OPINION

Chamber of Commerce’s Immigration Insanity: How to Ruin the Economy and the GOP in a Single Blow

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Radical far-left groups backed by the Bloomberg-Soros-Zuckerberg machine and politicians peddling their illegal alien amnesty agenda continue to forge relationships with local, state and national Chamber of Commerce chapters. For them, it’s a win-win alliance; open borders and amnesty proponents cultivate “conservative” legitimacy with the high profile organization long supported by Republicans while the Chamber of Commerce is promised unending flows of cheap foreign labor that displace American workers. To justify their position, Chamber executives claim that support for immigration reform is a means to hire “urgently” needed workers, serve their members and to rebuild the GOP.

Granted, the Chamber of Commerce is not a union nor does it make any pretense about representing workers; it represents businesses. So their desire for cheap foreign labor and disregard for millions of unemployed American workers --ready, willing and able to work -- is understandable, if not disturbing. Short-term profits can accrue from lowering labor costs. But to the extent that the Chamber also has a mission of promoting broader long-term economic growth, they’d better question their alliance with groups determined to flood the U.S. with millions of newly amnestied illegal aliens and massively increase legal immigration. Adding tens of millions of low-skilled and heavily government-dependent immigrants to the country increases competition for scarce jobs, reduces wages and increases welfare burdens. The net effect is destabilizing; higher unemployment, less disposable income and higher individual and corporate taxes, all adversely affecting the business climate the Chamber claims it wants to enhance.

And as regards immigration reform (amnesty) helping the GOP, the Chamber would do well to refresh itself with the broad new body of evidence that refutes this now expired, Karl-Rove inspired bromide. A recent National Journal poll revealed that 49% of Republican voters would be less inclined to support a GOP member if they vote for amnesty while another study from the Center for Immigration Studies showed a far more detrimental impact on Republicans. It demonstrated that if the Senate Gang of Eight Immigration bill becomes law -- or if any similar massive amnesty plan becomes law -- it will add 17 million new potential voting-age citizens by 2036. That’s on top of 15 million new potential voters that the current level of legal immigration will add by 2036. Together that’s 32 million potential voters by 2036.

That research didn’t suggest which way they’ll vote because it didn’t need to. Previous studies show that new immigrants tend to vote for Democrats. In this instance, the Democrats might pick up 32 million new voters in the years ahead. Think that doesn’t make a difference? To put that figure in perspective, the last four presidential elections were decided by 4.5 million votes.

Or to put it more bluntly, if an amnesty passed, it’s the end of the two-party system in America and that’s a serious issue for the Chamber of Commerce and their member businesses. A one party political system in America isn’t just higher taxes, its one step from tyranny for all.

Is that really what the United States Chamber of Commerce wants? If so, it’s time for members to stop paying dues.