2024 Election Thread

[MissThundercat]

This morning, I woke up and read Rama lama ding dong wants to slash the federal workforce by 75%.

Good luck with that.

 

[Slap Shot]

Maybe it's because stories like this are getting more and more prevalent?? Just sayin' ...

The Pennsylvania Fugitive: Why Wasn’t He Deported? - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

You open border folks planning to apologize for the murders and fentanyl-related deaths anytime soon??

At the very least, virtue signalers should live your beliefs, and share space with illegals in your parents' basements ...

The majority of illegals didn't cross an open border. Rather than shooting your mouth off about a subject you're woefully ignorant about, try instead studying up and maybe learn something along the way.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023...gration-crisis
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...ants-rcna48844

Can you handle more?



https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/s...ration-debate/ (I didn't quote all)

Myth No. 1 — Illegal immigrants don’t pay taxes. They actually pay a variety of taxes. Because many undocumented workers hold jobs, a large number pay income, Social Security and Medicare taxes, as well as sales taxes when they purchase items in stores and property taxes when they rent or own homes. One study found that they pay $162 billion annually in federal, state and local taxes. Another project found that the average immigrant paid $1,800 more in taxes than government benefits received.

Myth No. 2 — The United States rarely deports illegal immigrants. In fact, the government deports 350,000 people annually. Since 1999, more than 2.2 million people have been deported from the United States, including visitors who overstayed their visas, lied on immigration forms, or committed serious crimes. State and federal officials regularly check the immigrant status of those who are arrested or serving time in prison.

Myth No. 6— Americans oppose allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the United States and become citizens. Polling data suggest there is public support for a “path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants currently in the country, subject to certain conditions. Results from a Pew Research Center survey show that 63% favor a “path to citizenship” if illegal immigrants pass a background check, pay fines and have a job.

https://www.adl.org/resources/fact-s...nd-immigration

It is true that there are more immigrants living in the U.S. than ever before. However, the percentage of immigrants in the overall population is not much different than many other times throughout our history. Today immigrants make up approximately13% of the total U.S. population. From 1900 to 1930, immigrants made up between 12% and 15% of the population, and similar spikes occurred in the 1850s and 1880s.

In 2014 there were approximately 11.3 million undocumented immigrants living and working in the U.S., which is actually a significant decrease from the 12.2 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. in 2007. Today, in fact, the net migration from Mexico (the number of people entering the U.S. from Mexico minus the number of people leaving the U.S. to go to Mexico) is around zero. Undocumented immigrants make up about 3.5 percent of the nation’s total population.

Studies have consistently found that immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans and that there was no correlation between crime rates and levels of immigration. Other studies have in fact found that crime rates are lowest in states with the highest immigration growth rates.

In fact, immigrants are twice as likely to start businesses as citizens born in the U.S., and companies owned by immigrants are more likely to hire employees than companies owned by native-born citizens. States with large numbers of immigrants report lower unemployment for everyone.

Immigrants collectively pay between $90 and $140 billion each year in taxes, and a recent study found that undocumented immigrants alone paid more than $11.8 billion in taxes in 2012. Everyone pays sales taxes on goods they purchase and property taxes on the homes they buy or rent, and more than half of all undocumented immigrant households file income tax returns using Individual Tax Identification Numbers.

With very few exceptions (such as access to medical care for victims of human trafficking), undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal public benefits such as Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and food stamps. In addition, most immigrants with lawful status are not entitled to these benefits until they have been in the country for five years or longer. This means that Social Security is often being deducted from immigrants’ paychecks but they cannot access those benefits.

Although people have claimed that undocumented immigrants have brought diseases to the U.S., including measles, hepatitis C, HIV, tuberculosis, and even ebola, the allegations are not supported by science or medicine. There is no evidence that immigrants have been the source of any modern outbreaks in the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, 113 countries, including many countries in Latin America, have higher vaccination rates for 1-year-olds than the U.S.

According to a 2015 report by the U.S Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism, “there are no known international terrorist organizations operating in Mexico, despite several erroneous reports to the contrary during 2014.” In fact, the vast majority of U.S. residents linked to terror since 2002 are U.S. citizens.

Although many people commonly think of undocumented immigrants as people who have snuck across the Mexican border, somewhere between one third and one half of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. have overstayed their visitor, student, or work visas. That means that they entered the U.S. with lawful documentation and only later became undocumented.

A wall or a fence along the entire border with Mexico would be impractical and very likely ineffective. The border between the U.S. and Mexico is almost 2,000 miles long. It spans difficult terrain, including deserts and mountains. Rivers flow along two thirds of the border. Much of the area is private property, which the government would have to buy from the owners to build a fence or wall, and many do not want to sell the land. The logistics alone make building a wall very difficult, if not impossible.

