Oy vay – What a Dilemma

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Remember not too long ago, oh about three months or so, the President wanted to open up immigration, allow everyone to stay and become workers and not be deported?  The Congress (mostly just the Republicans in Congress) where all up in arms!  The President, they said, was exceeding his authority; he was acting outside Constitution when he issued his executive action.  To hear them the President wouldn’t work with them, and it boils down to agendas.  So the President’s lawyer wrote their Executive Order, he signs it, and off we go…

The Democrats and all their supporters were clearly on board.  It was the right thing to do, to gain them more voters.  I don’t remember hearing much from the unions on this, so I’m going to assume for the sake of argument they are, at this point, supportive of their party of choice.  Because what is good for the Democrats is good for the unions, right?

Well then a District Court Judge Andrew Hanen 
in Texas said, “whoa, not so fast” and issued a temporary injunction preventing implementation of the EO based on some pretty narrow grounds about the administration not following their own policies.

The Administration of course rushed in and filed an emergency motion to lift the injunction, but in the course of that filing the DOJ acknowledges the administration had already implemented 3-year immigration reprieves (versus the allowable 2-years) before the EO had gone into effect.  The net result is they admit to deceiving the Judge in his initial hearing on the injunction.  So he orders a delay while he studies the issue.

To this, as if not confusing enough, come the Illinois Republicans – arguing that immigration absolutely should be expanded and the sooner the better.  Of course this is good, but it got me to thinking.  Who will be hurt when the legal labor pool suddenly blows through the roof, does anyone really care about that?

I assume if the Illinois Republicans are now arguing for reform, the Wisconsin gang will not be far behind, and didn’t they just sign a “right to work” law where all this cheap labor will be able to come in, be hired, and join the labor pool without becoming union members? It will be an interesting next two years as everyone scrambles to secure the most out of this new, cheap labor force.  With no pressure to increase wage rates, based increased supply and diminishing demand, I don’t see much the Democrats are going to do to slow down the disparity between the rich and the middle class; in fact it seems just to opposite to me.  They are doing all they can to make the rich richer by flooding the middle class labor pool. The Republicans are slowly coming to realize the opportunities.

So, when the lights finally come on for the union rank and file do you think they will understand how their politicians have just undercut any negotiating leverage they may have had by expanding the businesses access to a labor force willing to work for less?  I’m guessing not.