Lou Dobbs flubs another one

Date: Thursday, February 02, 2006 2:11 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

February 02, 2006 No. 1407

Lately on the Lou Dobbs show we have seen a gradual trend in favor of
pushing the education button. As the theory goes, we are not educating
enough of our kids in math and science to take the high-tech jobs of
tomorrow. Shows appearing the last several weeks have been beating this
thing like a drum. Perhaps Dobbs is finally succumbing to pressure from the
Chamber of Commerce.

I have yet to see Dobbs put somebody on the show like Norm Matloff that
would dispute this propaganda. There are many others he could get on the
show besides Matloff but so far not a single dissenting opinion. What is
Dobbs afraid of?

I have grown weary of complaining about Dobbs' newfound belief that our
education system isn't producing enough engineers, scientists, and computer
programmers but yesterday's show had me rewinding the tape several times
just to make sure I heard it right. Sadly I did.

One of Lou Dobbs' reporters said the following:

VILES: Software engineering is one of the most
lucrative jobs in America, paying well over
$100,000 a year, and yet American schools
can't prepare enough kids to do it.

I would like to know where Viles is getting his education - from the ITAA
or CompeteAmerika? This is the kind of shortage shouting that we are used
to hearing from Harris "the Shiller" Miller, not one of Dobbs' reporters.
What more proof do we need to show that our schools aren't producing enough
journalists to report the news? Peter Viles should follow Bush's advice and
go back to Community College to update his skills!

Perhaps the ignorance of Peter Viles could be excused if Dobbs would have
questioned him or corrected him. Many times Dobbs questions his reporters
with followup questions, but this time Dobbs just said, "Peter, thank you
very much."

My message to both of them is: Shame on you Lou Dobbs for allowing one of
your reporters to get away with this trash, and shame on Peter Viles for
his efforts to make the Lou Dobbs show palatable to the Fox News crowd.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/31/ldt.01.html

Peter Viles reports from Silicon Valley, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Silicon Valley, signs of
life. New software firms like Cassatt moving into vacant office spaces.

But look closely. Empty cubicles, office spaces so cheap, Cassatt rents way
more space than it needs. And overall, the valley has lost 212,000 jobs
since 2000.

PETE BENNETT, SOFTWARE PROGRAMMER: I run into people that were laid off and
then they lost their position at X wage, and when they went out to get a
new job, they came back in at another company sometimes 30, 40 percent
lower than they did before.

VILES: Economic pressure coming from a surprising source: China.

BILL COLEMAN, CEO, CASSATT CORP.: Basically what surprised me is how fast
China is moving.

VILES: Bill Coleman doesn't feel the pressure yet, not in cutting-edge
software. But he knows it's coming.

COLEMAN: It will take several generations, as a recent study at Stanford
pointed out, to get the level of innovation and the innovation climate to
what -- to a parallel of what's happening here in Silicon Valley, but it
will happen. This is the challenge that America faces.

VILES: Right now that challenge looks more like a row. Last year, China
zoomed past the United States as the world's biggest exporter of
information and communication technology. And head to head, China's been
winning for years.

In information and communication technology, America ran a $14 billion
trade deficit with China in 2002, $24 billion in '03, $39 billion in '04,
and nearly $46 billion in the first 11 months of last year.

ALAN TONELSON, AUTHOR, "RACE TO THE BOTTOM": China is still very much a
student in technology policy, but it's learning very quickly, in large part
because it's got the world's best teachers, that is to say, U.S.
multinational companies in technology areas. They have been transferring
much of their very best and most militarily relevant technology not only to
Chinese factories, but to Chinese laboratories.

VILES: At a time when foreign competition is increasing, American schools
are failing, failing to produce enough software engineers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, over 53 percent of the engineers that work in
Silicon Valley are foreign-born. They were mostly educated in the U.S.
university education system, but they're foreign-born. That is an
indication of the challenge we have of educating K through 12.

VILES: Software engineering is one of the most lucrative jobs in America,
paying well over $100,000 a year, and yet American schools can't prepare
enough kids to do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VILES: A lot of different ways to measure economic health. But here's a
very basic one, median household income. And in Silicon Valley, Lou, median
household income has declined now for four consecutive years -- Lou.

DOBBS: Peter, thank you very much.

Peter Viles from Silicon Valley.

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