet
traceability, limits on domestic use of encryption, and restrictions on free
speech online; during his confirmation hearing last month he said the
president has inherent wiretapping and surveillance authority that "cannot be
infringed by the legislative branch."
CNET's Stephanie Condon contributed to this report
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http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127276
H-1B, offshoring supporters get key Obama Administration posts
Commerce nominee Judd Gregg believes H-1Bs help create jobs for U.S.
workers
Patrick Thibodeau
February 3, 2009 (Computerworld) WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has
filled some of his top White House posts with people who not only support
expanding the H-1B visa program, but also see offshore outsourcing as a plus
for the U.S. economy. That group includes the president's new pick to run the
Commerce Department, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.).
But another one of Obama's choices, Diana Farrell, may be just as important in
shaping White House policy. The former director of the McKinsey Global
Institute, McKinsey & Co.'s economics research arm, Farrell has been tapped to
serve on the National Economic Council and as deputy economic adviser to the
president.
McKinsey, a management consulting firm, has published research that argues
that offshore outsourcing to low-wage countries brings "substantial benefits"
to the U.S. Its studies and reports have been cited by the tech industry in
support of the H-1B visa program.
Farrell may have the president's ear, but it's Gregg, as Commerce Secretary,
who may well become the White House lead for expanding the cap on H-1B visas,
a position Gregg strongly supported in the Senate. Obama voiced support early
in his campaign for increasing the 85,000-visa cap, which includes 20,000
visas set aside for advanced-degree graduates from U.S. universities. But he
has not addressed the issue in recent months.
In a talk last April at the Cato Institute, a libertarian policy research
group, Gregg pointed to comments by Bill Gates that for every H-1B worker who
comes to the U.S., five jobs are created. Gates, who was still Microsoft's
chairman at the time, had made the comments the month before, during an
appearance before a U.S. House committee.
"It's not like... we are taking jobs from Americans, which is what you hear
from labor unions. We're actually creating jobs by bringing bright people into
this country," Gregg said in a video on the Cato Institute's Web site.
Many in Congress are divided on the H-1B issue, Senate Republicans especially.
For instance, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) believes H-1B workers are being
used to displace Americans.
Gregg acknowledged that there has been some abuse in the H-1B program,
"especially involving Indian-related companies and their basic flooding of the
market in this area and then having people return to India with knowledge that
they gained here." But, he argued, that's an issue "that can be corrected
fairly easily with minor adjustments in the program."
Indian offshore firms are the largest users of H-1B visas and consider it
critical to their delivery model for moving IT functions offshore. It's a
point they have made repeatedly in U.S. Security and Exchange Commission
filings.
Some observers are critical of Obama's appointments. Ron Hira, an assistant
professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and author
of Outsourcing America, said the Gregg and Farrell picks indicate that Obama
"is either ignorant or naive about the real job market for American IT
workers. He is doing his level best, with these appointments, to undermine
American workers and their livelihoods."
The IT job market has been shrinking, and most major IT vendors have announced
layoffs. Among them is Microsoft, which is laying off 5,000 workers.
The idea that five new workers are hired for each H-1B position came from a
report by the National Foundation for American Policy in Arlington, Va.
Released just before Gates' spoke last year, the report analyzed publicly
accessible Web-based help-wanted ads and H-1B use.
The five-jobs-per-H-1B-worker claim, said Hira, "is so absurd that Mr.
Gregg should be laughed out of the room. This is the kind of thoughtful
leadership that Mr. Obama is bringing us?"
Tech industry groups praised Gregg's appointment in statements. TechNet, a
bipartisan political network of tech-centric CEOs, said Gregg "will no doubt
be a strong ambassador for America's workers, businesses and our dynamic
economy."
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http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Management/Commerce-Nominee-Favors-H1B-Visa-Expansion/
Commerce Nominee Favors H1-B Visa Expansion By Roy Mark
2009-02-04
Sen. Gregg Judd would bring a record to the Department of Commerce that
unabashedly endorses an expansion of H1-B workers for the technology industry.
That support, though, doesn't necessarily mean either the U.S.
House or Senate will move to expand the H1-B visa cap.
In Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), President Barack Obama's new nominee to run the
Department of Commerce, the tech industry has found their man when it comes to
expanding the H1-B visa program. The 61-year-old senator is an unabashed fan
of the program.
