govt shutdown or amnesty: which one “costs” more?
The DC GOP establishment, and their media puppets on Fox News, are quaking over the idea of a government “shutdown.” Give the Democrats what they want. Don’t make Barry mad, or he’ll shut down the government.
The drive-bys have brow-beaten the GOP into backing off the two strongest weapons they have in fighting Barry: impeachment and a government shutdown. The GOP is willing to officially trash the concept of US citizenship — as well as the economy itself — to avoid some negative drive-by media publicity.
Let’s look back at the 2013 “shutdown.” Actually – only 13 percent of the total bureaucracy was anything close to “shut down.” The White House got petty and targeted things like fireworks shows at military bases, military post commissaries, and tourist attractions. Meanwhile, The White House chefs remained on duty. Welfare checks kept going out. 
Run a Google search on the “2013 government shutdown” and you’ll find all kinds of drive-by propaganda predicting electoral disaster for Republicans in 2014 — IF they went forward with that government shutdown. (And we all know how 2014 turned out for the GOP.)
In North Carolina, the GOP gained a US Senate seat and ONE US House seat. They kept their super-majorities in the state legislature. So, I ask, what was the downside to standing firm on government spending?
Our federal debt JUST hit the $18 trillion mark. In North Carolina, we’ve learned that state spending on servicing illegal aliens is in the ballpark of $2 billion per year. (Our total state budget is just over $20 billion.) That averages out to $578 per native-born or naturalized citizen household in the state.
Here’s more on the economic impact of illegal immigration on The Tar Heel State:
[…] The $2.0 billion estimate includes $1.3 billion for education of the children of illegal immigrants, including $299 million per year for supplemental English instruction for 90,000 children of illegal immigrants. The state pays approximately 71 percent of this, and county and local governments pay 29 percent.
Healthcare for unlawful immigrants costs $232 million per year, public assistance $79 million, and law enforcement and ju
stice $216 million per year. Another $212 million is incurred for general government services used.
A significant portion of the $2.0 billion annual cost of illegal immigration in NC impacts at the county level, disproportionately affecting counties with high numbers of illegal immigrants.
North Carolina Illegal immigrants pay only $288 million in taxes per year, most of which are sales taxes. They pay less than $14 million per year in income taxes. These taxes do not offset the slightly over $2.0 billion cost, because illegal immigrant workers are effectively displacing American workers who are paid nearly 40 percent more and therefore pay more taxes. In addition, tax fraud and tax avoidance are rampant among illegal immigrant workers. Cheap foreign labor for employers is a sizable fiscal burden on taxpayers.
Any significant amnesty, by the way, would increase annual fiscal costs substantially. Changing an illegal immigrant to a lawful immigrant increases their eligibility for government healthcare and retirement benefits and attracts more illegal immigrants.
Besides the fiscal costs of maintaining 410,000 illegal immigrants, the economic costs to North Carolina workers are considerable. Excessive cheap foreign labor, illegal or legalized, displaces North Carolina workers and drives down their wages. It must also be noted here that illegal immigrant labor is only a fraction of the fiscal and economic burden imposed on America by the combination of illegal immigrant labor plus increasingly excessive and irresponsible legal importation of cheap foreign labor in the face of high American unemployment and record low American workforce participation.[…]
In other words, when you have immigrants willing to work for less, it drives down wages for all of us. It makes it tougher for Americans who “cost” more to gain employment.
So, let’s recap. 2014 proved there are NO political repercussions to playing hardball on the budget and “shutting down” the government if you have to. We’ve also learned that illegal immigration is putting a strain on the state and local governments that is being passed on to legal residents in the form of higher and more taxes.
So, the next time you hear one of our “honorables’ repeating John Boehner and Mitch McConnell’s talking points about the “hazards” of shutting down the government — ask them POINT BLANK whether they represent John, Mitch, The Farm Bureau and The Chamber of Commerce, or the rest of us back home who work hard and play by the rules? Enough is enough.
There are three very serious problems which impact how our GOP ”leaders” in DC function. First, they are fundamentally cowards who are afraid of their own shadows. Second, they are in the hip pockets of powerful special interests like the US Chamber of Commerce. Third they care more about whether the liberal media likes them than whether the voters back home like them. Weepy Boehner has always talked a good game but then always caved in after prancing around a bit. He would then say that he would put off the fight till later, but later never comes. He is a lot like Wimpy in the Popeye cartoons saying ”I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”.
McConnell is even worse. He does not even put up a pretext of fighting. His nickname is ”the turtle” because he does what a turtle does when there is trouble – he goes into his shell. In the last government funding dispute (”shutdown”), McConnell did a deal with Harry Reid to stab the Republicans in the back and pull the rug our from under the House, and Harry Reid arranged the Kentucky Kickback, an earmark for a $1 billion project for McConnell’s home state, as payola to McConnell. I’m sorry, but this is just corrupt and both should be in prison.
We also have to remember the ”shutdown” during the Clinton administration. Like this last one, the liberal media was full of stories that the GOP would lose seats, but instead we gained them in both House and Senate. (Shouldn’t someone see a pattern, here?) And like the last one, we had a Senate GOP leader screw the House. Bob Dole caved and announced the Senate would end the standoff, and did not even bother telling Newt Gingrich ahead of time he was going to do it. After the end of the Clinton administration, top Clinton staff revealed that Clinton had been on the verge of caving in when Dole suddenly out of the blue saved them by caving first.
