Kinda late, but where do we stand on the guest worker initiative?

[ecstatic]

I personally have mixed thoughts. I kind of resent Bush's intention--which is to make dirt cheap labor easily accessible to major corporations. At the same time, the workers are coming here because they are desperate. Then again, they are being exploited and Americans are losing jobs.

[tk2kewl]

1. I am conflicted leaning toward bad idea.

I know people who have been negatively effected because the price of construction labor on long island has been driven down.

on edit: i also find it infuriating that even my mexican-american-freeper brother-in-law seems to think mexicans are only taking jobs that no american wants to do.

[ecstatic]

4. The idea of "jobs Americans don't want"

Pure B.S. Americans want the jobs, just that they want to be paid more than $3/hr to do those jobs.

[tk2kewl]

7. i tried to explain this to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law

that is when it got even more frightening. they don't seem to think someone working in a factory deserves a living wage. this coming from a couple with a combined income close to 200Gs

[outraged2]

2. not sure

I haven't heard exactly what it entails.... I saw something here yesterday that made it sound a LOT like indentured servitude. If that is the case, then it is absolutely a bad idea.

[Commendatori]

3. Horrible, horrible distortion of what might not be a bad idea overall.

Pandering for votes doesn't impress me, and like Ted Kennedy said - who's going to go back after their guest visa expires?

There is no upside or logic behind this crap except for Bush trying to get more Hispanic votes. Christ, even Republicans hate this bullshit.

[ecstatic]

5. i doubt its about votes

I think its about cheap labor. Pretty soon, all jobs will either be outsourced or performed by guest workers.

[tk2kewl]

8. it's about both

you don't need the rhetoric for the cheap labor. just continue not to enforce existing immigration laws

[Commendatori]

10. If it were just cheap labor, then

Bush wouldn't even need this "initiative." He could just go ahead and refuse to enforce immigration law as before. He could drop hints about amnesty, which causes spikes in border crossings, and never actually do anything to piss off his base.

[ecstatic]

6. Can Bush spin this to make Democrats sound racist? nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. How about requiring corporations to pay fair wages overseas?

The corporations go overseas for cheap labor. Simple solution would be to require them to pay comparable wages to all, wherever they are. The "guest worker" idea is to get them to come here for wages that are too low for Americans but higher than they can get at home.

A case of victimizing the victims then blaming them for it.

[Commendatori]

11. The first thing that would happen is that no one would keep

full-time jobs. No regulation like that will ever fly without a fairly easy loophole inserted in the bill.

[Name removed]

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