"The thing that will bankrupt this country more than any other policy is flooding the country with illegal immigration and then giving those migrants generous benefits.
This morning I Googled "cost of emergency care for illegall immigrants" to fact check something I read on Facebook. The results were disturbing. The AI result at the top of the page seemed balanced, but below that were multiple links that were either government websites or looked like government websites, even though they weren't. They all pointed out this $16 billion cost during the first three years of Biden's administration, which sounds like a lot unless you put it into perspective as you have done here. The most disturbing thing is that the government websites have become propaganda for the Trump Administration.
On NPR All Things Considered yesterday, Juana Summers interviewed New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler. When she pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office estimated the president's bill would add $3 trillion to the deficit, his reply was that they are wrong, and went on to lie about the impact of tax cuts. Lies and propaganda are now mainstream. As Lynn Myrick has demonstrated here, people are comfortable talking about flat-out lies and misinformation as if it is the truth.
Jennifer, my experience with U.S. government websites is similar to yours:many seem to have become reminiscent of old Soviet propaganda. At the same time, cabinet meetings and White House press conferences take their cues from North Korea.
Peter is right on. Trump and MAGA have demonized immigrants. At best, it is disingenuous, at worst, it’s evil. The facts are that the vast number of immigrants come here for a better life and to work hard. As Peter said, they pay taxes and don’t get to enjoy the social safety net. They do jobs most native-born folks wouldn’t take and they commit less crimes than non-immigrants, contrary to Trump’s claims that they are “murderers and rapists”. And MAGA treats them as subhuman with glee. Witness “Alligator Alcatraz” and Christi Noem posing in front of cowed men at the El Salvador prison. Here are some facts about our immigrants in a post of mine a few months back.
What’s going to bankrupt this country is the Republican addiction to voodoo economics that posits unfunded tax breaks will motivate the rich to trickle down on the rest of us pee-ons, and less government revenue will magically produce more government revenue.
Trump’s persecution of immigrants would supposedly expel the “worst of the worst.” Instead, we have masked thugs abducting farmworkers, meatpackers, etc. and sending them to hellholes. The administration is composed of and supported by white nationalists too stupid not to bite the hands that feed it.
Trump is not only an uneducated idiot, he is cruel and evil. There is no way Norway would want to be a part of Trump's USA, they have health care, paid time for child birth and illness, and 6 weeks paid vacation, to name a few. We have the most uneducated middle class of all democracies. I have been fortunate enough to travel around the world, and have been asked many times why Americans do not travel more. I think because most cannot afford it and they have bought the Republicans telling them that we are the best in the world. Sorry, but we are not.
My brother happened to be in Norway when Trump came up with that comment about wanting more Norwegians instead of people from shithole countries. He said the Norwegians scoffed. Why would Trump imagine they'd be interested in giving up their universal healthcare and tax-funded education for a shithole country ruled by Trump?
Actually Trump has switched. Norwegians are too much like the disgusting Danes who won’t give him Greenland. The ethnic group that will save America is now, wait for it - Afrikaans! Yes, those delightfully dull, incomprehensible, and Boering (sic) people from way down under.
For an intelligent historical perspective less narrow than acute immigration issues, I recommend Grandin's America, América: A New History of the New World.
Here is his opinion piece in the NYT today (gift link):
I don't know how it is for other countries but as I review the arc of American history I see one immigrant group after another get exploited. The hardest, worst jobs. Little or no benefits. Vile working conditions. No redress for abuse. Started with Africans. Not technically immigrants but an even lower human status. Then the Irish, Polish, Hungarians and so on. The Chinese, who got summarily dismissed from Southern Oregon when no longer needed for mines and railroads. Currently most visible the Hispanic people. And others. The rap on old school Republicans was they liked the cheap, rural labor. Farms, ranches, food processing. And have been lax on immigration because.of that. Democrats fail at any immigration control because it's not fashionable virtue signaling. Neither camp was prepared for this Trump driven onslaught. Maybe save a buck here and there in one program or another. Maybe lose out on other revenue. Who knows for sure. What I do know is real immigration reform is happening in real time. Consequences to follow.
Immigration reform implies developing a rational immigration policy that enables those who qualify to become citizens and asylum-seekers to be processed and their cases decided in a reasonable amount of time. That is not what’s happening.
This morning I Googled "cost of emergency care for illegall immigrants" to fact check something I read on Facebook. The results were disturbing. The AI result at the top of the page seemed balanced, but below that were multiple links that were either government websites or looked like government websites, even though they weren't. They all pointed out this $16 billion cost during the first three years of Biden's administration, which sounds like a lot unless you put it into perspective as you have done here. The most disturbing thing is that the government websites have become propaganda for the Trump Administration.
