“They” screamed about raising taxes to insure public schools had textbooks that weren’t twenty years out of date, to insure interstate highways didn’t have sinkholes that an RV could fall into, and to make sure veterans weren’t drinking Draino to stop the flashbacks from the last war-for-oil, but by God “they” wanted the American people to pony up for Berlin Wall 2.0 and a Total Recall-style X-Ray checkpoint. :smack:
…right up until their golf buddies quietly informed them of the lettuce pickers and the nannies they had off the books.
How does this work? Do dishwashers make huge salaries, and those poor restaurants are just desperately waiting for someone who will take less than $10 per hour? I don’t buy it.
Any discussion of the immigrants already here, working but undocumented, has nothing to do with anyone “taking jobs” (since any jobs taken are already ‘took’ by working immigrants). And if we bring them out of the shadows, then that means they can do things like start small businesses openly, in addition to fully taking part in the economy and society. I know that I’d love to see another lunch stand in my neighborhood.
I don’t disagree, I just recognize that Americans have actual reasons for not wanting higher immigration levels. The CBO projected that we’ll add 16 million more people than we otherwise would have by 2033 if the bill passes:
Now part of being a sovereign country is controlling who can come to live here. And part of being a sovereign democracy is that the people have a say in that. Very few people want more immigration than we have now.
Also, the short term effect of a mass legalization and an initial flood of new immigrants would do this:
This is the kind of thing that requires more input from the voters before we enact it.
But anyway, back to my original point on the subject, if unemployment and wages go down over the next 5-10 years after the immigration bill passes, that’s going to cause some anger.
So? Cultures change. One of the jobs that is recognized as having a labor shortage for which a business owner can apply for permission to hire a non-citizen is cowboy. It’s hard to get more “American” than that, yet Americans are failing to fill openings for that job.
The person who advocates policies that cause the death of children is shown the results of said policies but I am out of line for pointing it out, with a cite? Do we have an incredulous smiley here?
No, but we have warnings and infractions and such.
It is very poor form, and an underhanded debating technique, to imply that one’s debate opponent derives any form of gratification from tragedy or whatever. I don’t want to see it in Elections.
Debate the post. If you do that you shouldn’t have to resort to personal attacks or implications that your opponent is some form of monster. All that does is damage your ability to further debate in good faith.
Of course, demographic change – generational, not ethnic – could still produce a solid Democratic majority. For one thing, the “Steadfast Conservatives” are an elderly demographic (31% are 65 or older), and, as they die off, are not likely to be supplemented from younger generations in commensurate numbers – because, for another, the Millenials are turning out to be more liberal than any elder generation (41% consistently liberal or mostly liberal, 15% consistently or mostly conservative).
That has everything to do with social conservatism + the economic situation of millenials. As in, dire. People tend to get protective of their money once they earn it. People who aren’t earning money but are living with their folks, as a third of millenials are by some counts, are going to tend to be less irritated by taxes.
Once their economic prospects start looking up they’ll vote their pocketbook. A country where people are getting richer will always be friendly ground for an anti-tax party.
The way things are now, that would take a lot more than a booming economy; we’re getting there now but only the 1% is getting any richer by it, the majority have been income-stagnant for decades, boom or bust. To improve Millennials’ economic prospects would take a left-progressive revolution in economic, fiscal, tax, regulatory and public-investment policies.
Or, the problem could be that all job growth since 2000 has gone to immigrants. Cheaper labor=richer 1%. Now what could we do to turn that around? Wouldn’t take a progressive solution.
However, the CBO has noted that in the short term increased immigration, at least the kind resulting from the Senate immigration bill, will increase unemployment and lower wages in the short to medium term. As I cited above.
Illegal immigrants work for lower wages (and are less likely to complain about dangerous work environments, etc.). Why else would employers hire them? How can that not depress wages for citizens?
