alt Hacker Newsi think you're mistaken. The H1B cap is 65K. Cap-exempts are capped at 20K. Thus total cap is 85K. No above and beyond of that number.
Speaking about original post US tech industry is 16M people. So 600K+ of H1Bs, suppose they all in tech, is 4%. Blip on a radar.
No, you're wrong too. The 20k is the Master's cap, only applicable to students who did a Master's or above in the US. Cap exempt refers to H1bs granted to US/State employers, who can get H1bs for employees without any cap whatsoever, and at any time of the year.