Althouse: "Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants."

January 21, 2018

"Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants."

Harsh words from a new ad at Donald J. Trump for President:

252 comments:

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richard mcenroe said...: The assumption there is that the party of Benghazi and Planned Parenthood and the City of Chicago gives a damn about murders.; 1/21/18, 9:23 PM
Ken Mitchell said...: "If I was AG Sessions I'd pull him up on whatever I could charge him with. This shit simply cannot be allowed to stand."

Sessions would never do such a thing. Sessions, you see, is in WAY over his head. To be honest, he'd be in over his head in a parking lot puddle, but I digress. He may have been mentally and morally suitable to be a senator, but in accordance with the Peter Principle, as Attorney General he has been promoted beyond his level of incompetence.

Sessions should resign, or be fired, or impeached, or trampled by wild horses (they still have wild horses in Alabama, don't they?) and replaced with someone with something resembling a spine.; 1/21/18, 9:29 PM
MeatPopscicle1234 said...: And now we have a 5th government agency claiming to have “LOST” critically relevant electronic data related to an ongoing investigation... first the IRS, then the State Department, then the DOJ, then the NSA and now the FBI... How fucking stupid do they think we are... They all need to br perp-walked in chains and hung for treason!!!; 1/21/18, 9:35 PM
MeatPopscicle1234 said...: Where’s Elliot Ness when you need him!!!; 1/21/18, 9:39 PM
SH said...: Lyle Smith said...

"Fight Democrats with a Democrat logic. Fair is fair."

It is kinda similar to their anti gun arguments... which makes it extra funny that they dismiss this stuff as bigoted...

There are key differences though. Making guns illegal won't eliminate them from criminals. Removing guns from society won't stop murder or violence (still possible w/o a gun). Whereas removing illegals will stop crime by illegals. The per capita arguments about it are unconvincing to me is they wouldn't be replaced by others to commit the same crimes. The population would just be smaller.; 1/21/18, 10:02 PM
Achilles said...: It is quite amazing how many democrat swamp critters have “lost” data they were by law required to maintain.

But laws are situational to the uniparty. The only situation they apply is to the little people to acquire more power for themselves. Thus importing a new poorer less educated electorate against the law is par for the course.

They are absolutely despondent right now because the working class is finally seeing wages going up and Black/Hispanic unemployment is at record lows. The fed will start whining about inflation soon and drive interest rates up. Can’t let the little people up.; 1/21/18, 10:08 PM
Big Mike said...: Interesting thing about losing the mobile messages between Strzok and Page. First, it took this country’s premier investigative agency FIVE MONTHS before they noticed they weren’t recording the messages, which they are legally obligated to keep and maintain under the Federal Records Management Act, but more interestingly, let’s do a thought experiment. Suppose Strzok and Page were not Federal employees but actually worked for a firm under investigation by the FBI. Does anyone think they would accept an excuse like “oops, five month long glitch in our system”? Or would folks be doing a perp walk?; 1/21/18, 10:16 PM
narciso said...: You think it took five months or it wee just when they decided to release the evidence.; 1/21/18, 10:24 PM
buwaya said...: Every time I have come close to being murdered (twice held up at gunpoint in Oakland CA), it was by Americans born and bred.
Also attacked on the street in San Francisco.

I have been in very scary places (Aden), and been the "guest", at various times, of communist guerrillas, the dictators guardsmen, and the Philippine constabulary, but I was in no way as frightened by any of them as I have been by Americans.; 1/21/18, 10:32 PM
narciso said...: How did you come to be in aden, yes I heard the constabulary was a rough bunch.; 1/21/18, 10:36 PM
Big Mike said...: @buwaya, seems as though you’ve lived an interesting life. Someday you should tell us your story.; 1/21/18, 10:57 PM
bgates said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/21/18, 11:38 PM
bgates said...: Your problem is you hold positions that are completely amoral and the only consistent intellectual track you hold to is whatever it takes to gain more power over other people.

