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Helluva year

I am not speaking of enforcing immigration laws, and certainly what I am focusing on has nothing to do with flying immigrants into the country. What I am referring to are the millions of undocumented immigrants that are here and many of whom have been here for years and some for decades. They are doing the work no one else wants to do. You might not be aware of this huge community in East Central Illinois or in more rural settings but you can not avoid the work force here in Florida. I have friends in cities in the Midwest that state it is the same. Florida cannot operate without them. It is reality, not some argument about how it should be .
 
1) You can use guest workers if they truly are needed. That way the workers are above board and getting paid correctly and treated fairly.
2) Stupid John McCain years ago said stuff similar to you. He said we need these people, what American will pick lettuce for $50 / hour? That got my attention. I sure as hell would pick lettuce for $50 / hour as would plenty of people.

If the US needs workers, make legal arrangements. But, your party just flew in 15,000,000 people and job growth for real Americans was down in the Biden years. All "new" jobs went to foreigners / foreign-born.
Who says they are not getting paid or treated correctly? They are fine with it that is why they are doing it. The employers are fine with it and know the documentation is fake. They need people who are willing and physically able to do the work. Immigration reform to grant workers visa fine but there was a bill and it was killed at last minute because the political issue was more important.
 
I am not speaking of enforcing immigration laws, and certainly what I am focusing on has nothing to do with flying immigrants into the country. What I am referring to are the millions of undocumented immigrants that are here and many of whom have been here for years and some for decades. They are doing the work no one else wants to do. You might not be aware of this huge community in East Central Illinois or in more rural settings but you can not avoid the work force here in Florida. I have friends in cities in the Midwest that state it is the same. Florida cannot operate without them. It is reality, not some argument about how it should be .

Sorry, going to have to learn to survive without them and live with a bit smaller profit margin. Perhaps even give up their country club membership and only take one trip abroad per year. The culture of indentured servitude needs to end. Gone with the wind.

I’m not an out of touch hillbilly, btw. lol. Me, Jethro, Granny, Ellie May, and Jed once actually lived with city folk. Got me a 6th grade education. 😀
 
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Sorry, going to have to learn to survive without them and live with a bit smaller profit margin.

I’m not an out of touch hillbilly, btw. lol. Me, Jethro, Granny, and Jed once actually lived with city folk. Got me a 6th grade education. 😀
Florida can’t survive without them. You should have heard his supporters scream when RDS thought he was going to get rid of them several years back. All of his backers in agriculture and commerce put a quick end to that program .
 
Honestly, the Democrats thirst for power was so destructive to this country. They even damaged the strategic oil reserve facilities in their rush to lie to Americans that oil was affordable. But, many on here support this criminal organization and want them back in power.

 
Florida can’t survive without them. You should have heard his supporters scream when RDS thought he was going to get rid of them several years back. All of his backers in agriculture and commerce put a quick end to that program .

This kind of stuff is so indicative of the evolution of the two political parties over the last decade or so. Biggest political transformation since the great realignment of the mid-20th century.
 
It is always the way. Once the Panicans have sold and the Wall Street pros have made their "easy money" the market settles and awaits the next impetus.

Similarly, Trump created chaos for these countries to get their attention. They now know he is serious, and the status quo is changing. It would seem India, South Korea, and Japan will be at the forefront. IMO, this is in large part due to the shift away from China which is in all of their strategic interests.
Panic is NOT the way to invest. You can make money with careful trading and not following up OR down hype !

The trade I locked in a 26 % gain in 15 minutes at the opening, closed up ANOTHER 25 + %.

Oh well....
 
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Honestly, the Democrats thirst for power was so destructive to this country. They even damaged the strategic oil reserve facilities in their rush to lie to Americans that oil was affordable. But, many on here support this criminal organization and want them back in power.

I posted on the refilling of the SPR last month. They have added over 400 million barrels since that post.
 
They serve a great purpose for the country as a whole. They are doing the work that most others are unwilling, or physically unable, to do. I caught the "lost cause" reference but have no idea what it has to do with illegal aliens.
Legal immigrants serve the great purpose for the Country as a whole !

Illegal immigrants serve the welfare status to hurt the Country as a whole !
 
