Third Party & Independents: Archives

Special Interests - In Control?

The reason we are not going to get an effective and efficient border security, which is the root of the illegal immigration problem, is due to the wealthy special interests saying, forget America, the Constitution, the rule of law. We want our special interests protected and we WANT IT NOW!

There will be no bad solutions, no good solutions, no solutions at all, which gives the special interests precisely what they wanted, open borders, and no curtailment of their activities or profits.

There were 2 options on the table at the beginning of this immigration reform debate. 1) Secure the borders and America as fast as possible; use the border to halt illegal immigrants and terrorists as well, and afterward, address the illegal immigrant population already here and legal immigration policies. 2) Devise a comprehensive immigration reform plan like the 1986 one, that is so complex, broad, and multi-faceted that compromise to the nth degree in favor of special interest bribes and blackmail, that whatever the final package looked like, it would be only partially effective and therefore, not likely to pass.

So, the special interests get more of the same broken system that they profit from. Everyone lost, except the special interests. Who are these special interests that deprived the American people of an effective and efficient solution to national security and illegal immigration? They fall into 2 main groups but the players are numerous.

Democrats are the first special interest. Specifically, those Democrats and liberal supporters who make no secret that they believe nearly 3 out of 4 Hispanic immigrants, legal or illegal, will eventually become Democrat supporters. If you are wealthy and looking for a liberal agenda like George Soros' Open Society Institute, or you are wealthy and looking to keep worker compensation cheap and labor unions minimized like the Ford Foundation, then you contributed millions to organizations like the National Immigration Forum to lobby for the comprehensive immigration reform package that would only partially close the border, only partially go after employers, only partially hold illegal immigrants accountable, and grant citizenship to the millions of illegal immigrants already here.

The second major special interest group is employers. Not all employers. But, many belonging to industries who can profit from low wage labor or, illegal labor. These employers include entrepreneurs who have created partial or complete cash only basis businesses like landscaping and subcontractors hiring day labor off the books. Illegal laborers are essential to their high profitability since the wages are low, there are no complaints from illegal laborers, and since a portion of their business is transacted on a cash basis with customers, they don't report earnings or labor costs and thus, don't pay taxes on the revenues from cash transactions with customers and laborers. This Underground Economy is reported by the IRS to be costing the federal government $195 billion per year in revenues, or about 1 trillion dollars every 5 years. But, since the IRS also estimates the Underground Economy is anywhere from 3 to 40 percent of the above board economy, that figure may be very, very low.

One group of employers benefiting indirectly from illegal and legal immigration populations are the more traditional service, agricultural, and construction industries. They don't operate on a cash basis and don't dodge the taxes (though they lobby for corporate tax cuts at every turn, of course). They benefit more indirectly, through downward pressures on wages in general. The greater the numbers of persons seeking low wage jobs, the less pressure there is for the low wages to rise. If wages don't rise, profits do, as inflation on customer pricing rises. The Wal-Marts, Targets, McDonald's, and Motel 6 chain stay profitable as a result of this effect of an ever growing labor pool of low educated, low income labor pool.

These corporate employers, of course, tend to contribute lobbyist and campaign money to conservative groups whose agenda is to keep America awash in cheap labor. This applies also to high skilled and educated labor since, these corporations have come to rely on the U.S. government and taxpayers to hold down the cost of importing this labor group from other nations in the world, such as engineers, chemists, and mathematicians. Corporate America is for immigration reform that expands legal immigration visas, increasing the labor pool, and thus holding labor costs down. These are very wealthy lobbying contributors to both Democratic and Republican incumbents, and include the gambit from Labor Unions to Retail Chains to Defense Industry contractors.

Another employer group is the self-employed in the Underground Economy. Here is a quote hinting at the breadth of this underground economy:

Marijuana is delivered door to door to thousands of New Yorkers -- and law enforcement looks the other way. Colombian drug dealers convert "dirty money" into clean, usable cash. Guns abound in Brooklyn. Forced labor makes a comeback in isolated immigrant communities. And drug-runners, prostitutes and bookies reveal the intricacies of their shady careers in their own voices.

This is the group that will benefit most by only partially secured borders. As law enforcement cracks down on above board employer hiring of illegals, the self-employed in the underground economy will hit a bonanza in cheap labor for their illegal activities as supply of above ground employment for illegal immigrants dries up.

So, with corporate America, illegal underground entrepreneurs, cash only basis business owners (many are members of local chambers of commerce), and wealthy Democrat and liberal lobbyists and donors all flexing 10's of millions of dollars into the campaigns and lobbying of Congresspersons to protect and enhance their vested interests, it is little wonder that this Comprehensive Failure Bill to protect America's borders, protect American workers, and to protect the rule of law is doomed.

In the end, if the illegal immigration and border security is ever addressed efficiently and effectively, it will be because you, the VOTER, in 10's of millions, show up on election day and vote for challengers instead of incumbents in your preferred party. Only when the entrenched incumbents who serve the wealthy special interests in exchange for campaign contributions and public relations support, are replaced in large numbers, will their replacements have the opportunity to see that their political career rests more on the voter's sensibilities and support, than on the special interest lobbyists and wealthy campaign contributors. Then, and only then, will our lawmakers get down to the business of solving real problems with effective solutions at efficient costs for Americans.

The last immigration reform of 1986 has now cost American taxpayers well over 2 trillion dollars, and the problem it was supposed to address, has been made even worse. Which means another 2 trillion dollars will need to be spent to address the problem, yet again. This kind of inefficiency in legislation caused by special interests blocking effective solutions always ends up costing the tax payers at least double what it should, and in many cases 4 and 5 times what it should cost, as inadequate reform after reform expenses fail to solve the problem.

In 2008 and 2010, incumbents must be shown the door. And that door should smack them hard on the ass as they pass through and out of public office. Voters get the government they vote for. Stop voting for entrenched incumbents who take their orders from the special interests. Only then can we look forward to a better government which solves more problems than it creates. Only then, will we have a chance at real campaign finance reform and lobbying reform that removes the legal and illegal bribery and blackmail of politicians which is killing America's future and hope for a better day and way.

Posted by David R. Remer at June 7, 2007 06:00 PM