Lou Dobbs on Bill Gates

Date: Sunday, March 16, 2008 3:44 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1839 -- 3/16/2008 >>>>>

Dobbs had two outstanding reports regarding the Bill Gates trip to Washington
DC. One of the videos is online at CNN. I will post the other on youtube if I
ever straigten out my problem with my ATI video capture driver (arg!), but in
the meantime both transcripts are available.

Dobbs describes the scene at the hearing perfectly as "fawning members of
Congress" that grovel at the feet of Bill Gates.

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Lou Dobbs video report on the Gates visit:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/03/12/ldt.schiavone.h1b.visas.cnn?iref=videosearch

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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/12/ldt.01.html

Aired March 12, 2008 - 19:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE
UPDATED.

DOBBS: On Capitol Hill today, Microsoft's Bill Gates claimed that American
firms need more foreign worker visas even though Indian firms are the largest
users of H1B visas. They do that for domestic outsourcing, you might know. And
Gates even criticized U.S. immigration policy in Congress itself. Gates said
the failure to pass immigration reform has in his words, "forced companies
such as Microsoft to locate jobs outside the United States."

But fawning members of Congress showed little desire to challenge Gates to
hire more American workers. They didn't really want to disturb a genius at
work.

Louise Schiavone has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a town where money talks,
the man "Forbes" magazine ranks as the world's third richest person, arrived
on Capitol Hill to a hero's welcome.

REP. BRIAN BAIRD (D), WASHINGTON: You are on a committee that is so proud of
what you have done and what you're doing for the future.

REP. STEVEN ROTHMAN (D), NEW JERSEY: You a role model for anybody who has done
reasonably well and for the rest of us as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I noticed that you are a billionaire, and I'm not.

SCHIAVONE: With no other witnesses to contest his testimony, Bill Gates told
Congress that Microsoft and companies like his could be even more successful
if the United States would only let more foreign workers in.

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CHAIRMAN: The importance of being able to retain and
hire these top engineers, world top engineers is super important.

SCHIAVONE: Standing in the way, the current annual limit of 65,000 in the H1B
visa program for highly-skilled individuals sought by employers like
Microsoft.

GATES: U.S. companies face a severe short fall of scientists and engineers
with expertise to develop the next generation of breakthroughs.

SCHIAVONE: Representing the rank and file, the Programmers Guild charges
that's not Microsoft's main concern.

KIM BERRY, PROGRAMMERS GUILD: The biggest problem we have with the global
economy isn't our skills, it's our wages. So yes, when we say this is
necessary to increase global competitiveness, it means this is a way of
lowering American wages.

SCHIAVONE: Meanwhile, thousands of H1B visas are going to Indian based
outsourcing companies, like Infosys Technologies, nailing down close to 5,000.
Wipro Technologies with 2,500. Satyam Computer Services with 1,400.
Microsoft received 959 H1Bs last year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHIAVONE: Lou, the net results say critics, a downward pressure on U.S.
wages, fueling a sense of frustration among American workers while American
know how and prosperity is shipped offshore -- Lou.

DOBBS: But unfortunately Bill Gates didn't mention that. And I hope everyone
watching this broadcast watched those congressmen fawning over a billionaire
who is making misstatement after misstatement, clucking like little hens.

It's just amazing to me to watch public servants, elected to represent their
constituents, without a single challenge to the accuracy, the perspective, the
reality of working people in the country.

The man's company brought in 900 and some odd H1B visa workers. Indian
outsourcing companies in this country, for domestic outsourcing, taking the
preponderance of those.

I mean, does Bill Gates really think that everyone in that room is utterly
stupid? Well, we are talking about the U.S. Congress, so I don't want to press
that too far. Louise, that was purely a rhetorical question and I think thank
you very much -- Louise Schiavone from Washington.

The secretary of the Air Force today admitted that this nation's industrial
base is in decay. And incredibly he made the stunning admission while
defending the Air Force decision to award a $35 million contract to EADS, a
European consortium that produces the Airbus.

Christine Romans has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): A standing ovation for the men and women of the Air
Force. But tough questions for Air Force brass, who hired European company
EADS to build 179 aerial refueling tankers. Why would the Air Force spend
$35 billion in taxpayer dollars to a company being sued by the U.S.
government for unfair trade subsidies?

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D), WASHINGTON: We have a contract going to a company that
we do as a country have a case against because of those illegal subsidies.

MICHAEL WYNNE, AIR FORCE SECRETARY: We believe we accurately followed the laws
and arrived at a decision selecting the better of two very qualified
competitors.

ROMANS: The Air Force chose a tanker based on the Airbus A330, much of it to
be built overseas, then assembled in Atlanta. The mid- sized Boeing offering
based on a 757 was rejected. Boeing says 85 percent of its claim would be
American made. Boeing and some lawmakers contend the larger Airbus tanker
would require larger hangars and longer runways.

