May Economics, Politics, Religion, and Healthcare Thread

[Eric]

I'll kick things off:

Tea Party, hypocrites: (totally shocking, I know).

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...t-bankers.html

Tea Party favorites such as Stephen Fincher of Tennessee were swept into Congress on a wave of anger over government-funded bailouts of banks.

Now those incumbents are collecting thousands of dollars for re-election campaigns from the same Wall Street firms whose excesses they criticized. They have taken no significant steps to curb them or prevent future taxpayer-financed rescues.

[carolina_yankee]

Originally Posted by lpereira

Bullshit.
70 years is the wait for a visa for an engineer from southeast Asia. 22 years for a nurse from the Phillipines.
When you hang a prize 20 feet out of anyone's reach you can't complain that they chose not to claim it.

My husband's brother. Masters degree in nanotechnology. Applied 3 times to come here. Applied once to Japan- got a work visa, a company assignment, and a plane ticket in a couple months.

Originally Posted by Deirdre

That is not true. I have watched the graduate nurses get off of their chartered busses that they took from their chartered plane to the exam.
Hundreds of them. So many were coming to get their U.S. license the nursing
boards now allow the GN's to test in the Phillipines.
These are young girls, 21-25 years old. Their mother would have had to apply for them while still in the womb.
I have worked with a lot of Phillipino nurses and getting a green card was not difficult for them. Not at all.
I'm calling this one "pants on fire."

Filipina Nurses See Long Visa Delays Despite Nursing Shortage

Yet, despite the American nursing shortage, so many Filipino health care workers—even those with promised jobs—are caught in an effective freeze on U.S. work visas -- there is a seven year waiting period for admittance to the U.S.

According to Philippine Embassy Labor Attaché Luzviminda Padilla, “There is still a shortage of health care professionals, but whether or not these shortages will be filled by Filipinos, we cannot tell because currently we are experiencing difficulty in obtaining releases of visas for Filipino nurses and other caregivers.”

A bit of a Google search will show that there is a problem with Visa retrogression for nurses from the Philippines. (Due to the nursing shortage in the US, the Philippines is generally a go-to place for nurses due to their US style training and healthcare).

Lpereira, in my reading there was a mention that a Visa has to be available at the time of application and again at the time of adjudication. Does this mean that if someone applies for a Visa, they can then be told at adjudication that it was taken away due to change in quotas or some other reason? That certainly speaks to the Byzantine problems with our immigration system.

In general, most other countries have far more progressive and easier to manage guest-worker programs than we have. Even Bush II tried to introduce guest-worker visas (and I think McCain supported him), but typical xenophobic screaming killed that.

Regarding Sweden, somebody mentioned in the April thread that Canada and Sweden don't have Mexico on their border. Well, I can't speak for Canada (Wendy can), but the reading I did on Sweden does make clear that there is a high immigration into Stockholm. The difference is that the culture and governmental policies are based on quickly integrating immigrants into Swedish society and norms. In other words, they're a bit better at the melting-pot than we are.

Dirk

[OttawaWendy]

Originally Posted by carolina_yankee

Regarding Sweden, somebody mentioned in the April thread that Canada and Sweden don't have Mexico on their border. Well, I can't speak for Canada (Wendy can), but the reading I did on Sweden does make clear that there is a high immigration into Stockholm. The difference is that the culture and governmental policies are based on quickly integrating immigrants into Swedish society and norms. In other words, they're a bit better at the melting-pot than we are.

Dirk

To be fair, Canada does not have the illegal immigration problem you do. We don't have a long border with a refugee seeking country (except when you activate your draft ). We have lots of refugees, but they have to apply somewhere else, and we have lots of immigration.

I don't think this is necessarily something that the US can hang its hat on to justify increased spending. Every country makes decisions that cost money, or has features that cost money (i.e. Canada has a very remote north that costs lots of money to manage/run/govern).

[henrycpa91]

Originally Posted by carolina_yankee

Regarding Sweden, somebody mentioned in the April thread that Canada and Sweden don't have Mexico on their border. Well, I can't speak for Canada (Wendy can), but the reading I did on Sweden does make clear that there is a high immigration into Stockholm. The difference is that the culture and governmental policies are based on quickly integrating immigrants into Swedish society and norms. In other words, they're a bit better at the melting-pot than we are.
Dirk

Dirk, I interpret that differently. The Sweede's work on assimilation into THEIR culture ..in other words, they are expected to start acting Sweedish, not keep their own traditions and language...

[cardaway]

Of course there are many exceptions, but the key to me is that thousands routinely go through a process that allows them entry in to the US legally. And given that, there should be very little excuse to not do so legally.

Anybody that states there isn't a very workable process in the US is the one wading waist deep in it. Just because it doesn't work for everybody, exactly on their time table, doesn't mean it does't work for others each and every day.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by cardaway

Of course there are many excpetions, but the key to me is that thousands routinely go through a process that allows them entry in to the US legally. And given that, there should be very little excuse to not do so legally.

You're just trolling, right?

If there's no enforcement, no penalty, relatively little risk, and tons of money to be made, people are going to break the law.

This applies to fracking companies, banks, the guy stealing the change jar off the Starbucks counter, and people immigrating illegally.

[cardaway]

Originally Posted by Eric

You're just trolling, right?

If there's no enforcement, no penalty, relatively little risk, and tons of money to be made, people are going to break the law.

Don't disagree with any of that. Geez...

[Eric]

Originally Posted by cardaway

Don't disagree with any of that. Geez...

So why do you say "And given that, there should be very little excuse to not do so legally. "

People aren't driven by what's "legal".

[Sir Aaron]

Ok, ok. My point wasn't to get into a debate over immigration policies. My point was that you have to keep in mind immigration differences when you compare governmental systems. Because if they are here (illegal immigrants), and you give a benefit, you'll probably wind up giving it to them too. Or maybe you wont. But either way, you have to account for it.

[Sir Aaron]

Originally Posted by Eric

I'll kick things off:

Tea Party, hypocrites: (totally shocking, I know).

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...t-bankers.html

I know how much you'll love this so I couldn't resist.