RUSH: David in Fort Worth. I’m glad to have you on the program. Welcome.
CALLER: Hi, Rush.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: Major 50,000-watt blowtorch dittos from the big WBAP here in Dallas/Fort Worth.
RUSH: Great to have you here.
CALLER: Looking forward to your visit to our fair community, got my tickets and I’m ready to see you at the Nokia.
RUSH: Yeah, I’ll be out there on May the 11th.
CALLER: That is correct, sir.
RUSH: I didn’t bother announcing it on this program because I knew it would sell out in two minutes once BAP announced it.
CALLER: Well, they offered tickets to the BAP listeners club first, and I’ll be surprised if there’s an empty seat within miles of that place.
RUSH: There won’t be, there never is.
CALLER: Rush, my comment was, you know, with this illegal immigration and these people being so hard working and so underpaid, I think the next step for the Dems is going to be a mandatory minimum wage for illegal alien workers. What are your thoughts on that? Do you see that coming?
RUSH: How are we going to enforce it? (Laughing.) How are we going to enforce this, because the businesses today that hire them are already breaking the law but we don’t track them down.
CALLER: Well, I figure it will be a badge of honor now that you show up, you announce yourself as an illegal, and you’ll get a raise, for crying out loud.
RUSH: (Laughing.) Except the problem is that’s never going to happen. You know, the reason it isn’t going to happen is because the reason that businesses hire them is because they get ’em at under minimum wage.
CALLER: Ahhhh.
RUSH: Yeah, that’s what the attraction is. Look, it’s not entirely these businesses’ fault. You have to understand. I don’t know what percentage, it’s a 50-50 deal here. True, you have businesses. Every business wants to keep its costs down and its profit margin up. That’s capitalism. It’s not a sin, and it all works out because there’s competition for jobs. The more educated you are and the more talented you are, the greater bargaining power you’re going to have. The less education, the less preparation, the less skill and talent, you’re up a creek — and there are certain businesses that don’t need highly skilled. They need a physically dominated labor force.
They love the fact that they can get these people at bargain basement wages with no benefits, by the way, that all the rest of us end up subsidizing. One thing here — and I’m not defending them on the basis of breaking the law — but there are so many regulations that the federal bureaucracy has imposed on American businesses, that this is one of the natural release valves. When it’s made available to you as a business, you might take the risk. If the cost of doing business, in meeting all of the OSHA and all of the FEMA, whatever, take your acronym, the affirmative action requirements, all of this bureaucratic gunk, after awhile people throw up their hands and say, “Screw this,” and you go to the point of least resistance.
In this case it happens to be the illegals. So, bottom line is you pass this minimum wage increase for illegals, and the business community that hires them is going to say, “Well, screw this,” and they’re not going to hire them — and then where are they? That sort of uncovers one of the dark little secrets here. By the way, we’re getting stories of all these illegals being fired for leaving work and attending the protests. There were 15 of them fired in Detroit, on Tuesday for going to a rally. “A Monroe-based home-painting contractor fired more than a quarter of its employees ? all of them Latino ? Tuesday morning, a day after the painters left work two hours early to attend Monday’s immigration rally in downtown Seattle. The company, Laitala Enterprises, and the fired workers agree on this much: That the workers told their foreman Monday morning of their desire to attend the rally, that they left early, and that their departure didn’t delay the schedule of a painting job in a Fife subdivision. But the two sides don’t agree on facts critical to determining whether what the workers did amounted to insubordination and abandoning their jobs, as the company claimed in dismissing them. The company said 17 were fired; their union said 19.
“The workers’ union filed a grievance Wednesday after Laitala refused to reinstate them… That means the workers won’t get their jobs back for several weeks, if ever.” Of course, you knew this was going to happen. I predicted this. In fact, this was happening when I said it was happening. Migrants flock across US border just like 1986 when the talk then was of amnesty. “At a shelter overflowing with migrants airing their blistered feet, Francisco Ramirez nursed muscles sore from trekking through the Arizona desert ? a trip that failed when his wife did not have the strength to go on. He said the couple would rest for a few days, then try again, a plan echoed by dozens. The shelter?s manager said he has not seen such a rush of migrants since 1986, when the United States allowed 2.6 million illegal residents to get American citizenship.” So, I knew it. The numbers coming across the border, they’re increasing at a rate people haven’t seen in 20 years because they know amnesty awaits them.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Our buddies at WorldNetDaily have the report of a Zogby poll of 8,000 people. “A survey of nearly 8,000 people shows coast-to-coast protests against immigration proposals in Congress ? particularly to make it a federal felony to be an illegal worker in the U.S. ? have not persuaded a majority of likely American voters. Asked whether the protests have made likely voters more or less sympathetic toward undocumented workers, 61 percent said they’re less likely to be sympathetic to the plight of illegals as a result of the protests, while only 32 percent of respondents said they’re now more sympathetic. Younger respondents to the poll were more likely to be sympathetic than were older participants. And while 56 percent of Democrats said the protests made them feel more sympathy for unlawful workers, just 6 percent of Republicans felt that way.”
Not surprising, but that’s a huge sample: 8,000 people. I don’t know if it’s likely, whatever, registered voters. “The survey also shows an overwhelming majority of Americans ? nearly 4 out 5 ? is doubtful President Bush and Congress will find a fair and effective solution to the immigration crisis. While 88 percent of Democrats and 85 percent of independents said it’s unlikely a solution will be found, 66 percent of Republicans agreed.” So the backlash, the backfire, is continuing. In fact, there’s other poll data here. This is the LA Times/Bloomberg poll. “Most back a tighter border with a guest worker plan.” People want a comprehensive immigration solution. The fence, building a fence, building a wall wins 42-35%, with the felon label. If you ask the question with the felon label, “Americans showed markedly less enthusiasm for allowing illegal workers to continue to flow into the US than they did for proposals to permit the estimated 11 to 12 million legal immigrants already here to remain legally.” So, as predicted. It was not hard to figure out. The question is: At what point will America’s elected officials decide to side with the citizens, somehow, some way, rather than those who are not yet citizens?
END TRANSCRIPT
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
