FINALLY some action on illegals in US....

[Dr Mordrid]

AND those who hire them!!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/04/20/immigration.raids/index.html

Now if only they keep it up. If they do a big percentage of the 12 million illegals will deport their own sorry arses

Dr. Mordrid

[Wombat]

And then what will happen to our economy? We depend on, and need, these workers.

[gt40]

lets legitimize them, unionize them and pay them $20 an hour.
We'll see how long they can compete in a global market.

[Byock]

I for one, am GLAD! Get rid of them, then maybe then students can find a job...

[mmp121]

And then what will happen to our economy? We depend on, and need, these workers.

Maybe the high schoolers and college students who are of age will finally get off their duff and do something like us older guys use to do 15-20 years ago!

[KvHagedorn]

And then what will happen to our economy? We depend on, and need, these workers.

Bullshit.

We needed a middle class, too.. but now we need those slave-class jobs for our own poor citizens.

[Wombat]

Bullshit.

We needed a middle class, too.. but now we need those slave-class jobs for our own poor citizens.

Whatever. I see plenty of help wanted signs at fast food joints and whatnot. The jobs are available. There truly are jobs Americans won't take.

Besides, if your vegetables suddenly quintupled in price (which is what I'd expect if all the migrant workers were replaced) you'd be up in arms.

[cjolley]

I see plenty of help wanted signs at fast food joints and whatnot. The jobs are available. There truly are jobs Americans won't take.

That is simply gibberish.
I assume that you will admit that if those jobs were offered at $100/hr they would ALL be filled.
So somewhere in-between what they are being offered at and $100/hr is the market price of the job.
That the jobs aren't offered at the market price is entirely* because of the availability of illegal workers who, for several reasons, are willing to take the jobs at a discount.

Nobody knows what the effect would be of forcing those jobs to market price.
But it is at least somewhat likely that the effect would be to rebuild the decimated lower middle class, which would have a huge positive impact on the economy.

*Or, I suppose, that the employers don't really NEED the workers, but will take them if they can get them cheap.

[ND66]

You may or may not agree with me, but this reminds me of Rush Limbaugh or Ross Perot when NAFTA took off, and the words "I hear a big sucking sound coming from the south”, remember that?
I think that the real problem comes from totally different direction.
Some people see it already (different countries) and some refuse to even talk about it (our government).
Did you see this article yet?

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article358568.ece

[Wombat]

That is simply gibberish.
I assume that you will admit that if those jobs were offered at $100/hr they would ALL be filled.
So somewhere in-between what they are being offered at and $100/hr is the market price of the job.

Not in Wal-Mart America. Customers are forcing the prices by shopping at places that leave no room for the extra costs that higher wages would incur.

For example, many restaurants just get by, and do so by keeping kitchen wages low. You can't tell me with a straight face that customers would accept rising meal prices and continue to frequent restaurants at the same level.

If this country believes in a living wage then it should put it into law.

[cjolley]

Even Wal-Mart America is subject to the ruthless law of supply and demand.

Wages are kept low because they CAN be.
There is a huge pool of workers who will accept wages based on the job market in Mexico. That distorts our entire market for jobs from the middle class down.
If they couldn't be kept artificially low they would rise and the market would adjust.

I agree with you about the minimum wage.
The same thing goes with raising the minimum wage, if it were set artificially high then the market would adjust to that.
That would be offset (maybe even more thanoffset) by the rising purchasing power of those employees though, and the market would adjust to that too.

This should be amply clear even to the most obtuse conservative just by looking at the economies of the States with high minimum wages (they are rich) compared to the ones with low MW (they are poor).
If you doubt it ask yourself this question:
Where would I rather start a small business? California or Mississippi?

[Jessterw]

North Carolina

*ahem*

[cjolley]

North Carolina

*ahem*

Hey, my Mom, Stepdad, Sister (one of), and her kids all live in NC.
When are we going?

PS
And while NC matches the feds, MS has no minimum wage at all.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm

PPS
Come to think of it, my nephew just started a small business in NC!

[Jessterw]

Ah my grandparents and other family are from NC, and it just happens to be the place to be for tech industry (at least increasingly so).

[cjolley]

Tempting...