Who's counting? As deficit climbs, it's time for some circumspection

The Senate is poised to take up immigration today and, potentially, pass meaningful legislation soon that will end the speculation for more than a million people in this country as to whether or not they will soon be deported.

The so-called Dreamers, the children of illegal immigrants who've more or less known no other home than America and who were granted work permits under the previous administration's DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, have been on edge for the better part of Trump's presidency.

He had given a deadline of March for Congress to do something to shore up immigration and border security or that he would take DACA -- and the lives of those million or more people who fall under it -- into his own hands.

It is a controversial issue; even some Republicans are split on what to do.

But with the budget deal out of the way, the tax bill passed and Obamacare seemingly a dead issue these days, a path to legislation -- with perhaps a path to citizenship included in it -- might finally be feasible.

The Sunday morning talk show circuit saw confident speakers on the matter from both sides of the aisle. Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican who often finds himself opposite the president on several key issues, seemed to think a bill was possible.

What it will cost though remains to be seen. The budget that passed last week saw almost a $300 billion increase over previous spending limits. The president's $1.5 trillion infrastructure proposal looms and the tax bill, let's recall, is expected to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion or more over the next 10 years.

What does any of that have to do with DACA? Well, nothing. Unless the president continues to insist that building the wall along the U.S. border with Mexico be included in the legislation or it's dead on arrival. Despite his continued insistence that the wall is needed -- which it may be -- he has said over and over again that Mexico will either pay for it or reimburse the U.S. down the road. Mexico has consistently refuted this, and so if the wall goes up, so must the deficit.

This rate of spending certainly isn't in line with the conservative norms of bygone eras -- like, say, 2012?

Published in Editorials on February 11, 2018 10:41 PM