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Viva La Razzle-Dazzle: Another Two Cents on Immigration and Labor
Spare Change | March 31, 2006 | Dave Aland

Posted on 04/03/2006 4:14:24 PM PDT by Natty Bumppo@frontier.net

Viva La Razzle-Dazzle Another Two Cents on Immigration and Labor By David J. Aland 31 March 2006

Every backyard quarterback knows how to do it. “Magicians” – from the most rudimentary prestidigitators to the nationally-televised are experts at it. In the blockbuster musical “Chicago”, it is touted as the most powerful of the attorney’s tools. The art of Razzle-Dazzle is essentially an unsophisticated form of triangulation aimed at distracting an unsophisticated audience from what is really happening. For the last week, the debate over immigration has been little more than that.

Immigration challenges every country where the potential for prosperity prompts the influx of people from other places. Most developed nations feature state welfare programs funded by the working population for the benefit of the non-working or disadvantaged – social insurance policies that stabilize the workforce and set practical limits on how far and how hard any citizen may fall or fail.

To many critics, such programs are Ponzi schemes, paying current benefits from future revenues, yet such programs are a reliable feature of developed nations, whether in the pervasive welfare states of the EU, or in the more rough-and-tumble capitalism of the US.

For many, these programs are viewed not only as socio-economic tools, but as societal guarantees and even inalienable rights. In Europe, immigrant communities are well-documented, and extensively covered by state benefits – yet, as the streets of Paris have shown, the French are only beginning to understand that the EU-style welfare state is in serious jeopardy unless the immigrant community is better integrated into the national workforce.

In the US, we have a different problem. The extremely permissive nature of both the labor and immigration environment, due largely to poor enforcement of the laws for both, has flooded our national workforce with immigrant workers, fueling economic growth, but placing an incalculable load on our more modest social welfare and national infrastructure. Too many American workers have entered the country and the workforce illegally, and do not participate in supporting the very infrastructure they are straining.

Whether you choose the European welfare state model, or the less ambitious American one, the situation is the same: the benefits of citizenship must be paid for by citizens, and in order to do that, all working citizens must be paying citizens.

There are over 30 million immigrants in the United States, and statistics show that most of them are employed. But it is also estimated that as much as half of that number have arrived here illegally, are employed off-the-books, and are therefore not participants in the American economy, merely beneficiaries. They receive medical care, their children attend public schools, but they pay no taxes, and contribute little to what they receive. The relatively laissez-faire enforcement of both labor and immigration laws in the United States arguably encourages employers to hire illegal workers.

Congress is trying to address these issues, and as a result the American streets have taken a decidedly European turn, filling with indignant students and immigrants. In a galling show of chutzpah, many protesters argue that they have the right to benefit from the American economy without having to submit to its regulation. American flags have been burned, or replaced by Mexican and Salvadoran flags. Accusations of racism and reverse-racism fly. Claims of a demographic reconquista have been heard. Many unions and even the Catholic Church have weighed in, using the same essential rationale expressed by a union spokesman this week: “We don’t care about Green Cards as much as we care about Union Cards.”

It’s all well and good for everyone to argue that inclusion is a good thing, but this stuff is little more than distracting razzle-dazzle, with no relevance to the real issues and hard realities. The hard reality is that we must (a) control our borders; (b) screen and select who immigrates; and (c) account, contain, and regulate the already-present illegal populations. National economies cannot succeed when large segments remain off the books or under the table. As comedian Dennis Miller put it, we’re happy to have you, but be sure you sign the guest book on your way in.

This goes beyond race, history, or demographics. This is literally a matter of national economic survival. It’s time to set aside the razzle-dazzle and get down to the hard work of crunching numbers and counting noses.

David J. Aland is a retired Naval Officer with a graduate degree in National Security Affairs from the U. S. Naval War College.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: aliens; borderlist; immigration; mobrule; ponzi; socialinsecurity

1 posted on 04/03/2006 4:14:28 PM PDT by Natty Bumppo@frontier.net
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To: Natty Bumppo@frontier.net; 1_Inch_Group; 2sheep; 2Trievers; 3AngelaD; 3pools; 3rdcanyon; ...


Razzle-Dazzle Ping!

2 posted on 04/03/2006 4:19:53 PM PDT by HiJinx (~ www.proudpatriots.org ~ Serving Those Who Serve Us ~ Operation Easter/Passover ~)
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To: HiJinx

Be nice if they even knew what was going on before they pass another bill.


3 posted on 04/03/2006 5:04:17 PM PDT by TheLion
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To: sinkspur

>>National economies cannot succeed when large segments remain off the books or under the table.<<


4 posted on 04/03/2006 6:16:30 PM PDT by B4Ranch (Immigration Control and Border Security -The jobs George W. Bush doesn't want to do.)
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To: B4Ranch
National economies cannot succeed when large segments remain off the books or under the table.

This statement is not operative.

Large segments of the economy operate "off the books", i.e., they deal in cash, barter, and pay no income taxes.

The economy is roaring along at 4% and 4.9% unemployment. That's "success" where I come from.

Try again.

5 posted on 04/03/2006 6:31:57 PM PDT by sinkspur (Things are about to happen that will answer all your questions and solve all your problems.)
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To: Natty Bumppo@frontier.net

DEMAND EMPLOYER SANCTIONS NOW


6 posted on 04/03/2006 7:10:15 PM PDT by amihow
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To: B4Ranch
>>National economies cannot succeed when large segments remain off the books or under the table.<<

Going Underground

Barrons, January 3, 2005 -- AMERICA HAS TWO ECONOMIES, and one is flourishing at the expense of the other. First, there's the legitimate economy, in which craftsmen are licensed and employers and employees pay taxes. Then there's the fast-growing underground economy.

[snip]

The best guess as to the size of the output of this shadow economy is about $970 billion, or nearly 9% that of the real economy. It should soon pass $1 trillion.

[snip]

What is largely fueling the underground economy, experts say, is the nation's swelling ranks of low-wage illegal immigrants. The government puts this population at 8.5 million, but that may represent a serious undercount.

[snip]

One thing is certain: The rest of America is subsidizing the other half's free ride, and the costs will only grow if authorities continue to underestimate the scope of the problem.

[snip]

7 posted on 04/03/2006 8:23:07 PM PDT by DumpsterDiver
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To: sinkspur

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1608555/posts?page=7#7


8 posted on 04/03/2006 8:56:06 PM PDT by B4Ranch (Immigration Control and Border Security -The jobs George W. Bush doesn't want to do.)
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To: HiJinx
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!

Support our Minutemen Patriots!

Be Ever Vigilant!


9 posted on 04/04/2006 7:13:20 AM PDT by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: sinkspur

"Large segments of the economy operate "off the books", i.e., they deal in cash, barter, and pay no income taxes.

The economy is roaring along at 4% and 4.9% unemployment. That's "success" where I come from.

Try again."

It's only "success" if you're one of those that pays no income taxes. Are you?


10 posted on 04/04/2006 11:08:33 AM PDT by antisocial (Texas SCV - Deo Vindice)
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To: antisocial
It's only "success" if you're one of those that pays no income taxes. Are you?

Uh, no. Not by a long shot.

11 posted on 04/04/2006 11:25:31 AM PDT by sinkspur (Things are about to happen that will answer all your questions and solve all your problems.)
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