Immigration on the docket

Talking with New York grower and United Fresh co-chair Maureen Torrey today, she noted she is traveling to Washington D.C. next week for a Wednesday press conference marking the introduction of AgJobs legislation by Sens. Larry Craig of Idaho and Dianne Feinstein of California. Here is the link to The Packer coverage this week, which reveals a varying degrees of optimism about Congressional action.

Having Torrey in an industry leadership position is particularly valuable at this time. She knows first hand the problems with the current dysfunctional labor market. Her farm is just five miles away from a federal immigration detention center. Her farm endured a labor shortage that started about 10% short in July and worsened to 40% short by September.

Any sensible politician has to believe her when she says, "If we don't have labor, we will be out of business."

Sensible politicians have been the minority party for too long.

As a citizen, I like the new paygo rule that House Democrats have instituted, but it may make it harder to fund industry priorities. White House release here about the budget process; President Bush makes a good point that pro-growth policies of low taxes have shrunk the deficit faster than expected.