George Will: Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants Necessary to 'Sustain the Welfare State'

Newsbusters ^ | April 14, 2013 | Noel Sheppard

[Bratch]

On ABC's This Week Sunday, George Will made a comment about the need for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants that is likely to raise eyebrows on both sides of the aisle.

"As the baby boomers retire, and as the birthrate declines, we need something to replenish the workforce to sustain the welfare state" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

*NOTE: Video at link*

JONATHAN KARL, SUBSTITUTE HOST: George, right to you. You heard a debate among Republicans on immigration. Which side should the Republican Party come down on?

GEORGE WILL: Every conservative sympathizes with what Jeff Sessions was saying about not rewarding law breaking. However, conservatism begins with facing facts. The facts are that of the 11 million people who are here illegally, two-thirds have been here a decade or more, 30 percent, 15 years or more. They're woven into our society. They're not leaving. And the American people would not tolerate the police measures necessary to extract them from our community. Therefore, the great consensus has to be on the details of a path to citizenship.

The most important thing Rubio said in your interview was, even if the system weren't broken, if you had no illegal immigrants, we'd still need to do something about this because we need the workers. As the baby boomers retire, and as the birthrate declines, we need something to replenish the workforce to sustain the welfare state.

KARL: The framing from Rubio was interesting, saying we really already have amnesty. Nobody's prosecuting the undocumented immigrants here now.

RUTH MARCUS, WASHINGTON POST: Absolutely, I want to say I'm going to really enjoy saying this next sentence. I completely agree with every syllable that George Will just said. And I think that the stars are in alignment for many of the reasons that he said.

"As the baby boomers retire, and as the birthrate declines, we need something to replenish the workforce to sustain the welfare state."

Is this an inconvenient truth or a stretch?

We know that this is a problem that countries such as Japan are already facing. Most of Europe is projected to see a peak in population in the next few decades. When this happens, entitlement programs become impossible to fund if they aren't already.

The velocity of our population growth has been slowing for decades.

As such, does Will have a point or should our future budget woes be irrelevant to this debate?

[Kenny Bunk]

This is Euro-Reasoning.

It is exactly why the Euro-weenies let in millions of Turd Worlders. Their own people not reproducing and aging into retirement, someone, they argued, was needed to pay taxes to support them.

As it turns out The Turd Worlders cost more than they contribute, are violent, Muslim, fast breeders who utterly foul any nest with which they are provided. Meantime, Norwegian teenage girls cannot go on the streets of their own towns. Muslims go a-wilding in London. Somali boys abuse school teachers in Maine. The French police are shut out of whole towns, and people in djellabas crap into the gutters of Marseille.

and the PC beat goes on.

[Kenny Bunk]

Will was absolutely correct about one thing.

There are exactly 11 million illegal aliens. Of course, if one were to leave LA County, one might easily turn up 20 million or so more, but let's not go there, OK?

[sodpoodle]

****said extended illegal families will be aged, be sick, be injured, become handicapped, be malnourished, be giving birth, etc. the Supreme Court will OVERTURN the “no health and welfare benefits” law in a heartbeat***

Very sobering comments - and sadly - very realistic.

sod

[wardaddy]

I never liked him

In the early days of TV righties...I liked Kirkpatrick better...far better.....Will appeared like such a fop

uh oh here come the race bait finger pointers

(like I care)

[VRW Conspirator]

...we need something to replenish the workforce to sustain the welfare state."

So, the welfare state is unsustainable, George?

[Bob Ireland]

***We are being led into a total socialist/welfare by our rulers in both parties....a state where everyone will be equally broke except the rulers***

Ibid... secession or rev°lu+ion!

[HiJinx]

800 lb. Gorilla Ping!

Click the keyword Aliens to see more illegal alien, border security, and other related threads.

Oh, well, if that's the only reason, why not? Certainly makes sense to me, and assures me that I'll have my Social Security check every month after I retire, right? What could be wrong with that, eh?

[Bob Ireland]

***[depopulation] this is a problem that countries such as Japan are already facing. Most of Europe ***

As is Russia... could it be that socialism discourages populations into reproducing? Subconsciously, do people decide that it is not worth bringing children into this world? Does socialism destroy the family to the point of ultimate failure?

Socialism is provably a failure; yet we are being herded into that failure quickly and easily... Democrap traitors deny that they are socialists while hinting always that socialism is the answer to finding utopia. The American Communist Party now endorses the Democrap Party... does that tell folks something? |:-/

[rmlew]

It is a retarded argument. Reality check, which should be obvious for those with above room temperature IQs.
Adding more players to a Ponzi scheme worsens the problem. Adding more people who will be on welfare, only hastens the collapse since they use more benefits than average Americans.

