Wednesday, January 31, 2018

STOCKMAN: Trump's Colossal State of the Union Error


David Stockman writes:
Trump's planned drastic shrinkage of immigration is a colossal error. It will extinguish the only source of additional workers to grow the US economy in the decades ahead, as well as the new Tax Mules that will be urgently required in order to shoulder the massive Welfare State fiscal burden of 100 million prospective retirees by 2060.
At the same time, the Donald's planned borrowing spree is sure to be almost entirely wasted. We don't need any more national security than the $600 billion Trump inherited---so the $1 trillion extra he's requesting over the next decade is sheer economic waste, as is the Mexican Wall and border control.
As to the latter, if you want less crime and violence at the border, repeal the War on Drugs. If you want "legal" immigrants, give them a guest worker permit and a route to earning citizenship by paying taxes for a decade or longer.
 -RW

4 comments:

  1. We don't need anymore immigration at this time. There is where I have to diverge with Stockman. The unemployment numbers are BS and have been for years regardless of administration.

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    1. Re: The Lab Mismanager

      -- We don't need anymore immigration at this time. --

      There's no "We", Kemosabe.

      The unemployment numbers seem to be good enough for the p...y-grabber to tout them every chance he gets.

      Delete
  2. Would be great to see a compromise where immigrants would be allowed in, but be ineligible for citizenship. Probably Republicans wouldn’t go for it because they would fear (perhaps justifiably for them) that they would eventually be made citizens anyway, but if it could happen it would address many of the (actually legitimate) concerns about immigration.

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    Replies
    1. Re: Evan Smiley,

      The problem, Evan, is that citizenship would be the sole recourse an immigrant possesses to stop the government from violating his or her rights, not unlike Saint Paul.

      The government is not interested in defending the rights of anyone but it is especially cruel and sadistic against the underprivileged and the defenseless. Only citizenship provides some measure of protection.

      Delete