Saturday, February 4, 2017

Corporate Backlash: Comcast Executives Push Employees To Protest Trump’s Popular Immigration Reform




Corporate Backlash: Comcast Executives Push Employees To Protest Trump’s Popular Immigration Reform
by Neil Munro 2 Feb 2017
NBC’s corporate parent, Comcast, is joining the corporate backlash against President Donald Trump’s popular immigration reform, partly prodded by the company’s Indian-born Chief Technology Officer, Sree Kotay.

The company provided employers at its Philadelphia headquarters time off on Thursday to protest Trump’s popular policy, which is designed to reduce the inflow of costly refugees and to exclude migrants carrying “hostile attitudes.” Company protests were also expected in Washington D.C., New York and California.

Trump’s new policy seeks to exclude people who:

do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law … those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including “honor” killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Trump underlined the pro-American nature of his reform today, saying at the National Prayer Breakfast that;

Our nation has the most generous immigration system in the world. But there are those who would exploit that generosity and undermine the values that we hold so dear. We need security. There are those who would seek to enter our country… to spread violence or oppressing other people based upon their faith.

We will not allow… intolerance to spread in our nation… So in the coming days we will develop a system to make sure those admitted into our country fully embrace our values of religious and personal liberty and that they reject any form of oppression and discrimination. We want people to come into our nation but we want people to love us and love our values. Not hate us and hate our values.

In Philadelphia, the 45-minute protest against the “hostile attitudes” policy was held just after lunch.

The growing campaign by corporations — including Google, Starbucks, Amazon, Lyft and Netflix — against the newly elected president and his immigration reform is shaped by their bottom-line desire to raise the inflow of immigrant consumers and cheap workers.

But the corporate backlash is also boosted by sympathy from many top-level managers — both native-born and immigrant — towards striving migrants, regardless of the migrants’ political or ideological views.

Comcast’s Kotay, for example, arrived in the United States as a child and worked his way to the top of the nation’s high-tech sector, alongside other Indian immigrants who now running Google and Microsoft. In his Twitter account, he describes himself as “comcast. chief technology officer. immigrant.”

Kotay made his political sympathies clear in a message to his employees, in which he appears to describe the elected President as “the enemy,” and also suggests that Trump is similar to now-dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

The screenshot was leaked to a radio station, New Jersey 101.5.

Kotay’s Twitter feed also shows his personal dislike of Trump’s policies, which may end up reducing the inflow of Indian-born migrants and contract-workers into the United States.

Trump’s policy is designed to exclude “hostile immigrants,” including those who reject the U.S. constitution or who support violence via Islamic holy war or “jihad.” The new policy would also exclude people who endorse “honor killings” of women and girls, which is a widespread problem in India and a growing problem in the United States.

Like many other progressive advocates, Kotay praises immigrants while downplaying the accomplishment of ordinary Americans, who either birthed most of Comcast’s workforce and customers, and also remain the vast majority of Comcast’s employees and customers.

At a Jan. 26 speech to an awards event, Kotay declared, according to his notes, that

It is hard, of course, to be up here and not be mindful of the current environment around us… the rise of Nationalism, and what that says about patriotism…. discussions abound on race and gender, orientation and religion… and of course, on that illusive notion of ‘Privilege’ and how that shapes us (or doesn’t)…

People are often surprised when I tell them about where I grew up — in the middle of nowhere Virginia…  And yes, as an Indian immigrant, I encountered my share of racism — mostly the casual racism of ignorance and exclusion, less so the angry racism of hate and fear… and that was its own privilege. Adversity builds character — and, you know, I pushed back too… my own brand of casual reactionary-ism. But all things said, it was a wonderfully surprisingly supportive place to grow up…

[a] hero of mine, Neil Degrasse Tyson (who I think of as my personal chocolate Jesus :P), recently tweeted: “I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people’s politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true.”

I am also certainly privileged to be an Indian man in the technology industry in the good ol’ US of A….

During the Philadelphia protest, Kotay stood at the front of the crowd of native-born and immigrant workers, wearing glasses pushed back to the top of his head. He also wore a coat with a yellow armband.

Comcast officials downplayed the company’s role in the backlash against Trump’s popular immigration policies, which complement his “Buy American, Hire American” campaign promises.

“We understand that some of our employees are concerned and we respect their desire to express their opinions,” Comcast flack John Demming said in a statement to the radio station.

“Our primary focus is to make sure that all of our employees feel safe in their jobs, including while traveling. We have assured our employees that no one will be asked to travel to a place that would result in them feeling vulnerable in any way.”

