...the office said it is grateful for David Brooks’ Op Ed I referred to yesterday but did not supply Brooks with the material he used—and I got the distinct feeling from the press secretary that he seemed rather uncomfortable answering questions—although Brownback did vote for the Judiciary Committee version of the immigration bill.
In the meantime, we have a very good commentary on the opposite end of Brooks from here which you should download. I’m still going after the original statistics, however.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteI think you are much too kind to the Vernon Township Republican blog.
Anyone claiming that immigrants are a "drain on the economy" needs to take a remedial course in Economics. Undocumented immigrants are in the United States in huge numbers. Our economy is booming, inflation is low and the unemployment rate is tiny.
This is a drain on our economy?
JBP
The cannard: They do work no one else will do....
ReplyDeleteLike get CDL licenses if their polically connected employer knows the governor!
Simply put.... by ignoring "their" illegality then corruption is brought into the system at many levels... at the corporation level AND the political level!
Ignore Law enforcement at YOUR peril!
Remember Income Tax essentially relies on the honesty of the taxpayer. Maybe it is time for the taxpayer to "ignore" the law called INCOME TAX like some ignore the laws that surround immigration! WHY NOT DAMN IT!
So if you are going to ignore enforcing the law in the name of creating some Neo-Con utopia.... beware the corruption bottle that you open!
Oh did I say that many "illegal" residents are "undocumented" meaning they lack the basic SOCIAL SECURITY NUBMBER that is used for TAX IDENTIFICATION!.... If you don't have the Tax Id number you don't pay the tax!
So is it then ok of a group of "UNDOCUMENTED" residents to not pay taxes which require a tax id?
Oh! In the NEO-CON Globalized utopia of low wage low skill labor.... such lack of tax payement for such individuals is OK as long as well connected people get cheap labor!
Illegality is Illegality... AND THATS IT... even if you are a NEO-CON!
All the cute intellecual statements can never justify illegality.... especially the gross abuses by not enforcing the immigration laws!
Al, your comment reminds me of a story from my Irish Grandmother who recalled that her father's English landlord forbid his tennant children to attend school to learn to read and write, then complained that his tennants were illiterate.
ReplyDeleteIllegality is not an absolute. Laws change all the time. Quite a bit of our immigration regime is immoral, unworkable, and counterproductive.
There must be a better use of law enforcement resources than rounding up our hardworking immigrants.
JBP
But it is people like you who have their feet firmly planted in mid air on this issue! And it is YOU who have been proved wrong again and again in this debate. Obviously you have never learned that cheap labor is never cheap. Someone always pays. The people who are paying are the middle class taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteBut then you are probably a employer of these people who is ignoring the law by cashing these people out the back door.
Of course you don't live in an area where many undocumented hispanics are living in code breaking conditions. OH yes the employer got cheap labor but everyone else had to pay and pay and pay. Obviously you learned nothing from another national tragedy that involved cheap labor called SLAVERY! Our country is still paying for the sins of those days.
Again the employer will seek the undocumented worker because of the employer's desire to cheat on taxes that he or she should have collected on the worker.
First amnesty for 11 million criminals and now this report from the USA Today.
ReplyDeleteFirst no illegal alien left behind and now no spending increase left behind.
Republicans need to be swept from office nationwide. I am one of those "Paleo Conservatives" the pro Iraq, pro illegal alien, pro tax and spend Neo Cons like to attack. Outside of judge appointments and tax cuts, the Bush Administrations has proved to be one of the worst ever. He ranks with FDR and LBJ among the most socialist ever. The Republican Congress is nothing but a corrupt out of control spending machine just like Republicans under Thompson, Edgar and Ryan.
We need a serious third party to remove these disgusting career politicians on both sides of the aisle out of office. Outside of doctors Ron Paul and Tom Coburn and a handful of others, I would like the remaining 520 or so in Congress removed. Unless that happens, America is on borrowed time.
Budget changes
Average annual budget change as a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product during these administrations:
Roosevelt 14.8%
Truman -8.6%
Eisenhower -1.3%
Kennedy 0.2%
Johnson 1%
Nixon 1.6%
Ford -1.4%
Carter 1.8%
Reagan -0.6%
G. Bush 0.2%
Clinton -1.8%
G.W. Bush 2.4%
Al,
ReplyDeleteHow can it be slavery if people, using their own good sense, travel 2000 miles to find work paying competitive wages?
The USA is at historic lows in unemployment and inflation rates, and you are calling for us to roundup some of the hardest working members of society so that we fit your definition of what is legal.
