Money and politics:I've you've been following the illegal immigration debate, you might have noticed the following:
While there is sharp disagreement about what to do regarding those currently in the U.S., there is unanimity regarding the solution going forward - one that helps the poor and restricts further illegal entry: prevent businesses from hiring the undocumented.
But the right and left have pretty much given up on that hope. Both sides are admitting that the interests of business are what dictate which laws are written and how (weakly) they are going to be enforced. It's a tacit admission that Congress is representing business, and not the public.
posted by Quiddity at 4/01/2006 09:04:00 AM
One last comment on your anti-immigration series.
As Krugman says, it's not a crisis; the threat to the unskilled is greater from the Republicans than from immigrants, for the economy as a whole, the effect ranges from a wash to a slight boost, and the solution to the political fallout is to provide a legitimate path to citizenship (at least for legal immigrants). It's not a crisis - unless you live on a compound in Idaho - but it is a divisive issue and it's one best left to divide the wingnuts and Republicans.
But I did want to bring your attention to the millions - literally millions - of new arrivals each year that enter the county with no documentation whatsoever, that proceed to consume vast resources - large fractions of GDP - from both private citizens and at the government level. Whole departments work for their welfare. They don't pay taxes, and they contribute absolutely nothing to the economy, for at least 16 years and in many cases for over 20 years.
Children. In every economic measure, worse than immigrants.