There's more:

https://www.bushcenter.org/catalyst/...igh-costs.html
http://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu...states-economy
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/m...s-economy.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/business...-taxes/499604/
https://www.americanprogress.org/is...02/08/52377/immigrants-are-makers-not-takers/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...mmigration-policy-impose-300-billion-annuall/

The National Academies found that first-generation immigrants (who were born outside of the United States) cost governments more money than the native-born population. The costs are largely taken on by state and local governments that educate the immigrants’ children.

But members of the second generation "are among the strongest economic and fiscal contributors in the U.S. population," the report said, with tax contributions greater than their parents and the native-born population.

The government runs on a deficit, so on average, taxpayers, including the native-born, benefit more than they pay in taxes. While members of the first, second, and third generations on average all cost more than they pay, we are all pushing a substantial amount of debt onto future generations — and immigrants and their descendants will also be "on the hook" for that debt.

Some costs won’t go away even if immigrants do. If all of the first-generation immigrants suddenly left the country, the government wouldn’t immediately have its expense burden reduced by $279 billion. Calculations in the study included defense costs and interest on the existing public debt, which would not go down without the 55.5 million immigrants. If those costs were excluded, the total fiscal burden for the first generation and dependents would go down to $43 billion, and the per capita burden would be more for the native-born population than for the first-generation immigrants.

The overall effect of immigration on economic growth was positive. Whatever costs immigrants might present now will be "paid back" by overall economic growth that will lead to more tax revenue on average for the government and less demand for need-based benefit programs. "The $279 billion calculation does not include any estimate of this effect and so is an upper bound on total fiscal impact," Donehower said.

The study also said the historical record suggests that the total net fiscal impact of immigrants across all levels of government has become more positive over time.

"The evidence does not suggest that current immigrant flows cost native-born taxpayers money over the long-run nor does it provide support for the notion that lowering immigration quotas or stepping up enforcement of existing immigration laws would generate savings to existing taxpayers," said a post on Econofact co-authored by Donehower and Francine Blau, an economics professor at Cornell University who chaired the panel that released the report.

Finally illegal immigrants are less likely to commit a crime than the average American and legal immigrants are even less likely. https://stevenrattner.com/interview/...nt-falsehoods/

 

[aparch]

Chuck, did you even read the article you linked?

Don't reply saying you did. I know you didn't. Your headline question answers itself six paragraphs in. The whole reason he was being held was due to the severity of the crime committed. Deportation wouldn't have taken place until after time served for the murder.

Continuing down the rabbit hole Google searching more information to (once again? continually?) prove how obtuse you are to the entire thing, Danelo Cavalcante entered the US in 2019, via Puerto Rico.

Who was the President in 2019? I'll wait.

Or do you need a crudely drawn Crayola fueled picture to accompany this post?

 

[ScoobyDoo]

The majority of illegals didn't cross an open border. Rather than shooting your mouth off about a subject you're woefully ignorant about, try instead studying up and maybe learn something along the way.

Correct. But you can't expect the ignorant or their mindless automaton minions to learn. They don't have the synapses to accomplish that.

 

[Jimjamesak]

Actually, there is a likelihood that no one else would want the Winter Games. They have been struggling to find Host Applicants lately.

Pretty much how we ended up with the games in Beijing last time.

 

[Kepler]

Honestly, probably will move onto running SLC's Olympics committee again. Worst kept secret is they want the winter games back.

I thought they were a shoe-in for 2030? Not sure why they would want it.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Actually, there is a likelihood that no one else would want the Winter Games. They have been struggling to find Host Applicants lately.

Most people have wised up to the fact that the Olympic juice isn't worth the IOC's squeeze/shakedown. Least of all the Winter Games, which are very niche and draw less than half the audience.

 

[Kepler]

The Olympics are a prime example that money destroys everything it touches.

Go back to 1924.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

I thought they were a shoe-in for 2030? Not sure why they would want it.

1. They already have most of the Winter Games infrastructure in place from 2002, and within a 30-45min drive of downtown
2. They also have some of the most reliable snowfall in the world, unlike Sochi, Beijing, and many other recent hosts
3. Sure, they'll get shaken down for some upgrades and more luxury hotels, but they won't have to spend gobs of money hastily building an entire ski resort and village.
4. Once the games are over, millions of people are still going to visit those resorts and bring their tourist dollars with them, unlike the ones in China and Russia.
5. They just spent the last 4-5 years dropping a bunch of money to rebuild the entire airport and triple its passenger capacity, so it's time to start getting some return on that investment.

Utah is one of the few potential sites where the financial outlay is probably worth it for the state in the long run.

