So far, probationers don’t cotton to farm life
How’s it going down on the farm?
The first batch of probationers started work last week at a farm owned by Dick Minor, president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. In the coming days, more farmers could join the program.
So far, the experiment at Minor’s farm is yielding mixed results. On the first two days, all the probationers quit by mid-afternoon, said Mendez, one of two crew leaders at Minor’s farm.
“Those guys out here weren’t out there 30 minutes and they got the bucket and just threw them in the air and say, ‘Bonk this, I ain’t with this, I can’t do this,’” said Jermond Powell, a 33-year-old probationer. “They just left, took off across the field walking.”
Mendez put the probationers to the test last Wednesday, assigning them to fill one truck and a Latino crew to a second truck. The Latinos picked six truckloads of cucumbers compared to one truckload and four bins for the probationers.
Just as an aside, Minor Brothers Farm is listed as the second largest recipient of federal farm subsidies in the state, collecting a total of $11.4 million between 2000 and 2009.
– Jay Bookman
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622 comments Add your comment
The Thin Guy
June 22nd, 2011
9:42 am
Tell them if they don’t get to picking those cucumbers they’ll be locked up in a room with nothing to read but Jay Bookman’s blog.
Mighty Righty
June 22nd, 2011
9:43 am
Dave R.
June 22nd, 2011
9:04 am
“Less fortunate = criminals? Huh, Dave R?”
Uh, Finn? Don’t drag me into your tiff with RB, OK?
What IS it with you libs and your crush on me?
Brother Dave R, Libs think all conservatives look alike.
@@
June 22nd, 2011
9:44 am
“jconservative – “Unless you have pulled corn in the August sun day after day, I am not sure you are entitled to an opinion.”
I’ve picked six bushels of butter beans while in my underwear?
ty webb
June 22nd, 2011
9:44 am
“… I sure have shucked hundreds of bushels of it, and beans too — that’s about the only time I got to talk to my grandma in the summer time.”
Bosch,
yeah, me too…Brings back memories. Good times!
allman
June 22nd, 2011
9:45 am
Why I didn’t like this (and ray henry’s) article – It makes it sound like all the probationers are lazy whites. Or lazy blacks. This is hard, specialized work. I could never have done field work. Only the desperate will.
As a suggestion – they could start out with half-days (two shifts), for the new workers, unaccustomed to field labor. They could have them haul the baskets for the pickers.
This is a program that was specifically designed to fail. It is meant to send the message – we NEED the illegals, and can’t send them back.
Field work is a tough job, and a tough life. Even at ‘$20/hr’, you can’t live a full year off that, in one stable place. I understand the need for the workers, and feel sorry for them. But it must be a better life than back home for them. But we have been flooded with cheap labor. The construction workers of today have their own crews in a few years, forcing established workers out of jobs. If you lay tile, you can’t compete with people who live 10 to a room. If it’s your company – it’s gone!
In my neighborhood, near JCB, most of the billboards are non-English. The banks are now check-cashing places, or pawn shops. Is this progress???
RB from Gwinnett
June 22nd, 2011
9:45 am
“we will wind up spending money on them one way or another, ”
Why do you feel this society owes these people something? As long as people just like you keep making excuses for them and going to bat for the at the polls, they are going to keep scamming the system to skate through life sucking from the public till while you fleece the rest of us to pay for it. How about you stop caring about them with other people’s money and start caring about them with your money.
You don’t really care that much about them, do you!!!
josef
June 22nd, 2011
9:48 am
BOSCH
Shut up!
BADA
You’re on a roll again…seriously, the AJC ought to hire you…we’ve been needing another Lewis Grizzard or Ludlow Porch…course the AJC doesn’t have a sense of humor and ain’t real fond of the folksy locals…
BLAH
In all seriousness…you are perfectly right…what’s so hard about doing that? Duh…
Left wing management
June 22nd, 2011
9:48 am
Mendez put the probationers to the test last Wednesday, assigning them to fill one truck and a Latino crew to a second truck. The Latinos picked six truckloads of cucumbers compared to one truckload and four bins for the probationers.
Hm. Isn’t this racial profiling?
Mighty Righty
June 22nd, 2011
9:49 am
What are the odds, that if illegals obtained citizenship they would quit picking crops and file for their welefare checks? I would wager we would be in the same boat we are in now. More on welefare and still no crop pickers.
williebkind
June 22nd, 2011
9:50 am
I just bagged corn, squash, peas, and okra. I will soon have tomatoes. Of course I am just southern white trash.