That's a bit harsh, Robert.; 1/21/18, 11:40 PM
Matt Sablan said...: If possibly exonerating evidence has been lost by prosecutorial negligence or bad faith actions... How is a prosecution going to get by reasonable doubt and how is the investigation not tainted?; 1/21/18, 11:44 PM
Matt Sablan said...: On the other hand, they've learned from the Ted Stevens case and the Bundy Ranch mistrial. You can't get in trouble for not providing exonerating evidence if you lose/destroy/never collect it.; 1/21/18, 11:46 PM
libersomething said...: We need to remember that dreamers and daca are two distinct groups. I know a daca illegal who has been here since age two and has never been to Mexico and wouldn't know how to react if he was sent there. He has a good job and goes to school, great kid with a good future. He thinks of himself as an American and doesn't know anything different. I think that immigration laws need to be changed to help these types of people become legal. Chain migration, no. Other illegals, no. Don't turn our backs on those that help this country no matter if they end up voting R or D.

By the way Inga you are clueless and a bore.; 1/22/18, 12:09 AM
Gospace said...: Republicans are blamed for every gay bashing in America, whether or not it's a hoax, or a drug deal gone bad like Matthew Shepherd.

Republicans are accused or racism every time a thug like Trayvon Martin or the gentle giant Michael Brown dies while committing crimes.

Republicans are accused of being behind every anti-Muslim incident in the nation, just before it's discovered it's just another hoax.

I see no problem with blaming Democrats for something Democrats are actually responsible for. None at all. Brilliant as by President Donald John Trump.; 1/22/18, 12:45 AM
walter said...: I just overheard via some clients that "Flakka" didn't exist before Trump.
hint, hint; 1/22/18, 1:30 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Since the rapidly unfolding DoJ/FBI scandal was just mentioned, let me suggest the following video that ties a lot of it together:

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/21/great-video-explanation-operation-trump-former-federal-prosecutor-outlines-scope-of-fbi-and-doj-corruption/

“Former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova outlines the majority of the events behind the unlawful surveillance of Donald Trump and each of the participating members within the FBI and DOJ corruption.

In essence, during this 30 minute discussion, diGenova outlines much of the back-story and how FBI officials Bill Priestap, Peter Strzok, Jim Baker, Andrew McCabe and Jim Comey participated along with Justice Department Loretta Lynch, Sally Yates, John P Carlin, Bruce Ohr and Lisa Page. Mr. diGenova has a solid grasp on the players and how they are enmeshed within the entire operation.

DiGenova also shares how NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers, Chairman Devin Nunes and ODNI Dan Coats began to confront the unlawful behavior and position the entire Justice Department for a complete generational reset.”; 1/22/18, 2:32 AM
Kevin said...: Has Stephen Miller taken over Steve Bannon’s role as Trumps brain?

It's hilarious to watch the evolution of talking points through Inga's posts.

I remember just a few hours ago when Inga told everyone how the shutdown was Trump's fault because he controlled all three branches of government.

And within a day it's Stephen Miller's fault?

Yes, the Dems have really stepped in it this time. Sad!; 1/22/18, 2:44 AM
Kevin said...: Why should McConnell throw these bozos a bone?

They wanted to fix DACA as part of reopening the government, so do it. No CR until immigration is done.

The immigration bill has been written. Bring it to the floor and get it passed then go to normal order for spending.

McConnell can do it in the name of bipartisanship and "working together". He can keep repeating that this is what his Democratic colleagues demanded.; 1/22/18, 2:50 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: I think that more and more, Trump is turning out to be transformal. Not so much how he does it, but what he does. He is fundamentally changing American politics by changing many of the debates within it. He is, essentially rewriting a number of the narratives that have been built up by the Dems and the left, through their allies and proxies, such as the MSM and academia. This is why, of course, that the left has been at DEFCON 17 since the Nov. 2018 election. Some of it is branding, like “Crooked Hillary” and “Schumer Shutdown”. No one has been able to successfully counter this so far. The other is using his bully pulpit and his Twitter account to emphasize parts of debates that resonate with the American people, but have been glossed over up until now, like was done with this video. While the emphasis in the past has been on the very occasional Dreamer valedictorian, Trump brings the focus back to unrepentant monsters like the one in the video. Parts of Mexico appear to have almostly completely fallen apart and turned into violent chaos. Even the 2nd Generation Hispanics, who probably form a majority in the neighborhood we live in here, don’t want this to follow them here. Safety is a fundamental need (2nd from the bottom in Maslow’s hierarchy, after the physiological) and only the willfully ignorant, or rich liberals living in gated communities, can ignore this danger. Which is why the video is effective.; 1/22/18, 3:01 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: "Why should McConnell throw these bozos a bone?
They wanted to fix DACA as part of reopening the government, so do it. No CR until immigration is done.
The immigration bill has been written. Bring it to the floor and get it passed then go to normal order for spending.
McConnell can do it in the name of bipartisanship and "working together". He can keep repeating that this is what his Democratic colleagues demanded."

