Page 8
A p ril 25. 2012
Paying Taxes Without Representation
Immigrants
contribute to
government
mented consistently contribute to
the government's coffers through
payroll, sales, property, and income
taxes.
Consider Mayra Hidalgo, forex-
ample. She comes from one of the
by M atias R amos
millions of families that
G ive me y o u r
have relocated from
tired, your poor,
around the world — and
your
hudd led
played by the tax rules
masses yearning to
— while remaining in the
be free. I'll give them
United States beyond
some taxation with
their authorized stay.
out representation.
When her parents left
With apologies to
their native Costa Rica,
Emma Lazarus, that's
she was only six months
the situation faced
old. While watching out
by many of the more
for reform that might
than 10 million undocumented im open the door for them to get legal
migrants who live in the United status, they steadily paid their in
States. Making up about 5 percent come taxes to build a good record.
of the workforce, most of the people
More than 3 million people paid
without legal status have lived in their taxes using an Individual
this country for a decade or more. Taxpayer's Number (in place of a
And before throngs of fear-mon Social Security Number) in 2010,
gering nativists take to the airwaves totaling $1.8 billion in contributions
to claim that immigrants are stealing from taxpayers who are unable to
taxpayers' jobs and resources, let work legally.
me assure you that the undocu
Hidalgo's parents got their green
cards in 2010. But due to an unfair
rule that disqualifies young people
from a family’s permanent residency
application if they turn 18 while they
await the outcome, Hidalgo remains
undocumented. This forced her to
forego the opportunity to attend a
top-tier state school, settling instead
for the more affordable Polk State
College.
"It's extremely frustrating," she
said. "Finding out I wasn't able to
get financial aid was heartbreak
ing."
The government doesn't give all
immigrants an opportunity to ad
just their status, but the taxman
doesn't discriminate. Hidalgo's par
ents m ight have been undocu
m ented, but they've also been
Florida taxpayers for 21 years. In
Florida, sales taxes fund the higher
education system. Yet no amount of
immigrant purchasing power has
been enough to convince Florida
legislators to allow immigrant youth
to attend their public colleges as
residents.
"It is a constant feeling of anxi
ety, having to live under this level
o f stress," said Hidalgo, who be
longs to the im m igrant youth o r
ganization Students W orking for
Equal Rights.
Congress is likely to target fami
lies like the Hidalgos as it debates
the 2013 budget. In December, the
House of Representatives voted for
a tax package that would effectively
raise taxes on approximately 2 mil
lion working immigrant families like
Mayra's.
By denying them eligibility for
the reimbursable Additional Child
Tax Credit (ACTC), Congress claims
to be discouraging illegal immigra
tion. In reality, they would be pun
ishing taxpaying immigrants and
their kids.
State legislators around the na
tion have also claimed to defend the
interests of taxpayers while promot
ing harsh immigration enforcement
laws. Alabama's so-called "Alabama
Taxpayer and Citizen Protection
Act," for example, is intended to
make life so unbearable for undocu
mented immigrants that they choose
to leave on their own. Similar laws
are on the books in Utah, South
Carolina, Indiana, and Georgia.
Another is in the works in Missis
sippi.
Meanwhile, the Obama adminis
tration is of two minds on this issue.
The Justice Department has opted
to sue states that have enacted these
laws. But the Department of Home
land Security has beefed up en
forcem ent and deported m ore
people than ever. Even while ac
knowledging that the system is
dysfunctional without a path to le
gal status for those already here,
Obama has enforced the law to its
fullest extent.
If immigration is the sincerest
form of flattery, the nation's politi
cians are showing they can't take a
compliment. But there's something
worse than a country anyone can
enter to seek a better life. It's a coun
try where no one wants to go.
Matias Ramos is a former un
documented student and a co
founder o f the United We Dream
Network.
Budget Blueprint of Medicare Hot Air
It’s simply not
time to hit the
panic button
Republican calls "unfunded prom
ises" are the future M edicare ben
efits that the governm ent expects
to have to pay through the late
2080s. To get a scare out of M edi
care, you have look seven de
by S alvatore B abones
cades into the future.
