popeye1250
Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: LafayetteLady
quote:
ORIGINAL: Iamsemisweet
My days of ag work are behind me. I am neither unemployed or in danger of losing my house, or anything else. I still don't see how it makes economic sense to not have people who need jobs do this type of work. Illegal immigrants are a drain on social services. I am not willing to pick up those costs.
I can't remember ever saying I would rather it rot. I continue to believe there is another solution.
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ORIGINAL: xssve
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ORIGINAL: Iamsemisweet
Sure xssve, you are probably right. Let the tomatoes rot in the field because people who are not illegal immigrants are both too good and not good enough to do the job. Meanwhile, these same people are losing their homes and can't feed their kids. It makes no sense to me.
You said it, I didn't - you'd rather it rot than pay a Mexican do it, that's your priorities so get picken', I have a new line of work.
In other words, nobody's stopping you, so get to it.
There's a major problem with this whole concept of "hire the unemployed to do it." The farmers are paying these migrant workers off the books to do this work. They aren't paying Federal Income Tax, Social Security, Disability, Worker's Comp or any of the other myriad of things employers are supposed to pay when having someone on the books.
As for those citing some "statistics" that these workers are making $18 or even $10 an hour. Bullshit. Those statistics are wildly skewed. Many restaurants also have illegals working in the kitchen and on the face of it, looks like they are paid well. Until you factor in that they are actually working nearly 80 hours a week for their $600 bucks, not 40 hours. No breaks, no benefits, and typically half that money is paid off the books as well.
The minimum wage in this country is a joke. What is it? $7.25 an hour? All this talk of "if people are on welfare, or unemployed, they'll work for minimum wage." So a single mother on welfare goes to work for minimum wage. At 40 hours a week, she makes a big $290 BEFORE taxes. Even if you calculate that she has no taxes taken out, out of that $1,256 whopping dollars a month she is receiving monthly, she has to pay for child care. Anyone care to guess the cost of that? Let's be generous and say it is a school aged child, so the cost of "after care" or "latch key" program is only $75 a week. Of course if her kids are younger, you can practically double that amount. And don't forget, during the summer, that cost is going to increase for a full day program. So figure on at least $125 during the summer months weekly. Again, let's say she lives in an area with ample public transportation, so she has no gas, insurance, car costs. Still, the commute ain't free. To work with even numbers, we will say that costs $25 bucks a week. Just to work, it costs her $100 bucks a week. She now has $190 left a week. With that, she needs to pay rent, food, utilities. Let's say she shops really well, she is still going to pay $50 bucks a week to feed her family. Down to $140 a week for utilities and rent. Y'all realize that is $606 dollars a month for RENT and utilities, right? Of course, I also didn't factor in that no minimum wage job is going to completely pay for benefits if they offer them at all, so better take at least $100 bucks a month away from that $600 (and you ALL know that is being really generous on an insurance contribution). Now this woman is supposed to pay for an apartment for her and her one child with $500 bucks a month, plus utitilities? Thirty easy to electric. She has a kid, so has to have a phone. Cheapest "pay as you go" phones are still going to cost her $25 a month, so now she has $445 left for rent.
Anyone want to tell me where that woman is going to live? Because I know she isn't living in NJ, NY, or CA. She isn't even going to be living in FL, WA, IL, or even PA which is notorious for cheap housing.
It's real easy to say anyone who doesn't go out to work is lazy or just wants to live off the system. But in the scenario above, before this woman took that minimum wage job, she probably had medical benefits for her and her kid that she no longer qualifies for since she is working. She received food stamps and rent subsidies. She wasn't living well by any means, but she knew that if her kid got sick, she could take him/her to the doctor, get necessary prescriptions and be there to care for her sick child. Now she is working minimum wage, even if she has benefits, she has no money for the co-pay, and she will lose her job if she takes time off to take care of her child, who can't go to child care when sick.
It's easy to come up with solutions like those listed here when you are so out of touch with reality.
Lady, good post but you forgot lottery tickets, smokes and beer money.
Minimum wage (is) a joke. That's what the people in congress should be making.
Raise the price of tomatoes by .15 cents a pound and pay American citizens $25 an hour to plant and pick them. I don't begrudge anyone a good week's pay! That's what we need in this country, working people making good money. It's good for the economy!
As long as working and middle class people don't have money to spend on new cars, appliances, furniture and housing we'll remain in a recession.
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"But Your Honor, this is not a Jury of my Peers, these people are all decent, honest, law-abiding citizens!"
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RE: Want a tomato with your salad? Get a bank loan - 
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