Has the bill actually been written? One of the Republican talking points was just the opposite - that there was no bill language yet that the Dems could shove into the spending bill, and send back to the House. At least no bill language that had been seen in public. And, of course, the Gang of Six agreement, if there were one, would be DOA in the House. They don't seriously address funding the wall, ending chain migration, or the lottery. And would very likely continue to make it more difficult for a PhD with an H1B visa to get permanent residency, than illiterate peasants who entered the country illegally.

The basic problem for the Dems with immigration is that their approach (designed to give them a permanent demographic electoral advantage) is only viable if the American public is kept unaware of all of the most critical issues. If everyone keeps their eyes on valedictorian Dreamers, and not the cop killers who keep sneaking back in the country. Passing legislation that the Democrats wanted was close a couple years ago. They had buyin from the Chamber of Commerce Republicans, who were getting their cheap labor, and the tech giants, who were getting stricter H1B requirements (couldn't jump from one company to another, raising their salaries, but had to go back home first) along with higher quotas (they were supplying a lot of the lobbying money). It was, I think, the defeat of Eric Cantor, #2 Republican in the House, that finally put the fear of the Republican base in the House leadership, and killed finally killed liked it. It was a close thing. And a lot of people had a lot of sleepless nights back then. The question then, as now, is why would Republicans vote to support legislation intentionally d signed to give the other party, the Democrats, a permanent electoral advantage? The answer was s, of course, greed. A lot of money was pushing the legislation. Now, it is harder for Republicans to support it, because the motives of the Democrats have been documented, made publicly c, and thrown in the faces of Republicans who start wavering.; 1/22/18, 3:43 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: "We need to remember that dreamers and daca are two distinct groups. I know a daca illegal who has been here since age two and has never been to Mexico and wouldn't know how to react if he was sent there. He has a good job and goes to school, great kid with a good future. He thinks of himself as an American and doesn't know anything different. I think that immigration laws need to be changed to help these types of people become legal. Chain migration, no. Other illegals, no. Don't turn our backs on those that help this country no matter if they end up voting R or D."

I don't think that very many people really want to deport DACA eligible Dreamers. To turn our backs on them. The problem is that the Democrats keep pushing the plight of the Dreamers, but refuse to even mention, or come close to discussing ending chain migration and the visa lottery. That is, of course, because the real intent by the Dems is to get citizenship for the Dreamers, and then 10 million more of their family members through chain migration. 800k Dreamers don't get their permanent majority. 10 million more very likely does.; 1/22/18, 3:52 AM
Big Mike said...: I may be heading for a delicious case of schadenfreude. Apparently the best deal the Democrats could have negotiated prior to the histrionics over the word “shithole,” followed by allegations of racism, and capped with Schumer’s Shutdown, is no longer the table. Can Democrats be taught to negotiate in good faith? Perhaps, but just perhaps.

Hope schadenfreude is low in calories, as I am trying to lose weight.; 1/22/18, 4:03 AM
Big Mike said...: Away from DC and out in the real world people have been dealing with disruptive technologies for decades, starting with factory automation and continuing through online sales killing a catalog order giant like Sears and ebooks allowing authors to bypass publishing houses. Now the gatekeepers of the media are learning that Trump has another gate they cannot control and Democrats may be forced for the first time in my lifetime to deal honestly with the public. Breaks my heart.; 1/22/18, 4:12 AM
Jeff H said...: Democrats are in fact complicit in every murder or other crime committed by an illegal alien for, oh, say the last 4 decades. In fact, the murder of American citizen by illegals serves 2 purposes for the "Dem/lib/prog/commie/nazi/fascist/satanist [sorry for the redundancy]®": It creates another potential felon (i.e., Democrat voter for life) and it reduces the number of people who might possibly be or eventually vote Republican.; 1/22/18, 5:11 AM
Breezy said...: The crazy left wants open borders for a permanent majority so they can implement socialism, because they are so smart and can fix every inequality, like in Venezuela.; 1/22/18, 5:54 AM
grackle said...: One trouble with merit-based, as Derbyshire argues this week, is that it strips shithole countries of its best people, leaving behind an even more shitty country when the talent is gone.

