Caymen,
If you don't want us to keep shipping jobs out of this country, or bringing skilled foreign workers into this country, then don't blame those that make the jobs, blame those that should be TAKING the jobs (or should be preparing to take the jobs).
American business, especially small business, has proven that it will pay whatever it takes for a valuable resource. But the key is that there has to be value. Value is defined by a trade-off of cost and function. Lower functioning and capable employees might cost less, but their value is lower. Higher capable workers are more valueable and therefore can and do cost more.
The problem is that our people haven't kept up. Our work ethic is dead, for the most part. There was a time when "work" in this country meant farming. There were lazy farmers, and they didn't have much. Then there were smart, ambitious farmers and they did well. Farm automation made need for farmers dwindle.
Then, the majority of work shifted to manufacturing (factory jobs, construction, etc)..., skilled, manual labor. Again, those willing to work hard did well. Manufacturing jobs aren't as prevalent as they once were, again due to automation, offshoring, etc, and the simple fact that most people aren't willing to do the work at the price most employers are valuing it. Putting tops on bottoms became a commodity that could be done in China, or Korea...that isn't new...it started before you were born. Its fun to claim the problems of late are new and caused by offshoring, but that started a long, long time ago, and the economy of the 40s and 50s wasn't arguably any better than the 80s or 90s...and manufacturing was already dead by then in this country. Most just wouldn't accept it.
So, that leaves the latest form of work. Its called knowledge work. Just like agri and manufacturing before her, the USA led the way, optimized the crap out of the industry, and after perfecting it (okay, not perfect...but damned good), others in this world started doing what we do, cheaper, for no other reason than they can.
We've given up on our leadership in the knowledge working area too quickly. We dominated agri for probably 100 years, manufacturing for 60 to 70, but knowledge work for only 30 or 40. The cycles of our dominance are getting shorter and shorter.
The only savior here for the USA is to recognize that what we do best and exploit that. We are best at being the FIRST and the BEST to do something, and to dominate it on the global scale. So, since it is clear that those "somethings" that we dominate come in periods, and those periods seem to be getting shorter and shorter, it seems to me that we clearly need to focus on EDUCATION and educating our people (our kids) so that they can THINK and can INVENT the "next big thing".
I'm optimistic on one hand. But I am very concerned that so few students are coming out of high school well versed in math, science, and fluent in English, and possessing good soft skills (reading, writing, verbal communication). College assumes entering students have these skills. We aren't delivering...and kids, parents, and 20-somethings don't seem to care and don't seem to understand how other countries are taking over.
TJR