White House Touts "Saving Money" as a Reason to Pass Immigration Reform; Saving Money Makes an Even Better Reason to Cut Spending!
CBO estimates $1 trillion in savings over 20 years from immigration reform
The latest missive from the White House, via the director of the domestic policy council, Cecilia Muñoz:
Hi, all!
This week, we got some big news about the immigration reform bill. It's a little wonky, but it's so great that I couldn't wait to share it with you.
The nonpartisan experts who estimate the financial impact of legislation for Congress concluded that because undocumented immigrants will start paying more in taxes for things like education and Social Security, the immigration proposal in the Senate will make the economy fairer for middle class families while cutting the U.S. deficit by almost $1,000,000,000,000 over the next two decades.
With every passing day, it's becoming clear that we can't afford not to act. Now we know exactly how much is at stake, and it's the kind of news that can help to change the policy conversation in Washington.
The e-mail continues with infographics it encourages readers to share. But what does making the process for entering and staying in the country legally have to do with the deficit?While Shikha Dalmia has explained the various economic benefits a liberal immigration policy provides and there's nothing to suggest the CBO's number is cooked, it's not the whole story. The immigration reform bill being crafted in Washington doesn't provide an amnesty or even simply liberalize immigration laws. Instead the bill is packed with new bureaucracy and spending, like billions to border security, as well as carve outs for special interests that Lindsey Graham says has them coming back for more (in a good way, he says!). A decree to be free it is not.
And if the White House was as excited about saving money as it says it is, it would've embraced the sequester as a starting point and demanded actual cuts on top of it, instead of crying doomsday over mere reductions in spending increases.