I have a different attitude. I do not want “merit-based” legal immigrants. “Merit-based” means the educated and wealthy – the elite. If you want to know why these nations are shitholes look no further than to their elite. The peasantry of these nations are a tabula rasa and adapt easily to democracy within a generation after arrival in the USA. Their elites will bring the same shithole attitudes to the USA that turned their home nations into shitholes.

Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. – all these nations’ troubles are the fault of their “merit-based” elite. Most of the nations south of the border are corrupt beyond repair – corruption in these “merit-based” governments is a way of life and taken for granted as part of the perks deserved and collected by the elites. I would rather have the peasants.; 1/22/18, 6:18 AM
Robert Cook said...: ”They are absolutely despondent right now because the working class is finally seeing wages going up....”

What are you referring to? The rise of minimum wages, which commenced before Trump was in office and which most commenters here deplored?; 1/22/18, 6:34 AM
Bandit said...: Dems - the party of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate; 1/22/18, 7:30 AM
Kevin said...: Has the bill actually been written?

The House has a bill that deals with DACA, wall, chain migration, and the lottery.

It doesn't deal with e-verify and it's probably not what the Gang of 8 people would be happy with.

If Ryan would stop working on spending bills and put his focus on immigration it would take, what, 48 hours to have a bill dealing with DACA and the rest of Trump's priorities?

Perhaps part of the problem is that Schumer thinks he gets to write the bill?; 1/22/18, 7:35 AM
Anonymous said...: grackle: The peasantry of these nations are a tabula rasa and adapt easily to democracy within a generation after arrival in the USA.

This is nonsense. "Peasants" will assimilate into a well-functioning democratic state only under certain conditions, both external and particular to the peasants themselves.

Their elites will bring the same shithole attitudes to the USA that turned their home nations into shitholes.

Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. – all these nations’ troubles are the fault of their “merit-based” elite. Most of the nations south of the border are corrupt beyond repair – corruption in these “merit-based” governments is a way of life and taken for granted as part of the perks deserved and collected by the elites. I would rather have the peasants.

How about neither?

The idea that "the people are good, they just have bad leaders, or institutions, or 'culture', or whatever, and that can be solved by Easy Fix X (emigration, regime change, lots and lots of foreign aid/education/propaganda)" is fanciful.

All human beings are self-interested and prone to corruption. That the U.S. has historically functioned better, and been less corrupt than nations to the south, is not because our elites are just such better human beings than the elites of Latin American nations. Ours have been trying their damndest in the last few decades to "Latin Americanize" the U.S., and they've pretty much succeeded in California, despite the mass influx of allegedly "tabula rasa peasants". That they haven't been as successful in most of the rest of the country has everything to do with the qualities and culture of the "peasants", not the nature of the elites.; 1/22/18, 7:41 AM
Anonymous said...: grackle: Though I agree with your main point that "merit-based" immigration can also be a can of worms.; 1/22/18, 7:46 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: The rise of minimum wages, which commenced before Trump was in office and which most commenters here deplored?

Liberals never argue in good faith. So let me spell it out:

It is BAD for the economy and for workers when GOVERNMENT sets the minimum wage higher than its natural equilibrium. Less skilled workers lose job opportunities (see McDonalds and the new order kiosks) and many small businesses close (see Seattle), like restaurants.

It is GOOD when businesses use an expanding economy to BID UP the minimum wage they are willing to pay. This voluntary increase is a sign of a healthy economy and dispels the progressive lie that only government fiat can raise wages.; 1/22/18, 8:17 AM
mockturtle said...: Hope schadenfreude is low in calories, as I am trying to lose weight.

If you lose weight, Big Mike, will you have to change your screen name?; 1/22/18, 8:29 AM
MacMacConnell said...: Econ 101 is hard for stateist. Free markets eliminate their opportunities for graft and grifting.; 1/22/18, 8:32 AM
Big Mike said...: @mockturtle, no.; 1/22/18, 8:44 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: "Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. – all these nations’ troubles are the fault of their “merit-based” elite. Most of the nations south of the border are corrupt beyond repair – corruption in these “merit-based” governments is a way of life and taken for granted as part of the perks deserved and collected by the elites. I would rather have the peasants."

