← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Allen Torx
Thread ID: 13156 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2004-04-13
2004-04-13 08:40 | User Profile
---------------<<<>>>--------------- JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER by Rob Sanchez April 12, 2004 - No. 984 ---------------<<<>>>---------------
A new caucus has just formed in the U.S. Senate called the "Friends of India". They claim that they will operate in the same fashion as the House's "India Caucus", which means that they will pledge to promote and defend unlimited outsourcing to India and to support the expansion of guest-worker visa programs such as H-1B and L-1.
It can't be underestimated how big of a setback this is for American workers. Congressional Caucuses are very powerful in the policy-making process as they promote their special interest agendas. Members of this caucus are bipartisan and that's very bad news because it will make opposing them extremely difficult. American voters have a difficult time thinking in non-partisan terms, so when both parties support this it splits the opposition.
While this is dreadful news for American workers it's celebration time in India. Lalit Mansingh, an Indian ambassador, said he was ecstatic over the news that the Senate created the caucus because he now knows that India's influence on Congress just made a huge leap forward.
Many people have recently said that grass-roots activists are making a lot of progress to curb outsourcing and H-1B. Whatever small gains we have made may be very fleeting because so far not a single incumbent politician in the United States is worried about losing the 2004 election over issues of nonimmigrant guest-worker visas or outsourcing. Politicians are pigging at the cash trough and so far they completely disregard American labor.
Senators that are forming this caucus are thumbing their noses at us because they feel we are powerless to influence politics. Their assessment may be callous but its accurate. So far there is not a single organization that has succeeded in raising the money and enough members to be a factor in the next election so politicians will favor the interests of the cheap labor lobby. My assessment is that it will be at least 2006 before we have a chance of influencing Congress and that's assuming that American workers get off the collective behinds to reverse the rampant job destruction in the USA.
Listed below is a partial list of the caucus members. The two leaders of the caucus, Cornyn and Clinton, are long-time supporters of outsourcing and H-1B. If you recall, Cornyn has proposed a huge new guest-worker program and Hillary brought TATA to Buffalo to "create jobs". Other members of this caucus are some of the most powerful and influential lawmakers in the Senate.
Republicans:
John Cornyn (TX) is the leader of the "Friends of India" Bill Frist (TN) Orrin Hatch (UT) Charles Grassley (IA) Thad Cochran (MS)
Democrats:
Hillary Clinton (NY) is co-chair of the "Friends of India" Thomas Daschle (SD) Paul Sarbanes (MD) Joe Lieberman (CT) Edward M Kennedy (MA)
If the "Friends of India" are anything like the India Caucus we are in for a rough ride. To find out more about the India Caucus, go to my on-site search engine and enter those keywords into the search engine.
india AND caucus [url]http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/SearchSite.htm[/url]
You can also use Google to find stuff outside of ZaZona.
* One more thing I need to discuss *
In a newsletter titled "2004-03-05 Challenge to Senator Hillary Clinton" I asked activists to challenge Hillary's support of TATA. To my knowledge my request was totally ignored. That is very disappointing because I assumed this would galvanize New Yorkers - instead it was met with a yawn of apathy. If you are angry about Hillary's support of this caucus, ask yourself if you have done anything to change her mind. Hillary or any other politician won't do the right thing unless voters can threaten them with defeat on election-day because the money they are getting from the lobbyists is just too great of a temptation. Doing the right thing in politics means grabbing as much money as possible to win elections - it's just that simple.
BY IGNORING THE BEHAVIOR OF THESE POLITICIANS YOU ARE CONDONING IT!
It's still not too late and you can read the newsletter here: [url]http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/JobDestructionNews.htm[/url]
There are two articles below. Both of them are from the Indian media because the so-called "free press" in the United States doesn't seem to think what the Senate does is of interest to the American public - and they are probably right!
[url]http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?msid=593175[/url]
Senators form 'Friends of India' CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2004 08:30:48 PM ]
WASHINGTON: A new bipartisan group called 'Friends of India' has been formed in the US Senate on the lines of the decade-old Congressional Caucus of India and Indian-Americans in the House of Representatives.
About 20 Senators have signed up for the new caucus, the first country-specific body in the Senate. It will be led by Texas Senator John Cornyn and co-chaired by New Yorkââ¬â¢s Hillary Clinton.
Senate Majority Leader and Tennessee Republican Bill Frist and Minority Leader and South Dakota Democrat Thomas Daschle will also be members of the group, Cornyn said at a Capitol Hill Gala Dinner hosted by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) on Tuesday night.
The Senate caucus addresses the long-standing feeling among community activists that while India lobbied effectively on the House side, it lacked punch in the Senate, where lawmakers have often been uncaring or unapprised about Indiaââ¬â¢s concerns. The India Caucus in the House has nearly 150 members.
