sinking wages among unskilled American workers?
have highly politicized immigration... But it didn’t use to be this way. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Sen. Hillary Clinton were all outspoken against illegal immigration. Dianne Feinstein complained in 1993 about the costs associated with undocumented people in the U.S. saying that, In Mexico, there is no welfare, there is no AFDC, there is no SSI, there is no Medicaid, there is no Social Security, there is no Medicare, and there is a 58 cents an hour minimum wage... The day when America could be the welfare system for Mexico is gone. We simply can’t afford it. Nonetheless, in recent years, perhaps in an effort to restack the political deck and make Red states like Texas turn Blue, there is a desire to bring as many people as possible to the U.S. regardless of whether they align with our economic agenda... and regardless of whether they are accounted for in this country. To be clear – I’m actually pro -immigration... How could I not be? We are a country built of immigrants... But our government needs to be thoughtful about how it approaches this issue. Because at present, we have such a sloppy, fractured system, and this broken approach enables too many people to fly under-the-radar in a shadow economy where wages are far less than those that are being paid to American workers. And that’s not fair to anyone. I believe it creates a depressing effect on wages. I realize many politically motivated economists dispute this nonetheless, if a restaurant in a border state can hire an undocumented worker for less than minimum wage, then – how could that not result in
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN... The real answer to economic challenges in America isn’t government interference in the relationship between employees and employers... But unfortunately, the minimum-wage hike argument exists in a highly politicized environment. According to a Hill/Harris poll from January, 64% of voters support raising the minimum wage, including roughly a third of Republicans. But it’s an incomplete “solution” that doesn’t address our fundamental problems of tech automation, outsourced jobs, illegal labor, and the looming shadow of the Chinese economy. Instead, we need policies that will encourage America to grow. We need pro-growth efforts that will propel our economy, ultimately helping our people enjoy a greater quality of living. But my current concern is that there are too many people in government that are highly self-interested and influenced by the lobbying efforts of those that want to outsource jobs for the sake of profitability. These politicians are all looking out for themselves... It’s time for Americans to do the same. We need to find our way economically or risk losing our place in the world to China.
American Consequences
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