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Post by DADDY O on Jan 25, 2017 15:38:34 GMT
The "Golden Boy" is expected to sign a Presidential Order to "Commence" Building the Great Wall of Trump today, which is a 20' tall wall along the border between the USA and the USA's largest trade partner.....Mexico.
This is a bad idea.....a very bad idea, and here's why:
Not only does this affect trade with Mexico. but it prevents hard working Mexicans to take the jobs that we lazy Americans won't do, like bus boys, car washers, laborers, etc., etc., etc.
Thus, for business to fill those positions, they will have to pay more than minimum wage to do so, and the costs of goods & services go up. Would it not be better to allow Mexicans into the country, give them a work permit and allow them to work at these menial jobs as long as they pay their taxes? That would only increase the revenues into the USA instead of paying off a wall that costs 14 Billion (yes, that's why a "B") of debt on a wall that really accomplishes nothing?
The "Wall" has already been built in populace areas. I know this, because I have work in these areas.
What separates the USA from Mexico is the Rio Grande River, as it is known in the USA, and Rio Bravo, as it is known in Mexico. And because there is a River involved, Mother Nature is also involved. Rivers change course constantly depending on Rainfall and geological conditions of how much silt and sand come down that river. Therefore, we cannot "Build the Wall" immediately next to the River, unless you want to replace sections of the wall every 2-5 years because the river changed course. The "Wall" to date is constructed about 1/2 mile from the river. So, who owns the land between the river and the wall? Farmers do, and they grow crops on that land. Because of that, the Wall has a break in it every 1/4 mile or so because the farmers need to access their land in order to grow their crops....duh? So now, we have the Great Wall of Trump that will cost USA tax payers 14 Billion Dollars (and no, Mexico isn't going to pay for it, no matter what Trump says). We would have a better chance of billing Australia to pay for those costs, and get paid for it, than Mexico.
So, now we would have (1) a great wall between us and our largest trade partner; (2) a wall that has a break in it every 1/4 of a mile or so, and; (3) a 14 Billion Dollar debt to be paid by the USA.
For a smart business man, the "Golden Boy" is awfully stupid................except Trump knows this has to go through Congress to get it funded, and he also knows that Congress will never, ever approve this. This is politics at its worst.
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Post by sherri on Jan 25, 2017 20:17:01 GMT
I do think you should have adequate border security. I'm not saying a wall, but better security.
You should not be counting on illegals to give cheap labour. Slavery got you into trouble & this isn't a great idea either.
Maybe you need to look at your immigration quota and the pres could announce that the % that used to go to middle east & refugees will now go to Mexicans.
You could do what we do here, have a special visa for temporary workers but the trouble with that is they will try to stay.
My advice would be-if you have jobs that no normal American will do as it is so lowly paid, then the message is the wage needs to be higher. You've talked in the past about industries using cheap Chinese labour to make their goods, well, this is no better, in fact is probably worse because it is exploitation plain and simple.
Yes, set a minimum wage. There will still be cash in hand behind the scenes hiring but if the cheap labour dries up, employers will find they have to pay better. Prices may go up slightly but that's life.
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Post by DADDY O on Jan 25, 2017 21:03:57 GMT
I did not say that Americans wouldn't do the job because the wage was low. I said they were too lazy. Big difference there.
Those jobs are paid minimum wage regardless of who wants the job. To the Mexicans, that's a lot of money........4-5 times more than they make in Mexico.
I guess we could always put them to work building the wall?
Guess which side they will be standing on when the last piece of the wall goes in?
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Post by mrp on Jan 27, 2017 9:00:21 GMT
If the US got rid of the minimum wage, they wouldn't need the wall.
Because, US labour could compete with Mexican labour.
The wall is already half built. It will be IMO a huge waste of money, but a drop in the bucket compared to what they spend on the DHS, ICE etc.
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Post by DADDY O on Jan 31, 2017 5:16:17 GMT
If the US got rid of the minimum wage, they wouldn't need the wall. Because, US labour could compete with Mexican labour. The wall is already half built. It will be IMO a huge waste of money, but a drop in the bucket compared to what they spend on the DHS, ICE etc. Mexicans are making $2-3 a day in Mexico. Getting rid of minimum wage would only guarantee more illegals.
