Member List: Virginia Employers for Sensible Immigration Policy

By: Lowell
Published On: 12/15/2007 6:07:44 PM

The following is a list of Virginia business interests who have formed the Virginia Employers for Sensible Immigration Policy to fight immigration legislation in the Commonwealth.  Note that our old friend Smithfield Foods, which gives heavily to Virginia politicians (mostly Republicans), is on the list.  Something tells me the other companies and associations on here give a lot of money as well, but I need to check it out.  First, I wanted to pass along this list, because I'm sure a lot of people are curious.

Associated General Contractors of Virginia (68% of Virginia political contributions to Republicans -- all years)
George's Foods, LLC
Home Builders Association of Virginia (56% of Virginia political contributions to Republicans)
National Federation of Independent Business (88%)
Pilgrim's Pride Corporation
Smithfield Foods, Inc. (76%)
Tyson Foods (100%)
Virginia Agribusiness Council (54%)
Virginia Automatic Merchandising Assn. (52%)
Virginia Chamber of Commerce (70%)
Virginia Farm Bureau (59%)
Virginia Forest Products Association (64%)
Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Virginia Hospitality & Travel Association (74%)
Virginia Manufacturers Association (72%)
Virginia Poultry Federation (72%)
Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative
Virginia Retail Merchants Association (74%)
Virginia Seafood Council (59%)
Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance (68%)
Virginia Wholesalers and Distributors Assn.


Comments



Question? (Gordie - 12/15/2007 6:40:05 PM)
Is this the George's Food, LLC?

http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnb...
>>>>>>>>>>>

Today I was behind a man in the grocery check out line with an oxygen bottle.

The clerk asked him how long you smoked. The man said "I never smoke and was not around many people who did smoke."

The clerk asked "well how did you get the disease"?

"I lived next to a chicken farm and the dust from the chickens feathers got in my lungs and caused the problem. People do not know what they are getting into when they have a lot of birds in their house or neighborhood."

The clerk asked how he knew this?

He said, "The next question from the medical profession wanted to know was if I owned or lived near birds."

And here I am with 7 bird feeders in my back yard, with over 35 birds at these feeders during the summertime. How stupid can one be?



I believe so. (Lowell - 12/15/2007 6:44:54 PM)
n/t


Shocker (Not Harry F. Byrd, Sr. - 12/15/2007 10:54:02 PM)
Corporate America doesn't want to be held accountable for their illegality?  You're kidding, right?

I have an idea, instead of focusing on 1,000 employers who are giving money to 50,000 undocumented workers, let's focus on the 50,000 undocumented workers.  That's rational, right?

These businesses have figured out that people are starting to come around to figuring out where the real problem is.



You and compassionate conservative (Gordie - 12/16/2007 10:22:17 AM)
completely miss the point.

The Immigration system is broken in this country. They can not process applicants fast enough to process all who want to come here legally to fill the labor shortage in this country, which all started back in the 50's when our government and others stressed a 4 family system. Thats right a 2 child family. From that practise of stupidity,I call it stupid, because the rest of the world never got on the same band wagon, today we suffer. Also the rest of the world never created the jobs this country did.

Now we need those workers, but we do not need the system these employers are using to drive down wages and to bust unions. Although I completely understand the employer problem, I am and will always be a supporter of "Compassionate Individual" for the working family who should get a living wage and not let it be deteriated by "Money Hunger" employers and so called compassionate conservatives.

The heck with the fence. The heck with deporting the illegals. The heck with stupid laws like Prince William. And the heck with employers who are capitalizing on American workers, by using people who just want to feed their families.

FIX THE BROKEN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM AND THAT WILL FIX MOST OF THE BORDER PROBLEMS.



Labor Shortfall (Compassionate Conservative - 12/16/2007 12:41:41 AM)
If we have lower than replacement birth rates and 400,000 immigrants entering the labor force, but we have 1 to 1.5 million new jobs created every year then we have a LABOR SHORTFALL. We need to acknowledge this and take appropriate steps to rectify.  It's a simple case of supply and demand.  The feds have not fixed the problem and it's a case of least resistance.  The undocumented worker's have found it 'easy' to bypass the system partly because we don't enforce it.  So really who's fault is it?  Let me answer, it's OUR fault(meaning the United States.)  Americans need to accept responsibility and MOVE ON.


Labor shortage is a myth. (loboforestal - 12/16/2007 9:21:45 PM)
With median wages stagnant for the last 30 years, there must be no labor shortage.  If there was a labor shortage, wages would be rising faster than inflation.

There is no labor shortfall.



Wages could be falling for any number of (Lowell - 12/17/2007 9:19:59 AM)
reasons.  For instance, competition from places like China -- no environmental standards or labor rights -- and the infamous "race to the bottom."  Also, I would point out that production is a function of not just labor, but also capital.  Over the past 30 years, we've seen tremendous advances in labor-saving technologies.  I would argue that these two forces -- globalization and technology -- have played huge roles in keeping wages from rising the past 30 years.  Neither of these, of course, has anything to do with immigration, let alone so-called "illegal" immigration.


Well ... (loboforestal - 12/17/2007 10:12:45 AM)
Supply of labor does affect wages.
Immigration affects labor supply.

By the way, your list of "enlightened, compassionate" businesses looks like the unions' enemies list.



Labor Shortfall? (Citizen Tom - 12/16/2007 9:56:52 AM)
So-called Compassionate Conservative, I do not think you well understand the law of supply and demand -- or perhaps you understand it too well.

We need secure borders, and we need to punish employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.  We do not need to balkanize our nation by allowing it to be flooded with hordes of poor and ignorant people just to do work that we are supposedly not willing to do.  

The reason unskilled workers in this country are paid so poorly is because we have an excess supply of unskilled labor.  With so many illegal immigrants coming into the country, the average American has little incentive to look for an entry level job.  The pay is too low.

Look at fast food joints and construction sites.  If the job requires few skills and the employer can get away with hiring someone who speaks little or no English, then that job is most likely going to be held by an illegal immigrant.

Because of their support for illegal immigrant employers, the leaders of the Democratic Party have betrayed the poor Americans that they supposedly support.  Because of their support for illegal immigrant employers, the leaders of the Republican Party have betrayed the security of our nation.  For the sake of illegal immigrant employers, both parties exploit the American middle class.  Both parties insist we pay for all the costly freebies (education, medical care, and welfare benefits) we give away to illegal immigrants. That is just plain sick.