The irony in believing the only things Latino immigrants are good for are remedial tasks like cleaning toilets for lower than minimum wage. Extremely poor argument for failing to enforce U.S. immigration laws.

Besides, even if you belief this there are migrant worker laws designed to protect workers from exploitation and hold their employers accountable for fair labor standards. Pro union Democrats fought pretty hard for those laws. Now gated community politicians of both parties want to ignore them (“I’m not giving up my pool boy”). There is no legitimate excuse for supporting lawlessness at the border.

One of the hallmarks of President Obama’s policy on illegal immigration was going after employers who hired and exploited them. We should revisit that.
I lived on a gated plot on Jupiter Island. It was the ex home of Payson the owner of the Mets. Her Nephew was a pyro and burned the estate down and she moved. Guy bought and put up 6 homes on the site. The gate was all that remained of her estate after the arson fire.

I had a pool guy, landscaper, palm tree pruner and insect sprayer. They were all normal workers, who I fired and had my 2 Sons and me take over, saved $ 1,000 a month.

Except for the palm tree pruning, too high without a crane truck and he only charged $ 20 bucks a tree.
 
I think this is fair.

BO talking point memo:

So we're gonna begin tonight with the polling, and that is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo. ABC News poll, so-so poll. And the key to this is 2,454 adults, not registered voters, not likely voters, adults. When you have just adults, the awareness of the issues goes down because you don't have a lot of people who are actively invested in our system. It could be anybody. Now, I don't mean to diminish these people, but pollsters usually go for registered voters. That's what they usually go. The first question is job approval, 39% approved, 55% disapproved. That's the lowest number in an ABC News poll, first 100 days since 1945. That would be Harry Truman. Not a good showing there. Second question, the economy since Trump took office, better 21, worse 53, same 25. This is the key to the poll, okay? So 53% of Americans feel they're worse off economically, their money, than they were under Joe Biden. Why do they feel that way? Stock market. That's why. And that is what is missing in the analysis. If the stock market, in the next month or so, rockets, then Trump's job approval rating will go along with it simultaneously. This is a one-issue poll. And I noted that Karl Rove, who does not like Donald Trump at all because Trump diminished the Bush family. His analysis on Fox was that Trump's in dire trouble. No, he's not. He could be. The tariff doesn't work out, he'll be in dire trouble. But now he's not. Because in the next hundred days, everything could turn around fast. In the middle of, we're talking about late June, early July, Trump could be at 50 percent job approval if the market comes up. But that's not how it's being portrayed.

Two more questions Trump approval on immigration, approve 46, disapprove 53. That goes against every other poll. Just so you know. And Trump approval on tariffs, approve 34 disapprove 64. There you go, that's it. That ties right in. Why is this happening? Well, Donald Trump is a change agent, okay? He's bold. I wrote a memoir called The Bold, Fresh Piece of Humanity, which the nuns used to call me. Well, you can assign that to the President of the United States. And we have a $37 trillion national debt. There's no way to get that down unless you get more money in here, which is what the tariffs would do. And you cut, doge. But, the Democrats are not interested in that at all. They don't feel it's important. They don't care about it. Biden did nothing about it, nothing. Biden was the biggest spending president in history, okay? So Trump comes in and says, look, I'm gonna change this whole economic system. When you do that, there's gonna be pain. If it were easy, it would have been done a long time ago. The only other president that did this is Teddy Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt. So when he took office after William McKinley was shot dead in 1901, Roosevelt went after almost immediately the so-called robber barons. I write about this in Confronting Evil. So talking about John Rockefeller, John Pierpont Morgan, the big monopoly guys, and they were exploiting the American worker, not only paying him nothing, but dangerous, dangerous working conditions. Roosevelt beat them, but it took a long time, and it was bloody. Roosevelt took a lot of heat for it. But he changed the economy, busted the trusts, busted the monopolies. Okay, that is a very valid comparison of what Trump's doing now. Teddy was like this, I'm going to do this. Trump is convinced that tariffs are the future to get America a stronger economy. He's convinced of it.