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Post by mrp on Feb 1, 2017 9:25:23 GMT
"Getting rid of minimum wage would only guarantee more illegals."
You're gonna have to explain how this works, considering we are contemplating illegals.
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Post by DADDY O on Feb 1, 2017 13:22:11 GMT
If you eliminate minimum wage, you in effect eliminate jobs that Americans will do. They are not going to work for $ 2 per hour. If you eliminate jobs, Illegals will storm the country in order to take them....and yes, they will work for two dollars per hour, after all they are used to getting 2 dollars per day in Mexico.
A slight variation of supply & demand.
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Post by sherri on Feb 1, 2017 19:29:29 GMT
There are plenty of people here(not illegal immigrants but usually people of refugee or migrant background)who work for way under minimum wages or cash in hand. They and their employer are dodging the whole tax system. Tradesmen will quite often quote two prices, less for cash. I used to live in a suburb called Springvale which in the late 1970s became a strongly Vietnamese suburb. My brother & sister worked in the banks there. It was very much a cash economy with people routinely walking in and out with $30,000 or more. It's not always a case of no Australian would take a job, it is very much a case of no Australian would be offered a job with most of these people.
As for living on such low wages, what we noticed was 4 or 5 families would live in one smallish house.
Where I live, most young couples have mortgages of $300,000 or more. Or rent of at least $350 a week. It is over $200 a week to rent a single room. Most Australians who are paying tax on wages etc simply can't afford to work for $2 an hour. It is not that they are too lazy, they simply have to bring in more than that to survive.
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Post by DADDY O on Feb 2, 2017 12:30:17 GMT
Where I live, most young couples have mortgages of $300,000 or more. Or rent of at least $350 a week. It is over $200 a week to rent a single room. Most Australians who are paying tax on wages etc simply can't afford to work for $2 an hour. It is not that they are too lazy, they simply have to bring in more than that to survive.
Exactly same here, thus if we get rid of minimum wage, it will only bring in MORE illegals.
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Post by beachbum on Feb 3, 2017 2:17:13 GMT
Everybody keeps telling me that building the wall won't keep the Mexicans out.
China built a wall 2000 years ago.
They still have no Mexicans.
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Post by DADDY O on Feb 3, 2017 14:05:30 GMT
BWAHAHAHA....I'm going to steal that one from you.
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Post by mrp on Feb 15, 2017 10:13:50 GMT
"If you eliminate minimum wage, you in effect eliminate jobs that Americans will do. They are not going to work for $ 2 per hour."
But, the illegals are. Some Americans might work for $5 or $10. They can't be legally employed right now. Get rid of the MW, FICA etc.
It was half built anyway so the fuss over this is just partisan bleh.
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Post by DADDY O on Feb 18, 2017 12:11:42 GMT
I agree.............except..............I do not want to spend another 14 Billion (that's with a "B") on anymore of this stupidity just so Trump can feed his ego.
That's the difference.
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Post by mrp on Feb 21, 2017 12:49:16 GMT
Hillary or Cruz would have gone ahead. As would have Obama in his third term. To feed their egos, you might say.
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Post by DADDY O on Feb 21, 2017 18:07:38 GMT
Hillary or Cruz would have gone ahead. As would have Obama in his third term. To feed their egos, you might say. Actually......no they would not have. Hillary understood the significance of the Hispanic vote, as did Cruz. The State of Texas is about a 50-50 population between Hispanics and Whites now....and as we all know, politicians will do anything and say anything to get elected. IMHO, the Great Wall of Trump is no different than the Great Wall of Berlin. Think about it.............walls work both ways......or, and Trump has cut way back on his figures for the wall. He now says he will "Build a Fence" not a wall, and it will be approximately 850 miles of the 2,000 mile border between Mexico and the US. And..............he revises his numbers to be in the 20 billion dollar range. And, he's pretty much given up on Mexico paying for the wall. And you think this guy can govern? Not many Republicans will vote for this stupidity.................would you?
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