 

[Proud2baLaker]

Both Winter and Summer games should honestly just rotate between 2 or 3 cities each at the most (I think someone on this board may have suggested something similar?). Winter games could probably be Salt Lake (for reasons Fade noted) and someplace in the Alps and call it good (maybe someplace in Japan if you wanted a third site?). I don't really follow the summer much but I am guessing you could do someplace in the US, Europe, and Australia. I don't know. I'm sure China and Russian would pitch a fit but screw 'em.

 

[French Rage]

Both Winter and Summer games should honestly just rotate between 2 or 3 cities each at the most (I think someone on this board may have suggested something similar?). Winter games could probably be Salt Lake (for reasons Fade noted) and someplace in the Alps and call it good (maybe someplace in Japan if you wanted a third site?). I don't really follow the summer much but I am guessing you could do someplace in the US, Europe, and Australia. I don't know. I'm sure China and Russian would pitch a fit but screw 'em.

I've thought (maybe said?) the same thing. Pick maybe one spot in each hemisphere for each games, and alternate between them. Pick somewhere where maybe they could use the jobs associated with it, and it has some historical reason, so like Athens for one of the two Summer spots, lord knows they could use it. That way, you're building stadiums that will be used repeatedly, and your not building 20 different velodromes all over the world that will fall into disrepair. Anyone who profits from the corruption will be pissed, but that's kinda the whole point. I get why when they started 120+ years ago they wanted to move it around, it was much harder to travel and there was no TV/radio, so if you wanted to experience them you need them to be physically near you. Now with easier air travel for those who really care, and high-def TV overage wall-to-wall for those who kinda care, there's really no reason to move them all around.

 

[Jimjamesak]

You could throw in Vancouver/Whistler into the rotation. The Milan/Cortina one coming up in 2026 will be interesting to see. Lillehammer could be thrown in as well.

It would be interesting to see a Southern Hemisphere Winter Games but there’s not any feasible place.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

It would be interesting to see a Southern Hemisphere Winter Games but there’s not any feasible place.

The only part of the Southern Hemisphere with both somewhat reliable snow & good vertical is the Chile/Argentina border region, where some Olympians go to train between June and August. However, their existing resorts and infrastructure are lacking, and both of those developing countries have far more important and less expensive ways to exploit their citizens.

 

[Chuck Murray]

The majority of illegals didn't cross an open border. Rather than shooting your mouth off about a subject you're woefully ignorant about, try instead studying up and maybe learn something along the way.

((( ... listing of a virtual who's who of liberal think-tank illegal immigration enablers zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... )))

Finally illegal immigrants are less likely to commit a crime than the average American and legal immigrants are even less likely. https://stevenrattner.com/interview/...nt-falsehoods/

Illegal immigrants commit a crime just by crossing the border, hence the "illegal" part.

So that's 100% criminals. You lose (again), slappy.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for legal immigrants who follow our laws and honor our country in doing so.

I did notice zero (0) of you responders indicated you were housing any of our illegal visitors in your homes ... ???

That's OK, I suppose ... when a whopping total of fifty (50) migrants landed on the fair shores of Martha's Vineyard at this time last year, the liberal NIMBY frauds welcomed them, opened their doors to them, and - oops - put them on a ferry back to the mainland, where they were put up at a military base. All at a time when, due to the end of the summer vacation season, there were multiple hundreds of homes vacant for the next six-plus months LOLOL ... "Hate Has No Home Here ... And Neither Do You Illegals!!!"

Migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard moved to Cape Cod military base (bostonherald.com)

 

[Swansong]

That's... not exactly the flex you think it is.

 

[French Rage]

I can't believe when confronted with a population immediately in need of housing, medical care, and other services necessary for them to take the next steps, that they would move them to the mainland where such things are accessible and convenient, to a single large facility specifically designed for exactly those things, instead of keeping them on an island where none of these things are easily accessible and convenient, and have them spread in a dis-organized fashion over multiple locations not designed for such things. It's like they based their decisions on what the circumstances required and not over what makes for the flashiest publicity stunt!

 

[Slap Shot]

Way to nitpick one item out of more than a dozen. You did that because on the bigger picture your opinions are crushed by the facts. Keep swinging slugger.

 

[Swansong]

Way to nitpick one item out of more than a dozen. You did that because on the bigger picture your opinions are crushed by the facts. Keep swinging slugger.

And to do so in a en avent where 50 human beings were misled into their destination, dumped off on an island at night with no local notification, no plans for housing or anything else, and for "those libruls" to manage to get them to a more appropriate place for them that night/the following morning.

I'll reiterate. This is not the flex the right thinks it is.

 

[Bronco]

Wisconsin GQP votes to fire non-partisan official because they're whiny babies who see their power slipping away.

https://apnews.com/article/wisconsi...tions-firing-62a0ec656530c740934b03083b3e3b11

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Pretty much how we ended up with the games in Beijing last time.

Yeah, the IOC basically begged China to take those games. That’s also why the IOC ignored any criticism of China’s human rights record.