If what Isabel Macdonald uncovered in her yearlong investigation and subsequently published in her “expose” of Lou Dobbs is true then I just have to shake my head here in dismay.
According to Macdonald, the long time CNN anchor who railed against undocumented workers and the employers who hire them is a hypocrite.
Apparently, on the one hand, the sputtering anchor used his highly rated Lou Dobbs Show to lambaste employers who hired “illegal workers” while on the other hand he hired them and paid them pittance to look after his show horses and million dollar houses.
If this is true, then I am putting it to anyone that the man must’ve been at some point kicked in the head by one of his European Warmbloods.
It’s either that or he is one careless businessman and journalist who has never heard about never throwing stones at people who hire “illegal aliens” if you live on vast estates groomed by undocumented workers.
The report is not nearly as hard-hitting as I expected, and I wonder why it took so long to gather this very “explosive” information.
The report raised some questions too.
For one, the journalist painted a picture of workers—victims—who had not seen their families for years, and who lived in cramped spaces (but rent-free) and who were generally afraid of travelling at the risk of being apprehended by the border patrol. She also stated that one past worker, an unfortunate guy name Gomez, worked on Dobbs’ Vermont based stable for at least a year where he earned $500 per week. She also stated that the guy worked for nearly seventy hours per week, without receiving overtime pay.
She didn’t mention, however, that if he were regularly employed for the whole year at that wage, he would have pulled in a tidy $24,000 plus per year, tax- free. Additionally, the article mentioned that, though not often, Gomez received a tip of £100 from Dobbs’ daughter. Again, all tax-free. I guess she wanted us, the readers, to do the maths.
Another thing: The article stated in part that the workers were illegal, without question, but it is a bit unclear as I read it through whether the workers were “between” status. It suggests that there may have been pending applications to adjust their status and that the contractors—or even Lou Dobbs—weren’t the law-flouting, illegal-immigrant-hiring hypocrites that the article suggests.
In another part of the article, the journalist met another former Dobbs worker while he was working, sadly, “under the blazing sun”. He had been a gardener for Dobbs and he said to her that Dobbs knew he was illegal. Now, did he volunteer that information to Mr. Dobbs? I’m just asking.
Also, Macdonald, being very versed in legalities, stated that the workers were never “paid the overtime they were entitled to under federal labor laws.” But she forgot to mention that little immigration law that disallowed them to work in the first place.
There is more to this story, and I intend to read on. I believe that if you are playing a game of “outing” folks, then you have to play fairly, and I am not so sure that this is the case here.
Anyway, in the mean time, the “Rent Is Too Damn High”. Now, I have no idea where that came from.
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