Perhaps, but it may take a while to get the certificates and what-not.

Yes, it can take a while to get certified, but a lot of knowledge in databases is not specific to any particular vendor - i.e. the design is similar, just the implementation details vary. I was just suggesting that if you're not current on VB (or .Net right around the corner) , and with your proclivity to database based solutions, time spent learning these products may be more productive both in the short and long term.

If I bet on MS, then what if MS tanks?

Well, there's always Sybase - MS hasn't managed to totally screw up the language just yet. SQLServer will be around for quite some time, the only question is how far it can scale up. SQLServer is definitely on much more solid footing than VB.

And, Oracle takes longer to "get into".

Programming is all about challenges. If it's not challenging, then it tends towards being boring. Yes Oracle takes longer and has many more subtleties, but it also scales and pays better. Consider it an investment.

Plus, T-SQL/PL-SQL suck as languages.

I agree that they suck - but then I believe that all programming languages suck. I'm of the opinion that writing elegant code is not the payoff for our profession - it's merely a side effect of other goals. Constructing things, having ideas realized, solving problems, that's where the payoff is at. Whether I do it with a sucky language or a beautiful one really doesn't matter in my line of thinking. You do the best with the tools at your disposal.

A better language allows you to deal with stuff at a higher level, but in the end, programming is all about discipline and rigorousness - well at least it should be. :-)

Anyhow, how does that solve the "contractor stigma"?

It doesn't solve it head on. I was expressing the opinion more along the lines of your lament of VB and Java. I personally believe that VB and .Net are carreer dead ends. The profit curve for Java is also no longer logarithmic. I think longetivity is best found in the data and process side of the business. Front ends come and go with the latest bells and whistles. The stability is best found on the database and business process side.