MARK MCGRAW, BOEING AERIAL TANKER PROGRAM: The fuel used, the repair cost, the
impact on the Air Force's infrastructure -- think hangars now, was much less
on our product. That was going save the Air Force and the U.S taxpayer
billions of dollars.

ROMANS: Northrop Grumman is EADS American partner and says 48,000 American
jobs will be created by the tanker deal and called concerns about outsourcing
hype and misinformation.

PAUL MEYER, NORTHROP GRUMMAN: This will provide a significant boom in the
southeast. We have 230 suppliers, all U.S. based. So we're not sure the hype
of losing 40-plus thousand jobs that don't even exist today in the Boeing
camp, much less on ours.

ROMANS: As for the Air Force, officials again and again said the contract was
awarded legally. But Senator Patty Murray of Washington questioned whether
complicated procurement and trade laws were undermining American economic and
national security. When pressed, the Air Force secretary admitted concern
about the fragile manufacturing base in this country.

MURRAY: I'm asking if you think the current procurement process reflects the
needs of the defense, of our defense?

WYNNE: I think right now I worry about the industrial base of the future. I
think we started industrial base in 1990 and I think our market doesn't
support a large industrial base right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Air Force Secretary Wynne went through a long list of important
military equipment already made by foreign companies. Northrop Grumman says
it's already starting working on this contract, but they expect a stop work
order anytime now, as the Air Force and the Government Accountability Office
process Boeing's formal appeal of this decision. So we haven't heard the last
of it.

DOBBS: We haven't heard the last of it, I certainly hope because to hear the
Air Force secretary sit there and talk about 1990, the industrial base started
decaying and this market can't support a defense manufacturing capability. Is
anyone in that committee saying to that man, you're a complete fool?

ROMANS: There's actually great reverence for him today, Lou, because they
basically acknowledged that the laws and the trade rules are so complicated,
that he's trying to get the best equipment to the men and women on the ground
as quickly as he possibly can and he says he's following the law to the
letter.

DOBBS: He's following the law to the letter, is he? Well let me just if I may
share with you, and with you, just wait there for a second, this from a viewer
in California who wrote in with what I think is a powerful, compelling
suggestion for the United States Air Force tanker deal.

This isn't going to please Northrop Grumman. It's not going to please Boeing
air craft, but it just may please taxpayers. It just might please your sense
of fair play, your sense of innovation, American know how and inventiveness.

A fellow by the name of Ralph Ricks (ph) is an aviation buff and wrote in to
suggest to me that the U.S. Air Force instead of all this, buy used Boeing
767s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s with thousands of hours left on their air
frames and engines and convert them into tankers, which he believes could be
done for a pittance by comparison to the $35 to $40 billion that is at play in
this deal.

And obviously rather than outsourcing American national security and jobs to a
foreign company. I want to say, Ralph, great idea. I hope more Americans will
write into this broadcast to help us try to make sense for the people, the
humble servants who serve us all in elected office in Washington, D.C. because
brother, they need the help. Christine, what about that idea? I mean that just
makes too much sense, doesn't it?

ROMANS: Well maybe they'll take that up in one of the many hearings we're
expecting Lou on this, as we go forward.

DOBBS: For those that hold this Air Force secretary in reverence, I say why
are they not dealing with these issues? We have seen the light helicopters for
the army go to a foreign contractor, the president helicopters go to a foreign
company.

We're watching tanker air craft. Now what is it next, jet fighters, cruise
missiles? I mean, this is disgusting what's going on and I hold - this is just
absurd what he's doing. And for this little club in Washington, sitting there
to say we really think you're a terrific fellow, you're doing just hunky-dory
while thousands of jobs are at risk here.

ROMANS: I heard again and again today, Lou, that global aviation is an
industry that has been outsourced, is an industry where even Boeing gets parts
from all over the world.

DOBBS: Especially Boeing because they're the most successful.

ROMANS: Absolutely and that this is simply the way it is. You get the parts
from a lot of different places, you put it together.

DOBBS: Do you know how dumb this country is getting in terms of its business
elites? They can't imagine a world in which they change direction.
They can't imagine learning from their mistakes.

And this country is facing a country in innovation, because we are off shoring
our production. We are -- as the secretary of the Air Force noted, we are a
country with an industrial base that is utter decline. Hopefully, somebody
will come to their senses in that town. Maybe soon, why don't we hope for it
all.

Christine, thanks -- Christine Romans.

Time now for the poll. The question is: Do you believe the Air Force should
reserve its decision to outsource American jobs and national security and
award the tanker contract to Boeing?

Yes or no, cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results here later
in this broadcast.