RedEye
June 22nd, 2011
9:51 am
President Obama signed an executive order to create the establishment of a White House Rural Council. This will effect 16% of the population.
“Though rural communities face numerous challenges, they also present enormous economic potential.”
The average age of a farmer in the US is 58. Food price inflation contiues to rise. The administration is positioning themselves to control the food resources in this country.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/09/executive-order-establishment-white-house-rural-council
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
June 22nd, 2011
9:51 am
Well, I got a better use for the trucks. Let’s just say it involves hauling and dumping at the Mexican border.
Have a good hump day everybody.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
9:52 am
“Why do you feel this society owes these people something?”
Because they are American citizens, just like you. Again, these people will not simply disappear — we pay for them one way of another.
I’m not making excuses for them, if the world was perfect, all people would do good, have good work ethic and things would be all hunky dory. But I’m also a realist. I know there are people out there who are looking to milk the system, and there are LOTS more provisions now to stop those people than there used to be — and you’d know this if you ever checked eligibility requirements.
And, considering I pay taxes, I do care about them with my money.
jms
June 22nd, 2011
9:52 am
Maybe we should send one probationer to Mexico for each illegal immigrant. Sounds like a great trade for us.
JohnnyReb
June 22nd, 2011
9:53 am
Bosch – somebody is feeding and clothing them; buying them beer, cigarettes, etc. My money, literally, is on state/fed aid either directly or to their family.
meatcleaver
June 22nd, 2011
9:54 am
Nathan’s “DEALS”!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in affect!
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
9:54 am
josef,
cosby smith
June 22nd, 2011
9:54 am
What a country we have developed….I can mooch off the government so why should I have to work to eat…perhaps we let them starve and see if their attitude changes…To all those who love Barry and the wonderful Federal Government..enjoy what you have sewn.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
9:56 am
“My money, literally, is on state/fed aid either directly or to their family”
No Reb, it’s not. It’s not your money — it’s money you pay into the system and yes, some of that money goes towards “welfare” programs, but like I told RB, if you’d actually read more about eligibility requirements for some of the so-called “welfare” programs here in the STate, you’d see that people either have to have a job, or be in training of some kind in order to receive benefits, or be disabled.
And when those people buy food, clothes, and even cigarettes, that money goes straight back into the economy to provide additional jobs.
Matt
June 22nd, 2011
9:57 am
Why pick cucumbers when you can collect welfare and sit on your @$$?
josef
June 22nd, 2011
9:58 am
BOSCH
It’s going pretty good…got an a33 kicker project working on the other screen…no summer school for me…hope yours and the missus’ venture turns out well…
Gator Joe
June 22nd, 2011
9:58 am
Jay,
Fascinating, not to mention amusing, to watch the Right trip over themselves and their policies. I’d still be willing to bet that most of the farmers complaining about a shortage of labor, resulting from the newly enacted immigration legislation, voted for, contributed to and have farms in counties controlled by Republicans. The narrow-minded, bigoted voters who voted Republican should have nothing to complain about, since Deal and the Republicans are doing what they asked for. The only people I feel sorry in all this are the immigrants seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
P.S.
“U-Pic” might make a comeback, with farmers and bigots doing some of the picking, that is if they want GA produce to sell and consume.
Peadawg
June 22nd, 2011
10:00 am
Gator Joe @ 9:58,
Jay also asked for this. He isn’t complaining though…just pointing out the consequences.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:01 am
“I can mooch off the government so why should I have to work to eat”
cosby,
You too might benefit from reading the eligibility requirements for many of the State’s welfare programs.
http://team.georgia.gov/portal/site/DHS-DFCS/menuitem.5d32235bb09bde9a50c8798dd03036a0/?vgnextoid=2bea2b48d9a4ff00VgnVCM100000bf01010aRCRD
You might want to pay special attention to the section on “lifetime limits” and “work requirements”
But by all means, if you want to remain ignorant and just bash people for no damn good reason just to make yourself feel good and blame someone for what you perceive to be a grave injustice, or to pass judgment upon people who are of no consequence to you, then by all means. It’s a free country.
