Bloomy Wimps Out in China

Independently wealthy politicians have a lot in common with eighty year old grandmothers, some good, some bad. Like grandma, they’re prone to say almost anything that pops into their heads. There’s just no governor on their mouths. Sometimes this is good, in that they tell people things they need to hear, unfortunately, at other times they merely babble on incoherently about things they have little or no understanding of.

Recently New York City Mayor, Mike Bloomberg, went to China (China???) and took the time to express his disappointment over “China’s legendary human rights abuses?

Nope, no such luck. He took that venue, some 8,000 miles away from the closest U.S. southern border town to castigate those Americans (according to reports appx. 74% of us!) who vehemently oppose ILLEGAL immigration!

This is one of those “eighty year old grandmother” moments that even supporters of Bloomy find infuriating.

Bloomy complained that anti-immigrant sentiment in America is imposing “staggering damage” on the country, railing that “The xenophobia that unfortunately seems to be gripping parts of America is really very dangerous. One of the things you have to realize is how dependent we are on each other.”

What’s wrong with Bloomy’s “China sentiments?”

Tons!

First, there is NO significant “anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S.” Over two thirds of Americans support LEGAL immigration as it now exists, feeling that the current numbers of legal immigrants does not have to be raised nor lowered, proving that there is no widespread “anti-immigrant feelings” in America.

Of course, well over two thirds of Americans vehemently oppose ILLEGAL immigration, BUT ILLEGAL immigration is NOT and never has been a part of the overall “immigration debate.” It’s, quite simply, a criminal matter.

With over two thirds of Americans supporting LEGAL immigration and over two thirds opposed to ILLEGAL immigration, there is obviously a lot of overlap among thoughtful Americans on the issue.

So what’s so bad about supporting ILLEGAL immigration or even “open borders?”

Where do we begin? For one thing, it must be noted that many misguided businessmen have, through the years, also supported chattel slavery (which reduces agricultural labor’s value to mere room and board), indentured servitude (where an “owner” can extract whatever arbitrary price he sees fit on the hapless servant/slave), company towns (where one primary business owns the town, the stores, saloons, etc., and where workers work themselves to early deaths owing significant sums to the company they worked for) and in favor of families selling their children into sexual slavery. What can we say? Some businessmen have always been amoral.

While on the subject of the “horrible kinds of people” who support each position, an estimated 2 to 3 percent of Americans support the abolition of ALL criminal statutes, including those on rape, pedophilia and murder and ALL of those anarchists support abolishing our immigration laws as well.

Does that mean that all those who favor an a more open border policy are tainted by this lawless few?

No more and no less than those who rightfully oppose illegal immigration and open borders should be tainted by those very few (2 to 3 percent?) of their ilk motivated by xenophobia!

Moreover, the economics of ILLEGAL immigration stand starkly against its proponents! The plain fact of the matter is that higher wage rates (1.2% to 2.8% ABOVE prevailing inflation rates) are actually GOOD for the economy. How so? How can cheap labor not be GOOD when it leads to “cheaper goods and services?” Higher wage rates leads to more consumption, which leads to more consumer demand and greater demand for all those goods and services. Unchecked “cheap labor” puts a persistent downward pressure on all prevailing wage rates and that ultimately puts the vast majority of workers in a position where they cannot afford even those “cheaper goods and services.”

So what motivated Bloomy’s latest utterances?

Probably another one of those “eighty year old grandma moments.”