Help Baby Boomers! Pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform Now!

America, we need to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform Now! We need workers and taxpayers to help us as our Baby Boomers enter their Senior Years. Look at the chart. Even now, Seniors (60+) outnumber every other age group except for school age children. By 2028, Aging Seniors will be over double the size of most other age groups.
The U.S. will be facing massive Labor Shortages starting in the next Five Years, particularly in the Medical and Healthcare fields. These jobs cannot be outsourced overseas. These jobs must be done here, in America.
There will be a massive need for Elder Care homes and facilities. Many small business will grow and thrive in these fields as long as we have workers who are trained and will do the jobs.
However, there are two obstacles our country needs to overcome in order to fill the demand:
1. People in America to do the jobs: We need young, hard working people.
2. Education and Training: We need to start them on their Training and Career paths now.

We must start our efforts now. We should encourage our children to enter into the Medical Field. Additionally, Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the Dream Act will allow us to increase our number of U.S. Workers. The Dream Act will allow us to encourage young people to enter into the Medical Field.

The Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) addresses Educational and Training needs for ALL Americans, including New Americans brought in through CIR.
If we work together to find solutions, we can meet our future needs. This includes encouraging our children/young people to become trained and educated in these careers, not only for their sake but for all of our sakes, especially for WE BOOMERS.

The President's policies have saved us from the DEEP CHASM created by Republican policies. CIR, the Dream Act, ACA and other Presidential Policies will help guide us to resolving our job shortages in the future.

States are facing Massive Farm Worker Shortages & Crops are Rotting on the Vine! These are Jobs Americans WON'T DO!!!

Several agricultural states are facing MASSIVE LABOR SHORTAGES! Farmers cannot find workers to pick their crops so their crops are ROTTING ON THE VINE!

California Farm Labor Shortage 'Worst It's Been, Ever'
There's a different sort of drought plaguing California, the nation's largest farm state. It's $38 billion agricultural sector is facing a scarcity of labor. "This year is the worst it's been, ever," said Craig Underwood, who farms everything from strawberries to lemons to peppers, carrots, and turnips in Ventura County. Some crops aren't getting picked this season due to a lack of workers. "We just left them in the field," he said.
The Western Growers Association is reporting a 20 percent drop in laborers this year. Stronger border controls are keeping workers from crossing into the U.S. illegally, and the current guest worker program is not providing enough bodies.
Migratory flows between Mexico and the United States have come to a halt.
Growers of California's wine grapes are concerned there won't be enough pickers for this fall's harvest. Berry growers — among the highest paying — saw fewer field hands show up in the spring.
"Fruit that you should be picking is not being picked," said grower John Eiskamp.
Most pickers in California are not here legally, a fact of life for decades.
When asked if any local residents have come out to apply to work in the fields, Craig Underwood replied, "None. Absolutely none." He is even having trouble finding truck drivers and other semi-skilled labor for jobs that pay $12-$18 an hour.

N.C. wary of possible farm labor shortage
North Carolina is a top producer of tobacco, sweet potatoes and other fruits and vegetables – but in the near future, farmers might not have enough workers to pick them. “If we don’t have an adequate supply of labor, the crops are going to rot in the fields,” said N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “And eventually it’s going to affect prices.”

North Carolina relies on about 90,000 migrant farm workers, said Lee Wicker, deputy director of the N.C. Growers Association. Wicker, who farms tobacco in Lee County, estimates that about 60,000 of those workers are in the country illegally. Thousands of North Carolina residents are jobless, with a statewide unemployment rate of more than 9 percent, according to the state Department of Commerce. But some farmers say most Americans are unwilling to take farm jobs that require hard labor under a blazing sun for little pay.
Tony Ross, who grows several crops in Moore County, said Americans might take jobs operating tractors or other heavy machinery, but they often avoid jobs that involve manual labor. “They shun this for the most part,” he said.

The U.S. will be facing massive Labor Shortages starting in the next Five Years in the Medical and Health fields

The U.S. will be facing massive Labor Shortages starting in the next Five Years in the Medical and Healthcare fields. This is primarily due to the aging Baby Boomer Population. The vast majority of these jobs CANNOT be Outsourced. They require hands-on support. These jobs are in the Medical and Healthcare fields. There will also be a massive need for Elder Care homes and facilities. Many small business will grow and thrive in these fields.
However, there are two obstacles our country needs to overcome in order to fill the demand:
1. Education and Training
2. People trained to do the jobs

The Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) addresses the Educational and Training needs.
WE THE PEOPLE will fulfill the Trained People need, if we work together to find solutions. This includes encouraging our children/young people to become trained and educated in these careers, not only for their sake but for all of our sakes, especially for WE BOOMERS. WE SHOULD ALSO ENCOURAGE THE DREAMERS TO STUDY AND WORK IN THE MEDICAL FIELD.

