(Colin) Powell says illegal immigrants do his home repairs

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says illegal immigrants do essential work in the U.S. and that he has firsthand knowledge of that — because they fix his house.

A moderate Republican, Powell urged his party on Sunday to support immigration generally because those who come from abroad are, in his words, "what's keeping this country's lifeblood moving forward."

... He did not specify whether he hired them directly or they showed up with contractors.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j74PX-ND_qkPj0_GySWyp6oH8vZwD9IB4LD00

[KingFlorez]

1. A Republican breaking the law is never surprising

[PatrynXX]

5. yeah not surprising

Hope he's paying them min wage or he's breaking the law both ways running. Republicans used to be and some still are havens of the illegals. And unfortunately My uncle was screwed by this system and thinks Obama as to far Right wing. In independent contractor forced out of his job by illegals working for low pay and shoddy work (windows upside down and roofing not done right. in good ol red hot Boulder CO. Right now he's living out of his truck albeit in our house for the weekend. That and $500 window repair job cost near $20,000 in regulations to fix.. So those regulations will make sure Boulder CO is eventually a city for the Rich. (minus the couple who can garden in the nude)

[davidinalameda]

11. like no Democrats have ever hired an illegal?

[fasttense]

14. Because if you can point to someone else doing the same illegal practice it makes it all ok. n/t

[No Elephants]

21. "An illegal" is lousy English and reveals a lousy POV. Maybe you mean undocumented immigrant?

[joeglow3]

29. No, I mean illegal

Sorry if you don't like facts. My father saw his wages plummet as a drywaller because ILLEGALS flooded the labor market and broke the unions. He had many of his co-workers and friends lose their jobs and, ultimately, their homes because ILLEGALS flooded the labor market and broke the unions.

[krabigirl]

41. So what is your solution?

[joeglow3]

44. We need to accept that our standard of living has to come down, as a whole

We need to work with other governments to bring up all economies to create a true global economy. Letting people flood to the US and flood the labor pools is akin to simply shipping all the jobs over seas. While I readily admit that the economy is not a zero sum game, our standard of living is so much higher than everyone else's, there is no way we can bring everyone up to our level (and, I think our planet would cry if we did).

[davidinalameda]

48. what the hell does undocumented immigrant mean

they don't have the papers to be in this country legally

they're in this country ILLEGALLY

[KingFlorez]

37. And your point is?

[babylonsister]

2. For crying out loud, I had a wonderful man from MX mowing my

lawn for over a decade. He didn't speak much English, but he was always there, with a crew (in TX) . He is a great guy and worked hard. Now I'm supposed to think less of him? This whole argument is ridiculous.

[joshcryer]

10. You already think less of him if you don't consider him a citizen.

Going by how long you said he's been here, he's long naturalized.

[pampango]

16. Just because you think someone is not a US citizen doesn't mean you think less of them.

Anymore than thinking that someone is not white or Christian or male or straight means you think less of them.

[No Elephants]

20. Assuming someone is here illegally simply bc he or she is from Mexico is a problem.

[babylonsister]

31. I don't know what he is/was, nor do I care. He was a good,

faithful worker. And that definitely doesn't mean I think less of him. Nice try. :eyes:

[No Elephants]

19. Who said you're supposed to think less of HIM? No one is blaming the people who worked for Powell.

[krabigirl]

39. So do I, and I do not ask nor do I care about his "status."

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Powell sould have to be subjected to the same fines

as any other contractor or Ag farmer/group that is fined for hiring and using illegal aliens.

Years ago, I had a shred of respect for the man, before the revelations of the Mai Lai Massacre. he lost me then, distanced himself even further with his WMD show at the UN, and now..? What a piece of arrogant shit! :grr:

[PatrynXX]

6. Like I said my uncle refused to do that

and he had his house foreclosed on him :( Wish he'd quit watching Fox...

but all political walks of life are getting fucked by illegals. Some are really hard workers. (Dog Whisperer eventually became legal because he worked hard) but many are not hard works and there is the issue.