How about considering the vast majority who have benefitted from immigration?
JBP
of the line "They do the work that we won't do".
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of citizens who would work in restaurants and landscaping (two of the most physically demanding jobs out there). The problem is that citizens won't do these jobs for the paltry pay that is offered. If there were no illegal labor, then employers would be forced to raise wages to attract workers.
If you're paying $20 for a crew of five to cut your lawn and trim your hedges, you're part of the problem.
While you will get an argument that the "vast majority" have benefitted from immigration - something I question - there can be no doubt that those at the bottom of our economic ladder are hit the hardest. When the economy takes a dip, we'll see the benefits of immigration. Those out of work will see illegals here doing the jobs they would love to do. Then tell us about the benefits of illegal immigration. Not to mention the wages they have driven down. Or the tax dollars used to pay for their education and healthcare.
ReplyDeleteBenefitted. Ha!
While you will get an argument that the "vast majority" have benefitted from immigration - something I question - there can be no doubt that those at the bottom of our economic ladder are hit the hardest. When the economy takes a dip, we'll see the benefits of immigration. Those out of work will see illegals here doing the jobs they would love to do. Then tell us about the benefits of illegal immigration. Not to mention the wages they have driven down. Or the tax dollars used to pay for their education and healthcare.
ReplyDeleteBenefitted. Ha!
While you will get an argument that the "vast majority" have benefitted from immigration - something I question - there can be no doubt that those at the bottom of our economic ladder are hit the hardest. When the economy takes a dip, we'll see the benefits of immigration. Those out of work will see illegals here doing the jobs they would love to do. Then tell us about the benefits of illegal immigration. Not to mention the wages they have driven down. Or the tax dollars used to pay for their education and healthcare.
ReplyDeleteBenefitted. Ha!
While you will get an argument that the "vast majority" have benefitted from immigration - something I question - there can be no doubt that those at the bottom of our economic ladder are hit the hardest. When the economy takes a dip, we'll see the benefits of immigration. Those out of work will see illegals here doing the jobs they would love to do. Then tell us about the benefits of illegal immigration. Not to mention the wages they have driven down. Or the tax dollars used to pay for their education and healthcare.
ReplyDeleteBenefitted. Ha!
While you will get an argument that the "vast majority" have benefitted from immigration - something I question - there can be no doubt that those at the bottom of our economic ladder are hit the hardest. When the economy takes a dip, we'll see the benefits of immigration. Those out of work will see illegals here doing the jobs they would love to do. Then tell us about the benefits of illegal immigration. Not to mention the wages they have driven down. Or the tax dollars used to pay for their education and healthcare.
ReplyDeleteBenefitted. Ha!
While you will get an argument that the "vast majority" have benefitted from immigration - something I question - there can be no doubt that those at the bottom of our economic ladder are hit the hardest. When the economy takes a dip, we'll see the benefits of immigration. Those out of work will see illegals here doing the jobs they would love to do. Then tell us about the benefits of illegal immigration. Not to mention the wages they have driven down. Or the tax dollars used to pay for their education and healthcare.
ReplyDeleteBenefitted. Ha!
While you will get an argument that the "vast majority" have benefitted from immigration - something I question - there can be no doubt that those at the bottom of our economic ladder are hit the hardest. When the economy takes a dip, we'll see the benefits of immigration. Those out of work will see illegals here doing the jobs they would love to do. Then tell us about the benefits of illegal immigration. Not to mention the wages they have driven down. Or the tax dollars used to pay for their education and healthcare.
ReplyDeleteBenefitted. Ha!
My machine got hung up. Didn't mean to make the multiple posts.
ReplyDeleteIllegal workers have also held down the prices for consumers due to lower wages paid. So citizens have benefitted from it (and should feel guilty about it but don't).
ReplyDeleteIt's like shopping at WalMart and buying a $6 sweatshirt. Any sweatshirt should cost more than $6, and you have to know that it's so cheap because the labor is Indonesian.
All the hoo-ha over supporting illegal aliens comes not from bleeding hearts, but from lovers of cheap goods. Save a buck.
Liam,
ReplyDeleteGiven that we are at a historic low in unemployment, those out of work are few and far between.
This should be estimated, but I would guess sales and property tax together more than pays for the small amount of resources immigrants use. Face it, they don't get Social Security and that is by far the largest spending by the Federal Government.
And Frederich,
This country was built on saving a buck. What is wrong with it? If you want to pay more, go ahead. Just don't expect me to pay more so that you feel better about it.
JBP