Barack Obama, now that he is President of the United States has been busy making the final appointments to his cabinet, the Department of Commerce in particular has had two nominees that withdrew their names so that chair at the table remains empty.

Another vacant seat is that of the secretary of labor as the nominee, Congressperson Hilda Solis (D El Monte East-Los Angeles, Ca) has not been approved by the Senate. Hilda Solis supports driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and more visas for foreign workers in the United States, Click Link:

http://www.communati.com/steve-lee/think-democracy

With the top job at the commerce department unfilled none of the articles about the coming and going of the nominees has given us an idea of what the Obama administration's trade policy is going to be. Canada has complained about a "buy American" provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan and the Chinese Premiere (the country that buys most of America's debt certificates) says he hopes that America is not becoming "protectionist."

There has not been much discussion about Social Security in the Congress, having seven  million unemployed Americans not paying into the SS Fund (for how long no one can say)cannot be good for the system.  Which brings us to another Americonomic Myth: The United States needs a constant supply of immigrant workers to fund Social Security. 

The population of the United States in January was 305,529,237---- 2,743,429 people were added in 2008.

In 2006 1,266,264 immigrants became legal permanent residents, in 2005 1,122,373 immigrants were added to the US population. The corporate media (and the US Chamber of Commerce) keeps repeating that this constant flow of immigration is needed to supply workers for American companies.

In January, 2009 142,099,000 Americans had jobs, 11,616,000 were unemployed (all numbers quoted here are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics) for an unemployment rate of 7.6%.

The "Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate was 65.5% on Friday, February 6,2009

The broadcast, print and corporate Internet media repeat that there are "12,000,000 Illegal immigrant residents in the US."  This number is an estimate as they avoid contact with the federal government, so they are not going to be filling-out US Census forms in 2010. We think that there may be 20,000,000 illegal immigrants living in the US as there are so many school districts that teach classes in the primary schools in languages other than English (the Los Angeles Unified School District teaches in 80 languages!)

We are thinking that if immigration was eliminated except in a few instances it would be beneficial to the economic health of American citizens. In Los Angeles, for example, there are hundreds of thousands of jobs at construction, manufacturing, restaurant and retailing businesses that are being done by illegal immigrants. When these companies are hiring their newspaper and Internet ads state "must be bilingual."

If the illegal immigrants would return to their home countries and immigration curtailed by banks and software corporations that are trying to replace as many American software engineers  as the Congress will allow them all those jobs would be opened-up for Americans.

With increased employment opportunities for American high school and college students there would be more money paid as taxes to the states and the federal government because illegal immigrants work on a cash basis. (When you see laborers waiting for construction contractors to pick them-up for work at paint and building supply stores in the morning, they are looking to make $15 per-hour- the contractor doesn't have to pay social security or pay for work mans compensation or liability insurance that they would have to if they used a temporary help agency.)

With more jobs available millions of older Americans that have had to take a "early retirement" because they were replaced with illegal immigrants would be working for more years and contributing to the Social Security Fund.

There is an Americonomic myth that the broadcast, print and Internet media keep repeating that "Illegal immigrants do the jobs that Americans don't want to do" Click Link:

http://www.communati.com/node/3250

The State of California is raising the sales tax to %10 to pay for education and health care for immigrants children, Click Link:

http://www.communati.com/steve-lee/california

Since 1965 immigration policy in the US has had "family reunification" as a goal:

The immigrant population is now37,900,000, 1 in 8 US residents. Relatives who sponsored them for "Green Cards" and agreed to be responsible for them are having trouble doing so. Once they become citizens they are able to receive federal benefits. 58,500 aged 65 and older received green cards in 2007. 

Americonomic myth Copyright 2009 Steve Lee All rights reserved

The original "Obama in Orlando" article is below:

 Barack Obama in Orlando, Florida where there are many vacation resorts operated by Walt Disney, Universal Studios and the major hotel chains like Hilton. There are also attractions like Gatorland where the kids can take a break from the video game characters.

Barack Obama was speaking about his "Energy Plan" as his opponent in the Presidential Election Campaign, John McCain came out for cancelling the federal governments ban on offshore oil drilling; he would leave it up to the individual states. (John McCain also came out for building more nuclear power plants.) "John McCain's proposal to lift a ban on offshore drilling would do nothing to ease the crushing price of gas...Offshore drilling would not lower gas prices today, it would not lower gas prices five years from now..." John McCain's bringing up the offshore drilling plan might be an attempt to raise campaign contributions (As his support for more nuclear power plants) as it is true what Obama says, it will take several years for any increased oil production to be pumped ashore.

Obama, when he was in Indianapolis, Indiana said of Ethanol (made from the locally grown corn) "I've been a strong supporter of ethanol, but corn-based ethanol is a transitional technology." Obama has been calling for a "Windfall Profits Tax" on oil companies, with the money used to help consumers pay utility bills. Utility companies have been petitioning state regulators for an increase in electricity rate to compensate for their increased fuel costs.

Obama's Energy Policy would spend$150 billion to establish a "Green Energy Sector," requiring greater fuel efficiency in cars and devote more money to solar, wind, bio-diesel energy and promote pug-in hybrid cars. "A renewable energy policy that ends our addiction on foreign oil, provides real long-term relief from high fuel costs, and builds a Green Economy that could create up to five million well-paying jobs that can't be outsourced." "But the truth is, there is no easy answer to our energy crisis..."

Update: Barack Obama again visited Orlando On August 2, to speak before the Urban League Convention (as did John McCain.) Later he modified his "Energy Plan" (it is now called New Energy for America and he changed his position on selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Now Obama is proposing selling 70 million barrels "for less expensive crude, which in the past has lowered gas prices within two weeks." He also dropped his opposition to offshore oil drilling, saying he would back limited drilling if it were part of a comprehensive energy package.

On Tuesday, August 5 oil futures for September delivery in New York fell $2.24 to close at $119.17 a barrel, the lowest finish since May 5. This closing price is about $26 below the record of $145.29 on July 3. (-18%) we hope this is a long-term trend developing, if so continuing declining crude oil futures prices would eventually be reflected "at the pump" obviating the need to tap the SPR.

Obama also mentioned the increasing safety measures provided for in new nuclear generating plants so he might be moving closer to McCain's position on this aspect of "Energy Policy" as well. John McCain lately has come out in support of resuming offshore oil drilling and building nuclear power plants. He also supports the "Cap-and-Trade" scheme the US Senate wants to impose on Americans already struggling to pay for the gas they need to get to work.

Have you ever wondered where politicians get most of their bad ideas? Click:

http://www.communati.com/steve-lee/bad-ideas

You don't have to wait for the auto manufacturers to start producing electric cars:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0830642315/ref=nosim/your_httpgetoveblo-20_id