There's a scary graph
But here's the reality:
in Rep. Paul Ryan's new
Medicare has been a
b udget b lu ep rin t that
solid investment for 47
show s
the
fed e ral
years. It's also in good
government's "unfunded
shape for the foresee
prom ises" rising from
able future.
$76.4 trillion in 2010 to
Of all the hot air in
$99.6 trillion in 2011.
W ashington, R yan's
That's $23.2 trillion in
hackneyed M edicare
just one year.
scare is the hottest. The Medicare
The entire U.S. economy pro Trust Fund isn't actually a trust fund;
duces about $15 trillion in gross it isn't really going bankrupt. Oh,
domestic product each year. So if it and most of Medicare isn't even
seem s p re p o ste ro u s th at the connected to those funds anyway.
government's "unfunded promises"
Here's how it works.
grew by that much in just one year,
As every senior citizen knows,
that's because it is.
M edicare is incredibly com pli
M ost of what the W isconsin cated. It has four parts. Part A
Portland (Ohsrrurr
Established 1970
USPS 959-680 __________________________________
4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
covers hospital bills. Part B cov
ers doctors' bills. Part C is an op
tional private insurance plan. Part
D is a private insurance plan for
prescription drugs.
There are two M edicare "trust
funds." The Hospital Insurance
(HI) trust fund supports M edi
care Part A. The Supplem entary
M edical Insurance (SM I) trust
fund supports Parts B and D. There
is no trust fund for Part C.
The HI trust fund, which pays
hospital bills, is the one Ryan is
worried about. It is currently $238
billion in the black and takes in an
annual income of $229 billion. Those
are some pretty big figures, but
Medicare is still running a multi
billion dollar deficit and is expected
to run through its treasure chest in
about 12 years.
The HI trust fund is supported
by a 2.9 -p ercen t tax on w ages,
split evenly betw een wage e a rn
ers and th eir em ployers.
On top o f this, an additional
0 .9 -p ercen t tax on w ages over
$ 2 0 0 ,0 0 0 f o r in d iv i d u a ls
($250,000 for m arried couples
filing jo in tly ) w ill start flow ing
to the HI trust fund in 2013 u n
der the A ffordable C are Act.
Even with these extra revenues,
the HI trust fund is projected to go
bankrupt in 2024. But "bankrupt"
doesn't mean "bankrupt" in the
sense of going out of business. It
only means that the trust fund
account will turn negative for the
first time.
In other words, around the year
2024 — for the first time in its
history — M edicare Part A will
start to cost the federal govern
ment money. After 2025, the losses
are expected to be in the range of
$40-$60 billion per year.
By that time, the total federal
budget is expected to be over $4.5
trillion, so we're talking about a
M edicare Part A deficit am ount
ing to a little over 1 percent of the
federal budget.
So what about those so-called
"unfunded prom ises"? Extend a
growing trend out long enough
and you can make the num ber as
big as you like. But projecting the
future M edicare costs o f people
who have not yet been born is
simply disingenuous.
T here are plenty o f real c h a l
lenges facing A m erica this e le c
tion year. T hree o f the m ost im
p ortant are jo b s, jo b s, and jo b s.
P otential problem s in M ed i
care and Social Security 50 or 75
years from now ju st d o n't m ea
sure up. It's not tim e to hit the
panic button ju s t yet.
Salvatore Babones is an Ameri
can sociologist at the University o f
Sydney and an Institute fo r Policy
Studies associate fellow.
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be relumed if accompanied by a self addressed envelope.
All created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general
manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR
IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member o f the National Newspaper Association-
Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association
Charles H. Washington
EniTou.Michael L eig h to n
D istr ibu tio n M anager : M ark W ashington
C reative D irector : P aul N e u feld t
E ditor - in - c h ie f , P ublisher :
nMS@PQrtl4ndvbseryer,wm
CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015
ads@portlandobserver, com
subscription @portlandobserver, com
P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8