Replies

Someone needs to do those filthy, dreary, monotonous jobs that Massa CJ refuses to do.

That's how it seems --- certain people believe we must exploit people from the third world because some jobs are just so lowly, no American should have to do them. Not even Americans from poor neighborhoods who might be trying to climb out of welfare. Not like it used to be where middle class kids took these jobs to pay their way through college ---- no --- these are lowly jobs meant only for peons. We're starting to look exactly like the Mexican elite with these attitudes --- who don't see their college age kids from the elite families ever doing "peon" labor.

This proposal is Bush's gimme-program for the service industries, to make up for the fact that the service industries can't offshore/outsource their jobs like hi-tech and manufacturing can. The whole purpose of this proposal is to bring in scads of "guest workers" to further depress blue-collar workers' wages.

This "jobs Americans won't do" mantra is BS. I come from a blue-collar family. I've done everything from hoeing watermelon fields to hauling hay to working in a drive-in to being a housekeeper in a nursing home when I was younger, and unskilled, to make a buck and to pay for college. I know several teen-aged boys who would be happy to have a few of these low-skilled "jobs Americans won't do" to make a buck to pay their car insurance, buy gas and pay for college or trade school.

My husband is a crane operator on a bridge crew. Guess what? Their crew is made up wholly of American citizens - even the lowliest shovel hand is an American. Not one illegal in the bunch. They still manage to bring in every bridge on time and under budget.

I have two brothers who own their own concrete curb and gutter business in Tulsa. They've been out of work for most of the last year because of the influx of illegals into the Tulsa area. These illegals who start up concrete companies (as well as scummy American companies who hire illegals) bid the jobs so low, no law-abiding American company can compete. The two American guys who were working for them are out of a job, too.

As far as I'm concerned, this proposal just takes a **** on small-business owners who are doing things the legal way and playing by the rules. It also takes a **** on American blue-collar workers who are doing these jobs "no American will do."

I have a feeling that my blue-collar family members, who voted for Bush in 2000, will be pulling a different lever in 2004. I've voted a straight Republican ticket in every election since the 1980s. This time, I'm writing Tom Tancredo in on the Missouri Primary - maybe in the real election, too. I like GWB as a man, but he is America's President - not President of the World - and he should start acting like it.