Jimmy62
June 22nd, 2011
10:01 am
I don’t really know the background, but I’m assuming these are unemployed people who can’t find a job. So they are handed one, and reject it so they can go back on the dole. These are the exact kinds of people we shouldn’t spend a single penny on. If they refuse to work, then we should refuse to give them any welfare.
joe
June 22nd, 2011
10:01 am
I can just picture these “probationers.” Out of shape, fat, guts hanging over their belts, etc. Yes, its hot, but why not use this time to get yourself in shape, lose weight and take off those excess inches that double as a spare tire around your waist…Plus, where were the deputy’s with their shot guns ready to fire if they tried to escape. Oh, I guess there weren’t actual prisoners…maybe they should be the ones doing the harvesting then.
Joe Mama
June 22nd, 2011
10:01 am
williebkind — “Who gave them the authority to take off? Should they go directly to jail? I bet most have child support payments. They can simply walk off the job? The is a poor effort to work people and a typical example of a liberal to promote their ideology from half-truths. I am not falling for this garbage.”
My understanding is that these were former prisoners on probation who were having trouble finding work after their release. AFAIK, none of them were released from prison simply to take these jobs, so I’m not sure why you think they should be sent back to jail simply for walking off the job.
deegee
June 22nd, 2011
10:02 am
The short term outcome was predictable. In a year from now I want the reporters at the AJC to analyze what this law has cost or saved the State of Georgia. It is supposed to save the State $billions in health and human services. Let’s see about that. Hall County was one of the first in Georgia to crack down on illegal immigrants. Right now their financial situation is so bad that many of their people are begging their county commissioners to raise their taxes.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:02 am
“Why pick cucumbers when you can collect welfare and sit on your @$$?”
Actually Matt, you can not just sit on your ass and collect “welfare” unless you are disabled.
Here’s the link for you to so you can be more educated in these matters:
http://team.georgia.gov/portal/site/DHS-DFCS/menuitem.5d32235bb09bde9a50c8798dd03036a0/?vgnextoid=2bea2b48d9a4ff00VgnVCM100000bf01010aRCRD
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:03 am
Thanks josef! It’s kind of nerve racking and I’ll be working my ass off, but it’ll be fun. I’m excited.
joe
June 22nd, 2011
10:03 am
@ Matt, here here.
Uncle Jed
June 22nd, 2011
10:03 am
The Latinos picked six truckloads of cucumbers compared to one truckload and four bins for the probationers.
My vote goes to work ethic; not work ethnic. If the probationers were hard workers willing to suck it up during tough times they probbaly could have avoided probation in the first place.
Lovejones
June 22nd, 2011
10:04 am
How is this a fair comparison of work ethic? The probationers (like you or I) have no experience at doing this type of work. The laborers are used to it. I will bet anything that all of you low lifes on here downing the probationers couldn’t pick one bucket of produce in that heat. Yet still you persist with your ignorant rants.
keegor
June 22nd, 2011
10:04 am
benefits for people who pick fruit? what? do people want to do this for a career? jeez, this is a young persons game. the smart ones that get older move out of the fields and into the chicken plants, carpet mills, hospitality, etc. i will bet most of these probationers havent worked a day in their life. another solution that is a good idea in theory, but gets zero results. $20 an hour is pretty good money for someone with a 3rd grade education.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:05 am
Jimmy 62,
It appears you too could benefit from the link I provided:
http://team.georgia.gov/portal/site/DHS-DFCS/menuitem.5d32235bb09bde9a50c8798dd03036a0/?vgnextoid=2bea2b48d9a4ff00VgnVCM100000bf01010aRCRD
And I’ll repeat what I wrote to cosby, as it also applies to you:
But by all means, if you want to remain ignorant and just bash people for no damn good reason just to make yourself feel good and blame someone for what you perceive to be a grave injustice, or to pass judgment upon people who are of no consequence to you, then by all means. It’s a free country.
RAY
June 22nd, 2011
10:05 am
So Garth, you know most blacks to make a statement “most blacks don’t have the work ethnic”…
Joe Mama
June 22nd, 2011
10:05 am
Uncle Jed — “My vote goes to work ethic; not work ethnic.”
Governor Deal has defunded that there Ethnical Commission. He heard all the ethnics were leavin’ tha state, so he figgered we didn’t need no Ethnical Commission n’more.
Fletch
June 22nd, 2011
10:06 am
I’m just curious, certainly the United States is not the only Agro/Industrial nation in the world. How do the other countries get by without the benefit of the undocumented worker?
