Citizen Lobbyist

A Washington DC construction supervisor told Jerry Kammer of the San
Diego Tribune that since the surge in illegal immigration from Central America to the Washington, DC area began roughly 20 years ago, the pay for installing 4 x 8 panels has dropped from $4.50 per panel to $3.00.

After adjusting for inflation, that’s a stunning 60% decline in wages.

And over the last 20 years, while these already low-end jobs were in their 60% freefall, what did we hear from the Wall Street Journal, Alan Greenspan, and the immigration lawyer industry?

Why, America has been in the grip of a desperate labor shortage this whole time!

With the exception of newspaper editorialists, Americans understand that even if there were such things as “labor shortages,” wages wouldn’t plummet while one was occuring.

If it were really true we’d run out of Americans, that all across the land stacks of 4 x 8 panels were rotting on the ground because there was no one available to nail them up, then the wages offered to someone to get him to install the panels would tend to rise, not plummet.

The San Diego Tribune article continued, "The immigrant influx came at an opportune time for the construction industry, according to industry representatives. They report a simultaneous decline in interest in the construction trades among U.S.-born youth."

Quick. Which two dots should be connected here?

“It’s hard work. You get dirty, it’s unsafe, you’ve got to pass a drug test, show up on time, and work in all kinds of (weather) conditions,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGCA).

So why not pay people well to do a job like the one you describe, Mr. Sandherr? Why should people who do tough jobs be expected to work at subsistence pay levels? Where is it written in the Bible that construction workers must get $3 per panel and lawyers must get $300 per hour?

If an employer “can’t find workers,” it means he isn’t offering the right pay. Mr. Sandherr’s organization, which represents employers, argues it means there aren’t enough Americans—we need to import cheaper humans. Making the employers’ argument more compelling, the general contracting industry gave over $3.7 million in PAC contributions to federal candidates during the last election cycle.

The AGCA lists as one of its priorities for the 109th Congress:

“Respond to the workforce needs of the industry with effective immigration reform.”

Given the AGCA gave one thousand dollars to Congressman Chris Cannon in the last election, it’s not difficult to guess what their idea of "immigration reform" is.

I called their office in Virginia at 703.548.3118, introduced myself, and asked for Stephen Sandherr. When he picked up, I introduced myself again, we talked a bit about hiring practices in the general contracting industry. He said, sure, like any industry, there are a few bad apples, but most general contractors are good about filling out the paperwork to ensure workers have the legal right to work in the United States. They don’t want to break the law.

I told him I agreed that most employers do not want to break the law. I told him I understood the dilemma the government has created for employers. They are faced with a choice between breaking the law and being driven out of business by competitors who break the law with impunity.

I told him I imagined the majority of general contractors would welcome an across-the-board crackdown on illegal hiring if they could be assured it would be consistently applied on a sustained basis. After all, I said, the overwhelming majority of Americans oppose amnesties and want our immigration laws enforced, and, hey, general contractors are Americans, too.

His became less friendly. "We support President Bush’s plan for immigration reform," he said. "Who are you again?"

I told him, and said I knew that a great weakness of democracy was its inability to consider the long-term. Politicians focus on their next elections. Businessmen focus on the next quarter’s profits. But, as citizens, given there are nearly five billion people in the world living in countries poorer than Mexico, if we are going to be responsible at all, we’ll enforce or immigration laws.

"Well, I don’t want to get into a political debate," said Mr. Sandherr, who gave $2,000 worth of political debate to President Bush for his last campaign.

I started to explain why it would be wrong for the country to adopt President Bush’s idea that as long as there is a willing worker anywhere in the world, and a willing employer in the United States, the federal government should see that they get together.

I wanted to explain how general contractors, instead of making themselves a rich but despised class of people, could support responsible immigration policies and firm enforcement. They could level the playing field within the industry, help preserve a liveable future for their own children, and still be rich.

But he interrupted, "I don’t have to listen to you bashing Bush," and hung up on me.

You might have better luck getting the message across 703.548.3118 or maybe you can just fax this ezine 703.548.3119.

An editorial in Sunday’s New York Times welcomed Republicans arriving in town for the party’s national convention with some free advice on the immigration issue for GOP campaign strategists.

“If the Republicans want to court moderates and appeal to minority voters like Hispanics,” counseled the Times, the party must embrace an amnesty for illegal aliens, or, as the editorial put it, Republicans must promise “a reasonable way to allow some illegal immigrants a path toward permanent residence and even citizenship.”

