“Masters of the Universe” is the title that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) frequently uses to describe the wealthy, entrenched political class that often runs roughshod over American politics. Most recently, the “Masters” have been calling for so-called comprehensive immigration reform, and pushing for the president to bypass Congress and grant executive amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Sessions has been the most vocal opponent of the “Masters,” and one of them has finally had all he can stand.
Late last week, famed venture capitalist and Facebook board member Marc Andreessen took to Twitter to express his frustration with Sessions, calling him an “odious hack” and suggesting that he may be “clinically insane.”
Outright slander from an odious hack. Mark has directly&indirectly created 10s, maybe 100s, of thousands of US jobs. http://t.co/1XlSs519A2
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) September 12, 2014
@Tomstartsthings He is commenting directly on Facebook, which to me seems clinically insane.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) September 12, 2014
Andreessen’s outburst came in response to a recent Sessions op-ed titled “Don’t Give the Masters of the Universe Their Amnesty,” which appeared in National Review.
In the op-ed and on the Senate floor last week, Sessions criticized the White House and Senate Democrats for “surrender(ing) their constituents’ jobs to the open borders lobby,” which is being led by FWD.us, an advocacy group founded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and backed by other tech executives.
In particular, Sessions drilled down on what he views as the hypocrisy of billionaires who push for open borders while living a lifestyle that keeps them walled-off from common people.
“Well, the ‘masters of the universe’ are very fond of open borders as long as these open borders don’t extend to their gated compounds and fenced-off estates,” Sessions quipped, before noting that Zuckerberg recently spent $30 million buying up properties around his home to insulate himself from the common folks living nearby.
RELATED: Sessions: Zuckerberg, billionaires push for open borders while living in ‘fenced-off estates’
Sessions has been extremely critical of tech executives who insist that the the U.S. economy is in desperate need of more skilled workers from overseas to fill jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
The “open borders lobby” has been calling for the expansion of the U.S. H-1B visa program, which allows them hire foreign workers in specialty fields for a period of up to six years. A bill passed by the Senate last year would have increased the number of H-1B visas available each year from 85,000 to 180,000. A provision that would have forced them to consider qualified U.S. workers first was removed from the final bill.
“Rutgers Professor Hal Salzman has documented that the U.S. graduates two STEM workers for every one STEM job opening,” Sessions told Yellowhammer. “There is a surplus of STEM-trained Americans who can’t find employment in their chosen field. Yet the President wants to double the number of temporary guest workers who are allowed to enter the country to take jobs in these fields. These guest workers are brought into the U.S. at lower wages for the specific purpose of filling jobs for which Americans are applying. These are not ‘jobs Americans won’t do’ – these are jobs Americans are trained to do but which President Obama’s policies are denying them.”
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.