Sen. Sessions Challenges Zuckerberg: 'Hire American Workers For A Change'

[Newsjock]

Source: Business Insider

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) had some harsh words for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in a speech he delivered on the Senate floor Wednesday evening that was published in the National Review on Thursday.

... "Mr. Zuckerberg — who has become the top spokesman for expanding the admission of foreign workers — championed the Senate immigration bill for which all of our Democratic colleagues voted," said Sessions. "One of the things the bill did was double the supply of low-wage foreign workers brought into the United States for companies such as Facebook."

Sessions pointed to Zuckerberg's non-profit pro-immigration advocacy group FWD.us as evidence of the Facebook founder's influence on policy. He also noted a Business Insider report from last year describing how Zuckerberg bought four properties surrounding his home for privacy.

... Sessions argued tech industry executives have falsely claimed there is a shortage of the educated workers they need to operate here in the country. He specifically challenged Zuckerberg, who he noted "just turned 30" and "is worth about $30 billion," to hire more American workers.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/senator-challenges-zuckerberg-hire-american-workers-2014-9

[Agschmid]

1. Then Mr. Sessions should do more to see that American students are the best and brightest.

Among other things.

[NYC_SKP]

2. True, but Zuckerberg still needs to hire Americans, we have the skilled workforce.

He just doesn't want to have to pay them what they're worth, I'm guessing.

[Agschmid]

4. I'm going to okay devils advocate for a minute...

But is our labor worth that much if he can just get the labor overseas at a lower rate? It does seem to be a race to the bottom sometimes, huh?

[NYC_SKP]

9. All the more reason to fight for higher minimum wages and unions.

I was never against certain protectionist regulations, too.

Between outsourcing and this imported labor force, and schools that don't prepare kids well, what's a kid to do?

Our economy can't grow forever, we need to stabilize and try to get back to where we were with stable employment, benefits, living wages.

Even if it has to be legislated, but ideally it will be embedded in our culture and our economy.

It would be sound policy if we could adopt it.

[dilby]

6. Zuckerberge should be doing that.

He could easily be investing in getting young people interested in stem and helping to direct college students on getting the most of their education.

[Agschmid]

7. .

Zuckerberg and his wife, both 29, led the way in 2013 by transferring 18 million shares of Facebook stock, worth about $990 million, to a charitable fund administered by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The Mountain View-based foundation, which operates similar funds for a number of wealthy individuals, typically allocates the money according to the donor's instructions or helps find recipients working on issues that are important to the donor.

It was the second such gift from Zuckerberg and Chan. They also transferred 18 million Facebook shares to the foundation in 2012. At the time, that first gift was valued at $500 million, but its value has almost doubled as Facebook's share price has soared over the last year.

Foundation officials, citing donor privacy, have declined to say exactly how the money will be used, although Zuckerberg and Chan have said they want to focus on education and health. In a recent donation, the foundation channeled $5 million from the couple to the Ravenswood Family Health Center, which serves low-income families in East Palo Alto and neighboring cities.

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25107266/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-wife-donor-charity-givers

[Snarkoleptic]

3. Zuckerberg is doing exactly what our current tax and H1B policies incentivize him to do.

Sessions should back tax reform rather than some half-hearted grandstanding.
He's a corporatist of the worst kind, but it sounds to his mouth-breathing base like he's a populist agent of change cuz he lashed out at one of them thar smart n edjucated silicon valley California types.

[Agschmid]

5. Yup.

[brentspeak]

8. Sessions is grandstanding

But it's embarrassing that a grandstanding Republican is saying more on this subject than the Democrats are, especially considering that it's a Democratic president, of all people, who's looking to expand the number of H-1B visas available to foreign workers.

[Iliyah]

10. Sessions is full of sh*t

after the Nov elections, he will go back backing the corporations sending American jobs out of the country, i.e. AT&T tech support from India wherein the tech persons have American names.