Now, there have been a few other presidents that have been disruptors. And Trump is absolutely a disruptor. He wants a smaller federal government. And again, his opposition does not. They don't want any of this, including the media. So the presidents who disrupted the system were Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman. That's it. Those are the only presidents that disrupted the American system. And all of them paid a price for it. Lincoln paid his life for disrupting the slavery industry. That's why Booth killed him. And the others, Jackson was with the national bank, and he didn't want the federal government controlling the economy. Teddy, as we just mentioned, Franklin Roosevelt brought in the safety nets after the depression, changed the whole structure that the government had an obligation to save you if you were drowning. And Harry Truman basically said, look, I'm running the show. I'm firing Douglas MacArthur over in Korea. I'm dropping the atom bombs. Disrupter. So, it's important that you know the context of what Donald Trump is doing. The other thing in this poll is that I don't believe, and I'm not being supercilious, word of the day here, that Americans don't understand tariffs even after all of this. They do not know what they are. They don't know. They don't know where the money goes, they don't know who pays the money, they don’t know why they're necessary, they don't know how much... America gets screwed every year to the tune of a trillion dollars. A trillion dollars more leaves our country than comes in, in trade. I mean, that's big. And again, there's no way to reverse that without pain. And that's what we're experiencing now, and that's why Trump poll numbers are down. In the end, I don't know whether Donald Trump will succeed in this. Nobody can possibly predict that. I think he might, but I can't go further than that. I hope he does. I hope he does. Be better for everybody here. And that's the Memo.
 


$24M in savings, and it takes away some of the incentives that non citizens have to come here.

Listening to the way Dems talk about non-citizens, you wouldn’t think these grants are necessary. They say the non citizens bring positive economics. Well, time for them to prove it.
 
I have always been a fan of Prime Time, but he built an arrogant player that was humiliated on a big stage. This is not good parenting.

Did you see the comment from the NFL guy with 33 years of experience and the interview of Sanders? Yikes. Brought the entire entourage, headphones around his neck, too intense cologne…actually had to go on a walk outside, asked where he saw himself in 5 years. “Mayor of the city”. LOL.
 
Did you see the comment from the NFL guy with 33 years of experience and the interview of Sanders? Yikes. Brought the entire entourage, headphones around his neck, too intense cologne…actually had to go on a walk outside, asked where he saw himself in 5 years. “Mayor of the city”. LOL.

Sanders did a great job developing his son as a football player. Did a terrible job developing him for draft day.

If Sanders was a sure day 1 starter, he would have been drafted earlier. But teams didn’t want him as a backup. He doesn’t seem like the type to quietly develop in the background, and that’s what you want out of your rookie QB, if he’s not going to start.

Ended up in Cleveland, where he will have a chance. But he better start acting like a backup QB.
 
Sorry, going to have to learn to survive without them and live with a bit smaller profit margin. Perhaps even give up their country club membership and only take one trip abroad per year. The culture of indentured servitude needs to end. Gone with the wind.

I’m not an out of touch hillbilly, btw. lol. Me, Jethro, Granny, Ellie May, and Jed once actually lived with city folk. Got me a 6th grade education. 😀

Class warfare from the GOP ... interesting. I guess it was inevitable.

I personally am glad Trump has choked off mass migration at the border. National sovereignty is fairly important. However, paying more to the guy cleaning the toilets is fine until you can't find anyone, even at higher pay, to clean the toilets. There are a fair number of lower skill jobs that Americans companies and other business entities have trouble filling. If there's no one to take them even at higher pay, then it becomes a problem.

Trump of all people knows this, as his companies aggressively utilized certain foreign worker programs to fill seasonal roles at his country clubs (bemusingly enough considering your post). If we really do end up limiting migration in a material way, the necessity for these types of programs will become obvious right quick.

For Americans that are willing to do two things: (a) move to where the work is and (b) work 40-50 hours a week, there's absolutely a decent life available. If you can do things like get married before having kids and stay married, there's probably even a pretty good life out there. Lots of social pathologies have intervened in this, which explains a lot more of Jethro's problems in West Virginia than anything else.
 
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Class warfare from the GOP ... interesting. I guess it was inevitable.

I personally am glad Trump has choked off mass migration at the border. National sovereignty is fairly important. However, paying more to the guy cleaning the toilets is fine until you can't find anyone, even at higher pay, to clean the toilets. There are a fair number of lower skill jobs that Americans companies and other business entities have trouble filling. If there's no one to take them even at higher pay, then it becomes a problem.