Why are these Spanish descended countries much more likely to have corruption problems, and a caste system? My theory is that there were three models tried by European countries to settle the New World. The English model was to bring in families, and let them breed like crazy. The immigrants started out as heavily N European Protestant, and only received a healthy dose of S European Catholics in the 19th Century after the country's character was well developed, and in numbers that didn't seriously threaten it. The interbreeding with the native Indians was minimal, because there never were huge numbers of them, and many of the eastern ones died from disease. In any case, they never had been able to form large empires as they had in Mexico and S America. The French tried bringing in single makes, who interbred with the native Indians. They were out bred greatly by the English model, and mostly were absorbed as a result.

The Spanish (and Portguise) were there first, and found functioning empires, that turned out to be susceptible to takeover from the top (esp when aided by disease). Much easier and faster than the English model that took essentially three centuries to fill up the present Continental U.S. By taking over these functioning Indian empires at the top, they essentially had ready made aristocracies, with them at the top. It didn't hurt that they were Roman Catholic at a time when the Church stood behind the throne, and looked unkindly at the N European natural rights movement that had some of its roots in the Reformation. Then, the Spanish empire broke up, leaving a bunch of weak states behind, that were often too weak to stand up to outside pressure, esp of the financial type. And yes, US interests were often involved. A lot of bribery, etc going on. Which often left a combination of aristocrats and cleptocrats running the countries.

Needs a bit more work - these thoughts were bringing two different strands together, and maybe not yet that successfully.; 1/22/18, 8:58 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Trump is like the Eagles' head coach Doug Petersen...when he has your team down down, he keeps pouring it on!; 1/22/18, 9:06 AM
grackle said...: Me earlier: The peasantry of these nations are a tabula rasa and adapt easily to democracy within a generation after arrival in the USA.

This is nonsense. "Peasants" will assimilate into a well-functioning democratic state only under certain conditions, both external and particular to the peasants themselves.

For generations the assimilation went like this:

1st gen: The newly arrived adults learn some broken English, enough to function in a limited way. Only Spanish is spoken at home. The kids speak English outside the home. Classrooms are English only

2nd gen: The “kids,” now parents, speak mainly English at home. Their children, except for a few phrases, lack real fluency in Spanish.

3rd gen: With few exceptions, no fluency in Spanish.

Other cultural indicators of assimilation followed the same pattern - totally Americanized within 3 generations. But it is important to note that democracy and the American way of life was accepted as the ideal even by the first generation, because democracy was intimately connected to opportunity in their minds and opportunity is why they came here. They weren’t here for handouts, because they were not going to get any handouts.

As citizenship requirements were waived for social programs all that changed: Food stamps, AFDC, free medical care, free housing, drivers license, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

All this was before the Ted Kennedy bill that mandated legal immigration from shithole nations, before the issue became politicized by both the Right and the Left, before 9/11 and before the cartels became powerful(a direct result of the corruption of the “merit-based”).

Since then the illegal population crossing the border has changed for the worse, just how worse is impossible to know, BUT we are still better off with peasants than with elites. Admittedly, America has corruption but it pales compared to the corruption down South. The lower classes receive zero benefit from the corruption and are not the fomenters or practitioners of the corruption. It’s all due to the moneyed and educated classes. We don’t want their elites teaching our elites new techniques. We don’t want more corruption on top of corruption, do we?; 1/22/18, 9:49 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Hope this doesn't offend our Roman Catholic readers here, but I think that it shouldn't be forgotten that the conquest of the New World was roughly contemporaneous with the Reformation. If you go back to Martin Luther and his criticisms of the Church, maybe his biggest was that it had become corrupt. After a millennium of growing power, it had gotten to the point that it essentially decided who the monarchs were in Europe, by whom they gave their formal backing to, and those monarchs got their thrones by bribing the Vatican. Of course, the Papacy was for sale too, as well as Cardinalships and Bishopsies. Younger brothers of the aristocracy would go into the clergy, and if their family were wealthy enough, they could rise to power there. Which meant that the Church in many countries was being run by the same aristocracy that had temporal power there. Very incestuous, and very corrupt. And, the aristocracy, and esp the monarchs, with enough money (or land) could often purchase divorces or even indulgences from sin.

