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"I've worked minimum wage collecting sheep piss - at the time, it was worth it to me."

That is all fine and dandy. Here is what you miss. The demand for people washing cars is huge and turnover is not what it used to be. People do these jobs for many many years and they are indeed more skilled thru experience than an entry level newbie, yet you would not see his wage rise standing by the claim of entry level.

What you dismiss is the sheer scope of jobs this applies to. We can see this in healthcare, in food service, in retail sales, even in customer service phone jobs.

You are missing the scale of the demand for these jobs that you call entry level and the amount of time people spend at them. Rather you IGNORE this reality.

Fair is not determined but what they will work for when an illegal labor force is present. Too bad you refuse to see that. This is true because they have no bargaining power to sit out...as the jobs will just be filled by illegals. NOW if you were talking about those jobs being filled by AMERICANS you would have a point. But that isn't the case IS IT?

I have stated clearly that pabor should get a share that represtns their contribution to the profit making. I said nothing about robin hood type tactics of THIS STATEMENT However, you have posted multiple comments about how a worker should refuse work if management is making a lot of money (and giving it to the owners, called shareholders). The spin you present implies that stockholders and management earn their pay now in the same light that labor earnes their pay and that all is right and proper. Sorry sir, that just isn't so. I said nothing of the kind in the way you posted it here. It isn't because of the money others DO make, it is about what labor does NOT make as proper compensation for their contribution to profit creation.

In a free marke, labor is a supply and demand issue like all others. Jobs are too. Depends on perspective. (Take your earth of BSD comment and shove it up your butt). The ability for labor to have an effect on wages thru dismissing low wage jobs is deleted when an illegal labor force is there to draw from. Thus the scale of balance is tipped to employers that can artificially manipulate wages.

OF COURSE competition drives down prices. ILLEGAL LABOR DRIVES DOWN WAGES. Glad you see that. But, too bad you do not see how the ILLEGAL labor removes the competition for another American to offer up the same service or product at a comparable price.... without resorting to the same illegal labor force that is....

NOW if you were talking about those jobs being filled by AMERICANS you would have a point. But that isn't the case IS IT?

On the contrary. I live 50 miles from the mexican border. I would love to see it sealed tight, and THEN wages would rise (or automation be invented) until supply and demand equalized. I abhor illegals entering America and taking work that makes them wealthy (compared to the pennies a day wages available in Mexico) whiloe allowing employers to offer wages that no American could live on.

I like GWB on foreign policy and think he sucks on domestic issues - with illegal immigration near the top of the suck list. And that is why I object to GWB's "jobs Americans won't take" line - because the full sentence would be "jobs Americans cannot afford to take at Mexican wages".

My son is an entry level employee right now, and mexicans living 10 to an apartment, sending their money to families in Mexico, are his primary competitors. If we sealed the borders, our prices would rise so employers could pay american wages, which is what I think should happen.