govt shutdown or amnesty: which one “costs” more?

wallThe 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.  ObamaUnemploymentNOPERCENTBACK

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 julies-politics-244x300stice $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.