A favorite of American technology companies, the H-1B program is a temporary
work visa program allowing American companies and universities to employ
foreign guest workers who have the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree in a
job category that is considered by the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services
to be a "specialty occupation." The idea is to help companies hire foreign
guest workers on a temporary basis when there is not a sufficient qualified
American work force to meet those needs.
Gregg co-sponsored the H-1B Visa Program Modernization Act of 2007, which
would have increased the current H1-B visa cap of 65,000 to 150,000. The
unsuccessful effort would have also authorized a 20 percent increase of that
150,000 cap in any fiscal year succeeding a year in which the cap was met.
"One of the main concerns I hear from businesses in New Hampshire and across
the nation is a need for more highly skilled workers and that current law is
stymieing their ability to hire the workers they desperately need," Judd said
when introducing the legislation. "In today's competitive global markets, the
U.S. must be looking for ways to stay ahead and these bills offer effective,
common sense ways to do just that."
Gregg also voted against a bill introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) to
ensure that employers make efforts to recruit American workers before hiring
foreign workers in addition to opposing legislation by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-
Vt.) that would raise the fees from $1,500 to $10,000 for employers who wish
to import H1-B high-skill non-immigrant workers. The increased funds would be
dedicated to scholarships for American high tech students.
"Helping the high tech industry tap into highly skilled talent from around the
world and address well-documented labor shortages not only keeps our economy
strong, but creates U.S. jobs and deters employers from sending work
elsewhere," Judd said.
Gregg's unabashed support of expanding the number of the H1-B workers in the
United States, though, hardly means an increase in the current cap is in the
offing from the 111th Congress. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a frequent
critic of the tech industry's use of the H1-B visa system, has already staked
out ground opposing the expanded use of H1-B visas.
After Microsoft announced it was laying off some 5,000 workers, Grassley
promptly fired off a letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wanting to know if
the company will be retaining H1-B workers rather than similarly qualified
American employees.
"My point is that during a layoff, companies should not be retaining H1-B or
other work visa program employees over qualified American workers,"
Grassley wrote in a Jan. 22 letter to Microsoft. "Our immigration policy is
not intended to harm the American work force. I encourage Microsoft to ensure
that Americans are given priority in job retention. Microsoft has a moral
obligation to protect these American workers by putting them first during
these difficult economic times."
In October, a report issued by the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration
Services found that the H1-B program has more than a 20 percent violation
rate. The fraud identified in the report included jobs not located where
employers claimed, H1-B visa holders not being paid the prevailing wage,
forged documents, fraudulent degrees and "shell businesses." Nevertheless, the
tech industry, led by Microsoft, continues to seek an increase in the H1-B
cap.
Even before the report was issued, Grassley, Durbin and Sanders were seeking
reform of the H1-B visa program. A bill introduced by Grassley and Durbin
would require employers to make a good faith effort to hire American workers
first. Employers would also have to show that the H1-B worker would not
displace an American worker.
The bill would require employers to advertise job openings on a Department of
Labor Web site before submitting an H1-B application. In addition, the bill
would give the Department of Labor a mandate to conduct random audits of any
company that uses the H1-B program and would require annual audits of
companies with more than 100 employees that have 15 percent or more of those
workers on H1-B visas.
"This is about protecting the American worker," Grassley said in a statement
accompanying the bill. "We're closing loopholes that employers have exploited
by requiring them to be more transparent about their hiring, and we're
ensuring more oversight of these visa programs to reduce fraud and abuse. A
little sunshine will go a long way to help the American worker."
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http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=DFOR1WWH1LFYGQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=213001145
Opinion: The Obama administration promotes outsourcing
Ron Hira
(02/04/2009 9:30 AM EST)
We know from a recent EE Times survey that offshoring is the No. 1 career
concern for EEs. The Obama Administration has been in office just a few weeks
now, but we already know how it will address the offshoring of engineering
jobs.
It will promote it.
EE Times, the Wall Street Journal and InformationWeek all recently published
important stories on IBM's layoffs and the company's links to offshoring. IBM
is now using the euphemism, "resourced actioned" to describe layoffs. The most
remarkable aspect of the story was IBM's ability to take the Fifth Amendment
on questions about the geographic distribution of layoffs, and even refusing
to publicly state the number of U.S. workers it has.
