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Obama immigration plan good, not great for economy

24 Comments
By JOSH BOAK

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Groups such as the Center for Immigration Studies have critiqued the benefits of adding immigrants, noting that many U.S. citizens are still searching for work more than five years after the Great Recession ended. By giving these workers legal status, it will inevitably help their earnings prospects but do little for the rest of the economy, said Steven Camarota, the organization’s research director.

Here is what the Center for Immigration "Studies" stands for. From Wikipedia: "The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) is a non-profit research organization that advocates immigration reduction in the United States."

And: "Media reports have questioned the accuracy of its factual assertions and its claim to nonpartisanship and noted its ties to extremist groups."

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Obama immigration plan good, not great for economy. Well compare that to removing every ILEGAL immigrant from the farming industry. What do you think that would do to the economy?

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Apart from the Healtcare this will be another high light of Obama in his term as President/

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Two questions about Obama's executive action. Does it fix illegal immigrant's problem into the future, and was it legal to do so? They are willing to break the law to enter U.S. illegally because the rewards are greater than the risk. Government should starve off any sweet spots such as benefits that inviting them to cross border illegally in the first place. Then, really secure the border as intended. For those already in the country illegally and are willing to work without hurting American jobs, should be given a work permit, paying taxes and fine, and go back in line to apply in same way as legal immigrants. It is time to plug the whole without playing politics as Obama, the divider in chief. Economy will sustain an accurate data in doing so, instead of exploiting it for political reason. People who live in America should contribute to the well being of a nation, not the other way around for self interest. Country and Constitution come first.

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People who live in America should contribute to the well being of a nation, not the other way around for self interest.

Exactly. Let's get the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes as they used to do. And let's stop coddling the robber barons in the finance industry.

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Russian politicians also point to illegal immigration as a problem that must be dealt with severly. They actually do have the second highest number of illegal immigrants, behind the USA. Every country has some. North Korea is always sending Americans back…

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Exactly. Let's get the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes as they used to do. And let's stop coddling the robber barons in the finance industry.

We already do! If we didn't, the country completely shut down, but how is it fair when the people on the bottom don't pay literally ANY taxes. I think it's about time we reintroduce a flat tax. Worked well under Clinton.

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Wait - Obama has once again acted in a way which both helps people and benefits the economy?! No wonder the GOP is against it! As a consolation prize - and now that the Benghazi! investigation has finally sputtered to a halt right where it began - perhaps they can start a NEW investigation!

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Boehner is screwed. Totally, totally screwed.

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Wait - Obama has once again acted in a way which both helps people and benefits the economy?!

Hmmm, tell that to the Blacks and other Hispanics.

No wonder the GOP is against it!

The GOP was always for legal immigration, but EVERYONE and I mean, EVERYONE knows that this is a temporary ruse that Obama hopes and thinks that the immigrant population will all vote by default Democrat. When that's simply not the case.

As a consolation prize - and now that the Benghazi! investigation has finally sputtered to a halt right where it began - perhaps they can start a NEW investigation!

Actually, once the Republicans take power the investigations will resume, you can bet on that, especially if Hilary runs, you'd better believe the questions will come a flying.

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how is it fair when the people on the bottom don't pay literally ANY taxes.

You mean no income taxes. Completely fair. They live in poverty. No humane person would ask them to pay income tax when they can barely survive.

I think it's about time we reintroduce a flat tax. Worked well under Clinton.

Say what?

As for Benghazi

once the Republicans take power the investigations will resume, you can bet on that,

Yeah, I'll bet on that. And I'll bet they come up with nothing, again. For the umpteenth time.

Today's GOP runs on manufactured outrage.

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plasticmonkeyNOV. 23, 2014 - 02:47PM JST People who live in America should contribute to the well being of a nation, not the other way around for self interest.

Exactly. Let's get the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes as they used to do. And let's stop coddling the robber barons in the finance industry.

Would that include Obama's trusted advisor Al Sharpton? His taxes owed is reportedly $4.5 million. That can care for hundreds of illegals turned honorary citizens for a couple years.