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. Many are hard workers

and helping their families survive. That is not the issue am addressing here. It's that Powell knows he has paid illegals vis-a-vis a contractor or not. He should be subjected to paying the same fines as those also exploit illegal aliens through labor.

[Fruittree]

12. Or maybe we should see the larger point that he's trying to make...

which is that we need to stop vilifying immigrants and deal with the issue as one of offering some path for legalization of their status so that those who are here to work can work legally and be paid above board. This should help take care of the issue of those here illegally competing unfairly with American workers because employers can get away with paying them so much less.

[nc4bo]

18. +1000! Illegals are NOT the enemy. The enemy comes from within our own borders.

And 2 years later, this truth has not been addressed nor has any significant progress been made on illegal immigration.

Wasn't this a campaign promise? Yet the Admin. has allowed the Repubs to vilify illegals instead. Repubs have been allowed to own the issue complete with the fear and hate mongering.

Disgusting.

[joeglow3]

30. Spoken like someone who is NOT a working class laborer who lost his living due to illegals

When you have endured what my family and our friends have due to illegals flooding the drywall profession and busting all the unions, THEN you can lecture me on how I should think/feel.

[nc4bo]

32. That's a crock o' crap and you know it

When our President/Congress finally gets around to addressing the illegal problem, businesses will be forced to pay illegals the same wages as legal citizens. Not only pay them fair wages but they will also be taxed and they will be paying into the Social Security system like the rest of the populace.

Win/Win.

Illegal immigrants will no longer be "cheap labor" and no longer appealing.

[pampango]

34. Which is why the repubs stick to their "Secure the border" meme avoiding any talk of comprehensive

reform. That keeps a large of pool of easily exploitable, illegal immigrants here indefinitely.

[joeglow3]

35. Blaming one side is the crock of crap

I blame both the employers and the employees. I can understand why many people from down South feel the need to take the risks they do and would probably do the same if I were in their shoes. However, it still does not change the fact that they are clearly breaking our laws (i.e. being here illegally). The simply fact is that there are a finite number of jobs. Illegals come in and flood the market, driving down the wages. Many working class folks simply cannot afford to work at these slave wages and are eventually fired for their unwillingness to do so. The illegal immigrants then come in and work the jobs for much less.

Making them legal and giving them union representation still does not change the fact that you now have twice the number of employees than there are jobs. Sadly, those who are NOT in the working class professions affected by this ignore this second part. Regardless of if you make them legal or not, you just royally screwed over millions of hard working, working class Americans.

No one is saying companies do not shoulder much of the blame. However, to excuse the behavior of either party is ignorant.

[nc4bo]

36. I can not and will not blame those workers regardless of how much you

and others with your POV attempt to convince me otherwise. You don't know my life's situation nor would you know whether or not I (or my family) have been effected by the cheap, illegal labor force.

Judging by your statements, I'll go out on a limb and say that you probably think that legal immigrants are also sucking up all the jobs and you'd only be satisfied until every person not born here should go back from where they were born?

I refuse to blame any human being for trying to find a better way of life for themselves or their families but there is a right (or better) way to do it. Blaming the immigrants is the Teabagger/Republican way, not mine.

We will never EVER stop any one from illegally crossing our borders but we can eliminate the appeal of the cheap labor pool.

We're 2 years past due on this campaign promise, when do we start addressing this issue?

[No Elephants]

27. We saw that point long before Colin Turd Powell opened his lying mouth. When we need him

to instruct us on matters of morals and ethics, stick a fork in America, 'cause you'll know she's done.

[krabigirl]

42. lol, what if you pay them more than the market rate? Are you exploiting them?

lmao

[pampango]

17. Right. If he's doing this as a form of civil disobedience, he should be prepared to pay the price.

If it's a case of hypocrisy (he has been vocal about the evils of illegal immigrants, then got caught hiring them), then he should be thrown to the wolves like any other hypocrite.

