Thursday, January 31, 2013

Immigration Reform - "Back of the Line"

Obama said something interesting with his speech about comprehensive immigration reform the other day.  He said that illegal immigrants would need to go to the "back of the line".

For unskilled immigrants, there typically *IS* no line.  There is basically no way to legally come to the US, unless they are family members of existing US citizens. See the chart below.

So, I wonder what he was talking about?  I think immigration reform is a necessary step, but I'm really interested in how this is actually going to be implemented.



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Politics and Entrepreneurship

"Obamacare" has been cast as a left vs right issue.  Democrats are in favor of it.  Republicans hate it.  However, the reason for this is that it is framed as a "lazy do nothing people being given healthcare paid for by good, hard-working citizens who already have healthcare".  This is silly, yes.  However, as far as entrepreneurship goes, there should be far more right-wing support for Obamacare than there is.

Why is this?  Because, here in the US, healthcare and employment are very tightly linked.  This is fine for those with a job.  However, it is not so fine if you want to quit your job and start a company.  I thought Obama's remarks yesterday summarized it perfectly:

    "They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great."

Government programs which allow people to walk away from their job and start something new are critical for new company development.  Entrepreneurship and free enterprise should be cornerstones of the Republican platform, and they should favor any policy which promotes new company development. It seems that this point is being lost in the noise.