SwampMan was reading the paper, sighed, and uttered the word “damn” in a sad voice. I asked him what had happened. Perhaps some long ago acquaintance had died? Well, in a sense, I suppose they had.
A former employee, a 50+ construction worker who had previously been sent to prison for dealing drugs because he couldn’t find a job because the construction industry was collapsing and there were so many illegals willing to work for less money, had been arrested once again for dealing drugs because he couldn’t find a job because construction was completely dead. I talked to him shortly after he got out of prison, and he said he couldn’t even find a job at the fast food places. Filling out job applications with an incarceration history almost certainly guarantees that the application will be filed in the circular filed immediately unless the labor market is exceedingly tight.
What happens to ordinary people like that? He never finished high school, the only job he knows is construction and, at his age with no income, it is pretty unlikely that he’s going to be able to afford to go back to school, get his GED, go on to college and get a job that will pay him anything like a living wage. His only option for eating is illegal activities and/or prison. As a prior offender, his sentence this time may be a life sentence, considering his age. But at least he has health care, right? According to Obama, that should be what is foremost on his mind.
A1A South 