Ron Unz: Raise the Minimum Wage As Part of Amnesty
“American businesses can certainly afford to provide better pay given that corporate profits have reached an all-time high while wages have fallen to their lowest share of national GDP in history. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of our lowest paying jobs are in the non-tradeable service sector, rendering them immune from foreign competition. A major factor keeping wages low has been the large annual influx of new immigrant labor, which steadily reduces the bargaining power of existing workers, especially including all previous immigrants. Only the power of the federal government can halt this downward spiral into national impoverishment for most Americans by setting a reasonable floor on wages,” says Run Unz in a new article at Salon.
NC Sheriffs Oppose Amnesty
“A North Carolina sheriff is sounding the alarm about immigration enforcement and calling on other law enforcement officials and lawmakers to oppose the Senate immigration bill. Rockingham Sherriff Sam Page has been a vocal opponent of the Gang of Eight’s immigration reform plan, saying it lacks a focus and real solutions to immigration enforcement,” the Daily Caller says.
“Page, co-chair of the National Sheriffs Association’s Border Security and Immigration Committee, has taken his message to the White House, halls of Congress, and embarked on a letter-writing campaign against the legislation.”
House GOP Remains Opposed to Amnesty
“In a sign that immigration reform still faces steep odds in the House, Reuters reports that a significant number of House Republicans are still not convinced that an immigration bill would help GOP outreach to Latino voters. Reuters quotes one representative, Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, capturing the mood of many of his colleagues this way: ‘There is no evidence to support this idea that Republicans will pick up a lot of votes if we give amnesty to 11 million folks,'” the Washington Post says.
Amnesty Supports Won’t Confront the Wage Issue
“It’s astounding that Jennifer Rubin can write an article attacking the lack of “coherent arguments” from immigration skeptics without once mentioning those skeptics’ primary argument, but she pulled off just that in a blog post this morning at the Washington Post,” says Justin Green at the Daily Beast.
“Spin it as you will, but what this reform will do is legalize millions of unskilled laborers and condemn the native born working class to dimished career prospects at the same time fiscal realities necessitate a drawback of the American welfare state.”