I'm just not sure why we're using Republican talking points in the Democratic primary.
Remind me. Which Republican talking point am I being accused of using this time?
I don't think taxes are bad and we should be paying money into making our society a better place.
Putting aside that too often when new taxes and fees are implemented the benefits they’re supposed to provide don’t materialize, leading voters to be wary of those kinds of promises, running a presidential campaign on raising taxes and losing millions of jobs is political insanity.She’s going to have to do a lot better than the shitty messaging she’s had so far to make it palatable in a general election.
The report you’re referencing was commissioned to try and pass an Amnesty bill and it was more than massaged to make it as palatable as possible to moderates. At the time it was put out, it took a great deal of criticism over its dodgy methodology. It all but eliminates border security (which is never going to happen) and misrepresents several budget items (it mistakenly adds estimated FICA taxes as going toward the budget when they go directly to the SS fund, for example). But even trying to make that as positive as possible, it still admits any new influx of the estimated population will result an initial period of higher unemployment and lower wages for several years before things balance out and that’s before they had to factor in all those new residents being extended instant Medicare. I am 100% in favor of more liberal immigration policy because it is a moral imperative, but immigration always costs in the short term and doesn’t pay benefits until down the line — often a full generation down the line. It is deeply dishonest to pretend it’ll help fund her plan.
*****EDITING to cite sources so I don’t get accused of being a Republican again.*****
Here’s a good summary from PBS busting some common anti-immigration Republican myths. Key point:
First-generation immigrants cost the government more than native-born Americans, according to the report — about $1,600 per person annually. But second generation immigrants are “among the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the U.S.,” the report found. They contribute about $1,700 per person per year. All other native-born Americans, including third generation immigrants, contribute $1,300 per year on average.
Please also note that it points out that many immigrants feel a stigma about utilizing social safety nets and services even when they’re eligible, despite the fact that both documented and undocumented immigrants pay billions into those services. We are — right now — currently benefitting from exploiting immigrants in this manner and that surplus would not exist if we engaged in just, meaningful reform because we would be extending those benefits (as we should have been doing all along).
What most people fail to realize is that the billionaire class push against immigration isn’t just about racism — it’s about trying to sabotage and destroy Social Security. This is something the GOP has been unable to do through legislation because Social Security is popular, even with Republicans, The billions undocumented workers pay into Social Security (but can never benefit from) is part of what’s getting the Social Security fund through the Boomer crisis. This is their best chance to bankrupt it and that’s a huge factor (along with the racism) in why they are terrorizing immigrants and asylum seekers.
