The latest studies I've seen appear to show that illegal immigration actually adds money to the US economy. So basically, the Senate thinks we should spend $126 billion to stop it. Great.
This is not how I want my tax dollars spent. Surely there are better things to do with that money.
The numbers may be "biased" in that many of the costs are for things that the GOP is backing (like increased enforcement) anyway, so it may not be fair to add those to the 10 year cost of this bill.
Oh, and we get even more tax from these workers if they become legal, so that offsets the giant cost too.
In fact...the true cost of the bill over the long term is ZERO!
posted
Please correct my rememberance if in error, but hasn't it been argued that one of the reasons Satan rebelled against God, or at least was able to gather followers, was because God dared to offer a "Path to Citizenship" in heaven to those dirty, sweaty, humans? That open border policy would sure to let in a multitude of unenlightened people, not of the same race, color, or culture of the settled Angels. They would be a drag on Heavenly resources, not to mention ruin the place for the Angels that were there first.
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posted
Well, my religion's take on that particular argument is that Satan was a spiritual being just like the rest of us. He got into trouble by wanting to force every person to do what they needed to do in order to receive salvation and set himself up as God by demanding the honor and glory of the accomplishment for himself. So I'm not sure how that fits in, but I thought I'd let you know the argument I'm most familiar with.
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posted
Maybe I'm reading the article completely wrong, but isn't it saying that 9.3 billion dollars are going to fight immigration (for 5 years), while the remaining 116.7 billion dollars are going to benefits (or lost tax renevue is probably a better way to phrase it) for the newly incorporated immigrants that would be added under this same bill (for 10 years)?
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posted
Well Dan, that was the LDS version, so it's probably a minority view. Your version does sound familiar because of shows like Constantine and such though, so maybe it's based on Catholic theology?
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posted
Sorry for double posting, but on the OP topic:
Bob, It appears as though much of the cost of this is in helping illegal immigrants become legal residents and enjoy the benefits of it such as welfare, medical care, tax credits, etc. Are you suggesting that the better course would be to keep them illegal and avoid much of the cost?
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posted
The article I linked shows $78 billion for enforcement efforts through the discretionary fund. That's more than 1/2 the money right there.
The estimates of increased demand for social services are probably iffy at best, but only a portion of that $50 billion would actually go to services -- much will be eaten up in increases in federal staffing. And also, somewhat bizarre against a background of major cuts in at least some of those programs. But, realistically, the assistance programs and increased staff are probably the easiest part of this to cut in future budgets -- those are not up-front costs, but out-year cost items. The money spent on border patrols and fences is going to be spent first, from what I read.
It's very lopsided in that we'll spend a bunch of money now making life hell for illegals, then...if we decide to later on, we'll assist the ones who managed not to fall into the net before the social services side of the programs finally gear up.
At least that's my take on it.
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posted
Ahh yes, the discretionary funds. I want to see that concept outlawed for a few months and see what the government would do... I'd personally like to see most of these funds given to the 4 border states (plus Florida) to compensate for the financial burden they've had to shoulder from a lack of government action for a few decades. While two (maybe more now) of these states have pretty much stopped spending money on such things, I imagine it's only a matter of time before an incident makes it to the supreme court and the laws are repealed.
I've mentioned this before, and this is another on topic place to do it... While I may not agree with every step the government is taking towards immigration, I agree with the general direction (make it easier to be let in legally, crack down on those who try to do so illegally). Living a 150 miles or so from the border, and know people who live within about 5, the current state of the area is horrendous (or was last year, I haven't talke to them as much since the arrests dropped in AZ by 50% this year).
Most of my issues regarding immigration are less about the immigrants and more about the trade that smuggles them here. Probably two years ago now (though it may have been last year) two of the immigrant smuggling groups got into a rolling gunfight on the interstate (I-10) here. Groups like that simply need to be stopped, by any means neccessary. This year, the border patrol was lucky enough to find a group of about 30 immigrants that had been dropped off, told to wait, and by all accounts were not being come back for and left to die in the desert. The people who do things like this are the problem, and they're dangerous enough to warrant spending money to stop (either eliminate them, or eliminate their business).
Relatively off-topic of the article, but in the same vein of discussion. I get a kick everytime anyone acts shocked at the idea of fencing the border, like it is some sort of international transgression. Most of the privately owned land that shares the border already is fenced. The difference here is I wouldn't at all mind the government installing a fence that wouldn't be as easy to cut through, knock down, or run over. There are large swaths of National parks and forests where I could see this being a valid concern however (Big Bend among others).
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