By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The United States faces a severe worker shortage in the near future, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday in advocating better education for Americans and changes in immigration law to allow in more foreign workers.
Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue, at a news conference outlining business prospects in 2006, said the country is ill-prepared to deal with the impending retirement of 77 million baby boomers.
"We have yet to secure an adequate supply of working taxpayers to run a growing economy and support an explosion of retirees," he said in his organization's report on the state of U.S. business.
Donohue said that working to pass new immigration law that includes a guest worker program will be among the Chamber's top legislative priorities in the new year. He said the Chamber opposed a bill passed by the House in December, which tightens border security and requires employers to verify the legal status of workers but does not address the guest worker issue.
He dismissed as a "crummy argument" criticisms that the business community wants a guest worker program to secure access to cheap labor. "What American companies want is labor, and we are going to be significantly without it," Donohue said.
The Senate is expected to take up the immigration issue next month, and Donohue said his group will be "working to obtain a bill that provides the workers and is in keeping without our legacy as a welcoming nation."
Donohue said the Chamber has traditionally stayed out of school reform at the state and local level, but has changed its thinking in a global environment where China graduates eight times, and India five times, as many engineers as the United States.
He said the Chamber plans to measure and rank the performance of state school systems, with the aim of helping businesses decide where to locate. The Chamber is also working with other business organizations to double the number of math, science and engineering graduates by 2015.
Donohue said that among the business group's other legislative goals this year will be passing legislation to shore up pension plans, finding a solution to the asbestos litigation crisis, promoting health savings accounts and other new approaches to reducing the number of those without health insurance, and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf to environmentally sound oil and gas exploration.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:59 am Posts: 18643 Location: Raleigh, NC Gender: Male
I don't think the immigrants we're talking about are going to be replacing baby boomers in the job market, but I do agree that we're going to have to find the money to support those old folks.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Athletic Supporter wrote:
I don't think the immigrants we're talking about are going to be replacing baby boomers in the job market, but I do agree that we're going to have to find the money to support those old folks.
Well, it'll be a chain of events: Our generation will replace the jobs of the boomers, which opens up more jobs for others. And some of the children of immigrants will hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:59 am Posts: 18643 Location: Raleigh, NC Gender: Male
Green Habit wrote:
Athletic Supporter wrote:
I don't think the immigrants we're talking about are going to be replacing baby boomers in the job market, but I do agree that we're going to have to find the money to support those old folks.
Well, it'll be a chain of events: Our generation will replace the jobs of the boomers, which opens up more jobs for others. And some of the children of immigrants will hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services.
Stupid Bu$h admin lackies and their hispandering...
Have they not wondered WTF is gonna happen when all these guest workers retire? Are they gonna send them back to Mexico? How is the government gonna pay for that? Short sighted morons.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:51 am Posts: 17078 Location: TX
Athletic Supporter wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
Athletic Supporter wrote:
I don't think the immigrants we're talking about are going to be replacing baby boomers in the job market, but I do agree that we're going to have to find the money to support those old folks.
Well, it'll be a chain of events: Our generation will replace the jobs of the boomers, which opens up more jobs for others. And some of the children of immigrants will hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services.
Landscaping?
haha..
I agree with your last sentence Green Habit, though it sounds really bad when you think about it. We hope immigrants will develop intellectually? Maybe that's a hope I will just keep to myself for fear of being beaten to death.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:59 am Posts: 18643 Location: Raleigh, NC Gender: Male
Buffalohed wrote:
I agree with your last sentence Green Habit, though it sounds really bad when you think about it. We hope immigrants will develop intellectually? Maybe that's a hope I will just keep to myself for fear of being beaten to death.
I was kidding with the landscaping comment, but you've got a really strong anti-immigrant stance. Is it immigration in general that you feel should be minimized or just stronger enforcement of the illegal entry? Or?
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:46 pm Posts: 9617 Location: Medford, Oregon Gender: Male
Athletic Supporter wrote:
Serjical Strike wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
And some of the children of immigrants will hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services.
WTF does that mean?
I took it as "succeed in school".
Yeah, me too. As if all 'native' American children do well in school? As the son of an immigrant myself, and a college graduate, I say 'fuck that.' And my brother would agree with me.