The President's policies have saved us from the DEEP CHASM created by Republican policies. The ACA and other Presidential Policies will help guide us to resolving our job shortages in the future.

 

ANTIs throwing Hissy Fit over Feinstein´s Needed Farm Worker Bill

The ANTI sites are in an uproar over the AgJobs Bill Dianne Feinstein has tagged on to an Iraq spending bill which is destined for the Senate Floor next week. Roy Beck from NumbersUSA, alipac and other sites are having their robotic ANTI followers mass sending pre-written rage email, free faxes and scripted phone calls to the beleaguered members of Congress. Hopefully Congress will understand these blind sheep do not represent the vast majority of Americans who are tired of spending outrageous amounts of $$ for fruit and vegetables and are actually looking for some relief to the overpricing and gas gouging currently taxing their pocketbooks! Check out some of the ANTI sites and read their "Hissy Fits" over the possibility of this bill passing and saving Citizens millions in future grocery bills.

Now, Read the SCOOP on what Sen. Feinstein is actually trying to accomplish:

Feinstein farmworker bill takes a baby step forward

OC Register Reports: Thursday, May 15, 2008

Determined to address an emergency situation in the U.S. agriculture industry, Senator Dianne Feinstein persuaded her colleagues on the Appropriations Committee today to add a scaled-down version of her Ag Jobs bill to the Iraq spending bill destined for the Senate floor. "We need this legislation because in the last year 13,280 farms in the United States have shut down, and others have moved their operation to Mexico'' between 2006 and 2007, Feinstein, D-Calif., said at the Appropriations panel meeting to vote on the Iraq bill. Of the closed farms, 1,000 were in California. The committee approved her measure by a 17-12 vote.
The provision Feinstein hopes can survive a Senate floor vote and get approved by House members as well falls short of the permanent fix she had hoped to provide for an industry she says is in crisis because of an acute labor shortage. Under today's amendment, farm workers who have worked in agriculture within the past four years will be able to work legally for growers for five years. The measure doesn't include any path to legal status or citizenship...This more modest approach is likely to draw support, especially from lawmakers who don't want to give any permanent status to immigrants who entered the country illegally or who overstayed their visas.
But there is a determined group of senators and House members who oppose any benefits for people who broke immigration law and say there wouldn't be a labor shortage if growers paid higher wages. And it's likely that those lawmakers might try and add enforcement provisions to the bill that would be objected to by members who might otherwise approve of the agriculture provisions. Some immigration advocates have also expressed concern that if individual immigration issues are dealt with separately, it will make it harder to get a broad comprehensive bill passed. But Michele Waslin, senior policy analyst for the Immigration Policy Center, a pro-immigration think tank, said agriculture "has always been its own issue. I think Feinstein is showing us there is an appetite for balanced reform. Employers need workers and it just makes sense at this point in time."

Economic Disasters Get Personal in Michigan, But Wait, Isn´t This What the ANTIs are Asking For?

Very Sad News. Due to the Economic Recession in Michigan, a number of schools are closing in Michigan, including the grade school I attended.
Bad Economic Times are happening all around us.

From the Lansing State Journal: Tumbling enrollment: Mid-Mich. cushions the impact by merging schools, closing buildings
Derek Wallbank & Al Miller Lansing State Journal
Cedar Street Elementary aide Kelly Donaldson and her colleagues saw the writing on the wall. Declining enrollment already had forced staff layoffs and program cuts. Then, the Mason school board voted in February to close the 324-student school. "We knew it was coming, but it's really sad," Donaldson said, choking back tears at the meeting where the school board voted unanimously to close the school. "It's like your family."

Experts predict few mid-Michigan parents and students will escape the changes with which local public school districts are grappling as the impact of lower birthrates and families leaving the state combine to create challenges not seen in Michigan public education in decades.
Across the tri-county area, school districts in Lansing, Mason, Eaton Rapids and St. Johns are considering or have implemented plans to close school buildings. Districts such as DeWitt have suspended future growth plans. Others, such as Charlotte, are taking hard looks at how future enrollment melds with existing facilities.

The problem, experts say, is that birthrates across mid-Michigan are down 15 percent in the last two decades. And Michigan's weak economy is exacerbating the problem, causing families to leave the state for economic reasons and curtailing an influx of new families. Michigan, with 1.6 million public school students, will have 20,000 to 25,000 fewer students each year through 2011. Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties, with more than 71,000 students today, will have about 4,000 fewer by then, according to Fred Ignatovich, a former Michigan State University professor who projects school enrollment for many area districts. "And it might even be heavier if this economic downturn persists," Ignatovich said.

