Hightower Lowdown

How many times have you heard the platitude that America's future prosperity depends on high-tech jobs? Be a computer programmer or engineer, we're told, and the American dream is ours.

Yet these are the very jobs our lawmakers sold out from under us in October, when they approved a bill allowing 195,000 enoneers and programmers from India, Russia, and else- where to come and take these positions at a half to a third of the pay that Americans get.

The rationale of the Bill Gateses, Michael Dells, and other high-tech royalty is that they just can't find qualified Americans to do this skilled work so there's a "critical shortage' requiring low-wage foreigners to fill the gap. Horsehockey.

The industry only creates about 150,000 of these jobs a year, while our colleges graduate more than 160,000 qualified high-techers annually. But Bill, Mikey, and the boys don't want to pay the going rate for these skilled Americans-so why not get Congress to more than double the supply with low- wage imported workers and bust the pay scale for everyone?

The new law lets U.S. firms fire their American workers and replace them with cheaper employees from abroad. The insurance giant AIG has already fired its entire programming staff, even requiring the discarded Americans to train their foreign replacements or lose their severance benefits.

The high-tech barons pushing this treason put $22 million into the pockets of the Democrats and Republicans who conspired to pass it.