130k is indeed too high. To fight the most egregious abusers 100k would have been enough. Not everybody works in Silicon Valley IT, and even there the indian bodyshops offered only Many other industries rely on foreign talent, and many cannot pay 130k, but 100k would be fine IMHO.
Keep in mind, a family of 4 in San Francisco that earns 130k a year (family income) qualifies for direct housing subsidies. Many of these visas will be allocated to SF/valley based companies.
Yeah, most middle class families are two income now, but keep in mind, we're talking about a worker that is supposedly so valuable and in such critical shortage that we need to do an end run around the normal immigration system and empower employers to directly hire someone from overseas. We're talking about someone who can't be found among the 300 million existing US citizens or the 1.2 million new immigrants who come here annually outside of work visa programs.
Seriously, you can't afford to pay that worker $130k a year, in the most expensive city in the United States? Sounds like this position isn't quite as critical, or as hard to fill, as you're claiming.