The fundamental problem the GOP has in Washington. DC is awful leadership in both House and Senate. Every one of them needs to go. We need to tell out local Congressmen and Senators that unless they commit to voting to change the leadership in Washington, we will not lift a finger to support them in any future election. We need real leadership in DC, not the craven cowards and surrender monkeys we have now.
If we cannot straighten out the GOP, maybe it is time to give up on that project and start working on replacing the GOP. But fixing the GOP, hard a project as that is, in an easier project than replacing it.
I totally agree!
Amnesty is coming but the Republicans need to make it look like they really fought hard to stop it.
The amnesty fight between the GOP & Dems is like a pro wrestling match. You know before the fight who will win.
Boehner will shed some tears and say, “We tried to stop the President but he trampled on the Constitution. He also stepped on my line and caused me to miss a four foot putt. We thought about shutting down the government but the people sent us here to work and work is what we are doing. We are going to fight for the American worker and give power back to the people. Tanning beds are not as bad as the Obama administration makes out! This year the top 8 teams need to be in the college football championship. Ohio State looks might good to me. We here in Congress will stand tall. You can count on that!”
Too many people are catching on to Weepy Boehner’s charades. He may not pull this one off. Most of those who follow politics already see through that Senor Boehner is as phony as a three peso bill. He is little more than Nancy Pelosi in drag. Boehner’s sellout has been called out by former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich and by the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions. Boehner is nothing but an Obama enabler, and his betrayal of the GOP base to brownnose the special interests will make it difficult to turn out the GOP base in 2016. What’s the point when there is not a dimes worth of difference between Boehner and Pelosi?
I agree, Rapheal, a fix will be easier. Unfortunately, like we just did, sometime we have to %÷£€ and step in it for others to see their way clear.
All the Democrat election models for 2016 are factoring in that the GOP base will not turn out in 2016, especially in NC. I cannot see the base turning out for Burr and McCrory. They will have a difficult time recruiting campaign workers, etc.—the real party activists. McCrory has already lost the right to life vote and the pro-marriage vote. And Burr voted for gays in the military. It’s going to be bleak for these guys in 2016. Very bleak. Worse still, the Democrats have figured this out. Too bad Burr and McCrory couldn’t figure it out.
Yes, it is bleak, especially when you add in the way Boehner and McConnell are doing all they can to alienate the GOP base, as they brownnose Obama and the special interests.
It was bleak in the 2014 election. We had Renee and Tholl Rhoad Thom destined to be defeated by the GOP base.
Both had primary challengers but somehow the voters missed it and they both are returning to Washington.
There will be quite a bit of water under the Neuse River Bridge before the next votes are counted. Best thing for the GOP to do is hold true to the course. Keep her steady and into the wind. Keep the powder dry and preach conservative values to the base.
Junior, I forget if you are a Big Government Democrat troll or a Big Government Republican troll, but there is not much difference between them anyway. But as a longtime Republican activist, I despair of my party becoming snake oil salesmen who lie to their base in order to serve the special interests. That cannot end well, and Boehner’s betrayal on amnesty is going to make it all too obvious.
Neither of your favorite liberal Republicans had top drawer challengers, but even so, both had to have out of state liberals come buy their nominations for them. With Tillis it was Rove. With Ellmers it was liberal Democrat Zuckerberg. Your two favorite pigs in the trough could not even stand on their own two feet in a primary without out of state liberals propping them up.
Winning the election is sometimes more important than running a good campaign. Once you are sitting in Congress you have a better chance of putting forth ideas than you do from the outside.
Renee and Thom did slay the dragon and win. That is what is important. The grand prize.
Every government shutdown I remember has been followed by an economic boom. That should be a clue. That is why the democrats were so eager o stop the last one, the economy started improving. Pretty soon the people would have figured out that he government only drains the economy it does not improve it.
It looks like Congressman Steve King of Iowa is already testing the waters for an attempt to block Boehner’s reelection as Speaker if Boehner’s amnesty betrayal goes through:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/4/boehners-speakership-be-tested-immigration-vote-re/
Hooray for Congressman King! Go get ’em!
Here is more on how Speaker Bonehead’s running interference for Obama will come back to haunt Republicans:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/08/boehners-budget-cram-down-imposes-risks-on-gop-reps/
If there ever was an Obama Republican, it is Speaker Bonehead.
The lies continue. The government never shut down. They have already ousted Senator Sessions amendment to stop welfare and foodstamps to the illegals. We are so screwed.
Senator Jeff Session (R-Ala.) is one of the real heroes up there in DC. The problem is that there are not enough like him.
And even though Sessions is the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, that suckweasel McConnell is pulling strings to try to keep him from getting the chairmanship in the next Congress. When McConnell told the media he intended to ”crush them everywhere” he was not talking about Democrats, but about conservatives in his own party. It is really hard to tell which one hates conservatives more – Harry Reid or Mitch McConnell.
“Slay the dragon”? The only thing Richard Burr, and Thommy-Boy could slay is a free dinner by special interest. Jr., you are living in a fantasy-land. The problem is cowardice, and a total lack of testosterone. The state, and the Federal GOP need to find true leaders. We have some starting to stick out, but they better step out quickly. Pat will not carry NC this next election. He has bowed to the “haters” in special interest. Thom won by a slim margin against the most easily-defeatable person in congress. The Democrats are ready, and if NC wants to maintain a majority someone better push Dan to primary against our progressive Governor. If GOP people do not project true conservative value, THEN THEY ARE NOT TRUE GOP!!!!!!! I would rather have only 1 true conservative elected as long as I knew how they would vote. You can have the mild-mannered eaters, Jr. They disgust me.
Milk-toast!!!!!!