Most zealous in their defense of the RC Church at this time was the Spanish throne. I think maybe that that may be tied somewhat to having so recently finally evicted the last of their Muslim conquerors. Maybe as a result, they were so strong in their defense of their Catholicism, and were a major force in the Inquisition. Which is why, I suspect that they were more resistant to the natural rights theories that came, at least, in part, out of the Reformation. So, while English (Dutch and German) America was a hotbed for natural rights, esp as it allowed freedom of religion (where in New England, each town essentially decided its own interpretation of the Bible and its own theology), Spanish America went the other way, enforcing the temporally corrupt version of Catholicism that the Reformation was founded to oppose. Each side went, maybe, a bit overboard. And, yes, the Catholic side at the time was, obviously, the statist side. So, to some extent picking Catholicism over Protestantism at that time was to pick statism over natural rights and democracy.

Let me make clear here, that I am not making any comment here about the status of either branch of Christianity today, but rather the state of those strands in the 16th and 17th Centuries. A lot has changed since then, and the Roman Catholic Church has abandoned many, if not most, of the practices that Luther so famously protested as being corrupt. Meanwhile, much of American Protestantism now has its own statism and corruption problems.; 1/22/18, 10:11 AM
Achilles said...: Blogger Robert Cook said...
”They are absolutely despondent right now because the working class is finally seeing wages going up....”

What are you referring to? The rise of minimum wages, which commenced before Trump was in office and which most commenters here deplored?

If wages go up because government distorts the free market by raising the minimum wage and demand for labor does not increase then people whose value to employers is lowest lose their jobs. Employers must be able to make money and if the government raises the minimum wage it hurts the poorest people the most as they are laid off. There is less money available for the poorest people.

If you increase wages by increasing demand for labor more people get jobs and they get paid more. Increasing demand for labor is easy. Reduce taxes and reduce regulations. Trump did both. Trump is doing more for the working class than the statists are. They are voting for republicans now.

It also helps raise wages when you stop the flow of low skilled labor across an open border.

The statists know raising the minimum wage is harmful to poor people. They don’t care about poor people except they want more of them. The people who want to become/remain middle class are figuring out democrats want them to be poor forever and want to replace them with people from other countries. 2018 is not going to go like democrats think.; 1/22/18, 10:40 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: @Grackle - we live among a lot of Hispanics. The new subdivision we live in is probably well over half. Mostly, I think, second generation, though with their extended families, some first generation are around. Almost everyone speaks good English, and the exceptions inevitably have a younger family member around to translate. Normally, the only thing that I notice different is extra cars in the street from more people living in the houses than with us gringos. But around New Years, there were some noise issues, of loud salsa music late at night. Next door neighbors warned us of having a party that night, and it was probably a good thing we made ourselves scarce that night. They had big party tents in the backyard, and people leaving after noon the next day. Normally, they are quiet as mice, and we don't know if they are there or not for weeks at a time, but maybe once a month, they have the family over, and mixed Spanish and English float over the fence. They are, of course, perfectly fluent in English, but she has just enough lilt to identify her origins. Oh, and something that I hadn't noticed until we had been there for awhile (but my Roman Catholic partner noticed immediately) was that all of the houses had a small window or two with a small iron cross in it. Even ours. I thought that it was just a local design element. It was, of course, but derived from Hispanic Roman Catholicism.

I have very few issues living among a majority Hispanic population. You can get odd jobs done cheaply and quickly. Everyone seems to have day jobs, but also all seem to do side jobs. Brother of the woman next door is a painter by trade, but does yard work on the side. He put in her backyard, mostly in pavers, and did an excellent job. And we talked about him doing ours as a result, probably for half what we would pay a contractor. The Neighborhood Watch head here has an office job, but does maid work on the side. Interestingly, even the few Blacks around here hustle. A couple were doing landscaping for the HOA, and pulled the weeds in my yard for $20 over their lunch break - less than the daily fine that the very same HOA was threatening me with. They must have laughed seeing me putting on my knee pads and gloves. They just sat down on the ground and got it done in half the time I would have taken. Everyone is so industrious.; 1/22/18, 10:40 AM
Robert Cook said...: "It is BAD for the economy and for workers when GOVERNMENT sets the minimum wage higher than its natural equilibrium. Less skilled workers lose job opportunities (see McDonalds and the new order kiosks) and many small businesses close (see Seattle), like restaurants.