Maybe you guys could overgeneralize a little more.
_________________ Deep below the dunes I roved Past the rows, past the rows Beside the acacias freshly in bloom I sent men to their doom
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:59 am Posts: 18643 Location: Raleigh, NC Gender: Male
Serjical Strike wrote:
Athletic Supporter wrote:
Serjical Strike wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
And some of the children of immigrants will hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services.
WTF does that mean?
I took it as "succeed in school".
Yeah, me too. As if all 'native' American children do well in school? As the son of an immigrant myself, and a college graduate, I say 'fuck that.' And my brother would agree with me.
Maybe you guys could overgeneralize a little more.
You could overreact more too. You DID succeed in school, so did your brother. No one is saying they can't or don't succeed.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Gah, I re-wrote that phrase a couple times, and it still got miscontrued.
Let me try again: there are people outside the US who could succeed greatly here if given the opportunity to come here, and they should be afforded that opportunity. Does that make more sense?
EDIT: I see something else that could be miscontrued, so I better fix it now. You do not have to be an intellectual genius to succeed here, either (as many immigrants are showing us right now). I was originally addressing the concern of the article that I was posting in particular.
Last edited by Green Habit on Wed Jan 04, 2006 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
broken_iris wrote:
F**king Robots!!!
Make robots!
Stupid Bu$h admin lackies and their hispandering...
Have they not wondered WTF is gonna happen when all these guest workers retire? Are they gonna send them back to Mexico? How is the government gonna pay for that? Short sighted morons.
How is the gov't going to pay for all the native-born boomers when they retire?
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:59 am Posts: 18643 Location: Raleigh, NC Gender: Male
broken_iris wrote:
Have they not wondered WTF is gonna happen when all these guest workers retire? Are they gonna send them back to Mexico?
That kind of is the nature of "guest worker". You do go back, you're not a resident of the US.
broken_iris wrote:
How is the government gonna pay for that? Short sighted morons.
Who said the gov't is paying for the transportation and/or retirement of guest workers? I can get a working visa for New Zealand, but I've got to get my own ass there and they're not supporting me in retirement.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:46 pm Posts: 9617 Location: Medford, Oregon Gender: Male
Athletic Supporter wrote:
Serjical Strike wrote:
Athletic Supporter wrote:
Serjical Strike wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
And some of the children of immigrants will hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services.
WTF does that mean?
I took it as "succeed in school".
Yeah, me too. As if all 'native' American children do well in school? As the son of an immigrant myself, and a college graduate, I say 'fuck that.' And my brother would agree with me.
Maybe you guys could overgeneralize a little more.
You could overreact more too. You DID succeed in school, so did your brother. No one is saying they can't or don't succeed.
Saying that they can "hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services" sounds pretty demeaning to an entire group of people to me. Even Nick admitted it was poorly worded.
And why don't you guys just say "Mexicans" instead of "immigrants." That's clearly who the discussion is about.
_________________ Deep below the dunes I roved Past the rows, past the rows Beside the acacias freshly in bloom I sent men to their doom
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Serjical Strike wrote:
Saying that they can "hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services" sounds pretty demeaning to an entire group of people to me. Even Nick admitted it was poorly worded.
But, I really hope you did take it as a miswording earlier.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:38 am Posts: 5575 Location: Sydney, NSW
"South Park Canadian accent:
You are a racist! I resent that!
_________________
Jammer91 wrote:
If Soundgarden is perfectly fine with playing together with Tad Doyle on vocals, why the fuck is he wasting his life promoting the single worst album of all time? Holy shit, he has to be the stupidest motherfucker on earth.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:46 pm Posts: 9617 Location: Medford, Oregon Gender: Male
Green Habit wrote:
Serjical Strike wrote:
Saying that they can "hopefully develop intellectually and provide some critical services" sounds pretty demeaning to an entire group of people to me. Even Nick admitted it was poorly worded.
But, I really hope you did take it as a miswording earlier.
Yeah, I know you better than that Nick.
As for that avatar though...
_________________ Deep below the dunes I roved Past the rows, past the rows Beside the acacias freshly in bloom I sent men to their doom
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