The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

The underground economy pays no taxes. While it is a sad fact now that since 47% of wage earners pay no federal income taxes making it perhaps not so uncommon, the underground economy pays no medicare or social security tax either. In avoiding the system, they still consume government resources. Yeah, that pisses me off.

Pays no taxes?

They are (on average) the lowest of low wage workers. Let's go ahead an presume a legal worker of similar income. They would pay no income tax. Their contribution to SS and meidcare (programs from which an undocumented worker would have no ability to collect benefit) would be a pittance. The biggest chunk of taxes collected from such a worker? Sales tax on goods and services they purchase. Guess who still has to pay sales tax, documented or not.

And what massive government resources are they consuming? Occasional visits to medical clinics, education (for children who often are legal US citizens by birth), maybe some food banks and shelters, and.....drawing a blank. They do not collect unemployment, SS, medicare, welfare, etc. etc.

So they end up paying only a fraction less in taxes than they would were they legal, and they are have the benefit of only a fraction of government services available to a legal worker.

None of which adds up to reasons to completely ignore the issue. But they contribute far more to, and consume far less from, government resources than the anti-immigrant propaganda would have you believe.