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The GOP was always for legal immigration

If that were true, Boehner wouldn't have stopped the vote on the immigration bill.

Obama hopes and thinks that the immigrant population will all vote by default Democrat. When that's simply not the case.

if you think this won't swing a large portion of the Latino vote to the democrats, you're kidding yourself.

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"The obstacle has been that jobs in agriculture don’t appeal to people born in the United States, so Jim Gilbert, owner of Northwoods Nursery in Molalla, Oregon, hires immigrants to tend to the plants he grows and sells.

“There are not enough people to do the jobs we need to do,”

Bring on the robots!

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StrangerlandNOV. 23, 2014 - 10:33PM JST The GOP was always for legal immigration

If that were true, Boehner wouldn't have stopped the vote on the immigration bill.

Legal and fair immigration from all over the world. Not law breaking mainly central Americans.

Obama hopes and thinks that the immigrant population will all vote by default Democrat. When that's simply not the case.

if you think this won't swing a large portion of the Latino vote to the democrats, you're kidding yourself.

Just wait and see the ripples from this move. In a couple years they will be evident. Democratic Obama supporters will be toxic. Black and legal hispanic unemployment to rise, State budget cuts, Obamacare increases even more than the 10% for 2015, ect.....

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@Mark G

Great point Obamas policies have done nothing but hurt minorities Blacks mainly because they will have to compete with the new comers! Obama is for Obama and after he leaves office you will see how much of a crook this pResident was!

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This will always be a difficult issue as long as nutjob right-wing politicians in their gerrymandered districts keep selling the bogus position that we can actually round up 11,000,000+ people, many of whom have children that were born in the US, and ship them out of the country. When that doesnt happen, obviously due to logistical and economic impossibilities, it's chalked up as Obama advancing his radical agenda to destroy America (once again).

So the Republicans in the bubble sell their BS to win primaries, then Boehner is left to try to sell his party of nutjobs to moderate America and Latinos. He knows he has zero chance of his own party agreeing internally on a comprehensive platform so he is turning this into a Constitutional battle that he knows he will lose, but it does the only thing he's ever able to do: buy time.

Give credit to Obama for the shrewd political move. Since Republicans are too fractured to lead all the can do is obstruct and on this issue they can't seem to figure out a way to do that. That makes the entire GOP completely and utterly useless. Or maybe I should say that it exposes them as completely and utterly useless.

So back to Al Sharpton...

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Too many misguided views on wealth distribution. It is better to stop feeding people with fish, instead teaching them how to fish. It is called accountability without spinning. Robin Hood's idea of robbing the rich to feed the poor is rather a quick fix, for there will be no more rich folks to rob eventually. Also, when you drop a crumb on the kitchen floor, all sort of insects will come for their shares. Let's sanitize the kitchen for a better living. Cheers.

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Too many misguided views on wealth distribution. It is better to stop feeding people with fish, instead teaching them how to fish. It is called accountability without spinning. Robin Hood's idea of robbing the rich to feed the poor is rather a quick fix

Your simple-minded, goofy little analogy can be turned right on its head: How about we take from the rich and supply the poor with fishing boats and nets?

Or do you expect them to use their hands?

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Your simple-minded, goofy little analogy can be turned right on its head: How about we take from the rich and supply the poor with fishing boats and nets?

I see, motivate them with new equipment while many keep the old equipment. Take from a marginally comfortable retiree to provide the often lazy with boats and nets they'll not use anyway. We already assist with drug habits, alcohol and tobacco, potato chips and cable TV!

It seems we provide with keys to boats with nets should they choose to use them. If not another more motivated one will.

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to provide the often lazy

the "often lazy"?

I'm betting that neither you nor anyone in your family has ever worked as hard for less than a migrant farm worker or worker in a slaughterhouse. Going back to your prior post:

Also, when you drop a crumb on the kitchen floor, all sort of insects will come for their shares. Let's sanitize the kitchen for a better living.

Sanitize, MarkG? Are you talking about a "final solution?"

