Posted on 10/01/2006 1:41:26 PM PDT by World_Events
Shortly after dawn, the day laborers began gathering beneath a San Diego Freeway overpass in West Los Angeles.
A house painter pulled up in a pickup, looking for an assistant. He offered $12 an hour. A worker jumped in.
The work is undertaken by men from Mexico and Central America. Most are in this country illegally. The jobs, which last only a day or two and pay cash, are all but invisible to the state and federal governments. No one has to fill out paperwork, follow safety regulations or pay taxes.
Yet what happens here is far from marginal. The jobs that flow out of this day-laborer hiring spot — and from thousands of others around the state, some as informal as a street corner — are a pillar of California's economic strength.
To see why, check out Adrian Lopez, 20, who is kicking around a soccer ball as he waits. Lopez, who came here from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, is carrying in his Everest backpack a Sony Walkman from the Best Buy across the street.
It's got a CD by the Argentine group Los Enanitos Verdes inside, bought at a Ritmo Latino store. He has a bottle of Kirkland Premium Drinking Water, purchased at Costco, and a spare Old Navy shirt. He likes the grilled steak at Baja Bud's. He wasn't impressed by "Monster House."
"Immigrants buy everything here," Lopez said in Spanish.
"Overall, immigration has been a net gain for American citizens, though a modest one in proportion to the size of our $13-trillion economy," 500 economists wrote in an open letter to Congress on June 19.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
That reminds me: I need to do some cleanout work in my back yard. Off to Home Depot!
We'll muddle through without them somehow.
If Adrian Lopez gets hurt on the job or is injured in a traffic accident, I suggest the bill be sent to the LA Times and this reporter, since they think illegals are such a money maker for CA.
The jobs that flow out of this day-laborer hiring spot — and from thousands of others around the state, some as informal as a street corner — are a pillar of California's economic strength.
Thank God that I am willing to pay more in taxes so the "pillars of California's economic strength" can continue to flourish.
so true...you beat me to the punch....as long as no one gets injured...otherwise....first the illegal gets free medical care..then social services and finally will get an attorney to sue for workers comp benefits....and of course who pays all the bills...the american taxpayer!.....yup, this is really good for the american economy....the USA has been overrun by illegal invaders and all the lib/dems and even Bush has welcomed them with open wallets...the wallets filled with out tax dollars!
Build the wall...and kick all of them out!!!!
No matter how many times they say "immigrant" they're still illegal aliens.
But if he is injured on the job, he will go to the local emergency room, who will not turn him away, and his lack of insurance means that the taxpayers of California will have to pay for his injuries.
I had the opportunity to talk to a Chile Doctor who spent a half hour trying to tell me why it was essential that the US let in unskilled labor into the country, how it was morally indecent for us to forbid them because they wanted a better life and how dare we deny them that
I told him that the United States did not need an a large pool of unskilled laborers from foreign countries. I also had a tough time explaining to him about the welfare state, taxes, and the direct effect it had on our economy.
No, he rejected my arguments out of hand. It was our (the US) moral obligation to open our borders and allow all who want to come come - skilled or not.
OK, David, complete the thought: low to zero taxes and no regulation lead to economic prosperity. So, when are you going to write an article arguing for lower taxes?
So, it's OK not to pay taxes as long as you hire illegal workers? The leftists now approve of that?
Meantime the area is probably full of able bodied citizens on welfare, who do nothing all day, supported by taxes paid by people who hire legal workers and taken from the salaries of people who work legally.
Quite a system.
Oh I'm sure this employer has a copy of a Social Security Card on file for each of their employees (wink, wink).
"The jobs that flow out of this day-laborer hiring spot — and from thousands of others around the state, some as informal as a street corner — are a pillar of California's economic strength."
Bare-faced lie!
So, instead of abiding by the law and paying taxes, he can afford to spend the money on entertainment, eating out, and "premium" botttled water.
Hey--If none of us pay taxes, and spend the money instead, think how great the economy will be!!!
Gosh, remember when people hired the kid down the street to help with such work? Where they'd learn the valuable lessons of hard labor and good money? Where they'd earn money to buy a car, get a new record, perhaps to help to pay for college?
Yup, jobs that Americans won't do. Our kids are paying for the insanity of liberal appeasers and their enablers.
Jobs American won't do, my aunt fanny. $12/hr? I currently get half that. Where do I sign up?
"To see why, check out Adrian Lopez, 20, who is kicking around a soccer ball as he waits. Lopez, who came here from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, is carrying in his Everest backpack a Sony Walkman from the Best Buy across the street.
It's got a CD by the Argentine group Los Enanitos Verdes inside, bought at a Ritmo Latino store. He has a bottle of Kirkland Premium Drinking Water, purchased at Costco, and a spare Old Navy shirt. He likes the grilled steak at Baja Bud's. He wasn't impressed by "Monster House.""
Okay, that did it!
Sony Walkman 40 bucks into the economy....
"It's got a CD by the Argentine group Los Enanitos Verdes inside, bought at a Ritmo Latino store."
So we are enriching some Argintine musican, and are patronizing a store probably run by an illegal who probably has 2 or 3 sets of books.....net gain...nothing!
"He has a bottle of Kirkland Premium Drinking Water, purchased at Costco"
Costco can survive without the 12 cents, and the Mexican Cantina once again is probably owned by an illegal. Net gain? Very marginal.
Now the costs:
No insurance(10 hospitals have closed in the last 3 years)
no income taxes
crime among illegals is horrendous!
turning one neighborhood after another into slums
hurting our culture by refusing to learn english
takes welefare and subsidized housing away from poor or disabled Americans who these programs were designed for
take jobe away from Americans by their willingness to work for 1/2 market price under the table.
Yeah, California sure needs these illegals!
America can survive without criminals invading the country.
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