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Cato Daily Dispatch for June 13, 2005

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(Links to outside sources were active as of the date of this dispatch; however, not all news sources maintain links to current stories indefinitely. Some links also may require registration.)

Western Governors Meet about Immigration

"Western governors who gathered Sunday for the opening day of an annual economic forum said they needed to join forces to deal with the impacts of increased immigration and the outsourcing of jobs overseas," reports the Associated Press. "Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, chairman of the Western Governor's Association, said the health care and education systems in western states are being taxed by increased demands from illegal immigrants, and the West cannot look to other states for help."

In a Trade Policy Analysis released today, Douglas Massey, a sociology and public affairs professor at Princeton University, writes in "Backfire at the Border: Why Enforcement without Legalization Cannot Stop Illegal Immigration" that immigration "enforcement has driven up the cost of crossing the border illegally, but that has had the unintended consequence of encouraging illegal immigrants to stay longer in the United States to recoup the cost of entry. The result is that illegal immigrants are less likely to return to their home country, causing an increase in the number of illegal immigrants remaining in the United States. Whatever one thinks about the goal of reducing migration from Mexico, U.S. policies toward that end have clearly failed, and at great cost to U.S. taxpayers.

"A border policy that relies solely on enforcement is bound to fail. Congress should build on President Bush's immigration initiative to enact a temporary visa program that would allow workers from Canada, Mexico, and other countries to work in the United States without restriction for a certain limited time. Undocumented workers already in the United States who do not have a criminal record should be given temporary legal status."

Republicans Criticize PATRIOT Act

"A closed-door vote by the Senate Intelligence Committee last week to expand law enforcement powers under the USA PATRIOT Act is prompting sharp criticism from some conservative leaders who are otherwise among the most vocal allies of President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress," according to the Los Angeles Times.

"... The conservatives, including former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) and political activists who have been long-standing critics of the anti-terrorism law, lashed out with particular force last week against the White House, members of Congress and Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales. They said they had expected a more open review of the Patriot Act in which lawmakers considered some limits in order to safeguard civil liberties."

In "More Surveillance Equals Less Liberty: Patriot Act reduces privacy, undercuts judicial review," Timothy Lynch, director of the Cato Institute's Project on Criminal Justice, writes: "Now that two years have passed since the trauma of the Sept. 11 catastrophe, it is a good time to take a step back from the politics of the moment and take stock as to how our policymakers have responded to the threat posed by terrorism.

"Too many conservatives have brushed aside grievances about civil-liberties violations in the mistaken belief that President Bush's political opponents are simply trying to dress up a partisan attack in noble-sounding rhetoric about liberty, privacy and the Constitution. The opposite is true."

Postage Stamp Production Privatized

"The federal government printed its last postage stamps Friday," the Washington Post reports. "The end to 111 years of stamp production by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) came without any public ceremony in the same 14th Street building where many of the nation's most famous stamps have been printed."

"... Now, private printers will produce all the nation's stamps, a decision that U.S. Postal Service officials say will save tens of millions of dollars a year. The bureau will concentrate on printing currency, its other major product."

In the Cato Handbook on Policy, Chapter 34 deals with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and encourages Congress to privatize the mail service: "In recent years the USPS has been under competitive pressures from e-mail, faxes, private package carriers, and services such as Federal Express that are allowed to offer overnight delivery of urgent communications. Electronic bill paying is expected to reduce annual USPS revenues by some 20 percent over the next decade. The Postal Service also has suffered from chronic high labor costs. As a result, in recent years the USPS has sought additional sources of revenue by offering nonpostal services. For example, it now runs a check-processing operation and, more ominously, is moving into e-commerce, e-mail, and other online services."

Greg Garner, editor, ggarner@cato.org