"It is GOOD when businesses use an expanding economy to BID UP the minimum wage they are willing to pay. This voluntary increase is a sign of a healthy economy and dispels the progressive lie that only government fiat can raise wages."

Without arguing your assertions or granting they are accurate, this was not my question, which was:

What "wages going up" are working people seeing?

This means: Are wages rising for working people? How do we know? Which working people? How many of them? By how much are they rising? And so on.; 1/22/18, 12:05 PM
Anonymous said...: grackle: All this was before the Ted Kennedy bill that mandated legal immigration from shithole nations...

Well, uh, yeah. That's kinda the point.

Since then the illegal population crossing the border has changed for the worse, just how worse is impossible to know, BUT we are still better off with peasants than with elites. Admittedly, America has corruption but it pales compared to the corruption down South. The lower classes receive zero benefit from the corruption and are not the fomenters or practitioners of the corruption. It’s all due to the moneyed and educated classes

To repeat myself, the idea that "the people are good, they just have bad leaders, or institutions, or a 'culture' that, strangely, has nothing to do with them", is fanciful. For the corrupt elite to get away with what they do, the rest of the population has to have a political culture that is corrupt all the way down and which supports the corruption of the elites. Absent restrictions on numbers and/or a native culture that is willing to put the hammer down on newcomers importing their shenanigans...voilà, you too now have a corrupt political culture.

Having a functioning, non-corrupt country is not some default state, or a phenomenon that exists because the people, in the crapshoot of existence, just lucked out and got a relatively non-corrupt elite.

California didn't become Mexifornia because we "merit" imported south-of-the-border elites. (I don't think even middle-class Mexicans migrate to the U.S. in appreciable numbers, let alone "elites". Why should they?) It didn't become corrupt and dysfunctional because imported foreign elites were a bad influence on our relatively incorrupt elites. Without the presence of millions of your alleged "tabula rasa peasants", there is no Mexifornia.

It’s all due to the moneyed and educated classes. We don’t want their elites teaching our elites new techniques. We don’t want more corruption on top of corruption, do we?

Hate to break this to you, grackle, but we don't have to import foreign elites for our own elites to admire and strive to adopt the former's corrupt ways. To whom are you addressing that last question? To repeat myself again, how 'bout we don't import either?; 1/22/18, 1:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Robert Cook: Without arguing your assertions or granting they are accurate, this was not my question, which was:

What "wages going up" are working people seeing?

Weasel-move status: failed. You know perfectly well that Mike was addressing this particular attempt of yours at sleight-of-hand: "The rise of minimum wages, which commenced before Trump was in office and which most commenters here deplored?"

If you really didn't make that statement in bad faith, you could just admit you said something really stupid, and move on.; 1/22/18, 1:26 PM
grackle said...: For the corrupt elite to get away with what they do, the rest of the population has to have a political culture that is corrupt all the way down and which supports the corruption of the elites.

The poor of these nations are too busy trying to survive to think much about supporting (or NOT supporting) civic improvement and principled government.

And these elite-run governments are the opposite of “merit based” and are not going to produce true “merit based” elite immigrants. They will come to the USA pre-corrupted and with a privileged attitude. That will not change once they arrive on American soil.

There are historical reasons for this situation, the main one being that the Spanish colonial conquerors brought the most retrograde and corrupt social system in Europe to the Americas. Spain had continued in its medieval ways long after the rest of Europe had emerged from the Dark Ages and evolved into more equitable systems. The Spanish system was rife with class privilege, bribery, sinecures and all the rest that constitutes the corruption we see today. This system was imposed on the native populations – NOT embraced by them. From the start the elites enforced socially and culturally separate societies apart from the native population whose descendants are the poor of today.; 1/22/18, 3:39 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Weasel-move status: failed. You know perfectly well that Mike was addressing this particular attempt of yours at sleight-of-hand: "The rise of minimum wages, which commenced before Trump was in office and which most commenters here deplored?"

"If you really didn't make that statement in bad faith, you could just admit you said something really stupid, and move on."

Not in the least. Someone claimed that working Americans are "seeing their wages rise" as a way to cheer Trump on his successes. I want to know...who? Is it the minimum wage workers who may see increases due to mandated increases that date back prior to Trump becoming President? If not them...who? How many? How high are their wages rising? Why are they rising?

