Originally posted by HuffyCane:
Having represented a few farmers in labor disputes, I can tell you that food prices are going to go even higher -- not because of speculation in the futures market, pressure on the market from overseas buyers, and inflation as we have seen lately -- but honest increases in the cost of production. Processors and wholesalers can't eat losses forced upon them by the Wal-Marts of the world, so the cost of food is going to go substantially up or Americans will begin to readjust to a life style where things like tomatoes and lettuce aren't served on every item on the menu because it simply isn't available at the price point they are willing to pay or that the retailer/restaurant owner is willing to provide it. We saw this with the Yum Brands dispute here in Florida with the wage demand for $1 more a box. Wal-Mart stopped stocking tomatoes briefly and Quiznos put a sign on the door that said No Tomatoes, until the wholesalers caved and started eating the difference with the growers.
Making these people legal means that growers have to start insuring them, collecting taxes and FICA, etc. That will make the product cost more and people will have to be employed to administer that.
It also means that they will start paying social security and contributing to Medicare, as well as other social services they are going to perform anyway. And when they get too old to pick fruit or mow your lawn, they will be on the books when they transition into other parts of the economy.
And that's the problem and the failure of the amnesty of 1986. The idea was to get these people paying taxes and contributing to social security so the whole system doesnt go bankrupt. The problem is that the Clinton Administration was in the pocket of Big Ag and they promptly decided to ignore the amnesty and visa reforms, import more illegals, and pocket the difference once they could employ foreign workers again and the prices stayed the same.
Cynics will say that this cycle will happen again. It probably will, but don't fool yourself. This isn't about "an act of love" or "racial solidarity" or even making sure a demographic votes for a party for a half century. Its about tax revenue and keeping Social Security afloat through alternative means on both sides of the aisle, because the middle class has had just about enough in cost of living increases lately. You will pay for it and more through higher prices.
Secondarily, it isn't about farm workers at all for the Democrats. It isn't talked about directly, but they desperately want amnesty and immigration reform for skilled technology workers so they can import foreign workers from India and elsewhere who will work for dramatically less in Silicon Valley than the average American educated 28 year old software guy who finally grew up and realized that living downtown in a closet and buying action figures sucks compared to making a decent wage and raising kids in the suburbs. Mark Zuckerberg doesnt want to subsidize that. He wants big bonus checks for him and his friends. So screw the 45 year old dot com guys that have been around since the beginning and their child support payments. Its time to get the law changed so I can lay them off and pay someone desperate enough to accept $50,000 to live on a couch in the Valley as a short term worker so they can send money home, rather than have the money stay here and provide a wage to someone who will contribute to the efficiency and well being of our society, regardless of their color or national origin. Its happened little by little over the past five years. The dot coms are trying to leverage the public's fear of being viewed as racist if they oppose immigration reform into a vehicle to increase their profits. The Obamas and Reids of the world are all too willing to take multi-million dollar donation checks to facilitate this process.
So if anyone says its about giving legitimacy to persons who do jobs "Americans" won't -- hold on to your wallet and tell your friends in Silicon Valley to cancel Christmas.
This post was edited on 3/6 1:10 PM by HuffyCane
