An excellent commentary by Rob Sanchez that I have to run. It’s just too rich.

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JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
by Rob Sanchez
May 01, 2005 No. 1247
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The articles about the lobbying by Bill Gates to have unlimited H-1B visas continue to be published – and with them we get more information about what transpired in thatmeeting at the Library of Congress.

This statement by Bill Gates has me laughing so hard it’s kind of difficult to finish the rest of the newsletter:

He continued: “So, we’ll have Canadians waiting at the border until some bureaucratic thing happens where a few more get opened up. That’s just wounding us in this global competition.”

¿¿¿Canadians??? Bill Gates must actually think that he can fool the press into thinking his H-1Bs are coming from Canada. Probably all American reporters will be fooled because most of them are lapdogs for anything Bill Gates says. The Indian press on the other hand calls Gates their savior because they know that the vast majority of H-1Bs that work at Microsoft are from India.

The Indian internet and media company Sify thinks that the U.S. should integrate our economies. It reads like a manifesto from the Council for Foreign Relations to further the cause of globalism by integrating the economies of nations and by dropping trade barriers.

It is in the natural interest of both the economies to allow this integration of resources and talent. In this day of globalisation, dropping of artificial barriers such as this is essential to allow free flow of trade and talent to benefit both countries while fostering economic development at the same time.

Before examining statements from politicians it’s always helpful to check OpenSecrets.org to learn where the money is coming from. It’s no coincidence that all of the politicians that spoke out in the articles below are on the Microsoft payroll. Their comments indicate that in Washington D.C. money talks louder than logic. Bill Gates got his money’s worth and these politicians stepped up to show their loyalty to”the King”. Reichert’s statement summarizes what these cash contributions are all about when he proudly proclaimed that, “I’m his congressman”.

Listed below is the money received in the year 2004 from Microsoft:

Sen. Patty Murray, (D-Wash.) $145,253

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Ver.) $ 15,400

Rep. Dave Reichert, (R-Wash) $ 5,000

Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) $ 2,500

Sen. Murray

“He [Bill Gates] made a strong impression on me that they need the best-qualified workers they can find,” whether they are trained in the United States or other countries, Murray said.

Sen. Leahy:

“The post-911 effort to cut down on visas, I think that’s a bad mistake, I think we should be increasing them,” Leahy said. “We should be opening our borders more, not closing them. It does not improve the security of the United States by thinking we can become Fortress America and not interact with the rest of the world.”

Rep. Reichert

Freshman Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., said he was just glad to finally meet Gates, one of the richest and most influential executives in the world — and a resident of Reichert’s 8th District.

“I’m his congressman,” Reichert said.

Rep Dreier:

Drier told Gates the H1B visa cap could be increased if demand
was there.

“If the demand is there, why have the regulation at all? It’s almost a question of a centrally controlled economy,” Gates shot back.

Considering the amount of money that Bill Gates is willing and able to throw around Washington D.C., this analysis by Earthtimes seems to befar too optimistic, and incredibly naive:

At the moment though, Gates et al are looking for some ways to get talent into America from other countries, but based on initial reactions in the Congress, this looks a little bit tough even for the Microsoft man.



  1. John Schumann says:

    If you think that one nice thing about the success of Microsoft is all the “Microsoft Millionaires” — employees who were granted stock options, think differently, because you’re not thinking like Mr. Bill.

    Bill Gates, that is. He might be big on slave labor, but now he says that he regrets ever granting stock options to his employees. That’s a nice pat on the back for the folks that made him rich.

    Like a nice Eagle Scout, I’ll post a link to a link to a Reuters story:

    http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/03/technology/microsoft_options.reut/?cnn=yes

  2. Ima Fish says:

    John Schumann, thanks for the link to the article. I love this quote from Gates: “We’re as big a change agent as any corporation ever has been,” he said.

    Oh yeah, Microsoft is HUGE into change!
    http://www.xbetas.com/content/longhorn3663/longhorn1.jpg
    http://www.winsupersite.com/images/reviews/xp_sp2_preview_002.jpg


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