Also opening the wallet for wages. I can tell you that wastewater is seriously graying because nobody in the US wants to hire unlicensed or level 1s, and while getting your Operator L1 license might be a couple hundred dollars, getting L2 or L3 depending on state can run into five figures easy. Pay is also serious shit - Level 1 operators make basically the same as your local barista, and L3 barely makes $70-80k in most areas (for an idea, an L3 in most states should be able to design, source materials for, oversee the construction of, and run a wastewater plant unaided. They’re professional engineers in all but name.)

Pay is good in the trades because by and large, a lot of the tradie boomers who depressed wages because “well I got by on $12/hr for years and you should also have to work your way up to making a livable wage” have retired or died.

Agreed. Being “against immigration” is always just “I don’t like seeing nonwhite people”.

I really feel this is why they’ve been pushing EOs and other methods to increase the power the executive has. Even if Vance comes into power and has the charisma of a used napkin, he can just silence dissent anyway.