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Cato Daily Dispatch for October 9, 2003

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Schwarzenegger Supports McCain Worker Visa Program
Governors Beware: Recall Possibly a Preview of Next Election
Floridians Say 'No' to Sales Tax

Schwarzenegger Supports McCain Worker Visa Program

The Washington Times reports that California Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger supports a bill sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would loosen visa requirements and provide illegal immigrants with temporary work permits. "'I want to make all undocumented immigrants documented and legal in this country,' said the Austrian-born actor. 'It's all part of the package.'"

Dan Griswold, associate director of Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies, says, "Current immigration law has made lawbreakers out of millions of hard-working, otherwise law-abiding people--immigrant workers and native employers alike--whose only 'crime' is a desire to work together in our market economy for mutual advantage." In "Mexican Workers Come Here to Work: Let Them!" Griswold endorses a "temporary worker visa that would allow Mexican workers to enter the U.S. labor market legally for a certain period, and allow undocumented workers already in the U.S. to earn legal status based on years of work and other productive behavior."

In "Willing Workers: Fixing the Problem of Illegal Mexican Migration to the United States," Griswold writes: "Legalizing Mexican migration would, in one stroke, bring a huge underground market into the open. It would allow American producers in important sectors of our economy to hire the workers they need to grow. It would raise wages and working conditions for millions of low-skilled workers and spur investment in human capital. It would free resources and personnel for the war on terrorism."

Governors Beware: Recall Possibly a Preview of Next Election

"The recall of California Gov. Gray Davis (D) was a dramatic demonstration of voters' deep anger over a flagging economy and what they perceive as excessive taxes--a combination many other governors face as they struggle with their own states' stagnant economies and budget shortfalls," The Washington Post reports. "As such, the California vote was a warning to all incumbents that they could face a restive, even angry electorate when they next seek reelection, political analysts said yesterday."

Last year, Stephen Moore and Stephen Slivinski handed out grades to 42 of the nation's governors in Cato's "Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2002". The report card is based on objective measures of each governor's fiscal performance. Those with the most fiscally conservative records--the tax and budget cutters--received the highest grades.

Jeb Bush of Florida and Bill Owens of Colorado--the only governors to receive an "A"--did the best job managing their states' finances, according to Moore and Slivinski. Davis, along with Don Sundquist of Tennessee, Bob Taft of Ohio, and John Kitzhaber of Oregon, was awarded an "F".

Floridians Say 'No' to Sales Tax

"The defeat of a proposal to raise taxes for road construction in Orlando had none of the drama of Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign to become governor of California. But what happened Tuesday may be even more telling about the recent anti-tax drift of voters in state and local politics," according to USA Today.

"By a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent, Orlando voters rejected a half-cent sales tax increase that would have raised $2.6 billion over 20 years to expand highways, build sidewalks and bike paths and start a light-rail system."

Voters in Virginia last year voted down a similar road-building sales tax. Cato Director of Fiscal Policy Chris Edwards and Peter Ferrara of the Virginia Club for Growth gave voters "10 Reasons to Oppose Virginia Sales Tax Increases". "Even modest restraint in non-transportation spending could save enough money to fund priority highway projects without tax increases," they say. They further recommend that states adopt spending caps and spend any excess funds on transportation needs and tax cuts.

Wyatt Dubois, editor, wdubois@cato.org