And …

Lets not waste time arguing over how dependant we are or aren’t on immigrant labor. When John Smith looks out the window at his overgrown lawn he has to decide whether to have Mike down the street or Jose from over in the barrio cut it. He will 99 times out of a 100 base that decision purely on cost. And that cost analysis will not include how much Jose and his family cost him every time they go to the emergency room. Jose will get the job because he will do it for half the price. Until the pain of what the real costs are in terms of taxes and cultural changes Mr. Smith will not approach this in any other way.

We could also eliminate much of the terror threat in the world by refusing to buy Middle East oil and opting for domestic liquefied coal instead. But at $3.00 per gallon for foreign gas vs. $5.00 for coal product I know what people will choose. This in spite of the fact that the overall costs of security far outweigh savings at the pump.

Greed, ignorence, or resignation, it’s not a pretty picture and it has no simple fixes.