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:06 am
joe,
“@ Matt, here here.”
Why cheer for someone who is ignorant of facts joe? Just curious.
Don't Tread
June 22nd, 2011
10:07 am
If “they ain’t with it”, maybe they should be without eating, too. Any of these “probationers” that may be on some form of public assistance should be kicked off.
I guess they’d rather steal and deal drugs rather than work a real job. Kyle’s column today seems to cover that well.
Spell it Out
June 22nd, 2011
10:08 am
For everyone railing against any form of amnesty, or pathway to citizenship, I would like to see your elected leaders propose deportation. Of all illegals. Spell out how you would find them all (door to door searches?)and how you would send them back. Spell out the cost estimated for the plan and let the electorate vote on it.
I think once you see the costs involved, and the limited effectiveness of the plan, you might begin to rethink your position.
Uncle Jed
June 22nd, 2011
10:08 am
Why pick cucumbers when you can collect welfare and sit on your @$$?
I picked cucumbers last night before sitting on mine. No welfare check came yesterday and none are expected today. I do expect some maters soon.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:08 am
Don’t Tread,
“maybe they should be without eating, too. Any of these “probationers” that may be on some form of public assistance should be kicked off.”
Maybe you should read the eligibility requirements for the various welfare programs in the State of Georgia:
http://team.georgia.gov/portal/site/DHS-DFCS/menuitem.5d32235bb09bde9a50c8798dd03036a0/?vgnextoid=2bea2b48d9a4ff00VgnVCM100000bf01010aRCRD
The Pettifoggers' Pettifog
June 22nd, 2011
10:08 am
My only opportunity was to take a minimum wage job at a hardware store. Guess what? I did it!
In the Air Conditioned Building!!! Way to GO!!! That’s some comparison — air conditioning / hot georgia sun / work ethics! You sir, are a great american!!!!!
bob leblah
June 22nd, 2011
10:10 am
I should have known this would happen. We use the worst in our society to point out that Americans won’t do these jobs. If farmers are so desperate to get crops picked, where are the advertisements for these jobs in the city. Why don’t they send trucks up to pick up people and bring them south for a couple of weeks to work? Additionally, farmers can pay living wages to do this work.
This is such non-sense that Americans won’t do this. I would, if I were out of work.
josef
June 22nd, 2011
10:10 am
FLETCH
Other developed countries with a strong agricultural base have in place programs to provide for itinerant, seasonal labor.
Uncle Jed
June 22nd, 2011
10:12 am
You sir, are a great american!!!!!
Somebody has been watching Hannity, again
getalife
June 22nd, 2011
10:14 am
They can always use free prison inmate labor.
John Birch
June 22nd, 2011
10:14 am
The Democrats under LBJ destroyed the nuclear family and the work ethic of the lower socioeconomic groups by providing them welfare checks and food stamps for doing what they would have done anyway, reproduce. Now there are millions of Americans that won’t work unless they absolutely have to. Those that don’t work, don’t eat.
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
10:15 am
OFF TOPIC: I laughed out loud for real when I read the counts of different ridiculous claims about the president, including memes/claims-that-don’t-change-anything (the 57 state thing and the teleprompter thing, for example)
I am still surprised that 57 states is only at 150, and teleprompter was at 1,074.
RB from Gwinnett
June 22nd, 2011
10:15 am
“I’m not making excuses for them,”
Yes, Bosch, you are. For the most part, these people thumbed their noses at the free education they were provided, don’t have the skills to do anything more than manual labor jobs, and refuse to do actual work, yet you think they deserve literally thousands of dollars of housing, food, medical care, social services, social security, and countless other benefits merely because they’re citizens? Where in the constitution are they promised that?
I don’t want my tax dollars perpetuating this situation that any reasonably intelligent person can see is a pathway to disaster, Bosch. Stop caring with my money.
mike
June 22nd, 2011
10:16 am
Nice to see all the usual racists interjecting their intelligent ideas into the blog. The day would not be complete without their usual input. This is a right to work state. The probationers have the right to work or not to work. So some choose not to work. So what. You folks wanted to take your state back and this is the beginning of taking it back. To be honest, blacks have already contributed enough free labor to this state. Maybe some of you other folks need to get out there and help your state in it’s time of need.