In other words, the New York Times recommends Republicans campaign on a position opposed by three out of four Americans (CNN/Gallup/USA Today Poll, January 2004).

Some Republicans might reasonably question the wisdom of campaigning
on an issue voters oppose, but the Times’ editors have an answer for skeptical Republicans: just don’t call the amnesty an amnesty.

[Read more →]

Will Utahns swallow Cannon’s claim?

Great American whoppers I

So there I was…sitting in the tree, wondering where the heck that deer went…

With a crucial Utah GOP party convention looming on Saturday, and with the companion amnesty bill in the Senate now at 60 co-sponsors—making it filibuster-proof—a lot is riding on whether Utahns’ will swallow the Cannon whopper.

The AgJOBS bill is so an amnesty. It:

• gives “temporary” legal status §101(a)(1)
• to illegal aliens, visa overstays, and those with no documentation §101(e)(2), who, after completing a short period of indentured labor,
• are then given permanent legal status §101(c)(1).

But Congressman Cannon and his paid lobbyist friends in Washington are telling people in Utah that the bill isn’t an amnesty because it only gives permanent legal status to temporary legal workers. Illegal aliens, they point out, can only get temporary legal status.

See how that works? Clever, huh?

When the glaring subterfuge was pointed out to a worker during a phone call yesterday to Cannon’s Provo office, the worker responded that it was “just semantics.”

We call it just lying.

It’s like a guy leaving Salt Lake City for Las Vegas. His wife stops him at the door asking suspiciously, “You’re not going to Las Vegas, are you?” And he says, “No, I’m going to Provo,” thinking to himself, with his fingers crossed behind his back, “and from there I’m going to Las Vegas.”

The man might pretend he’s “technically” correct, but he’s telling a lie, of course, the kind that even schoolchildren laugh at.

The question now is: Will delegates to the Utah state GOP convention on Saturday see through the dishonesty and send a message to the old Washington insider establishment? Or will they swallow Chris Cannon’s whopper and give Washington the green light for amnesties and business as usual?

Relevant text and commentary on the AgJOBS amnesty section
Four step pop-up tour of the fundamentals of amnesty

+== TAKE POSITIVE ACTION ==+

As bad as amnesty is, Cannon’s AgJOBS bill is actually much worse than an amnesty, and we hope to have a detailed report on it ready before the convention delegates in Utah vote on Saturday.

Unfortunately, it’s up to us to do this, because we can be sure the Salt Lake Tribune won’t.

It’s a shame that the American media is so generally deficient and irresponsible in its treatment of immigration policy—a policy that, in opposition to the wishes of the American people, is radically, needlessly, and irreversibly remaking the country in ways no one can predict.

In Utah, the immigration issue and the question of whether Cannon’s AgJOBS bill is an amnesty, has been at the center of political debate for weeks. But we have yet to see a single news article looking into the actual details of the bill — let alone an editorial in the grand tradition of a free, responsible, and civic-minded American press chastising the local Congressman for not playing straight with the folks back home.

Instead, we get the Salt Lake Tribune publishing editorials attacking the “harsh” critics of the Cannon “guest worker program,” and unleashing a reporter named Kirsten Stewart to do her best to throw the election on Saturday to Cannon — a reporter who admitted in an email to ProjectUSA that Cannon feeds her information for her articles.

Americans have known since the days of George Washington that there is no quality more important in our elected leaders than simple honesty. Please take a minute and call Congressman Cannon’s office in Provo, UT and leave a message for him telling him to level with his constituents. His bill is an amnesty. He should own up to it and stop playing the old Washington insider game.

(801) 379-2500

+== QUOTE OF THE WEEK ==+

“Many leaders, including Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Chris Cannon, are seeking to create reasonable guest worker programs that will serve the needs of the workers, their employers and national security. Their reward has been harsh criticism from people who delude themselves into thinking there is enough barbed wire in the galaxy to overcome the law of supply and demand.”

Salt Lake City Tribune
May 3, 2004

+== EMAIL OF THE WEEK ==+

Congressman Cannon is like so many politicians. In his arrogance, he believes the American people are not paying attention to issues but he forgets we now have computers!! We are now keeping a sharp eye on men like the Congressman who are not looking out for the best interests of the citizens.

Suzanne Grant
Farmingville NY