Great American Boycott?

[todd_k]

Politics aside, was anyone affected by the "Great American Boycott"? I wasn't but I work at Capital One. I don't know if anyone here, especially those in TX, experienced anything unusual today.

 

[david_42]

I don't know, maybe that's why the road grader is still sitting at the end of the driveway and the driveway hasn't been finished. But then, it's been sitting there since Friday noon.

 

[RichBrewer]

The wife took the kids to McDonald's in Walmart and it was closed today for the protest.

 

[Evets]

There were more parking spots on the jobsite this morning. I rather liked it that way.

 

[alemonkey]

No effect on me....the stupid people kept calling me at work.

 

[Dude]

I must live in a cave.

 

[Cheesefood]

400,000+ marched in Chicago. You know how that effected me?

When I had to drive into the Loop (heart of Chicago for you out-of-towners), there was NO TRAFFIC! It was amazing. I flew through the Junction at 4:15 with only about 10 other cars in eyesight (locals will be impressed with that stat).

A couple of burrito shops were closed, but with a restaurant every 10 feet in Chicago, it wasn't hard for me to get lunch. I hate to be a South Park Republican, but I'm thinking that it wasn't a bad thing. No cabs trying to kill me and free and open roads.

 

[timdsmith72]

Almost no traffic in and around Dallas. A few restaurants closed...a few only serving drinks and finger foods because they had no kitchen help.

 

[Desert_Sky]

I talked to my friends in the Border Patrol last night and they said they were still jumping the border as usual. I thought they were taking the day off?

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

The trash wasn't emptied at work, but fortunately I didn't have to 'drop the kids off at the pool' yesterday while at work.

Having a (legal) Mexican wife, I probably have a different perspective on this than a lot of people. I don't think anybody should be here illegally, but obviously something needs to change if we require illegals to populate the workforce (and we do). OTOH, how idiotic I find it: proving yourself a necessary part of society by resorting to extortion while you're not even here legally. I sure as hell would not depend on you as an employee. Also, the employers they are hurting here are some of the largest employers in all of Mexico, so they're hurting those guys, too.

All in all, it could have been better thought out and pursued in different ways.

 

[Brewpastor]

Here in New Mexico there was a march and business closed. But I brought my lunch to work like I always do and had nothing going on that caused me to feel any effects. I paper was larger this morning, and maybe I will file suit over the injury to my back from picking it up.

Life seems to have moved along just fine yesterday.

A side track: There is a radio station here whose slogan is "Hispanic Pride" and they had a lot of coverage yesterday. If I had a station and had a slogan "Anglo Pride" I would be run out of town, no matter my politics.

 

[Walker]

A side track: There is a radio station here whose slogan is "Hispanic Pride" and they had a lot of coverage yesterday. If I had a station and had a slogan "Anglo Pride" I would be run out of town, no matter my politics.

I remember being enraged when I was younger by things such as "The United ***** College Fund". Not that I think the organization is bad, but simply because of the fact that we are totally accepting of certain types of racism but not others. Like the good Pastor said, if I stared the "United Caucasian College Fund" someone would burn my house down all call me a racist pig.

As a caucasian male of protestant decent, I am everyone's enemy.

WAIT A SECOND! NO POLITICS ALLOWED HERE!

 

[Cheesefood]

I remember being enraged when I was younger by things such as "The United ***** College Fund". Not that I think the organization is bad, but simply because of the fact that we are totally accepting of certain types of racism but not others. Like the good Pastor said, if I stared the "United Caucasian College Fund" someone would burn my house down all call me a racist pig.

As a caucasian male of protestant decent, I am everyone's enemy.

WAIT A SECOND! NO POLITICS ALLOWED HERE!

I had a friend in high school who was born in South Africa. He was white and raised speaking English. He was also turned down for an African-American scholarship fund on basis of race.

It probably went to someone who'd never even been to Africa, let alone had the ability to show heritage there. He applied half on a joke, but it was shocking to know that he didn't get it even with his good grades and extra-curricular memberships.

 

[Cap'n Jewbeard]

First of all, Cheesefood, I couldn't find anywhere else to post this, but I gotta say:

Whoo! Lo Pan! I bet he's in the Hell of Being Forced to Drink Skanky Non-Home-Brew right now.

As to the real point of this thread though, my thinking was this: Orginally, when it was a "boycott stuff" kind of day, I was sorta ambivalent about it, like the other guy said: Why try to hold people hostage when your legal status is questionable?