ATF
June 22nd, 2011
10:16 am
I am on a fixed income and am going to have a tough time paying for cucumbers at $2 or $3 each or tomatoes at $4 a pound. Shoot, tomatoes are already so high that I don’t buy them every week. So, I want there to be folks out there who have the skill, muscle, and endurance to pick crops. Maybe we could make it part of the “path to citizenship” that anyone who has worked 60 months or 100 months (some number) as a crop picker somewhere in the U.S. automatically qualifies for citizenship.
Soothsayer
June 22nd, 2011
10:21 am
Chinese manufacturing workers now earn an average of only $1.36 per hour. In relative terms, Chinese hourly labour compensation costs in 2008 are roughly 4 per cent of those in the United States. They even remain considerably below those in Mexico.
If Chinese workers are finding their manufacturing jobs disappearing and their compensation limited, no wonder that workers in other countries are facing serious challenges.
The Pettifoggers' Pettifog
June 22nd, 2011
10:21 am
I don’t really know the background,
And yet you put your 2 cents in anyway….priceless!
but I’m assuming these are unemployed people who can’t find a job. So they are handed one, and reject it so they can go back on the dole. These are the exact kinds of people we shouldn’t spend a single penny on. If they refuse to work, then we should refuse to give them any welfare.
I’m beginning to think that the average commentator on this blog is actually deliberately clueless. It’s not hard to go to the State of Ga’s website and find information on anything (like say, WELFARE qualifications); and yet they don’t do that.
They prefer to come on this blog and say, well, say some of the most ignorant things that I’ve ever read, (and I’ve read The NY Times AND The Wall Street Journal so I know!); and with complete moral uprightness go to church on Sunday, and sing praises to some God about how they’ll never ever bear false witness against their neighbor!
If i didn’t know any better, I’d think the majority of people on this blog are deaf, dumb and blind hypocrites!!!
hayseed
June 22nd, 2011
10:22 am
Problem is, when these “currently illegal workers” become American citizens, they won’t do this kind of work, either. .just like the rest of us. I grew up on a farm, doing this kind of labor for room and board. .but I wouldn’t do it now.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:22 am
“For the most part, these people thumbed their noses at the free education they were provided, don’t have the skills to do anything more than manual labor jobs, and refuse to do actual work”
Who the hell gave you the right to speak for all the people who receive some assistance, and where did you receive such omnipotent powers?
And it’s very pretentious of you to think that all money paid in the welfare system is YOUR money. Money that is somehow being taken from YOU personally. It is not all about YOU RB, we do not get to decide where our tax money goes, we do that at the polls, and I have NEVER heard of any candidate wanting to totally do away with welfare programs.
How many welfare reform or welfare do away with bills came up during 2000-2006 when the GOP had complete control and the ability to do such?
As a society, we decided long ago to develop safety nets for those who need them, are they abused by some? Yes, are there provisions in place to help with this? Yes, a LOT more than there used to be.
But by all means, if you want to remain ignorant and just bash people for no damn good reason just to make yourself feel good and blame someone for what you perceive to be a grave injustice, or to pass judgment upon people who are of no consequence to you, then by all means. It’s a free country.
And here’s the link for you too so you can stop being so ignorant about these matters:
http://team.georgia.gov/portal/site/DHS-DFCS/menuitem.5d32235bb09bde9a50c8798dd03036a0/?vgnextoid=2bea2b48d9a4ff00VgnVCM100000bf01010aRCRD
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
10:23 am
ty webb: What Jay really means is a “pathway to voter registration”.
Ah, the truth comes out. Cons want to keep illegal immigrants illegal because otherwise they would be able to vote!
Why don’t you just pass a ridiculous voter ID law instead.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:24 am
Pettifoggers Pettifog,
And hell, I’ve posted it like six times already, all they have to do is freaking read!
The Pettifoggers' Pettifog
June 22nd, 2011
10:24 am
uh oh, RB is now stalking Bosch!! Do you find Bosch MORE attractive than JB or are you just interested in men who aren’t interested in you? You devil you!
RedEye
June 22nd, 2011
10:25 am
“To be honest, blacks have already contributed enough free labor to this state.”
Really, when did that take place?
Uncle Jed
June 22nd, 2011
10:26 am
I believe some reference to working for one’s sustenance can be found in Genesis, maybe 3:19.