Trump of all people knows this, as his companies aggressively utilized certain foreign worker programs to fill seasonal roles at his country clubs (bemusingly enough considering your post). If we really do end up limiting migration in a material way, the necessity for these types of programs will become obvious right quick.

For Americans that are willing to do two things: (a) move to where the work is and (b) work 40-50 hours a week, there's absolutely a decent life available. If you can do things like get married before having kids and stay married, there's probably even a pretty good life out there. Lots of social pathologies have intervened in this, which explains a lot more of Jethro's problems in West Virginia than anything else.

This is a message I would like to see from both parties. USA is still the land of opportunity, but you might have to take some chances if you want to live a great life. We can't just promise everything to everyone, regardless of where they live and how much work they are willing to put in. Having a productive society means people have to play their part.

I've always told people to take chances on themselves, and most that do end up being really successful. My parents told me from a young age that our upward trajectory was limited in Springfield. Might have to move somewhere else for better jobs. My brother, sister, and I all took chances and left. It wasn't easy, but it's been really satisfying.

We have a ton of people in this country that are capable of working, that don't. I don't love the "no Americans will take these jobs" mentality. They will if you stop giving them everything without requiring much in return.
 
This is a message I would like to see from both parties. USA is still the land of opportunity, but you might have to take some chances if you want to live a great life. We can't just promise everything to everyone, regardless of where they live and how much work they are willing to put in. Having a productive society means people have to play their part.

I've always told people to take chances on themselves, and most that do end up being really successful. My parents told me from a young age that our upward trajectory was limited in Springfield. Might have to move somewhere else for better jobs. My brother, sister, and I all took chances and left. It wasn't easy, but it's been really satisfying.

We have a ton of people in this country that are capable of working, that don't. I don't love the "no Americans will take these jobs" mentality. They will if you stop giving them everything without requiring much in return.

My parents suggested the same, opportunities were likely to be found elsewhere much more than the Quad Cities. I think they were right on that point.

American mobility has declined a lot in the past 50 years. Still more mobile than most developed countries, but it's been a big part of ensconcing too many Americans within a particular class. There's far more upward mobility among people who move (and far more belief it's a good thing among Americans who fall in the upper levels of income).
 
My parents suggested the same, opportunities were likely to be found elsewhere much more than the Quad Cities. I think they were right on that point.

American mobility has declined a lot in the past 50 years. Still more mobile than most developed countries, but it's been a big part of ensconcing too many Americans within a particular class. There's far more upward mobility among people who move (and far more belief it's a good thing among Americans who fall in the upper levels of income).

I had a lot of friends tell me that they couldn't move. When I asked why, it was always a bunch of reasons why they didn't want to move. Typically family, which I understand is tough to move away from.

It will get more difficult as my parents get older. Someone will likely need to move back to help care for them. Fortunately my wife has told me she will be willing to move again, when necessary. I'm fortunate I married another chance taker.
 
I still fail to understand why we want huge props for predicting crime numbers to drop after a historic spike due to a manufactured scenario (Floyd riots). Obviously crime will go down from there.

No shit. You should ask BigWill and Uncoach why they argued about this point for eighteen months.

You just nailed it. But they argued from a political perspective - CRIME IS SPIKING, THE SKY IS FALLING - and I simply provided the data disproving what they were saying (it had been true two years prior in 2021-22 but was no longer true). Then they argued with the data (which was and still is rich). Now they don't need to ... Trump is in, and the issue of fomenting hysteria about crime is no longer needed.

So when people can accept basic facts and are willing to draw logical conclusions from them, there's no need to venerate those who are capable of doing this.

The thing is, there's no political points to be scored on this board. If crime is actually coming down in 2023-24, you can admit it HERE without losing any political points. But being a true partisan warrior means you should argue everywhere.

Like ... I understand why Trump campaigned on crime (I didn't like how he did it, but he had a live issue due to the spike that occurred mostly under Biden). But why is that relevant here?

It's just like why is it relevant to dispute Trump's falling approval rating here? It's falling ... a lot. Me personally, if I were a Trump fan, I'd want to argue about how he can get it back on track, so Rs aren't humiliated in 2026 and 2028.
 