Here's what the Journal published on Jan 27: "IBM Chairman Samuel Palmisano
told workers in an e-mail last week that worldwide employment topped 400,000
at the end of 2008, up from 386,000 at the end of 2007. He didn't break out
U.S. employment, and IBM spokesmen declined to do so."
Ron Hira
IBM's unwillingness to publicly disclose its massive offshoring operations is
no surprise, especially as it lobbies Congress and the Obama Administration
for billions in taxpayer handouts as part of the economic stimulus package now
being debated by Congress. What is remarkable is that the company is able to
get away with it in the current job market with this President and this
Congress.
InformationWeek reported on a new initiative by IBM, called Project Match,
which is supposed to connect displaced U.S. workers with job openings in low-
cost countries like India. But the catch here is, of course, that U.S.
workers would be paid Indian salaries. How many U.S. workers can take those
jobs and still hope to retire back in the U.S.? The answer is none.
So, where is President Obama, the politician who campaigned against
outsourcing? The EE Times story that detailed the stealth layoffs and
reactions of IBM workers, appeared on the same day that the President was
chumming around with IBM's CEO Palmisano. Here's what President Obama said
about why he invited to the White House Palmisano and nine other CEOs who are
offshoring jobs:
"They make things, they hire people," the President said of the meeting
participants. "They are on the front lines in seeing the enormous problems in
the economy right now. Their ideas and their concerns have helped to shape our
recovery package in order to get this economy back on track."
Can President Obama really be this naive? Or is it simply that he doesn't
believe offshoring matters?
There is clear evidence that the latter is the case. On the very same day he
was meeting with "CEOs [who] outsource American jobs"--a phrase he repeatedly
and derisively used during his campaign, he named McKinsey's & Co.'s Diana
Farrell to his National Economic Council, the inner circle of economic
advisors in the White House. Farrell has done more to promote outsourcing than
nearly anyone else in America.
Farrell was the lead author of the infamous "Offshoring: Is it a Win-Win
Game?" Now she'll be operating at the highest levels of the Obama
administration. Her phony "study" did more damage than any other in the debate
over offshoring. And her propaganda was used to mislead the American public
about the true impact of offshoring.
Moreover, Farrell's firm made millions of dollars consulting with companies,
advising them to accelerate their offshoring. And she publicly made the rounds
to convince policymakers and the public that offshoring was good for them and
the country. It's also no coincidence that the IBM and Nasscom, the Indian IT
outsourcing industry association, were major McKinsey clients. They benefited
from McKinsey's lobbying as well as its consulting services.
This week (Feb. 3), President Obama nominated Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) to be
the next Commerce Secretary. Gregg is a staunch proponent of outsourcing and
expanding the H-1B visa program, destroying even more job opportunities for
American engineers.
During the campaign, then-Senator Obama pledged to put American workers ahead
of corporate profits. Now we know that this was simply a bad joke. A joke that
all of us, except the CEOs, will pay dearly for in the years ahead.
The larger issue though is why President Obama can get away with these
inexcusable and hypocritical actions? It's really quite simple: American
workers have no real representation in Washington. While unions, like
Alliance@IBM are doing yeoman's work on labor issues, it's simply not enough
because their ranks, and therefore their resources, are too small.
Think about it for a moment: Who represents American engineers' interests in
Washington? Sam Palmisano? Diana Farrell? President Obama? Do you think the
President even raised the issue of offshoring with Palmisano?
Professional societies like IEEE are global institutions and are unwilling to
do what's necessary to lobby on behalf of its U.S. members. I know, I've been
active in IEEE's policy activities for years.
It's time for each individual to do his or her part if real change on jobs is
to be achieved. Our leaders, politicians, university presidents and CEOs have
little or no interest in helping engineers. You must help yourself, and that
means becoming politically active. The offshoring of U.S. jobs isn't a
partisan issue; both Democratic and Republican politicians are actively
working against your career interests.
The first step is to begin communicating with your elected representatives
about your interests and concerns. It's as simple as writing an e-mail.
Then begin to organize and communicate in larger numbers through your local
institutions, whether it is a professional society like IEEE or your place of
worship.
This is not a time to mourn, it's time to take action.
-- Ron Hira is an assistant professor of public policy at Rochester Institute
of Technology and author of "Outsourcing America"
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