TTR has the goods on immigration crack-downs, the War in Afghanistan, the fake entitlement crisis and the very real need for stimulus. Check it out:
- Borderline nativist. [PDF] The result of border policies like Clinton’s Operation Gatekeeper (1994) and Bush’s Secure Fence Act (2006) hasn’t been a reduction of unauthorized immigration, but rather more Latinos being convicted in federal courts for immigration and drug-related offenses. A Pew Hispanic Center report, out last week, looks at statistics beginning before the crackdown in 1991. Today, Latinos make up the single largest racial and ethnic group among sentenced federal offenders, at 40 percent, whereas in 1991 they accounted for just a quarter (keep in mind, Latinos are only 13 percent of the adult U.S. population). Not surprisingly, the sentences responsible for this increase are happening in just five border-state courts, out of 94 federal courts in the U.S. The report is short on explicit analysis but full of data that suggests the problems of immigration are only more apparent after a decade of heightened security. Here’s one stat to entice you: “In 1991, three times as many Hispanics were sentenced in federal courts for drug crimes (60 percent) as for immigration crimes (20 percent). By 2007, that pattern had reversed; among Hispanic offenders sentenced in federal courts, 48 percent were sentenced for an immigration offense and 37 percent for a drug offense.” -- CP
- “Obama's War.” Are more troops really the answer in Afghanistan? Recently published research by the New America Foundation muddies the intellectual discussion a bit by revealing a number of troubling statistics. Between 2005 and 2008, U.S. and NATO forces increased by 19,810. During that same time period U.S. popularity among Afghans dropped from 83 percent to 47 percent while suicide-bombing rates increased by a factor of five. Nearly every metric shows a worsening situation in Afghanistan, evidenced not only by record levels of violence, but also by the increase in poppy production and the resurgence of the Taliban, though their popularity among Afghans has remained low. Most worrisome, however, is the deteriorating situation in the adjacent region of northwest Pakistan, where suicide and insurgent attacks have increased eight-fold since 2005. As the new administration continues to find its footing, perhaps we should begin to acknowledge the limits of military power in unstable regions – particularly one which houses a nuclear power. -- JL
- Crying wolf on social security. The entitlement crisis doesn’t exist and pretending that it does distracts from the real problem, reforming our health care system, according to a recent report from the Brookings Institute. The U.S. is threatened by a long-term budget crisis that is often blamed on expanding “entitlement” programs (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security), which conservatives argue should be trimmed in the name of fiscal responsibility. While some Medicare inefficiencies could be slashed, the savings would be negligible in comparison to the graying baby boomer cost expansion, and Medicaid is already anemic. Undermining existing federal health care programs will save a little money, but "bigger savings are possible from overall reform of the entire health care system." The so-called entitlement crisis distracts from the fact that profound health care reform, which could negate the long-term budgetary crisis, is the nation’s actual "long-term fiscal challenge." -- JB
- Governors: take the stimulus! The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has issued a rebuttal to the mostly-Republican governors who are considering refusing some of the stimulus funding that is being sent to aid state governments. While it's obvious that refusing to use the money will continue the adverse feedback loop of job and service cuts that is fueling the recession, as Fed Chair Ben Bernanke said yesterday, what about the governors' arguments? Well, the primary argument -- that states would be required to continue and finance programs begun during the stimulus -- doesn't hold water. Once the stimulus expires, so do "maintenance of effort" requirements that force states to keep programs in action. These funds are intended to prevent massive budget short-falls at the state level which would exacerbate the recession. Refusing the money is political posturing at the worst possible time. -- TF
--TAP STAFF
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