[krabigirl]

40. really? private citizens should pay the same fines as a business?

I hired a gardener, and honestly, I do not know, nor do I care about his status. He does a good job and gets paid a good wage. Our babysitter last year was from Germany and spoke several languages..I didn't check her status, either. She was the best we could find, as we liked that she was fluent in French and German. We paid her much more than the going market rate. She moved back home to France, and honestly, she might have not been here legally, but I never asked.

So are we going to require that everyone uses "E-Verify," including private citizens? I don't agree with that at all.

[Edweird]

4. Meanwhile how many carpenters, that are citizens, are out of work?

[gtar100]

7. I just hope he pays them a decent wage and doesn't take advantage of them.

And how does he know they are illegal immigrants?

I don't get what he means by "keeping this country's lifeblood moving forward." On the surface it seems kind and supporting but in practice, illegal immigrants are taken advantage of by so many who hire them. So what is it, Powell? Do you care enough about them to pay a living wage or is it all that extra cash you "save" by paying dirt cheap that keeps you pining away for them?

[truthisfreedom]

8. He's right.

I have to admit I still have respect for this man. If he ran for President he'd have a good chance. A truthful person.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can complain that jobs are being taken away from US citizens. But these people are here and they're willing to work for a lot less money than most US citizens, and that's the incentive, and we can't stop it.

[No Elephants]

22. Powell, a truthful person? You've got to be kidding.

[saigon68]

24. He did a great job investigating Lt. Calley

Didn't he?

[saigon68]

45. MY LAI and Colon Bowel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre

[w4rma]

46. Truthful? What a crock of BS. Powell is a professional liar. (nt)

[Historic NY]

13. I bet the Boner has them mowing his grass....he's too lazy getting orange.

[fasttense]

15. It's like Dr. Laura saying she's not racist for calling a black woman

the "N" word 20+ times, because she has a black bodyguard.

See, illegals are just great people. They work for very low pay and are reliable. We should make them all citizens because they work good and cheap for me.

[fishstickle]

23. If Illegals were competing for Colin Powells job by

not getting business licenses, not paying taxes or by not bothering to get job permits and so on, so they can work under the table and charge less for the work and get his job, I think he would be singing a different tune. See you all later, I've got to go to work now where I compete with these folks for work every day of my life.

[w8liftinglady]

25. Listen.Powell f*cked up with Bush.he's trying to make amends.

He has stuck his neck out on several occaisions trying to bring things to the forefront.Hell-he supported Obama over McCain.he's spoken out against hate of Moslem-Americans.and,now-he's trying to remove the stigma of undocumented workers.yes,by coming out,he risks penalties.

[Javaman]

33. yeah, he's such a "risk" taker...

:eyes:

He presented trumped up a bullshit reasons for an illegal war with cartoons at the UN. Now over 5 thousand soldiers are dead and, at last estimate, 1.5 million Iraqi's.

Yeah, he's a hell of a risk taker.

He can go fuck himself sideways.

If he was such a fucking lover of America, he shouldn't hire the illegals. Period.

The only way to effectively slow illegal immigration is to heavily fine the employers.

Slap this jackass colin ass-for-name powell with a heavy fine.

[No Elephants]

26. Powell, the turd that makes other turds seem like Chanel #5 in comparison.

Mei Lai, DADT, toadying to Bushco, WMD spectacle at the UN, knowing it was false.

"POS" is too good a nickname for him.

[COLGATE4]

28. What part of "illegal" doesn't he understand? [snark] Besides,

it's only breaking the law when people other than Rethugs do it.

[krabigirl]

38. So do many people, no big deal to me.

[Codeine]

43. Because nobody is using illegal labor to undercut your livelihood.

There was a time drywalling and roofing were jobs at which a person could earn a solid living. Illegal labor is part and parcel of the destruction of the blue-collar worker.

[LanternWaste]

47. delete

Sigh.