3 modern day Know Nothings-- Cotton, Trump, PerdueIn 2017 two virulent Republican xenophobes, Tom Cotton (AR) and David Perdue (GA), tried drastically cutting back on legal immigration with their RAISE Act (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment). It failed to get out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, so Cotton introduced it again six months later with a big public push from Trump and his two neo-Nazi pals, Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon. (It was before Bannon was fired for being mean to Ivanka.) The bill was meant to cut legal immigration in half and to severely limit the number of refugees the U.S. admits. (Remember, Trump thinks the country is "full"; it isn't.) Although 3 right-wing Democrats-- Donnelly, Machin and Heitkamp-- backed it, it was defeated 60-39, with Republicans Barrasso (WY), Collins (ME), Cruz (TX), Daines (MT), Enzi (WY), Jeff Flake (AZ), Inhofe (OK), Kennedy (LA), Lee (UT), Moran (KS), Murkowsky (AK), Paul (KY), Sasse (NE), and Thune (SD) crossing the aisle to vote with the rest of the Democrats.Cotton and Perdue and back with the bill and they found another bigot, Missouri GOP freshman Josh Hawley, to co-sponsor it. Last time, the bill was panned by economists who predicted it would slow growth and have a negative impact on the GDP.
Immigrants are responsible for nearly half the population growth of the United States, and by extension that also means they are a sizable part of the growth in the U.S. labor force.“It’s half of labor force growth today. Going forward it’s a bigger drag. We have yet to meet the critical mass of baby boomers retiring. That’s still ahead,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at DS Economics.Statistics provided by the U.S. Census Bureau on assumptions about population growth and immigration are rolled into economists’ forecasts for GDP. Economists say there are already worker shortages in some areas, and the problem could get worse quickly.Macroeconomic Advisers co-founder Joel Prakken says the economy should grow at about 2 percent next year, but already it could see a dent if immigration is slowed. “What’s behind that projection is the assumption of labor force growth and productivity growth ... that is a combination of assumptions about the participation rate and the growth of the population. Our assumptions of the population come from the Census Bureau,” he said.“If you cut the labor force growth in half you probably take two to three tenths of a percentage point off GDP growth every year over the next decade,” Prakken said. He said that would also impact the 3 percent growth pace the Office of Management and Budget is forecasting for 2020 and beyond. The Trump administration forecasts 2.4 percent growth next year.Prakken said immigrants are probably a bigger portion of the growth in the labor force, since the U.S. population is aging, immigrants are generally younger and many come to the U.S. specifically to work. Industries that could see big impacts would be agricultural, leisure and hospitality and construction, he said.“There would be spot shortages,” he said.He said one adverse impact could be that companies in some industries could move operations outside the U.S. if they can’t find enough workers, which would be opposite the Trump administration’s efforts to attract more jobs.“It’s another one of these cases where [a law] could have adverse consequences that move in the opposite direction of some other initiative the administration is trumpeting,” he said....“The real issue is what would it do to potential growth in an economy where we need more people to replace retirees,” said Swonk. “You’re closing another door to offset the drag from an aging population.”
Speaking for most Democrats, Richard Blumenthal (CT) noted that Cotton's bill was "nothing but a series of nativist talking points and regurgitated campaign rhetoric that completely fails to move our nation forward toward real reform." Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a former member of the Gang of Eight, also attacked the bill-- which he later voted for anyway, saying it would be "devastating" to South Carolina's economy.The Anti-Defamation League was one of dozens of groups to come out against the bill. Their CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt issued a statement: "This proposed legislation is cruel, anti-family and un-American. These are the types of policy markers that exacerbate immigrant bashing and nativist attitudes in this country. We support an immigration policy that is comprehensive, protects our security, reunites families and improves our economy while honoring our values as a nation of immigrants. Diversity is our country’s strength and immigration has made America great."The U.S. has a long sordid history of nativist bigots in the political realm. In 1855 the Native American Party changed it's name to the American Party and made some real headway, particularly in the South, of course, where, known as the Know Nothing movement, they preached hatred, racism and xenophobia. Cotton, Hawley and Perude come straight out of the strain of American politics. The #1 target of the Know Nothing movement were Catholics. The Know Nothings even elected dozens of congressmen (52 at their high-mark) and one, Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts, served as Speaker of the House for one year, from February 1856 to March of 1857, although after he switched the become a Republican. They also had 5 U.S. senators at their peak. In fact at that point, nativism became a new American rage and with it came Know Nothing candy, Know Nothing tea, Know Nothing toothpicks and a 700-ton freighter christened Know Nothing. Like Trump supporters today, they were proud of the bigotry and proud of their stupidity. They even had an American president in their camp, Milliard Fillmore. You thought Trump was the first?
