The Migrant Caravan.

[Teacher Terry]

We can afford to help more people if we repealed the tax breaks for the rich and cut down on foreign aid. Never before have I voted a straight party ticket except for this year. Democrats need to take control back and reverse these policies.

[Alan]

We can afford to help more people if we repealed the tax breaks for the rich and cut down on foreign aid. Never before have I voted a straight party ticket except for this year. Democrats need to take control back and reverse these policies.

Most of the laws these policies are based upon are Democratic. What makes you think anything would be different?

[Miss Cellaneous]

It's a difficult issue, for sure. I wish we could have reasonable, humane laws that were upheld, with everyone in mind.

I have trouble with all of the increasing population.........no matter where it comes from. I'm a country person and see so much crazy development/traffic, etc. that never seems to end. I need space around me. I can go for days/weeks without talking to anyone. So I don't like the idea of any people constantly flooding into our country/state/county. Yes, our government makes some horrible choices in terms of where our money goes. I'm just very unhappy about what is happening in so many areas of this planet. It doesn't mean I'm not grateful for what I have, because I am. But on the other hand, I don't want to lose it either. I can feel sorry for others, while still not wanting to lose my way of life.

There is no answer to any of this. So even though I initially disagreed with UL on just focusing on my own little corner of the world, I guess that's what I'll do. Everything else seems futile to change. It's funny, when we bought this piece of rural property about 36 years ago, the seller advertised it as "A Little Bit of Heaven"........which it is, in a very rustic way. But it will probably be a city by the time I die. I will be glad to be leaving.

Anyhow.......I'm just overwhelmed with humankind and all the unfortunate choices that most of them seem to make.

One thing to consider is that the US birthrate is dropping. If we don't allow immigrants, in a few decades, there will not be enough workers to fund Social Security and Medicaid to the extent necessary for the number of seniors there will be. Google this--there are people who say we need immigrants more than we know.

No one issue can be debated in a vacuum. There are far spread ramifications to just about every decision the government makes.

[Alan]

One thing to consider is that the US birthrate is dropping. If we don't allow immigrants, in a few decades, there will not be enough workers to fund Social Security and Medicaid to the extent necessary for the number of seniors there will be. Google this--there are people who say we need immigrants more than we know.

No one issue can be debated in a vacuum. There are far spread ramifications to just about every decision the government makes.

We've been accepting over a million full time residents annually for years along with a hundred thousand or so refugees each year. Should we expect that to change?

[Williamsmith]

We've been accepting over a million full time residents annually for years along with a hundred thousand or so refugees each year. Should we expect that to change?

Apparently that’s not enough workers to fill all the positions Trump is predicting will be created by all the companies opening new factories in the US based on his tax cuts. At least, that’s what he just said in The Oval Office. He just wants a systematic merit based criteria for entry into the country and the workforce. Cheap labor is certainly something capitalists covet.

[Ultralight]

Cheeto got on the podium and said: "We give El Salvador and Honduras all this foreign aid money and what do we get for it? Nothing!"

Well, Cheeto. We don't give money to shit hole nations so they can give us stuff. We give it -- or we ought to -- because they are less fortunate and need some help.

Now, do I think we should endlessly hand over cash? No.

But think about Millionaire Next Door. If you give your kid tuition money this is a great investment in their future. If you buy them a Lamborghini for graduating from high school then you are an idiot and they soon will be.

What is the "tuition" of foreign aid?

[Miss Cellaneous]

We've been accepting over a million full time residents annually for years along with a hundred thousand or so refugees each year. Should we expect that to change?

From Wikipedia: "Since 2000, legal immigrants to the United States number approximately 1,000,000 per year, of whom about 600,000 are Change of Status who already are in the U.S." So of the 1,000,000, only 400,000 are new residents of the US.

From USA Today:" From Inauguration Day to Dec. 31 [2017], his [Trump's] administration accepted 29,022 refugees, the lowest number since at least 2002, according to State Department data." "That decline will continue in 2018 because Trump instituted an annual cap of 45,000 refugees a year, the lowest cap since Congress created the Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980. Presidents have the authority to unilaterally set the annual refugee cap, which has been as high as 217,000 under President Reagan and hovered between 70,000 and 80,000 under the Bush and Obama administrations."

[Alan]

From Wikipedia: "Since 2000, legal immigrants to the United States number approximately 1,000,000 per year, of whom about 600,000 are Change of Status who already are in the U.S." So of the 1,000,000, only 400,000 are new residents of the US.

From USA Today:" From Inauguration Day to Dec. 31 [2017], his [Trump's] administration accepted 29,022 refugees, the lowest number since at least 2002, according to State Department data." "That decline will continue in 2018 because Trump instituted an annual cap of 45,000 refugees a year, the lowest cap since Congress created the Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980. Presidents have the authority to unilaterally set the annual refugee cap, which has been as high as 217,000 under President Reagan and hovered between 70,000 and 80,000 under the Bush and Obama administrations."

So it looks like we're still taking quite a few immigrants each year, more than any other country in the world I believe. Good for us!

[Teacher Terry]

Cheeto is taking less than half of any other president in a time of great need. Ugh!

[ApatheticNoMore]

One thing to consider is that the US birthrate is dropping. If we don't allow immigrants, in a few decades, there will not be enough workers to fund Social Security and Medicaid to the extent necessary for the number of seniors there will be.

well what we actually need is globally dropping birth rates, anyone who has no or less children is making the globally responsible choice regardless of their reasons for doing so, so maybe temporarily you solve some problems (and create others) by moving people around, but long term, global birth rates need to drop.

Funding of SS and Medicare are just accounting tricks, they could be funded any number of ways, a need for people to do work because there is work that needs doing is one thing (probably work that needs doing at a price point where it's hard to get it), but funding SS and Medicare, fund it out of income taxes and the war budget, raise taxes, lift the cap on SS income, create money, whatever, there are any number of options.