Lou Dobbs Interview

Run time: 10:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcWULkhm15w   Posted on YouTube: November 09, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 09, 2007 By DU Member: ihavenobias Views on DU: 1193

 
Cenk squares off against Lou Dobbs on (of course) illegal immigration.

the problem of the depressive effect on wages of the open border policy and joins in the corporate and left wing mantra that we "NEED" all these workers because Americans won't do these jobs. The corporate agenda is to reduce wages to the same level as Mexico.

It is time for all to stop demonizing people and start placing the source of the problem on corporations and NAFTA and those who hire immigrants at slave wages.

I am not trying to bash you because I think I know what you mean. I would just like to point out that, yes, Americas will do the jobs if they pay the right wages. The issue is that Americans will not work for low wages. Americans are hard workers, they just want to be paid to do work and paid enough to support their families.

american applicants for the same jobs.

do those jobs is just a corporate talking point. They prefer to pay slave wages so they can increase their profits.

I'm concerned with de facto maximum wage laws created by a huge insourcing (in this case) but more importantly from outsourcing (another topic).

I'm not worried about the culture becoming corrupted or anything ridiculous like that, and I'm not scared of other languages (my parents came here legally from Yugoslavia).

It's true that some of the motivation for those on the right who are anti-immigration is due to racism and xenophobia. But that doesn't mean there is NO valid reason to want to drastically reform what's going on.

Depression of wages, benefits and working conditions is a very valid concern, at least you'd think it would be (has been historically speaking) for people who consider themselves to be liberal/progressive/democrats.

The answer is not to build some ridiculous wall, but rather, to crack down on illegal employers. I don't blame the people wanting to come here because NAFTA has failed to save them from a poor economy, I blame the employers looking to exploit cheap labor.

And the the cost of labor *generally* factors very little into how much we pay for things, rather, demand/the market sets the price, and if a company can reduce labor costs, great, more profits for CEO's and shareholders.

PS---The absolute worst line is "they do jobs Americans won't do". Right, because these same Americans who unclog our toilets, mop our floors and work in sweaty hole-in-the-wall fast food joints are "too good" to pick fruit, do construction or clean up a hotel room?

The reality is that most Americans won't and *shouldn't* work for poverty wages with no benefits or unsafe working conditions. Improve those things and PLENTY of Americans will do these jobs.
And if we have a labor shortage (don't forget most unemployment figures only measure *active* unemployment), great, lets get more people in here legally to do the jobs with real papers for real wages.

I appreciate it. It's just frustrating because I feel that too many dismiss the very real problems with the issue just because *some* people argue out of (as I mentioned) xenophobia/racism.

We need to ignore the absurd parts and seriously consider what's left.