Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Iowa Central Community College, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Donald Trump's immigration plan finally has some push-back from other candidates - not to mention the president.
Until now, most everyone has stood back and hoped that common sense among voters would cut through Trump's pandering to the far right for a primary nomination.
That doesn't appear to be happening.
The latest Economist/YouGov poll reveals that Donald Trump is viewed as the GOP candidate Republicans trust most to handle immigration.
What it proves is that entertainment trumps (no pun intended) study of an issue anytime.
Last week, Trump topped his outlandish promise to build a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile border and to make Mexico pay for it. Now, he'll also form a "deportation force" to round up and deport all illegal immigrants - 11 or 12 million strong plus some of their kids if they want to go. And if they don't, I guess we'll have 11 or 12 million new foster kids across the country. But don't worry about the cost (hundreds of billions of dollars, according to the president) - everything will be huge and great. And, oh yeah, "humane. Very, very humane."
"Imagine the images on the screen flashed around the world as we were dragging parents away from their children, and putting them in - what, detention centers? And then systematically sending them out," the president said. "Nobody thinks that that is realistic. But more importantly, that's not who we are as Americans."
Apparently it's who some of us are.
But think just about the cost for a moment. There is often a lot of talk that illegal immigrants don't pay taxes. Then why are their employers withholding taxes on their paychecks? The reality is that many - certainly those working on a payroll - are paying taxes. What they often aren't doing is getting those taxes back in refunds.
And consider this argument from the Congressional Budget Office: Immigration reform would decrease budget deficits by nearly $850 billion over the next 20 years and balance out an aging population by adding younger workers, thereby strengthening Social Security. The SSA estimates the reform bill would have added nearly $300 billion to the Social Security Trust Fund over the next decade and would have improved Social Security's finances over the long run, extending Social Security solvency by two years.
Instead, Trump will drive that deficit up with a new "deportation force."
Here's the best part: Then Trump says these deported people can come back if they do it legally.
So, Donald, what's wrong with what the president suggested months and months ago (and now some candidates) that undocumented residents pay a fine (revenue) and receive a deadline by which they must file for citizenship and meet requirements?
If Trump is willing to let "the good people" come back after the U.S. government has spent billions deporting them, why not go the fine and path to citizenship instead and save money.
Wait, isn't Trump supposed to be the smart one with dollars?
Sequoyah's safety performance in spotlight
Federal regulators are increasing their oversight of Unit 1 at the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant near Chattanooga as a result of the frequency of unplanned shutdowns at the facility.
In the simplest terms, an unplanned shutdown is very similar to what happens when a fuse blows at your house. And too many tripped breakers prompt you to call in an electrical specialist - hopefully not the fire department.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is the specialist in this case.
"Overall, the Sequoyah plant is operating safely," according to NRC Acting Region II Administrator Len Wert. "However, these shutdowns point to potential performance issues and we want to ensure that TVA addresses them appropriately."
The NRC cited one trip at Unit 1, the oldest of two reactors at Sequoyah, in the first quarter this year and three trips in the third quarter. NRC guidelines is that a reactor can have three unplanned shutdowns in 7,000 operating hours. Exceeding that triggers stepped-up NRC inspections. NRC charges the costs of those inspections to TVA.
And we know what that means. TVA will pass that cost on to its distributors - and, of course, to us.