And you can tell Congress how outraged you are about this deal, the U.S.
Air Force choosing to ship American jobs and our national security overseas,
go to our newly designed Web site, LouDobbs.com. You'll find links there to
the Web sites of the two biggest opponents of this deal in Congress,
Congressman Todd Tiahrt in the House and Senator Patty Murray in the Senate.

Up next, New York Senator majority leader, Republican Joe Bruno - Governor
Eliot Spitzer's chief Republican rival. Well, more than rival, they were
enemies. Bruno to assume some of the duties of lieutenant governor, but not
the title, when Spitzer steps down. That happens Monday. He joins me here
next. And new efforts to curb Mexican drug cartel violence, violence that has
spilled over to our side of the border. That special report and a great deal
more coming right up.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/13/ldt.01.html

Aired March 13, 2008

DOBBS: Microsoft's Bill Gates is calling on Congress to raise the number of
foreign workers companies can bring in to this country, instead of hiring
American workers. But tonight, at least one leading lawmaker says companies
like Microsoft perhaps should hire American workers first.

Louise Schiavone has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHIAVONE (voice-over): In remarks to a fawning congressional panel --

REP. RALPH HILL (R), TEXAS: Let me tell you, we're really honored by your
presence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree with you on just about every point that you've
made in your testimony.

SCHIAVONE: Microsoft founder and multi-billionaire Bill Gates complained that
U.S. high-tech firms face a global labor disadvantage because the number of
H1B visas for highly-skilled individuals capped at 65,000.

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CHAIRMAN: Computer science is not a game played only in
the United States. It's not like a local competition. It's more like the
Olympics, where at the end of the day, you're going to compete with the best
in the world.

SCHIAVONE: But one professor in the field who studies the issue disagrees.

RON HIRA, AUTHOR: The facts are pretty clear that these aren't sort of the
gold medal winners in the Olympics. You can look at the wages. They get paid
about $50,000 a year. Most of them have no more than a bachelor's degree.

SCHIAVONE: Republican Senator Charles Grassley wants visa reforms requiring
employers search for American workers first, before they scour the globe.

SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: There's got to be a good faith effort by a
corporation to advertise and seek out American workers first. And then and
only then, would they be able to bring in H1B workers.

SCHIAVONE: The latest government figures show nine companies in India secured
almost 20,000 of the 65,000 H1B visa slots. India's commerce minister Kamal
Nath told the "New York Times," the H1B is "the outsourcing visa."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHIAVONE: Well, Microsoft is not alone in its quest for more foreign workers.
The companies joined by Google, Intel and Hewlett Packard. Senator Grassley
says requests are tone deaf to the economy worries of American workers -- Lou.

DOBBS: Yes. And it's pretty much an insult to everyone. Can you imagine
insulting the people sitting there fawning over Bill Gates there because he
thought that those people were stupid enough to listen to his nonsense and
think he was being correct and accurate. I mean that is breathtaking stuff.

SCHIAVONE: Well, he's got a lot of money, Lou, and you can imagine what they
must be thinking as they see him sitting there, thinking campaign
contributions, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, they can farm out a lot
of money to various congressional districts.

DOBBS: If we could just create maybe a little image in their mind of maybe our
working men and women in this country, their families, the future of the
country, the common good, the national interest, little mental pictures like
that. I mean that is really, absolutely disgusting.

But the fact that Bill Gates sits there -- everybody, one congressman saying
that he agrees with almost everything he said. Well, I disagree with nearly
everything he said. Absolutely disagree and he was absolutely wrong.

And as you point out, most of those visas in the top 20 going to Indian
companies in this country for the purpose of domestic outsourcing. I mean what
part of this doesn't Congress get? How can they sit there with a straight face
-- they weren't even a straight face, they were just scrunched up with their
lips smacking for Bill Gates as he just simply distorted reality.

SCHIAVONE: And what's so amazing is that you have the Indian commerce minister
literally calling H1B the outsourcing visa.

DOBBS: The Indian government represented ably by honest and effective people.

Thank you very much, Louise Schiavone from Washington.

Well, time for some of your thoughts.

Raymond in Missouri said: "Lou, I think it's so sad that Bill Gates finds the
people of the United States so stupid that in a population of over 300 million
people, he can't find 1,000 smart people to work for him. The United States
made it possible for him to become the billionaire he is now.
Why is he now kicking us in the face?"

A great question.

And Robert in Colorado: "Hey Lou, I think it's time for Bill Gates and all
those idiots in Congress to remember where they live."

Good idea.

We'll have more of your thoughts her later. Each of you who's e- mailed us
right here receives a copy of my book, "Independents Day: Awakening the
American Spirit."

I'm going to send one to Bill Gates because I like him so much. And a reminder
to watch the LOU DOBBS SHOW and to listen to the LOU DOBBS SHOW, our new
three-hour radio broadcast each afternoon. Go to loudobbs.com to find the
local listings for the LOU DOBBS SHOW on the radio.

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