But for those with no use for scripture, isn’t is just common sense that if one is able, one should work to provide for one’s self and family? When did it become okay to survive off your neighbor’s labor just because you didn’t particularly like the job available to you at the moment?
getalife
June 22nd, 2011
10:26 am
They can always reverse child labor laws like that con in Maine and use the kids as slaves.
con utopia.
dorae
June 22nd, 2011
10:26 am
As with any job there is a learning curve. It sounds like the farmer’s union wants the probationers to fail. They complain that no one wants the jobs that illegals have been doing. When the probationers were hired by the farmers were they given any advice on how to handle the heat? It takes a little time to learn the tricks of the trade. One needs loose clothing, gloves, hats etc. If you were raised in urban America you may not know how to handle this type of work. How to bend and lift so that you don’t damage your back. The wage sounds right, after all how much schooling or training does it take to pick produce? But, at the same time some training is needed in order to be effective. I think the farmers need to move out of their comfort zone and think outside the box. This season may be difficult but if they were hiring legals all along than they wouldn’t be in this pickle. It isn’t like they woke up one morning and realized hey my cucmbers need to be picked. I remember my cousins in north alabama, in the day, telling me they were let out of school during the potatoe picking season and were able to earn wages on temp jobs.
I think these are jobs which people would like to take but they don’t know how to get the jobs or what is needed to do the jobs. A little bit of thinking and marketing could get the farmers pickers to do the work. Instead of complaining that there isn’t anyone out there to do the work put a team together and find legals to do the work.
poison pen
June 22nd, 2011
10:26 am
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
9:54 am
josef,
“Are you enjoying your summer? The Other Bosch is teaching summer school, but this is the last week, then we start working on our new business endeavor!!!”
Bosch, There’s a rumor that they are looking for cuke pickers in Georgia, sorry, couldn’t help that.
RB from Gwinnett
June 22nd, 2011
10:26 am
“Who the hell gave you the right to speak for all the people who receive some assistance, and where did you receive such omnipotent powers?”
I paid for that right, Bosch. I pay for it every day I go to work so these lazy good for nothing parasites can walk off the job and go scam the system out of more tax dollars.
lynnie gal
June 22nd, 2011
10:27 am
Well, isn’t that convenient. Georgia will use prison labor to pick crops after the “war on drugs” puts ‘em in prison for smoking marijuana or something equally ridiculous. Sounds fishy…maybe a renaissance of a type of slavery?
The Pettifoggers' Pettifog
June 22nd, 2011
10:27 am
Bosch: And hell, I’ve posted it like six times already, all they have to do is freaking read!
To read is to understand. To understand is to learn. There’s your problem right there.
Perhaps if you could draw pictures, or probably say something like “The Great Saint Ronald Of Reagan….” then slip an informative link in there and actually TRICK them into reading, maybe that would work.
But then again, perhaps you should stick to the pictures.
Old Boy
June 22nd, 2011
10:29 am
Dangit, I agree with Jay on this issue. That stinks. The problem isn’t that illegal immigrants are stealing jobs; they are doing jobs that even the lowest of the low in American (unemployed ex-convicts on probation) won’t do. The problem is that there is no way to make them share the burden by taxing their earnings. An easier route to citizenship is one method to solve this problem. People don’t come over here to sit on their tail and leech off the system (we already have plenty of people here to do that). They come over here for opportunity. Get them citizenship; that’s how our country became great in the first place.
Of course, a national sales tax to replace the income tax would do the job more effectively, but that will sadly never happen.
Brosephus
June 22nd, 2011
10:29 am
Truth
June 22nd, 2011
9:27 am
You stupid people keep falling in the same trap, YOU keep calling them illegal immigrants. They have no intention of being immigrants. They are illegal aliens!!!!!!!
Maybe you should actually read the Immigration and Nationality Act and understand what it says before calling somebody stupid. According to the law, any alien seeking admission into the US is considered to be an intended immigrant until proven otherwise. People who cross the border illegally are considered as entering without inspection ad they have not been inspected by immigration officers. Therefore, they are still considered intended immigrants until they prove otherwise.
When you use the term “illegal”, there are many different ways that immigrants and non-immigrants can become “illegal”. Maybe you’re the stupid one who needs to study something before making assinine statements.
A bunch of convicted criminals are let loose on some Democrat contributors farm on one of these really hot days to pick cucumbers. They are then compared with a bunch of Mexicans who are doing the same thing to see how productive they are. Most anyone would know that a bunch of crack dealers would rather sell their product or collect a government check than pick cucumbers. This comparison was doomed from the start.
