So these guys are STEM professionals?:
Posted on 06/12/2014 6:53:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Listening to David Brat on election night, following his upset win over Eric Cantor in Virginia’s seventh congressional district, I heard a principled, free-market, pro-growth individual who is going to make an excellent Republican House member.
Mr. Brat, the Randolph-Macon economics professor, talked about pro-growth tax reform, spending limits, and entitlement reform. He wants to end the congressional bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and return them to the private sector. He opposes corporate cronyism in Washington. He’ll have no more special favors for the K Street crowd. He emphasizes the importance of the rule of law and property rights, which are so essential to our free-market system.
In other words, Brat seems to be saying that free-market capitalism is the best path to prosperity. My kinda guy.
However, during the late stages of his primary campaign, Brat railed against immigration reform and hammered Cantor on the issue. On this subject, he’s not my kinda guy. He is violating his free-market economic principles.
Breitbart reporter Jonathan Strong writes, “The story about how David Brat pulled off such a monumental surprise win starts, and almost ends, with immigration.” Strong details how Brat engaged in wild hyperbole, paraphrasing Brat as saying, “No member of Congress had done more to enact amnesty than Cantor.”
NRO contributor Fred Bauer reports that “Brat emphasized the effects of the White House immigration agenda on average working Americans, saying that a vote for Cantor was ‘a vote for open borders and lower wages.’”
And Robert Costa of the Washington Post reports that Brat hammered Cantor for championing a Republican version of the DREAM Act, which would enable some illegal immigrants who entered the country as children to qualify for in-state college tuition rates.
So while Mr. Brat’s free-market economics message sounds perfect, his anti-immigration-reform message is quite troublesome. This kind of rhetoric suggests that the Eric Cantor defeat might doom any immigration reform and the GOP effort to become the Big Tent party in the run-up to 2016.
Many conservatives disagree with me on this, and I respect that. However, I still believe that harsh language on illegals turns off legal Hispanic voters. It also turns off Asians, African Americans, young people, and women.
As I have written, in order to capture the presidency, the Republican party must follow the lead of Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp and return to its Big Tent roots. The GOP must become inclusive by reaching out to everybody.
And as an economist, in fact a free-market economist, Mr. Brat surely knows that immigration reform will not lower wages and eliminate jobs for native Americans. Other immigration opponents routinely use this argument. But it is false. It is unproven.
A new study from the University of California-Davis and Colgate University strongly rebuts this position. The researchers write: “A lot of people have the idea there are a fixed number of jobs. But immigrants can boost productivity of the overall economy, because then the pie grows and there are more jobs for other people as well, and there is not a zero-sum tradeoff between natives and immigrants.”
In fact, the study points out how there are rising wages for college- and non-college-educated native workers along with increased immigration. The study’s authors argue that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — the so called STEM professions — raise wages for college-educated workers by 7 to 8 percentage points and non-college-educated laborers by 3 to 4 percentage points.
Another study, from the Financial Services Forum and Standard & Poor’s, shows that immigrants represent 13 percent of the U.S. population, but account for nearly 20 percent of small-business owners; immigrant-owned small businesses employed nearly 5 million Americans in 2010; more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants; and immigrants launched half of the nation’s top start-ups, which account for virtually all net new-job creation, according to the Kauffman Foundation.
We live in an era of labor and capital globalization. That is why we need these immigrant entrepreneurs, both skilled and unskilled. Millions of immigrants came to America in the past and helped grow our economy at rapid rates. It is no different today.
And if the 11 million illegals who live here obey the law, pay taxes, learn English, and understand the Constitution, they deserve legal status. Citizenship is an issue way down the road. And yes, we must include border security, where unfortunately Obama’s lax policies have contributed to the calamitous surge in illegal-immigrant children. But temporary visas or work permits should be part of a sensible reform package. The E-Verify system can work.
So, Mr. Brat, as a free-market economist, surely you know there’s no reason why all this cannot be done. Hopefully you will come to believe that sensible immigration reform is pro-growth and pro-GOP.
How nice. So Kudlow won’t mind if I break into his house and take up residence ?
Larry is unfortunately ignorant and close-minded—a terrible combination—on the illegal issue.
