Right...do you honestly think you can blame the current economic situation on the new Democratic congress? If you do... you're sadly mistaken. Or you're such a dumbass that you can't formulate your own opinion. The economic changes we are experiencing occur in 3-4 year lags...and they have NOTHING to do with the democratic congress in power. If you want to look at someone to blame...look at dear old Alan Greenspan, the REPUBLICAN ex-chairman of the Fed. He did nothing to curb the housing market bubble in the early '00s. In fact he encouraged it. Lowering interest rates over and over again so that more and more sup-prime loans could be given to lenders who clearly couldn't afford them, artificially inflating stock prices to record levels. Then comes a normal dip in the economy due to factors abroad and thousands of households have to default on their mortgage because they can no longer afford it. What business do people who have a $45,000 yearly income have paying $2,500 in interest-only mortgages? Nothing...they made a poor decision, they couldn't capitalize...they get forclosed. That's capitalism at work. I feel bad for them...but you can't feel bad for everyone all the time.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am TOTALLY against illegal immigration, but the facts prove that illegal immigrants help the economy to an extent. Business works in substitutes and complements. You can either be one or the other. Since illegal immigrants do not have the papers to work the higher-paying jobs that Americans work, they are then compliments to us. In a letter issued by the FRBSF (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco - a politically independent bank) they stated that illegal immigrants do affect our wages. They marginally increase domestic workers wages (THATS US) and being substitutes for other illegal immigrants, they lower each other's wages. So the more illegal immigrants that come to America, the more money we will get, until an equilibrium is reached and they can no longer make a profit from coming here. Then the influx will stop and reverse.

And our trade deficit isn't their fault. It's a national fault. In the 1980s, national saving was 10% of GDP. Now, during recent years...it has fallen to -10%. AKA we are spending 10% more than we have as a whole. This is an interesting phenomenon that can be attributed to the stock market and housing boom that gave American homeowners a heightened sense of wealth that raised their consumption on a national level. Now that they see that that money has deflated...their consumer confidence goes down and they spend less. Simple equilibrium.

Again, I'm sorry for the long posts... but please do your research before you post something inflammatory.