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Writhaus took to the streets recently to get some insight into what people are thinking out there. We stood near the intersection of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave. in Hollywood and asked people about politics.
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Written by David Yontz – Edited by Brian Woods
June 15th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
I liked him better when he sang “Rico Suavé”
June 17th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
So, it’s difficult to get an insightful view of immigration reform from someone who is probably pretty well off in Mexico. Everyone would agree that it’s mutually beneficial if impoverished Mexicans to perform the tasks in the US that the natives don’t want to do. The (hard) question is what framework does this take? Let’s see (a) believes poor people should work (b) hates bush like the day is long. Sounds like a typical californian to me – no wonder everyone was surprised that he was from Mexico.
June 18th, 2007 at 12:35 am
I think the issue is somewhat broader than that. Until we are down to 4% unemployment (as that’s where I was taught there are not enough people to fill the number of jobs available), there should be Americans picking lettuce.
The problem there is two pronged: 1) Many Americans think they are too good to pick lettuce and 2) Agribusiness doesn’t want to pay anyone anything, not even minimum wage.
That creates a perfect storm of opportunity for people to slip into the country illegally. Is there any American that’s too good to work on a farm? I don’t think so. If they added two years of mandatory farm service for the youth of the country, there’d be plenty of people who know what real work is like.
Tomatoes would cost more, but there would be more money flowing because more people would be working. Even someone who can’t walk can sit and shell purple hull peas while earning minimum wage, you know, and their government payments could be slashed. All the while, the government is getting more in tax receipts and those drawing social security draw less and actually contribute, to boot.