December 14, 2005

"Liberalism" caused Los Angeles' massive underground economy

The Milken Institute has released a study called the "Los Angeles Economy Project", which reports that nearly 680,000 workers in the region work in the underground, cash-only economy. And, nearly half of those are in Los Angeles alone.

Needless to say, most of those involved are illegal aliens. And, this situation costs the cities, counties, and feds two billion dollars in lost revenues.

"Liberalism" is directly responsible for this situation because of:

1. Onerous regulations forcing many companies to pursue a workaround.
2. Encouraging and allowing massive illegal immigration.

Now, "liberals" are trying to solve these problems they created and, as can be expected, they're only going to make it worse. The LAT offers the editorial "Beneath L.A.'s economy" which suggests loans and "amnesties" as a way to bring those businesses which are "economic outlaws" into the system.

And, they also provide a laundry list of all the downsides that the massive illegal immigration they support has caused. The Los Angeles Times freely admits that llegal immigration leads to companies that aren't in "compliance with tax, wage and safety laws". It leads to "unfair competition", a "burden on public health systems", and "worker mistreatment". They note that "outlaw businesses... offer no compensation to injured employees and often pay below-minimum wage" and they are "unlikely to collect and pay sales taxes."

And, they also try to lie to their readers:

Yes, much of this problem is tied to illegal immigration and economic desperation. Yes, dealing with the status of immigrants requires a federal solution.

Obviously, the first sentence is right. However, the second is an outright lie. The City of Los Angeles could do a great deal to reduce illegal immigration, starting by ending its sanctuary practice ("Special Order 40"). Perhaps, in retrospect, Antonio Villaraigosa's trip to Mexico where he practically invited everyone in that country to come visit him was a costly mistake.

And, the LADN offers "L.A.'s underground cash" which interviews Daniel Flaming, one of the study's co-authors:

"There are several factors that create economic desperation: a slow recovery from the 2000 recession, a growing immigrant labor force that in all likelihood includes a growing undocumented labor force. Those workers, in particular, are desperate."

And stemming the trend won't be easy, Flaming said. He believes it will require not only penalties for underground employers, but also incentives, such as technical assistance, for employers who compete legally, as well as efforts by both public and private organizations in education, skill development and citizenship programs.

Just enforce the immigration laws, and this problem will take care of itself.

Posted to Los_Angeles at December 14, 2005 09:28 PM

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