U.S. Presidential nominees John McCain, Barack Obama on outsourcing, immigration, H1-B visas

In this presidential election year, VentureOutsource.com catches up with Democratic and Republican 2008 U.S. presidential nominees Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and Senator John McCain, (R-Arizona) on outsourcing, immigration, and H1-B visas.

VentureOutsource.com, an authoritative resource for outsourcing and offshoring, presented three identical questions to the leading presidential primary party candidates.

Each candidate's response, for all three questions, is limited to a total word count of 2,500 words.

VentureOutsource.com is committed to accurately post all commentary received from Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain online to better educate readers on topics of great importance to the technology industry.

Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois)
Senator John McCain (R-Arizona)

Update as of close of business October 2, 2008

Senator John McCain
A representative from Senator John McCain's campaign communicated that Senator McCain intends to respond to the three question we presented. However, we've yet to receive responses to our questions for Senator John McCain. Readers can contact Senator John McCain's campaign strategist Steve Schmidt at SSchmidt@McCain08HG.com.

Senator Barack Obama
As for Senator Barack Obama's campaign, while the Illinois senator, and his campaign, did not communicate whether or not Senator Obama has interest in responding to our questions, to our amusement, Senator Obama's campaign did unilaterally decide to add us to their campaign's frequently-emailed campaign messages. Readers can contact Senator Barack Obama's campaign strategist David Plouffe, at DPlouffe@BarackObama.com.

1.) VentureOutsource.com: In the first-half of 2008, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said, before a U.S. Congressional panel, "...many US firms, including Microsoft, have been forced to locate staff in countries that welcome skilled foreign workers to do work that could otherwise have been done in the United States, if it were not for our counterproductive immigration policies." Mr. Gates stated limits on H-1B visas aimed at highly skilled professionals are too low for the rapidly growing U.S. technology sector. What thoughts do you have on reviewing current immigration policy regarding H-1B visas aimed at highly skilled professionals?

Senator McCain:

Senator Obama:

2.) VentureOutsource.com: Please describe one (1) outcome you could see happening to the talent pool for manufacturing in the United States if ‘tougher' U.S. immigration enforcement was in place?

Senator McCain:

Senator Obama:

3.) VentureOutsource.com: U.S. Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, Tom Donohue, in a previous VentureOutsource.com interview, said, "Critics of outsourcing often overlook the benefits, such as the creation of jobs by foreign firms that open operations in the United States. No other society in the world has benefited more from the migration of money, people, and jobs than the United States. The fact of the matter is we insource at least $50 billion more in service work than we outsource. The jobs we gain in the U.S. far outnumber the amount of jobs we outsource." What are some of your thoughts regarding Mr. Donohue's comments?

Senator McCain:

Senator Obama:

Read other executive interviews. VentureOutsource.com, June 2008