Month: March 2006

Quick to Accuse

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In an update to my previous post about illegal immigration, I saw a debate televised on CNN that was about this subject. One position was taken by veteran newsman Lou Dobbs, while the other was represented by immigrant advocate Maria Elena Salinas. Keeping in mind that it has been some hours since I’ve seen the program, I’d like to share my impressions.

Dobbs was very clear about his stance. He said that he favored restricting immigration due to a wide variety of concerns. Foremost amongst these was concern for the immigrants themselves, since they are prone to exploitation by employers if they aren’t supposed to be in this country.

And Salinas’ rebuttal? She immediately attacked Dobbs and accused him of being a racist! The basis for her charge was that Dobbs only mentioned the 11 million illegals from Mexico while ignoring the estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants who are here from European countries.

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They’re Kidding, Right?

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Conditions are bad for the Republican Party. They certainly have been stricken with victory disease, that curious mixture of hubris and arrogance that afflicts those who prove that they are better at the game then their opponents. Any reasonable observer would come to the conclusion that the GOP is going to lose control of Congress after the election this year.

Any reasonable observer who doesn’t consider that the Republicans are running against Democrats, that is. No matter how bad they govern, at least no one can accuse the Republicans of being barking mad. I’m not so sure about their opponents.

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Dependable Glenn

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Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit likes to say that he isn’t a public utility and that he posts whenever and whatever he wants. Yet in reality, he posts on such a reliable basis that when he goes for most the day without posting something you know something is up.

I thought that today as I kept checking Instapundit. He didn’t update all day, not even a post saying he wouldn’t be posting. I knew something had happened. Turns out his grandmother had passed away at the age of 91 and he had spent the day dealing with that. Yet come the evening, he posted an update telling us what happened.

I am reminded that it is by the quiet competence of people like Glenn Reynolds that the world actually runs. The most important people are those who are THERE everyday doing what needs to be done without a lot of flash. I can only wish that my public utilities were as reliable and productive as Glenn.

Our condolences to Glenn and his family.

Immigration Again

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Everyone has had his crack at this subject. I don’t have answers for immigration issues. Maybe I can help, though, in at least arranging the arguments in some sort of order.

Employment-related
We have the H1-B program for legal admission of skilled workers in short supply in the US, but no such program for the unskilled. The current illegal alien influx is largely employment-related. The main beneficiaries are employers of low-wage unskilled and semi-skilled laborers. There is in fact an oversupply of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, but the illegal immigrants are willing to work for less than the minimum wage or the market rate for legal workers for similar work. Their illegal status is a factor favoring the employer, since the workers cannot go to the authorities for wage violations or safety concerns. This is a hidden labor market in the US whose members can never advance from their low-wage jobs. The various “guest-worker” schemes try to address the supply side of this labor market; penalties for employers address the demand side by raising the effective risk-adjusted cost of employing illegal aliens.

There is nothing preventing the US from admitting poor people from other countries for humanitarian purposes. Doing it by tolerating a high rate of illegal immigration is not a humanitarian policy, if it supports the exploitation of the workers (OK, so I’m a leftist). My fear is that we are creating a caste system. The next time you go to a restaurant, check behind it. The bicycles belong to the kitchen workers who cannot get driver’s licenses.

For skilled workers and professionals, why not privatize the job? An expanded H1-B type of program would let employers screen prospective immigrants and guarantee that they would have jobs upon arrival. Having been through my share of employment interviews from both sides, I’m pretty sure most employers would be more careful than the State Department visa clerks in Saudi Arabia were. There might need to be some qualifications for the employer to avoid the formation of front companies. While we’re at it, we might as well drop the pretense that we are bringing in workers from overseas because there are no Americans available for the job. With rare exceptions, this is a polite fiction.

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A Little School Project

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So my son in junior high got the following choices for a school project:

You are a belligerent group of environmental activists from an organization called “Save the Rainforest.” Design a campaign to raise money to protect the rainforest. Audience: General Public

As a group of concerned citizens your team will write a letter to our State Senators about the US policies regarding the destruction of the world’s rainforest.

You are a team of naturalists reporting to the world about the fragile ecosystems in the rainforest. Tell about what was, what is and what will be if we keep up our current rainforest activities. Include pictures with captions. Naturalists are non-political; they simply study the natural world. Audience: General Public

Other choices included; Building a save-the-rainforest website, create a save-the-rainforest presentation to business leaders, a travel agency promotion to convince tourists to see the rainforest “NOW, before it is too late,” information for rainforest products that will only be available for a limited time — “due to ecosystem changes” — and a press conference at the UN reporting the discovery of 2 new species that should “provide convincing information about why world leaders should work to protect the rainforest.”

Guess what class this is for? Give up?

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