Immigration in America has reached the point beyond the benefit of having immigrants work in factories, build bridges and tunnels, and work in the plains of the West. The issue, especially illegal immigration, should be a point of focus for all political officers. John McCain, Republican senator for Arizona and candidate for the 2008 Presidential elections, has strong opinions about the current situation. It is important to look at for many reasons. To list two important ones, I would say education is becoming an issue and the availability of jobs. Many may think these things are not affected by immigration, but they’d be surprised.
Maybe living on the east coast isn’t affected as much, but lets take a look at California. Statistics from the US Census Bureau show that between 1990 and 2000, “virtually all population growth in California is due to direct immigration and births to immigrants.” Since America is supposed to be a “free country,” many citizens are of the opinion that it is doing good to let people cross the border. However, these people probably don’t realize that by letting these immigrants into the country, schools are overcrowded and many people are living in poverty. California alone, due to more Hispanics being enrolled in the State’s schools than other children, is spending $6,837 per student. Another way to think of this is that more than $16 billion a year is spent on students whose native language is something other than English.
Jobs are also being lost for citizens of America due to the influx of immigrants. One idea of how to solve the problem would be “cracking down on employers who hire illegal aliens.” This would make coming to America less appealing and also, inside our country, the jobs would go to those people who actually pay taxes to be here. McCain feels that “there are jobs that Americans will not do, so we have to make it possible for someone to come to this country to do a job that an American won’t do.” This is one point of his I don’t agree with. There are so many people living in poverty in America that there must be people who would take a job if they were not lazy.
Among his other points, McCain feels the first step toward solving the country’s issues is to secure the borders. This will stop the growth of the already present 12 million people who are illegally in the country. He also voted yes to many actions that would be taken toward immigration control, such as building a fence along the Mexican border and making English America’s official language.
Although it may not seem like a problem in our daily lives, McCain and others realize that illegal immigration is an important issue that must be closely monitored. The education system especially in California is costing an increasingly large amount and the schools are overcrowded due to a wave of immigrants crossing the border. Also, jobs may seem to be being helped by having immigrants do the “dirty work,” but it is actually hurting our economy and the social aspect of our nation.
http://skymail-immigration.blogspot.com/
http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/John_McCain_Immigration.htm
http://www.rightwingnews.com/reader/immigration.php
As of 12:01am Monday, November 4th, 2007, the Writers Guild of America took their first walkout since 1988. The writers sought “royalties” from “new media,” meaning payments from all the places their works are distributed, including DVDs and iTunes. Although the immediate impact of the current writers strike will not be felt, it will have an effect on employment, the economics of Hollywood, television entertainment, and possibly the 80th Academy Awards coming up this month. Writers accuse producers of being “nonresponsive” to the issues presented regarding royalty. Therefore, I feel the producers are the ones who hold the responsibility on their shoulders for all the negative outcomes of the writers strike.
According to the writers, producers have ignored every issue presented to them about royalties. It was expected that after the WGA contract expired November 1st, it would be a “gesture of goodwill” for the writers to continue working after that. It was thought that maybe they would stop working when contracts were up June 30th of this year. Although this is the theory of what would happen, I do not see it as a surprise that the writers walked out early since producers “pretty much shut them out of all the DVD an iTunes money.”
After seeing half a billion dollars lost during the five and a half month strike in 1988, we should worry about the extent of what might come. Soap operas, TV series, and movie productions may be shut down now if the strike drags on. The tourist industry, driven by show business, will decline in California, thereby decreasing the amount of income. This is crucial, because seven percent of the economy of Los Angeles County, about $30 billion annually, is brought in by the entertainment industry. Already dealing with the collapse in home sales and recovery from previous wildfires, Southern California now has to continue living without this major source of income.
There are more effects other than the economic factors. In Hollywood, the movie and TV industry employ more than 200,000 workers, plus thousands more in the United States or abroad who produce or sell entertainment. Some examples of companies that will be impacted are the TVC Television and Cinema Wardrobe Cleaners, and Green Set. Oren Ashkenazi, owner of TVC said, “I’m really scared” because his company cleans up to 2,000 garments a night for television programs. Now, with no new episodes being filmed, Ashkenazi needs to find a new source of customers. However, he “is not set up to accept retail customers.” Green Set, a 13-acre tree nursery that rents plants to set decorators, has employees with “sharply reduced hours.” Owner Dan Needham is now trying to enter the party business, thinking, “This is an awfully good reminder of the need to diversify.” Many companies involved in the movie and TV industry depend upon the production of shows to keep their businesses running. Now, people like Ashkenazi and Needham face dilemmas in how to proceed during the writers strike.
Companies like Starbucks see good turnouts for themselves in the strike, because people will be looking for a place to “hang out.” The demand for reality shows will keep Fox in great shape too. However, the writers strike has an overpowering negative effect. 1.3 million jobs in the United States are in the film and television industry, and many people will lose their late night entertainment. In turn, the already failing economy now has another source of possible destruction. It is unfortunate that the writers felt it necessary to bring it to this, but I cannot blame them. For all their hard work, they deserve more. The producers were selfish in denying them rights to what is theirs, and they should be the ones to pay the consequences for what is now happening.
- Cieply, Michael. “Writers Say Strike to Start Monday.” The New York Times. 10 Feb. 2008
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/business/media/
02cnd-hollywood.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin>.
- Hyde, Douglas, and Carey Matt. “Hollywood Horror Show: Writers to Strike.” CNN. 10 Feb. 2008
<http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/02/hollywood.talks/index.html>.
- Stuart, Levine. “Writers Strike Could Pull Plug on TV Favorties.” MSNBC. 10 Feb. 2008
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21251689/>.
The negative effects of high interest rates overpower the reasons why the policy exists. That is why lowering interest rates would be in the American economy’s favor. Something has to be done to help our economy. Seeing that the Federal Reserve’s three-quarter-of-a-percent rate cut did not save the market this week, I believe the idea that we are entering a recession is very likely.
High interest rates harm all aspects of the United States economy. If someone wants a loan to buy a house, but the rates are so high nobody can afford to get one, the real estate market, architects, and building contractors alike will all lose business. Many believe that cutting interest rates could help. The Federal Reserve’s “deepening panic in global financial markets about a possible recession in the United States” caused them to be susceptible to that belief. So this week, they made the “largest single cut since the federal funds rate became the Fed’s principle tool for monetary policy.” It was bigger than either of the cuts that took place after 9/11 or the 1987 market crash.
Although Dow Jones finished 128 points down on Tuesday, being 336 points above its low for the day, this “victory” could be further avoided. Cutting interest rates would help the economy more than it would harm banks. Ideally, these cuts would help businesses prosper. Hence a lesser need for banks to hand out loans. This “would help soften the blow” of a recession by further decreasing rates early on. If it cannot be avoided, the best the government can do is try to help it be not so severe, and prevent one in the future.
- Andrews, Edmund L. “FED, IN SURPRISE, SETS BIG RATE CUT TO EASE MARKETS.” New York Times 23 Jan. 2008: A1+.
- Montagne, Renee, and Adam Davidson. NPR. 23 Jan. 2008 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18328174>.
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