Although progressives argue that Trump’s policies promote violence, much actual violence is being directed against Trump’s supporters.

Many companies reduce their labor costs and boost their profits by relying on immigrants and foreign contract-worker labor.

Since 2013, Comcast has tried to hire hundreds of cheaper foreign white-collar professionals workers to take the jobs sought by young, debt-burdened American graduates. Many of those foreign workers come from India, according to the
MyVisaJobs.com website, which displays government provided data. Without the extra inflow, companies would be forced to raise salaries to attract Americans into those professions, so nudging up salaries for all American white-collar workers.

The MyVisaJobs.com site also shows that Comcast is seeking Green Cards for foreign white-collar workers.

Each year, the federal government provides up to 150,000 Green Cards to foreign workers sponsored by U.S. companies, such as Comcast. Of course, each new Green Card worker nudges down the average salary that Americans companies have to pay their domestic employees.

Legal immigration also delivers roughly 1 million new prospective customers each year to companies. Legal and illegal immigrants now comprise one out of seven people living in the United States. But many of the migrants are unskilled, and so many rely on taxpayer-provided welfare payments to fund their living expenses, including Comcast services.

In 2015, Google’s chairman Eric Schmidt bemoaned the slow population growth in the United States, Japan and other countries, asking “how are you over a couple of decades to deal with the fact that one third of your customers are going to go away?”

“Well, one [way] is produce more customers through immigration,” he said at the March 18 event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute.

However, Comcast, like many other companies, has to deal with government on many critical issues. One huge issue for Comcast is the planned merger of AT&T with Time-Warner, which would give AT&T a huge store of media products to help it compete against other companies, such as Comcast. Trump has voiced opposition to the merger, but his deputies have yet to announce a decision.

From 2009 to 2015, Comcast gradually bought the NBC media company.

Comcast
Comcast Corporation was a funder for the Center for American Progress.

Note: Steven J. Spinner was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and the president of strategic partnerships for NBC.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress.
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, Jonathan Soros’s father, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a supporter for the Center for American Progress.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the Brookings Institution (think tank), the International Rescue Committee, and the New America Foundation.
Judith Rodin was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at Catalyst, and is a director at the Comcast Corporation.
Beth E. Mooney is a director at Catalyst, and a director at AT&T Inc.
James W. Cicconi is a senior EVP at AT&T Inc., and was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Ted Gayer is the VP for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and was a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (think tank).
Kevin B. Rollins is a trustee at the American Enterprise Institute (think tank), and was a director at Catalyst.
Clifford S. Asness is a trustee at the American Enterprise Institute (think tank), and a director at the International Rescue Committee.
Tom Brokaw is an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, and was an anchor for the NBC Nightly News.
Jeff Zucker was an executive producer for the NBC Nightly News, and is the president of CNN Worldwide.
CNN Worldwide is a division of CNN.
Ted Turner is the founder of CNN, and was the vice chairman for Time Warner Inc.
Fareed Zakaria GPS is a CNN program.
Fareed Zakaria is the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS, and a director at the New America Foundation.
Jonathan Soros is a director at the New America Foundation, and George Soros’s son.
Eric E. Schmidt is the chairman of the New America Foundation, was a funder for the New America Foundation, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Helene D. Gayle is a director at the New America Foundation, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a director at the ONE Campaign.
Kati Marton is a director at the New America Foundation, and an overseer at the International Rescue Committee.
International Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE Campaign.
Eduardo G. Mestre is a director at the International Rescue Committee, and a director at the Comcast Corporation.
International Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE Campaign.
Michelle Obama was an advocate for the ONE Campaign, and a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.           
Bradford A. Berenson was a partner at Sidley Austin LL, and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (think tank).
Alex J. Mandl was a trustee at the American Enterprise Institute (think tank), and the president & COO for the AT&T Corp.
AT&T Inc. acquired the AT&T Corp.
Beth E. Mooney is a director at AT&T Inc., and a director at Catalyst.
Judith Rodin was a director at Catalyst, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and is a director at the Comcast Corporation.
Comcast Corporation was a funder for the Center for American Progress.
Steven J. Spinner was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and the president of strategic partnerships for NBC.
Laura D'Andrea Tyson was a fellow at the Center for American Progress, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is a director at AT&T Inc., and married to Erik Tarloff.
Erik Tarloff is married to Laura D'Andrea Tyson, and was the writer for “All in the Family”.
All in The Family Theme Song "Those were the Days" (PAST RESEARCH ON “ALL IN THE FAMILY”)
Saturday, January 28, 2017

No comments: