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  1. #1
    ceelynn's Avatar
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    Outsourcing and Hillary pandering in Silicon Valley

    Along with H-1B and related visas, outsourcing of IT work destroys middle class jobs for Americans.

    We need to be very LOUD about this issue between now and the presidential election, and force the candidates to make public statements about where they stand.

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    http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_6310946

    Outsourcing's challenge

    PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES PRESSURED ON BOTH SIDES OF COMPLICATED LABOR ISSUE
    By Mary Anne Ostrom
    Mercury News
    San Jose Mercury News


    It may not be as big a campaign issue as the war in Iraq or universal health insurance, but outsourcing of U.S. jobs is becoming one of the hottest topics of the 2008 presidential race, with Silicon Valley leaders playing key roles.

    The subject will almost certainly come up today when Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks to a powerful group of alumni of India's most prestigious technology school, the India Institute of Technology, including many whose businesses use or supply outsourcing services.

    Clinton was scheduled to give the speech in person. However, her campaign announced Thursday that she will deliver her remarks via satellite to as many as 4,000 alumni at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

    Outsourcing is a dicey subject that has both Republican and Democratic candidates scrambling for coherent policies that don't anger voters who worry for their jobs, or influential campaign backers - including tech leaders who rely on outsourcing and hiring of foreign workers.

    Underscoring the sensitivity, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., last month had to rush to quell a controversy over a memo released by one of his campaign staffers. The memo, which Obama said he knew nothing about, painted Clinton as too cozy with Indian-American leaders and others, including Cisco Systems, that have large operations in India. Translation: Her backers seek to export U.S. jobs.

    The memo boomeranged, sending Obama to smooth over the feelings of Indian-American leaders, even some of his own backers. They feared the campaign appeared to be scapegoating the Indian-American community, a growing source of votes and campaign dollars.

    Also, just before last month's death of immigration legislation that would have increased the number of highly sought after H-1B visas - designated for educated and skilled workers - came an embarrassing video. Made by a Pittsburgh law firm for would-be visa users and posted on YouTube, it instructed how to skirt the law that requires Americans be given preference in hiring.

    Now, business and labor interests are set to square off over the issue in the presidential arena.

    Differing arguments

    Business leaders argue there is a severe shortage of skilled worker visas required to keep U.S. businesses competitive. On the contrary, labor and U.S. engineer groups claim the system is poised to cost Americans millions of jobs.

    Not surprisingly, the leading Democratic and Republican candidates are treading softly, mostly offering similar prescriptions focusing on helping displaced U.S. workers, ending tax incentives for companies that export work and calling for cleaning up the visa system.

    "It's an especially tough issue for Democrats who have to wear a labor hat and a technology hat,' said Bill Whalen, a GOP political analyst at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

    Adding fuel, a prominent former Clinton administration official warned during a congressional hearing last month of a "politically potent brew." Alan Blinder, a member of President Clinton's original Council of Economic Advisers, told a congressional committee of "many actual and potential job losers clamoring for protection."

    Despite two months of heavy advertising by IIT touting Hillary Clinton's role as keynote speaker today, the senator's office said delivering the remarks in person was "not logistically possible."

    Her Senate spokesman, Philippe Reines, said the decision was not influenced by growing scrutiny of outsourcing and her ties to Indian-Americans, who do aggressive fundraising for her campaign. IIT officials said they understood the "last-minute change" in Clinton's hectic schedule. Among the hosts of the IIT event are leaders of McKinsey and Headstrong, which provides outsourcing consultancy services.

    Outsourcing is "a global trend, and businesses in the U.S. and India benefit from it immensely," said Ashu Garg, a Microsoft vice president of marketing and IIT alum.

    "We believe it needs to continue but at the same time recognize there are social costs in the U.S. and it's worth the debate on how the transition is managed."

    Democratic and Republican presidential contenders have been meeting quietly with people on the other side of the issue, too, including Blinder and boosters of U.S.-based engineers.

    "When push comes to shove, the candidates don't know what to do about it. They don't want to anger the business community in any way," said Ron Hira, author of the 2005 book, "Outsourcing America," and an assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology. "There's not a silver bullet. But part of it is lack of political courage to say what's good for these companies isn't always good for the country. It isn't business bashing."

    But the lesson delivered by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., still smarts among Democrats. During his 2004 presidential bid, Kerry surprised even his own supporters and angered U.S. corporate leaders by labeling those who seek offshore tax benefits as "Benedict Arnolds."

    Today, Democratic candidate John Edwards, who often makes speeches about the threats of globalization to the "have-nots," uses more tempered language.

    Yet, the issue is only poised to get bigger as business and labor interests begin their effort to shape the candidates' agendas. Silicon Valley tech leaders intend to push their case for hiring skilled foreign workers and against protectionist-sounding measures.

    California primary

    "What makes this issue of even more interest to us is you have a California primary that matters and candidates can't just come to raise money," said Robert Hoffman, an Oracle vice president who co-chairs Compete America, an alliance of tech employers seeking pro-business immigration reforms. "One of the questions that our employees and the companies will want to know is what are these candidates going to do to represent our innovative leadership" and preserve competitiveness.

    And labor leaders, often key allies of Democrats at election time, also intend to put on the pressure as the issue grows in voters' minds.

    "You see a much broader swath of jobs going offshore compared to the last presidential election," said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. He said so far he is not satisfied with any of the candidates' discussion of the issue.

    The Republicans are more aligned with business, saying weaker U.S. companies will lead to even more job eliminations.

    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney hired as a campaign adviser a former key George W. Bush White House economist who in 2004 declared outsourcing is "probably a plus" over time.

    "The problem is that there hasn't been any serious discussion by either party's candidates," said the Hoover Institution's Whalen. "The Democrats angrily claim that Republicans don't care about working men and women. The Republicans say the Democrats are just loony protectionists. It makes for good sound bites and doesn't solve the problem."

    Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at mostrom@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-3794.[/url]

  2. #2
    Senior Member Beckyal's Avatar
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    Hillary will be no different that bush on selling america out. Just because she is a democrat doesn't mean that she supports Americans or America. It only means that she believes that she knows better than you and me on how to spend our money.

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