George Will had some interesting things to say about the poor in today's paper:
"Under current immigration policies, America is importing another underclass, one ''with the potential to expand indefinitely,'' according to Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute. To sentimentalists who cling to ''the myth of the redeeming power of Hispanic family values, the Hispanic work ethic, and Hispanic virtue,'' she says: From 1990 to 2004, Hispanics accounted for 92 percent of the increase in poor people. Only 53 percent of Hispanics earn high school diplomas, the lowest among American ethnic groups. Half of all children born to Hispanic-Americans in 2005 were born out of wedlock -- a predictor of social pathologies.
Some Democrats argue that liberalism's achievement, the welfare state, requires liberal immigration policies. The argument: Today there are 3.3 workers for every retiree. In January, the first of 77 million baby boomers begin to retire. By the time they have retired, in 2030, there will be 2.2 workers for every retiree -- but only if the work force is replenished by 900,000 immigrants a year.
On Monday, Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation stunned some senators who heard his argument that continuing, under family-based immigration, to import a low-skilled population will cost the welfare state far more than the immigrants' contributions to the economy and government. He argued that low-skilled immigrants are costly to the welfare state at every point in their life cycle, and are very costly when elderly. Just the 9 million to 10 million illegal adults already here will, if given amnesty, cost an average of $300,000 -- cumulatively, more than $2.5 trillion -- in various entitlements over 30 years."
http://www.suntimes.com/news/will/399321,CST-EDT-GEO24.article
Not to change the debate - but it is all intertwined.