Matthew Yglesias writes:

If the entire population of Bangladesh dropped dead tomorrow, [the world's] per capita GDP would go up. A 20 percent increase in the death rate of Americans over the age of 65 would cause our per capita growth rate to accelerate. It’s important to understand these facts, but it’s strange to think of them as optimistic scenarios...

I'm embarrassed how often I need to be reminded of economics' limitations.  But I'm not surprised it's Yglesias who brings me back.

Tea Partisan:  One who attacks the propriety and capacity of the U.S. government's control over our nation while simultaneously faulting the government for failing to predict and shape the destinies of foreign states.  See also: hypocrite.

(Paraphrasing George Will)

I just checked the deficit for the United States Government... It's a staggering $14,111,896,286,170.38.

Um.... So what?

We all understand how personal debt affects us, and the current deficit is a damn big number. Fine. How does it affect the government? More specifically, how would reducing the annual budget deficit act to drive down unemployment while sparking economic growth?

Conventional thinking imagines a relatively fixed pot of money to borrow. So, when governments borrow money they inevitably find themselves competing against private industry for the same money. Such competition pushes private sector borrowers out of the market and stifles investment. That's fine in theory, so how does it apply to the real world? Is the budget deficit driving up interest rates? NO. Need evidence? Go to your local bank and buy a $100, one-year CD. Come back in a year and you might get a dollar for your prudence. Lock it away for five years and the U.S. Treasury will reward you with less than fifteen dollars. 

The point is better made here, so I'll cut to the chase: the deficit hurts when it drives up interest rates. By that measure, today's numbingly low rates undercut any suggestion that the deficit is hurting U.S. growth or unemployment.

None of this implies we should maintain bloated, inefficient government programs ... but perhaps we can cease grounding our budgetary zeal on Dr. Quacker's Magikal Elixir of Deficit Reduction?

Iowa is considering an amendment to its constitution that would ban gay marriage. Zach Wahls, raised in a gay household, provided a moving rebuttal. Some have responded by attacking Wahls' arguments rather than the underlying issue; rather like criticizing MLK, Jr., for his rhetorical flourish while ignoring the basic concept of systemic discrimination.

Thankfully, there are those willing and able to call out such "careless contrarianism."

Good on them

There are xenophobes in the anti-illegal-immigration debate. There presence allows supporters of illegal immigrants to tar opponents by association. This is wrong. There are a lot of people who simply want the rule of law enforced. Now I'm open to changing the law...but whatever it is, I want it enforced across the board. That's not xenophobic; that's a firm belief in the rule of law.

The problem with the current system is that the state and national governments implicitly approve the unlawful employment of illegal immigrants. At the same time, politicians rail against illegals. It's truly the height of hypocrisy.

So how do we stop illegal immigration? Tightening our massive borders is an impossibility. In any event, most illegal immigrants, such as my son's central-american nanny, simply overstayed their tourist visas.

Since border security is a hoax, what can be done? Two things... punish illegal immigrant workers, and/or punish employers of illegal immigrants. And what would the consequences be?

1. Substantially higher labor costs at the low end of the market.
2. The destruction of livelihoods based upon decades of tacit governmental approval. (My nanny was here 24 years illegally before she got her green card).

Are we prepared to do this? Are we prepared to re-institute the rule of law knowing that it will rip apart the lives of millions of productive members of American society?

So here's my solution...

1. Make it a felony to employ an illegal immigrant. Only by stopping demand for illegal labor can we stop the flow of illegal immigrants.
2. Hire 10,000 agents to police the employment of illegal immigrants.
3. Acknowledge that anyone currently in the U.S.A. arrived at a time when the U.S.A. had a tacit agreement not to prosecute. Grant these people...all eleven million...green cards.