TUCSON AND ILLEGAL WORKERS

The Daily Star is doing a 4-part series on how the local economy depends on illegal workers. The local housing industry, who are always eager to socialize the cost of development, are blaming Americans for the labor shortage:

Construction companies' new status as immigration bad guys doesn't sit well with home builders such as Les Wolf, who says he won't hire illegal workers but has trouble finding enough legal ones. Tucson needs 5,000 more construction workers to keep up with growth, the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association says.

"The available work force, as we sit here right now, is home watching ESPN and MTV, and playing their Game Boys and their Xboxes, and sitting there becoming obese Americans with their poor work ethic and terrible sense of values with no loyalty or commitment base," Wolf says. "That's a problem, and now we're going to get upset because someone that doesn't have any of those problems crosses a border and wants a job."


Mr. Wolf and the rest of the "growth pays for itself" lobby forget that those fat slobs will be paying a higher sales tax to support housing growth.