And the shark jumping continues……
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:29 am
RB, @ 10:26
Now it’s painfully obvious you are being willfully ignorant. I know it’s hard to admit you are wrong when the facts showing your willingness to be ignorant and wrong are put right there in front of you.
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
10:29 am
RB: For the most part, these people thumbed their noses at the free education they were provided, don’t have the skills to do anything more than manual labor jobs, and refuse to do actual work
Proof please
The Pettifoggers' Pettifog
June 22nd, 2011
10:30 am
I paid for that right, Bosch. I pay for it every day I go to work so these lazy good for nothing parasites can walk off the job and go scam the system out of more tax dollars.
RB works!!! How can he possibly work when he’s on this blog up to 15 hours per day stalking JB into submission (he likes dominance/submission games — I read it on a bathroom wall).
RB says he works for a living!!! HAHAHAHA!!!! Oh yeah, and I bet he also says he’s handsome, rich, and has all his teeth too!!!
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:32 am
“I pay for it every day I go to work so these lazy good for nothing parasites can walk off the job and go scam the system out of more tax dollars.”
And yet, RB has never expressed his outrage at those who get subsidies — which, dollar for dollar, is so much more.
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
10:32 am
Pettifogger’s Pettifog: I am reasonably sure it’s mostly a lack of effort required to click a link. I wonder sometimes what the health of people who can’t even do THAT is.
Fletch
June 22nd, 2011
10:33 am
josef – “Other developed countries with a strong agricultural base have in place programs to provide for itinerant, seasonal labor.’
Precisely! As I posted earlier, we pay our people pretty well, and we cover 100% of their medical benefits. I personally think that anyone who works in Agriculture, be it farming ranching, picking , herding, etc… should have a full medical program provided by the employer as well as Workers Compensation. I’m not advocating “forced” coverage, but outdoor work is considerably more risky than sitting in the office. As such, employers who engage in Agri businesses, should be more than willing to take care of their employees.
Uncle Jed
June 22nd, 2011
10:33 am
ATF
June 22nd, 2011
10:16 am
I am on a fixed income and am going to have a tough time paying for cucumbers at $2 or $3 each or tomatoes at $4 a pound. Shoot, tomatoes are already so high that I don’t buy them every week.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Those sound like “out of season” prices. Locally those items come to market in such volume that you should be able to do much better at a farmer’s market, than at the supermarket during this time of year.
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:34 am
Adam @ 10:32
It’s called willful ignorance and some kind of mental disorder where they can not have their ideas of beliefs challenged because then they have to come up with someone else to blame for what they consider such grave injustices — and it pisses them off.
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
10:34 am
Bosch: And yet, RB has never expressed his outrage at those who get subsidies — which, dollar for dollar, is so much more.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!” – Upton Sinclair
poison pen
June 22nd, 2011
10:34 am
getalife
They can always reverse child labor laws like that con in Maine and use the kids as slaves.
con utopia.
Getalife, Which one would that be? I looked into Main and the people that I read about honestly seem like Libs. In fact most of these states have people who have done that and they all seem to be libs.
You know, the type that don’t work and scam the system of everything.
Grant
June 22nd, 2011
10:35 am
I like the way you just had to work cotton in the title.
pj
June 22nd, 2011
10:36 am
Bada Bing: “…no one is gonna work hard for peanuts. ” Lots of Americans do it every day, all day. That’s what happens when minimum wage stays the same for eight years, while everything else gets more expensive.
Peter
June 22nd, 2011
10:38 am
Well the farmers got a lousy “Deal”…….the Republican’s screw things up constantly……maybe the Republican’s will go out and work the fields like an immigrant does.
In the mean time the Republican’s will give away free money to the farmers as well !
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:38 am
RB,
Here, I’ll make it simple for you, now you don’t even have to freaking click on the link:
Lifetime Limits: Receipt of cash assistance is limited to 48 months in a lifetime. The limit may be extended if it is determined that an extension is justified due to certain hardships, including domestic violence and physical or mental incapacity.
Work Requirement: All adult recipients have a work requirement, and are required to participate in work activities and training for at least 30 hours weekly. These work activities help recipients gain the experience needed to find a job and become self-sufficient.
