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Hilarity Abounds As Reality Bites, Aaaarrrrggghhh (With a Ggggrrrrr for Emphasis)

Schumer’s Second Thoughts (Or: This Is Why Reading Legislation Before Voting Is a Good Idea), Kathryn Jean Lopez for The Corner blog at the National Review:

a href=”http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090218/INS/902179963/1006″>From Crain’s:

Sen. Schumer has pledged to undo a provision included in the stimulus package that will make it nearly impossible for New York’s banks to hire foreign workers through the H-1B visa program.

The amendment to the stimulus bill, proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Chuck Grassley, D-Iowa, originally would have banned the visas for any company that received money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. A compromise lifted the ban, but companies will still be required to hire from the growing pool of laid-off American workers first. Advocates say that the mandate is so onerous that it will virtually stop banks from bringing foreign workers into the country.

According to a report released last year by the Partnership for New York City, roughly 13,000 workers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are here on H-1B visas. The top visa sponsors in the area are the very same banks that have received TARP money. Those banks also have significant overseas operations, says Kathy Wylde, and this provision will hurt most when the economy turns around and the banks look to hire talent to tap new markets. …

Don’t put the hankie away just yet.

“When they require someone with a language or other skill who they feel is the best person for the job, if they can’t bring them to New York, they will move the function,” says Wylde. “That’s what’s happened in the past when we’ve had a shortage of the H-1B visas.”

Since the bill was signed with the provision included, Schumer will need to undo it in another bill, which could be tough sledding.

“This is a counterproductive amendment that could hurt New York’s economy, and we are going to work hard to change it,” Schumer says.

FROM: “Schumer’s Second Thoughts (Or: This Is Why Reading Legislation Before Voting Is a Good Idea)

  • lark

    I think when the reality of the corruption of meaning bites the American public with regards to the way mortgages defaulters, potential or not, will be compensated and compensate those dealing the largess of the remedial system, the entire nation is going to hit the dust. I think President Obama and his Treasury Department has given Americans the biggest most onerous slap in the face that anyone in history has given us. If we survive it, the slap in the face that has been given to us this week, we, all of us, every American will be a hero. But I don’t think we will survive it. We shall see. Good luck my friends. God bless America.

    LARK: When you get dumped in spam, don’t repost the comment repeatedly. Please comment that you were dumped in the spam filter, or send Susan an email. When you comment repeatedly, the spam filter doesn’t learn when we just approve ONE comment. Thanks!

  • lark

    Forget about it.

  • ownaa

    I guess what we need to do now is to advocate against those who voted for the bill without even reading it. In 2 years there will be an election. Not knowing who you are voting for is just like voting for a bill without reading it. So let’s go to work.

  • elise

    On another post someone said something to the effect he/she would never sign a contract without first reading the fine print. Schumer may or may not be able to undue what has been done, but he is complicit in presenting a bill no one, including the main authors have read in it’s entirety. In 2012, I’ll vote for my husband for president. He said years ago the purpose of big bills was to make sure they weren’t read or understood before they became law and under his administration, each item would be presented separately on no more than one sheet of paper. Of course I realize he has a bit of a temper and is not politically correct in all things, but I still think I will write his name in for president (unless Hillary is on the ballot).

  • wodiej

    If we dont’ have hope, what is the point? Why bother even coming here to discuss what is going on if you think the US is done?

    I sure as hell am not giving my country up to some tattooed punks and bratty kids that never got a spanking from their parents who didn’t teach them right from wrong, without a friggin’ fight.

    I’m sorry, but I am sick to death of all the gloom and doom bullshit. If we give up, you’re right, WE’RE DONE.

  • wodiej

    If these ASSHOLES had read the damn thing to begin with, they wouldn’t have to ask for a change in provisions. The stock market wouldn’t have dropped 300 points.

    And I now I hear of yet another financial scam and the guy is hiding out. What kind of system do we have where someone can get away with this without being caught?? Do we have regulations but no one is watching what is going on??