It's easy to praise Trump for his successes when one simply makes allegations about what he's done without bothering to actually prove show proof.; 1/22/18, 7:15 PM
Anonymous said...: grackle: The Spanish system was rife with class privilege, bribery, sinecures and all the rest that constitutes the corruption we see today. This system was imposed on the native populations – NOT embraced by them.

Gee, thanks for the lesson in the differences between Anglo and Latin American political history, grackle. Who knew?

That doesn't mean that the people on whom the system was imposed had or have a native political culture compatible with the British-derived political culture of the U.S., and that they can therefore pour into the U.S. by the millions and no problemo. You seriously believe that California became Mexifornia just because Mexican elites emigrated there (they didn't), and not at all because of the millions of poor Mexicans who did (encouraged and abetted by corrupt American elites, not sneaky Mexican elites, who are living comfortably and happily in Mexico)?

Sorry, but your idea that jillions of oppressed poor peasants the world 'round would have nice functional governments if it weren't for their corrupt elites is just nutty. Functional, non-corrupt governments are the result of cultural habits centuries in the making, not random good luck in one's "elites".; 1/22/18, 8:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Robert Cook: Not in the least. Someone claimed that working Americans are "seeing their wages rise" as a way to cheer Trump on his successes. I want to know...who?

Oh give it a rest, Robert. You made a comment, either stupid or deliberately dishonest, accusing people here of being "inconsistent" because they disapprove of government mandated minimum wage laws, but are happy when market forces result in rising wages for workers. Mike called you on it. If you really weren't attempting a sleight-of-hand, and just slipped and said something really stupid (as we all do sometimes), just admit it. Otherwise no one's going to waste his time engaging you on other questions.; 1/22/18, 8:34 PM
grackle said...: Gee, thanks for the lesson in the differences between Anglo and Latin American political history, grackle. Who knew? That doesn't mean that the people on whom the system was imposed had or have a native political culture compatible with the British-derived political culture of the U.S., and that they can therefore pour into the U.S. by the millions and no problemo.

We know they are capable of becoming good American citizens because they had been doing just that very thing for many generations before the recent development of wholesale access to USA social programs and the distortions that access produced. And they are not imbued from birth with an antagonism toward the freedoms of democratic systems as, say, the lower classes of the typical Muslim population.

You seriously believe that California became Mexifornia just because Mexican elites emigrated there (they didn't), and not at all because of the millions of poor Mexicans who did (encouraged and abetted by corrupt American elites, not sneaky Mexican elites, who are living comfortably and happily in Mexico)?

No, I do not believe that. I believe California has a bunch of illegal aliens because the Obama administration openly encouraged sanctuary behavior. Previous administrations had turned a blind eye but did not go so far as to publicly espouse it. Naturally, California, along with a number of other Democrat-run states, became a haven for illegals. How could it not? Free stuff and nothing to fear? Elite or peasant had nothing to do with it.

Sorry, but your idea that jillions of oppressed poor peasants the world 'round would have nice functional governments if it weren't for their corrupt elites is just nutty.

Nothing I’ve posted should lead anyone to the above conclusion. All I’ve contended is that the poor that cross the Southern border illegally are not antagonistic to the American way of life.

Functional, non-corrupt governments are the result of cultural habits centuries in the making, not random good luck in one's "elites".

I’ve never said that the impact of elite classes on world history is due to “random good luck.” There are historical reasons for the historical significance of elite classes which I’ve mentioned before in the cases of Central and South America.

I may need to knock down some straw men. For instance - I’m not for more immigration, just the opposite. I support the entire Trump immigration agenda. I would even halt immigration for a year or two and have a national debate on the subject. Unfortunately, such a thing is unlikely.

My point is that IF we have to accept some immigrants from Southern Hemisphere shithole areas we are much better off with the peasants than with the corrupt, beyond redemption elites, who – despite denials in the comments – really are primarily responsible for the strife and misery of most of Central and South America.

The peasants down South are politically naïve, uneducated and are the primary victims of their various corrupt systems. These systems suck their class dry, which is one of the underlying causes of why their governments alternate between the extremes of impulsive, convulsive Latino-style Marxism and oppressive military dictatorships – both of which never seem to touch the elite.

With that I rest my case and leave the floor to the comments and the readers.; 1/23/18, 12:25 AM