But it seemed, then, to morph into a solidarity/visibility kind of event, which is a much more legit thing, and brings it in line with previous civil rights movements. So that's okay, if that's the direction it goes in.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

It sounds like very few of us were affected. I wonder if there's a chance that the protest backfired? It wasn't that much of a hardship for most people, life went on.

If it went on for two weeks, maybe, but I think we'd find people to empty the trash, etc. People we are paying an actual wage to. I'm not an economist or a politician, but that could definitely end up being a good thing.

 

[Pumbaa]

The only thing the boycott did was to actually harm the illegals. Dont go to work, dont get paid, make the owner who you work for lose cash pull money out of your local economy. For all those people in Mexico who decided not to go to Mc Donalds or walmart or what ever how many of those busines were local franchises owned by a local person?

And tell me that there wont be some sort of backlash towards illegals . . .

To me the whole thing made as much sense as starting a riot in your own neighborhood.

 

[todd_k]

One thing I was wondering..... Since alot of immigrants didn't go to work and most illegals who work take day to day jobs like construction. With that said, were there any stories of immigrant scabs who took their jobs for the day just to make a quick buck?

 

[Pumbaa]

were there any stories of immigrant scabs who took their jobs for the day just to make a quick buck?

There was a couple storys on the local news of out of work latinos complaining about the walk out and yes those complaining were more then willing to work that day . . .dunno if I wold call them scabs

 

[todd_k]

There was a couple storys on the local news of out of work latinos complaining about the walk out and yes those complaining were more then willing to work that day . . .dunno if I wold call them scabs

Well, wouldn't you say those immigrants at the rallies were on strike? Those who work when the regular workers are on strike are commonly called scabs. (is this a bad work to some people? I apologize if it is, I've never been in a union)

 

[ultraplop]

I think many people blur the line between legal and illegal immigrants. legal immigrants are good, while illegal ones are bad. The illegals, while not having to pay any taxes except for maybe some sales tax here and there, are having a very negative effect on our economy. Not only do they remove billions of dollars out of our economy and send it to mexico, but they bog down our medical and educational systems. Many hospitals are forced to close because they are forced to take the illegals who don't have to pay a dime. The governer of New Mexico who is actually Hispanic, not so long ago declared a state of emergency because illegal immigration is ravaging the state.

I think the answer to the problem is going to be a combination of securing the borders, stiffer penalties for companies that employ illegals, and possibly changes to the naturalization process to allow for more "legal" immigrants.

 

[Beer Snob]

I must live in a cave.

I think I'm a resident of the cave next to you... then again this pulsing pacemaker would make you forget or ignor most of the world besides a pounding chest cavity.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

The illegals, while not having to pay any taxes except for maybe some sales tax here and there, are having a very negative effect on our economy. Not only do they remove billions of dollars out of our economy and send it to mexico, but they bog down our medical and educational systems. Many hospitals are forced to close because they are forced to take the illegals who don't have to pay a dime.

Actually, most illegals pay taxes just like you and me. Getting a taxpayer id is easier than getting a ssn, and it's a good way not to get caught, as well as be 'square' with your employer who can then withhold wages and be less accountable for hiring an illegal. They're actually paying in with little to no chance of ever getting any payout.

Do you have any references that support "billions" of $$ being sent to Mexico, or for many hospitals closing directly due to the fact that they treated illegals?

 

[Cap'n Jewbeard]

Well said Baron, I had to research this while I was interning for a NJ congressman- illegals, especially migrants, pay into all kinds of taxes, and get very little back in terms of payouts from entitlement programs (medicaid/medicare, Social Security).

I also think you'd be hard-pressed to find non-anecdotal evidence of hopsitals closing for the reason you mentioned.

Phew, all this talk makes me miss my brew... but it's at home, and I'm at work. (sigh)

 

[ultraplop]

Here is an article that talks about hospital crisis due to illegals:

http://www.jpands.org/vol10no1/cosman.pdf

Here is an article that talks about how much money is exported to Mexico, they estimate 13 billion.

http://www.cairco.org/econ/econ.html

I would be interested to know how many illegals have Tax payorID's vs ones that don't. Its probably impossible to tell. In any case, I'm sure that many do pay taxes and that it does lessen the blow that illegal immigration does to the economy, but it is clear that it hasn't completely solved the problem.

those that do pay taxes make considerably less than most people, generally have a lot of dependants and this results in them paying very little in taxes. From what I have read, they have a very good chance of getting a payout when they file.

Of course, it makes me think, perhaps this isn't an issue of them being illegal or not, but simply so many poor people coming into the country are playing havoc on social systems. This is a problem that cannot be ignored.