But I encourage you to do so as you’ll find much more information about each program. Those particular requirements are for TANF money, which is generally the “welfare” folks like you are always so enraged about and genralize about.
poison pen
June 22nd, 2011
10:38 am
Adam
RB: For the most part, these people thumbed their noses at the free education they were provided, don’t have the skills to do anything more than manual labor jobs, and refuse to do actual work
Proof please
Adam, the proof is probably because they are on probation and don’t have a job.
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
10:38 am
Kids should work at a younger age because otherwise they are socialist freeloaders and don’t appreciate the value of a dollar. Am I right, cons?
Oh, how about making them do all the work to clean the house while you sit on your butt watching TV, and they get an allowance for it! Capitalism at work, right cons?
6 strong
June 22nd, 2011
10:39 am
Maybe its just me but I dont’t see how you can compare workers that have been picking fruit and vegetables to people that have been doing it for less then a week. There is no way in the world that the people on probation was ever going to beat professional pickers. JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT WHEN PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO COMPARE APPLES TO ORANGES.
Adam
June 22nd, 2011
10:39 am
poison: RB is referring to people on welfare, not people on probation. I want proof that they, for the most part:
1) thumbed their noses at the free education they were provided
2) don’t have the skills to do anything more than manual labor jobs, and
3) refuse to do actual work
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:41 am
“There is no way in the world that the people on probation was ever going to beat professional pickers”
Well, that’s rather presumptuous too considering some may be on probation for “picking” a particular crop of illegal foilage. Maybe if you could ge high on okra, we wouldn’t be having this problem.
poison pen
June 22nd, 2011
10:42 am
Peter
“Well the farmers got a lousy “Deal”…….the Republican’s screw things up constantly……maybe the Republican’s will go out and work the fields like an immigrant does.”
In the mean time the Republican’s will give away free money to the farmers as well !
Peter, Just to clue you in, A Democrat has been President for a couple of years now and he is still giving away money. The money isn’t free either it comes from our hard earned tax dollars, something the libs can’t understand. DUH!
ty webb
June 22nd, 2011
10:43 am
adam,
yeah, those ridiculous voter id laws…just stick to calling people racist and blaming Fox news…that’s really all you have, and you’re really good at it.
poison pen
June 22nd, 2011
10:44 am
Adam, I stand corrected.
Uncle Jed
June 22nd, 2011
10:44 am
Here we find ourselves “dillydickin” about cucumbers and slavery, when our focus should be elsewhere. I’m telling you, folks, there is a whole world of news/opinion beyond this pinata party…
…From the moment the Obama administration came into office, there have been no net increases in full-time jobs, only in part-time jobs. This is contrary to all previous recessions. Employers are not recalling the workers they laid off from full-time employment.
The real job losses are greater than the estimate of 7.5 million. They are closer to 10.5 million, as 3 million people have stopped looking for work. Equally troublesome is the lower labor participation rate; some 5 million jobs have vanished from manufacturing, long America’s greatest strength. Just think: Total payrolls today amount to 131 million, but this figure is lower than it was at the beginning of the year 2000, even though our population has grown by nearly 30 million….
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/mzuckerman/articles/2011/06/20/why-the-jobs-situation-is-worse-than-it-looks
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:45 am
poison,
“A Democrat has been President for a couple of years now and he is still giving away money. ”
I’m not sure if the “giving away money” is still true (I’m assuming you were referring to the stimulus), however, the GOP governors were certainly eager to get it!
poison pen
June 22nd, 2011
10:45 am
Bosch, that was funny. Okra!
Tom
June 22nd, 2011
10:46 am
At $7.50 per hour it is ridiculous, I probably would just go through the motions too. Let’s see how motivated they would be at $12-13 per hour? Those farm owners must be making a fortune using slave wages on the workers( Illegal or not)! I am a retired independent conservative and I don’t like the way the workers are being treated!
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:46 am
poison,
There have been times when after eating the delicacy known as fried okra, I have been a little high.
God Bless America.....and no one else
June 22nd, 2011
10:47 am
Maybe their work ethic is why they are probationers n the first place…….
Bosch
June 22nd, 2011
10:47 am
Tom,
“I am a retired independent conservative and I don’t like the way the workers are being treated!”
I think that has more to do with you having some semblance of humanity in your soul than you being a retired independent conservative.
Uncle Jed
June 22nd, 2011
10:48 am
Obama Gets 30% of Americans Certain to Support Re-Election in Economy Poll
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-22/obama-gets-30-of-americans-certain-to-support-re-election-in-economy-poll.html