Dumb things liberals say:

[Tgo01]

Someone told me today that it's not a crime to be an undocumented worker.

Now to be fair I didn't ask this person's political leanings but I'll be willing to bet a dozen Sweetwater's Donut Mill's donuts that he was a liberal.

[4a6c1]

She's probably thinking of the British socialized medicine.

British type liberalism is really nothing to be proud of. They allow sections of their society to enforce Sharia law. This I had to see with my own eyes to believe. I can imagine it's terrible to work in London as any sort of law enforcement officer. I don't understand how there aren't riots constantly from the ultra-conservative islamists sects. They give them absolute autonomy outside the law to practice their fucked up version of religion.

[Parkbandit]

Someone told me today that it's not a crime to be an undocumented worker.

Now to be fair I didn't ask this person's political leanings but I'll be willing to bet a dozen Sweetwater's Donut Mill's donuts that he was a liberal.

What's an undocumented worker? I've known some illegal aliens that don't have jobs... are they considered undocumented unemployed?

You have to hand it to Progressives.. the one thing they are masters at is repackaging words to make them sound better.

[Tgo01]

You have to hand it to Progressives.. the one thing they are masters at is repackaging words to make them sound better.

That's exactly what I thought. I was thinking holy shit, enough people have referred to them as "undocumented workers" enough times that people are really starting to believe these are just people who are here legally but their papers have been lost in the mail or something.

[Back]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3567573.html

Undocumented Immigrants Would Pay Billions More In Taxes If Allowed To Work Legally: Study

Allowing undocumented immigrants to work legally in the U.S. would boost their state and local tax contributions by an estimated $2 billion annually, a new study finds.The study, conducted by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-partisan research organization, says that the country's 11.2 million undocumented immigrants already collectively contributed $10.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2010 -- mostly through sales and excise taxes, but also via property and income taxes -- and that that number could jump to more than $12.6 billion.

How? If allowed to work legally, undocumented immigrants would pay more in state income taxes, as well as participate fully in federal, state and local tax systems. ITEP's analysis also assumes that legalization would allow the undocumented to better bargain with employers, increasing their income and, in turn, tax contributions.

Immigration legislation currently before Congress would grant the legal right to work to many unauthorized U.S. workers. Regardless, multiple research reports find such a change would prove economically beneficial. Among them:

- A study by the the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that found the immigration reform bill would shrink the deficit by $197 billion over the next decade.

- A study by the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project that found an increase in immigrant workers may lead to a boost in wages for U.S-born workers.

The majority of the American people appear behind such a change as well. Some 75 percent of Americans say that granting undocumented immigrants legal status would be good for the economy, Pew Research reported in June.

[Latrinsorm]

You underestimate the concept of enlightened egoism. If all else was equal, I would just eat bacon and chocolate all the time, but because I am aware that in the long run that would not be good for me, I eat other foods (if you can even call them food). In the same way, most people wouldn't want to pay more in taxes all else being equal, but all else is not equal. For some, there is a recognition that the government needs money to function, and they are much much much better off with a strong government than a weak one.

I think the far more interesting point of the article is that state and local taxes comprise 84% of what a certain class of people would pay if they paid federal taxes. I would expect this to completely deflate the people who complained bitterly about those who had no "skin in the game" as measured in paying federal income tax, but of course those complaints are intentionally specious. Oh well.

[crb]

You underestimate the concept of enlightened egoism. If all else was equal, I would just eat bacon and chocolate all the time, but because I am aware that in the long run that would not be good for me, I eat other foods (if you can even call them food). In the same way, most people wouldn't want to pay more in taxes all else being equal, but all else is not equal. For some, there is a recognition that the government needs money to function, and they are much much much better off with a strong government than a weak one.

I think the far more interesting point of the article is that state and local taxes comprise 84% of what a certain class of people would pay if they paid federal taxes. I would expect this to completely deflate the people who complained bitterly about those who had no "skin in the game" as measured in paying federal income tax, but of course those complaints are intentionally specious. Oh well.

You don't understand how someone who pays no federal income tax has no skin in the game on federal issues?

You realize that state and local governments != the federal government right? We have separate levels of government that are independent of each other. I mean, I realize it may be convenience for your warped world view to forget that, but alas, such is not the case.

So, if someone pays nothing to the federal government, what incentive do they have to elect politicians who will spend tax dollars wisely? Just the worry that if things get really bad maybe they will have to pay taxes? The understanding that higher taxes on businesses and others reduce growth in the economy which will hurt them be proxy? The knowledge that printing our way out of debt spurs inflation which is a regressive tax that hits the poor the most? I wish. They don't think long term like that, the ones voting for Obama anyways.

Nevermind the moral issue that we should all pay to support our government, and yes, each of our governments.

But I suppose you might get more votes building your tax and spend empire on as narrow a base as possible, no chance that will end badly.

[jafo]

Immigration really isn't a liberal/conservative issue. It's just a huge stinking policy mess.

Milton Friedman and other people considered conservative would now be considered liberal by Sarah Palin standards.

I think immigration is one of those issues that divides the pragmatic/reasonable people with the ideology driven (liberal or conservative).

When I drive through the "little mexico" part of my town, I realize there is no way we're sending them all back. They are hard working and generate economic activity but have little legal protection and are almost a weird american form of a caste.

Fix the shit.

[Latrinsorm]

You don't understand how someone who pays no federal income tax has no skin in the game on federal issues?

The United States federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel.

[Parkbandit]

"No doubt, the inclination is to boycott Florida, stop conventions, to isolate Florida as a kind of apartheid state..." -Rev. Jesse Jackson