tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967213034479291151.post7797538402953957187..comments2023-05-05T07:26:37.971-07:00Comments on Roadhouse Blog: Roadhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398602327654883509noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967213034479291151.post-8643377313397080322008-05-22T19:35:00.000-07:002008-05-22T19:35:00.000-07:00In my book, I capitalize ILLEGAL everytime it's us...In my book, I capitalize ILLEGAL everytime it's used with ILLEGAL immigration. Now it's become a habit.Roadhousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398602327654883509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967213034479291151.post-50779530345820334612008-05-22T09:31:00.000-07:002008-05-22T09:31:00.000-07:00This phenomena with the word "ILLEGAL" being ignor...This phenomena with the word "ILLEGAL" being ignored, when paired with the word "immigrant" or "immigration", has puzzled me for some time. <BR/>And anyone who believes being <I>against</I> ILLEGAL immigration makes someone a bigot or racist shows their own ignorance of the English language.Dan O.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17861748308004322104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7967213034479291151.post-15635043862721897752008-05-18T11:19:00.000-07:002008-05-18T11:19:00.000-07:00A GREAT and very vital topic. ILLEGAL immigration ...A GREAT and very vital topic. ILLEGAL immigration costs every American appx $19,000 over the course of their lives!<BR/><BR/>I’ve written about it at length;<BR/><BR/><B>“There’s absolutely no question that illegal immigrant labor puts a persistent downward pressure on all wage rates. David Ricardo pointed this out with his "Iron Law of Labor" (published in his 1814 treatise "On Labor") in which he showed that when labor markets are tight, wages go up.</B><BR/><BR/><B>”Likewise, when labor markets are flooded with workers willing to work at the bottom of the pay scale, unskilled and semi-skilled wages overall will decrease to what Ricardo referred to as "subsistence" levels.</B><BR/><BR/><B>”As the supply of any given commodity rises, relative to demand, the cost/price of that commodity goes down. The larger supply of labor provided by illegal immigration increases the supply of the labor pool relative to demand. Illegal immigration reduces wages in 3 ways.</B><BR/><BR/><B>1. Illegal immigrants, being willing to work for lower wages, then their American counterparts, set the wage floor lower than it normally would be.</B><BR/><BR/><B>2. Illegal immigrants increase the labor force size, thus increasing the "supply" of labor relative to demand. Increasing the supply of labor has the same effect as increasing the supply of any consumer good, it reduces the "price" of labor, which means it reduces wages. Illegal immigrants are currently employed in 7 million of America's 143 million jobs. There are a total of 150 million workers considered to be "participating" in our labor force. The subtraction of the 7 million illegal workers would reduce this number to 143 million participating workers. The effect of such a "supply" reduction would be to increase the "price" of labor by basic supply & demand effect. Again, the increase in "price" of labor equates to an increase in wages.</B><BR/><BR/><B>3. As a result of the above 2 wage-suppressing effects, illegal immigration suppresses total aggregate labor income. Labor economist George Borjas puts the annual wage suppression at 4%, or $1700/worker. Multiplying that $1700/worker loss times 143 million workers gives a total loss of $243 billion dollars annually. That reduces potential consumer spending by $243 billion/year. The reduction in consumer spending reduces demand for production, and the demand for workers to provide that production. The result of this reduced demand for labor is a further reduction in wages.</B><BR/><BR/><B>”Any 1 of the above 3 would reduce wages by itself, but the 3 together suppress wages even further. Again, the Borjas estimate of wage suppression from the immigration that occurred between 1980 and 2000 is $1700/worker/year, or 4% per year.</B><BR/><BR/><BR/><B>By the Numbers:</B><BR/><BR/><B>• By increasing the labor supply between 1980 and 2000, immigration reduced the average annual earnings of U.S.-born men by an estimated $1,700, or roughly 4 percent.</B><BR/><BR/><B>• Among those born in the United States who did not graduate from high school -- roughly the poorest one-tenth of the work force -- the estimated impact was even larger, reducing wages by 7.4 percent.