It is currently Mon Dec 23, 2024 2:25 am
You may be right, but a higher sales tax with even higher prebated amounts could be implemented until we get the desired results. The process should be scalable. So try twice 23% or sales tax of 46% and a prebate of $10,140 to a family of four at the poverty level. Again the prebate amounts for those here legally would be adjusted upward with the tax percentage resulting in revenue neutrality for those below the bottom. For those here illegally the fine of $10,140 is a pretty stiff one.
Tirian wrote:So that said, what does bother me to some degree is that, in the past, these students -- grad or undergrad -- often wanted to work in America afterward. They had a complicated set of goals involving A) receiving an education, B) using that education not only to become skilled but also to become skilled in ways that would allow them to receive skilled workers' visas here, C) live here for a period of several years to the rest of their lives, contributing to our country while advancing themselves. That is the part that is fading away, and I think we need to consider why. Our standing among the developed countries of the world in quality and costs of education and health care, our shockingly increasing economic inequality, and our often convoluted immigration policies are all to blame, though not the only causes. One can make moral arguments about brain draining poor countries, etc., but if one agrees to look at this from an "America First" angle, we should be asking why visiting students have become much less likely to want to commit their skills to work here, and how this reflects on where our country has gone as a whole.
Tirian wrote:Unfortunately, this fact has not been considered many times when a major basis on sales tax has been proposed. Disturbingly, other times people in the upper class have proposed it knowing full well that this is the case.
Tirian wrote:On a small scale, I actually see this effect here in Boulder. With a sales tax that totals over 8%, many of my friends and I avoid spending money both generally (things we would normally buy, we just don't) and specifically here in town (high-cost items that we really need, we go to other towns). If we need to make major purchases, we often wait and leave town to do it. It's a bit crazy.
Tirian wrote:On a small scale, I actually see this effect here in Boulder. With a sales tax that totals over 8%, many of my friends and I avoid spending money both generally (things we would normally buy, we just don't) and specifically here in town (high-cost items that we really need, we go to other towns). If we need to make major purchases, we often wait and leave town to do it. It's a bit crazy.
Tirian wrote:Consider, for instance, that my university pays TAs and RAs $13,000/year (balancing our pay with our still required student fees). On top of that, they provide us with tuition remission of about $10,000 per year -- which isn't really all money that they're "spending" on us, because the combined costs to the university are significantly less. So, in a worst case scenario, the university comes out with paying us $23,000/year to do the same work that a junior professor would otherwise do for not less than $40,000/year, probably closer to $50,000/year starting. So funded grad students -- who may have no job prospects when graduating with their PhDs to begin with -- are massively cheaper than hiring qualified professors, whether they're American or not.
Tirian wrote:They had a complicated set of goals involving A) receiving an education, B) using that education not only to become skilled but also to become skilled in ways that would allow them to receive skilled workers' visas here, C) live here for a period of several years to the rest of their lives, contributing to our country while advancing themselves. That is the part that is fading away, and I think we need to consider why.
Damorte wrote:I agree with Tirian. Why are we attracting illegal unskilled workers from Mexico but can't retain the students with the skills to benefit the country? We have had a huge influx of illegal immigrants over the past decade, does this mean our quality of life dropped so much that the only foreign workers we can attract are the ones that brave the desert for weeks and end up hiding in an abandoned house or stealing someone's SS# just to stay here? We're running a slum here, we're too trailer trash for the educated people to stay, and as Tirian already stated, there are so many reasons this is happening, it can't be narrowed down to one as many would like to believe. My kinda-in-laws think everything is caused by "the Mexicans." I think their ignorant and close-minded, but hey, who am I to argue politics with my boyfriend's parents.
We learned that these workers returned in their prime: the average age of the Indian returnees was 30 and the Chinese was 33. They were really well educated: 51% of the Chinese held masters degrees and 41% had PhDs. Among Indians, 66% held a masters and 12% had PhDs. These degrees were mostly in management, technology, and science. Clearly these returnees are in the U.S. population’s educational top tier—precisely the kind of people who can make the greatest contribution to an economy’s innovation and growth. And it isn’t just new immigrants who are returning home, we learned. Some 27% of the Indians and 34% of the Chinese had permanent resident status or were U.S. citizens. That’s right—it’s not just about green cards.
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