Immigration is the 3rd rail of politics, especially for Democrats. One is guaranteed to be name called and attacked if any attempts to have a controlled immigration policy are made. In the Oregon Senate Democratic Primary, not surprisingly, finding out where the candidates stand is a hard, long dig. Like stepping through a mine field, one false move is guaranteed to be targeted by some special interest group. Let’s go past the name calling hype and try to find out where they really stand and why these positions are vital to US workers.
Steve Novick on Immigration:
First, Novick talks about the small business owner getting wiped out by the competition through use of cheap illegal labor. Yet in the very next sentence, he endorses the failed Comprehensive Immigration Bills!
The comprehensive immigration bills were opposed by the AFL-CIO because they were loaded with guest worker Visas and were anti-labor.
Jeff Merkley on Immigration:
Now Merkley is mentioning something very real, labor supply and demand. It is well known among labor economists (and corporations) to lower wages, one dramatically increases the domestic labor supply. These are fundamental economic laws and apply to to any worker in any labor market,…
You might have noticed on the left blogs right now, we have front page posts on immigration, illegal immigration that is.
All it takes to write one of these stories is this easy to follow recipe:
Start with the word xenophobic and then sprinkle around racism accusations, name call a few people bigots, finally add a few rips on Lou Dobbs and stir until the terms illegal and legal dissolve.
Pour liberally over Democrats. Repeat.
Soon you will have a drunken populace who believe that to be a Democrat, you have to subscribe to policy that amounts to no immigration policy at all. Democrats cower in fear of being labeled one of those nasty racist xenophobes which they personal abhore, pressured to join in the mantra, just to be considered cool and hip.
Now who thinks this is a play straight out of Karl Rove’s playbook?
Like swarms of locusts, Corporate lobbyists have surrounded the hill and taken legislative staffers hostage. As I type, various amendments are being renegotiated, gutted, moved around, renamed, folded in… All, all of this hush, hush last minute activity is per the demands of the Corporate Cheap Labor Lobby.
What happened to doing the right thing for America? What happened to the national interest? Where is the spirit of Mr. Smith?
Instead we have a scenario more like the fall of Rome, hordes of corporate lobbyists with Trojan Horse amendments, the silence of public debate or exposure, little legislation or representation for working America and most of all the incredible shrinking constituent.
Corporate lobbyists simply do not have the national interests of America at heart, in fact they have no hearts, so why would our representatives even let them past the door? Well clearly the dollar almighty is having a major effect.
While the legislation is a blessing for the corporate community, it is clear that from the perspective of American workers this bill includes a laundry list of shortcoming
This is the bottom line, this bill is bad for working America and both the AFL-CIO
and other many labor organizations realize…
In the Oregon Senate Democratic Primary, not surprisingly, finding out where the candidates stand is a hard, long dig. Like stepping through a mine field, one false move is guaranteed to be targeted by some special interest group. Let’s go past the name calling hype and try to find out where they really stand and why these positions are vital to US workers.