On NPR All Things Considered yesterday, Juana Summers interviewed New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler. When she pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office estimated the president's bill would add $3 trillion to the deficit, his reply was that they are wrong, and went on to lie about the impact of tax cuts. Lies and propaganda are now mainstream. As Lynn Myrick has demonstrated here, people are comfortable talking about flat-out lies and misinformation as if it is the truth.
Jennifer, my experience with U.S. government websites is similar to yours:many seem to have become reminiscent of old Soviet propaganda. At the same time, cabinet meetings and White House press conferences take their cues from North Korea.
Peter is right on. Trump and MAGA have demonized immigrants. At best, it is disingenuous, at worst, it’s evil. The facts are that the vast number of immigrants come here for a better life and to work hard. As Peter said, they pay taxes and don’t get to enjoy the social safety net. They do jobs most native-born folks wouldn’t take and they commit less crimes than non-immigrants, contrary to Trump’s claims that they are “murderers and rapists”. And MAGA treats them as subhuman with glee. Witness “Alligator Alcatraz” and Christi Noem posing in front of cowed men at the El Salvador prison. Here are some facts about our immigrants in a post of mine a few months back.
https://open.substack.com/pub/bvzcvz/p/a-factual-look-at-immigration-in?r=30hc1h&utm_medium=ios
What’s going to bankrupt this country is the Republican addiction to voodoo economics that posits unfunded tax breaks will motivate the rich to trickle down on the rest of us pee-ons, and less government revenue will magically produce more government revenue.
Trump’s persecution of immigrants would supposedly expel the “worst of the worst.” Instead, we have masked thugs abducting farmworkers, meatpackers, etc. and sending them to hellholes. The administration is composed of and supported by white nationalists too stupid not to bite the hands that feed it.
Trump is not only an uneducated idiot, he is cruel and evil. There is no way Norway would want to be a part of Trump's USA, they have health care, paid time for child birth and illness, and 6 weeks paid vacation, to name a few. We have the most uneducated middle class of all democracies. I have been fortunate enough to travel around the world, and have been asked many times why Americans do not travel more. I think because most cannot afford it and they have bought the Republicans telling them that we are the best in the world. Sorry, but we are not.
My brother happened to be in Norway when Trump came up with that comment about wanting more Norwegians instead of people from shithole countries. He said the Norwegians scoffed. Why would Trump imagine they'd be interested in giving up their universal healthcare and tax-funded education for a shithole country ruled by Trump?
The more I learn about Veep Vance the more I believe, that despite his alleged education,
JD stands for Just Dumb.
Actually Trump has switched. Norwegians are too much like the disgusting Danes who won’t give him Greenland. The ethnic group that will save America is now, wait for it - Afrikaans! Yes, those delightfully dull, incomprehensible, and Boering (sic) people from way down under.
Denmark, by the way, will now be conscripting women in their military draft. I think it's mostly the Russian threat, but maybe not exclusively.
Exactly.
It's all Blut und Boden.
In re Blut und Boden:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/05/far-right-mens-clubs-old-glory
For an intelligent historical perspective less narrow than acute immigration issues, I recommend Grandin's America, América: A New History of the New World.
Here is his opinion piece in the NYT today (gift link):
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/opinion/trump-america-.html?unlocked_article_code=1.T08.nTaB.KBvj8TOycwqg&smid=url-share
I don't know how it is for other countries but as I review the arc of American history I see one immigrant group after another get exploited. The hardest, worst jobs. Little or no benefits. Vile working conditions. No redress for abuse. Started with Africans. Not technically immigrants but an even lower human status. Then the Irish, Polish, Hungarians and so on. The Chinese, who got summarily dismissed from Southern Oregon when no longer needed for mines and railroads. Currently most visible the Hispanic people. And others. The rap on old school Republicans was they liked the cheap, rural labor. Farms, ranches, food processing. And have been lax on immigration because.of that. Democrats fail at any immigration control because it's not fashionable virtue signaling. Neither camp was prepared for this Trump driven onslaught. Maybe save a buck here and there in one program or another. Maybe lose out on other revenue. Who knows for sure. What I do know is real immigration reform is happening in real time. Consequences to follow.
Immigration reform implies developing a rational immigration policy that enables those who qualify to become citizens and asylum-seekers to be processed and their cases decided in a reasonable amount of time. That is not what’s happening.
You have the high brow definition of reform. I agree we're not getting that!
Not "high brow". The correct word would be "legal".