Citizen is More than a Watch

Some of the most interesting solutions to our seemingly unending economic malaise require a substantial alteration in the way many of us think or in the “American values” that we believe define our nation. Take for example making citizens out of “illegal aliens” who are working here. The Center for the Study of Immigration Integration at the University of Southern California has issued a report (December 2012) entitled: Citizen Gain: The Economic Benefits of Naturalization for Immigrants and the Economy. What it says would help add billions to our struggling financial plague is fascinating: “[The report notes] that citizenship, alone, can boost individual earnings by 8 to 11 percent, leading to a potential $21-45 billion increase in cumulative earnings over ten years that will have ripple effects on the national economy.”

“The study aimed to estimate the economic impact of naturalizing immigrants who have established legal residency in the United States. According to the study’s authors, citizenship opens up job opportunities and encourages people to start businesses in the United States or to make investments in their education and training that are tailored to the U.S. market…

“Almost 40 million immigrants live in the United States, of whom about 8.5 million are eligible for naturalization, according to the study. The country of origin with the highest number of immigrants eligible for naturalization is Mexico, with 2.65 million -- 31 percent of the total. With 330,000 immigrants eligible for naturalization, the Philippines is a distant second.” Huffington Post, December 14^th.

OK, that’s interesting. Any other value-twisting suggestions? Well, now that Colorado and Washington allow the recreational use of marijuana, how much money would legalizing this drug save in enforcement/earn in taxes? “The states could see a major economic boon because of the legalization. The new measure is expected to bring the two states more than $550 million combined, with more than 300 economists previously estimating that legalizing pot could save the U.S. up to $14 billion a year.” Huffington Post, November 7^th. Want more details?

“More than 300 economists, including three Nobel laureates, have signed a petition calling attention to the findings of a paper by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, which suggests that if the government legalized marijuana it would save $7.7 billion annually by not having to enforce the current prohibition on the drug. The report added that legalization would save an additional $6 billion per year if the government taxed marijuana at rates similar to alcohol and tobacco.” Huffington Post, August 26^th.

We could save a bit more on the cost of jailing such offenders: “Inmates incarcerated on marijuana-related charges cost U.S. prisons $1 billion annually, according to a 2007 study, AlterNet reports.” Huffington Post, August 26^th. The cited report adds: “According to [a report from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics entitled ‘Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004]: ‘12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are serving time for marijuana offenses. Combining these percentages with separate U.S. Department of Justice statistics on the total number of state and federal drug prisoners suggests that there are now about 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federal inmates behind bars for marijuana offenses. The report failed to include estimates on the percentage of inmates incarcerated in county and/or local jails for pot-related offenses.’”

With half the prisoners in the U.S. incarcerated for drug related crimes (and half of those for possession or dealing), adding other drugs to the permitted list would have a decided revenue impact, but we might have a whole lot more in DUI offenses. Having spent trillions to stop American drug usage and failed stem that tide on whit, it is time we consider a few alternatives. What are your thoughts?

I’m Peter Dekom, and we need to consider pragmatic solutions to issues we are not really solving.