Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, was interviewed on CNN's Piers Morgan show a few days ago. Welch praised the GOP presidential campaign of Tim Pawlenty and took swipes against Sarah Palin.

Jack Welch earned the nickname "Neutron Jack" because his ruthless corporate barbarism towards employees was comparable to a neutron bomb, which in popular folklore is a battlefield nuclear weapon that kills people but leaves inanimate objects like buildings intact (actually the neutron bomb detonates like a small nuclear bomb so it can blow up things). When Welch took the helm of General Electric he increased profits to shareholders by large scale job terminations that were so sweeping in scope that buildings and facilities resembled empty ghost towns.

Neutron Jack was a pioneer in the art of reaping short term profits by the use of outsourcing. What jobs couldn't be outsourced he tried to replace by using employment based green cards and H-1B visas to import wage busting foreigners.

The following statement by Jack Welch during his Piers Morgan interview raises a big red flag, but the most egregious part may go unnoticed without close scrutiny:

Now we have immigration policy that's ridiculous. We throw people out. We educate them and then kick them out. We ought to give them a green card and a big check if they're here for a certain period of time, as an example. Jack Welch interviewed by Piers Morgan, CNN, June 11, 2011.

Too bad Piers Morgan didn't have the wherewithal to ask Welch exactly what he meant when he said that green card recipients should be given a "big check". In case you are wondering, keep reading because I have the answer!

Make no mistake about Neutron Jack's unflinching support for outsourcing and the importation of wage busting foreign nationals. This is right off his web site:

If there is a problem with the U.S. economy right now, it is not the loss of jobs because of outsourcing. It is the shortage of skilled labor because of immigration restrictions. Indeed, if Congress really wanted to make our economy more competitive, it would raise the limits on H-1B visas, making it easier for educated foreigners to work here. Ideally, the whole program could be replaced by a permanent green card system that would draw skilled workers into a more positive, long­ term relationship with the American culture–and ultimately build a better economic future for all of us. Outsourcing is Forever, The Official Website of Jack and Suzy Welch

One must wonder if a portion of Welch's enthusiasm for Pawlenty is because they agree on immigration and outsourcing issues, but it will be difficult to determine that by glancing at Pawlenty's presidential campaign website. Tim Pawlenty's website avoids listing immigration as an issue — a tactic used by many politicians when they know that their constituencies will not like what they hear. In almost all cases politicians avoid the immigration issue when they support open borders and amnesty.

Pawlenty and his fellow Republicans had only superficial things to say about immigration during their presidential debate (see recent GOP debate transcript) so we can only speculate if he has moved away from Neutron Jack's enthusiasm for the H-1B and green card programs.

Pawlenty has a history of support for H-1B and green cards that's going to be difficult to hide as his campaign for president progresses. One of the ugliest bones in his closet is his signature on CompeteAmerica's petition for more H-1B visas and green cards. He, along with 12 other governors signed the petition in order to pressure Congress to increase the caps on H-1B visas and employment based (EB) green cards. The following excerpt from the petition signed by 13 governors:

”While we concentrate on building a highly skilled and competitive workforce … today, we and our nation face a critical shortage of highly skilled professionals in math and science to fill current needs. Until we are able to address this workforce shortage, we must recognize that foreign talent has a role to play in our ability to keep companies located in our state and country; and, therefore, need to ensure the increased availability of temporary H1-B visas, and permanent resident visas (green cards)…

This is a list of the signatories (i.e. traitors):

Chris Gregoire, D-Washington Deval Patrick, D-Massachusetts Jim Doyle, D-Wisconsin Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-California Dave Freudenthal, D-Wyoming Kathleen Sebelius, D-Kansas Mitch Daniels, R-Indiana Eliot Spitzer, D-New York Tim Pawlenty, R-Minnesota Bill Ritter, D-Colorado Janet Napolitano, D-Arizona Jim Gibbons, R-Nevada Rick Perry, R-Texas

Pawlenty's official Governor website for Minnesota was very specific about his support for replacing American workers, but of course the web page has been removed. Fortunately I archived it!

Proposals announced today include a new citizenship tax credit designed to help immigrants with the costs of becoming a U.S. citizen and the creation of a public/private partnership with the Itasca Project to provide quality financial education to immigrants. The Governor also announced proposals to increase the number of visas available to immigrants coming to Minnesota to study or work in high technology, high need areas and a proposal to improve the health and welfare of the legal immigration population already living in our state.

"While we are cracking down on illegal immigration, we still want to encourage legal immigration because we are a country of immigrants," Governor Pawlenty said. "However, immigration should be legal and orderly. These proposals will help immigrants who do it the right way and play by the rules." GOVERNOR PAWLENTY PROPOSES STEPS TO ENCOURAGE LEGAL IMMIGRATION — January 12, 2006, Pawlenty's website for the State of Minnesota

Notice that Pawlenty feels that green card immigrants should be given a gift of cash. Whatever he talked about seems very similar to the one Jack Welch mentioned six years later. So, both Welch and Pawlenty want to give foreign workers a cash award for coming to the U.S. It seems that Pawlenty and Welch feel that further inducements are needed to attract foreigners to work in the U.S. It's fair to assume that CEOs like Jack Welch weren't going to volunteer to cut the check for the green carders so, as usual, he would shove the burden to the taxpayers.

Ironically the hard working Americans who would pay for the fat checks to green carders are the same taxpayers who would face job terminations as CEOs like Jack Welch replace their employees with cheaper foreign labor. Pawlenty claims to be a conservative who will create jobs but doesn't seem to have a problem with corporate socialism to subsidize wage busting and job destruction.