Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
No. of Recommendations: 5
Some of us have been watching the SA roust brown people, and wondered why the "JCs" who employed them are not being perp-walked.
Well, a couple small time "JCs" have been busted. The late local news last night reported that, of the some 250 people employed by this plumbing company, only 6 had legal US work permits.
Michigan couple made $74M using undocumented immigrant workers, feds say
A wealthy Plymouth, Michigan couple has landed in federal court, accused of hiring more than 200 undocumented immigrants to work at their national plumbing business over the years, and housing many of them in run-down motels and houses — all while they raked in $74 million in revenue, according to a new court filing in New York.https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/michigan-co...For those without a map, the township I live in, borders Plymouth.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 5
It’s about time something like this happened.
Still, I’m guessing the couple failed to give the requisite “donation” to Trump or his cronies.
Other “small” fry will take note and get with the program.
No. of Recommendations: 2
I am all for the enforcement(not the round-ups and random shit that is 3rd world stuff) but yes, I am for stringent borders, and frankly i'm to the Right of Trump -- i'd toss in all sorts of qualifications, English requirements, i'd have slowed it down and focused on assimilation and qualifications long ago -- the latter, other Western Nations have long done -- we're not allowed to.
Steve's post is a good topic - busting the enablers---those knowingly hiring illegals.
My sole beef is -- for decades this was allowed and accepted. So now, all of a sudden it's enforced *but* did they really arrest every business hiring illegals? Or just one here one there. It should be fair warning -- -and then ALL are subject to enforcement and inspection.
Yes this story is fun. Oooooh we got a "wealthy. couple" in court.
Good.
Now arrest every single person with an illegal maid or nanny. Or an. illegal cutting his grass. Oh wait that's not "wealthy couple" that's not as fun is it.
In the end it'll come out: George W Bush was right on immigration reform. Not totally, but on guest workers he was right on.
And America will come to that position sooner rather than later.
Sadly, assimilation won't be part of it and that will continue to cause trouble -- ask France and Germany.
But wait, not sadly. Oh, i got weak. That was me pre 2006ish. HAPPILY lack of assimilation will cause more tribalism, mmore violence, more division.
I'm in.
No. of Recommendations: 1
The small fries you refer to will have no choice now but to live dangerously and lose a bit of sleep.
They don't have people to work. They just don't and they can't find them.
So either they shut down their companies and go broke, OR hope that today isn't their immigration bust day.
If I was still in business - even I couldn't get around this one and when I can't get around something -- i'd say it's rather insurmountable.
This is lottery. You just hope you aren't the one busted today.
No. of Recommendations: 2
In the end it'll come out: George W Bush was right on immigration reform. Not totally, but on guest workers he was right on.
Bush's guest worker program was only half a step off of indentured servitude. It only allowed people in who already had a job in hand, so it only benefited companies who could afford to have a recruiter in Mexico. And the workers did not have job mobility. If they left the job they were allowed into the US to work, they would immediately be deported. But the proposal was DOA anyway, because the "JCs" could not cheat *legal* migrants, like they can cheat illegals, so the "JCs" didn't want it. And it let more brown people into the country, so the racists didn't want it.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
I'm not saying Bush's fix was complete.
But - he was right.
No different than someone saying "everyone should have health care" -- i feel that position is right. It's the method that good people can disagree on.
I don't feel guest worker programs are servitude - they come voluntarily, not on slave ships with Europeans capturing them like happened before.
Right and Left both jumped on Bush whereas now the choice is basically: Arrest the businesses, deport the illegals, and have a huuuuuuuuge labor shortage. OR do the status quo.
W was right.
My hope is the good productive immigrants, go elsewhere. America is still the #1 place for immigrants. The richest immigrants are in America. So they'll keep coming despite the Trump stuff. But if they had any pride --the skilled immigrants. The immigrants who wish to assimilate -- should work with some developed country to make a deal truly ebenficial to both sides.
Whoever gets those immigrants -- will be way ahead of the game.
No. of Recommendations: 2
W was right.
The sad fact of the matter is that US kids are sucking more and more at math and science coming out of high school. We can blame COVID but the larger trend has been there a while. Accountability hasn't been a thing for a while now.
Then you get to college and find that the US kids aren't studying STEM fields in the numbers the economy needs to keep growing. Ergo, a need for H1-B visas and similar programs.
People talk like H1-B visa holder are somehow stealing. That's ridiculous. Some of the best American citizens I know of...came over on H1-B's and absolutely killed it here. Why discourage that?
