Solution: Make any sort of "lock-in" illegal. No fees paid to employment agencies, no penalties for leaving early, no posting bonds, no contractual periods of work. Anything that keeps an H1B locked to a particular employer should be illegal.

Problem: Getting brightest engineers without causing wage suppression

Solution: Leave the cap where it is for now and bid for H1B talent so market forces can work. If the lowest bid is over say, $100K, maybe consider raising the cap.

Engineers are the raw material for tech companies and naturally, they'd like to keep their costs low. This has nothing to due with "keeping America competitive" and everything to do with sharing less of the value created with the engineers who created it in the first place.

But perhaps the biggest advantage is that it would allow us to stop the hiding of profits offshore and using derivatives - literally trillions in profits are being extracted and hidden pre-tax.

I would argue that every country should consider their own citizens first - and only after everyone has gotten to some reasonable standard of living should we consider outsourcing, offshoring, and foreign workers. Ironically, we could do much more for everybody in the world if we first fix the corruption in our own economy.

No. There are already enough limitations on international trade. Trade allows the transference of the creation of products or services to other countries which are more efficient with their own resources. Allowing both parties to focus on what they're good at. Benefitting both parties to the highest degree.

>"But perhaps the biggest advantage is that it would allow us to stop the hiding of profits offshore and using derivatives - literally trillions in profits are being extracted and hidden pre-tax."

They're not 'hidden' if you know about it. The company has a responsibility to their shareholders to use their scarce resources in the most efficient manner, that means moving their money to the area where the government forcibly takes the least.

>"I would argue that every country should consider their own citizens first - and only after everyone has gotten to some reasonable standard of living should we consider outsourcing, offshoring, and foreign workers. Ironically, we could do much more for everybody in the world if we first fix the corruption in our own economy."

Please specifically define "reasonable standard of living". If a country only used the resources which are inside its borders they would not be able to produce a large amount of the goods and services which we currently enjoy, it is not feasible to grow all crops, produce all goods and provide all services within the confines of a countries border.

But let me address the hidden money issue. I worked for one multi-billionaire who set up offshore "parts" manufacturing to act as a middle man supplier to offshore companies. He inflated the costs to the company so that he and the other executives could extract billions.

At another company offshore "services" were set up to do various fake consulting engagements. We are talking billions and billions for the executives.

There were literally mazes of offshore companies through different countries, with many different classes of stock - owned by various groups of executives, bankers, and competitors (as payments for helping kill common competitors or dropping products to create effective monopolies in market segments.)

So maybe you really believe the things you're saying...they are the standard propaganda. But I've been working with the guys who have figured out how to legally hide their money - so I know better.

We're competing for talent in a global market place. Current US policy forces foreign graduates of US universities to return home in most cases.

Canada however; has a smart post-graduate work permit worthy of emulation. Seems like a good place to start H1B Visa reform. > http://www.canadavisa.com/post-graduation-work-permit-progra...