Is it true that Chicago spent over $600 million on non-citizens, and is now looking for a bailout? Just remember this when Democrats tell you they don't care about the billions that was spent on migrants the last couple years.

You would think the non-citizens would pay for themselves. We always hear it's net positive.
 
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You would think the non-citizens would pay for themselves. We always hear it's net positive.
There is nuance or distinction to be made. not all "non-citizens" are alike. There are many, something close to a million in Florida, 4%-4 1/2% of the workforce that have been here long term, an essential part of the economy, working, supporting themselves and families and sending some money back home. They have false documents for the most part although a few have to work for cash. Those are the people I have been posting about. In contrast, there are millions that came in the last 4 years or so "applying for amnesty". They are not allowed to work (except a special provision was made as it was for small group from specified country) and my understanding is that some cities put them into housing and provided food etc.
 
There is nuance or distinction to be made. not all "non-citizens" are alike. There are many, something close to a million in Florida, 4%-4 1/2% of the workforce that have been here long term, an essential part of the economy, working, supporting themselves and families and sending some money back home. They have false documents for the most part although a few have to work for cash. Those are the people I have been posting about. In contrast, there are millions that came in the last 4 years or so "applying for amnesty". They are not allowed to work (except a special provision was made as it was for small group from specified country) and my understanding is that some cities put them into housing and provided food etc.

I agree with you that we need some non-citizens to work. But the message that only non-citizens will work certain jobs isn't a good one. We have a significant % of the country that are not working, who are capable. The message should not be that Americans will not work certain jobs. The message should be that there are a lot of jobs out there, and people need to work their way up.


Also, it looks like Trump knows that there are some necessary workers, and he's looking to welcome them back. This is what most people want. Support people that want to come here legally and work hard. Remove the people that are taking more than they are giving back.
 
Sanders did a great job developing his son as a football player. Did a terrible job developing him for draft day.

If Sanders was a sure day 1 starter, he would have been drafted earlier. But teams didn’t want him as a backup. He doesn’t seem like the type to quietly develop in the background, and that’s what you want out of your rookie QB, if he’s not going to start.

Ended up in Cleveland, where he will have a chance. But he better start acting like a backup QB.
To add to the circus. In the 3rd round the Browns drafted Dillion Gabriel, QB from Oregon and then in the 5th round took Sanders. If they needed a developmental QB why didn't they take him in the 3rd round? Speculation is the owner got involved on the second pick. Whatever, Dillion Gabriel can't be too excited about this. For Sanders, it is a great opportunity to reset and get his career going. Deshaun Watson is probably on his way out (injured) and the veterans are Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco.
 
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To add to the circus. In the 3rd round the Browns drafted Dillion Gabriel, QB from Oregon and then in the 5th round took Sanders. If they needed a developmental QB why didn't they take him in the 3rd round? Speculation is the owner got involved on the second pick. Whatever, Dillion Gabriel can't be too excited about this. For Sanders, it is a great opportunity to reset and get his career going. Deshaun Watson is probably on his way out (injured) and the veterans are Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco.
The soonest they can cut Watson is 2027 and even then, the dead money is 50 million.

Watson for life
 
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I agree with you that we need some non-citizens to work. But the message that only non-citizens will work certain jobs isn't a good one. We have a significant % of the country that are not working, who are capable. The message should not be that Americans will not work certain jobs. The message should be that there are a lot of jobs out there, and people need to work their way up.


Also, it looks like Trump knows that there are some necessary workers, and he's looking to welcome them back. This is what most people want. Support people that want to come here legally and work hard. Remove the people that are taking more than they are giving back.
I agree that we need more worker visas, but first the US needs to rewrite the law to allow for more foreign workers to come and work. As for the myth that they are taking jobs from Americans is nonsense. It does not matter what the message is. Citizens will not work certain jobs--accept that reality. Plus in Florida, and probably Texas and Arizona, there are many jobs in the heat and the sun that most US citizens of European descent cannot perform. I know from first hand experience as does everyone else down here. As far as the assertion that involuntary servitude needs to end, I agree, but the business community and Republicans in office don't. Why is the federal minimum wage stuck at $7.25 per hour?
 
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