"Don't construction jobs require licensed and bonded labor?"
      
          Q - Contractors sometimes - labor never.



    "Most shortages in the health care industry are the result of inadequate funding, lack of funding for medical education, and poor wages for medical personnel."

                   Not in this case. It's just simply overwhelming demand from clients who nobody anticipated being there.



                  "No blame is attached to illegal immigrants. NY Times, April 13, 2008."

             That's because the NY Times, and their elite readership, is part of the problem. And also because, in this case, they were really talking about a different aspect of health care.
             I would agree with your other observations on health care.