Alienated
There are so many falsehoods thrown around in the immigration debate. My biggest beef is with the statement that the illegals "do the jobs Americans don't want to."
No. The illegals take jobs at wages and benefits that American citizens will not accept.
Every job should pay what it takes to hire an American citizen to do it. If that causes dislocation in the markets - if there are fewer restaurants, if walnuts get more expensive - so be it. That's what a free labor market is about.
How do we get there? It is not that complicated. The illegals are not a bunch of drug dealers and terrorists. They are people looking for work.
When there is no work, they will move on.
Require all employers to comply with the law on I-9's and W-2's and 1099's - that is, get the employees' social security numbers and report the wages, payments, etc. to the government. Then, when the Social Security Administration says, "who is this person?" - tell the person that he or she does not return to work without a letter from the SSA.
National ID cards don't bother me, but I don't think they are necessary. I think the real answer is Social Security. If we are going to gather savings for Americans, and later pay it back to them, fine. Let's just make sure we know who they are.
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Poppies
One of the biggest foreign policy failures we face is the narcotics trade. This has been true for decades. But with Afghanistan once again in play, the failure is going to have real consequences.
There are solutions, but no political will to propose them.
The obvious, immediately-available solution is to buy up the crop. Offer 95 percent of market. The sellers will be happy to sell to a legal buyer rather than an illegal one. Then do whatever you want with it for now - compost it.
The longer-term solution is one that we will simply not hear from the major political parties. Legalize and regulate the traffic.
As my friends in the Libertarian Party say, there are two words that answer drug policy:
Al Capone.
One of the biggest foreign policy failures we face is the narcotics trade. This has been true for decades. But with Afghanistan once again in play, the failure is going to have real consequences.
There are solutions, but no political will to propose them.
The obvious, immediately-available solution is to buy up the crop. Offer 95 percent of market. The sellers will be happy to sell to a legal buyer rather than an illegal one. Then do whatever you want with it for now - compost it.
The longer-term solution is one that we will simply not hear from the major political parties. Legalize and regulate the traffic.
As my friends in the Libertarian Party say, there are two words that answer drug policy:
Al Capone.
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