Personally, I have no problems with immigrants who want to become Americans, but they need to go through the naturalization process and those that don't should not be here. Perhaps the naturalization process itself is to blame.

 

[budbo]

I also think you'd be hard-pressed to find non-anecdotal evidence of hopsitals closing for the reason you mentioned.

You obviously didn't live in the South West when the law took affect in the 70's, I never heard of one closing down but a few Emergency rooms closed down, or limited services to "life threatening" care only.

illegals, especially migrants, pay into all kinds of taxes

If true thats a good thing, the fact they can't get SS is good.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

My main problem is that some people are talking about rewarding people for thumbing their nose at our laws. When you tell someone that if they've been breaking the law for 7 years, you're going to go ahead and make them legal, that's you're doing.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Here is an article that talks about hospital crisis due to illegals:

http://www.jpands.org/vol10no1/cosman.pdf

Here is an article that talks about how much money is exported to Mexico, they estimate 13 billion.

http://www.cairco.org/econ/econ.html

The first link looks like an opinion piece by a biased source to me, and I don't see any links to any data that indicates any hospitals have closed due to the costs of illegal immigrants. She does make this statement:

What is unseen is their free medical care that has degraded and closed some of America's finest emergency medical facilities, and caused hospital bankruptcies: 84 California hospitals are closing their doors.

But she doesn't actually cite any sources or data, or specifically link the 84 CA hospitals to immigrants. She doesn't provide any sort of quantitative analysis of how services have been "degraded", or who decided they were the "finest emergency medical facilities." I know a lot of hospitals around me have closed, but it had nothing to do with immigrants...it was because the larger hospitals crowded them out, annexed them, or they were shut down by the State.

The second link I'll definitely take a look at at home because most of the sources cited aren't accessible to me through the fartsmilter at work (which usually means a politically biased source as opposed to unaffiliated research center). I'm surprised it's in the billions, but it's certainly plausible considering the # of immigrants both legal and illegal. But you have to track the money further than that. My in-laws in Guadalajara buy groceries at a chain owned by a US umbrella corporation. They shop at Wal-Mart on Saturday just like my wife and I do (well, not if I can help it, but that's another story ), and my FIL buys piles of crap at Home Depot. So a lot of that money comes right back.

Now we have a trade imbalance with Mexico because we've traded the cheap manufacturing jobs for higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs. Mexico is swiftly losing those jobs to Asia, and perhaps that imbalance will shift there in future decades.

Which isn't to say I disagree with your basic premise, in fact I agree with you. I don't think people should be allowed to be here illegally "outside of the system" which puts undue stress on the system. But I think the gov'ts of Mexico (and other Latin American countries) and the US are to blame. The US for not recognizing that most of the illegals are working and filling needs and that the system should work for these people, and Mexico for thinking that their inability to administer a semi-effective gov't which drives their citizens out is somehow our problem. Fox shouldn't be asking us why we don't legalize the illegals...he should be asking WTF is wrong with Mexico that they want to leave in the first place.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

Which isn't to say I disagree with your basic premise, in fact I agree with you. I don't think people should be allowed to be here illegally "outside of the system" which puts undue stress on the system. But I think the gov'ts of Mexico (and other Latin American countries) and the US are to blame. The US for not recognizing that most of the illegals are working and filling needs and that the system should work for these people, and Mexico for thinking that their inability to administer a semi-effective gov't which drives their citizens out is somehow our problem. Fox shouldn't be asking us why we don't legalize the illegals...he should be asking WTF is wrong with Mexico that they want to leave in the first place.

That's a good point. I definitely to blame for sometimes putting it all on the illegals, but if I was in their position and saw a way to make things better for my family I'd jump on it.

I still think that the basic premise of "A day without an immigrant," was off. this whole debate is about illegal aliens, not immigrants. Also, I don't like being threatened, and that is what I took that day as.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

That's a good point. I definitely to blame for sometimes putting it all on the illegals, but if I was in their position and saw a way to make things better for my family I'd jump on it.

I still think that the basic premise of "A day without an immigrant," was off. this whole debate is about illegal aliens, not immigrants. Also, I don't like being threatened, and that is what I took that day as.

Agreed on both points. It was a stupid way (IMO) for them to try to make their point. They've actually done "legal" walk-ins at the State legislature here in NC and gotten just as much press (and it was actually good press).

 

[Cheesefood]

My main problem is that some people are talking about rewarding people for thumbing their nose at our laws. When you tell someone that if they've been breaking the law for 7 years, you're going to go ahead and make them legal, that's you're doing.

Homebrewing used to be illegal.