Raising The Minimum Wage - Service Industries Run Amuck!
Both the service and manufacturing industries are destroying America. The corporate top brass of the United States has bought the office of many politicians.The flood gates of illegal immigration were opened by the Bush administration, in order to fill the documented shortage of service industry workers this country had back in the nineties and early 21st century. This shortage was due to the fact; that in America; each generation has had an ever growing percentage of college graduates; and thus, sought better jobs. The legal American citizen demanded to be paid better and sought benefits. This caused a shortage of presentable and more highly profitable menial labor. Thus, illegal immigrants were allowed to flow in and fill the jobs and lower labor cost.
It created greater profits for the few individuals at the top tier of corporations. They get to have a more extravagant material existence, and an excess of money, that they can't take with them at the end of their mortal life. But this doesn't matter to them. Nor does the lack of a positive legacy to be left behind.
The problems created by these corporate and political profiteers will be paid by our countries citizens for generations to come. The saddest and most hypercritical point of all, is that American citizens are all apathetic, myopic, self-relative, and lethargic to act. Nothing will be done to counter this, but will be bitched about long after the fact and to no avail.
The ill-effects cover a vast spectrum of our society. Almost every aspect of our civilization is adversely effected. The lack of database information on illegal immigrants for law enforcement is one such adversity. Flooding across borders has not only been people seeking a better life than found in a lessor developed country; but also the criminal elements. Without proper identity databases; who knows who is in our country. How can they be properly taxed liked the rest of us? Who is wanted for capital crimes in other countries? Who is a terrorist?
False identification is wide-spread and well-known in the service industries. So long as illegal immigrants picture ID and Social Security cards "look" real is all that matters to an employer. They will hire these migrant workers on the lowest end of the pay scale in order to profit. The migrant workers accept these jobs and don't bitch because they can't; at least not legally. Illegal immigrants claim to have eight or more dependents to avoid paying taxes. Native born citizens aren't able to find as many jobs.
There is an argument that unskilled labor should have to compete amongst themselves. that if they do not like the conditions of society relative to them, then they should make themselves skilled instead.
But, in the restaurant industry, for instance, you have a large amount of single mothers and young adults actually trying to work their way through college. The single mothers, who once followed the American dream of being a professional homemaker; now finds the need to be the moneymaker instead. And as for having enough surplus cash left-over for tuition; there really isn't a chance. As for the college student, being unskilled is why they are there in the first place. But, if the available unskilled jobs aren't available because they are given to illegal immigrants instead; then how are they expected to pay for the education or vocational courses that will make them skilled?
A second argument point is that; illegal immigration has nothing to do with Congress not raising the minimum wage. Allowing illegals offset having to pay higher wages to a dwindling work force. Even if the wage was raised, it is still less than the average American would find acceptable if given a choice. But now, for legal Americans who out of good reasoning, would work the menial jobs until they gained skills and education; aren't able to get menial jobs sufficient to get by on until the skills and education are in fact gained.
So what does all this discussion of immigration have to do with the title of this article and minimum wage?
By raising the minimum wage to a much more realistic level, we would remove the monetary motivation that caused employers to look the other way when hiring. Legislators lose potential gains from not enforcing laws that have already been in place, and from avoiding the creation of new laws. Borders will again be more tightly monitored and adequately staffed. Unskilled Americans will have a broader chance of earning a living while gaining skills and education that costs money to be gained. Criminals will not enter the country and run a muck as easily. Our roads, education and emergency systems, etc., will be more accurately funded with tax dollars more fully taken in from all workers.
In the end, the most powerful and most over-looked fact remains. We out number them. The politicians and corporate executives, that is. We vote the politicians into office and we immortalize their memories for their decedents to have to live with. We are the people and we decide the laws that the legislators have to put into place to make us happy. Thus, we can force into place laws which alter present corporate law and hold executives fully accountable with the threat of incarceration.
We out number these very, very few individuals. We are the power that controls.
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GOP senate Kills Wage Increase 6/21/06
