Ruben Watch Part 1

Hey all, the Register Guard is running a new (to us) columnist out of the San Diego Tribune I think in lieu of Jonah Goldberg. He's already driving me crazy, so I thought I'd share.

Today Ruben tackles immigration reform. He's for it:

This legislation represents an intricate give-and-take. The fact that the right and the left each found plenty to love and hate in this agreement attests to its fairness. No one got the better of anyone. And that's a good thing.

I love this line of argument. I say anything that splits the line between moderate and crazy right-wing must be fair! There's no right or wrong, only compromise!

He loves the guest worker program. Why? Because there are just some jobs Americans won't do. Now, you are probably familiar with this line. Bean picking, bed making, programing computers, these are jobs Americans just won't do. You may also be familiar with some of the counter arguments citing statistics about unemployment, stagnant wages, etc. I won't bore you with them because Ruben doesn't bore you with them. He gets right to the source of the straight dope...the small business owner, or, better yet, someone who knows a small business owner.

A reader in Vermont wrote that his neighbors are "making a big deal about the illegals working in the dairy farms" and "claim that they are taking their jobs." Yet, the reader noted, "the dairy farmers claim no one here wants to work on dairy farms."

Cow milking is not the only job 'mericans won't do. We also won't wash dishes. Not even for unheard of wages.

The same goes for those who own and manage restaurants, said the woman who called into a radio show I was on recently. She said she hired illegal immigrants at what she considered a good wage -- $15 per hour -- because she couldn't find Americans who wanted to be cooks or dishwashers.

Now you may be thinking, "Holy fuck! I would have been happy to wash dishes for twice the minimum wage when I was younger." That was you and me, my friend, and were of a different generation than these young folks today. Made of hardier stock we were. Getting the young to put out for twice the minimum (or three times the federal) just doesn't happen any more.

As for those jobs that Americans won't do, they're everywhere in this economy -- especially if you're talking about young Americans. This generation of 20-somethings was raised to have high self-esteem, to choose careers they love, to get plenty of education and to value their time. Many have no interest in being hired hands.... a work force full of people who act like they're doing you a favor by working for you. Numerous employers tell me that this arrogance applies even to low-skilled workers, the very folks that some Democrats say will be hurt by a guest worker program.

Now, I reach back into the memory banks to my time as an undergrad and I seem to recall something about the invisible hand of the market. As I remember, it solves all problems. In this case, it would seem that if employers have trouble finding employees to work for them at a certain wage, the solution would be to raise wages until the employer could attract the number of employees that they need. But I guess I misremember. Apparently, if you can't attract employees at a certain wage, import them, deny them political agency, then ship them back. No wonder I got a 'D' in that class.

So what is the solution to the problem of these arrogant low-skilled workers?

I suggested to the commerce secretary that the message we ought to be giving the low-skilled is to stop blaming others for their problems and go get more skills. He agreed.

"If there is one piece of advice you can give people today," Gutierrez said, "it is to increase your skills. And do it every single year. It's not a matter of doing it once like before and you're set. ... The bottom line is that when you have more skills, you're making more money. ... It could be a vocational skill. It could be an electricians' skill. It could be the skill to fix air conditioners. Something. But you need to have skills."

I assume these skills could be picked up at your local community college. Where you could learn about the free market.