One of my biggest beefs is with the simplistic argument that immigrants “grow the economy”. If the grow the economy with more unemployable, low-skill laborers, that is a very bad thing indeed. And, there are clear signs that we are skidding into a new labor-saving phase of automation that will make that even more problematic.
I almost can’t believe he can be so stupid as to claim that our immigration, particularly of the low-skill, Latin-heavy variety, doesn’t suppress wages—why else is the Chamber of Commerce so doggedly for it?
He’s completely out to lunch on illegals and legals not overwhelmingly using government support services—with healthcare and food, rent and energy subsidies all regularly going to illegals. A majority of both legal and illegal Latin immigrants are on the dole, even three generations in. Add in EITC for legals and there is no way that they are not a massive, net drain on taxpayer resources.
He is unfortunately so totally out of touch with Main St. as to keep spewing his disinformation on the subject.
I don't think he's a moron. I think he's complicit. Brat seems to be speaking traditional economic theory. You can't have a free market system of supply and demand keeping wages high enough to support the population if there's a supply of labor that undermines the system.
What the ptb are in denial about is Brat has been 100% about stopping the invasion of the US, according to Numbers USA. That's why he won, and overwhelmingly so. People get it; the DC crowd gets paid off.
Reading the comments under the article, it appears Mr Kudlow really stepped on his d#*@ with this piece.
Then what kind of “immigration reform” are you for? It is used a euphemism for amnesty in most political discussions.
That's just crazy talk. The GOP doesn't want to be associated with extremists that believe killing babies is wrong.
/johnny
“Immigration reform is NOT synonymous with amnesty. I am in favor of immigration reform. I oppose any amnesty to any illegal.”
OMG! Did you forget the sarcasm tag, or just drop over from “La Raza Chat,” or what?
“Immigration reform” is nothing if not a code word for amnesty, and is designed by the Leftist globalists who push it to undermine the culture and the economy and the sovereignty of our country.
That is like saying restricting embezzlement, insider trading, and financial fraud is violating "free-market economic principles". We have immigration laws. Tens of millions of legal immigrants have worked within those laws to strengthen our nation, and assimilate into it. Lawbreaking invaders harm all Americans by decimating wages, refusing to assimilate and bankrupting schools, hospitals and social services across the nation, while contributing little, and sending most of their earnings back home.
So these guys are STEM professionals?:
Wrong, secure the borders and make sure there is enough jobs for Americans before we turn on the legal immigration spigot and consider what we do with the illegal ones here. IMHO I say throw out the illegals, shut down legal except for critical skills.
Good point.
The truth is, whether or not those within the groups are offended by "harsh language" directed at illegal immigration often depends upon the race and gender of the person expressing themselves.
THAT is called racism. And are we to allow racists to control what opinions we express?
I don’t understand how anyone can argue that a massive influx of unskilled labor won’t have any effect on wages. I’m in favor of a balanced and consistent immigration policy, I’m not a close the gates type, but an open borders policy favoring unskilled and uneducated workers with 95 million Americans not working is just insane.
Can’t do any immigration reform (or anything else) with a lying dictator in office.
If we ever do get an executive that follows the constitution, immigration reform should be border control, encouraging wealthy and highly skilled immigrants, and a guest worker program in that order.
An influx of 3rd world socialists and welfare cases is not a good economic policy even if it does improve demographic trends.
“Immigration reform is NOT synonymous with amnesty. I am in favor of immigration reform. I oppose any amnesty to any illegal.”
“Immigration reform” is an undefined term. That’s like saying you’re in favor of “Education reform” or “Military reform” or “Police reform” or “University reform”. It’s meaningless to say you’re in support of reform without saying what you want to have happen.
Are candidates like Carr, McDaniel still getting $ from all over? I think that made a difference for McDaniel in primary. Granted, Brat didn’t need it but the state is a much larger playing field and it takes money to get your message out.
“A lot of people have the idea there are a fixed number of jobs. But immigrants can boost productivity of the overall economy, because then the pie grows and there are more jobs for other people as well, and there is not a zero-sum tradeoff between natives and immigrants.”
The pie’s not growing though, so this argument is moot. The pie has been shrinking for years, and these idiots want to let foreigners come in and fight with us for the scraps.
Unfortunately so. His Saturday show is however useful for getting a pulse on GOPe thinking.
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