The H1B visa program is used by US companies to employ foreign nationals in specialty areas. Typical H1B occupations of include computer programming, architecture, engineers, doctors and so on. The key here is the US companies based in USA. However recent statistics shows that companies based in India who have outsource offices in USA are also the beneficiaries. According to data from the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration services in 2007 Infosys Technologies (INFY) and Wipro (WIT), both based in Bangalore, top the list of visa beneficiaries in 2007, with 4,559 and 2,567 approved visa petitions. Indian outsourcers accounted for nearly 80% of the visa petitions approved in 2007 for the top 10 participants in the program. Overall, six of the top 10 visa recipients in 2007 are based in India; two others among the top 10, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) and UST Global, are headquartered in the U.S. but have most of their operations in India. The numbers are almost the same for 2006. What is ironic and tragic that even though the H1B visa program is restricted to USA companies, any company with outsourced offices located in USA can also take that opportunity and apply for H1b visa petitions? Which is a gross violations and a big loophole in the system. What is essentially happening is, these big IT companies are also working as a manpower exporters from these countries and supplying low wages employees in the expense of unemployed Americans.
There are thousands of thousands of American’s on unemployed list who has more knowledge, education and experience than these H1B visa holders. There are ways these so called companies use to circumvent the US immigration H1B criteria’s. Such as:
1. The criteria for job descriptions are crafted in such a way that the American citizens are reluctant to apply for those positions. These people already have inside deals with other people with similar job descriptions and they only accept applications from these people.
2. Even when hired, American employees are harassed, put to junk positions and put on work that has no resemblance to their experiences and they are forced to resign without any cry.
3. In most cases, the H1-B program does not require that employers hire a U.S. worker who may want a particular job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from a job in favor of a foreign worker, according to the Department of Labor. In fact, contrary to widely held belief, most employers using the H1-B program do not have to search at all for a U.S. worker willing to fill a job.
Every day more and more of Americans are getting laid off and the burden is falling on the Obama Administration to fix the economic problems that was left by the Bush government. The recent stimulus plan that is circulating in the senate and house floors has some good additions. As it stands now, tax cuts account for about $252 billion of its $885 billion total cost, according to an analysis of the Senate bill released by the Congressional Budget Office on Monday.
The plan also comprises of a tax cut for everyone, Of this, $142 billion would go for Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit for individuals. This credit – up to $500 a year for individuals and $1,000 for two-income couples – would fulfill Obama’s campaign pledge of tax relief for low- and middle-income workers. The full amount would be limited to individuals who make $75,000 or less and couples making $150,000 or less. Other individual income-tax provisions contained in the Senate version of the stimulus package include an increase in the earned income-tax credit, estimated to cost $4.7 billion; a $13 billion education tax credit; the first-time home buyer credit, which would cost at least $2.6 billion; and the $70 billion AMT adjustment.
The stimulus package also includes general business tax breaks that would total more than $35 billion. Small businesses would be able to increase the dollar amount of expenses they could write off from $125,000 to $250,000 for 2009 and 2010, for instance. Businesses would have an increased ability to apply recent losses against past and future tax bills. All these are good news but on the spending side. There are some provisions of tax cuts that will also cost the government around $70 billion. The tax cut and spending can and might do good for the economy but the more pressing and long term needs must be accounted for. As an example and for more selling of our goods we should also think about the followings:
1. Open up the Aircraft market specially Boeing for Iran and China to procure. They have recently shown interest to buy American planes. 2. Bring the soldiers from Iraq home as soon as possible. Bring atleast 50% now and rest next year. We are spending around 20/30 billion dollars each month to support our soldiers and this will free up those money for other areas. 3. Stop issuing H1 visas for atleast 2 years so that the companies can hire more American laid off workers. The H1 visa quotas can be given to the family category, so that American Citizens can bring their relatives fast instead of waiting year after year. Average Americans have to wait at least 2-4 years to be united with their family (siblings) which is ridiculous. 4. Give legalization to millions of illegals who will pour in millions of dollars in American economy. Study shows the last legalization by Reagan increased US economic GDP by atleast couple of percent to as high as 10 percent. 5. Stop economic embargo of Cuba. Cuba can be a closer and eager market for our products. 6. Employ Export Import bank of USA to market American products abroad. There are lots of American products that have eager markets and we just need to market those.
I am sure there are others. But if we can at least try to concentrate on there, I am sure the economy of USA will rebound to a great extend.
Source: http://alapbangladesh.com/blog/2009/02/03/untangling-the-economy-of-usa/
Strange thing happened to me the other day. Right after CITI bank got the bail out fund from the US government, I got a mail from CITI bank raising my credit card rate to 23% + prime, that is almost 28 percent. I am sure they have sent this to a lot of other people. I am also hearing a lot of other banks who got the funds from the governement has also started charging more rates for their credit use. Imagine paying 28 percent interest for your credit card use. I have a great credit history and my credit score is above 650. Then why am I paying such a high rate? Although, I am not using that card anymore. I have to say, thats a crooked way to charge people and scam money out of people in this dire economic terms. So my question to Obama & its coming Administration, why in the hell in that case we are dolling out this public money to Banks? Banks are not helping people, they are encashing those checks and helping themselves and also charging people more money in the name of dire economic troubles. What they are loosing? Nothing, its the people that is the main looser, who are paying more payment for their loans and also propping up these banks with their Tax money. Is that fair?
My frustation is that, we have no where to get support for things like these. Senators are not going to help, because they are getting fat checks from these banks. Then who? Who is going to help us? Any idea? !!!