    On the foreign workers, are they going to be taking jobs that Americans are qualified for? If so, then how in the HELL does that help the American workers get back to work??

  • beebop

    Every single person who is angry about this bill should write to Sherrod Brown of Ohio. He was the 60th vote. Since he was in Ohio due to his mother’s death, he is the most glaring example of someone who voted for something without reading it. He voted to support the machine. No other issue. Write to him. Let him know that you will send $1 to his Republican opponent.

  • Pennsylvania Red

    And they flew him on purpose because NONE of the three weaselly Republicans wanted to be the 60th vote.

    My state’s senator could have stopped the bill. The three republicans could have at least gained some time to review and craft a better bill, to put pressure on pelousyreid to let the House Republicans have input or at least read the damn thing.

    Spineless Snowe, Collins and Specter caved. And the funny part is, Specter did so under the impression that PA is now a liberal state,thus guaranteeing himself re-election.
    He’s got a big surprise coming at primary time.

  • C.S.

    So now the USA has no workers in the banking industry that are educated enough to fill these banking jobs and “replacements” must be imported.

    Why doesn’t Schumer introduce a bill that says banks can bring in 13,000 foreign workers but the country they come from must accept 13,000 of our unemployed workers. That way our workers can “learn” from the more efficient foreign banking system and then we can bring ours back to train other workers and in no time we’ll eliminate the need for importing these gifted foreign workers. Problem solved! (tongue in cheek)

    These legislatures don’t seem to realize that if the grass is greener in other countries it’s probably because we haven’t been watering ours.

  • lark

    These legislatures don’t seem to realize that if the grass is greener in other countries it’s probably because we haven’t been watering ours.

    I think we over-water ours. The banking industry relies on well educated foreign immigrants because nationals cost them a fortune to train and they loose them to thousands of reasons, but mostly insubordination. Through experience they have found that sponsoring these immigrants pay off big time.

  • Sassy

    We have plenty of qualified workers, with the necessary skills for these jobs. These workers are paid a smaller salary than American workers, and their country of origin benefits as well.
    I saw the accounts of many highly educated people from Silicon Valley who trained their replacements before they were dumped!
    We can enjoy all the glitches in this unread bill, if we can get C-Span in the poor house!

  • allimom99

    I actually don’t have a problem with this. The biggest reason these visas are used (in general) is that the imports are paid far less than the norm. the long-term effect of this has been to depress Americans’ wages. When the economy comes back, the restrictions can be revisited.

    Bear in mind that this applies ONLY to companies taking the TARP funds. Don’t like the rules? Don’t take our cash. Maybe if these geniuses had played by the rules in the first place, we wouldn’t have to be paying for their mistakes.

  • Peggy Sue

    Oh, this is too perfect, Susan. And remember Schumer said the “chattering classes” didn’t care about what was in the bill. A little earmark here, a little earmark there. We were all suppose to jump on the runaway train and trust the legislators.

    Second thoughts, indeed!

  • I’m a Linda too

    Surely Senator Schumer isn’t trying to say that this is not supposed to be a “stimulus” bill to jump start the economy and create jobs here as was advised when asking to pass this historical record spending bill.

    Is Senator Schumer actually telling us his special interests pockets who lobby Congress for international workers for lower wages over citizens of their own country and our countries welfare is more important? Bravo for his honesty, even if it is stupid and can actually be considered high crime at, according to them, to most critical in the face of disaster for the worst of times.

  • I’m a Linda too

    No doubt Senator “Chuckles” Schumer believes wanting jobs for our country is “Protectionist Chatter“.

  • I’m a Linda too

    and,

    “The top visa sponsors in the area are the very same banks that have received TARP money. Those banks also have significant overseas operations, says Kathy Wylde, and this provision will hurt most when the economy turns around and the banks look to hire talent to tap new markets. …

    “When they require someone with a language or other skill who they feel is the best person for the job, if they can’t bring them to New York, they will move the function,” says Wylde. “That’s what’s happened in the past when we’ve had a shortage of the H-1B visas.”

