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Yeah, Right. Pull the Other One.

The LA Times is really reaching today:

Cyndi Smallwood is looking for a few strong men for her landscaping company. Guys with no fear of a hot sun, who can shovel dirt all day long. She’ll pay as much as $34 an hour.

She can’t find them.

Maybe potential employees don’t know about her tiny Riverside firm. Maybe the problem is Southern California’s solid economy and low unemployment rate. Or maybe manual labor is something that many Americans couldn’t dream of doing.

$34 an hour is nearly three times the starting base rate for a Transportation Security Administration airport sceener, yet somehow, the government managed to fill all of the screener positions – with US citizens – even in southern California. Somehow Cyndi can’t find gardeners for three times the pay?

It seems that writer David Streitfeld hasn’t considered one explanation for this anomaly. It’s called lying.

Cross-posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto, The Jawa Report, and Vince Aut Morire.

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Posted by John Bambenek on May 18, 2006 11:46 am

» Filed Under Border Control/Homeland Security

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6 Responses to “Yeah, Right. Pull the Other One.”

  1. Citizen Deux on May 18th, 2006 12:17 pm

    Methinks the LA Times overlooks the fact that Ms. Smallwood is likely only offering “contract” positions without any benefits, guarantee of employment and likely no protection should a worker get hurt. Sad really, there should be a thriving business in the temporary labor market, oh wait, there is!

  2. Draven32 on May 18th, 2006 4:59 pm

    “as much as” $34 per hour…

    of course, the credentials necessary to get $34 per hour probably mean you’re making $40 per hour running your own landscaping business….

  3. The one with a bråin on May 18th, 2006 6:20 pm

    What’s the ACLU angle in this?

  4. CaptainRational on May 18th, 2006 7:09 pm

    Brain: The ACLU thinks that Ms. Smallwood shouldn’t be permitted to possess land in the first place. All property should be owned collectively in a classless society. And she’s not allowed to believe in God anymore.

  5. kerwin_brown on May 19th, 2006 2:18 am

    I worked in the Hot Sun, shoveling dirt, and other items and I was only paid $10 an hour. I wonder why you make three times that much for the same job in California. If I was willing to move I might well be considering moving to get that job now.

  6. The one with a bråin on May 19th, 2006 8:25 am

    “I worked in the Hot Sun, shoveling dirt, and other items and I was only paid $10 an hour. I wonder why you make three times that much for the same job in California.”

    Probably because the state will take about $20 of that $34.

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