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@plastic

You mean no income taxes. Completely fair. They live in poverty. No humane person would ask them to pay income tax when they can barely survive.

Then there is no equality, so why is it liberals can dictate and define exactly what unfair or inhumane is? If you have a flat tax regardless of income EVERYONE contributes, even if the poor buy goods, other products, whatever it is, should be taxed, equally according to each persons wages and social status, but no one gets a FREE ride. If these poor people can afford a TV, soap and a cell phone, they can afford to buy other goods, coffee, bread, etc. My basic argument is, why should the poor get a pass on NOT paying anything?

Say what?

Yup!

Yeah, I'll bet on that. And I'll bet they come up with nothing, again. For the umpteenth time.

Yeah, until Next January when the Republicans take over the Senate, then you will see more hearings and this time Hilary and the president will have less wiggle room to work with. Also, Obama can forget any liberal Supreme Court judges being appointed to the bench, with an all Republican congress? Good luck with that. Today's GOP runs on manufactured outrage

@stranger

If that were true, Boehner wouldn't have stopped the vote on the immigration bill.

He doesn't (and rightfully so) trust the president. Remember, we are talking about Obama who's track record when it comes to telling the truth isn't exactly close to being exemplary. Again, I believe the Republicans should come up with their own immigration plan, and add hard, aggressive measures to seal the border once and for all, but His majesty won't do that. He would veto the bill the moment it would sit on his desk.

if you think this won't swing a large portion of the Latino vote to the democrats, you're kidding yourself.

Sorry, but that's EXACTLY the problem liberals have about Mexicans and other Latinos generally speaking. They view them as ONE monolithic group, which is their downfall.

A recent article from the liberal NYT.

Yes, immigration is an important issue for most Latinos and Asian-Americans. And yes, 63 percent of Latinos and 66 percent of Asian- Americans voted for Democratic candidates for Congress in the midterms. The executive order could solidify and expand that support for years to come.

But Latinos and Asian-Americans made up only 11 percent of the electorate. Even if immigration were the only issue driving their vote — and it most certainly was not — it could have shifted the national partisan balance of power by only a few percentage points.

Continue read

Whites, meanwhile, accounted for 75 percent of the electorate. Far more than any other group, whites will decide the fate of the parties in the years to come. Unfortunately for the Democratic Party, the data suggest that immigration very much matters for whites.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/opinion/the-democrats-immigration-problem.html?_r=0

NOT sealing off the border and Obama giving Amnesty to 5 million illegals will NOT be a shoe in to getting Dems in the White House. But of course, you can't tell Obama that, he's the smartest man in the whole wide world. We are just his loyal obedient subjects.

@super

This will always be a difficult issue as long as nutjob right-wing politicians in their gerrymandered districts keep selling the bogus position that we can actually round up 11,000,000+ people, many of whom have children that were born in the US, and ship them out of the country.

Stop watching msnbc and reading Think Progress, NO with a shred of common sense is thinking about that, can't happen, wouldn't happen and it would be a logistic nightmare on top of it. What we are talking about is legal immigration. We can't send these people back, but we can and we must seal the border. Which is NOT that difficult to do if the president were serious and sincere about the security and sovereignty of our nation. But we're talking about Obama....

When that doesnt happen, obviously due to logistical and economic impossibilities, it's chalked up as Obama advancing his radical agenda to destroy America (once again).

It's true, keep going, I'm not stopping you. Out of control debt $18 Trillion and counting, immigration problem, No new high paying jobs in America across the board, broken healthcare system, disastrous foreign policy. Yeah, I would say so.

So the Republicans in the bubble sell their BS to win primaries,

So now like Gruber, you are calling the American people dumb??? Wow! No wonder you guys lost big.

then Boehner is left to try to sell his party of nutjobs to moderate America and Latinos. He knows he has zero chance of his own party agreeing internally on a comprehensive platform so he is turning this into a Constitutional battle that he knows he will lose, but it does the only thing he's ever able to do: buy time.

