Why The Low Jobless Rate Challenges Left And Right (Dennis Prager Alert)

Townhall.com ^ | 06/11/06 | Dennis Prager

[goldstategop]

We actually have a great situation most countries can only envy - full employment and both the Left and the Right resent it. The Left resents President Bush and his tax cuts that have made America the most prosperous country on earth. And part of the Right - the Open Borders Right - insists America's prosperity is all the reason to import cheap illegal labor we don't need that are undermining our national unity, identity and security. Both of them need to face up to reality and accept that things are heading in the right direction. For our country's as well as the world's sake.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[MNJohnnie]

And where do you get the labor to fill the jobs the illegals are holding. Just said we have 4.7% Unemployment. Anything under 5% and you are into the marginally employable. Get under 4 and you are into the unempoyables. Ah but that right. It dogmatic purity not clarity we seek.

[Hong Kong Expat]

Is it the tax cuts or the reckless spending that is propping this economy up?

[justa-hairyape]

Since illegal immigrant employment is not counted, our unemployment rate is probably 0 % to negative 5 %. If you count the illegal jobs, we are probably employing more people then they are legal citizens eligible for employment. The problem with immigrant jobs is they bring down wages for the lower end of the scale. Its also more difficult for unskilled young people to get decent wages because they have to compete with the unskilled immigrants. Also, to work a fast food restaurant in the southwest almost requires one to be bilingual.

[justa-hairyape]

Please replace 'immigrant' with 'illegal immigrant' in the above paragraph.

[Moonman62]

The reason is that the essence of the Left is ever bigger government for the purpose of controlling ever more of the economic and social life of society.

And the essence of the GOP is to give us ever bigger government throught borrowing.

[Clemenza]

Well, when I was in high school, I moved to an area (South Florida) that was/is inundated with immigrants, legal AND illegal. Never had a problem finding a job that paid $7.50 an hour in the early 1990s, which may not sound like much, but it taught me alot about responsability, saving money, etc.

This is why I LAUGH at folks who tell me that young folks "can't find work" due to the immigrants.

The main problem with the undocumented is that they are here IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW, to say nothing of how they overcrowd the schools, strain social services, etc.

[goldstategop]

The Left loves illegal aliens for precisely that reason and the libertarian free market Right loves illegal aliens because it frustrates the government's ability to control the borders for lofty goals such as national sovereignty. We're witnessing an alliance of dangerous fools whose common aim is the disappearance of America as a superpower on the planet.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Nathan Zachary]

"If we have historically low unemployment rates while at least 11 million illegal immigrants are here, how many jobs have these people really taken away from Americans?"

If we were to assume 100% of them were employed? That would be 11 million Jobs that they are taking away from Americans. That means that our unemployment rate would be around .7 % instead of 4.7%. Billions and billions of dollars needlesly spent on welfare and other social services.

[Jim_Curtis]

And wouldn't our inflation rate be higher without millions of people working at such low wages helping to keep consumer prices low?

Probably. And who would benefit from that inflation? The poorest working citizens.

As a matter of fact, we could further reduce inflation if we brought back slavery.

[Beagle8U]

"And who would benefit from that inflation? The poorest working citizens."

Inflation hits the poor harder than anyone else.

The COL index is based on many things the poor don't buy, what they do buy is fixed as necessities that they can't cut back on, wages will never keep up.

[Nathan Zachary]

And what do you mean "open border right"?
Free trade? Free trade does NOT mean open borders. It means no tariffs. Even that is an over simplification. All goods are valued based on the USD in NAFTA. There ARE tariffs on subsidized goods, and a whole wack of other conditions. You should look it up one day. The idea of NAFTA is to give us access to their markets, and them to ours, and there are other benifits as well, such as harvesting a product in another country, bringing it across the border to the USA, adding value to that base product and selling it back (with value added) to the country the raw material was harvested from.

[Enduring Freedom]

Socialism: The Politics of Envy

[RWR8189]

I doubt the BLS inquires about immigration status when they are conducting the Current Population Survey which determines the unemployment rate.

However illegals would probably be less likely to participate.

[justa-hairyape]

My young cousins living in Southern California told me how they had a hard time getting jobs within the past year because they did not speak Spanish. They did end up finding decent jobs. Pay is crap, but they got good benefits. It is not the 90's anymore. Just take a look at those demonstrations. There has been a mass immigration into the US because the rest of the world stinks (ie - Europe, Middle East, corrupt Mexico, Socialistic South and Central America). We need the borders enforced or we will be overrun.

[justa-hairyape]

However illegals would probably be less likely to participate.

Participation is one problem. The main one is no one really knows how many there are. Believe me, what you saw on the streets today, is a very small percentage.

[RWR8189]

That wasn't really the point I was trying to make.

The BLS calculates the unemployment rate through a scientific survey of 60,000 households each month.

I'm not sure of the statistical significance of the illegal population when the labor force and unemployment rate is extrapolated from that survey.

[justa-hairyape]

The BLS calculates the unemployment rate through a scientific survey of 60,000 households each month.

Households

We don't even know where the illegals are living. Many with no phones. No country ID. Quite a few live inside someone else's house. The head of that household does not want you to know there are illegals living in his rooms. I know cause I have seen it in person. So the survey cannot by definition get an accurate sampling. Probably a good thing since most of these illegals are part time and/or self employed.