MarxistJust a few more general pointery type things.
1. Most illegal immigrants *do* pay taxes - at least some taxes - and unless they're using a fake identity, have almost no access to the social safety net because of their lack of an official identity. If they *do* have a fake identity then they can access the social safety net as normal because they're for all intents and purposes an official citizen. Typically what is done is they secure the social security number of a dead person - and so they're able to function normally *until* they attempt to collect that social security - the SS people will notice that they've been dead for 50 years or something and refuse to pay them (despite the fact that they've actually been paying into SS for however long they've been using the identity).
2. The understanding of what a trade deficit described above is complete misunderstanding of how economics works. Yes, the US is sending more *money* to places like China, Mexico, and Vietnam but in exchange we receive *things* if we didn't send that money to those places we wouldn't be receiving the *things* and the cost of everything in the US would go up substantially - decreasing the quality of life substantially. It isn't a remittance payment to Mexico they can just spend on whatever they want - it mostly covers the cost of the *things*.
Also they *are* taxed - in the form of sales and excise taxes unless you go directly to Mexico to buy the stuff.
If you impose tariffs you benefit nobody except the owners of competing businesses in the US - who exist in an imaginary economic bubble until the tariff goes away, and in turn make goods more expensive in the US. There's also the question of scope, if you protect one particular industry, why not protect *all* of the industries?
See, in the economics of trade there's this concept called "comparative advantage" American workers certainly *could* make floor tiles, but are they not better suited for something else? That's *why* you trade (with the exception of raw materials markets). For example if you're a college educated person dealing in networking, is it really worth your time to make floor tiles or would it be better for you to maintain network infrastructure? So you do your networking thing and buy your floor tiles from Mexico.
well,there are already a lot of tariffs and restrictions for importing foreign products in place, very protectionist policies for US products, while they are steadily buzy eroding any chance for foreign governments to take the same approach (like in the TTP) You start of from a load of assumptions, marxist, and it's weird to see a commie go neo-liberal globalist, but whatever. as you you know the economy exists out of four segments, and modern nations have been steadily building off their industrial base, in favour of a services economy, but with the world becoming a global village and automatisation, you know see for example, food being processed on three different continents before reaching the consumer, because it's the cheapest, wasting a lot of energy and having an enviromental impact, in the future it will be harder to stay in the comfy positions our service economy is in; your helpdesk is outsourced, and your biggest internet companies, like google are officially registered in a tax haven, like the Netherlands, meanwhile, the comfy college kid says to the man who worked in the steel mill: why don't you just change to something more competitive, neglecting the location, traditional industry, culture, and the fact not everyone is cut out for a college education or wants it either. What do you say to the farmers, who basically live off subsidies in this crooked system, becuase they cannot compete with the globalised market as it is structured today? It really is time for a neo-mercantilism in an interconnected world, where the citizens consciously, choose to buy homemade products, instead of the cheapest, where you buy your food locally, and support your local farmers, and so on and so on. Nowadays, there are so much resources, energy, and labour gone to waste, becuase it's the "cheapest, corporations operate with an illegal "self-employed imported work force and they are designed with planned obseletion, so nothing durable is made. all becuase people have to consume more, to support the bubble, the economy is "growing", how can a true marxist defend the globalist capitalist, who turn countries against each other in their bid to spread their legs for their corps? (see the internal EU problem of countries taking each other to court for trying to be the biggest tax haven). It's a big weight on nature, and it destroys labour unions; Love your country, buy it's products, support your entrepeneurs, and buy things that are build to last. You'll be off more efficient in the long run.. and a good thing we can still trade with each other the surplusses of the production.
I mean recently a report came out that 40% of all food that goes to a supermarket eventually ends up in the trashcan. It's a disgrace that something like this isn't criminal, and in fact, the people who would "steal" those out of the garbage bin get taken to court (as has happened in belgium) I have a lot of friends in the building business, and based of their experiences, it's impossible to compete as a small firm vs these bigger companies, who import people on masse and then exploit a legal loophole to pay them 3 euro wages, putting your own business out of work, have you ever taken that into the costs vs benefits?