February 29, 2016
Jobs Americans Won’t TrumpBy C. Edmund WrightYou just can't make this stuff up. It is beyond ironic and hysterical to boot. I'll get to why in a moment.
First the what: Donald J. Trump, aka Mr. Build The Wall -- Mr. Deport Them All -- Mr. Make America Great Again -- is under this crazy impression that there are certain types of jobs that Americans won't do. He mentioned specifically some seasonal jobs in South Florida, especially when the economy is hot in those areas.
And being under this impression, while having work to be done at his Mar A Lago project (and elsewhere like the building of Trump Tower), he has resorted to illegal immigrant labor to keep the grass cut, the beds made, the floors vacuumed, to get the tower built, and so on.
But of course, what the hell does Trump know? All he's done is actually have to get low skilled but necessary grunt work done in the United States of coddled welfare, unemployed hipsters at Starbucks, EBT card holders and Ritalin takers. He sounds like, well, almost every contractor you can find who is involved with the unskilled and semi-skilled labor markets.Almost every single one of them will tell you the same thing.
But why should we listen to these people when media bigs like Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Steyn and others have mocked this very same this claim about ten thousand times since 2005? After all, a columnist, author, speaker and talk show host -- not to mention an internet troll -- would certainly know a helluva lot more about hiring at the low end of the labor market than someone who merely does golf courses, towers, lawn maintenance, janitorial services, housekeeping and so on.
Are you laughing yet?
If not, it's because the irony has not dawned on you as of this moment. Or perhaps -- and this is where it starts to get a tad comical -- you have been one of those listeners, readers and internet trolls laughing at the notion that there are jobs Americans won't do, while being one of those over the top Trump supporters since June as well. And it could be that -- and this is the really funny part -- you are one of those who suddenly got the "jobs Americans won't do" religion as a result of the Houston Republican debate.
In case you missed it, and I doubt you did -- this is the debate where Marco Rubio mocked and embarrassed Trump for having illegals and mostly foreign labor involved with certain aspects of his projects. Trump, apparently unaware of the paradox he was about to step in, insisted that he "hire(s) foreign workers because those are jobs Americans won't do."
Yes, he said that. He even repeated it as Rubio pressed the issue. He repeated himself a lot in that debate, frankly -- but the salient point is that he was and is standing by the claim that there are jobs Americans won't do.
To be clear, the point Trump is making is that there are jobs Americans won’t do at a price point that other Americans are willing to pay. I don't blame consumers for this either; it is each of our responsibility to provide for our families and businesses as cost effectively as we can.
There is of course the claim that the labor market has been driven down by foreign labor -- and that’s true to a point. But the bigger perversion is by our own government in the form of absurd welfare and related benefits. So few want to talk about that, or consumer thrift, because nuance and complication are the anathema to demagoguery.
Now while I oppose Trump overall for many, many reasons, I happen to agree with him on this particular point. Let me explain: As a contractor hiring in the low-end labor markets for 23 years this has been my experience as well. I'm talking over ten-thousand job applicants, and only a scant few were anything but Hispanic. Some legal, some illegal, some undetermined (this was all pre e-verify days).
You can rant and rave and flame me all you want, but I lived this for over ten thousand job applicants. Your flame won't bother me a bit. Besides, Trump. Remember? It’s a place where I think he’s right.
However, I did expect at least a tiny ripple in the ranks over this admission amongst his flock. How could he be so tone deaf? How could he not know that his support base is almost precisely the universe that has pooh-poohed this jobs notion the loudest while supporting mass deportations and jail time for employers the quickest?
Because they most certainly are largely the same group of folks. They are the public figures -- as mentioned above -- as well as in the masses on the internet.
And yet after the debate, there were two responses from the Trumpophiles everywhere. And the responses did not include throwing Donald in the slammer for hiring illegals. But by God, that damned neighborhood landscaper we use should fry!
What I saw and heard was either total crickets from say Limbaugh, Coulter, Steyn, Hannity and so on. Meanwhile on the internet there was a sudden rash of conversions from Trump trolls to the religion of jobs American's won't do. It was quite astonishing.
And yet, I should no longer be flabbergasted. For eight months we have seen on the spot Benny Hinn-type conversions from a belief in property rights to applauding Kelo; conversions from opposing crony capitalism to supporting ethanol; from opposing government health care to we're gonna take care of everybody; from being strongly pro life to agreeing that Planned Parenthood does many great things; from believing in self responsibility to suddenly applauding the strategic use of bankruptcy; from supporting Matt Bevin against Mitch McConnell to defending Donald for donating to Mitch; and from supporting American energy to calling everyone who does simply beholden to big oil.
And on and on it goes. It's amazing. It's a miracle. It's, well, Trump. And why? Because Trump. And how? Trump!!!
Look, I'll be honest. If it comes to it -- and it looks like it might -- I'll hold my nose, close my eyes and ears, and tamp down the nausea in my gut and vote for Trump over any Democrat. I will. But I will not countenance mental vacancy and total mind-boggling hypocrisy in the name of cultish worship.
So some of you Trump supporters need to get your stories straight. When I have so much as mentioned the realities of low end labor in this country, I have been called a traitor and threatened and been given death and/or jail wishes from the very same people now who are just fine and dandy with Trump hiring foreign workers.
Now how is that? Oh yeah. Because, um, Trump! That explains it.
Edmund Wright is a contributor to American Thinker, Breitbart, Newsmax TV, Talk Radio Network and author of WTF? How Karl Rove and the Establishment Lost...Againhttp://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/jobs_americans_wont_trump.html++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