For many mid-Michigan communities, that means a streamlined public education system with fewer teachers and students and more tough decisions about shuttering buildings, neighborhood blight, new taxes and rising educational standards. The changes come at a time when school funding - paid per student - is declining with the loss of each student. If local districts have 4,000 fewer students by 2011, they lose $30 million in state funding.

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Question to my Viewers: Aren´t these "smaller economies" what many ANTIs are asking for when they talk about Reduced Immigration Levels and Deporting the 12M?

Oklahoma´s New Restrictive Immigration Laws Creating Massive Labor Shortages

Oklahoma Newspaper Tulsa World is reporting:

Builders' Hispanic workers leaving

By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer 1/24/2008
The crackdown on illegal immigrants creates a labor shortage, they say. Hispanic construction workers who are illegal immigrants have been leaving their jobs and the state since July because of fear rooted in House Bill 1804, says Dave Kollman, president of Flintco Cos. Inc., a major Tulsa contractor. Now, even legal Hispanics are vanishing due to the effects of the Oklahoma law that cracked down on illegal immigration, he said. "There's a scare component running through the Hispanic community," Kollman said. "Even if they're legal, they're leaving because they're family-oriented, and people they know are leaving." Kollman spoke during a discussion of H.B. 1804 at a Wednesday breakfast sponsored by the Tulsa chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. Also sharing their experiences with the law, which took effect Nov. 1, were Jake Nabholz, vice president of Nabholz Cos.; and Ray Miller, president of Fleming Building Co. Miller said he's lost good men due to the law and hasn't been able to replace them. "I've had employees for 15 years who are good, hard workers," he said. "They're not taking anybody's jobs. The kids graduating from high school don't want to go into construction." Nabholz said fallout from the law continues to grow. "There's a lot of fear, and it'll get worse as the days come," he said. All three said the labor shortage requires builders to pay more overtime, which allows them to meet schedules but drives up costs. Nabholz said builders might not be able to rely on overtime if the loss of workers accelerates. "At some point, overtime won't be enough," he said. Kollman said Hispanics' fear of being conspicuous has generated other expenses. He cited, for example, how construction crews from Tulsa might drive to a place such as Stillwater to work on a project. "It used to be everyone would pile in one vehicle and drive there together, but now they're driving up on their own in separate cars," he said. Rising labor costs, combined with higher prices for construction materials, have driven up building costs significantly in this decade, Kollman said. The panelists said they would like to see some way to streamline the citizenship process for workers, which now takes up to five years.

2nd ARTICLE - MSNBC reports: OKLAHOMA LAW BLAMED FOR HISPANIC EXODUS

The law, billed by its backers as the toughest U.S. legislation against illegal immigration, took effect Nov. 1. It bars illegal immigrants from obtaining jobs or state assistance and makes it a felony to harbor or transport illegal immigrants. "The sad part of it was the child didn't have to die if House Bill 1804 didn't ever come around," said Laurie Paul, who runs the clinic where Edgar was finally taken. "It was a total tragedy because the bill was there to create the myths and untruths and the fear." ...While it is difficult to characterize which U.S. state has the toughest immigration-related law, Oklahoma's goes beyond most because it includes the clause about harboring and transporting illegal immigrants, said Ann Morse, program director for the National Conference of State Legislatures' Immigrant Policy Project. "What I think these laws may have are unintended consequences on the general public," Morse said recently. "How does the law get implemented? Who is the target?"...The crackdown and its consequences: The crackdown has caused Hispanics to leave for neighboring states, with as many as 25,000 leaving northeastern Oklahoma alone, according to the Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The law's fallout also can be seen in struggling businesses, worker shortages and widespread fear among immigrants who say they are afraid to drive to church or the market because police might pick them up..."I feel like I'm in some kind of Nazi country where if they see your color, you'll be stopped" ... Leaving Oklahoma all together: Even workers with proper paperwork are leaving for jobs in neighboring states rather than split up their families. "My guy who runs my framing crew, he had 70 workers, and as of Nov. 1, he lost 35 of them," said Caleb McCaleb, who runs a homebuilding company in Edmond. "My painter has lost 30 percent of his work force, my landscaper has lost 25 percent of his work force." Some in Terrill's own party doubt the wisdom of his legislation. "We've removed not only those here illegally and working, but those who are here legally," said state Sen. Harry Coates, a Republican who voted against 1804 and wants to repeal portions of the bill. "I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I understand economics." Vicente Ruiz, a 47-year-old legal immigrant who runs his own electrical contracting business, put it more bluntly: "It's all about making money, and if everybody moves away, the whole state is going to suffer."