I'm no proponent of going all out to balance the budget. I do think in the long-run it is a good idea to do so, but without harming the majority of working-class people, their families, retirees, the poor, the environment, etc.
If deficit reduction can be done by increasing demand and growing the economy, then I'm all for it. This is why passage of the DREAM Act, a law that would provide access to legal status for tens of thousands of undocumented youth each year through public service, is so vital. Here, according to immigrant rights advocacy group America's Voice, is some recent economic analysis of the bill's impact:
Washington – A new scoring from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the House of Representatives’ version of the DREAM Act, scheduled for a vote later today, finds “CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the bill would reduce deficits by about $2.2 billion over the 2011-2020 period. That result reflects a decrease in on-budget deficits of $4 million over that period and a decrease in off-budget deficits of about $2.2 billion over the same period.”
On the heels of other positive economic estimates and revenue projections, today’s news again demonstrates that the DREAM Act will strengthen the U.S. economy. The time to pass it is now.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, “Another day, another reminder that passing the DREAM Act is a no-brainer from the perspective of America’s bottom line. This is sensible, bi-partisan legislation that is fiscally responsible. It should be approved in both chambers and become law.”
In addition to the numerous economic analyses that show the benefits of DREAM, conservative Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson wrote this week on behalf of DREAM and highlighted “a more basic economic determination: Would this category of hardworking immigrants ultimately be an advantage to America or a drain? It is a principle of democratic capitalism and non-Malthusian economics that ambitious human beings are not just mouths but hands and brains. They are a resource - the main source of future wealth.”