Boehner didn't sell anything, he didn't need to. All he or anyone else with a clear logical thinking process could see that this was a train wreck in the making. Obama didn't add anything to other existing laws, he just decided to bypass congress and anointed himself King of the US and cites executive privilege on an issue, he simply cannot do.

Give credit to Obama for the shrewd political move.

I do, he is burying his own party, like I said, he keeps up his sissy fits and temper tantrums, he will single-handedly bury the Democratic Party.

Since Republicans are too fractured to lead all the can do is obstruct and on this issue they can't seem to figure out a way to do that.

Did you see the map? The sea of red??? Fractured, more like the Dems were engulfed, drowned. The Dems not only got destroyed, but you have an entire generation of Dems obliterated, completely.

That makes the entire GOP completely and utterly useless. Or maybe I should say that it exposes them as completely and utterly useless.

Yeah, that's why Democrats are packing their boxes, because they really make a huge difference, which they surprisingly did. Thanks for the memories. At least we don't have to worry about Reid further blocking things and like Holder being a shield for the president. Now it's Obama out there all alone and his so called smarts to save him. Good luck with that, it's going to be a bumpy interesting two years with this lame duck.

So back to Al Sharpton...

That's a story all in itself....

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

@Yabits- Sanitize, MarkG? Are you talking about a "final solution?"

What in the world are you talking about? Do you suspect anyone not inline with your thought against you?

Oh, and by the way, I have worked hard, nobody gave me anything, and I still work hard. As hard as a migrant farm worker, no. But they have no other option. Work on a farm here or in Central America for daily food and shelter. Here they are paid much better than there. Do they deserve citizenship, no. If you think they do, to be fair shouldn't we grant citizenship to all applicants worldwide? Why select the obvious law breakers?

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@mark

Oh, and by the way, I have worked hard, nobody gave me anything, and I still work hard. As hard as a migrant farm worker, no. But they have no other option. Work on a farm here or in Central America for daily food and shelter. Here they are paid much better than there. Do they deserve citizenship, no. If you think they do, to be fair shouldn't we grant citizenship to all applicants worldwide? Why select the obvious law breakers?

That's the problem with the mindless, looney left, this is EXACTLY why they are losing everything, they just don't get it! Yabits is taking the same rant that Obama said about Steve Jobs to quote: you didn't build that! Yabits, Mark was basically saying, he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth, everything he has he worked hard for it, whereas many of these illegal immigrants are lucky, they are getting a free ride and NOW the president is giving them free amnesty, essentially pardoning them of all their past crimes entering into the US illegally and giving them entitlements curtesy of the US taxpayer for FREE. For many libs, getting something is better than taking the long road and working hard to get to that goal.

You may NOT mind and think the president is doing a noble thing, but the fact of the matter is, with Obama everything has a price and here we see Chicago politics at its absolute worst!

Again, the majority of Americans, including conservatives do NOT have a problem with immigrants, they are just saying, we are (or were) a nation of laws and if you enter into the country illegally, there are penalties and if you are not deported, then you have to wait at the end of the line, that's the price you pay for entering the country illegally. It is totally unfair for these people who came here on their own free will to get bumped in front of the line ahead of people that followed all the rules. The president doesn't care about these people and everyone with basic common sense knows this. He is mad that the people voted in the GOP, he is mad that the Democrats didn't fight harder for him, he is mad that the GOP has NOW finally got the senate and this move is a way to say, I will show you all, I cannot be reelected and so what, I will do this, NOT realizing he is taking the other Democrats over the edge with him as well. Obama is a man that can't take jokes, he holds grudges, lies like there is NO tomorrow and there is NO disputing that, if ANY lib doesn't believe it, check Youtube, the videos don't lie.

People are rejecting 6 years of failed Democratic polices and the president said a few weeks ago, the people are angry and don't like Democrats, NOT his policy. This man is living in a dream, world and is totally out of touch with reality. The election was a clear indicator. Seriously, when you have politicians winning in Blue states where they usually would NOT that is telling you something right there!

If Obama keeps this course, he will permanently destroy the entire Democratic party.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

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