The guest worker on an H1-B visa versus the US national with a STEMdegree: Who wins? Who loses?

For the last several years there has been a massive amount of hand-wringing about how America is falling behind in the race to acquire the skills that the "haves" of the future will hold.  Most notably STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).  If we want to be a country of "have nots", so the theory goes, we can continue on our present course of underachieving in these areas.  But if we want to regain our technological edge, and most importantly, bring down that stubbornly high unemployment rate, we have to put more American students on the STEM track.

The Innovation Squeeze...and Bill Maher's New Rules...

Where is the American innovation engine?   Right now, this great engine of growth reminds me of a sputtering car engine, struggling to turn over when the battery is low in sub-freezing temperatures.

What's worse, we need innovation now, more than ever.  Jobs are scarce, jobs that actually pay the rent or mortgage are even scarcer.   If we want to see the creation of jobs that have some meat and bones on them, we should be doing everything to get that innovation engine chugging along like it used to.  As technology and off-shoring swallows jobs whole into an abyss we count on the innovation engine to create the next generation of jobs.   We need the next internet, the next PC, the next wonder drug, the next something.... that will put people back to work.