Mr. Bond: Get your head out of the sand

	In response to "Tech economy on the rebound, nano revolution coming" Mark Fenner writes:

Undersecretary of Commerce Phillip Bond's assertion that the loss of low level programming jobs benefits the U.S. economy is absurd. Fifteen years ago our government decided that manufacturing jobs were not important to the United States economy as well. This short sighted decision resulted in the closing of numerous plants, the collapse of pension funds and the loss of thousands of white collar jobs that were required to support these facilities.

When a U.S. company decides to export their low level jobs, it eventually leads to the exportation of professional staff and senior management positions as well. This philosophy is what has fueled the current trend to export professional occupations such as engineering, information technology, and accounting. Consequently, the ill conceived economic policies that make this possible will eventually lead to the elimination of all professional and blue collar jobs in the United States that are not filled by H1B Visa employees. This trend will ultimately lead to the erosion of American technological dominance and our ability to defend ourselves.

Phillip Bond needs to understand that my income level places me in the top five percent of U.S. households, and that repeated job losses and corporate failures have required myself and my peers to constantly look for a new position. It should be further noted that our attempts to stay current in technology are being undermined by U.S. tax dollars set aside to educate a foreign work force that upon completion of their education use their minority status as yet another advantage to gain employment in the United States. This is resulting in the forced obsolescence of middle class America.

To drive this point home Bond needs to understand that I have earned three college degrees, that I have aggressively pursued continuing education, that this is the fourth year in a row that I have lost my job just prior to Christmas, that I have incurred 22 months of downtime in the last five years, that all the technology workers living on my street are currently unemployed, that I know five individuals who have lost their homes and numerous others that have been unemployed for several years.

American families and marriages are being shattered by economic policies that American citizens have no say in. Obsolete employment metrics used by our government further aggravate the problem. The unemployment rate reported by the United States government only accounts for individuals who are collecting unemployment benefits. And, to add insult to injury, the American taxpayer provides H1B employees with unemployment benefits as well.

Regardless of education levels, United States economic policies should provide all able-bodied American's who our willing to work with the opportunity to find gainful employment. These policies should put American's first and protect our competitive position. Unfortunately it seems that current economic policies favor an elite group of Americans who profit from the exploitation of an international work force educated at the expense of middle class America. The typical native American worker is close to financial and spiritual exhaustion. It's time that we take care of our own! Phillip Bond and the United States government need to get their head out of the sand before America hemorrhages internally.

Mark Fenner