It looks like the oil billionaire Koch brothers are allegedly trying to buy-up newspapers and such in major markets to, I would speculate, make them all right-wing, free-market, and supply-side economics propaganda machines. I think this is something that Rupert Murdoch has been doing with Fox for quite some time now.
We are somewhat lucky that people get their news from so many different sources today, not just newspapers, radio and television, but also Internet sources like search engines, Facebook, and even blogs...
Say....if the Koch brothers wanted me to stop writing this blog, all they would have to do is pay me $300,000, chump change for them. I could change it from "Middle Class Massacre" to something like "Plutocrat's Party." And say things like, "What we really need is more tax-breaks for the wealthy individuals, and large corporations, yeah, and have an open door to immigrants to keep labor costs down, and deregulating banks and letting Wall Street do whatever it wants is best for the economy, yeah that sounds good." Or perhaps just stop writing it altogether. I'll be waiting for my check...
Hopefully, the right-wing won't be able to buy up every possible media venue, but it is amazing what you can do with a lot cash and determination.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The immigration reform and its potential impact on employment
A while ago, I was surfing the net to get more information about "The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013" the latest in immigration reform, and one that has been touted by the media as good one.You know who likes this bill, Grover (I wish he could be as nice as his namesake Muppet) Norquist. I saw an opinion piece he wrote for the British newspaper, "The Guardian." He says that the bill will be good for the American economy.
Why does he like the bill? For the same reason all the Republicans like the bill (but some do pretend to hate it), because it basically opens the flood gates for immigration. With more available people to compete for jobs, wages will go down, it is the simply law of supply and demand. Republicans will not be happy until Americans are making the same wages as the Chinese and Indians (of India not Native Americans).
The bill does call for more border security, but only across Mexico as many of the states that border Mexico have pleaded for. I do not believe the bill does much for the Canadian border or any other way someone can enter this country illegally.
In times of economic prosperity, when America has a growth economy, it makes sense to allow for immigration, but in the shrinking economy that Americans are living in, it would make sense to freeze immigration until unemployment dips below 4% or so.
Australia, which has a very strict anti-immigration policy, and no countries bordering it, currently has only 5.6 percent unemployment as opposed to America's 7.6.
Wealthy Americans will not be happy until unemployment is around 26% as in Greece which would eventually enable them to drive wages down to a fraction of what they currently are at least as low as mainland China's.
Then why are some Republican politicians opposed to the bill? Perhaps it is to appeal to some of their racist constituents or perhaps they just want to keep President Obama from appearing to move things forward with immigration and by doing this they make him look even more inept than he already does.
President Obama is behind giving Visas to highly-skilled foreigners in order to help grow the economy, but I think this also hurts opportunities for American citizens. If we had a strict anti-immigration policy, companies would be forced to pay to train Americans to fill the jobs they need. This would benefit the American worker who would gain a useful skill set and make him employable as well in demand in the workforce. It would also benefit the college or institution that has to train him. The only one that looses out is the company that has to pay for the training. It is much easier and cheaper to import foreign laborers that already have the skill sets that American companies need. It is even cheaper if the company can off-shore the jobs altogether.
And then there is the issue of security. While America has always been a country made great by immigrants who have left their oppressive countries to be free in the USA, the times have changed greatly. While immigrants love to come here to enjoy a higher quality of life, there is much hate and envy of the United States. We have to make sure that at all entry points,not just the borders, that we are not letting in foreign terrorists. Any immigration reform act should have strict provisions for this, but of course it does not.
In summary I think we should keep the doors to immigrants closed as much as possible until our economy makes a full recovery. I think that it is awful that there are liberal groups pushing for both lax immigration and raising the minimum wage, because the influx of cheap labor, especially in hard economic times, would only keep wages down.
The bill does call for more border security, but only across Mexico as many of the states that border Mexico have pleaded for. I do not believe the bill does much for the Canadian border or any other way someone can enter this country illegally.
In times of economic prosperity, when America has a growth economy, it makes sense to allow for immigration, but in the shrinking economy that Americans are living in, it would make sense to freeze immigration until unemployment dips below 4% or so.
Australia, which has a very strict anti-immigration policy, and no countries bordering it, currently has only 5.6 percent unemployment as opposed to America's 7.6.
Wealthy Americans will not be happy until unemployment is around 26% as in Greece which would eventually enable them to drive wages down to a fraction of what they currently are at least as low as mainland China's.
Then why are some Republican politicians opposed to the bill? Perhaps it is to appeal to some of their racist constituents or perhaps they just want to keep President Obama from appearing to move things forward with immigration and by doing this they make him look even more inept than he already does.
President Obama is behind giving Visas to highly-skilled foreigners in order to help grow the economy, but I think this also hurts opportunities for American citizens. If we had a strict anti-immigration policy, companies would be forced to pay to train Americans to fill the jobs they need. This would benefit the American worker who would gain a useful skill set and make him employable as well in demand in the workforce. It would also benefit the college or institution that has to train him. The only one that looses out is the company that has to pay for the training. It is much easier and cheaper to import foreign laborers that already have the skill sets that American companies need. It is even cheaper if the company can off-shore the jobs altogether.
And then there is the issue of security. While America has always been a country made great by immigrants who have left their oppressive countries to be free in the USA, the times have changed greatly. While immigrants love to come here to enjoy a higher quality of life, there is much hate and envy of the United States. We have to make sure that at all entry points,not just the borders, that we are not letting in foreign terrorists. Any immigration reform act should have strict provisions for this, but of course it does not.
In summary I think we should keep the doors to immigrants closed as much as possible until our economy makes a full recovery. I think that it is awful that there are liberal groups pushing for both lax immigration and raising the minimum wage, because the influx of cheap labor, especially in hard economic times, would only keep wages down.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)