Shooting at Huntsville soccer field
Posted by BrianA soccer game ended in gunfire Monday evening.
One man was shot in the neck and two others were stabbed.
All of them are being treated at Huntsville Hospital.
…
Their injuries are not life threatening.
The group of men, all illegal Hispanics, were playing soccer on University Place School property when the fight broke out.
If I said it once… Lax policies and enforcement allow people to come here illegally. Many live “off the grid” without paying taxes. Others claim a lot of dependents and pay little or no taxes. Then when they get into trouble - I’m not arguing that they are disproportionately more likely to do so - we foot the bill to prosecute and possibly incarcerate them.
Standard caveat: I do not oppose illegal immigration because I hate foreigners (I don’t). Rather it is because I respect the rule of law. There are a number of laws in this country that I think should be changed: immigration regulations need to be relaxed and drugs and prostitution should be legalized (with some modest degree of regulation). Despite my thoughts on what should and should not be legal, I will not support anyone knowingly subverting laws on the books. Additional caveat: I don’t personally approve of drug use or prostitution - it’s a freedom thing.
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March 27th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
“Despite my thoughts on what should and should not be legal, I will not support anyone knowingly subverting laws on the books. Additional caveat: I don’t personally approve of drug use or prostitution - it’s a freedom thing.”
Really? If it benefits me and I think it’s a really, really stupid law, I’ll violate it all day.
March 28th, 2007 at 4:35 am
It’s not worth the risk in my opinion. Everyone has a different risk threshold. I would aggressively pursue a change in the law, but I wouldn’t flagrantly subject myself to prosecution.
March 28th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
It’s a common misperception that illegal immigrants don’t pay taxes though they do, for example, sales taxes. Sales taxes are one of the largest sources of Alabama state revenue (larger as a percentage of state revenue than for many other states).
March 28th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Danny, I promise I wasn’t setting you up to make a sales pitch of sorts, but I agree 100%. Sales taxes are among the most effective ways of raising revenue from people who earn their income through some type of illegal act. That is one of the reasons I support the FairTax (national consumption tax) to replace our federal income tax. Unlike traditional regressive sales taxes the FairTax includes a monthly “prebate” that reimburses families on the amount of taxes they would pay for the necessities of life. I encourage you to read up on it and I would be happy to address any questions you have. I plan on doing a series of posts on the topic since tax season is fast approaching.
Back to the notion of illegals paying taxes… One of the other problems with illegal immigration is that their status enables ill intentioned employers, and even the government, to take advantage of them. If an illegal worker were to overpay income taxesthat he would owe - however unlikely that may be - what are the odds he’ll be willing to ask Uncle Sam for the money back? I’ve heard numerous stories about illegal workers getting screwed out of paychecks by employers who assume (rightly most of the time) that the workers won’t go to the authorities for fear of deportation. That is why I say liberalize the immigration restrictions and let willing workers fill open jobs. But, I don’t think people who came illegally should be rewarded because they did break a valid law by entering.
March 28th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Brian, good points regarding illegal immigration. And thanks too for the example about illegal immigrants overpaying on income taxes. As you point out, many who are here illegally do pay payroll taxes, and that is another example that runs counter to the myth that illegal immigrants do not pay taxes.