On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:40:40 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:38:43 -0800, jps wrote:

He also doesn't seem to spend much time on the downside of kicking all
these low-wage workers out of the country.

You mean like mowing your own lawn and doing your own laundry?
Anyway, the economy is pretty complicated.
Who knows what the impact of the illegal labor is?
I suspect that citizens or legal immigrants would have picked up much
of the slack.
Saw a news article a couple months ago about anglos working picking
fruit. Colorado I think. It's the economy.....

This might shed some light on it.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/dis...igrants-fired/

Some interesting facts here, though just part of the picture.
Seems a Wall Street Fortune 1000 firm hired the illegals.
Seems the SEIU represented them.
Seems like Obama is going after the employers.
"The Obama administration has shifted away from the dramatic workplace
raids that were a hallmark of the Bush administration's enforcement
strategy. Under President Obama, the Department of Homeland Security
says it is putting pressure on employers who break the law."
And,
"The Obama administration has been aggressive in removing undocumented
workers. In fiscal year 2009, which ended in September, ICE deported
6,300 people from the region represented by Minnesota, the Dakotas,
Iowa and Nebraska. That's 1,000 more people than during the last year
of the Bush administration."
(Note: You really need monthly figures to confirm that.)

And that stricter enforcement of the law against employers could solve
much of the "problem."
"The tougher immigration enforcement has prompted three of the
janitor's four siblings to return to Mexico, taking their U.S. citizen
children with them."

Dobbs has for years been saying that enforcing the law is the answer.
To the economy,
"As for the upheaval at ABM in the Twin Cities, the 1,200 jobs held by
the janitors have apparently been filled."
Hopefully with citizens who now go off unemployment and food stamps.
Wish the SEIU represented my wife. She's a skilled chef, and I mean
chef, and makes the same 13 bucks an hour as these janitors.
Having seen her work, and janitors work, I can say with confidence her
work is more demanding on both mind and body.
Her work place is also rife with illegals. I'm sure that serves to
keep her wage down and enrich the shareholders of her publicly
traded employer.
"Greed is good!"
This is just one anecdote, and I'm not trying to come to any
conclusions about a complex issue.
A good start is simply enforcing the laws.
Hope the company gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
And that they also fully compensate the illegal employees with the SS
and Medicare taxes they fraudulently extracted from their paychecks.
Likewise the union should compensate the illegals for the portion of
their paid dues meant for retirement benefits.
And that the checks are sent to foreign resident addresses.

--Vic