Lou Dobbs gets it right

CNN.com - Dobbs: Radical groups taking control of immigrant movement - May 1, 2006:
" Many meat-packing companies like Cargill and Tyson are also closing many of their plants.
"'The meat packers are confirming what we know,' says University of Maryland economics professor Peter Morici, 'and that is that this large group of illegal aliens in the United States is lowering the wage rate of semiskilled workers, people who are high school dropouts or high school graduates with minimal training.'
"In fact, a meat-packing job paid $19 an hour in 1980, but today that same job pays closer to $9 an hour, according to the Labor Department. That's entirely consistent with what we've been reporting -- that illegal aliens depress wages for U.S. workers by as much as $200 billion a year in addition to placing a tremendous burden on hospitals, schools and other social services."

Dobbs makes an important point here. Also note that $9 per hour is not a minimum wage job.

He also makes the point that the radical left has taken over a significant role in the leadership of this protest movement. This goes a long way to answering the question I raised in my last post - why don't the demonstrators praise Bush since he is the one leading the charge for amnesty and for the Free Trade Area of the Americas.