I think a plan such as SDAI is suggesting could work within certain parameters. Plenty of governments, both here and abroad, offer all sorts of incentives to business...one more won't hurt. A tax break for businesses that maintain a to-be-determined percentage of their jobs in the US seems reasonable to me.

Government has to be concerned that every well-paying job that moves from here to India takes a chunk of taxable change with it, not to mention the related disposable income that disappears from our economy.

There may be a middleground upon which both parties can meet. Incentives for business to keep jobs in the US may have to be coupled with a willingness on the part of white-collar talent to do more for less...or at least, do as much as they've been doing for less. We may have no choice but to become more competitive. Maybe the captive market, write-your-own-ticket days are over. They certainly are for us web monkeys, and have been for a few years now. The sky fell to be sure, perhaps not far enough to crush us all, but stand up too fast and you'll smack your head on it.

Yeah, I sometimes feel like slashing some executive tires and screaming BOYCOTT!, but in the end we need a solution that doesn't involve putting a gun to anyone's head. As you suggest, SDAI, rather than punishing a company for offshoring, let's instead reward those that decide to keep jobs here. I'd be in favor of substantial rewards if stringent requirements were met. Not just in the knowledge industries, either, but in all areas. Would this lower general revenues for government? Sure, but what the heck do you think offshoring does? At least this way we'd have more Americans working.

I can imagine corporate lawyers vigorously persuing loopholes that would allow offshore personnel to be somehow disqualified for consideration while American staff are included, so the legislation may require some careful and insightful crafting. Needless to say, it'd also require sincerity on the part of the legislators creating it.