I just love it when a politician thinks that he knows what is best for a company that isn't his and isn't controlled by the government. Yet, he insists on getting involved anyway. In this case, I am talking about Republican Iowa Senator Charles Grassley. Grassley is upset that Microsoft is going to lay off employees, but some of the employees keeping their jobs will be foreigners. The horror! Grassley says that it is "imperative" that Microsoft give job priority to US citizens over foreigners with H-1B visas. He goes on to say, "Microsoft has a moral obligation to protect ... American workers by putting them first during these difficult economic times."

Nope ... Microsoft has an obligation to protect the interests of its shareholders by retaining the best workers and letting the marginal ones go. Microsoft has a moral obligation to obey the laws of the United States. Microsoft has no moral obligation whatsoever that would require it to sack a good worker and keep a marginal employee just because he's an American citizen.

Are we seeing another hint at how government might want to control business in the American "free market" here? This guy is a Republican?

And just so you know--We should all be in favor of the bonuses paid on Wall Street whether they are $18 Billion or $818 Billion. Changing the rules after the game has been played is just not fair. And we all want to be fair now don't we?

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