No. of Recommendations: 1
I don't feel guest worker programs are servitude - they come voluntarily, not on slave ships with Europeans capturing them like happened before. Look up "indentured servant", in relation to migration to the US in past centuries. People would voluntarily migrate to the US, by agreeing to work off the cost of their passage, by working for the person who paid for their passage, over a period of years. That was about what Bush was working: the migrant entered the system voluntarily, but was tied too the employer who sponsored him.
In Ireland, at one time, there was a system of "hiring fairs" where laborers would contract themselves to a single employer, for a number of years.
In the 60s, an Irish folk group, the Irish Rovers, produced their lighthearted tribute to that system.
Hiring Fairhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-aj2-Q4XkYSteve....history R us
No. of Recommendations: 10
Accountability hasn't been a thing for a while now.
Observing that increasing numbers of high school "graduates" were nowhere near ready to do college level work, a number of college and state education department officials got together and created "common core", to try to improve the education level of high school graduates.
Then the GOP demagogued common core into some sort of boogyman. Bush #43 tried to impose "no child left behind" that threatened to withhold Federal education funding, if students could not pass the tests. So many school systems taught to the tests, and defunded everything else, like trades classes.
There seems to be a large faction in Shinyland that thinks ignorance is a virtue. As "1984" says, words to the effect "beer, sports, and gambling, filled their minds."
Some of the best American citizens I know of...came over on H1-B's and absolutely killed it here. Why discourage that?
Because they aren't white. I have posted before, Bill O'Reilly's white power screed, about how the NY Times and liberals are conspiring to unhorse the "white, Christian, male, power structure". I was watching his show the night he said that. That was the most blatantly racist thing I had heard in a long time.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 3
Then the GOP demagogued common core into some sort of boogyman. Bush #43 tried to impose "no child left behind" that threatened to withhold Federal education funding, if students could not pass the tests. So many school systems taught to the tests, and defunded everything else, like trades classes.Hmm. You know where education is kicking ass right now?
In pig-ignorant, sister-marrying red state Mississippi, that's where.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/heres-secret-behin...Imagine a state that ranked dead last in nearly every education ranking. More than half of third-grade students were unable to read proficiently. Colleges were pouring millions into remedial education because too many high school graduates arrived unprepared for college reading and writing. Poverty and historical inequities plagued classrooms and socially promoting children who could not read was the norm. That was Mississippi in 2012. Fast-forward to today, and this same state has engineered a stunning reversal. Fourth-grade reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) skyrocketed from 50th in the nation a decade ago to as high as ninth, with gains holding steady in 2024, while the national average declined.From 50th to 9th in 10 years.
The point of that is to illustrate that states and localities know their challenges better than the federal government ever could, and that's where efforts to improve things should be.
Meanwhile, what about progressive paradise Washington state? Surely the super elite children of the left wing brain trust of this country are all future Rhodes Scholars, right?
Between 2012 and 2024, Washington’s education spending increased significantly, jumping from $13,775 to $19,163 per student, a 39% increase, adjusted for inflation.
State data show that in 2023, public schools failed to educate 49% of students adequately to standards in English, 61% of students adequately in math, and 57% adequately in science.
Fourth-grade students in Washington saw a significant decline in math and English proficiency. Between 2013 and 2024, Washington students fell from 10th in the nation in math proficiency to 27th. In English proficiency, students fell from 15th to 18th in the nation.
Eighth-grade students in Washington also saw a significant decline in math and English proficiency. Between 2013 and 2024, Washington students fell from 7th in the nation in math proficiency to 24th. In English proficiency, students fell from 8th to 17th in the nation.
The number of non-teacher public school employees grew at a faster rate than certified teachers, increasing by 28% between 2012 and 2024. Today, nearly half (49%) of Washington public school employees are not certified classroom teachers.Yeah, not so much. Turns out when you let the teachers' union have all the power they direct all the money towards hiring administrators and not pushing teachers to be better.
Because they aren't white. Erm, okay. Why go here with racist stereotypes? You know that loads of lily-white Canadians come down here and work, right?
No. of Recommendations: 2
Dope: Hmm. You know where education is kicking ass right now?
In pig-ignorant, sister-marrying red state Mississippi, that's where.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/heres-secret-behin...
Well if a "Fox News" Propaganda/Opinion piece says it, you know it's probably not true!
LOL...
"Overall, we rate Fox News right-biased based on editorial positions that align with the right and Questionable due to the promotion of state propaganda, conspiracy theories, pseudoscience,
the use of poor sources, and numerous false claims and failed fact checks.
While straight news reporting from beat reporters is generally fact-based accurate, it is typically overshadowed by propagandistic opinions, which earns them a Low factual rating."
