Everything in the employment situation for highly skilled workers, school enrollments, visa levels, labor regulations, is political, but especially so for Ph.D s . Politics takes a great deal of time, which scientific types tend to avoid as part of their nature and reason for being scientists and choosing this field of study in the first place. The arguments used in the debate on the H1-B levels in the 1996 immigration bill were almost a carbon copy of those in the 98 bill. Unlike in the 96 bill, where the discussion was over H1-B reduction, the argument in 98 was over massive increases. Arguments that the scientific field is an occupation like any other, with similar problems and employment dynamics, are not easily grasped.
Discussion groups are good, but they are only a small part of the problem.
I know Norman Matloff posted a list of scientific organizations on his mailing list, I ll have to look that up. Any suggestions would be welcome also.