Mother Jones
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The conversation in Congress’ latest budget meeting Wednesday revolved around the standard issues you’d expect from DC politicians raising a fuss about the deficit: the Democrats argued that raising taxes should be the priority and Republicans pushed cuts in entitlement programs. But a few outliers from both parties offered an alternative route for fixing the fiscal impasse. “I would like to mention one other national priority,” Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said, speaking directly to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), “that could both help get the economy moving, help reduce the deficit, and strengthen Social Security. And that would be to pass the comprehensive immigration bill within the House of Representatives. That would accomplish a lot of the goals of this committee, and we simply need a vote to make it happen.”
Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) chimed in with a similar argument later in the meeting. “As you look down the road,” he said, “what drives the debt? Eighty million Baby Boomers…are going to retire in the next 30 or 40 years. Who replaces them in the workforce? That’s why I think we need rational immigration reform, because our population growth is pretty much stagnant.”
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