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/fox-news-bias/
No. of Recommendations: 3
The point of that is to illustrate that states and localities know their challenges better than the federal government ever could, and that's where efforts to improve things should be. I don't know about the other states you name, but, in Michigan, the trend, for years, has been to defund things that benefit the general population, and give the money to the "JCs". Betsy DeVos, rich with Amway money, never went to a public school, and Trump's Sec Ed during his first term, is pushing to take more money away from the public schools, to subsidize private schools.
Erm, okay. Why go here with racist stereotypes? OK, the rest of you folks, Dope made me post this, yet again.
McCain and Bill O'Reilly on White powerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysoOB9w0tF4Steve
No. of Recommendations: 3
I don't know about the other states you name, but, in Michigan, the trend, for years, has been to defund things that benefit the general population, and give the money to the "JCs". Betsy DeVos, rich with Amway money, never went to a public school, and Trump's Sec Ed during his first term, is pushing to take more money away from the public schools, to subsidize private schools.I think you mean "Charter schools". Charter schools pop up when the public schools tend to suck, so parents vote with their feet. Like in Michigan:
https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2025/02/enrol...Fewer than 1.37 million public school students, excluding preschoolers, were counted statewide last fall in numbers released earlier this month by the Michigan Department of Education.
That’s a half-percent fall from K-12 enrollment listed for 2023-24, 5.4% fewer than five years ago before the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged through local districts and 15.3% fewer than two decades ago.Wonder why that is.
OK, the rest of you folks, Dope made me post this, yet again.Nobody's making you go with this stuff but you.
No. of Recommendations: 1
I think you mean "Charter schools".No. Charters, also pushed by Betsy DeVos, have been a feature in Michigan for years. Charters are funded by Lansing at the same rate as public schools, and, like the public schools, are required to accept all applicants.
Her new project is taking funding away from public schools, and using it to subsidize private schools, using vouchers. This article talks about one mutation of her scheme, to defund public schools by diverting money to privates.
Betsy DeVos pushes voucher-like tax credit plan in Michigan
Critics of the Opportunity Scholarship program say it would siphon needed dollars from public schools and violate a state constitutional ban on using public dollars, including tax credits, for private school education.
But DeVos and the choice proponents behind the new group Let MI Kids Learn say the tax credit program would help families access a wider range of educational opportunities at a time when they’re most needed.https://www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2022/2/2/2291461...DeVos failed in Michigan. But, Trump's BBB has a national tax credit system to give government subsidies to private schools.
Federal voucher scheme passes https://mea.org/republicans-pass-federal-vouchers/Steve
No. of Recommendations: 2
Still, I’m guessing the couple failed to give the requisite “donation” to Trump or his cronies.
Other “small” fry will take note and get with the program.Bingo! The Sturmtrupen have been staying away from the big grower's operations in the Salinas and Central valleys. Those are red strongholds that donate bigly to the orange grifter.
The Sturmptrupen did raid the largest pot grower in the state down in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Clearly they didn't buy enough Trumpcoin and DJT for protection.
https://x.com/KimKatieUSA/status/19440909592490436... https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/calif-cann...
No. of Recommendations: 3
Her new project is taking funding away from public schools, and using it to subsidize private schools, using vouchers. This article talks about one mutation of her scheme, to defund public schools by diverting money to privates.Good for her. Michigan public school enrollment has been falling for literally decades now.
Are there fewer kids of school age in Michigan -or- is it maybe because parents would rather have their kids go to a school that offers a better education?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/education-and-learning/s...Michigan Education Standing Continues Alarming Decline, Ranks 44th NationallySo why not give parents the choice?
No. of Recommendations: 2
Put a quarter in the jar, sano.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Bingo! The Sturmtrupen have been staying away from the big grower's operations in the Salinas and Central valleys. Those are red strongholds that donate bigly to the orange grifter.
I remember video of the SA charging through strawberry fields, chasing workers, when the "reign of terror" started. Was that nothing but "enforcement theater"?
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
Good for her. Michigan public school enrollment has been falling for literally decades now.University enrollment has been falling too. U of M and State have had increases, but the second tier universities, like Wester, Eastern, Central, have had ten year enrollment declines of 25-40%.
Michigan's population had been falling, for years. Fewer people, means fewer spawn in school.
A graph in this article shows Michigan's population peaking out around 2000, and only recently, climbing back near the 2000 level.
https://www.michigan.gov/mcda/insights/2024/05/15/...Steve
No. of Recommendations: 2
Was that nothing but "enforcement theater"?
Big Strawberry had had a quick talk with little orange who promptly TACOed to Peewee German's great disappointment.
They are hitting some of the small farms... like East Valley in Santa Maria... but not the big guys as far as I can tell.