    WHAT A CROCK OF SH!T MS. WYLDE. Sell that to some idiot you pull from obama’s email list. THAT IS WHY THE CLAUSE STATES TO FILL IT WITH AMERICAN WORKERS FIRST, then H1B 2nd. There is already protection if the jobs cannot be filled by an American experienced “TALENT” then it can go to an H1B. So your bucket is filled with holes and is leaking koolaid all over the place.

  • http://www.madinthemiddle.blogspot.com churl

    I second that emotion. Times are rough but they are not desperate. Desperate is The Stand or 12 Monkeys or Deep Impact or Red Dawn or Fallout 1,2,3. For God’s sake people, have a spine, have some faith. We won’t survive if everyone lays down and dies.

  • JozefAL

    The only problem with your proposal is that you’re not really solving the actual problem.
    How many times have we heard politician wannabes promise that they’ll be so much better than the do-nothing currently in office only for the wannabe to turn into the very creature he spent the campaign deriding? He dupes the voters with all the promises to do a “better job for” and “keep more in touch with” the constituents but ends up going along with The Leadership (when he’s not voting against The Leadership as a vendetta for some slight, real or imagined).
    As it stands, with the people currently in the House and Senate, there IS a record of accomplishments (or lack thereof), while most of their would-be opponents have little-to-no record on which to stand. The biggest problem is that most people running for office (either in office or hoping to attain the office) rely on 30-second commercial soundbites to get their “message” across with far too much of that “message” being “my opponent is scum and here’s why . . .” rather than any serious argument to support his own candidacy. A newcomer often is forced to rely on such a message because of his own lack of real experience in the political realm and the sad reality is that very little non-political experience offers any insight into the candidate’s future as a Representative/Senator/whatever. Just being the anti-whoever is rarely sufficient, but too many people get suckered into believing it is.

  • jbjd

    And remind him that, the bill he – we – spent so much money shuttling him back and forth to sign, then sat on BO’s ‘desk’ for the next 3 days, planned in advance, so as not to deprive him of another photo-op (and, of course, so that Nancy Pelosi would not miss her plane to visit the Pope).

    Include sympathies for his loss.

  • jbjd

    Yes; this is important information, to grasp the absurdity of the whole picture.

  • TeakWoodKite

    Chuck Grassley, D-Iowa, oops Did he switch parties? or is it the Republicrats now?

  • barb

    Oh, there is always the satisfaction of watching Obama f*ck up. That really is a good incentive for getting up in the morning! I agree that all this moaning and growning is not helping the situation. We all know things are bad financially out there, we don’t need the media beating a dead horse. The media hypes it all to try to make Obama look like a hero.

  • C.S.

    I think our country has too little respect for workers. Workers built this great country and workers of the “greatest generation” helped win WWII. We haven’t changed, our brainpower remains the same and we’re still this country’s biggest economic asset. Our government divested us of our factories, our tech and now any service job they can outsource but it’s the workers “fault” we can’t spend our way out of this crisis?

    Workers have a skill to sell to business and when business no longer “buys” it workers will sell it elsewhere. And when American business is no longer willing to pay workers they have to find another way to survive. When Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers and crippled our airline industry, those air traffic controllers went to other countries who gladly hired them. And when government decided to”forgive and forget” these experienced people were no longer around.

    We’re in that same situation today; workers either relocate or find new ways to survive. It may “pay off” for business, but it certainly isn’t good for the nation. If we American workers cost so much then why do we have so many ex-Pats who say they are better off working in foreign countries.

  • C.S.

    One of the reasons our tech industry is now so far behind Japan and Korea is this “no one available” scam. When unemployment among U. S. engineers was so high in the 2000s, and companies were bringing in engineers under that “no one available” clause they were hiring them at higher salaries than the engineers they laid off; in addition to paying moving costs here and back and guaranteeing passage back to their native country if they lost their job. It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out they cost more than hiring an out of work American. And yes, I knew people in both groups.

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