[GOPJ]

Hey George Will - I've seen how 3rd world types ‘help’ their elderly in their home countries... no Social Security - no medicare - no home health care... Yeah, you're bringing in a third world culture - and you think it won't change the basic structure of our ways? What a joke.

Then again all those 3rd world hellholes have small groups of elites - people who get the best. Maybe George Will thinks he'll be in that group. Best of luck George on that too - in 3rd world cultures the gentle aren't the elites... and YOU George Will won't be part of the ‘in’ group.

Do YOU George Will actually believe these people will act any different when they're in charge of the culture? - I doubt they'll be propping up white liberal elites much longer - sheer numbers guarantee that... so the dreams of cheap gardeners, cheap nursing home staff, cheap labor etc. is just NOT going to happen.

[YankeeReb]

"As the baby boomers retire, and as the birthrate declines, we need something to replenish the workforce to sustain the welfare state"

That would be fine and good if we had a policy of attracting people based on skills rather than family ties. It would also work out well if we weren't hell bent on turning a blind eye as millions of "undocumented Democrats" pour across the border looking for "free stuff".

[AuntB]

I believe it also is about getting recruits for the military.

Whatever the excuse, it’s not good enough. Immigration, legal and illegal is a net drain on social services...THEY are part of the reason we need to sustain the welfare state.

[AuntB]

“No one really wants the secured borders.”

According to every poll, you’re incorrect. Immigration only benefits the top 1%. GOPe, like Grover Norquist, Cesar Conda, McCain and Obama and his liberals are the ONLY ones who don’t want the border secured.

Border Security - NumbersUSA
www.numbersusa.com/…hot-topics/secure-border.html-0
•
Found exclusively on: Google
CNN Poll Reveals Continued Support for Arizona Enforcement Law and Increasing Support for More Border Security. Thursday, May 27, 2010, 4:22 PM EDT ...

Public Opinion Polls on Immigration | Federation for American ...
www.fairus.org/facts/public-opinion
•
Found exclusively on: Google
Poll after poll shows that Americans want well-enforced, sensible, and ... Only 30 % of likely voters say that the U.S. border with Mexico is secure; 64% say that ...

In new poll, big majority says border not secure - Washington ...
washingtonexaminer.com/…-not-secure/article/2526874
•
Found on: Google, Yahoo! Search
5 days ago ... A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll asks several questions about immigration reform, including one about border security. “From what ...

Fox News Poll: Secure the Border First | Fox News
www.foxnews.com/…07/02/fox-news-poll-secure-border/
•
Found exclusively on: Google
Jul 2, 2010 ... A majority of American voters think the federal government should secure the country’s borders first, before Congress works on new ...

Border Security Hawks Aren’t Racist, Most Americans Say: Poll
www.huffingtonpost.com/…9/border-security-racist...
•
Found exclusively on: Yahoo! Search
Immigration hawks worried about appearing racist can breathe a sigh of relief. Only 11 percent of U.S. voters think people who want to secure the border ...

and on and on....

[allmendream]

With one party the party of big government and the other party being the party of big business - there is little chance that anything will be done about illegal immigration and/or illegal labor.

If we cut off illegal labor there would be no more illegal immigration.

It would be very easy using existing laws to curtail over 90% of illegal labor.

The idea that law enforcement needs to deport anyone, or that securing the border will do anything more than increase the time cost and effort to get across the border is ludicrous.

If illegal immigrants couldn’t make a living in the USA they would leave (many do seasonally anyway) and not come back.

[YankeeReb]

Edict of Caracalla. Check it out.

extension of civitas (citizenship)
(ancient Rome)

.. Roman citizenship declined in the empire, however, because military service was no longer compulsory, and suffrage was invalidated by the abolition of republican government., In ad 212 the Edict of Caracalla granted citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire.

.....
Interesting , goes to show that history does repeat itself, and that we're looking more like Ancient Rome every day

[warchild9]

The importance of citizenship declined to the point where its special legal protections disappeared...however, Caracalla gained a million new taxpayers via a doubling of coverage and quantity the inheritance tax. From which, of course, the rich were immune.

Really good reading about this is in The Collapse of Complex Societies by Joseph A. Tainter.

It’s a really good book I read for grad school, and worth looking for.

You’ll be able to talk rings around your average half-educated Freeper.

[Razz Barry]

In other words the lying,conniving,lowlife,traitor politicians have robbed the American taxpayers for decades,so now they have to cover their worthless asses by flooding the country with people who care nothing of this countries traditions or culture to keep the fraud going

Notice how no one talks about ending birthright citizenship. This tells me they have NO intention of slowing illegal immigration, let alone ending it. One more time our officials give the American people the middle finger.

[riri]

You are back! I have missed your posts. I hope everything is OK with you and yours.