I see you're like me, Wade - not good enough with computers to make those multiple highlighted quotes show up hahahaha.

Nobody believes more than I do that the private sector is the engine of prosperity, BUT the more fuel you can funnel into that engine, the more it puts out - in a MULTIPLIED way, of course. Keynesian economics is like shit - it HAPPENS. We can see it working. Similarly, using monetary policy to smooth out the business cycle, especially in terms of lessening the bad effects on regular people, that works too. You can say it is merely because the country in general is richer now than 100-150 years ago, but that logic could also be used to say people are fatter and softer, and there is worse consequences to a significant decline.

As for your #1, true, you weren't talking about government benefits for all those immigrants you would allow in - NOT illegal in your scenario, but exactly how would you avoid it - seeing as how they would be legal? And even if YOU and I would like to avoid it, likely the libs would have enough popular support to extend at least a safety net to them - which, all things considered, even I wouldn't oppose. Do you want starving homeless Mexicans all over the place? Aside from any morality implications and crime implications, it would be kinda unsightly.

As I have said regarding the situation with illegals, the status quo - or at least the status quo of a year or two ago before Obama's latest blunder basically inviting all these youth in - was pretty good for everybody. We had the cheap labor that the chamber of commerce types want to keep prices for Americans low; The illegals themselves were content - sending money home to their families, etc.; The sincere do-gooder portion of the left could point to being kind and gentle about not rousting out the bulk of the hardworking law abiding illegals (yeah, that's kinda oxymoronic, but you know what I mean); And the law enforcement community would not be overrun so that they could deal with the small minority of illegals doing bad stuff here. It just ain't practical to let 'em all in, though.

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