Indian community activists worked to push for the Senate Caucus at a time when the Bush administration is seen as having gone totally overboard in its support and promotion of the military dictatorship of Pakistan. There is also concern in the community over the unexpected backlash against India over the issue of outsourcing.
At a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, House lawmakers grilled administration officials over granting Pakistan a ''major non-NATO ally'' status despite the ongoing probe into the countryââ¬â¢s involvement in nuclear proliferation.
''Do you think that the designation of Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally should wait until we've made that determination?'' Democrat legislator Gary Ackerman asked sharply.
But US officials, who have been giving an almost daily serial certification of Pakistanââ¬â¢s good behavior on terrorism and proliferation issues in the face of searching questions from many quarters, contended that the granting of the status was based on ''other factors'' - an oblique reference to Islamabadââ¬â¢s help in hunting for al Al Qaeda elements.
However, there is apprehension among Indian activists that their efforts on the Hill will amount to little if the administration itself continues to bat for Pakistan in the manner it has done so far. At the AAPI event, everyone made the right noises even though the Bush administrationââ¬â¢s actions over the past few weeks have frayed Indo-US ties significantly.
Cornyn, who is a freshman senator, said he undertook the job of creating an India Caucus in the US Senate because of the importance of US-India relations and the incredible experiences he had on a recent visit to India. Harking back to the worn out recollection of poor Indo-US ties during the Cold War, Cornyn said ''We have to make up for lost time.''
But Indian officials say privately that while the two countries did make up for lost time in the recent years, Washington had lost the plot yet again.
[url]http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=033104022306[/url]
Washington, Mar. 31 (NNN): For the first time in the history of the American Senate a country-focussed caucus called 'Friends of India' has been formed, it was announced here on Tuesday.
Announcement of the new bipartisan organisation was made Senator John Cornyn, the driving force behind the move and a freshman Republican Senator from Texas who recently visited India.
The New outfit is believed to be similar to the 10-year-old Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans in the US House of Representatives.
It is gathered here that some of the most powerful and influential lawmakers like Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Charles Grassley, head of the Finance Committee, Thad Cochran,chairman of the Appropriations Committee -- all Republicans -- and leading Democrats like Senators Paul Sarbanes, Joe Lieberman, and Edward M Kennedy have all enthusiastically agreed to be part of the 'Friends of India' Caucus.
Cornyn, who was the keynote speaker at the Second Annual Capitol Hill Gala Dinner of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin on Tuesday night following AAPI's two-day legislative conference, disclosed that co-chairing 'Friends of India' in the US Senate would be Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
He further said that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican and Minority Leader Thomas Dachle,South Dakota Democrat had also agreed to become members of the Friends of India group and so had 18 other Senators from both sides of the aisle.
Cornyn disclosed that he "undertook the job of creating an India Caucus in the US Senate, because of the incredible experience I had in India and because of the importance of US-India relations."
The Senator added: "The response has been really outstanding across the political spectrum to the formation of such a Caucus and to me that says a lot to work on the good relationship we have in the Senate toward promoting ties between our two democracies."
Cornyn regretted that it was unfortunate that over the years, and particularly during the Cold War years, despite both the US and India being democracies with so much in common 'did not have good relations', and described it 'as an accident of history', which has to be put right. "We have to make up for lost time," he added.
Indian Ambassador Lalit Mansingh who has been promoting the idea of the Friends of India Caucus in the US Senate among Indian American groups said he was ecstatic over the news.
Present at the AAPI dinner, as Cornyn was announcing the launch, Mansingh said he had been in touch with the Senators and others over forming such a group. He told rediff.com: "I have to commend all the Indian leaders of the Indian American community that finally made this happen."
"Cornyn came back very charged after his trip to India and said 'I want to do something to promote US-India relations' and so we said 'this is something you can do'," the Indian envoy said, adding: "So we were in contact with him."
"Even though he was aware of the formation of such a group I wanted them to say it," Mansingh said. He said there would be a formal launch.
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2004-04-13 12:00 | User Profile
thanks Allen - this IS going to be an issue in the november elections. as a computer programmer, I have witnessed the effects of this and lots of similar issues.
on one hand, i wont be voting for kerry but i will NOT be voting for bush. not simply because of this, but bush has really dropped the ball here and on several other issues as well.
also, since the last few years, ive had mixed feelings about the whole idea of both outsourcing as well as bringing in hundreds of thousands of foriegners, especially during the worst of the recession. - reason being is that on one hand , if i was a company of significant size and was facing all the corporate taxes and social programs, id be looking for an out also. my army of cpa's and lawyers would be looking for any tax loopholes and offshore resources available to be exploited. thats basically what is being done now. on the other hand, as an american, i would have a hard time watching my company hire forigners as opposed to people locally. i would feel a strong obligation to hire people in my own state FIRST and above all others.
2004-04-13 16:04 | User Profile
To put it in plain English,,,,,,, I wonder how much money those Senators were given for doing that.