</B><BR/><BR/><B>• The negative effect on U.S.-born black and Hispanic workers is significantly larger than on whites, because a much larger share of minorities are in direct competition with immigrants.”</B><BR/><BR/>http://workingclassconservative.blogspot.com/2007/05/illegal-immigrations-impact-on-wage.html<BR/><<BR/><<BR/><<BR/><B>“The bulk of the problem really is "an illegal employer" problem, rather than an "illegal immigration" problem.</B><BR/><BR/><B>“So, in that vein, fining employers is a "win-win!" It's good for the government coffers and good for the American people. OK, it's very bad for a very few Americans who are making illicit profits off human exploitation, but it's to the greater good of the vast majority of Americans.</B><BR/><BR/><B>“Fine an employer $10,000 for hiring an "undocumented worker," and $10,000 for hiring a worker "off-the-books." Those fines must be levied per offense, so if a Slaughterhouse or a Meat Packing plant, for instance, has hired 300 illegals, the total fines will equal $20,000 X 300 workers or $6 Million for that plant. For second offenses, the fines would double and a federal prison sentence should be required of BOTH the plant manager AND the company's CEO at the time the infractions were discovered.</B><BR/><BR/><B>“Yes, those fines and second offense jail terms would have to be applied to small businesses (landscapers) and even homeowners who deliberately use illegal immigrant workers. Under those conditions, the jobs would dry up.</B><BR/><BR/><B>“Once the jobs dried up, the draw would dry up and the illegal immigrants here for work, would then self-deport. The 10-15% or so who are here for nefarious purposes will be caught up in various criminal procedures. We must then draw up some agreements whereby we pay for the incarceration of Americans abroad and those countries pay for their citizens incarcerated here.</B><BR/><BR/><B>“The canard that “cheap labor = cheaper goods and services,” is proven false every day. One such example is the Nike’s Air Jordans saga. Air Jordans were mass produced in Indonesia for pennies and with transportation and distribution costs factored in, their total cost was around $3 per unit, and yet they sold for $150 and up.</B><BR/><BR/><B>”The reason is that market prices are determined by demand and what the market will pay and NOT the mere cost of production. Ergo, cheaper illegal immigrant labor does NOT always translate into cheaper goods and services for Americans.</B><BR/><BR/><B>“As far as the overall “immigration debate” goes, I don't see the need for anything more than changing legal immigration to a more "merit based" approach (ending family reunification AND the “anchor baby” system and moving to a system that allows people in based on skills America needs) and bolstering our porous borders (fences and more border guards).</B><BR/><BR/><B>“I have to say I don't now, nor have I ever had much sympathy for illicit employers who seek to use illegal immigrant labor to bolster profits and deliver cheaper goods & services to their customers and the latter is certainly a very lofty goal, perhaps the most lofty there is, but it's still no excuse for breaking the law.</B><BR/><BR/><B>”Employers who use illegal immigrant labor are (1) reducing the wage floor - the price paid to unskilled labor in this country and reducing the wage floor puts a persistent downward pressure on all other wage rates, (2) they don't withhold taxes from these workers, increasing the tax burden on the rest of us, (3) their illicit activity and their lobbying for continuing it maintain a porous border that post-9/11 has become a major security risk and (4) they're involved in human exploitation, very close in its depravity to that engaged in by all the other human traffickers - illegals are paid a sub-standard wage, often dozens of them live huddled together in cramped apartments, with barley enough to live on.</B><BR/><BR/><B>“It seems hideously wrong for a select few (unscrupulous "businessmen") to profit at the expense of EVERYone else. These white collar thugs (because they're far worse then mere white-collar criminals - embezzlers and such) don't care that every illegal alien here costs EVERY American $19,000 over the course of their time here. They don't care that they've depressed wages or that they've weakened our national security.”</B><BR/><BR/>http://workingclassconservative.blogspot.com/2007/05/wrong-focus-on-illegal-immigration.htmlJMKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281344324964417974noreply@blogger.com